The soundproof carpet in the hallway of Xiaozhua Agency swallowed all extraneous noise, leaving only the low hum of the central air conditioning, like the breathing of some giant creature in deep slumber.
Inside Su Yuqing’s private office, however, the air was stagnant, like the surface of the sea before a storm.
She had just finished signing the last document of Bai Wanxue’s (stage name pending) trainee contract.
The scratching sound of the pen nib against the paper was the only clear rhythm in this silence.
The ink was still wet.
That thin folder seemed to bear the weight of a thousand pounds, pressing against her fingertips.
“Senior, all the onboarding procedures are basically complete now.”
Sakura Onodera’s voice, carrying a barely detectable note of excitement, broke the silence.
She stood in front of the desk, her pink hair tips swaying slightly with her light movements, her bright eyes fixed on Bai Wanxue, who sat quietly on a leather swivel chair to the side.
“See… can I take Wanxue to our Makeup and Clothing Departments now? Everyone is eager and ready to do a preliminary image positioning for her!”
Su Yuqing lifted her eyes from the documents, rubbing her temples, sore from long hours of reviewing clauses.
She didn’t answer immediately.
Her gaze first went over the towering stacks of files, out the bright, clean window—the city operated normally under the sun, a steady flow of traffic, starkly out of place with the surreal atmosphere inside.
Then, her eyes slowly moved back to Xiao Ying’s expectant face, her brow slightly furrowed with a sense of unbelievable absurdity.
“But… she hasn’t even come out of the Newbie Training Camp yet. She hasn’t taken a single basic vocal or dance class. And you’re all… in such a frantic hurry to start preparing her official stage performance looks? Isn’t that a bit… too eager?”
This wasn’t procedure, and it certainly wasn’t common sense.
A newcomer, especially a “connected hire” like Bai Wanxue with a mysterious background and an empty parachute drop, usually needed a long period of evaluation and training before determining if she was worth the resources for image packaging.
Xiao Ying seemed to have anticipated this question.
She leaned in closer, lowered her voice, her face showing a mysterious “you know” expression mixed with a sense of shared pride and excitement.
“No choice~ This was personally decided by Manager Huang upstairs! Special circumstances, special handling! And I heard… even the Chairman himself didn’t express any objection to ‘opening a little backdoor’ in the process for Wanxue. In fact, he seemed quite pleased about it.”
She blinked, hinting at the possible “powerful push” behind Bai Wanxue that even Su Yuqing, as her manager, might not be fully aware of.
“This…”
Su Yuqing’s throat tightened, feeling as if she had swallowed a block of ice, the chill plummeting from her throat straight to the pit of her stomach.
The Board of Directors’ tacit approval, Manager Huang’s active push… all of this carried an unusual scent.
What did they see in Bai Wanxue?
Just that flawless face and that strange, eye-catching aura?
Or… had they sensed something deeper, something even she herself couldn’t confirm?
“Ah, Senior! Why are you still frowning like that?”
Xiao Ying looked at Su Yuqing’s increasingly grave expression, tilting her head in confusion.
“Isn’t this a huge piece of good news? This just proves that all the higher-ups at Xiaozhua absolutely, absolutely recognize your eye for talent! You’re the Ace Manager who discovered Zhiai-chan, and now you’ve found a potential star like Wanxue! It shows your ‘talent scout’ radar is still spot-on!”
She tried to use a light tone to dissolve Su Yuqing’s worries.
Su Yuqing looked at Xiao Ying’s innocent, excited face, a complex mix of emotions churning inside her.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but felt there was no place to start.
After all, those bizarre details hidden beneath the glamorous surface—the sudden appearance, the perfect yet blank resume, the non-human quality identical to Zhi Ai’s, that inexplicable kiss in the office that night and the disappearing cat ears that followed… these suspicions, like undercurrents, how could she confide them to this junior who only thought about creating new idols?
It ultimately dissolved into an extremely soft sigh.
She shook her head, her tone carrying a deep weariness and a caution beyond her years.
“Tsk, Xiao Ying… in this world, some things are far, far less simple than you imagine—”
She paused, waving her hand as if to dispel some invisible gloom.
“Ah, forget it, forget it. It’s too early to talk to you about this now. Xiao Ying, you go back to your department and report in first. Calm everyone’s eager mood. Wanxue… I’ll bring her over to you myself a little later. There are some things I need to discuss with her alone.”
Although somewhat puzzled, Xiao Ying nodded obediently.
“Alright, but Senior, please hurry! Everyone is waiting!”
She turned and bounced towards the door.
As her hand grasped the doorknob, she suddenly seemed to remember something, her movements halting.
She whipped her head around, her face instantly switching to an expression mixing shock, worry, and the exaggerated look of “I’ve discovered a big secret.”
Her finger trembled as she pointed at Su Yuqing, then at the quietly sitting Bai Wanxue, her voice suddenly rising:
“So… so! Senior! You, you’re keeping Wanxue alone in the office again… what exactly do you want to do?! Ah! Could it be…!?”
Her imagination had clearly veered into some indescribable direction.
Combining the previously witnessed “ambiguous” scene with Su Yuqing’s current request for a “private talk,” a terrifying conjecture took shape in her mind.
“Senior! Don’t you know doing this is really unfair to Zhiai-chan! And, and if you keep ‘pulling hidden rules’ on newcomers and messing around like this… sooner or later, you’ll get arrested by the police—!”
Su Yuqing was so angered by this sudden accusation she almost fainted, her face flushing red then pale.
She grabbed an empty schedule book from the desk, pretending to throw it.
“Get out of here, Xiao Ying! What kind of乱七八糟 nonsense are you thinking about all day?! Get back to work right now!”
Bang!
The office door was pulled shut from the outside by Xiao Ying, cutting off her final warning of “Senior, you need to rein it in before it’s too late!”
The world finally returned to silence, leaving only Su Yuqing’s heavy breathing and the faint sound of the swivel chair turning from Bai Wanxue’s direction.
Su Yuqing slumped weakly back into her chair, slowly loosening her fingers, which had turned white from gripping the edge of the desk.
It took immense self-control to suppress the impulse to chase after Xiao Ying, drag her back, and give her a proper “education.”
After taking a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down, she finally turned her gaze back to the other person in the office—or rather, the other being.
Bai Wanxue remained seated steadily in that large computer chair, seemingly oblivious to all the external disturbances.
She wore a simple white dress today, her silver-gray hair falling softly over her shoulders.
Her pale red eyes were pure like two clear pools, blinking as she stared unwaveringly at Su Yuqing, her face expressionless, like an exquisitely carved doll.
Sunlight filtered through the blinds, casting dappled shadows on her, adding to the sense of unreality.
“Master.”
She suddenly spoke, her voice ethereal, breaking the silence.
“That pink-haired older sister, as soon as she saw Wanxue today, kept quietly asking me… if I needed any ‘legal assistance’ or similar questions.”
At this point, she tilted her head slightly, revealing a somewhat puzzled expression.
“It’s just a pity, no matter how much Wanxue tried to explain to her, saying Master treats Wanxue very well and hasn’t done anything bad… she still seemed to think Wanxue was afraid or being threatened, that Wanxue was lying. Meow.”
Listening to her straightforward retelling, a vein throbbed at Su Yuqing’s temple.
She walked behind her desk and sat down heavily, letting out an annoyed snort.
“To put it bluntly, isn’t all of this your own fault? If it weren’t for that day… in the office, when you suddenly, suddenly… did that with me.”
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