The deputy general manager walked out. As he closed the door, he cast a glance at Qin Yuan. In just a few short days, the company had passed into Qin Yuan’s hands.
It was hard to tell whether this was a blessing or a curse. Right now, Qin Yuan was acting on a sudden whim and had taken an interest, but if he lost interest one day and simply washed his hands of everything, what would everyone at the company do?
The deputy general manager’s brow remained furrowed, showing no signs of easing up for a long time.
Inside the office, Qin Yuan continued looking over the documents.
“How are those few movie investments I had you handle previously turning out?”
A few days ago, Qin Yuan had called this subordinate, instructing him to immediately invest in several films that would become massive blockbusters in the future.
“Most of them have been secured.”
“The moment they heard it was your investment, they were absolutely thrilled.”
“Several even rushed to revise their contracts overnight, improving the profit-sharing terms.”
After all, if not for Qin Yuan’s funding, quite a few of those films would likely have fallen through, especially the ones that suddenly ran into trouble halfway through filming and proved difficult to rescue.
The moment Qin Yuan’s money arrived, those issues were practically resolved instantly.
Coupled with Qin Yuan’s reputation, waving his name around as a banner was enough to win over plenty of people.
“As for the other films we collected and I marked down, invest in those a bit as well.”
“Do not put all your eggs in one basket.”
Going by Qin Yuan’s original personality, he actually only wanted to invest in two of those films because those two were guaranteed massive hits, putting in a few hundred million only to pull in four to five billion at the box office.
Later on, Qin Yuan reconsidered, since he had already stepped foot into the entertainment industry and decided to play in this sector, he might as well do it right.
At the very least, he could make a bit more money.
“Understood. We already have people following up and negotiating those.”
His subordinate reported with his head lowered.
“Oh right, Qin Shao, there is one more matter I should report to you.”
“What is it?”
Qin Yuan raised his gaze slightly.
“Among those few films, President Xie’s company, Xie Fengbei’s company, has also been negotiating with them recently. Evidently, their talks didn’t go very smoothly. I only found out about this after the fact, by which time the production teams had already signed the contracts and the funds had been transferred.”
“The moment our money arrived, their capital became fully secured, so they proactively turned down Xie Fengbei’s investment.”
“It was my oversight for failing to conduct a thorough investigation beforehand. Everyone over there probably knows about it by now.”
“You are worried Xie Fengbei will think I am snatching things away from him?” Qin Yuan said unconcernedly, treating it as no big deal.
“It is a minor matter, nothing to worry about. Just keep executing things according to my instructions.”
“As for anything else, I will handle it.”
“But Xie Fengbei, that man does not seem easy to get along with.” The subordinate still couldn’t set his mind at ease.
“It is rumored that someone once tried to steal a project from him. It wasn’t even a massive loss, but because he is the type to hold grudges over the slightest grievance, he ended up targeting that person specifically and completely ruined them, along with their entire family.”
“Is he that kind of person?”
Qin Yuan paused for a moment. Although he didn’t have deep interactions with Xie Fengbei, aside from bumping into each other multiple times by chance just a few days ago, based purely on his first impression, he didn’t take Xie Fengbei for someone incapable of letting things go.
Thinking of how easily Xie Fengbei discarded his lovers and remained completely unmoved by their tearful pleas, Qin Yuan suspected that what his subordinate said might be some sort of misunderstanding.
“Do you have his phone number?”
“I do.”
“Qin Shao, you want to call him?”
“Give me his number.”
His subordinate kept contact info for many people, some of which were just collected and saved for record-keeping.
Though he possessed Xie Fengbei’s number, he had never dared to call it.
Yet now, Qin Yuan was actually asking for Xie Fengbei’s phone number.
Yielding to the tone of Qin Yuan’s demand, the subordinate pulled out his phone.
Qin Yuan memorized the digits and immediately dialed the number.
Over at his corporate office, Xie Fengbei was discussing business when a call from an unknown number came through.
Xie Fengbei hung up directly.
Yet within seconds, the phone rang again.
With a slight frown, Xie Fengbei picked up the phone and answered.
“President Xie.”
A vaguely familiar, roguish chuckle reached his ears. Xie Fengbei found it strangely reminiscent, as if he had just heard this alluring, laughter-laced voice recently.
“Who is this?”
“Qin Yuan.”
