Her Funeral (1)
Previously, after becoming a movie Goddess, Lan Jinyao hadnât only bought a car and a house, but sheâd also bought a plot of land in a cemetery.
In this bustling city known as B City, the price of living was high, and the cost of land was extremely expensive. When Lan Jinyao had asked her Manager, Li Qi, to buy a plot of land in a cemetery, Li Qi had stared at her like he was looking at a mental person. He was clearly stumped as to why such a young person was already concerned about their death. Did she suffer from depression or something? He thought that Lan Jinyao should find a day to visit a psychiatrist and get examined.
In reality, Lan Jinyao had bought the plot of land in a cemetery as a completely precautionary measure. At the time, the answer that sheâd given her Agent was that you never knew if an accident or tomorrow would occur first.
So, true to her word, Lan Jinyao had purchased a plot of land in a cemetery. A month later, just after sheâd finished all the formalities and paid for everything, sheâd fallen from Blue Hall Entertainmentâs office building. Anyone would feel dizzy standing on the edge of the twenty-something storey building, let alone fear falling.
Lan Jinyao would always remember how sheâd felt in those few shorts moments as sheâd fallen from the peak of the building. Her heart would feel constricted, and her pupils would dilate in terror. As for what sheâd felt when she hit the ground, she luckily the didnât remember much. At that time, she reckoned that sheâd been reduced to nothing but a pool of blood.
At eight oâclock in the morning, in a dimly lit room, a thick pair of curtains were open to allow a warm beam of sunlight to spill through the window and illuminate every corner of the room. Lan Jinyao was currently sitting on the plush carpet, a sheet of paper in each of her hands. One was Chen Meimeiâs schedule, and other was Fu Bainianâs itinerary.
Glancing at the papers and comparing the two, she couldnât help but exclaim, âJust how fond of Fu Bainian was Chen Meimei?! Her schedule is completely based on Fu Bainianâs itinerary. No wonder Iâm able to meet him wherever I go!â
The first agenda on Chen Meimeiâs schedule was running followed by swimming, with notes detailing what time Fu Bainian would be at the pool, and which route he would take. Looking at all the information before her, it appeared that this young lady had been utterly corrupted and that her notoriety was deeply rooted in peopleâs hearts. It seemed that her hopes of salvaging her reputation in a short time would be out of the question.
Lan Jinyao drew in a deep breath before trying to comfort herself. âIt doesnât matter; Iâll just take it slowly. With time, everything will be revealed.â
As she continued looking through the schedule, she noticed a messily scrawled note that Chen Meimei had added to the last column: attend that troublesome Lan Jinyaoâs funeral at eight am on the weekend.
When the name âLan Jinyaoâ entered her sight without warning, she was stunned.
Her funeral...
Her hands were slightly trembling as they held the papers.
Right, she was already dead. Lan Jinyao no longer existed.
The past few days, after being discharged from the hospital, sheâd been striving hard to live well in this fat body. If no one reminded her, she would have to constantly shout at her reflection âChen Meimei, Chen Meimeiâ¦â or else, she felt that she would forget that she wasnât Lan Jinyao anymore.
She was obviously still living in this world, yet her body was already decaying. Lan Jinyao felt somewhat numb inside, as if, even if her heart was pricked; it wouldnât hurt, just feel uncomfortable.
At that moment, it was like she was awakened from a beautiful dream, and all that she could see was the word âfuneralâ. An immense sorrow weighed down her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe from the pressure.
âIâm dead, yet Iâm still alive. Hahaâ¦â
One by one, tears slid down her plump cheeks, soaking the papers in her hands. Lan Jinyao stared at the road outside the window; the bright scenery blurring before her eyes.
The funeral was on Sunday, and today was already Saturday. Since it was her funeral, she wanted to go and see it. After all, no one was more qualified than herself to attend.
