Chapter 228: Chapter 228: Love Passionately Before the Darkness Comes
For a whole day and night, Su Ran and her company remained unresponsive.
The campus web series she had recently streamed had also succumbed.
A crowd of people sought explanations from her.
When they liked an artist, everything about her was a merit; when they didn’t, they would find all sorts of faults, from her skewed facial value to her rigid acting, which was under much debate. Meanwhile, Jiang Leyi, who played the third female lead, started to gain popularity.
Su Ran’s Weibo account was also overrun, and she herself didn’t dare respond, acting like a turtle retracting into its shell. There were also quite a few netizens lurking around Beijing People’s Hospital, trying to find out the condition of the injured lady.
But the hospital kept a tight lid on things, and some began to spread rumors that the toppled lady had passed away.
The rumors grew more and more intense; some even called the police to have them go to the residential area where Su Ran lived to make arrests.
The specifics of what followed weren’t reported online.
“Huh, it’s been two days, and no heavy hitter has helped Su Ran withdraw the hot search? Da Shachun, is this normal?” Jiang Nanshu asked.
Da Shachun appeared: [Host, this isn’t something for you to worry about. Someone will help her.]
Jiang Nanshu felt that in this book, the female protagonist was the one truly holding a script from hell.
Liang Ciqiu hadn’t even started competing with Lu Qingyan before she was close to being locked up.
Wondering whether Cheng An had awakened and knowing that even if he did his state wouldn’t be great, she surmised he wouldn’t be in any mood to deal with these matters for Su Ran.
Even if Duan Huaiyu had connections with Su Ran, given his current penniless state, he couldn’t save her either.
At this thought, she was a bit curious about how Su Ran would make a comeback.
Hearing the doorbell, Jiang Nanshu opened the door to find a delivery guy wearing a black mask, holding the takeout she had ordered: “Hello, are you Miss Jiang?”
“Mhm.”
“This is your ordered takeout, please sign for it.”
Jiang Nanshu took the pen he offered and signed her name on the delivery receipt.
As she made the final stroke, Jiang Nanshu glanced at the name tag on his chest, which read two characters: [Huang Hui]
He bowed and nodded: “I wish you a pleasant meal.”
Jiang Nanshu watched him with a smiling gaze as he walked away.
Generally speaking, delivery guys weren’t allowed into such highly secured places.
The takeout ordered by Jiang Nanshu would be left at the security kiosk outside, delivered to her doorstep’s outside storage box by the security personnel, where she would collect it herself. This was her first time encountering home delivery.
She had only just moved in two or three hours ago and had already been targeted.
One could only say this person had had his eye on her for a long time.
Seeing that she lived alone, he couldn’t help but come out to survey the terrain, to see if there was anyone else in her house.
Jiang Nanshu looked down at the food he had delivered, and without hesitation, she tossed it into the trash. If he dared to come, Jiang Nanshu wouldn’t mind teaching him a lesson.
The takeout could have been tampered with, so she had no choice but to go out to eat.
There was a high-end buffet restaurant outside the supermarket, where most of the diners were residents of Emperor’s Garden.
Jiang Nanshu had a quick stroll around and, after she had eaten her fill, returned to her home.
That night, Jiang Nanshu was awakened by the sounds of quarreling and smashing.
The woman’s piercing screams, the man’s profanities, mixed with the child’s crying, entwined into an uneven, noisy cacophony of terror in the night.
The screaming turned into sobbing.
Even though separated by a house, Jiang Nanshu could still hear it.
She got out of bed, didn’t turn on the light, but rather drew back the white sheer curtains shielding the glass door, and walked to the balcony. It was one a.m., the night breeze was a bit cool. Jiang Nanshu turned her head to look at the well-lit villa next door; the sounds of smashing continued, but the woman and child’s crying had ceased.
The lights were on in several nearby houses. Perhaps they had heard the commotion from this family, but not one of them came out, or maybe they had grown accustomed to it. After all, the domestic affairs of the wealthy are generally best left unattended.
