lcionline Chapter 73 There's Still a Long Way to Go
Chapter 73 There's Still a Long Way to Go
The meeting room door closed gently, and Ahn Jung-hwan's footsteps faded into the distance in the corridor.
Choi Sulli looked at the closed door, then turned to look at Jiang Yan. She wiped away her tears, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards unconsciously.
"He just said... that we should be careful not to give the company any leverage."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan turned around and met Cui Xueli's eyes, which were still glistening with tears.
"so what?"
"so……"
Choi Sulli took two steps forward, stood in front of him, and tilted her head slightly. "Since we're already suspected, we might as well confirm it. I..."
dong dong dong.
The knocking was neither too loud nor too soft, exactly three times.
Choi Sulli stopped abruptly, instinctively taking half a step back and quickly wiping the corner of her eye.
Jiang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He knew what Cui Xueli was going to say, but he felt that now was not the right time.
The meeting room door was gently pushed open, and Lim Yoona walked in.
She wore a navy blue knitted cardigan over a simple white T-shirt, and her long hair was casually draped over her shoulders.
But her breathing seemed a little uneven, and there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, indicating that she had rushed over.
Her gaze swept past Jiang Yan's shoulder, quickly scanning the interior of the conference room. The long, empty table held a stack of A4 papers.
Choi Sulli, standing next to him, had red eyes but remained relatively calm. Then her gaze returned to Jiang Yan's face.
Where are they?
"I'm gone."
"He's gone?" Im Yoona frowned slightly. "You texted me saying that Director Kim was waiting for you in the conference room and asked me to come and save the day. I've only been here from the studio for less than twenty minutes, and he's already gone?"
Jiang Yan pulled out a chair for her to sit down and rest. After she sat down, he explained, "He suddenly lost his voice halfway through his sentence, clutched his throat, and was helped to the hospital by his assistant."
Lin Yoona was stunned for a moment, her doe eyes filled with the words "Are you kidding me?"
She turned to look at Choi Sulli, who nodded. "It's true, Yoona unnie. He was talking about me when he suddenly couldn't speak. His face turned red, and he had to be carried out by his assistant. Jung-hwan oppa just arrived too."
After listening, Lim Yoona remained silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
"So, I made a wasted trip."
"It wasn't a wasted trip." Jiang Yan sat down opposite her and pushed the stack of neatly arranged A4 papers on the table in front of her. "Before you came, Director Jin threatened Zhenli with my future, saying that he would expose my access to artist data to higher-ups, and that I used my position to develop improper personal relationships with artists in the same company."
Lim Yoona picked up the stack of documents and flipped through them, her expression gradually turning cold. She put the documents down and looked at Jiang Yan, "Did he really say that?"
"Inside."
"Fine." Lim Yoona slammed the documents on the table, a cold smile playing on her lips. "Didn't he want to smear it up there? We don't need him to do it, we'll do it ourselves."
Upon hearing this, Choi Sulli looked nervously at Im Yoona, then at Kang Yeon: "Yoona unnie, what do you mean by that?"
Yoona turned to look at her, her tone softening slightly: "Sulli, don't worry, from now on you don't need to worry about this. If Manager Kim wants to use company rules to intimidate people, then we'll play along with the company rules."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "Jiang Yan accessed publicly available business data from the marketing department's internal database, not confidential documents. The market analysis report he wrote was part of the production department's normal risk assessment of film and television projects, which is perfectly reasonable within his scope of responsibility."
"As for improper personal relationships," Lim Yoona scoffed lightly, "It's a fact that you and he have known each other since you were children in an orphanage. It's just old friends from the same hometown having a meal together. What kind of improper relationship is that? Unless the company has an explicit rule that artists cannot have personal relationships with production staff, but if such a rule is brought up, the first person to be proven wrong is Lee Soo-man."
As Jiang Yan listened to her analysis point by point, he nodded inwardly.
Although Yoona always appears gentle and mild-mannered at the negotiating table, once she enters a fighting state, her logic and rhetoric are impeccable.
No wonder she was able to steadily make her way to the top in a place like SM.
"But speaking of which," Lim Yoona suddenly changed the subject, her gaze sweeping over Jiang Yan before settling on Choi Sulli, "when I came in just now, you two were standing so close, what were you talking about?"
Choi Sulli's face flushed red, and she turned her head away, pretending to fix her hair.
Jiang Yan replied without changing his expression, "We're discussing what to do next."
"Really?" Lim Yoona glanced at him with a half-smile, not pressing for details. She simply stood up and clapped her hands. "Alright, since Chief Kim is already in the hospital, he shouldn't have the energy to cause us trouble for a while. During this time, Kang Yeon, you finish the market analysis report as soon as possible. I'll make some arrangements with the other unnies to see when we can get them together."
As she spoke, she picked up her bag and walked to the door, then suddenly stopped and looked back at Jiang Yan.
"Oh, right, Shirley just said that Chief Kim suddenly lost her voice while she was talking about her..."
At this point, her eyes flickered slightly, as if she were asking with some curiosity, "So, Jiang Yan, you really didn't do this?"
Jiang Yan shrugged, meeting her gaze with an open expression. "Nuna, what do you think I can do? I don't know any magic, can I make someone lose their voice on the spot?"
Lin Yoona stared at him for two seconds, then looked away, a meaningful smile appearing on her lips.
"Yeah, then please be more specific in your messages next time. I thought something terrible had happened, and I rushed over without even touching up my makeup."
"Miane, I'll make sure to write it clearly next time."
"You dare to do it again?" Lin Yoona glared at him with her pretty eyes, opened the door and walked out.
The conference room door closed gently behind her.
After a moment of silence, Choi Sulli walked to Kang Yeon's side and whispered, "Kang Yeon, what did Yoona unnie mean by that? Did you cause Chief Kim to lose her voice?"
Jiang Yan turned his head in disbelief: "Zhenli, how come even you don't believe me?"
Looking at his expression, Choi Sulli suddenly burst out laughing.
A glimmer of genuine relaxation finally appeared in those almond-shaped eyes, like a ray of sunshine suddenly breaking through a sky that had been gloomy for too long.
"Yes, Arasso, I believe you. I believe everything you say."
After saying that, she raised her hand and touched Jiang Yan's face, then walked towards the conference room door. "I'm leaving now. You get back to work."
As soon as Choi Sulli disappeared, Lin Xiaolu appeared in front of Jiang Yan.
Jiang Yan was still in a daze when she startled him with what she had done. He frowned slightly and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you blushed."
"nerve."
Jiang Yan glanced at her, stepped aside, and walked towards the door, completely ignoring Lin Xiaolu, who was baring her teeth and brandishing her claws behind her.
Just as he stepped out of the house and reached the elevator, his phone suddenly vibrated.
He took it out and saw that it was a message from Lim Yoona.
[I didn't dare ask too much when Sulli was next to me, but you were the one who caused Kim Sung-hoon to lose his voice, weren't you?]
Just as Jiang Yan was about to reply, a second message popped up.
No need to reply. I just wanted to ask about the secrets of time travelers. I understand if you don't want to tell me, but that's okay, there's plenty of time.
Jiang Yan looked at the few lines of text on the screen and his lips twitched.
Lin Xiaolu hovered behind him, peeked over, and snorted gloatingly.
"Hmph, just as I thought, my future self will still be just as clever."
"To correct you, it's that your future self is very smart, which has little to do with your present self."
"Hey! Jiang Yan!"