Chapter 41: Workplace Turbulence and Friends’ Dilemma

Chen Jingming was somewhat amused by Su Ran's words. After all, he needed Su Ran's help. After a moment of silence, he slowed down his tone and said, "GI changed the shooting date temporarily. I was also very annoyed, but what can we do? We can't make the relationship with them awkward. There are many shopping malls where they can choose to set up counters, but it is too difficult for us to find the eighth international first-line brand to settle in. Alas, people are in the rivers and lakes, and they have no choice but to follow the situation. Su Ran, if you want to go higher and further on this road in the workplace, you must keep these four words, patience and compromise, in mind." Chen Jingming's words made Su Ran embarrassed to continue to get angry. In fact, Chen Jingming is a good boss. Su Ran has been taken care of by him for more than two years in the company. It's just that he was not very motivated before. Su Ran didn't want to make Chen Jingming too embarrassed. He understood Chen Jingming's difficulties and the interests of this matter. After a long silence, he said to Chen Jingming: "I'll contact her, but the day after tomorrow is the 10th. Time is so tight, I can't guarantee whether I can coordinate the schedule." Chen Jingming rubbed his temple tiredly and said: "Try to communicate. Tell her that if she can participate in the filming on the 10th, I am willing to pay three times the labor fee as compensation." Su Ran fell silent again. He deeply realized how difficult it was for Chen Jingming. The company's senior management must have put him under tremendous pressure in this incident. Chen Jingming is different from himself. He is already in this position and has too many things to consider. He is just a grassroots employee. If he is not satisfied with his work, he can just change companies and start over. Perhaps this is the cruel reality of the workplace. Everyone is struggling in their own position. After leaving Chen Jingming's office, Su Ran called Le Yao with mixed feelings. Le Yao seemed to be still asleep. The phone rang for a long time before she answered it dazedly: "Hello, Su Ran, why are you calling me at this time?"

"Are you still asleep?" Su Ran asked.

"Well, there were two night scenes last night. We shot almost all night. I'm so sleepy." Le Yao yawned and asked, "Do you have something to talk to me about?"

Su Ran was a little embarrassed to speak. After hesitating for a long time, he said, "GI's shooting plan has been adjusted. It has been moved forward to the 10th, which is the day after tomorrow. Do you think you can coordinate your time?"

Le Yao was silent on the other end of the phone, and this silence was enough to show how difficult this matter was for her. She had already applied to the crew for leave on the 15th. The crew must have made corresponding adjustments to the shooting plan based on her leave. This change will involve many other actors. If it is adjusted now, other actors will definitely have great opinions.

"I'll go to the director and try. I'll let you know as soon as I can coordinate it." Le Yao said to Su Ran.

"Well, I'm really sorry this time." Su Ran said.

Le Yao smiled and said, "Why are you talking about this? If you can coordinate, you have to come to Hengdian to pick me up this afternoon. It's too boring to take the train."

"No problem." Su Ran replied.

"Well, then wait for my news." Le Yao said and hung up the phone.

After ending the call, Su Ran went straight to the bathroom and lit a cigarette, feeling upset. He knew that as a newcomer, Le Yao repeatedly asked the crew for requests, which had a bad impact on her reputation, but she still agreed to him so readily. He just hoped not to cause her too much trouble.

Around noon, Su Ran was eating when his phone suddenly vibrated. He saw that it was a text message from Le Yao: "Su Ran, the crew has approved the leave, a total of 3 days, you come to pick me up." There was also a smiley face at the end.

Su Ran took a deep breath, and his nervous mood finally eased a little, and he immediately replied to Le Yao. He knew that he had to rush to Hengdian to pick up Le Yao and take her back to Suzhou this afternoon.

Su Ran came to Chen Jingming's office again and reported the situation to him. Chen Jingming, like him, breathed a sigh of relief, and then handed the car keys to Su Ran, and gave him 2,000 yuan in cash, asking him to treat Le Yao to a meal in Hengdian on his behalf, and he would treat her alone after Le Yao returned to Suzhou.

Chen Jingming also told Su Ran that the vice president of GI's China region would come to Suzhou on the day of shooting the promotional poster and formally sign a contract with the department store to enter the store and set up counters. This means that the GI investment promotion plan that the planning and investment promotion departments have been busy for several months has been completed, and Baoli Department Store will officially join the ranks of top-level department stores B. For Su Ran personally, he got the opportunity to be promoted to the leader of the planning copywriting team.

