Chapter 219 - 151: Suffer a Double Loss

Chapter 219: Chapter 151: Suffer a Double Loss

Yan Li’s head was buzzing, so much so that she could barely make out what Wang Meng was saying.

She felt completely disconnected, as if in another world.

Wang Meng, standing beside her, was still the more rational one. She quickly steadied Yan Li again.

"President Yan, please calm down. Don’t panic. The most important thing right now is to handle what’s going on inside."

After she spoke, she cast a worried glance at the iron door.

"If something really happens to her, our company is done for."

....

The room was a little shabby, but it was spotlessly clean.

The girl on the sofa looked haggard. She had a roundish face, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

Her nose was red, her long hair was disheveled, and she wore a blue dress.

She clearly wasn’t in a good state of mind.

Xiao Ran cleared his throat. "Uh, look, I feel like no matter what the problem is, there’s no need to resort to suicide. Don’t you agree?"

Hearing this, the girl across from him let out a weak laugh, her eyes filled with an indescribable weariness.

"But being alive is just so exhausting."

’Life was already so hard. She was a kind person; she’d never done anything wrong. She’d even help stray animals she found on the street.’

’But none of the world’s suffering had spared her.’

’What more was she supposed to do?’

Xiao Ran tried to comfort her. "Well, do you think it’s possible you’re just going in the wrong direction? If you keep hitting red lights on this road, maybe switching to a different one would be better, right?"

Seeing how calm he looked, the girl felt an unexpected sense of admiration.

"You have such a great attitude. I mean, look at us—we’re both victims here, but you can still manage to smile."

She hugged her knees, leaning listlessly against the sofa.

Xiao Ran shrugged. "Why shouldn’t I be able to smile? I’m not the one who did something wrong. Why should I punish myself for someone else’s mistakes?"

The girl sighed. "Words of comfort are easy for anyone to say. You can treat it like you were bitten by a dog and just move on. But for me, it wasn’t a dog. It was a lion."

Pain is not all the same, and neither are mindsets. There was no way to judge who was suffering more.

Just as a wealthy person can never understand why someone would choose amputation over a medical bill for three thousand.

Little Carrot sniffled, her voice laced with unspeakable despair.

"Yan Li won’t let me off the hook that easily. I can’t even begin to imagine what the rest of my life will be like."

’She’d already made up her mind when she made this decision.’

’Even if it meant suffering a loss of one thousand, she would make sure her enemy suffered a loss of eight hundred!’

Xiao Ran looked at her curiously. "How old are you?"

’To be honest, she didn’t look as young as she did in her videos. Without the filters, it was clear her skin wasn’t that of a young woman anymore.’

"Thirty."

"You’re thirty already, so why are you being so childish?"

Xiao Ran chuckled.

Little Carrot looked at him, completely baffled. "What are you trying to say?"

"Well, let me tell you a story. You definitely know the main character—it’s Yan Xici, Yan Li’s sister."

"You think she was an overnight sensation, but you have no idea what she went through mentally, or how much damage the whole affair did to her after it blew up."

"The comments sections were filled with people cursing her out. Even when she went live, the stream chat was just an endless barrage of hate."

"If she hadn’t been able to withstand it back then, she’d be the one sitting here crying right now."

After he finished, Xiao Ran looked at her with a serious expression.

"She took just as much flak as you, if not more. But she persevered, and that’s why she is where she is today."

The corner of Little Carrot’s mouth twitched.

’She had seen that livestream of Yan Xici’s.’

’It was a total comeback against all odds.’

’But she figured the real reason for that success was probably Yan Li pulling the strings behind the scenes. After all, there was no way a complete nobody with no connections could become a star overnight.’

"So what? Isn’t that just because she has a powerful sister?"

"Do you really think a sister would be willing to throw her own sibling into the eye of a storm like that?" Xiao Ran shot back. "Why not use a different method? With Yan Li’s resources, making someone an internet star would be easy. Why would she do it that way?"

At his words, Little Carrot fell silent.

’It was true. That was something she had never understood either.’

Seeing her hugging her knees in silence, Xiao Ran continued, "Besides, if you have the guts to go up against Yan Li like this, why don’t you have the courage to face the aftermath? How much worse could it possibly get?"

’I can understand her feelings, but I can’t agree with her actions!’

’Everyone’s life is precious. Giving up your own is the most foolish choice a person can make in this world.’

Hearing this, Little Carrot fell silent once more.

’What Xiao Ran said made sense.’

’This was the worst of it. How much worse could it get? It’s not like Yan Li could actually kill her.’

’At the end of the day, she was just a businesswoman.’

’Maybe her thinking had been a little too extreme.’

"Just wait a bit. What if you don’t have to do this?" Xiao Ran continued.

"I just think you shouldn’t give up so easily until the very last moment. Sometimes, all you need is a little more time. Give yourself some time. Give success some time."

’It was just like when he was writing his book.’

’To be honest, he’d been fully prepared for this book to be a total flop. After all, he had released four hundred thousand words’ worth of free Chapters on a pay-to-read site.’

’On top of that, it was a romance novel, and he’d given away all the most exciting parts for free.’

’Any author knew how serious the consequences of doing that were.’

’But what happened in the end? The book got noticed, and just like that, it was picked up for an adaptation.’

’Sometimes, you really do need to give success a little time. After all, it can’t always arrive in a hurry.’