Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

The next day

At seven o'clock in the morning, Jiang Yan appeared at the entrance of the SM building as usual.

He didn't sleep well last night. After Choi Sulli left, he spent another two hours revising the market analysis report. By the time he got to bed, it was past 1 a.m.

There were already quite a few people walking around in the lobby, and he headed straight for the elevator.

The elevator doors opened, revealing three people inside. Jiang Yan recognized the one in front.

Kim Sung-hoon, Department of Film and Television.

Chief Kim was wearing a dark gray suit today, and his hair was neatly combed. The moment he saw Jiang Yan, the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

"Good morning, Jiang Yanxi."

"Good morning, Chief Kim." Jiang Yan bowed slightly without changing his expression, and then stepped into the elevator.

After the elevator doors closed, Director Kim spoke again: "By the way, I heard you're working on a market analysis report? If you have time later, come to the film and television department's conference room. There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."

After saying that, the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, and Director Kim and the two staff members walked out together.

The elevator doors slowly closed. Jiang Yan stared blankly at the changing floor numbers and took a sip of his iced Americano.

Lin Xiaolu frowned, puzzled, and asked, "How did he know?"

Jiang Yan did not answer, but he already knew the answer in his heart.

Marketing Department.

Yesterday he went to the marketing department to retrieve the artists' commercial value data. There must be records of the data retrieval. Director Kim has worked in the film and television department for so many years, it's impossible for the marketing department not to have his people.

Hearing his answer, Lin Xiaolu nodded in realization, then pressed for more information: "So, are you going or not?"

Jiang Yan thought to himself indifferently, "He's not my direct supervisor. Why would I go just because he tells me to? I have things to do this morning."

"What's wrong? Didn't Kenzie unnie say that the recording was all finished at this stage?"

"If I said I had something to do, then I have something to do."

"Oh……"

The elevator stopped on the fifth floor. Jiang Yan returned to his small recording studio, hung his coat on the hanger, turned on his iMac, put on his monitoring headphones, and began working on the demo that Lin Yoona had sent him that morning.

Time passed second by second.

Eight o'clock, eight-thirty, nine o'clock.

Lin Xiaolu floated above the sofa, arms crossed, looking at him, and the more she looked, the more she felt something was wrong.

Although he is usually focused at work, today his focus had a deliberate quality, as if he was using work to suppress some kind of emotion.

At 9:15, the door to the recording studio was pushed open.

An Zhenghuan's expression was not good. He closed the door behind him as soon as he entered, walked up to Jiang Yan, and said in a low voice, "Yesterday you went to the marketing department to check the data, and the people in the film and television department found out."

Jiang Yan took off his headphones and nodded: "Yes, I know about this."

"Damn it, I was busy with other things and forgot to remind you," Ahn Jung-hwan rubbed his temples. "Just now, Chief Kim's people called me and said they're waiting for you in the conference room. They've been waiting for almost an hour. This time, I can't refuse for you. Go there first, and I'll go find someone for you."

Jiang Yan saved the project documents, stood up and put on his coat. "Okay, thank you for your help, I'll be right there."

Looking at his unhurried demeanor, Ahn Jung-hwan wanted to say something but swallowed it back. In the end, he just patted him on the shoulder and said, "Remember what I told you. Don't be impulsive. Hold on until I bring the help."

Jiang Yan bowed slightly, pushed open the door of the recording studio, and walked out.

He walked at a moderate pace, with Lin Xiaolu hovering nervously beside him.

"Jiang Yan, what are you planning to do? He'll definitely use Shirley's situation to pressure you, and he might even threaten you with your job."

Jiang Yan thought to himself, "Let's take it one step at a time. No matter what, he can't take me down. Even if he kicks me out of SM, it's not my loss."

Lin Xiaolu became anxious upon hearing this, "What do you mean by taking it one step at a time? And what nonsense are you talking about? Do you know what being kicked out of SM means? You'll be blacklisted by the industry. I know the character of those higher-ups better than you do."

