Into the Night, Jiao Jiao Gets Kissed by a Business Tycoon
Chapter 144: Unexpected Gains

Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Unexpected Gains

In September, the weather in Jing City became increasingly hotter, with occasional rolling thunder in the sky.

Dark clouds sprawled across the sky, seeming on the brink of unleashing a torrential downpour at any moment.

Lin Wei, carrying items from the supermarket, stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the LED screen atop the building opposite.

The screen was replaying the Qingyi Award ceremony, and it just happened to show Xinan receiving her award on stage, with Cheng Yi embracing her.

She stared intently at the familiar face on the screen, her eyes swirling with complex emotions, as if pondering something yet also struggling...

Cheng Yi’s gaze at Xinan was tender beyond words, a stark contrast to the way he had looked at her in the hospital that day.

Lin Wei laughed derisively to herself, her eyes brimming with misery.

She had been sidelined by her company, and all her previous engagements and film shoots had been put on hold, and she knew that Cheng Yi had had a hand in this.

Watching Xinan on stage, radiant and the center of everyone’s attention, and then comparing it to her own current plight, Lin Wei suddenly felt immensely miserable.

Over the years, she had devoted so much to her acting career, even sacrificing her own body, only to end up in such a predicament—she truly couldn’t accept it but was powerless to change anything, because Cheng Yi could crush her career with barely a flick of his finger.

The last time in the hospital, she had truly been scared.

Lin Wei sighed resignedly and pulled out her phone to call a cab, but just then, her body was violently knocked over, and her phone fell to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry, I’m really sorry. Are you okay?" A youthful male voice came from behind.

Lin Wei, in pain, managed to get up, her arm was scraped, and she looked up at the speaker—a couple of boys in school uniforms.

High school students like these often jostled each other while walking, and looking at their demeanor, Lin Wei guessed it was accidental, so she didn’t make it difficult for them. "It’s okay, you can go."

"Really sorry." The two boys helped her up from the ground and once they saw she was fine, quickly left.

Lin Wei dusted herself off and saw her phone on the ground. She squatted down to pick it up.

Unfortunately, the phone’s screen was shattered.

Lin Wei tapped the screen, only to find that not only the outer screen was broken, but the internal screen had malfunctioned too. Watching the boys who had already disappeared, Lin Wei could only chalk it up to bad luck.

She scanned her surroundings and noticed a mobile store right across the street, coincidentally from the same brand as her phone.

When the green light turned, Lin Wei crossed the street and entered the store.

"Miss, are you here to buy a phone?" The clerk came over and said, "Miss, you can come over here to take a look; these are all our latest models."

"No need, I’m here to get my phone repaired," she said blandly.

The clerk’s expression stiffened for a moment but then he quickly smiled and said, "You can take your phone to the front desk over there."

"Thank you."

At the front desk was a man who was fiddling with another phone.

When Lin Wei approached, the man glanced up at her then took her phone and looked it over. "Your phone needs both outer and inner screens replaced."

"Mmm, about how much will that cost?"

The man said, "It’ll be at least seven or eight hundred."

Lin Wei gasped in shock, "Why does it have to be so expensive?"

"If you think it’s too expensive, you can choose not to fix it." The man’s face showed an indifferent expression.

Seeing Lin Wei’s struggle in her eyes, the man sneered, pointing to an alley next to the store, "There, inside that alley is a shop that specializes in phone repair. If you think it’s expensive here, you can check that place out. It’s cheaper, but who knows how many days your phone will last after being fixed..."

His words implied that although his place was expensive, he used high-quality materials, while other places might be cheaper but could possibly use substandard parts.

So whether to repair or not... It all depended on her.

But Lin Wei still took back her cellphone and walked into that alley.

The alley was filled with small storefronts and rarely frequented by people, usually devoid of visitors.

After walking for two minutes, Lin Wei finally found the place the man had mentioned.

If it weren’t for the big characters "Phone Repair" outside, Lin Wei really wouldn’t have guessed that phones could be repaired here.

The storefront was pitifully small, crammed with various items, and the space inside could at most accommodate four people.

Hearing some noise, an owner arose from his chair, which had seen many years of use, and sized up Lin Wei, raising an eyebrow, "Repair a phone or buy a phone?"

"Repair."

"Hand it over."

Lin Wei passed the phone over, "To replace both the inner and outer screen, how much would it cost?"

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the owner took apart the phone in a few swift movements, "Two hundred."

It was five hundred cheaper than the earlier rate—could it really be using inferior parts?

The owner seemed to notice her hesitation, "Don’t worry, it’s good enough. If it doesn’t last six months, you can come back here anytime."

Lin Wei said no more.

The shop suddenly became very quiet, with only the sound of the phone being disassembled. The air was faintly tinged with the smell of tobacco. Lin Wei glanced around the shop and noticed a bundle of phones next to her, realizing suddenly what kind of phones they were.

Some refurbished second-hand phones.

Next to the cellphones was a stack of dubious-looking DVDs. Lin Wei looked away after a glance and took a few steps aside, only then noticing that there were some photos hung on the wall, all with some sort of color to them.

Just as Lin Wei was about to look away, a photo tucked in the corner of the wall caught her eye.

A flicker of astonishment crossed her eyes, and she stared at the photo, asking the owner, "Can I take down this photo to have a look?"

The owner looked up and said, "You can, but you’ll have to buy it."

"I’ll buy it," Lin Wei said directly.

"Okay, this photo is yours now."

Lin Wei reached out and tore the photo off the wall.

The woman in the photo was being forced to tilt her head up by someone holding her chin, her eyes filled with disdain, contempt, and scorn. Her clothes were torn, revealing large patches of her skin, which made one feel a rush of blood just by looking.

Seeing the photo up close, Lin Wei was more certain the person in the photo was Xinan; it seemed like even the heavens were helping her!

Lin Wei hadn’t expected to find such a significant discovery in a shop like this.

The impeccably clean Xinan actually had such a past; it was indeed interesting. She wondered what expression Cheng Yi would have when he saw this photo...

Hatred became more profound in Lin Wei’s heart, but she quickly calmed down, as she had to make her final struggle.

Since she and Cheng Yi were impossible now, she wouldn’t let Xinan have an easy time either!