Jiang Nanshu lifted her hair, which had been tousled by the night breeze, and frowned with dissatisfaction in her eyes. How noisy.
She had been sleeping soundly when she was rudely awakened. Seeing that the noise had ceased, Jiang Nanshu then went back to sleep.
Just one hour into her slumber, the sound of a woman’s crying rose again.
Jiang Nanshu opened her eyes, the deep darkness within them now heavier. Her resentment was denser than a ghost’s.
Finally, morning came.
She got dressed with little enthusiasm and grabbed a quick bite of bread before heading out to Fang Group.
Today, they were to shoot for the “Coral Sea Series” of perfumes.
Their main focus was originally the “Blue Bell,” but upon seeing Jiang Nanshu’s bold aura, Fang Minghe switched to the more challenging “Dried Rose.”
This perfume had top notes of a faint rose aroma, heart notes of subtle citrus, and base notes of restrained musk combined with the scent of dry pine.
Fang Minghe was already in his office early, waiting for Jiang Nanshu. A secretary he had briefed beforehand brought her up.
“Mr. Fang, where will the series be shot?”
Fang Minghe’s gaze swept over her face and he slowly said, “Originally, we wanted to use ballet to promote the pure ‘Blue Bell’ perfume, but now I’m thinking of something else. Besides ballet, what else can she dance?”
“I have a basic understanding of several.”
Fang Minghe didn’t inquire how proficient she was; knowing a bit was enough.
“Then let’s go to the filming site. We’ll have to leave Beijing for Weixi City in the north. There’s a desert there, the location I’ve chosen for shooting. The round trip will take roughly three days. Do you have any issues with that?”
“A business trip, huh?”
There were five days left of her holiday.
Jiang Nanshu hadn’t gone out yet.
It would also be a good chance to avoid her brothers from the Jiang Family during this time. Cheerfully, she agreed, “No problem at all.”
“Let’s go then,” said Fang Minghe as he stood up, picking up his suit jacket that had been resting on the back of his chair. “Do you have any luggage to pack?”
“Yes.”
“Meet at Beijing International Airport in two hours.”
Jiang Nanshu returned to her mansion, packed two dresses, and grabbed her skincare products.
Pulling her suitcase, she flew directly to Weixi City.
The ticket had been bought by Fang Minghe early in the morning, and it was quite unusual that this business tycoon was accompanying her personally.
Weixi City was a small border town in the north, located in the desert and much hotter than Beijing.
When they arrived, it was at sunset.
Instead of the expected windswept sands, there was a sky full of orange and yellow hues, spreading out like a painting.
“Yellow Sand Crossing—a crow flies by with a rose clutched in its beak. The rose petals, eroded by the sandstorm, are mottled and dry as they fall and get buried in the sands. Roses cannot grow in the desert, but the crow carries it across thousands of miles, leaving behind the fragrance of roses. What I want to say is, before this relationship withers, the rose has already declared its affection,” Fang Minghe said, looking towards the horizon’s clouds, speaking indifferently to Jiang Nanshu.
Jiang Nanshu glanced at him sideways.
Fang Minghe continued, “This is the metaphor of the ‘Dried Rose’ perfume. Before darkness falls, please love passionately.”
Before darkness falls, please love passionately.
Jiang Nanshu didn’t quite understand love, but she had grown accustomed to Lu Qingyan.
So when it came to the word “love,” the first person she thought of was Lu Qingyan, not Zhou Yanxu.
Habit is a terrifying thing.
Jiang Nanshu raised an eyebrow with a faint smile and said, “Mr. Fang, it sounds like you have someone you like, given how profound you’re explaining the perfume’s metaphor.”
Fang Minghe was taken aback before he also smiled, “That’s why it’s called Dried Rose. The blooming period has passed, the rose is withered, it’s an impossibility.”