Chapter 835
Ning Ran froze for a moment as she gazed at Shi Jie''s pretty face. In response, Wang Xiaoou coughed
slightly, hinting at Ning Ran to pay attention to her conduct.
Many people were already wondering about the two''s rtionship when they went on trending topics
simultaneously. They simply didn''t voice their spections out loud.
Ning Ran''s stare only made people suspect them even further.
Even though she was gazing at Shi Jie, she was actually thinking about her son.
Wang Xiaoou''s cough pulled her back to reality.
The director proceeded to inform everyone of the mission that day. The stars would be learning a local
opera that was on the verge of dying out in the old town. After that, they would perform the opera on
stage. Lastly, the audience and a few researchers of local opera would rate each performance.
Whoever got the highest score would be the winner.
The losing group would receive a punishment even more severe than yesterday''s.
Ning Ran had never performed an opera before.
Learning an opera was significantly more difficult than singing, especially if it was a local niche.
Those sorts of operas were often sung in the local dialect. Practicing the dialect was extremely
challenging, even more so when the dialect had no rtion to thenguage they used in their everyday
life. It was no different from learning apletely foreignnguage.
Clearly, the director nned to increase the difficulty of each subsequent challenge to make the show
morepetitive and exciting to watch.
However, that meant the stars were going to suffer. The moment they heard about the mission, they
beganining about it.
“Oh my god. I listened to a part of the local opera yesterday, and I have no idea what they were
singing. There''s no way we can learn it in such a short time,” Shi Jiemented.
“Yeah, this is too hard!” Ye Meng sighed.
In response, the director exined, “Yes, I know it''s impossible for everyone here to master the opera
in such a short amount of time. That''s why you only need to be able to perform it. As long as the
audience knows what you''re singing, that''s good enough.”
Content bel0ngs to N?vel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
While the starsined about the mission, it was fair to everyone. No one knew how to perform the
opera, so they had to learn it on the spot, which meant they had to rely on their talents.
Upon receiving the opera score, the stars began to practice.
However, even after learning it for half a day, most were still struggling and saying it was too hard,
except for Ning Ran.
She didn''t think it was too difficult or unfamiliar because she recalled her mother singing that when she
was little.
While the others were still struggling to pronounce the words urately, she was able to grasp them
with little effort.
Huang Zichao and Tang Jing were impressed by Ning Ran. They were confident she would lead their
team to victory.
Meanwhile, Ning Ran was quite surprised that she could learn so quickly.
Just as she memorized the score and was about to practice her performance, Wang Xiaoou
approached her anxiously. “Qiao Zhan''s here, and he''s going to bring you back to Flower City.”
Ning Ran panicked, too. “Nan Chen knows I''m working right now, so why is he in a hurry to meet me?”
“It''s probably because you''re featured in a trending topic again.”
That perplexed Ning Ran even further. “Didn''t you already tell me about the trending topics this
morning? Why does he want me back in Flower City for that?” Is he getting jealous again? Because I
sang a song with Shi Jie? Shi Jie''s just a child!
“It''s a new trending topic, and it''s currently on the number one spot.”
“A new trending topic? What''s it about?”
“Someone found out that of the money you donated to the poverty area, twenty million was in cash on
a truck. With that news spreading, people are saying the money came from an unknown origin and that
you''re involved in moneyundering.”
“Eh? I don''t know anything about that. Who still uses cash nowadays? Don''t people transfer money
through banks?”
“You don''t know?”
“Yeah! I''m not the one who donated the money. I thought it was... Oh crap!” Suddenly, Ning Ran
recalled something.
“What is it?”
“I just remembered something I need to report to Nan Chen. I have to leave now. Please exin my
situation to the director and tell him that I''m willing topensate for any losses incurred.” As Ning
Ran spoke, she ran outside and called Nan Chen.
However, Jiang Zhe was the one who answered the call. “He''s meeting with an important figure right
now, so he can''t receive any calls for the moment. Also, he says that you should wait until you''re back
to tell him what you want to speak about.”
Upon entering Qiao Zhan''s vehicle, Ning Ran saw a serious expression on his countenance. It seems
like the situation is very serious. “What''s the status right now?”
Qiao Zhan answered, “Rumors on the inte are saying the performers working under Star
Entertainment are using charities to help Nanshi Corporationunder money and avoid paying taxes.
Someone has already reported thepany to the relevant departments, so, ording to my contacts
in the government, you may be summoned to cooperate in the investigation. If this matter is handled
badly, not only will you be negatively affected, but Star Entertainment, the new movie, and even Nanshi
Corporation will, too.”
Oh no. Another big trouble. Ning Ran inquired in a panicked tone, “What do we do now?”
“I don''t know. Sir Chen is taking care of it. I''m here because he ordered me to take you back home. For
the moment, you can''t leave the house or ept any interviews or—” Before he could finish his
sentence, he was interrupted by a call Ning Ran received.
It was from an unknown number.
In response, Qiao Zhan reminded, “Sir Chen said you mustn''t ept any calls right now because it
may be from a reporter or relevant departments asking you to cooperate in their investigation. In any
case, just let Sir Chen take care of everything.”
“Okay.” She turned off the phone.
Upon arriving in Flower City, he sent her back to Raining Pavilion and installed guards at the gate to
prevent anyone from approaching the building.
The children were pleasantly surprised to find their mother back home when they returned from school.
Erbao leaped in joy and inquired, “When did youe back, Mommy? You wanted to surprise me,
didn''t you?”
While the incident still weighed heavily on Ning Ran''s mind, she didn''t want her children to know about
it, so she smiled and picked Erbao up.
Dabao calmly questioned, “Did something big happen, Mommy? You suddenly came back, and Uncle
Qiao Zhan even stationed guards outside.”
“It''s nothing serious. Just some minor work issues. It''ll be taken care of soon enough, so no need to
worry.” As she spoke, she shot a nce at him.
The boy knew how to use the inte, so it was only a matter of time before he found out she was
featured in a trending topic. The reason she shot him a nce was that she didn''t want him to tell
Erbao about her predicament.
While Dabao could understand many things, Erbao couldn''t and would only get worried, which Ning
Ran was trying to avoid.
Dabao understood his mother''s intentions and stopped asking questions.
After a while, she went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
However, her mind was still upied by the trouble looming over her, so she let the housekeeper do it
instead.
Nan Chen didn''t return even after she had finished her meal.
When she surfed the inte, she saw the news that the performers employed by Nanshi Corporation''s
entertainmentpany were suspected of moneyundering had begun to spread.