****
In Lan Jinyaoâs private break room, the gifts and letters piled up on the sofa had been removed, and a couple of staff members were entering with pieces of white cloth. They methodically used the pieces of white cloth to cover the sofa, table and chairs. Then, once a piece of white cloth covered everything in the room, they left, closing the door behind them.
In the hallway, the staff members spotted two women heading in their direction. So, stopping, they respectfully called out, âSis Shen!â
The woman leading the pair was wearing a long blue skirt, and a hand-embroidered t-shirt; she gave off a kind of seductive feeling of freshness. She faintly responded and asked, âThis room used to be Jinyaoâs. What will it be used for in the future?â
One of the staff members replied, âItâll be locked up. This room wonât be used anymore!â
Wasting a private break room on a dead person? It must be known that there were a lot of artists in the company, and most of them shared a room. Shen Weiâan was surprised, but her face remained calm.
She waited a moment before she asked, âWhy is that? Was it Director Shenâs idea?â
In this company, only Shen Yu had treated Lan Jinyao so well. She was dead now, and no longer able to be of worth to the company. Yet, they were preserving a room just for her?
She was somewhat angry, so her tone rose a bit when she spoke.
The two staff members glanced at each other but didnât answer directly. Instead, they said, âIt was an order that came from above.â
In such a large company, there were more than a dozen senior leaders; to say that it was an order from above was ambiguous. However, Shen Weiâan was confident that it was Shen Yuâs idea. Momentarily, her complexion turned somewhat unsightly.
Unexpectedly, her Assistant Xiao Ding was angrier than her and cursed on the spot, âSis Shen, Lan Jinyao wasnât capable of anything except for one thing, and that was winning peopleâs hearts. Even Director Shen was charmed by her. Otherwise, why would he do something like this? If President Fu found out, then Director Shen would certainly have to face the consequences.â
Shen Weiâan didnât answer, and instead, she turned around and left, her high heels clicking in her wake. Behind her, Xiao Ding hurriedly followed to keep up.
The two staff members watched as they left before whispering, âWhat do you think about Shen Weiâan? If Lan Jinyao hadnât died, would there even be a position for her on the 12th floor? Just based on her attitude, she wouldnât be able to get there even if she knocked her head against a brick wall. Lan Jinyao died unexpectedly, and Shen Weiâan was the closest to her before her death, yet Shen Weiâan couldnât wait to step on her and immediately climb up. Fortunately, sheâs unaware that our President Fu has been pay attention to this matter because, if she knew, it would be disastrous. Sheâs taking advantage of the fact that she was Lan Jinyaoâs closest friend to get close to our Director Shen.â
The other person shook her head and retorted, âThatâs wrong. Even if she hadnât used Lan Jinyao, do you think that she wouldnât be able to climb up? Shen Weiâan is a rather shrewd woman! A few days ago, at the meeting venue, didnât she try to seduce a certain Director, but was instead angered to the point of wanting to commit suicide by jumping off the building?!â
âYes yes, Sisâ analysis is right! Sigh, us women shouldnât be like Lan Jinyao, living such a short life. But, we also canât be like Shen Weiâan, living such a lowlife!â
The two people noisily laughed as they stepped into the elevator.
In the corner of the corridor, a woman was tightly clenching her hands into fists; her complexion white from anger.
Xiao Ding quickly patted her back to appease her anger, and comforted, âSis Shen, donât listen to those people, what do they know anyway? How dare they say that there wasnât anything fishy going on between Lan Jinyao and Director Shen?!â
As soon as those words were said, Shen Weiâan raised her hand and slapped her. The slap wasnât too heavy, but it still caused the little Assistant to blank out for a moment.
âIn the future, I donât want to hear the names Lan Jinyao and Shen Yu coming from your mouth at the same time!â
Shen Weiâan towered over the Assistant and spoke again, âI want you to arrange for me to attend Lan Jinyaoâs funeral this weekend. Additionally, arrange for some reporters to be there!â
âYes!â