Chapter 170: Who Does the Back Belong to?

Long Jie felt like she was being strangled as a million possibilities flashed through her head.

Upon entering Lan Xi's home, Long Jie found her grandfather chatting to Lan Xi with a kind smile under the bright hanging lights. She felt a fire boiling up inside her, like a volcano ready to erupt.

"President Lan…what is the meaning of this?" Long Jie's voice was a little shaky.

Hearing Long Jie's voice, Lan Xi and Grandfather Long both turned their heads. Lan Xi stood up welcomingly and greeted Long Jie, "You have been so dutiful towards Tangning that I wanted to reward you. So, you don't mind that I invited your grandfather over, right?"

"Xiao Man[1], President Lan has been extremely kind to me. She's been treating me like a part of the family, you definitely need to thank her," Grandfather Long smiled happily. He was wearing a new set of clothes and waving at Long Jie.

Long Jie looked at Lan Xi angrily as she clenched her fists. She wanted to ask Lan Xi if she still had any humanity left in her.

She didn't even let a 78-year-old elder off…She even wanted to use a 78-year-old!

"Luo Hao, take Grandfather Long to get some rest. I have something I want to discuss with Long Jie," Lan Xi looked at Long Jie threateningly; her eyes were piercing like an icy cold dagger.

Long Jie wanted to drag her grandfather away, but she knew…if she didn't grant Lan Xi her wish, she would not be able to leave.

"In that case, you guys have a good chat, I will go rest. When a person gets old, they become useless…just sitting in the car a little bit makes me tired."

After seeing her grandfather disappear into the distance, Long Jie finally asked, "What do you want?"

"Can't you tell what I want?" Lan Xi moved away from Long Jie and returned to sit on the sofa. "I want to use you - it's that simple. But what could I do to make a loyal dog like you abandon Tangning? The only thing I could think of was family!"

"Long Man[2], you've been in this industry for more than a couple days. Haven't you seen methods like this before? Isn't it normal to you?"

Long Jie held back her tears. Even though she had a good nature, she couldn't stand up against Lan Xi's humiliation and intimidation, "Just tell me what you want, don't go around in circles."

Lan Xi let out a laugh as she lifted the bottle of wine off the table in front of her. As she walked over to the window she said, "I want to know all of Tangning's secrets."

"For example?"

"In the LM commercial. Who does the back belong to?"

Long Jie lowered her head and smiled before replying, "Someone from the Tang family."

Long Jie made up something random, "After all, you know that Tangning is an heiress of the Tang family. Who else could she get? She can only get someone from the Tang family. But, she couldn't let the other people from the family know, so she had to keep it a secret. If you think about it, if it was any other artist, they would be dying to be exposed. How could they disappear without a word?"

Lan Xi turned and glanced at Long Jie; her eyes were cold, but she seemed to have accepted this explanation.

"What type of background does Tangning have? With what man does she have such a close relationship?"

"Apart from being an abandoned Tang family heiress, what other background could she possibly have? If she really had a strong backing, would she allow you guys to oppress her?" Long Jie replied in a ridiculing tone. "As for men, she's quite close to the editor of TQ, they've had dinner a few times - but they aren't in 'that' kind of relationship. Maybe Tangning likes Lin Weisen, but…Editor Lin is not interested."

After hearing her last sentence, Lan Xi approached Long Jie and grabbed her chin, "Tangning obviously said she has a man and they are living together."

"She's never admitted to living together…she just admitted to being in a relationship."

Lan Xi glared at Long Jie before warning her, "You better guarantee that all you've said today is the truth. Otherwise, your grandfather…he's getting old and weak…"

"I've said all I can, what else do you want? If you don't believe me, you can go investigate…" Long Jie responded helplessly. "Tangning has always depended on herself. She has never thought about using anyone to advance nor has she thought about being a threat to you."

"Too bad her existence alone is a threat." Lan Xi sculled all her wine in one go before saying to Long Jie, "I don't expect you to do too much. Just this once, I want you to prevent Tangning from going on Feng Cai. As long as you succeed, I'll let your grandfather go."

Long Jie was silent for a little while before sneering, "Are you that confident I will betray Tangning?"

"Long Man, although I'm not familiar with you, I'm sure you won't disregard the grandfather that brought you up over an outsider."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't need you to do much. Just…when the time comes, I want you to hold back Tangning. It's that simple."

Lan Xi threw out her mission and claimed it was simple.

However, to Long Jie, if she really agreed to Lan Xi's suggestion, she would be destroying her humanity. In reality, no matter what predicament one was put in, they always had the choice to make the right decision.

If with a little pressure, one changes who they are, then aren't they worse than an elastic band?

"I know you and Tangning are like sisters. But, Long Man…I can do anything."

Long Jie gave a bitter smile. If she still wasn't aware of how far Lan Xi could go, she would be too slow!

Lan Xi could! do! anything!

"I will not betray Tangning directly."

"I knew this would be your response…how about this, Danni has a show that day and her assistant is on break. Why don't you go be Danni's assistant?"

She was Tangning's assistant, yet Lan Xi wanted to lend her out to Li Danni…

Her motive was clear. Li Danni wasn't going to go easy on Long Jie.

If Tangning found out Long Jie was being bullied, how could she still care about going on the talk show?

"Fine, but I have one request. That night, I need to send my grandfather off."

"Fine."

After speaking, Lan Xi turned around and said in a ridiculing tone, "I must say, there's no such thing as absolute loyalty. Everyone has their motives…"

That night, as Long Jie left Lan Xi's home, her mind was empty.

But as she thought about Tangning, she still had a glimmer of hope. Before dawn, it had always been hard to see things clearly. But if one closes their eyes a little, they will be able to get through it.

That night, Tangning headed home from the hotel. Thinking about Grandfather Long's visit, she decided to give Long Jie a call, "Have you picked up your grandfather? Are you happy?"

"Yes, I'm extremely happy," Long Jie replied as she wiped her tears. "Tangning, you have Zihao by your side. For the next couple days, just pretend I'm on holidays…"

"So naggy. Have you got enough money?"

"I have enough," Long Jie almost choked. "You will be going on the program in 2 days, remember to be careful. Lan Xi is not easy to deal with."

With the mention of Lan Xi, Tangning's smile disappeared. All along she had thought Long Jie was overjoyed by seeing her grandfather, but the strong nasal sound coming from her voice, was definitely the result of oppression and not happiness…

[1] The name that Long Jie's grandfather calls her.

[2] Long Jie's real name.