Chapter Thirty-Four Smooth Resolution

  "They're all gone." Song Jiang let out a long sigh of relief now that everyone had left.

  But Zhang Xiaowen seemed unwilling to let Ji Xin'an off so easily, and stood up high to shout, "Anxin, your fans have been standing here for several hours just to see you, and you're going to make them wait in vain with just one sentence? Can you bear to disappoint them like this?"

  The crowd that was about to disperse stopped again and slowly made a sound. Ji Xin'an saw this situation, turned his head to look at Song Jiangliang, "Song brother, find me a mask."

  Song Jiang responded with a "yes" and left, returning while still jogging, "I found this one that's barely passable, it can only cover half of my face."

  "One is enough, thank you." Ji Xin'an took it over and put it on her face, opening the ponytail tied up in her hair and letting it fall behind her head.

  Ji Xin'an knew that if they just walked out like this, something would go wrong. "Song Ge, is there anywhere upstairs where we can stand outside?"

  "There's a small platform on the second floor with a small door that can be opened to go out, and they can't come up." Song Jiangliang knew what Ji Xin'an wanted to do as soon as he saw it.

  Ji Xin'an followed him to the second floor and walked out as soon as he opened the door.

  The fans below suddenly quieted down, looking up with hopeful eyes, and a girl in a white dress slowly walked out. Her long hair was gently blown by the wind, and her face wore an exquisite butterfly mask, revealing half of her pale small face, just like the beautiful girl in the sketch.

  The crowd suddenly erupted in a fervent cheer, which gradually turned into a chorus of voices shouting "An Xin" in unison.

  Ji Xin'an didn't say anything, but picked up the microphone and started singing another song from the album "Girl with Wings", a more suitable song for a cappella. The fans slowly quieted down and sang along, eventually leading to a full-house chorus.

  When the song was finished, Ji Xin'an smiled and said to everyone: "I'm very grateful for your support. I'm also touched that you've been waiting here for me for so long. But we're affecting many other people by being here, like other artists and staff from our company who can't work normally because of us. And behind you, there are police officers who have been protecting you since you arrived, but they can't take care of all the criminal cases they need to handle in order to maintain order for our safety. So please disperse and don't affect others anymore, okay?"

  After hearing her sincere words, the crowd finally began to disperse, with some people taking the lead and others following in twos and threes, until the remaining crowd grew smaller and smaller.

  Jian saw the crowd dispersing and Xin An also retreated. Zhang Xiaowen, who had shouted earlier, saw that the situation was no longer favorable and reluctantly left.

  "Awesome, you're too awesome!" Song Jiangliang gave her a thumbs up as soon as she came back.

  "Song Ge, stop flattering me, I'm getting nervous and my palms are sweating." Ji Xin'an smiled as she took off the mask from her face.

  "You're not bad either, you're still so young, yet you can be so calm in front of so many people, I'm really ashamed to admit it." Song Jiang shook his head helplessly, since coming to the company he had never encountered such a thorny situation, if this time it wasn't handled well and something went wrong, he would be out of a job.

  "I should be the one apologizing for this matter. If I hadn't insisted on keeping a low profile, you wouldn't have been troubled so much." Ji Xin'an felt somewhat embarrassed.

  "How can you blame yourself? The contract was signed long ago, let's not talk about it now. Since the matter has been resolved, it's the best outcome." Song Jiangliang smiled happily.

  "Well, it's fine as long as nothing happens. I hope there won't be any more trouble in the future. This has nothing to do with me anymore, so I'll just head back first." Ji Xin'an thought that she should probably head back too.

  "How did you come here? I'll send a car to take you back?" Song Jiang Liang saw that she was about to leave and enthusiastically offered to send her.

  "Never mind, just help me find a set of clothes that I can wear to change into." Ji Xinan probably couldn't wear this dress out again, and maybe not for a while.

  "Alright, I'll get someone to help you find it." Song Jiang had heard her words and didn't bother being polite anymore. After a while, he brought in a set of clothes that fit her, along with a hat, glasses, and everything else she needed. He put them down and voluntarily left the room, leaving it for her.

  Ji Xin'an smiled wryly as he looked at these things, wondering if Song Jiangliang was in a hurry or what, and actually found these things for himself.

  She simply changed her clothes and tied up her hair in a ponytail, instantly transforming from a gentle and delicate beauty to a lively young girl.

  She then found a bag in his office and put her skirt in it, carrying it casually in her hand.

  "You're leaving just like that? I got you other things, why didn't you put them on?" Song Jiang saw the plan and happily changed into the clothes to come out.

  "If I wear all those things, wouldn't it be telling others that I'm Ah Xin? In this getup, I can take advantage of the fact that the fans haven't dispersed yet and blend in with them to leave." Ji Xin An smiled.

