Chapter 211 - 40: The Control Group Refuses to Be Cannon Fodder

Ling Yan’s domineering attitude and threats were clearly captured by the hospital’s surveillance. Once the public gets a hold of it, it won’t just affect Ling Yan herself, but her company will suffer too.

The hospital was wrapped in silence.

Ling Yan took one glance at Jiang Lai before turning to leave. Jiang Lai understood that she wasn’t intimidated by what he just said. What she’s truly wary of is Zhou Yiqing, who stood by her side and made his commanding presence known with just one sentence.

It doesn’t matter to me, as long as I’m not at a disadvantage.

Turning to Zhou Yiqing, his gaze held a bit of weariness, yet when he looked at Jiang Lai, there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Young stars shouldn’t rashly fight to the death with others. A torn net can be mended, but if a fish dies, it’s truly dead."

"You’re not like that."

"Oh, are you so certain that I’ll stand by you and speak on your behalf?"

"Well, I’m your nephew’s nominal mother now. Considering how I’ve cared for your nephew for so long, Mr. Zhou is bound to help."

Jiang Lai spoke casually, not at all feeling there’s anything wrong with relying on others.

Zhou Yiqing quite liked her honesty, just as he was about to say something, Jiang Lai called out to Yangyang, clearly not intending to continue the conversation.

"Yangyang, come on, let’s go to sleep."

Yangyang obediently walked over, looked up at Jiang Lai, and asked softly.

"Was that mean woman just now Hengheng’s mom?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Hengheng is really pitiful; his mom is too fierce."

Looking at Yangyang, Jiang Lai couldn’t help but smile, wondering what goes on in this little guy’s mind. He truly didn’t seem to care about where his biological mother was.

That night, everyone slept in the hospital’s escort room. Due to a lack of space, the director and other staff slept in the car, while Jiang Lai, Yangyang, and Zhou Yiqing temporarily shared a room. Initially, the director had advised Zhou Yiqing to stay at a hotel, but he flatly refused, insisting on staying to wait with everyone for the results.

Thus, the situation turned into three people with only two beds.

Yangyang was adamantly against sleeping with Zhou Yiqing, his gaze constantly drifting toward Jiang Lai, before directly tossing his shoes aside and climbing onto the other bed to hug Jiang Lai’s arm.

"I’m sleeping with my mom, Uncle, you sleep alone."

"Zhou Xiangyang, you’re a boy."

Zhou Yiqing’s gaze turned stern, and Yangyang obviously got scared, looking incessantly at Jiang Lai for reassurance.

Jiang Lai, hearing someone call Yangyang by his full name for the first time, found it rather novel.

"It’s okay, Yangyang can sleep with me tonight. Mr. Zhou, you should get some rest; I have a few things to handle."

After Yangyang fell asleep, Jiang Lai took her laptop outside and started chatting with her lawyer.

[The case has been filed for investigation. There’s not much to look into; once the real-name verification is done, the result will be out.]

[Send me the IP address that logged into Weibo that day.]

[Just sent it over. Also, there are two people reaching out to me for private settlements; one is Mo Wanwan’s agent and the other from Ling Han’s side.]

Jiang Lai continued typing on the keyboard.

[I do not accept settlements; only public apologies are acceptable. If that doesn’t work, we’ll proceed directly with legal action.]

[Don’t you want to take a look at the conditions they’re offering? Perhaps you might want to consider it.]

The lawyer sent over a document, Jiang Lai glanced at it, her eyes landing on the string of numbers at the end.

Five million.

That’s a lot of money.

[No need to consider it, also, don’t you think there’s something fishy about such a large amount?]

[Yes, I’ve considered that too. However, they have leverage against you; it shouldn’t be likely that they would have these intentions.]

This old classmate lawyer is still a bit incompetent. After a brief chat to assert her stance, Jiang Lai shut off her laptop.

Leaning against the wall, eyes closed, Little Buding spoke into her ear.

"The mischievous child reform task is nearly complete. Now, you can focus more on your acting career. After this variety show, you should have plenty of resources coming your way; seize the opportunity."

"Well, if this world ends, it’d be counted as an on-the-job injury."

"How are you injured?"

"Suddenly having a son means having to invest emotionally, right? Leaving would make me sad, wouldn’t it? Why wouldn’t it count as an on-the-job injury."

Little Buding fell silent, sensing the logic behind it.

Jiang Lai’s quick and decisive approach to dealing with men was something expected, but her genuine affection for a child was unexpected.

"Just put on a show, don’t take it seriously."

"There’s no need to deceive a child, and Yangyang has already been fooled by his mom once. If I deceive him again, what kind of person would I be?"

Little Buding found the reasoning increasingly compelling.

"I didn’t expect you to have morals."

"Flatter me, flatter me; always had some, not much though."

At that moment, the door opened, and looking back, Zhou Yiqing stepped out, taking a seat beside Jiang Lai, separated by one seat.

"Thank you for helping me educate Yangyang these days. Have you thought about what comes after the variety show recording?"

In the company behind Jiang Lai, everyone was Ling Han’s people. Staying on offered her no benefit.

"I’ve just signed a renewal contract recently and want to terminate it, but it’d cost a lot."

"If you don’t mind, you can sign with our company—we’ll call it headhunting—and our company will cover the breach of contract fees for you."

Even as a small star, Jiang Lai’s breach of contract fees still nearly hit ten million. Although the variety show made her very popular, Chuangxing Entertainment had plenty of top celebrities; it wasn’t worth expending effort and money for a traffic star without works.

Zhou Yiqing offered help. Jiang Lai certainly wouldn’t indulge in the fantasy that the Domineering President fancies her, hence offering her salvation. The only link between them was Yangyang, and Zhou Yiqing’s willingness to assist Jiang Lai was clearly for Yangyang’s sake.

A single variety show changed many of Yangyang’s bad habits, yet made him quite dependent on Jiang Lai. As the child left behind by his deceased brother, Zhou Yiqing cared deeply for Yangyang. If Jiang Lai were to exploit Yangyang’s feelings for her to make demands, it’d definitely harm Yangyang.

Thus, Zhou Yiqing actively put the benefit in front of Jiang Lai for one simple reason: he hopes that once Jiang Lai takes it, she won’t ruminate over anything else.

Understanding all this, Jiang Lai thought it was only fair.

"I now indeed need a new agency. If Mr. Zhou is willing to take me in, I’d happily switch to a better place. But I’ll handle the breach of contract fee myself; after all, having been in the industry for so many years, I should be able to scrape together enough to pay it off."

Nine million. Selling houses, cars, bags, and jewelry should suffice.

"Mr. Zhou, don’t renege on me now. Don’t let me go bankrupt terminating the contract and show up with a suitcase at your company only for you to disclaim me."

"Rest assured, my contractual spirit remains intact."