Chapter 213: You Can Talk Now

“We are really unsure about whether the iPad will still work.” Shen Jingyi looked worried. “Tan Mo said that she had saved the script on this device.”

“Why didn’t Tan Mo take her iPad with her when she went to the bathroom to clean up? She just left it here…? I’m sure there are plenty of other important doc.u.ments…”

Shen Jingyi shook her head and looked at Director Liu. “We didn’t dare touch the iPad either. We’re in an awkward position right now, so we were worried that we might fall under suspicion if something happened to the device. That’s the only reason why I left it there.”

Professor Zhao eyed Shen Jingyi without saying anything.

“Director Liu, Professor Zhao…” Tan Mo saw them as she returned to the table.

“How’s your hand?” Professor Zhao looked down at a patch of red on her wrist.

“There’s a medical bay in the hotel. I’m sure they’ll be able to help you patch it up easily.” Director Liu called a member of staff over and asked if the medical bay was open.

“Our medical bay is open 24 hours,” the member of staff replied swiftly.

“Go get your wound treated first,” Director Liu said.

“No worries. I already ran cold water over it just now. I’m sure it can wait.” Tan Mo smiled politely.

Yuan Qishan took a chance and b.u.t.ted in, saying, “Tan Mo, why don’t you turn on your iPad and check if it still works?”

“No worries, we don’t have to check,” Tan Mo replied casually.

“Why not? Don’t you have to check if the script is still accessible? I’m sure there are other doc.u.ments in there too.” Yuan Qishan was starting to get worried.

Shen Jingyi was observing quietly from the sidelines and decided to try testing the waters. “Tan Mo, you…you haven’t finished the script, have you? So you purposely b.u.mped into my coffee?”

Yuan Qishan followed her lead. “Tan Mo, you wouldn’t have done that, would you? I asked you just now why you moved the iPad in Shen Jingyi’s direction. We could’ve avoided all the stuff that happened just now.”

The member of staff was far away. It wasn’t like he was paying close attention to them at all.

Even if there had been surveillance footage, it would show Tan Mo cras.h.i.+ng into Shen Jingyi’s coffee.

Beyond that, the story would all be up to Yuan Qishan and Shen Jingyi to craft.

As long as the two of them managed to tell the same story, Tan Mo would be screwed.

Yuan Qishan shook her head, seemingly both disappointed and disapproving. “You…if you haven’t finished the script, just tell us and be done with it. We can solve the problem together. You can’t just try to frame Shen Jingyi.”

“Scriptwriter Yuan, don’t say that.” Shen Jingyi stopped this conversation. “I believe in Tan Mo, she wouldn’t do something like this.

“Tan Mo, most devices are quite water-resistant nowadays. You should try to open it and take a look. Who knows, maybe it’s still usable.” Shen Jingyi explained patronizingly.

Her initial plan hadn’t been to completely ruin Tan Mo’s script. Most electronic devices nowadays were at least water-resistant, if not waterproof.

It’s not like it had been soaked in a cup of water for a long period of time.

Even though it had gotten wet, that didn’t fully eliminate the chances of the device itself still working.

Shen Jingyi didn’t fight battles she knew she couldn’t win. She didn’t like to leave things up to chance.

This was why she’d added a layer of protection and insurance.

And that was Tan Mo scalding her fingers.

As long as that happened, Tan Mo’s typing would be affected.

The injury could be bad.

Even just slightly touching her fingers could cause serious pain.

Needless to say, your fingers are constantly moving while you type, and your palm would also have to endure some pain.

So Tan Mo would be so preoccupied with the pain that she’d have no mental energy to type the script.

As long as she couldn’t type, the script would be delayed.

At the end of the day, the scriptwriter role would be handed back to Yuan Qishan.

As long as Yuan Qishan was the scriptwriter, then Shen Jingyi would be needed.

So Shen Jingyi had insurance.

One, make sure that Tan Mo’s device was destroyed so that the script could not be accessed.

Two, hurt Tan Mo’s fingers.

No matter which of these two options happened, they would achieve their desired aims.

What they hadn’t expected was that Tan Mo not willing to turn on her iPad.

This was just a little bit too odd.

It didn’t matter whether the device was still usable or not, but at least try turning it on and check.

Tan Mo was unwilling to turn it on. There had to be some other reason for this.

Thankfully, Yuan Qishan was smart enough to catch on to Shen Jingyi’s train of thought.

Working with her was nice.

Yes, Shen Jingyi thought the same as Yuan Qishan.

If Tan Mo was unwilling to turn it on, the chances were that she hadn’t finished the script.

Even though she was Professor Guo’s student, this was still separate from scriptwriting.

Tan Mo wasn’t scared about opening the doc.u.ment and not being able to start, was she?

This was why perhaps Tan Mo had seen through their antics and wanted to fight back.

Unfortunately, Tan Mo didn’t actually truly know their intentions.

“No need.” Tan Mo still refused to turn her iPad on.

Shen Jingyi thought about it for a moment and asked again. “Tan Mo, did you really not finish the script? That’s okay.”

Shen Jingyi pretended to open up her heart and a.s.sumed an att.i.tude that she hoped would turn the tides of the current situation. “Tan Mo, if you really haven’t finished, just tell us. It’s just as scriptwriter Yuan said, we can figure out a way to solve this problem together. Just tell us the truth. We will understand.

Shen Jingyi put on an understanding smile. “I know, you’re young and want to save face, and maybe you want to be appreciated by others too. In addition to that, you were a little tense with scriptwriter Yuan yesterday. You want to prove yourself, don’t you? Maybe under the guise of your emotions you lied and said that you could do something that you actually couldn’t do. Or maybe you underestimated the workload of this?

“All this doesn’t matter. Just talk to us. We won’t blame you.” Shen Jingyi’s gentle hand caressed Tan Mo’s. “You’re still a child, we wouldn’t actually blame you for this.”

Tan Mo looked at Director Liu, and then back at Professor Zhao.

To Shen Jingyi and Yuan Qishan, her reaction clearly meant that she was worried about what Professor Zhao and Director Liu would think about her.

Shen Jingyi even eyed Professor Zhao and Director Liu and nodded. Only then did she look back at Tan Mo. “I do believe that Director Liu and Professor Zhao will understand.”

Tan Mo kept on opening her mouth to speak, but Shen Jingyi had kept on talking and not let her get a word in edgewise.

Well, finally it seemed as if Shen Jingyi had finished talking. A few seconds had even pa.s.sed and she hadn’t opened her mouth to say anything.

Her eyes continued to s.h.i.+ne brightly as she smiled warmly at Tan Mo.

Only now did Tan Mo speak. “Senior Shen, are you finished talking?”

Shen Jingyi was dumbfounded as she heard Tan Mo say, “I wanted to say something just now, but every time I tried to, you interrupted me.

“So it wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk, it’s just that you never gave me the chance to.”

Everyone was completely bowled over by shock.

Shen Jingyi couldn’t say anything.

She sighed. “All right. I’ll stop talking. You can talk now. Go on.”