Chapter 118 – In Name Only (1)

The incident that had occurred in Blue Hall Entertainment President’s office that morning had already spread throughout the company. Although, while almost everyone knew about it, nobody dared to talk about it.

In the end, Lan Jinyao didn’t sign the termination contract. That morning, after Jiang and Fu Bainian were pulled apart, Lan Jinyao cried and threw the contract into the paper shredder. The contract was destroyed in front of Fu Bainian. Later, Jiang Cheng had left with bruises on his face. Before he’d left though, Lan Jinyao noticed that his face was utterly gloomy.

But, even so, he still said to Lan Jinyao, “I can coordinate with your schedule, and I’ll keep the female lead role for you. However, I hope that you can solve this problem as soon as possible, don’t let the production team wait for you for too long.”

At that time, Lan Jinyao was embraced Fu Bainian and was crying non-stop, so she barely heard those words.

After that, with the excuse of work, Fu Bainian had someone lead her out of the office.

That night, Fu Bainian worked until very late before returning home. When he came back, Lan Jinyao had already fallen asleep, and there wasn’t even the most basic of exchanges between them. It was when Lan Jinyao woke up the next morning that she found that something was wrong. Fu Bainian had returned home, but he’d stayed in the guest room that night.

During breakfast, Fu Bainian said to her, “Go! If you want to go, go!”

When Fu Bainian said these words, his eyes avoided looking at her, and his tone was incredibly dull. Lan Jinyao noticed this, but she didn’t think about it too much. She’d always thought that time will smooth everything and that the relationship between them would get better.

However, what Lan Jinyao didn’t realise was that time could not only smooth down the conflicts between people but that it could also make some matters worse.

And, at that time, she could only helplessly watch as the distance between them grew wider.

On Monday morning, Li Qi came to pick her up. Once Lan Jinyao was settled in the car, he asked her, “Did President Fu consent? Last time it turned into a disaster, so I didn’t think that you would still be so unswerving in doing what you want to do. Although I admire your courage, is it really alright doing this?”

Xiaolin also hesitantly asked, “Does this affect the feelings between husband and wife?”

Lan Jinyao groaned as she clutched her head. “Wasn’t it already affected? Fu Bainian now completely ignores me.”

Although Fu Bainian was very intimate at night when he would tuck her quilt around her, it was only a dream. After waking up, Fu Bainian would treat her as if she was merely air.

“Meimei, only you can do it. You’re so amazing, climbing up like this. If it was me, I’m sure I wouldn’t dare. If my Xiaoyun told me to resign, I wouldn’t say anything and just immediately submit a resignation letter,” Li Qi said earnestly to her.

Xiaolin smiled sweetly before she said smugly, “That’s because Brother Li isn’t daring enough, but Sister Mei is very brave.”

Li Qi stuck up a finger and shook it. “No, it’s not because I’m too timid, but because I am so affectionate that I’m willing to do anything for my love; including losing my job. Of course, everyone’s values and worldviews are different. This can’t be generalised as it depends on the person, right?”

Xiaolin nodded. “So, that’s how it is!”

After listening to this, Lan Jinyao looked absent-minded, and she murmured, “Is that really so?”

Fu Bainian cared too much about those things because he was too affectionate, while she deemed those things as less important and didn’t let them affect the feelings between the two of them. So, did this mean that she didn’t love him deeply enough?

Ten minutes later, the van stopped outside the River Group Corporation building.

Seeing her lost in thought, Li Qi shook his hand in front of her eyes. “What’s wrong? You wouldn’t be just realising all this and don’t want to go in, right?”

“It’s nothing! Let’s go!” It was just that she didn’t know whether Shen Wei’an had come yet. If Shen Wei’an was also here, she estimated that that woman’s complexion certainly wouldn’t look any better. She’d been oppressed right after she’d jumped to River Group Corporation, so Shen Wei’an must be very angry right now!

Li Qi hummed in response and motioned for Xiaolin to quickly follow her, while he stood on the same spot and dialled Fu Bainian’s phone.

“President Fu, Meimei has gone in. Are you really letting her participate in the filming of the TV series?”

A man’s light ‘hmm’ was heard through the phone.

Li Qi asked again, “But, what about the drama our company invested in? Is it going to be on left hold, or are we looking for another candidate?”

“Proceed according to the plan. The female lead spot will be left vacant as I have someone else in mind for it.”

“Alright!”

After hanging up the phone, Li Qi frowned in puzzlement.

President Fu has someone else in mind? Why didn’t he know about this?

In the President’s office, after hanging up the call, Fu Bainian stared at his phone screen, lost in thought as he received a text message from Fu Changning.

“Brother, if you really love Sis-in-law, then I don’t think you need to hold onto things so tightly, just relax, and maybe the conflict between the both of you won’t intensify. If it doesn’t work, then just let go, I don’t want to see you suffering.”

Let go? How can that be possible?!

Since I don’t want to let you suffer, then I will bear all the pain alone!

Fu Bainian would always remember that night when he was lying in that locked room filled with secrets. While he was immersed in his sorrow, his wife was just outside the door, listening to the movements inside.

The next day he’d run out after her, but he didn’t manage to catch up with her. He’d returned home, only to find that the bedroom door was locked. She hadn’t gone out yet. At that moment, he’d felt a pain similar to countless needles piercing his heart. So, this how it felt to be shut out by your loved ones?

It was he who’d hurt Lan Jinyao’s heart and shattered it into pieces.

Since she wanted to do the drama, he would let her do it. Fu Bainian secretly vowed in his heart that he would never force her again. He would wait for her to willingly return to his side.

Changning was right; if he continued like this, then no matter how thick the line keeping them together was, it would eventually snap. He should slowly learn to relax a little bit so that things wouldn’t be so painful for both of them.

After a long time, Fu Bainian then dialled the inner line to let Qian Ran call Shen Yu to come to his office.

Shen Yu stepped into the office with a piece of information in his hands. It was a new TV drama that Fu Bainian had invested in. The original female lead was supposed to be Lan Jinyao, but now he’d decided to change it to someone else.