  "I was so busy I forgot they didn't know you, and took you for some other celebrity. Alright then, you can hurry back now!" Song Jiangliang slapped his forehead, secretly thinking to himself that he had made a fool of himself.

  After bidding farewell to Song Jiang, Ji Xin'an blended into the crowd and left in a carefree manner. No one noticed this casually dressed girl, nor would anyone have thought that this unassuming Ji Xin'an was the very An Xin who had shone so brightly on stage just moments before.

  Everyone was still immersed in the beautiful singing, chatting excitedly with their friends or newly met songmates, and no one paid attention to the silent Ji Xin'an.

  However, things in the world are not so absolute. Ji Xin'an walked towards her home, but was stopped by Zhang Xiaowen who came face to face with her. Just as Ji Xin'an thought she had been exposed and tried to remain calm, Zhang Xiaowen spoke up, "Excuse me, classmate, please wait a minute. Are you a fan of An Xinghe and Kan Ke?"

  "Of course." Ji Xin'an's heart was put at ease, and his tightly clenched fist relaxed.

  "What's your take on Ji Xin An's insistence on not meeting with fans today?" Zhang Xiao Wen looked at Ji Xin An, seemingly hoping she would give an answer that would satisfy her.

  "I think it's nothing, after all, whether we see her or not is her own business, and what we like is her song, which won't change just because we can't see her. Besides, didn't we also get to see her, and even got a nice a cappella song as a bonus?" Ji Xin'an smiled lightly, thinking how lucky it was that she was the first one to interview An Xin, and wondering what Zhang Xiaowen's expression would be if she knew about it in the future.

  "But don't you think she's being a bit too arrogant, wearing a mask to meet people, isn't that somewhat disrespectful to her fans?" Zhang Xiaowen continued to probe as he saw she wasn't taking the bait.

  "If she was being arrogant, she wouldn't have come, let alone sing for us." Zixin said and turned to leave, really didn't know when I offended her, so deliberately making things difficult for me.

  Zhang Xiaowen didn't mind either and quickly ran off to interview other people.

  The next morning, Ji Xin'an was on his way home from practice when he saw that almost all the entertainment sections of the newspapers at the newsstand had devoted a large section to this matter. Of course, most of the reports were sympathetic, feeling that Ji Xin'an's choice was correct. Although he had given up the opportunity to become a star for now, in order to have better development and write even more beautiful songs in the future, these sacrifices weren't so regrettable after all.

  However, in these newspapers, Ji Xin'an saw a different report. The title was written in very eye-catching red: "New Star An Xin, Rude and Arrogant, Lacking Artistic Morality."

  Ji Xin'an specially bought this newspaper and took it back to eat breakfast while reading, occasionally bursting out laughing. Her parents looked at her in confusion. "An An, what's wrong with you? Why are you laughing so hard while eating?"

  "I'm dead, let me tell you what she wrote, and you'll laugh too. It says that she lets her fans wait for hours in front of the square, refusing to appear, and even when she finally shows up, she still doesn't reveal her true face. She also yelled at a certain female reporter on the spot, and then chased away the fans who had been waiting for her, while Kan Yue didn't show up at all. And she's calling on everyone not to like stars who are arrogant and have no artistic integrity." Ji Xin'an said with a smile, unexpectedly, the reporter already has such skills, it's really admirable.

  "Isn't this stage name of yours just for singing? What kind of newspaper is this, how can they say such things about you?" Mom was a bit unhappy upon hearing this.

  "These people are just making a living by sensationalizing negative news about celebrities, otherwise how would they make money? We don't need to pay attention to them, wait for a while and there will be new people coming out, and they will forget about me." Ji Xin'an has seen these things many times and doesn't care at all.

  "This is also too complicated, fortunately AnAn didn't show up, otherwise it wouldn't be a good day now. AnAn, don't release any more albums in the future." Mom looked at Ji XinAn with concern.

  "I know this is just occasional fun, but if you make me do these things every day, I'd be fed up too." Ji Xin'an smiled and put down the newspaper to eat properly.

  "That's good, the literary circle is too complicated, it's better for people like us to live a more peaceful life." Mom said with some emotion.

  "Of course I won't enter the entertainment industry. I know that right now, my goal is to get into a good university and one that doesn't cost money." Ji Xin'an said with a smile, as if jokingly giving them some advance notice.

  "Getting into a good university, we never really thought about it before, but if you keep up the performance you've had since junior high school, it's actually quite easy. But no matter whether you can get in or not, as long as you're happy and having fun, mom will be satisfied." Mom is still as open-minded as ever.

  "Mom, you're really great." Ji Xin'an was truly moved by her mother.

  Special thanks: 'He Siyao' classmate's peace charm, also wish you peace.