CHAPTER 33 (PART 1)

Jiang Su had barely finished brushing off Cheng Yue when she ran into Xu Dazhi’s car at the entrance.

He was driving a small Jetta, the window rolled down as he stuck his head out. “Over here, over here!”

At the same time, Zhao Qiuying had just come downstairs with Xuan Wen and the others. He had first noticed Cheng Yue’s car and found it strange. Then, when he turned his head, he spotted Jiang Su.

Was he inviting her to dinner? To congratulate her on making the group? Would she accept or refuse?

What kind of excuse should he come up with to make it harder for her to refuse?

Just as those thoughts flashed through Zhao Qiuying’s mind, he saw Jiang Su open the car door, get in, and within seconds, the car sped off.

“Who picked up Jiang Su?” Yelena asked.

“Seems to be her agent.”

“Oh.” She paused for a moment and couldn’t help but add, “Someone should remind her. She’s young and new to the industry—she doesn’t know how deep the waters run yet. She better not get tricked…”

Jiang N opened his mouth. “Alright, I’ll—”

Zhao Qiuying quickly interrupted, “I’ll talk to her.”

The others were briefly surprised. They turned to look at him. “Alright then… you go ahead.”

Xuan Wen interjected, “That was Mr. Cheng’s car, right?”

“Seems like it… I remember hearing someone mention that license plate number before,” Yelena replied. “It’s pretty strange—why would Mr. Cheng show up today?”

Zhao Qiuying found it rather strange.

Dong Jiayu was strange. Cheng Yue was strange. Even Jiang Su, standing in front of Cheng Yue, had become strange…

Zhao Qiuying let out a soft sigh, suddenly feeling a deep sense of confusion—perhaps he didn’t understand Jiang Su at all.

Meanwhile, Jiang Su got into the car and immediately lowered her head to check her messages.

Her inbox and WeChat were almost overflowing.

Countless greetings and congratulations—something she had never experienced before.

After all, no matter how well she mastered her lessons, her teachers never praised her. As for her peers, they only watched her with wary eyes, because if they were ever assigned the same mission, it was a matter of survival—either she succeeded, or they did.

Between everyone, there was only cold, transactional interaction and a constant sense of blood-scented vigilance.

Jiang Su’s fingers absentmindedly scrolled across the screen before she finally settled on a uniform response: “Thank you.”

Xu Dazhi couldn’t help but glance back at her. Seeing that she was still looking down at her phone, he didn’t dare show any negligence. He opened his mouth and said, “I didn’t call Yu Xinyan and the others. They all had things to do. So, I just came to pick you up.”

Xu Dazhi wasn’t quite sure what kind of relationship Jiang Su had with Yu Xinyan.

But just a few days ago, the company had been talking about how Han Jin had made a huge fool of himself during the third public performance. His name was on the trending list for two days straight—not just being mocked, but also with multiple exposés about his hookups, leaving his manager scrambling to put out fires.

Online rumors claimed that Jiang Su had done it on purpose to get revenge for Yu Xinyan.

When the company saw this, several higher-ups sighed, saying they had underestimated Jiang Su. She was too capable—so much so that they weren’t sure if they could even control her in the future…

Jiang Su didn’t look up as she replied, “Mm. Take me to Qiuting Yue.”

Xu Dazhi chuckled awkwardly. “Haha, I was actually thinking of treating you to a meal.”

He had assumed she was just a temporary stand-in, but who would have thought that she’d end up skyrocketing his career?

Jiang Su paused and asked, “What are we eating?”

Xu Dazhi grinned. “It’s a popular restaurant, specializes in spicy hot pot. I reserved a table in advance.”

Jiang Su licked her lips. “Then it must be really good.”

“Yeah, it’s got five-star reviews.”

Hearing that, Jiang Su abandoned her plans to go to Qiuting Yue and had Xu Dazhi drive straight to the restaurant instead.

Female celebrities usually had to maintain strict control over their figures, especially since Jiang Su had so many upcoming appearances.

Xu Dazhi was a little nervous for her but also couldn’t help feeling excited.

He handed her a cap and a face mask, making sure she was properly disguised before leading her into the restaurant. He whispered, “This is probably the only time I can take you here. After this, it won’t be possible anymore…”

Xu Dazhi kept up with the news online. Previously, he’d seen an interview where Yu Xinyan mentioned that Jiang Su was really easy to please—just one meal at Haidilao was enough to make her happy.

At the time, the internet was full of jokes about it: What kind of food had Jiang Su been eating before, for her to be this easy to satisfy?

Xu Dazhi had thought they were exaggerating.

But now, watching Jiang Su eat—calm, graceful, yet maintaining an impressive speed—he started to believe it.

From the moment they sat down, he hadn’t heard her complain about a single dish.

As he stared at her, another thought crossed his mind—she was only nineteen, and she had already done so many incredible things…

Xu Dazhi chuckled and said, “Since you train every day, your energy expenditure is high. You don’t need to be too strict with your diet. Next month, I’ll have my mom send over some spicy chili flakes for you. You can mix them with anything—it’ll taste great and keep things flavorful for you.”

“You might still be growing, right? I’ll bring you some free-range eggs too…”

Jiang Su paused and looked up at Xu Dazhi.

That was strange.

The way he spoke to her felt like casual family chatter—something she had never experienced before.

This world was so new to her…

Xu Dazhi kept talking in a relaxed tone, “The cold noodles and flatbread from my hometown are pretty good too…”

He was her manager.

Their relationship was one of mutual benefit.

Jiang Su finally lowered her guard, responding softly, “Mm, okay.”

After they finished eating, Xu Dazhi drove her home.

As he watched her go upstairs, his heart swelled with a motherly sense of affection. He thought to himself—she wasn’t as scary as the higher-ups made her out to be. Where was the fierceness they talked about? She was just a young girl.

