Chapter 77: An Unhappy Parting

ound. He met the other's confused gaze with his crescent-shaped eyes for a moment, then chuckled softly and patted Wu Saik's right cheek with his right hand, saying:"Oops! (Sorry!)"First published on..."Youth shouldn't be hindered by youth." Chi Jingyuan sat on the toilet lid, leaning against it with his eyes closed and head bowed. He held a phone in one hand while gently rubbing his temples with the other.

I'm still pretty tired today. I was just about to fall asleep when I was suddenly woken up, so my spirits aren't very good.

"Have you rested" Even this late, Jung So-jung's voice on the phone still sounded quite energetic. Her speech was noticeably faster, seeming rather anxious. However, she first greeted me with a kind word.

"Hmm," Chi Jingyuan replied softly.

Hearing that Ji Jingyuan had already gone to sleep, Zheng Xiujing hesitated for a short moment. After listening to several seconds of breathing, she opened her mouth again: "It is indeed a bit late... That's it, there's something I want to ask you..."

She was at a loss for words, as if she was hesitating how to begin.

But as she was organizing her words, Chi Jingyuan proactively spoke up for her: "Is this about you, Oni"

"How did you know" Her voice was laced with surprise, she hadn't expected Ji Jingyuan to already be aware. After a quick moment of thought, she reacted, her breathing becoming rapid and her speech accelerating: "Who told you Was it Kim Taeyeon or Lee Sun-gyu Did they tell you lots of bad things about my older sister Ugh, these…"

She knew that Ji Jingyuan was close to several people from their younger days, and with a little thought, she could guess who had told him beforehand. As soon as she mentioned Kim Taeyeon and these members of Girls' Generation, Zheng Xiujing's anger seemed to flare up instantly. On the phone, she didn't use any polite language anymore, directly calling out the names of those sisters whom they used to be quite familiar with, and finally couldn't help but curse a few words.

Even over the phone, Jingyuan could hear the suppressed anger in her voice.

"Jingyuan, I'm telling you, don't believe them! They're just jealous of me because my new brand has been doing really well recently. The other day, they even ganged up and said bad things about me to the company..."

Seemingly afraid that Ji Eung-won might be misled, Jung Seo-jung spoke at length in a somewhat anxious tone. She explained the conflicts between Jung Soo-yeon and Girls' Generation from her perspective, fearing that Ji Eung-won would initially think that this whole situation was solely Jung Soo-yeon's fault.

In Jung Soo-jung's mouth, Jung Soo-yeon did nothing wrong. All the problems were from the other eight members and ** company during her younger years. They were jealous and coveted what their unnie had worked so hard to achieve. Things they had all agreed on before suddenly changed when a few people and the company turned their backs.

What she said about the whole situation was somewhat similar to what Sunny told me the other day, but there were also some significant differences.

Even someone who only hears about the situation from one side can understand that people perceive things differently based on their own perspectives and positions. It's unclear whether sunny's statement was objective or not, and as Jung Soo-yeon's younger sister, Jung Soo-jeong naturally leans towards her older sister; there's nothing wrong with that.

But actually, who is right and who is wrong doesn't matter much to Chi Jingyuan, and it's not really that relevant to him.

Jeong Se-gyeong said for a long time, then gradually stopped. Listening to an awkward silence from Chikyeong on the other end of the phone, she also fell silent. After a while, she softly spoke: "Mi ah ne."

…………

Qi Jingyuan walked out of the bathroom and returned to the bed, lying down.

The phone call just now ended on a rather sour note.

If it were ordinary bullying, like being harassed by a higher-up at ** or another company, Chi Jingyuan would handle it easily. Or if he wanted some resources, be it music resources, or even difficult-to-reach film and television resources that required a lot of connections, he could get them. These issues wouldn't be a big problem really.

But making Jung Soo-yeon stay at **, he's really got a headache.

Now it's clear that besides ** company, there are also big problems within Girls' Generation. He doesn't have the ability or skills to bring these individually strong sisters back together.

Just like their group EXO, once cracks appear, repairing them doesn't really make much difference.

In fact, Jung Soo-jung didn't know Lee Byung-hun's specific background. She only learned about his family circumstances through filming "The Heirs".

It's wrong, after all, to own such a luxurious villa in LA while still going to school. It's unimaginable, but she has no idea about her energy and network, she can only guess based on what she thinks.

If it's said that Jung Soo-jeong asked Park Kyung to take care of her unnie's business, it could actually be done. However, Jung Soo-jeong didn't even mention it. Seeing that her previous request was unanswered, she got a little angry and hung up the phone without further discussion.

"Hm."

Ji Jingyuan smiled, his lips slightly parted as he licked them. From beside him came a soft snore from Wu Shixun, which echoed in the silent dormitory. He glanced over there and shook his head with a smile, then tossed his phone onto the bedhead.

I didn't have much of a relationship with him to begin with, and I was just feeling a bit sorry about this situation. It wouldn't affect my mood though.

Time for bed!

The next day was calm and uneventful. Chi Jingyuan went through his usual routine on set, filming until night and then slept peacefully.

But the next day, when Ji Jingyuan was on his way to work in the nanny car, he was still a little sleepy, and then he heard Park Bo-hyun say that Zheng Xiuyan had quit the group.

"At dawn" he asked in surprise.

"Well, it was a notice posted on Xia Guo's Weibo," Park Jae-hyun nodded to confirm the message was accurate.

Chi Jingyuan took out his phone.

On the morning of September 30th, Zheng Xiuyan posted a statement on Weibo in Xia Guo. The statement was quite long, but to sum it up, she expressed that she was informed about being removed from the group while preparing for an activity, and she felt very confused.

Seven hours later, ** issued an announcement confirming the incident and providing a general explanation of the cause. After attributing all the blame externally, they finally acknowledged that this was indeed a real event.

