Chapter 40

Chapter 40

All the unpleasant memories from last night instantly flooded Yan Chen’s mind.

He had originally almost forced himself to forget it, but with He Wei singing like that, the pain in a certain area seemed to intensify.

Yan Chen had been provoked by He Wei and Yan Huai last night.

One was his beloved ex-girlfriend, the other was his brother whom he never got along with. These two people didn’t even need to do anything—just appearing in front of him together was like slapping him hard across the face.

Yan Chen had been in a bad mood last night and, as usual, went to a bar and drank a few extra glasses. He didn’t expect something like that to happen.

Although he was open-minded in that regard, he had never played anything that intense before.

Yan Chen felt his dignity had been trampled into worthlessness.

He didn’t even know who he had spent the night with. When he woke up in the morning, if not for the severe pain in a certain area reminding him, he could have even deceived himself into thinking nothing had happened to him.

And the other party was a man.

If this got out, where would he put his face?

He had completely deleted the hotel surveillance footage.

Yan Chen thought no one would ever know—but less than two hours later, his adorable ex-girlfriend sang such a meaningful song right in front of him, as if she knew everything.

For a few seconds, Yan Chen even suspected He Wei did it on purpose.

But looking closer, He Wei’s eyes were clear and her expression innocent.

She nodded at him and smiled. “What a coincidence.”

Yan Chen’s eye twitched. “He-He?”

He Wei pressed her lips together, barely suppressing the laughter that was about to spill out. Her gaze dropped downward, landing between Yan Chen’s legs. “Are you… feeling unwell today?”

Yan Chen: “……”

His eye twitching grew even more severe.

Times had changed.

Back when they were together, Yan Chen would have loved for He Wei to look in that direction. But on a day like today, her blatantly suggestive gaze constantly reminded him of a certain fact.

Yet Yan Chen still had to pretend nothing had happened, forcing a smile. “Didn’t sleep well.”

After a half-second pause, his eyes brightened slightly. “He-He, are you… concerned about me?”

Just then, a “ding” sounded—the elevator stopped on this floor.

The doors opened, and the man inside immediately saw He Wei looking at Yan Chen’s lower area. His eyes narrowed slightly as he frowned and tugged at his tie.

A woman beside him spoke. “What are you looking at?”

As she said that, she walked out of the elevator and followed his gaze. He Wei just happened to look away and meet her eyes. They made eye contact for a second.

The woman spoke first. She asked Yan Chen, “Ah Chen, your friend?”

Yan Qing knew that Yan Chen’s friend would be coming to sign a contract today.

He had said it was a female friend—not using “bed partner” or “girlfriend” as a label.

But after all, she was his younger brother. Having known him for so many years, how could Yan Qing not understand his thoughts?

She assumed He Wei was that “friend,” and with a slightly raised brow, she gave her an unobtrusive once-over.

Yan Chen tugged at the corner of his lips and did not deny it.

He Wei didn’t know Yan Qing, so she only slightly nodded at her as a greeting. She deliberately avoided the gaze of the man standing behind Yan Qing, then turned back and said softly to Yan Chen, “I’ll go first.”

Yan Chen finally let out a breath of relief.

He Wei turned around, took half a step out, then stopped again. Afraid Yan Huai might hear, she deliberately lowered her voice even further until only the two of them could hear. “Take care of your health.”

Yan Chen couldn’t quite describe what he felt.

He always felt there was another meaning behind He Wei’s words, but her eyes were clear and clean, as if she was truly just concerned about him.

Yan Chen preferred to believe the latter.

He really liked He Wei. He had dated quite a few girlfriends before, but perhaps it really was true that “the unattainable is the best.” He was most invested in this one ex-girlfriend whom he had barely even touched.

Yan Chen didn’t think further. Just as he was starting to feel a bit better, he heard those familiar lyrics again, softly sung by the woman who was turning away as she left.

Yan Chen: “……”

Don’t overthink it.

He Wei must just really like that song today.

When He Wei returned from the restroom, there were five more people in the office.

Three agents, plus Yan Huai and Yan Chen.

And among the agents, there was one woman whom He Wei had just met earlier.

After greeting everyone, she found her seat and sat down.

The other two agents were also women, both around their thirties, with sharp and direct eyes. They immediately scanned the prospective signed artists from head to toe.

Yan Qing’s gaze was the gentlest. She only looked at the six of them once, then took a sip of water and said, “I’m only taking one person this year.”

He Wei noticed that as soon as she said this, the other four people immediately became restless.

She hadn’t done any preparation before coming—she came with the most basic “leave it to fate” mindset, thinking whoever she was assigned to would be fine. But seeing their reactions, she could tell this was probably Huaying’s top agent.