Before long, their meal at the spicy hot pot restaurant was photographed and uploaded online.

This sparked another wave of reactions from netizens.

[Jiang Su debuted in first place, and her reward to herself is… this?]

[Baby, eat something better!]

After expressing their emotions, fans felt the need to take action. They immediately started subscribing to FIGARO and GQ magazines.

More money for their girl!

So she could eat better!

Back at the company, Xu Dazhi got praised by the director for becoming more competent. He was a little confused about it, though.

Meanwhile, though the group had officially debuted, the boss of Weiguang Platform still wasn’t at ease.

He was still thinking about how Cheng Yue had mocked Ding Xuan the previous day. He knew that aside from her own agency, Ding Xuan also had Lion Entertainment backing her. So, considering everything… she really might have tried rigging the votes—and in an embarrassingly obvious way, at that.

His assistant asked, “Should we investigate? And if we do find something, what then?”

“Of course, we investigate. We need to get to the bottom of this and make it public—completely expose it! Otherwise, what would Mr. Cheng think of me?”

“And what about Ding Xuan…?”

“Who cares about her?”

With clear orders, his subordinates wasted no time launching an investigation.

Ding Xuan had no idea. At that moment, she was still trying to figure out what was going on with Dong Jiayu.

By the third day—

The scandal surrounding Dong Jiayu had already spiraled into a full-blown disaster online.

Her fans were still waving the lawyer’s letter around, screaming themselves hoarse in her defense. But by now, even her own agency stepping in couldn’t do much to change the situation.

The studio couldn’t just go into the fan group and announce: their beloved Best Actress Dong was no longer who she used to be, she had fallen out of favor with the Cheng Corporation, and they couldn’t act recklessly anymore…

The fans still believed this was just a prelude to their idol’s grand comeback.

That this was all just part of stirring up a hot topic.

And so, things spiraled further out of control.

Dong Jiayu didn’t dare consult Sister Wang anymore. She had spent years basking in the admiration of envious gazes—how could she bear to hear Sister Wang say things like: “You’re finished.” “Your methods are too foolish.” “Jiang Su will replace you!”

She hated hearing those words.

So, while Sister Wang was busy, Dong Jiayu took only a small assistant with her and quietly drove to see Cheng’s mother.

“I did nothing wrong,” Dong Jiayu said coldly.

Jiang Su was too beautiful—she truly had the potential to threaten her current position! So making a move against her was the right decision! The only mistake… was that Zhao Qiuying just had to step in and save Jiang Su that day. Jiang Su must have recognized him, and that’s why she abandoned the idea of ending her life!

The assistant hadn’t expected that in just this short time, Best Actress Dong’s supposedly confident comeback would come to such an abrupt end.

She hesitated, then murmured, “Yes… You’re right.”

Meanwhile, Dong Jiayu was led inside by a servant.

At the same time, the behind-the-scenes livestream of Sun & Moon Girls was back online.

The ten girls had packed their luggage and were now riding the production team’s chartered bus, heading toward the Third Ring.

[Are they moving into a shared dorm?]

[Ahhh, can’t wait for the group’s reality show!]

[What the—?!]

The comments exploded in shock.

[You’re telling me this is a dormitory?!]

[Isn’t this a Donghao Real Estate villa?! This area is crazy expensive!]

[This place is huge, there’s even a smaller villa next to it—it has a main and auxiliary building?!]

[It looks like a castle.]

[And it’s by a lake! The view is insane!]

[Damn, do rich people’s sunrooms always have this much glass? True panoramic luxury!]

[Wait… is it just me, or does that smaller villa next to it look really familiar? Didn’t Dong Jiayu live there before?]

[???]

The chat quickly veered off-topic.

Meanwhile, on camera, the girls were still standing there, too stunned to react.

The chief director chuckled, “This villa was personally provided by Mr. Cheng. The main and auxiliary buildings together include eleven bedrooms, a private cinema, and an indoor swimming pool…”

Even as he listed the features, he couldn’t help but feel envious himself.

This wasn’t a place just anyone could afford.

“Wow…”

“Wuwuwu, so much money. Thank you, Mr. Cheng!” The more socially adept ones were already facing the camera, expressing their gratitude.

Jiang Su’s gaze flickered slightly, but she said nothing.

Would Cheng Yue really be so kind?

No, he wouldn’t.

If she had to guess, Dong Jiayu must have desperately wanted to live in that main building…

“Alright, the first-place winner gets to pick first,” the director’s voice interrupted Jiang Su’s thoughts.

All at once, the other girls turned to look at her with envious eyes.

Only Ding Xuan’s gaze held something different—resentment.

She had fought so hard for votes because she understood better than anyone: the first-place winner would always be miles ahead of the rest.

Jiang Su noticed Ding Xuan’s stare but didn’t acknowledge it. Without hesitation, she turned and walked straight into the villa.

Her method of choosing a room was straightforward—she simply took the largest bedroom in the main building.

The livestream chat was full of reactions:

[Damn, this bedroom is bigger than my entire house.]

[The Cheng Corporation is loaded.]

[No wonder Dong Jiayu keeps using their name. Tsk.]

At that moment, Dong Jiayu happened to see the comments, and her expression instantly twisted.

A maid walked over and placed a cup of tea in front of her, whispering, “Madam isn’t feeling well and hasn’t gotten up yet.”

Dong Jiayu composed herself. “Alright, no problem.”

Once the maid left, she turned her gaze back to her phone screen.

She hadn’t wanted to see Jiang Su again.

But she thought of how she had used her twenty extra points to push Ding Xuan into the group. Surely Jiang Su would be annoyed by that, right? That thought alone made Dong Jiayu feel a little better, so she opened the livestream…