Rebirth of the Film Empress' Beloved Wife [JenLisa Adaptation]

Chapter 8 - The Kim Family

For the remainder of their chat, Jisoo and Lisa discussed only work-related matters.

Tao Yuke had already handed Lisa’s schedule to Jisoo. Jisoo was going over it with Lisa for confirmation. After that, she pulled out two prepared scripts and presented them to Lisa.

“President Kim picked these for you herself. If you like one, you can take it into consideration.”

The two scripts roused some curiosity from Jisoo. After all, Jennie usually never paid attention to these details. The origins of the scripts were also a mystery to her.

They were actually prizes from the Virtuous Wife System’s Resources function. Jennie had generously decided to give them to Lisa, and she didn’t know whether it was intentional or not, but the leads in both scripts seemed like they were made for Lisa to play.

Lisa didn’t stand on ceremony and took them. Unlike Jisoo, Lisa was used to going through leaps of scripts every day, so she didn’t overthink it.

“I’ll take them back and look over them carefully.” She wouldn’t refuse something chosen for her by Jennie.

After she and Jisoo left each other’s company, Jisoo returned to the president’s office. As soon as she entered, Jennie asked straightforwardly, “Did she smile?”

Although Jisoo was normally quick to catch onto everything, Jennie’s question actually caused her to blank, and she answered with uncertainty, “Ms. Manoban? I don’t think she smiled.”

Lisa’s public image was forever a cool one. An occasional cold smile from her was enough to send her fans squealing, which only served to prove how precious her smile was. When the two women were conversing earlier, Jisoo only remembered seeing the initial expression of shock and doubt on her face, and nothing else.

This aspect of Lisa held a striking resemblance to Jennie. They both seemed as though they had facial paralysis, and just looking at them made others feel pressured.

“Why didn’t she smile?” Jennie appeared to be very puzzled. She did all of that for her, so why must she refuse to smile?

This time, Jisoo was rendered speechless. Why didn’t she smile? How was she supposed to know?

“Was she unhappy? She didn’t like the scripts?” Jennie continued to ask with skepticism in her gaze.

“Ms. Manoban said she’ll go back first and then take a look.” By now, Jisoo was looking at her strangely. Was President Kim trying to curry favor with Ms. Manoban? Why? Did their feelings undergo some type of change?

Although Jisoo didn’t know that the two were married under a contract, she did notice from witnessing their occasional indifferent and estranged interactions that the two weren’t as close as normal married couple were. However, something seemed different now.

Jennie nodded and sighed, thinking to herself that she was being too anxious. Lisa would smile after she saw the scripts, obviously. After dismissing Jisoo, she started to chat with the System.

“001, if Lisa smiles in a place where I can’t see her, would that still count towards completing the mission?”

【 Master, if Ms. Lisa smiles because of you, then even after the task is completed, the System will automatically give you bonus points. 】

Having finally given the chance to speak, 001 immediately manifested in hologram form before Jennie, adopted a little girl’s appearance, and started to bounce around happily. Jennie found the sight of the chubby little girl in a princess dress especially cute. Unable to resist the temptation, Jennie reached out to pinch 001, despite expecting her hand to pass right through. To her surprise, it didn’t.

“I can touch you?” She asked in surprise.

[Yes, the System can be controlled through both voice and touch. Master, why don’t you rub my head? It feels very good to the touch.]

001 stuck its head out cutely. Jennie rubbed 001’s head twice, thought that it felt rather nice, and did it a few more times. Like an actual child, 001’s smile became happier.

…..

In the afternoon, Jennie visited the Kim family manor. The Kim family was an old and well-known family that was founded several hundreds of years ago. One might say that the details were deep and profound, but in actuality, the blood of the Kim family was not flourishing at all.

The direct line of descendants was especially scant, with only Jennie’s grandfather, parents, and older brother. Oh, and that calculating sister-in-law of hers!

Just thinking about Lee Sun-mi’s older sister, Lee Ye-jin, made Jennie’s expression darken. She had to find a way to kick that woman out of the Kim family!

The reason she suddenly decided to return home was that she missed her family. She kept in mind the attention and grief her family had shown her when she was a vegetable, and they were now the people she cared about the most.

However, when she entered the manor, she learned that none of her family members were at home. There were only the servants bustling around. When they saw her return, slightly strange expressions appeared on their faces.

“Miss, welcome back.” The old steward, Fang Bo, came out to greet her. He also looked at her a bit strangely before his gaze darted outside. There was no one else. He seemed disappointed.

Of course, Jennie knew what —or rather, who— Fang Bo was looking for: Lalisa. Speaking of, the Kim family was an odd one. The power it held leaned more towards the grey side, and most of its dealings had to do with the underworld. The family exhorted three strict rules, with each one being stranger than the last.

The contractual marriage between Jennie and Lisa was a result of one of those rules. According to the rules, marriage demonstrated true love, and only after marriage would the family member allowed to pick their own path. Otherwise, they would be subjected to the family’s control.

In this regard, it was similar to the so-called “family first, career second.”

The family also placed heavy emphasis on kith and kin. Steward Fang Bo had watched Jennie grow up, and every time she visited, he would hope that Lisa was accompanying her. Unfortunately, she would bring Lisa along if it was absolutely necessary. This really disappointed the old man.

“Fang Bo, I’m staying for dinner. If Grandpa and the rest of them return, tell me.”

“Yes.”

She retreated to her own room and began to ponder over the Kim family’s affairs. The family was old and took part in a myriad of industries, but the main two were information trafficking and employment. These two industries complemented each other and had already become an international force that simply could not be ignored.

Only a handful of people knew that it was actually the Kim family manipulating everything behind the scenes. Old Master Kim had retired already, but he couldn’t stand sitting idle. The family had a secret base located on the outskirts, and he was in charge of training the organization members there.

Father Kim was now the one managing the Kim family. On the surface, he dealt in the hotel industry, but he actually responsible for running the intelligence organization. Likewise, Jennie’s older brother appeared to be working for the family’s regular business, but he was actually the head of the employment company. He was always bustling around from place to place.

Mother Kim was quite busy, too. In the country, she was famous for being a well-known businesswoman, and her main line of business was real estate and media networking. As the matter of fact, Jennie’s Resplendent Entertainment used to be under Mother Kim’s name. After Jennie grew up, it was given to her as a birthday present.

At the time, Resplendent Entertainment was a small-scale company. Its current success could all be credited to Jennie.

-

[Little Theater]

Film Empress: Wifey, they said I’m cold like a refrigerator. Then what about when the two of us are together?

Beloved Wife: A French door fridge!