Chapter 11

A few girls were completely panicking. They weren’t reckless, after all, they were just high school students.

When they first borrowed the money, they didn’t think that far ahead. It was really just for an emergency, and at first, they even considered how to save up to pay it back.

But borrowing the money was too easy, and Jiang Muti never mentioned whether it should be repaid or not. People who hadn’t established a correct sense of spending or self-discipline naturally took this one-sided contribution as a given.

Then, year after year, the amount kept adding up. When they came to their senses, they realized it had already exceeded what their age could reasonably repay.

Sounds a bit familiar, right? Just like borrowing/loaning money in college. But with borrowing/loaning, there are monthly bill statements. However, the benefits gained from Jiang Muti were free from any worries.

Because they were friends!

The girls flinched when she suddenly raised her voice and said, “Time to pay up!”

All three of them came from ordinary families, and their daily pocket money was just at the average level for their age. Having tens of thousands in debt at this time was nothing short of astronomical for them.

The girl standing at the front forced a smile, but the heavy pressure made her smile stiff and unnatural.

She said in a somewhat flattering tone, “Muti, why are you suddenly bringing this up?” She no longer dared to maintain the dominant position she had earlier.

Then she added, “We don’t have that much money right now, especially since we’re good friends, right? We aren’t planning to not pay you back, so why make the atmosphere so tense all of a sudden?”

The other two girls picked up on what she said, “Exactly, we’ve mentioned repaying before, and didn’t you say it wasn’t urgent? Now you’re suddenly rushing us, and we weren’t prepared.”

Jiang Muti thought for a moment. It seemed that was true, they hadn’t never mentioned paying back the money.

But at the end of the month, when they were all broke, they would come up with a few dozen yuan, pretending to be struggling but still remembering to pay her back.

Given the original owner’s anxiety and lack of regard for money, they might even blame themselves for pushing their friends like this over a small sum.

It was already kind of a favor to them that she didn’t ask them for emergency funds, so how would she bring up repaying the money?

Thus, the other side grew increasingly comfortable with the debt, and it stretched on indefinitely.

Jiang Muti gave off an expression that seemed to say, “I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. The truth is, I’ve also been struggling lately.”

“You’ve been saying this for two years. If I hadn’t run into difficulties, I wouldn’t have even mentioned it. Isn’t that already showing enough generosity?”

“Anyone who comes to judge this situation wouldn’t say I’m being aggressive. Alright, enough with these words. Who’s coming over to settle the bill?”

The three girls were overwhelmed by the huge debt, gasping for breath. If they were clear-headed right now, they would realize that Jiang Muti’s words mirrored the style of how they had spoken to the original owner.

Forceful, speaking on her own, emotionally blackmailing their friendship, then impatiently making a final decision to end the conversation. As the financial backer of their little group, Jiang Muti had always been the one without a voice.

One of the girls couldn’t help but snap, “Your family’s so rich, why say you’re struggling? You don’t have cash, but don’t you think your family could just give you whatever you want?”

“Besides, these things aren’t even necessary for you right now. You’d rather take them home and throw them away than let us struggle. And you say it’s not intentional?”

Her voice was so loud that nearby store staff and customers were startled and looked over.

The three girls felt embarrassed and didn’t speak immediately, and the store, after a brief moment of silence, returned to its usual rhythm.

But when they turned around, they saw Jiang Muti’s expression: a look of cold, casual disdain, her lips slightly curling in contempt, just like that day when she was on the stairs.

She spoke, her voice playful and cold: “Oh? By your logic, are you here to judge whether my consumption motivations are normal?”

“My family is rich. I don’t need to buy things outside. If I can’t wear these clothes, they’ll just end up in the trash anyway.”

“And so what? No matter how many reasons there are, if I’m happy, it all gets dismissed in an instant.”

“Right now, I’m simply using the money I lent out to satisfy my own reasonable consumption needs, and it’s perfectly justifiable both legally and morally.”

“You three—” She raised an eyebrow, her tone scornful, “Do you really think you have any right to criticize that?”

The three girls felt a hot flush on their faces and were about to argue.

But Jiang Muti was already impatient and didn’t want to waste any more time with them: “Or is it that you can’t repay? In that case, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll have to contact your parents. After all, my family’s money didn’t come from nowhere.”

The three girls immediately turned pale and hurriedly pulled her aside, saying, “No, don’t tell my parents!”

If their parents found out about this, they would definitely be beaten senseless. Who could imagine that their well-behaved, innocent daughters, who were still in their teens, had racked up so much debt outside?

But surprisingly, the once-aggressive Jiang Muti suddenly became much easier to talk to. She smiled and said, “Alright! We’re friends, so of course, I won’t make things too hard for you.”

“But we’re about to graduate, and in less than a year, we’ll be going our separate ways. You won’t be able to pay this back in that time, right? So, let’s write an IOU and you can pay me back slowly.”

Seeing that she wasn’t joking, and fearing that she might actually go tell their parents or teachers, which would ruin them, the girls felt cornered.

It would have been impossible to ask them to sign such a huge debt note earlier, but given that this seemed like a worse outcome, the option didn’t seem so hard to accept now.

Although, in reality, telling their parents was the best course of action.

Jiang Muti took the IOUs from the three girls. Actually, the money didn’t matter much to her. The goal of pushing them into this position was simply because she had known the original owner and the others for so long.

They had often made fun of her, and they likely had embarrassing videos and photos of her stored away.

Jiang Muti intended to help the original owner transform and start a new life, so she couldn’t allow these potential future threats to keep popping up and annoying her.

In this day and age, with information so easily accessible, you can never be sure that something can be completely erased. Having leverage over someone is useful for preventing any future backstabbing.

