Chapter 33 - Innocence, Mistake, & Habit (2/2)

”Present, Ma'am!” Bo Jiu answered as she raised her hand but realizing what she did, she gave a sheepish smile and rephrased her words, ”I mean, I'm here.”

Xiu rolled her eyes at Bo Jiu and said, ”Call Si Yao from the Advertis_e_m_e_nt Department.”

”Right away.” Bo Jiu turned on her heels and ran to get her task done.

It took five minutes before Bo Jiu walked back trailing behind a stern-looking man. ”Bai Xiu, you're looking for me?” The man called Si Yao asked.

”If my memory serves me right, we have an ad shoot today, right?” Xiu asked languidly making everyone anticipate her next move. Si Yao frowned but nodded in agreement. ”Our department's Ms. Yi has quite a talent in fashion. She'll be following you to the set.”

Yi Gougou looked at Xiu in surprise. Wasn't she fired? What was this pompous demotivator doing? Yi Gougou couldn't comprehend but she was indeed delighted. As long as she didn't lose her job. Not being able to finish the internship period in Spark International Group could impact her future. In the worst way possible.

”Thank you! Thank you so much, Ms. Bai! For giving me another chance. I won't disappoint you at all.” Yi Gougou tried to show her gratitude with a couple of tears trickling down her innocent-looking face.

”You'll be cursing me by the end of this day.” Xiu murmured as she waved her off as if getting rid of a pest like her.

Still, with a frown on his face, Si Yao questioned, ”Do you want me to deal with her?”

”Senior Yao, you don't have to bother with her. Her personality and arrogance will be enough for her to fall on her own.” Xiu answered before sending him away. As for why Xiu sent her to the shooting set was unknown to everyone. Xiu could already guess that Yi Gougou was one of those thick-skinned people who won't resign even after all this humiliation before the whole department. And Xiu didn't have the rule of firing people.

No matter what, she had to push Yi Gougou to an edge where her only option would be resignation.

As Qiao Liang came out of Manager Li's office, he looked pale and down spirited. He went straight to Bai Xiu and gave a ninety-degree bow. ”I'm sorry, Ms. Bai! It won't happen again.” He looked guilty and scared.

Only a rustling sound of papers was heard while Xiu held a fountain pen between her pearly white teeth. ”Mr. Qiao,” she spoke in a very soft voice. ”First time it's called innocence. The second time it becomes a mistake. Do you know what's it called the third time?” Qiao Liang looked back at her with furrowed brows. ”Third time it's simply called a habit. And habits often turns into ignorance.”

”Having talent is no big deal in this world. Almost every other person is a genius who hasn't been discovered yet. It's the attitude that matters. What matters is how you use that talent of yours.” Xiu finally lifted her eyes to look at Qiao Liang who was standing with his head lowered. ”I guess you didn't learn anything in school. This isn't a school homework that you can so kindly let your desk-mate copy.”

With a snicker, she added, ”But in your case, you're ready to give your limelight to a woman just because she was beautiful, and nice to you in person. Honestly, in my opinion, you weren't being played. You let her play you. And that makes you the second most foolish person I've ever met.”

'Well, first being myself.' She didn't say the last words out. ”This is the corporate world. You either become the hunter or the prey. Better choose wisely on which side you want to stand.” With that she let him get back to work.

She didn't want to be mean to him or give a lecture like that. She wasn't compassionate or had so much free time on her hand. But she still did so. Only because Qiao Liang reminded her of her previous self.

In the entertainment industry, everyone tried to leech off of other's popularity and she had been used plenty of times for that purpose. But considering that she never liked having conflicts, she didn't try to push people away. She considered it to be a kind of help to let others shine who really deserved to.

But who knew that all those who used her once would not even bat an eye when she was in a difficult position. Everyone chose to turn their backs on her. She didn't want another person to chose her path of no return just because he also founded his wake-up call a little too late.

She didn't know how much of her words really got to Qiao Liang but it was worth a try. Whether he'd learn something or not, it'd be up to him. She had done her part of trying. That was as far as she was willing to go.