Chapter 270: Chapter 270: The Good Days Are Coming to an End
Sang Ning crouched down right in the middle of the corridor leading to the control room, clutching her head with her hands. Her head drooped low, resembling a human-shaped mushroom growing from the floor.
Her squat position directly caused an obstruction, forcing people passing by to detour around her.
Worried that she might be a hidden lunatic, though everyone felt she was odd, not a single person dared to approach her and ask about her situation; they merely avoided her, whispering and gesturing behind her back.
"Who is this person? Do any of you know her? Is she part of our internal staff?"
"Never seen her before. She seems nuts. Stay away. If she suddenly stands up and attacks us, it’ll be trouble."
"Should we call security to handle this?"
"Better not. What if she’s just feeling unwell and squatting here to recover?"
Sang Ning was waiting for a kind soul’s words of concern. Shaking slightly, she reached out her trembling hand, weakly saying, "I don’t feel well... Could someone help me?"
Sang Ning didn’t want to embarrass herself in the corridor, but regular means weren’t enough to get the lead director of the show’s team.
That old dog seemed to always drive in and out of the parking lot through the staff entrance, a place she had no authorization to access at all.
"Which department are you from? Should I call an ambulance for you?" Finally, a kind-hearted person extended a helping hand.
Sang Ning secretly brushed her hair back a few times before slowly raising her head.
Her hair almost completely covered her face, leaving only her chin faintly visible. She looked like a faceless ghost, unsettling and eerie.
The girl who approached to check on her was startled. She instinctively tried to pull her hand back but was grabbed by Sang Ning in one swift motion.
Sang Ning leaned slowly toward her ear, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Hey, could you help me get the director out here? The child in my belly might not make it..."
The girl was struck hard by this revelation. Covering her mouth, she stared at Sang Ning in shock, her face a mix of unease and terror as if she’d learned a monumental secret and feared she’d be silenced for it.
Women’s minds naturally love spinning stories, and the girl had already constructed a dramatic scene in her head: the director’s affair had led to his mistress’s pregnancy, and now he’d left the mistress to suffer a miscarriage in silence.
The girl usually had no tolerance for cheating men and mistresses, but the principal players in this case included her boss. She wasn’t yet brave enough to criticize her leader outright.
"Wait here, I’ll go get someone for you." Her tone suddenly grew cold.
Rising from the floor, she hurried toward the control room, attracting the attention of her colleague accompanying her. Smelling the gossip in the air, the colleague quickly followed behind her, asking, "Why are you rushing? What did that strange person say to you just now?"
The girl turned her head with a heavy expression, replying, "It’s not anything good. Trust me, you’re better off not knowing."
Inside the control room—
"Xiao Yu, this scene isn’t edited correctly. You need to switch it to slow motion to better express the mentor’s shock."
Wan Shaohu stood behind the girl named Xiao Yu. After pointing out her mistakes, he reached out his right hand from behind and grabbed her hand holding the stylus.
A faint, unpleasant odor reached Xiao Yu’s nose. Her body shuddered, involuntarily resisting, but Wan Shaohu tightly held onto her hand.
Xiao Yu’s instinctive reaction was to realize she might be experiencing workplace sexual harassment. However, as a new intern unfamiliar with the director’s character, she hesitated.
What if he was just sincerely trying to teach her? Wouldn’t her suspicion simply be misunderstanding Wan Shaohu’s intentions?
Yet, when Wan Shaohu continued his actions, her discomfort grew deeper. He moved her hand while guiding the stylus, but his arm brushed against her chest, seemingly deliberate.
Xiao Yu quietly resisted, trying to wrest control of the stylus away. "Director Wan, I didn’t realize you were skilled at video editing too."
Feigning flattery, she kept leaning forward toward the desk. But Wan Shaohu moved closer to follow her.
"Given time, you’ll learn that aside from video editing, I have plenty of other talents."
Wan Shaohu said as he rubbed against Xiao Yu’s back. Xiao Yu’s body turned cold, and her brain felt incapable of thinking properly anymore. Though she despised Wan Shaohu, she couldn’t muster the courage to resist him. She firmly believed she had encountered workplace sexual harassment!
But none of her colleagues nearby reacted even slightly; no one was willing to spare her any attention.
Seeing she didn’t resist, Wan Shaohu grew bolder, propping his left hand on the desk in an apparent search for support while effectively cornering Xiao Yu in front of him, creating even greater opportunities for harassment.
Xiao Yu was filled with despair. She abhorred sexual harassment in the workplace, yet her timid and weak-natured personality made it impossible for her to turn and slap Wan Shaohu hard across the face.
Just when she felt utterly helpless, a female colleague suddenly barged in and rescued her.
"Director Wan, someone’s looking for you outside."
Wan Shaohu cared very much about his image in front of subordinates. Feeling guilty, he quickly released Xiao Yu’s hand and stood upright.
"What’s going on? Who’s important enough to want to meet me but won’t come themselves, requiring someone to deliver the message instead?"
Though his face remained composed, the interruption to his enjoyment left him visibly annoyed.
Chen Yuan glanced at Wan Shaohu’s side, noticing the newcomer intern clutching her stylus tightly with reddened, trembling lips—a look of unbearable humiliation.
Relating this to the sight she’d glimpsed upon entering, with Wan Shaohu seemingly giving directions behind the intern, her expression changed. Had Wan Shaohu done something inappropriate to this young girl?
Chen Yuan had always found Wan Shaohu’s demeanor unsettling. Initially, she chalked it up to her imagination. But tying together the commotion outside and the intern’s current state, she was sure Wan Shaohu wasn’t a good person.
Though disgusted with Wan Shaohu, Chen Yuan decided to keep things civil for the moment. She lowered her voice intentionally, saying, "Director Wan, your mistress is here to see you."
Chen Yuan wasn’t certain whether the person outside was part of their staff, but she was sure there was an improper relationship between her and Wan Shaohu.
As expected, Wan Shaohu’s face changed. "Where is she?"
Chen Yuan raised a hand, pointing outside. "Look, she’s right outside the control room door."
Wan Shaohu’s face went pale. "Damn it! How did that woman get in here?"
In a panic, Wan Shaohu rushed outside. Watching him leave, Chen Yuan turned to the intern with concern and asked, "Young lady, are you alright?"
Xiao Yu raised her head, her eyes red with unshed tears. After what felt like an eternity, she finally couldn’t hold back anymore. "Sister Yuan, I don’t want to work here anymore. Is that okay?"
Chen Yuan sighed deeply. Could she admit that she didn’t want to work here either?
Wan Shaohu was a parachuted-in director so incompetent it made people want to crush him.
She had high hopes for the variety show *Who’s the Acting Star*, but it had already been thoroughly messed up by Wan Shaohu.
"Jobs are hard to come by nowadays. How about giving it some more time? If you really can’t hold on, then we’ll figure something out, okay?" Chen Yuan could only offer this consolation. She had a gut feeling that Wan Shaohu’s days were numbered.