Su Ran just hoped that everything would go well this time and there would be no more accidents.

After leaving the office, Su Ran drove Chen Jingming's Audi A4 straight to Hengdian. It was already past four in the afternoon when he arrived. He did not go to the hotel, but went directly to the scenic spot where Le Yao was filming. They agreed to wait outside the scenic spot for her to finish filming the afternoon scene.

The autumn wind was rustling, the dusk was gradually blown away, and the sky was completely dark, but Le Yao had not yet come out of the set. Su Ran lit a cigarette and habitually stared at the exit of the scenic spot, his eyes a little absent-minded.

Finally, Le Yao appeared under the light at the exit. She walked very slowly, with her right hand covering her cheek, and Su Ran could not see her expression clearly.

Su Ran stood up to greet her. Le Yao glanced at him, but not as intimate as usual.

Su Ran smiled and asked, "Do you have a toothache? Why are you covering your face?"

Le Yao did not speak and continued to walk forward. Her abnormal behavior made Su Ran full of doubts.

Su Ran hurried to catch up and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you? Let me see your face."

"It's okay." Le Yao quickened her pace, but her voice was choked with sobs.

Su Ran grabbed her and forcibly took away her hand covering her face, and was immediately shocked. There were several bright red fingerprints on Le Yao's fair face.

Su Ran was immediately furious: "Which bastard hit you? I will never let him go!" Then he rushed to the entrance of the scenic spot.

Le Yao grabbed him tightly from behind: "Su Ran, don't go!"

"Let go, I won't teach her a lesson, I can't explain to you!" Su Ran was furious, he vaguely felt that Le Yao's beating must be related to this incident.

After Le Yao was thrown away, she simply sat on the ground and hugged Su Ran's legs, crying and begging: "Su Ran, I beg you, don't make trouble, it's not good for me. There are many people here, let's go back to the hotel."

Su Ran tried to restrain himself, looking at the eyes cast around him, he knew that making a big deal now would only make Le Yao worse, unless she was willing to give up the play, but this was obviously impossible. For Le Yao, he can only endure now.

Su Ran helped Le Yao up from the ground. He was full of anger but had nowhere to vent. He could only take out a tissue to wipe her tears and said as gently as possible: "Let's go back to the hotel first. You have to explain the matter to me clearly."

Le Yao nodded, gently took Su Ran's arm, and walked towards the parking lot.

Back in the hotel room, Le Yao sat next to Su Ran. Su Ran used an ice pack to help her apply to her swollen face, but the fire in his heart could not be suppressed. He gritted his teeth and asked Le Yao: "Which bastard hit you? Was it your director?"

Le Yao shook her head, tears flowed down again, and she was silent for a long time before saying: "It was an actress in our crew. She said I was a vixen and seduced the director, so the director took care of me so much and helped me arrange the schedule twice, causing them to have no rest. But I..."

Le Yao couldn't say anything more and burst into tears. Su Ran felt like being cut by a knife in his heart. He knew that it was because of his own affairs that Le Yao had brought this trouble, and he wanted to find the actress immediately and slap her back.

"Do they usually bully you like this?" Su Ran asked with a frown.

Le Yao nodded and said, "This circle is very complicated. I just graduated from school not long ago. I am a newcomer. This kind of thing is normal. Su Ran, don't be angry for me."

"Who is that actress?" Su Ran asked, still wanting to ask for an explanation for Le Yao.

Le Yao shook her head desperately and refused to say anything.

Su Ran was full of frustration, and blamed himself for causing Le Yao to suffer such a great injustice.

Le Yao seemed to see through his thoughts and comforted him softly, "Don't think about it. Her beating me will only make me work harder. I will definitely go further than her. Maybe I will have to thank her for this slap in the future."

Su Ran gritted his teeth and sighed, thinking of what Chen Jingming said in the morning. Yes, whether in the workplace or the entertainment industry, you have to learn to be patient and compromise. People like them who struggle at the bottom do not have the capital and rights to be willful. Once impulsive, once they can't restrain themselves, the price they pay will only be greater. So Le Yao tried her best to stop him from asking for an explanation.

However, just because of their humble status, can they only live like this without dignity? Does the pure and beautiful "Sky City" really not exist in this world? Are they destined to never return to the original pure land of humanity? Su Ran fell into deep confusion and pain. He didn't know how to help Le Yao get out of the predicament, nor did he know how many more helpless things he would encounter on his career path. The future seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog, making him unable to see the direction.