Of course, by taking the initiative and anticipating what might go wrong, she had learned from her past life how to protect billions of assets from so many greedy, opportunistic people.

So much money, it was enough to tempt people to risk breaking the law. Jiang Muti could win in the end simply by being meticulous and always considering the worst-case scenario.

After dealing with them, Jiang Muti didn’t rush back home.

Since her diet plan was already in full swing, she didn’t need the trainer to come to her house every day anymore, two or three times a week was enough. After all, Jiang Muti wasn’t the type to be lazy just because no one was watching.

Her trainer, named Marco, was a stylish mixed-race handsome guy with a humorous personality, and they got along well.

Although Marco was young, he was highly professional and well-known in the industry. He had wealthy clients like Jiang Muti and also owned a fairly large private gym.

Truly young and successful.

Jiang Muti remembered him mentioning last week that he had opened a branch near her school’s commercial area. Since he was already in the area, she decided to visit his gym.

Just at that moment, Marco was at the new gym. When he saw Jiang Muti come to show support, he was quite pleased.

He personally gave Jiang Muti a tour of the place, and the two of them chatted while handling the equipment.

Jiang Muti was impressed by Marco’s sense of business. The place was both unique and stylish, with the air of a bustling, successful environment that hit you as soon as you walked in—every breath felt like a test for the souls of the introverted.

The men and women coming and going, with either fit or stunning physiques, made Jiang Muti realize that Marco wasn’t just running a gym, but rather creating a utopia for the successful.

Want to join this paradise? Want to be surrounded by beautiful men and women and become one of them?

How about fitness and swimming?

When Jiang Muti said this, she almost felt a bit disoriented, but when she was about to leave the gym, she saw someone coming out of the elevator and walking straight into a studio across the hallway.

Out of principle, she had been secretly admiring this person for two years. Jiang Muti was well aware of Qiao Yuqi’s character, but he left a deep impression, and she recognized him from his back immediately.

Curious, she asked Marco, who had walked her out, “What’s that place across the hall?”

Marco glanced up, then scoffed, “An entertainment company. They’re always signing young people who don’t know the business.”

“In reality, they don’t have many resources, but they have plenty of conditions. If you really want to develop in this industry, signing with a company like that is the end.”

He continued, “They won’t care about your long-term development. They just want young, attractive people to work hard while their looks last, taking advantage of their prime years to rake in money. They’re just consuming capital and have no real prospects of nurturing talent.”

Jiang Muti thought for a moment. In the original story, the timeline quickly jumped several years ahead, by which time Qiao Yuqi had become a huge star, famous everywhere.

Novels that create fantasies never reveal the harsh and cruel side. It seemed that even if Qiao Yuqi became powerful and glamorous years later, his journey to stardom wasn’t smooth from the start.

But that wasn’t her concern. Whether he took a wrong path or signed a contract that ruined his future due to inexperience, it was no longer relevant to her. Instead of thinking about that, she might as well focus on what to have for dinner tonight.

Jiang Muti had already taken the elevator down and walked a good distance away from the building.

But by the time she returned there, Jiang Muti could only find one excuse for her reckless behavior.

It was simply that her recent dinners had been so dull, so she couldn’t help but think about Qiao Yuqi.

The issue was that it wasn’t something that could be ignored, and before she knew it, she had done something foolish.

But now that she was back, Jiang Muti felt she had to make the most of the opportunity. If she let it slide without gaining any advantage, how could she ever hold her head up again if labeled as a saint?

So, she first went to Marco, explained things to him, and then turned around to push open the door to the studio.

—

Qiao Yuqi frowned as he looked at the contract on the table. He had submitted his work to several companies, but most of them hadn’t even responded.

A few companies that had replied didn’t meet his expectations, but he still went to listen to their offers.

Whether or not he would sign was another matter. He wasn’t going to miss any opportunity to learn more about the industry’s rules.

Other companies had followed standard procedures. Although most of them tried to persuade him to take a different path after seeing his appearance, everything had seemed normal.

But this company was different. As soon as he arrived, they didn’t provide any introduction to the company or any specifics about plans for newcomers.

They just slapped a contract on the coffee table. After reading it, Qiao Yuqi saw that it was full of exploitative terms. He immediately closed the paper and was ready to leave.

But getting out wasn’t as easy as getting in—several men stood blocking the door.

“Leaving is fine, but you need to sign first.”

He didn’t expect that a studio in such a prosperous, respectable part of the city would turn out to be like this. The situation made it clear that today wasn’t going to end with just a signature.

This was obviously not the first time they had done this, but the fact that they had been able to get away with it for so long meant that the people who had been taken advantage of before hadn’t reported them to the authorities.

Why hadn’t they reported it? Qiao Yuqi thought of a few possible reasons, and his heart sank.

Just as they were facing off, the door suddenly swung open.

Everyone saw a chubby girl walk in, dressed in a school uniform that looked like something a gigolo would wear, clearly from the same school.

Seeing an outsider enter, they were about to chase her off and keep her from running around and saying nonsense.

But she just walked over and sat down next to the gigolo, apologizing to everyone around her: “Sorry, sorry, I’m late.”

“Earlier on the phone, I might not have made the situation clear. We’re a duo, planning to debut together. If you’re going to sign him, you’ll have to sign me too.”

The group, who had been ready to make a move, were stunned upon hearing this.

To be honest, they weren’t good people. They had coerced many naive young people, so they had seen all sorts of reactions.

But this bizarre combination was a first.

The leader, who seemed to be in charge, gave Qiao Yuqi a complicated look and said, “Kid, are you into some weird taste or is your brain just messed up? You’re actually willing to debut with someone like her? What do you think the entertainment industry is?”

Qiao Yuqi didn’t even know how to respond anymore.