Because of the unique nature of her work, Chi Yingyu had helped many people review contracts before.
The contracts she had seen were either riddled with traps hidden in the fine print or filled with all sorts of oppressive clauses, where both parties constantly tried to exploit the other.
Although not all contracts were like this, Chi Yingyu, given her profession, had witnessed too many cases where loopholes in contracts led to ruin or debts amounting to millions.
Yet even though she had initially scrutinized the contract in her hands with a critical eye, determined to find flaws, this particular contract was nearly flawless.
To put it another way, this contract demanded almost nothing from Jiang Lai while offering her nothing but benefits.
Chi Yingyu clenched the contract tightly in her hands, genuinely wanting to ask—was Xu Ruobing doing charity work?
“Are you serious about this?”
Just by adding up the resources listed in the contract, the Xu Ruobing Studio’s investment in Jiang Lai would far exceed a few million.
Yet, despite this, there were no binding conditions imposed on Jiang Lai.
Not a single clause addressed breaches of contract.
If someone with ill intentions had signed this contract, a slight malicious twist could have cost Xu Ruobing Studio tens of millions.
Xu Ruobing looked at Chi Yingyu’s incredulous face and smiled proudly.
Perhaps even this woman before her couldn’t believe Jiang Lai was worth everything stipulated in the contract.
“How much do you think this face of mine is worth?”
Though Chi Yingyu wanted to say that her affection for Jiang Lai wasn’t something money could compare to—that as long as Jiang Lai stayed by her side and realized her own value, blossoming with her unique charm, she wouldn’t mind wasting tens of millions—there was no use in saying so much.
As the saying goes, no amount of money can buy happiness, and anyway, Chi Yingyu could easily make that money back by taking on an advertisement later.
But saying all this vague stuff was a waste of time right now.
It was better to turn it into concrete benefits—it sounded more convincing that way.
“If it weren’t for your sister, my face would probably have been ruined. Do you think I’d be able to earn anything without this face?”
“This…”
Chi Yingyu’s eyes darkened; she didn’t understand what Xu Ruobing meant.
What was this matter about her face being ruined?
And what did it have to do with her own sister?
Frowning in confusion and with no explanation forthcoming, Chi Yingyu’s gaze shifted to her brother-in-law sitting on the sofa.
Jiang Lai’s eyes suddenly flickered with avoidance, unwilling to meet hers directly.
At this moment, Chi Yingyu truly felt like a joke.
Yesterday, when she tried to unlock her brother-in-law’s phone to see who he had been chatting with recently, he had changed the password.
Now, there were matters happening that she hadn’t even heard of.
She felt herself growing more distant from her brother-in-law; a chasm had somehow formed between them.
That feeling was like a thorn piercing her heart—painful and distressing.
Jiang Lai sensed the sudden darkening of her sister-in-law’s eyes and began to explain the situation between her and Xu Ruobing.
“Before, when I was looking for work, I happened to run into Xu Ruobing. At the time, I thought it was just a simple coincidence, but unexpectedly, she was almost attacked with acid by someone. Because of that incident, we became closer.”
Jiang Lai told the story plainly, but even this simple sentence raised many questions in Chi Yingyu’s mind.
Almost being doused with acid and disfigured—if her brother-in-law had accidentally come into contact with the acid and got disfigured, what would happen then?
Did he never think about her?
And what did “became closer” mean?
Were they already close before?
While Chi Yingyu’s thoughts raced, Xu Ruobing’s prepared attack wasn’t done.
She wanted this young girl to understand that she was not to be trifled with.
“Miss Jiang is truly my benefactor. Mere words and these few things can never fully express my gratitude.”
Xu Ruobing spoke with passion, her excellent acting making it seem as though anyone listening would be moved to tears.
At this moment, even Jiang Lai believed Xu Ruobing was willing to do all this out of gratitude for being saved back then.
But Chi Yingyu felt something was off, though she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She felt like an ant on a hot pan.
Everything around her seemed to be forcing her to make a choice—one that she had to agree to.
This feeling of being pushed from behind was infuriating.
Today was supposed to be just a formality; Chi Yingyu’s answer was a definite no.
Yet now, no option to refuse was presented.
If she refused, what excuse could she give?
The conditions weren’t suitable?
The contract was a fraud?
All she could do was agree.
Though extremely unhappy, in the end, for the sake of her brother-in-law, she gritted her teeth and accepted.
Refusing now would be too willful—ignoring even her brother-in-law’s feelings.
“But I have one condition: I want to be present every time you shoot a video…”
“Of course, no problem. Since we’ve settled this today, we can shoot the first video shortly.”
Xu Ruobing agreed enthusiastically. This meant no loss for her, but a bit of triumph.
If the woman in front of her wanted to spy, so be it.
Seeing Jiang Lai and herself get close would only further irritate that fragile, weak heart.
Xu Ruobing didn’t like Jiang Lai’s so-called sister because, in her eyes, this sister couldn’t help Jiang Lai at all.
She couldn’t do anything to help her escape from her misery.
Although Jiang Lai had introduced her as a sister—whether biological or an Adopted Sister—that meant they had known each other for a long time and shared a relationship far closer than Xu Ruobing’s own.
Moreover, the look this woman gave Jiang Lai was filled with restrained affection—a feeling born of long-term endurance.
But this sister failed to see how painfully unhappy Jiang Lai really was.
If she truly cared, she would help her end that torment—that almost illusory marriage.
The woman before her had done nothing, and worse, was obstructing them just as Jiang Lai was about to find her own work.
She was truly a selfish person.