“Qin Yuan?” Xie Fengbei narrowed his eyes instantly. Why on earth would Qin Yuan be calling him out of the blue? Could it be about Xu Tian?
On second thought, Xie Fengbei dismissed the guess, it had only just been decided by him, so Qin Yuan couldn’t possibly know.
“My assistant mentioned that we inadvertently poached a few movie investments from you recently. My assistant is currently shaking in his boots and practically on the verge of tears, and since I am worried he will have nightmares tonight, I figured I would just give you a call to check in.”
“President Xie, I trust you will not hold a grudge over a few movies?”
“What movies? I have no idea what you are talking about.”
Xie Fengbei’s icy-cold voice traveled across the line to Qin Yuan’s end.
It felt as though that chill was bleeding right through the telephone wires into Qin Yuan’s body.
“Your entertainment company was preparing to invest in a few films, but my people intercepted them during the negotiation stage. To be honest, when I first heard about this, my heart skipped a beat.”
“If this trivial matter were to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings, I would truly be heartbroken.”
“However, hearing you say that, President Xie, I suppose I was just measuring the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a commoner.”
“You are magnanimous, President Xie, so losing out on a tiny bit of profit probably means nothing to you.”
“I am different, though. I am entirely the type to care about petty little scraps of profit.”
“Qin Yuan…” Xie Fengbei curved his lips into a smile, though his eyes grew steadily colder.
“You like petty little scraps of profit? Then how did you manage to hand over thirty million back then?”
Surely he hadn’t suffered from temporary amnesia, forgetting that Qin Yuan had casually dropped thirty million at the underground boxing club.
“What is President Xie talking about? I have a terrible memory; I do not remember.”
“Since President Xie is so generous and unbothered, I suppose I can go ahead and fully unleash my efforts.”
“Qin Yuan, are you planning to dabble in the entertainment industry?”
Xie Fengbei used the word play. Clearly, his impression of Qin Yuan had never been favorable, anyone capable of hanging out with lowlifes like Xu Tian looked like birds of a feather no matter how you sliced it.
“Indeed, I set up an entertainment company just to mess around. I will try my best to be careful in the future and avoid poaching your things, President Xie.”
“No need. Being able to snatch them means you have the ability.”
“Is that so? Then let me thank President Xie in advance for your magnanimity.”
“Let us grab a meal together if you have time another day.”
“No thanks.”
Xie Fengbei refused flatly. Qin Yuan’s devil-may-care attitude toward life was a type Xie Fengbei could never appreciate.
“Very well, what a pity. And here I wanted to become good friends with President Xie.”
Qin Yuan’s voice sounded soft and gentle. Whether it was just Xie Fengbei’s imagination or not, it almost sounded like Qin Yuan was acting spoiled toward him.
Xie Fengbei’s gaze darkened.
“If there is nothing else, I am hanging up.”
Before Qin Yuan could reply, Xie Fengbei disconnected the call.
Staring down at his phone screen, Xie Fengbei found it baffling. He and Qin Yuan belonged to completely different worlds, yet over the past few days, their paths seemed to cross with increasing frequency.
He hoped this was the absolute end of it. He had never had any interest in maintaining unnecessary social ties with a fickle playboy like Qin Yuan.
Meanwhile, Qin Yuan was still holding the phone while his assistant stared at him with eyes wide as copper bells.
“Qin Shao…”
Only Qin Yuan would dare pull a stunt like this.
He actually called Xie Fengbei directly to ask if the other man planned on retaliating. Anyone else would have long since hidden away in sheer terror.
“Looks like what you said was just a rumor. Xie Fengbei is quite generous after all.”
The assistant wanted to say something, but seeing Qin Yuan’s relaxed and completely in-control smile, he realized that even if Xie Fengbei truly wanted payback, given Qin Yuan’s powerful family background, if things actually escalated into a full-blown conflict, it was hard to say who would end up on the losing end.
Xie Fengbei surely wasn’t unaware of that fact.
The assistant’s nerves settled just a fraction.
If any real trouble arose, it wouldn’t be his place to worry anyway, Qin Yuan would handle it.
Spending the entire morning inside the meeting room, the two of them thoroughly went over the company’s general standing.
Truth be told, there weren’t any massive problems, it mostly came down to funding. Now that capital was abundant, those issues naturally melted away.
Before they knew it, noon had arrived.
