Chapter 26 Who Gave You Permission

"Y-you, focus on driving!" I turned her face back to the road. "And I also know that before the demolition, they're planning to shoot an art film using the old mansion as the backdrop, to commemorate the centennial of the Shen family's business legacy."

"So what?" Lin Xiyi blinked at me in confusion, as if she didn't understand where I was going with this.

I suddenly raised my voice, "So this is a great work opportunity!"

"Ha!" Lin Xiyi rolled her eyes so hard I thought she might faint. "A movie shoot? Miss Jiang, do you think you can act in it? Or do you think I can?"

Her disdain wasn't unwarranted. Although both of us majored in film during undergrad, she was a year ahead of me, got married young due to a family-arranged union, spent her days partying, and flunked every course. As for me, let's not even mention it—my grades were so bad every semester that they were painful to look at.

The only class I ever took seriously was our major-specific course. First, I had a natural eye for aesthetics when it came to the camera. Perhaps it was because I grew up in a different environment from others, but my works always carried a strong personal style, with boundaries that were deliberately blurred. This was why our professor appreciated me at the time. Second, and more importantly, that professor was infamous in our department for being harsh and temperamental, with zero tolerance for mediocrity. None of us dared to slack off in his class, let alone try to bluff our way through.

No matter how late I stayed out the night before, if I had his class the next day, I would drag myself there on time no matter what. Even if I was still hungover, with a splitting headache, I wouldn't dare slack off.

As fate would have it, after completing a few projects under his guidance, he unexpectedly acknowledged me. He said I had the potential to become a director. Over the next year, he gradually involved me in several large-scale international productions, allowing me to gain some experience with top-tier teams.

Even though I'm still far from being a seasoned professional and lack the necessary resources, Lin Xiyi has, over the years, spent plenty of money building connections with various domestic film production teams just to pass her exams.

This was the reason I carefully mulled over the idea for days before finally deciding to discuss it with her.

I would write the script, Lin Xiyi would find an outsourced team, and the Shen Group would provide the funding. Each of us could play to our strengths, and we'd earn a profit in the middle—everyone wins.

Of course, this was just a fledgling idea. I wasn't sure how feasible it really was.

What gave me the courage to bring it up was one key factor.

The Shen family's old mansion used to be Aunt Lin's home, and it was where I spent much of my youth. To others, it might just be a cold, lifeless building, a film set, or a project topic. But to me, it was a living, breathing entity with a soul. I was the one who understood its story best.

And this story could only be told by me.

After hearing my embellished and impassioned pitch, Lin Xiyi seemed intrigued.

"So... we're just going to wing it and hope for the best?"

Her husband had left for the U.S. three days after their wedding to stay with his first love, who was expecting his child. They hadn't seen each other in a year, and even when he returned to China, he wouldn't come home.

But Lin Xiyi didn't have any feelings for him. Their marriage was a family arrangement, and they were less familiar with each other than their own parents were. So, this kind of mutual indifference was unsurprising.

On all her social media platforms, Miss Lin maintained a perfectly curated image of being single.

But as much as we joked around, we both understood that everyone needed to have their own place in society, regardless of their background.

We couldn't just drift aimlessly forever.

Whether or not I had Shen Jibai, or she had that absentee husband, one day, we would have to walk independently in this vast world.

"Why don't we just start a studio, Lili? Registering a company isn't hard. My family owns plenty of office buildings. If we actually land some jobs, we can split the profits."

Even though I was the one who brought it up, Lin Xiyi ended up being more enthusiastic than I was. She was already fantasizing about going public.

I quickly stopped her from getting ahead of herself.

For the next half day, the two of us, as if fueled by adrenaline, sprang into action. We began scouting which of her family's office buildings would be suitable for setting up the company.

In the end, we chose a two-story building in the suburbs. The previous tenant had run an art studio there, so the entire building had a strong artistic vibe. The walls were pure white, with large floor-to-ceiling windows and plenty of open space inside. All we needed to do was add a few desks and hang up a sign, and we'd have a perfect film studio.

After leaving the studio, we realized it was still early, so we stopped by a real estate agency a few streets away and rented a small apartment nearby.

The first step to independence: move out of Shen Jibai's house.

Even though my dad's assets in the country were frozen, he still didn't let me go without. During our recent meeting, he gave me some money. With the savings I had on hand, renting a small apartment was more than manageable. Of course, this amount of money wouldn't have even been worth mentioning in the past.

Just after signing the lease with the landlord, Shen Jibai called.

At this time of day, he had probably just finished a meeting.

"Where are you? When are you coming home? Want to have dinner together tonight?" He got straight to the point with three consecutive questions.

"I... I just rented an apartment..." I said, feeling a bit guilty. After all, I'd been living off him for so long, and suddenly moving out might seem ungrateful. So, I quickly added, "Oh, by the way, the card you gave me—I left it on your desk in the study before I went to Malaysia. Did you see it?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and his tone turned noticeably colder.

"...Who gave you permission to move out?"

Who gave me permission? Now that was the crux of the matter.

"Shen Heqing, your second uncle. He told me to stay away from you and not overstep my bounds," I said nonchalantly, as if it didn't matter.

Even over the phone, I could feel his anger rising, though his tone remained restrained.

He still wouldn't lose his temper with me—just as always.

"My second uncle? He contacted you? Why didn't you tell me? When was this?"

I answered honestly, "When I was in Bangkok."

There was a ten-second silence on the other end.

I guessed that, with his sharp mind, he had already pieced everything together.

"Send me your location. I'm coming to find you."

His voice was colder than the evening twilight descending before me.