Needless to say, today's front page headline is definitely hers. Jung Soo-yeon wasn't the most popular member during her time in Girls' Generation, but she was a top-tier member nonetheless. To leave just after renewing her contract with the group is shocking news that surpasses even Yoona's dating scandal. It's like dropping a bombshell on all SONE fans across the peninsula and even Asia.

Lee Byung-hun's matter quickly lost public attention, and online discussions about how long he needed to take medication ceased instantly.

This news was so hot that even early in the morning, when the sky was still barely light, Ji Jingyuan was stopped by reporters who had been waiting for him at Seoul Plaza before he could head to the set. The microphones were thrust forward, and they loudly questioned Ji Jingyuan about his opinion on leaving the group during his youth, asking if there were any insider stories or anything else behind the scenes.

After he was stopped, he was really confused.

No, what about Girls' Generation What do you want to ask me I really want to hear some news about han.

"... Pool Geon-won didn't say a word. Under the strenuous efforts of Park Jae-hyeon and Choi Ji-chang to block the reporters, he lowered his head and quickly walked into Seoul Plaza."

After arriving at the film set, he found that many people were also discussing this news. When they saw Ji Jingyuan arrive, everyone's eyes lit up and they hurriedly greeted him, wanting to find out from him what was going on behind the scenes.

It's also because we've been in the group for a while now, everyone gets along pretty well. These people aren't very reserved either, otherwise they wouldn't be so open and straightforward.

There's definitely something going on behind the scenes, but of course, Ji Jingyuan couldn't say anything. He could only smile wryly and say that he just found out too and was very surprised. EXO and Girls' Generation aren't managed by the same company, and he's been on set this whole time, so he doesn't know what happened.

These people were just making lighthearted comments, of course they didn't really expect to hear any insider information from Ji Jingyuan. After a few jokes, they started speculating about the recent departure in front of him, openly discussing it without considering his position as **'s top idol.

It's really too real.

The most interesting thing is that Ji-seong knows today Girls' Generation will be holding a fan meeting at Pengcheng. I don't know what happened suddenly today, and what the situation will be like during the event.

Besides onlookers from all walks of life

Outside of the tags, the most hurt were naturally the s*ne fans who had only been excitedly and proudly reveling in their group's contract renewal for a couple of days. When this news broke, the online communities of younger fans went into chaos, with cries of grief, anger, despair, and other emotions flooding their fan groups.

Even Chi Jingyuan felt a little heartbroken to watch.

However, the commotion outside did not affect the filming of "The Unborn." Besides taking breaks to discuss it, everyone was very serious about their work during actual shoots. If anyone got distracted by the gossip, Kim Gwon-suk would directly scold them.

Even during his downtime, Ji Jingyuan didn't pay much attention to this matter. Having personally experienced the event of a member leaving the group, he frankly wasn't interested in similar situations.

Compared to the news of Jung Show Yeon's departure from the group, Ji Kyeong Won is actually more concerned with, or more focused on, another piece of news he just learned about.

Lee Xiu-man's wife also passed away today due to cancer.

According to Chi Jingyuan's understanding, his wife was diagnosed with cancer the year before last and underwent major surgery for treatment last year. However, her condition suddenly deteriorated this year, so Lee Xiuman has been focusing on taking care of her family all year instead of managing the company. Unfortunately, she did not make it through.

Before coming here, Chi Jingyuan went to pay a visit to Li Xiuman's house during the Lunar New Year and met his wife as well.

During dinner, Ji Jingyuan briefly considered it before taking out his phone to call Lee Xiu-man.

When she received the call from Ji Jingyuan, the other party wasn't very surprised either. It seemed that Li Xiuman knew Ji Jingyuan quite well and had a premonition that he would call.

"Jingyuan, I'm so glad to receive your call."

Although she said she was happy, Lee Soo-man's voice sounded rather calm. It seemed she wasn't too saddened by the passing of her wife.

Of course, it's just what I hear.

"This is as it should be, Teacher Lee Hiu Man. Actually, I should have gone to visit her sooner."

“There’s no need for that, your kindness is enough.” Lee Xiuman smiled faintly, then added with a hint of apology: “However, I’ve decided to handle the funeral arrangements privately, just our family will send her off on her final journey. I hope Jingyuan understands.”

Of course, everything is up to you.

Having briefly finished the main point, Li Xiuman didn't immediately hang up the phone. Instead, she chatted with Ji Jingyuan about work-related matters. "Speaking of which, I heard from my subordinates at the company that XO's situation recently doesn't seem to be very good, right"

“There's a little bit to it, because after Han left the team, our schedules stopped for quite a long time, and…” Ji Kyeong-won hesitated, and the matter he originally wanted to mention about the members didn't follow through. Instead, he smoothly transitioned to the topic of their comeback: “Including myself, all the members are actually looking forward to and eager for the next comeback, after all, the previous events had a big impact.”

"Well, well, I know. Rest assured that the company has a very comprehensive plan for XO. When I have less to do here in a while, I'll go back to the company and personally handle the XO matter. By then, Jingyuan, remember to join us too. Your mission this time is also very important."

Lee Soo-man directly promised her return and participation in the album on the phone with him, and it's clear that although he doesn't have time to manage the company, he basically knows what's going on at **. It's not like some people imagine, he's not oblivious to everything.

"I understand, then I won't disturb Teacher Lee Xiuman."

Hanging up the phone, Chi Jingyuan pursed his lips. Li Xiuman's composure was somewhat beyond his expectations.

I really underestimated him.

First released on繁體小說網s on the actors' lines.He has been preparing all this time, ready to join the set for filming as soon as they call.While preparing, Jiyeong also needs to balance her activities on the EXO-K stage.Alth...