After working intensely all morning, or rather, after not having worked at such high intensity for a very long time, Qin Yuan sat in his chair for hours before standing up to stretch his shoulders and neck.
He decided to head out somewhere to soak in a hot spring.
It just so happened that he had a new girlfriend today.
A fake girlfriend, yes, but just as Li Yan had put it, pretending to be in a relationship when outsiders didn’t know any better, upon second thought, actually sounded quite interesting.
Qin Yuan loved excitement, if life became too dull, he felt he was simply wasting time.
Besides, having a fake girlfriend tag along meant he wouldn’t constantly find his thoughts drifting to that person deep inside his heart.
Right, today was Valentine’s Day. Lin Xi and his boyfriend were probably glued to each other all day long.
Qin Yuan truly envied them, envied them so much it felt like his eyes were about to bleed.
Walking out of the meeting room, Qin Yuan placed a call to Li Yan.
Coincidentally, Li Yan had been planning to call Qin Yuan as well. Seeing his number pop up, her eyes immediately crinkled into a smile filled with amorous delight.
“Where are you? I will come pick you up.”
Li Yan named a jewelry store.
“Looking at jewelry?”
“Yes, there are so many pieces I like. Are you going to buy them for me?”
“Sure. You can buy out the entire store if you want, just take your time choosing.”
“Qin Yuan, coming out the gate being this generous and spoiling me rotten, careful, or I might get too used to it and refuse to shake you off later.”
Qin Yuan laughed. Walking toward the elevator, his assistant followed close behind and pressed the call button. Qin Yuan stepped inside the elevator while the assistant stayed behind to wrap up a few remaining tasks. The entire company would shut down for the afternoon, giving the assistant a well-deserved break to spend Valentine’s Day on his own.
“To be honest, there is truly no one I cannot shake off.”
Li Yan let out a coquettish giggle.
“The jewelry store is one I own, so buying it out is out of the question. If there is something I like, I will buy it myself.”
“You, Qin Yuan, just stay by my side and act as my handsome boyfriend.”
“Treat me like a designer handbag to show off?”
Qin Yuan knew Li Yan’s personality well. They hadn’t known each other long, but he had a knack for reading people.
“Yes, is that alright?”
“Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be? I am more than happy to oblige.”
“I will wait for you.”
“Alright.”
Qin Yuan hung up the phone. Having a gorgeous, sharp-witted fake girlfriend meant his future life wouldn’t be boring at all.
Leaving the company building, Qin Yuan climbed into his sapphire sports car. The engine roared to life, and many passersby turned their heads for a second look as the sleek vehicle rolled past.
The license plate consisted entirely of eights, just looking at the plate was enough to tell that whoever sat inside was no ordinary person.
The sports car sped swiftly toward a jewelry store located inside a compact shopping mall, not particularly huge, but bustling with a steady stream of foot traffic.
Qin Yuan sat inside the car with the window rolled down, the deep rumble of the sports car’s engine audible to everyone inside the mall.
Li Yan was naturally no exception.
After giving a brief instruction to a couple of employees to watch the store, she walked outside.
Clack of high heels stepping forward, her outfit swapped for a halter top that generously displayed her collarbone and chest, causing both men and women passing by to steal glances at her.
With such a stunning, sexy, and graceful figure, quite a few girls looked on with unconcealed envy.
Li Yan walked down the steps, emerging right into the view of the sports car parked along the curbside.
They say fine cars go with beautiful women, but in Li Yan’s case, Qin Yuan sitting inside the car was, in a sense, the real beauty here.
A remarkably handsome beauty.
Pulling open the car door, Li Yan slipped into the passenger seat.
“I have a gift for you.”
Li Yan said, pulling a small box out of her exquisite handbag.
Just by looking at the style of the box, Qin Yuan could guess what it was.
Sure enough, upon opening it, a ring rested inside.
Li Yan’s right middle finger was already adorned with a ring, signifying someone deeply immersed in romance.
“Let me put it on for you.”
Li Yan took Qin Yuan’s hand and slid the ring onto his middle finger.
It was a perfect fit.
“I brought two different styles just in case this one didn’t fit.”
“You came very well prepared.”
“Of course.”
“This is proof of our relationship.”
Li Yan placed her right hand next to Qin Yuan’s left hand. Both hands wore matching rings, though compared to Li Yan’s fingers, Qin Yuan’s looked even longer, slender, and more refined.