Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

Chapter 71 Outbreak

These words were like a scalpel, precisely striking the most vulnerable line between Jiang Yan and Cui Xueli.

Choi Sulli suddenly looked up: "Chief Kim, this has nothing to do with him..."

"Sherry." Chief Kim raised her hand to stop her, her gaze still fixed on Jiang Yan's face. "I'm not asking you, I'm asking Jiang Yan-xi."

Jiang Yan met his gaze, something slowly settling deep within his pupils.

Lin Xiaolu floated behind Jiang Yan, glaring at Chief Jin through gritted teeth, muttering to herself, "That old bastard is really going too far."

Seeing that Jiang Yan didn't speak, Chief Kim's smile deepened. He picked up the document, flipped through it, and then said in an extremely casual tone, "Jiang Yan-xi, do you know that we at SM have an unwritten rule?"

"In principle, new employees are not allowed to participate in business discussions of other departments during their first year, especially in areas that require senior experience, such as film and television projects."

Chief Manager Kim closed the file, tapped it on his hand, and said, "Do you think the data you pulled out is useful? Putting aside what the higher-ups will think, do you think they'd offend the investors for your sake? Who do you think you are!"

After saying that, he casually threw the document at Jiang Yan, hitting him directly and scattering the papers all over the floor.

A few pages slid off Jiang Yan's shoulder and landed at his feet. The artist's commercial value assessment data, written in black and white, lay face down on the floor, making a slight scraping sound.

Choi Sulli looked at the A4 papers scattered all over the floor, watched Kang Yeon sway slightly after being hit on the shoulder by the documents, and watched him bend down silently to pick them up.

Her eardrums buzzed.

All the suppressed composure, all the forbearance honed over years in the workplace, all the self-talk of "just bear with it and it will pass"—all shattered into dust with the dull thud of a piece of paper hitting someone.

"Snapped!"

Choi Sulli slammed her hands heavily on the conference table and stood up abruptly.

She pushed the chair away, the wheels scraping against the wooden floor with a sharp, grating sound, before slamming against the wall behind her with a dull thud.

"What right do you have to treat him like this!"

Her voice trembled with anger, an anger that had been suppressed for too many years and was finally erupting.

Chief Manager Kim was taken aback by this sudden outburst, then frowned and said, "Sherry, sit down!"

"I won't sit!" Choi Sulli glared at him with all her might, her chest heaving violently, her thin hand clenched into a fist. "What did he do wrong? He was just doing his duty as a friend! He was just telling me that I can say no!"

She pointed to the scattered papers on the floor. "You ask me why I refused? I'll tell you today, my decision not to take that role was entirely my own! It has absolutely nothing to do with him!"

"You threatened me with his future, pressured him with company rules, and even threw documents at him in front of me! What right do you have? Have you ever cared about how much he's done for the company? Have you seen how many all-nighters he's pulled? You know nothing. All you care about is whether your project can move forward and whether you can save face!"

She spoke faster and faster, even becoming somewhat incoherent, as if pouring out all the grievances she had accumulated over countless years.

Finally, she pointed at Director Kim and said, "Go ahead and complain to the higher-ups. Say I'm ungrateful, say I don't know what's good for me, say this junior is overstepping his authority and interfering with the film and television department's business. Say whatever you want."

She took a deep breath, her gaze growing increasingly fierce. "But if you touch him again, I promise, if I don't have a good time, you won't have one either."

The meeting room fell silent instantly. The assistant beside her stared at Choi Sulli with her mouth agape, looking at her with an incredulous expression.

Chief Kim, his face grim, slowly stood up. "Are you finished?"

Choi Sulli made no attempt to avoid him, staring intently at him with her face upturned.

"Alright." Director Kim nodded slowly, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Since you're so protective of him, let's talk about it another way. Jiang Yan has been using confidential company data without authorization and has overstepped his authority to interfere with the film and television department's business. Oh, and let's add one more thing: he has been using his position to develop improper personal relationships with artists in the same company."

"Are these three points enough to ensure he can never find a job in this industry again?"

Choi Sulli's pupils suddenly contracted, and her aura involuntarily dissipated.

"you!"

"Sulli," Manager Kim interrupted her, his expression suddenly softening, "Do you know why the company promotes you? Because you have value. Where does your value lie? In your face, in your eyes, on the big screen. If you don't make 'Real,' what will you use to prove your value? What will you use to get into Chungmuro?"

As he walked towards Choi Sulli, he said, "Do you really think you can say no? Do you think...?"

His words stopped there, and at that moment, ripples spread through the space, and the world seemed to fall into complete silence.

The airflow from the air conditioner vents condensed into visible mist-like ripples, frozen in the dim light of the conference room.

Every single dust particle floating in the air is clearly visible.

Jiang Yan slowly straightened up. He saw the tears that hadn't yet fallen from Cui Xueli's face. The tear streaks were very long and shimmered like shattered diamonds in the still light.

He saw Chief Kim's face, frozen in his arrogant posture.

Then, a surge of anger exploded from the deepest part of his chest.

"You bastard, you should shut up."

As soon as Jiang Yan said this, the thin thread connecting Lin Xiaolu to his right shoulder suddenly trembled violently.

The silvery-blue light rippled outwards like pebbles thrown into water.

The ripples spread incredibly fast, engulfing the entire conference room in the blink of an eye.

Immediately afterwards, the gray mist that had been quietly swirling around Choi Sulli suddenly moved.

The gray mist, which had originally resembled dormant vines, now seemed to have been suddenly pulled away by some force.

They peeled away from the edges of Choi Sulli's body, coalescing in the still air into a surging, gray-black stream of air, hissing like an enraged python.

The airflow swirled around Jiang Yan for a moment, then rushed straight towards Chief Jin.

The cloud of gray mist poured precisely into Chief Kim's half-open mouth, the whole process incredibly fast.

After doing all this, the gray mist completely disappeared.

The area that was removed left no trace; even the solidified dust particles in the air remained completely still.

Then the gears of time started turning again.

The hum of the air conditioner filled his ears again, and Chief Kim continued walking forward, continuing to say the word he hadn't finished.

"Who do you think you are?...

His voice stopped abruptly as soon as he finished speaking.

Chief Kim's mouth was open, his lips were moving, and his Adam's apple was bobbing up and down, but no sound came out.

His expression changed from playful to confused, and from confused to terrified.

He raised his hand to cover his throat, cleared his throat forcefully, and opened his mouth again.

There was still no sound.

Choi Sulli was stunned. She looked at Chief Kim's face, which was flushed from lack of oxygen, and saw him clutching his throat and bending over, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, unable to utter a single syllable.

The assistant beside him scrambled to his feet, supporting Chief Kim and asking repeatedly, "Chief, what's wrong?"

Chief Kim paid no attention to him, supporting himself on the table with one hand while frantically pointing to his throat with the other.

Jiang Yan slowly straightened up.

He looked at the man in front of him who, just two minutes ago, was threatening Choi Sulli with his future, and now was struggling futilely on the conference table like a fish pulled from the water.

Oh, I didn't know it could be used like that.

He smiled slightly, then looked down at his hands, and then at his shoulders below his collarbone.

The silver-blue line was still there, but its light had dimmed considerably, like a rope that had been wrung out.

The gray mist on Choi Sulli's body had mostly disappeared. Jiang Yan lowered his eyes and bent down to pick up the scattered A4 papers one by one.

He picked them up slowly, arranging each page neatly, then stacked them into a pile and gently placed them on the edge of the conference table.