Chapter 60: Going All Out

After the opponent unleashed this series of combined blows, even many employees within the company began to sense that something was wrong—let alone Lin Xiyue.

So Xu Wei had no intention of hiding the situation from her daughter and laid out the current circumstances in full.

After learning the truth, Lin Xiyue instantly snapped out of her slightly exhilarated state.

Everything since her debut had gone too smoothly. It had made her somewhat overlook the true power of an A-level entertainment company—after all, they weren’t someone you could casually provoke.

“It’s fine. We’ll take things one step at a time. It’s not as terrifying as it looks. Back then, we actually could’ve held on too… if a certain someone hadn’t been poached away…”

Xu Wei gently smoothed her daughter’s hair, offering comfort.

“It’s okay, Mom. Don’t worry about me. We’ll definitely get through this time—”

Lin Xiyue looked up at her mother, an unusually firm determination shining in her eyes.

She would not let history repeat itself. This time, not only would they continue operating normally under Zhao Entertainment’s suppression—they would steadily grow and strike back hard.

Whether it was Lin Ziyu or Zhao Entertainment, they would eventually pay the price they deserved.

After her mother left the recording studio, Lin Xiyue sat down and stretched. Her expression wasn’t relaxed; this was far from a simple challenge.

“How about we go shopping tomorrow? It’s the weekend.”

Standing behind her, Xia Jinnian reached out and lifted Lin Xiyue’s chin, tilting her head back so they looked at each other—one above, one below.

She had never hesitated to initiate this kind of intimate physical interaction. In her eyes, this was perfectly normal behavior between close best friends—though she still got sensitive whenever Lin Xiyue made slightly suggestive jokes.

She could tell her friend wasn’t in the best mood and wanted to take her out to clear her mind.

Even though their shopping trips always followed roughly the same routine, neither of them ever grew tired of it. Simply accompanying each other was enough to bring comfort.

Walking hand in hand along dimly lit streets at night, feeling the gentle evening breeze, sensing their hearts connected—that feeling alone was wonderful.

“Mm, okay~”

“Don’t look so gloomy. Smile a little~”

She pinched Lin Xiyue’s cheeks with both hands, forcing her expression into a smile.

“Sorry, Jinnian. You just debuted, and now you’re already dragged into this kind of conflict because of me.”

Lin Xiyue could only manage a faint smile. She couldn’t afford to be pessimistic—at least not surrender from the start. Still, she felt guilty toward Xia Jinnian.

“Hey, what are you saying? Are you about to tell me to leave next?”

Xia Jinnian pretended to be annoyed and pinched her cheeks harder, making Lin Xiyue let out a small cry of pain.

“It’s fine. Going through hardships together with you, Xixi, is kind of a special experience too.”

“That may be true, but—”

A slender finger pressed gently against Lin Xiyue’s lips, stopping her from continuing.

“Alright. I don’t want my best friend to face the hardest moments alone. I want you to know—I’m always here. Now, and in the future. Whenever you’re tired or worn out, my arms are somewhere you can lean on~”

“……”

Lin Xiyue wanted to say something more, but Xia Jinnian cut her off with a soft smile as she looked down at her. The words suddenly felt unnecessary, and she swallowed them back.

“Then… let’s be best partners for life?”

She changed her wording and held out her pinky finger.

“Okay. Pinky promise~”

The two girls hooked their little fingers together, like a pure and unwavering eternal vow.

Perhaps two newly debuted rookies and a long-declining B-level company looked insignificant before the tangled web of interests controlled by A-level companies. But stories of young heroes challenging demon kings and slaying dragons were never rare…

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Bai Residence

After finishing a week of work, Bai Lulu drove home.

Naturally, she wasn’t in a good mood. Lin Entertainment had run into serious trouble, and recently the relationship between Little Xi and Xia Jinnian seemed to be progressing rapidly.

But when she got home and opened her computer to check the day’s website traffic, she discovered she couldn’t access the page at all. After investigating carefully, she realized the site had suffered a DDoS attack. Massive amounts of meaningless requests had exhausted its bandwidth, preventing normal users from connecting.

“Your Uncle Liao called me today,” her father said as he walked over, reminding her casually before heading downstairs again. “He received a large batch of reports about your website—violations, improper guidance, things like that. He suppressed them for you. Otherwise, your site would already have been forcibly shut down.”

“The favor you owe Uncle Liao—I’ll add it to your account later.”

Watching her father walk away, Bai Lulu collapsed onto her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Things were far more complicated than she had imagined. Without the Bai family’s background, the years of effort she had invested would have been wiped out overnight.

In truth, Zhao Entertainment simply hadn’t paid attention to them before. Combined with the genuine talent among the girls, they had managed to catch the opponent off guard.

But if anyone thought Zhao Entertainment could now be freely provoked or trampled on, that would be a grave mistake.

Strictly speaking, the Bai family might even be larger than Zhao Entertainment. But Zhao Entertainment wasn’t just one company—these high-end entertainment firms formed their own alliances, protecting shared interests together. Combined, their scale far exceeded what the Bai family alone could rival.

Moreover, the Bai family wasn’t hers to control. Her father granting her authority still came with limitations—it wasn’t absolute freedom.

“Whatever. As long as Little Xi hasn’t given up, I’ll do everything I can to help her—”

Bai Lulu glanced at the photo frame beside her bed. Inside was a recent cosplay photo of herself with Lin Xiyue.

She seemed to reach a decision. No matter what, she still had one year. At the very least, during that year, she would give it her all.

Even if, from both a business perspective and an emotional one, such investment was overwhelmingly likely to end in loss—so what? Miss Bai was willing. Who could stop her?

By today’s standards, maybe she counted as a “simp.” But so what? It was still better than doing nothing while watching Lin Xiyue end up with Xia Jinnian.

And far better than watching Lin Entertainment be suppressed into immobility—watching Lin Xiyue’s budding idol career fall straight into the abyss.

I’ll give everything I have to make you fall in love with me.

But if I still fail in the end… then at least I hope you can live well.