Jiang Yan stopped and looked at the urgency in her eyes. He smiled slightly and said, "Pabu, do you think that with my abilities, no big company would be willing to protect me? The situation you described is only for ordinary producers, but I am not one of them."

After saying that, he raised his hand and touched Lin Xiaolu's hair, then pushed open the door to the stairwell and went up to the fourth floor.

Lin Xiaolu stood there in a daze, then touched the top of her head.

"Hurry up and keep up, or you'll get pulled again, and don't blame me."

"Oh, here it comes, here it comes."

……

The fourth floor is the office area of ​​the film and television department. The corridor is more spacious than that of the sixth floor. The walls are covered with movie posters produced by SM Entertainment, from "The Most Beautiful Week of My Life" to "Pure Love". Each poster is framed exquisitely and elegantly.

The door to the conference room at the end of the corridor was half-open, and faint voices could be heard coming from inside.

Jiang Yan walked to the door and knocked on the door frame.

"Please come in."

Pushing open the door, one finds that Chief Kim is not the only person sitting in the conference room.

At one end of the long conference table sat Chief Kim, his suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, his tie loosely hanging from his collar, and a document spread out in front of him.

Next to him sat a young man in a white shirt, who looked like an assistant. There was a laptop in front of him, and his fingers hovered over the keyboard, ready to take notes at any time.

At the other end of the conference table sat Choi Sulli.

When she saw Jiang Yan enter, her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she controlled her expression well, without revealing any unnecessary emotions.

Jiang Yan's gaze lingered on her face for less than a second before shifting away. He walked to the seat in the middle of the conference table and bowed slightly: "Chief Jin, you wanted to see me?"

Chief Kim wore a flawless smile and gestured to the chair opposite him: "Sit."

Jiang Yan pulled out a chair and sat down, his back ramrod straight.

Choi Sulli's gaze occasionally fell on him, her eyes filled with worry and tension.

Director Kim didn't speak immediately, but slowly opened the document in front of him. "Kang Yeon-xi, you've been able to handle Tiffany's solo album in less than a week since you joined the company. Senior Kenzie took you on as her apprentice, Lee Soo-man praised you, and even the department head spoke highly of you. You have a bright future ahead of you."

"Chief Kim, you flatter me. It's all thanks to the guidance of my seniors."

Manager Kim subtly pursed his lips, then changed the subject, pushing the document forward. "Regardless of whether it was a senior's mentorship as you mentioned, I'm a little curious now. What were you trying to do yesterday, going to the marketing department to check Choi Sulli's artist commercial value data as an employee of the production department?"

Jiang Yan glanced at the document; it was the original that Jin Minxiu had printed out when he retrieved data from the marketing department yesterday.

He knew there was no point in talking now, so he simply answered truthfully, "To make a market analysis report."

"Market analysis report?" Director Kim raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery in his tone. "You're from the production department, not a market analyst. When did it become the business of a newly hired producer to worry about film and television matters? You should understand the logic behind this, right?"

The atmosphere in the meeting room froze instantly after those words.

Choi Sulli's fingers were tightly gripping the hem of her clothes under the table, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Jiang Yan lowered his eyes and calmly replied, "Chief Kim, this report is based on my understanding of the recent film market. Senior Choi Sulli is an artist I respect. I believe that the 'Real' project has some uncontrollable risks. As a member of the company, I feel obligated to submit my analysis to my superiors for reference, that's all."

"That's all?" Director Kim chuckled. "Jiang Yanxi, you're only twenty years old, haven't even graduated from university yet, and have been with the company for less than a week. Do you really think your market analysis report is more valuable than the project evaluation that the entire film and television department team has been working on for over half a year?"

He paused, leaned forward slightly, and said with a sinister look, "Or are you saying that you wrote this report not for work-related reasons, but because of your personal relationship with Choi Sulli?"