Chapter 102: A Change of Hands

Qin Miaoyu glanced at him and, remembering she had not seen him hanging around Pei Yixue lately, told him that Pei Yixue was in the office.

"All right, thank you, President Pei."

Qin Miaoyu nodded and passed by Chen Xuanyu, heading in the opposite direction.

Halfway there, she suddenly remembered the thing she had meant to take out of her bag for Xu Xiaoqi and had not yet given it to her, so she turned back the way she had come and went toward Xu Xiaoqi's office.

But before she even reached the office, she stopped in her tracks.

She stood where she was, looking at the figure outside Xu Xiaoqi's office door.

It was Chen Xuanyu, the very man who had just said he was looking for Pei Yixue.

He had claimed he was looking for Pei Yixue, yet even after Qin Miaoyu had turned back, Chen Xuanyu was still lingering outside the door.

Qin Miaoyu turned and went to the monitoring room.

On the surveillance feed, Chen Xuanyu never managed to knock open the office door to find Pei Yixue before he left; instead, he stood outside the door as if he were listening to the voices inside.

When Qin Miaoyu came to Xu Xiaoqi's office that afternoon, Xu Xiaoqi had already managed to learn something from Miss Zhou.

But there did not seem to be anything unusual.

A meddlesome elder who loved to take advantage of others, a former almost-fiance who disguised himself well, and a family that had exhausted every scheme to marry the rather well-off Miss Zhou into their household while also hoping to recover the money they had spent.

It seemed plausible enough, yet upon closer examination there were many unreasonable points.

"Did Chen Xuanyu not communicate with that side at all?"

After discovering Chen Xuanyu had been eavesdropping outside the door, Qin Miaoyu had immediately filled Xu Xiaoqi in.

Xu Xiaoqi said, "I asked about it. Chen Xuanyu has never been in contact with this client, and there is nothing on his side that involves the client's information."

The surveillance footage also showed no sign that Chen Xuanyu had had any contact with that family.

Could it really not have been Chen Xuanyu?

Seeing the irritation between Qin Miaoyu's brows, Xu Xiaoqi comforted her. "I'll ask around again about their family connections and see if there's anything off. Since this deal has fallen through, we can only keep finding ways to take on new ones."

Qin Miaoyu nodded. "Mm, I've already been reaching out to former clients. A few of them said they happen to have relatives who are getting married. When the time comes, they'll mention our studio, and if those relatives are interested, they'll come take a look."

Xu Xiaoqi was also a little troubled by the two recent jobs.

"One has fallen through, and the other keeps changing. It feels even less pleasant than when we used to take whatever came our way."

"It was not really whatever came our way," Qin Miaoyu said. "Those were the jobs we had carefully chosen after much picking and choosing, when we had time, energy, and interest, and the clients were people we knew. That's why it felt so good to work on them."

But for the time being, they did not seem likely to come across such jobs again. From their first job to these two, since the studio opened they had not received a single order like the ones they used to get.

The ringing of a phone broke the quiet, and Xu Xiaoqi answered.

"Miss Jin?"

At that title, Qin Miaoyu also suddenly looked toward Xu Xiaoqi.

Listening to the person on the other end, Xu Xiaoqi turned and gave Qin Miaoyu a smile.

After hanging up, Xu Xiaoqi rose happily to her feet. "Good news, Miss Jin has confirmed she wants to place an order with us!"

Yet Qin Miaoyu's expression was not nearly as cheerful. After all, a man like Zhou Zhaolin was someone she found thoroughly distasteful. Still, the studio staff had to eat; there was no reason to lose a bird in hand because of her own feelings.

Naturally, Xu Xiaoqi understood Qin Miaoyu's thoughts, and she immediately explained, "Not what you think. Miss Jin said the wedding will go ahead as planned, but the groom will be changed!"

Qin Miaoyu was so startled she rose from her chair as well.

"This can't mean she is just going to marry some random man because of one piece of trash like Zhou Zhaolin, can it?"

"No, no. From what Miss Jin said, it's also a marriage alliance of sorts. The other party is a longtime friend whose background she knows inside and out, so it's not a decision made in a moment of impulse."

Only then did Qin Miaoyu sit back down.

"Then let's wait for Miss Jin to come in for a proper talk. Since it's confirmed she's placing the order, everyone in the studio can start preparing."

Not long after, Miss Jin arrived with her newly changed fiance.

Qin Miaoyu accompanied Xu Xiaoqi to meet him in person before she could feel at ease.

From the way the two interacted, it was clear they had indeed been friends for a long time, and the man's appearance and bearing were leagues above Zhou Zhaolin's.

Seeing Qin Miaoyu sizing up the man beside her, Jin Xi could not help asking, "Miss Qin, in your opinion, which one is better, him or Zhou Zhaolin?"

The man frowned, clearly dissatisfied with being compared to Zhou Zhaolin, but the moment Jin Xi's hand rested on his arm, that slight displeasure disappeared.

Qin Miaoyu naturally noticed the scene and could not help smiling. "From my own subjective point of view, then of course Zhou Zhaolin is the worse one."

As for this man, she did not know him and would not comment further.

After they had finished receiving Jin Xi, it was nearly time to leave work. Jin Xi then invited Qin Miaoyu and Xu Xiaoqi to dinner together, hoping to discuss the wedding in more detail.

Qin Miaoyu and Xu Xiaoqi had no other plans, so they agreed.

The group made their way downstairs, only to see Zhou Zhaolin waiting at the entrance to the building.

The moment Zhou Zhaolin saw the person he wanted to see, he ran over at once.

"Baby, you misunderstand, I really have nothing to do with her!"

The man beside Jin Xi looked disgusted at the sight.

"Jin Xi, you actually let him call you baby? Who was it that said the word baby was nauseating? And you can even stand it?"

Jin Xi shot the man a glare at those words, but did not bother arguing with him further. After all, she did not want to see Zhou Zhaolin even a little right now!

"I guess my brain rusted over before. Hearing it now, I also think it's a bit disgusting..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhaolin looked deeply hurt.

"Baby, weren't we fine before? Now, because of a little misunderstanding, you want to erase our sweet past?"

Qin Miaoyu clicked her tongue. If Zhou Zhaolin had such acting skills when performing, he would probably have a place in the acting world by now.

Zhou Zhaolin caught the sound and fixed a hard stare on Qin Miaoyu.

"Baby, did they say something to you? Don't be fooled by them. She and Gu Jing are good friends, and she's still upset about how Gu Jing was dumped by me back then, so she's probably just trying to break us apart!"

Qin Miaoyu was speechless. "Zhou Zhaolin, don't think so highly of yourself, all right? Jingjing and I do not have that much time to spend remembering a scumbag for this long!"

After years in the entertainment industry, Zhou Zhaolin did not believe Qin Miaoyu's words at all.

"If she weren't still thinking about me, why would Gu Jing come all the way to Jingcheng? I heard she's developing her career in Ancheng now!"

Then, turning to Jin Xi again, Zhou Zhaolin said, "Baby, my ex-girlfriend is just jealous of you. She wants to break us up, and maybe she even thinks that once we split up, she'll be able to take advantage of the opening!"