Panda Cub – Chapter 14

Praising People

Who raised this silly fool?

She was both exasperated and amused, and at the same time, completely at a loss for what to do with her.

            

“You’re not avoiding me now?” She spoke up slowly while peeling shrimp shells for her.

The spacious room was filled with the aroma of late-night snacks, and the two beautiful women inside made for a rather peculiar scene together.

The stunningly gorgeous woman methodically peeled shrimp, while the other woman, whose demeanor ran rather cool, stared fixedly at her with eyes full of confusion and incomprehension.

            

“When did I avoid you?” How would she not know that?

“Didn’t you?” He Ying shot her a glance—or perhaps it couldn’t quite be called avoiding, just steering clear of her as much as possible.

“I did not!” Jing Dan declared righteously. She would absolutely never admit to something she hadn’t done!

            

He Ying placed the small bowl of peeled shrimp meat in front of Jing Dan and said mildly, “If you didn’t, you didn’t. Why so worked up?”

Jing Dan: “…”

If she hadn’t falsely accused her, how would she have gotten worked up!

            

“Tell me then, what did you come here for this time?” He Ying looked at Jing Dan, who was suddenly not sleepy at all now that there was food, and fell silent for a moment.

So she couldn’t even compete with a little food. She could stay awake for food this time, but couldn’t stay up a little later to see her off that time?

Jing Dan picked at the meat in her bowl and said honestly, “We came to ask you about some things.”

            

“Mm?”

“It’s just—you know we’re running an entertainment company now, right? We wanted to understand what the current situation is like in this industry.”

The company had hired quite a few people, but her Aunt had probably intended for them to grow on their own—most of the hires were young people without much experience, relying entirely on the few industry veterans to guide them.

            

He Ying: “…”

She was rather amused. So this person had traveled all this way just for this?

“You could have asked me all this on your phone. No need to make the trip.”

            

She had been wondering earlier—Hu Tu had suddenly said she was bringing Jing Dan over for a set visit, since she had never seen her proactively seek her out before.

“It’s clearer talking face to face,” Jing Dan muttered softly, while internally debating how to ask about her consulting fee. Did she charge like those psychological counselors? By the minute or by the hour?

He Ying: “…Fine, go ahead and ask.”

            

A smile curved at He Ying’s lips. She wanted to see what this kid could come up with.

“Wait, before I ask, there’s one thing that needs to be made clear first.” Jing Dan looked utterly serious as she pulled out her phone and opened the timer. “How do you charge? How much per hour?”

He Ying: “…”

            

Her mind was full of confusion. “What are you talking about? What ‘how do you charge, how much per hour’?”

She wasn’t selling herself—what was this about how much per hour?!

“Consulting fee!” Jing Dan said earnestly.

            

He Ying stared at her expressionlessly. At this point, she was completely drained of any temper, thoroughly defeated by that extraordinary thought process of hers.

“Do you have a lot of money?”

“Mm! I haven’t counted my fixed assets, but right now there’s seven hundred fifty-nine million in cash in my account…”

            

“Stop, stop, stop!” He Ying hastily cut her off, looking at her in disbelief. “Why are you just reciting numbers?”

Could this person have even a shred of caution? Just casually telling any random person how much wealth she had?

Jing Dan looked at her in confusion. “I was afraid you’d think I couldn’t afford your consulting fee.”

            

He Ying: “…”

Who raised this silly fool?

Rich and foolish?

            

He Ying admitted she was jealous. She worked diligently and painstakingly just to barely keep her dance troupe afloat, while this person had so much money she wouldn’t have to worry for a good long while.

The key was that this person was also an idiot!

He Ying smiled. “Lots of money, hmm? Then it’s 100,000 RMB per hour.”

            

Jing Dan blinked and looked down at the spread of food in front of her. This lot only cost 500 yuan, and He Ying’s consulting fee was actually 100,000? 100,000… that could pay for two hundred meals!

“Mm? Think about it—do you still want it?” He Ying raised an eyebrow. So she wasn’t too foolish after all—at least she knew to hesitate. Otherwise, He Ying would be worried she would get swindled out of everything one day.

Jing Dan looked at He Ying’s stunningly beautiful face, weighing whether it was worth it.

            

She looked down again at the food on the table. Forget it—she had taken the initiative to treat her to food earlier, so she couldn’t be too stingy about this. Her Aunt had also told her that when dealing with them, she shouldn’t be too petty.

“Okay.” She nodded.

He Ying: “…”

            

This silly child had actually agreed.

“Are you ready then?” Jing Dan asked.

He Ying glanced at her finger hovering over the phone, the screen unmistakably displaying the timer’s start button.

            

“…Ready. You may begin, and please account for every second—don’t short me a single cent.”

Committed to the broke act to the very end.

Jing Dan: “…”

            

This person was so petty—she was really going to be precise down to the second?

However, this second-by-second timing method gave her a much greater sense of urgency, and even perked up her spirits considerably.

“Then I’ll begin.” Jing Dan sat up straight and lightly tapped the screen, pressing start.

            

“I’d like to ask you, what is the most important thing in the entertainment industry right now?”

“What’s the most important thing…” He Ying said slowly. “Let me think.”

Her unhurried, completely unpressured response.

            

Yet while she wasn’t in a rush, Jing Dan was growing anxious—every second she dawdled was another second’s worth of money! But looking at He Ying’s leisurely demeanor, she didn’t dare rush her…

She had a premonition that if she did rush her, He Ying would smilingly tell her to take her phone and get out the very next second…

He Ying naturally observed all of her reactions clearly, barely suppressing her laughter. She felt that right now, Jing Dan was like a silly goose, frantic with impatience on the inside yet unable to make a sound.

            

“Traffic¹, of course.”

“Think about it—don’t you still watch dramas and variety shows? Look at what people have done for ratings.”

“To put it plainly, it’s all about traffic. With traffic comes heat and ratings.”

            

Jing Dan recalled the dramas and variety shows she had watched before. In some shows, the male and female leads would hype up CP pairings², while variety shows would use all sorts of editing tricks to manufacture talking points and draw more people into the discussion.

“But I don’t think this approach is good.” Jing Dan frowned deeply and said very seriously, “When I watch a drama, what I like are the characters in the story, not the actors playing them. I also don’t like them hyping things up outside the show. And those variety shows that recklessly edit footage to push people into the eye of the storm—that’s incredibly irresponsible behavior!”

When she used to watch dramas and variety shows, she had been thoroughly put off by this sort of thing. Was it really necessary? Or was the human world simply too complex for a bear like her to comprehend?

            

He Ying smiled, her gaze full of warm, gentle amusement—a smile with real warmth in it. “That’s exactly why they’re lucky to have you as their boss.”

Jing Dan froze for a moment, then blinked very slightly. So… she was complimenting her?

This person’s mouth could actually do more than tease—it could compliment people too!

            

Her shock and surprise had clearly been noticed by He Ying, who smiled at her and asked softly, “Does it feel unbelievable? Did you think I wouldn’t say something like that?”

Jing Dan felt a little unsettled by that smile again and nodded.

He Ying: “…”

            

Whose family raised this child?! How could they just let her loose on society like this?!

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The author has something to say:

He Ying later, smiling: Oh, so she’s mine.

            

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