He Wei rubbed the edge of her skirt with her fingers.

Among the six people, she and the male model had the least reaction.

She was simply not very ambitious about it, while the model seemed to have too much confidence.

Yan Qing casually flipped through their profiles, and when she reached He Wei’s, she paused for a second.

21 years old, height 164 cm, weight 43 kg, had worked as a print model, no representative works yet.

Yan Qing lifted her eyes and looked at He Wei again.

Yan Chen had previously told her he would bring a friend over, but he didn’t specify which friend. So Yan Qing had already subconsciously assumed it was He Wei. She frowned slightly, withdrew her gaze, then looked at the ID photo on He Wei’s profile.

This girl had a face perfectly suited for this industry.

But Yan Qing didn’t really like the idea of “unspoken rules.” Although this kind of thing was common in the entertainment industry, and other agents might even hint at it to their artists, Yan Qing couldn’t accept it.

She didn’t rely on that kind of thing to get resources.

Yan Qing flipped further back through the documents.

Among the few people present, it really was only He Wei who suited her taste the most. Her brows knitted even tighter as she looked up at the group again. “Which of you are in a relationship?”

No one responded.

He Wei hesitated for a few seconds. Just as she was about to raise her hand, Yan Qing spoke again. “Send me a text message. Just answer truthfully.”

She gave them her number.

In less than a minute, all six messages arrived in full.

Only He Wei was in a relationship.

Yan Qing’s impression of He Wei swung like a roller coaster. Just moments ago it had dropped to the bottom, and now it had risen quite a bit again.

She didn’t like taking female celebrities who accepted unspoken rules, but whether someone was in a relationship or not didn’t matter.

Yan Qing sent He Wei a message: 【Yan Chen?】

He Wei: 【No.】

Yan Qing: 【Aren’t you the friend he brought today?】

He Wei: 【Nope.】

Yan Qing stared at that “nope,” and the corner of her lips lifted slightly. She put her phone away, didn’t ask any further private questions, and pulled out He Wei’s profile. “I’ve made my choice. You all may continue.”

She stood up decisively and hooked a finger at He Wei. “Come with me. I need to go over some things you should pay attention to.”

He Wei, flattered and surprised, quickly stood up and followed her.

The two walked one in front of the other out of the room. Yan Qing turned her head to glance at her. “You know that company artists are prohibited from dating within the first six months of their contract, right?”

He Wei: “……”

Yan Qing immediately understood her reaction and raised a brow. “Let me see your contract.”

He Wei’s contract was in her bag, freshly signed and stamped. When she handed it over, it still carried body heat.

Yan Qing skillfully flipped to page seven, walking toward the elevator while scanning line by line.

As she looked, she felt something was off.

In previous contracts, the “no dating within six months” rule was always clearly written in black and white. But in He Wei’s contract, she searched back and forth and couldn’t find it.

Yan Qing looked at He Wei in surprise.

Just then the elevator doors opened. The two of them had just stepped inside when someone followed in right before the doors closed.

That person called her calmly, “Sis.”

He Wei looked surprised, the corner of her lips twitching slightly.

Yan Qing just happened to have a question for him. She handed the contract toward Yan Huai. “When did the company contract get changed?”

“Yesterday.”

Yan Qing cursed under her breath. “Why was it suddenly changed?”

Yan Huai glanced at He Wei beside him and didn’t explain. He only gave a quiet “Mm.” “It’ll be changed back today.”

He Wei: “……”

The elevator descended slowly.

Yan Huai was a man with a deep, unreadable mind. No one could guess what he was thinking.

Yan Qing simply assumed her younger brother was acting abnormal today and didn’t dwell on it. She briefly explained the issue with the contract to He Wei.

Since it was a staff elevator, when it reached the 13th floor, even though there was a boss inside, a crowd still surged in all at once.

People pressed against people, and even the air seemed thinner. He Wei consciously stepped to the very back.

When the elevator doors closed again, there was barely any empty space left inside.

He Wei could feel the man’s faint, almost absent touch at her waist. Just as she was about to move, he suddenly lowered his head.

His voice was very soft, his breath distinctly audible—so soft that if it weren’t right by her ear, she would have been unable to hear it at all.

“Where were you looking at Yan Chen just now?”

He Wei stiffened.

“……”

Fortunately, the elevator doors opened in time, and another group of people filed out.

He Wei was just about to step forward when he pulled her back by the waist. “Baby, don’t you want to look at me?”

That group of people were all going to the 7th floor. When the doors closed again, only the three of them remained inside.

Yan Huai’s voice this time wasn’t too quiet anymore. Yan Qing only caught half of it. She turned her head in surprise. “Look at what of yours?”