Chapter 62: Discussing a Deal
A forty-second advertisement, yet it felt like a rich rose fragrance was wafting right through the screen.
A man wearing a white robe embroidered with golden threads lay back in a rocking chair, his eyes closed. He held the thorny stem, now devoid of its petals, devoutly in his hands, a satisfied smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
The image froze there. Above the screen, eight characters appeared for the promotional tagline—Enjoy Love, Remain True to the Beginning. This was the meaning behind A&D's new perfume.
Below, a row of smaller golden text read: Officially on sale at midnight on October 18th, limited to 1000 bottles nationwide. Stay tuned.
Sally quickly reposted the Weibo that tagged Rong Yu, captioning it—Smells great!
Since Rong Yu was currently in closed-door training for Hey Brother, Let's Debut! and couldn't reply personally, his team had to handle the PR. Sally had clearly already negotiated with Toner's side. The moment A&D released the ad preview, Sally reposted it.
It had to be said, Rong Yu's look was extremely handsome. Even with silver and gold stripes painted on his face, it couldn't hide his good looks, instead adding a touch of nobility and mystery.
It seemed he was born to be the camera's darling, effortlessly pulling off any style.
"He will definitely be hugely popular, I'd bet my years of experience on it. He will become Huansheng's cash cow," Sally said over the phone.
If this had been a few months ago, Yin Chengjue would have agreed without hesitation. But now, Yin Chengjue couldn't help but frown. He wanted to retort—I don't actually want him to become something equivalent to money, he's not an object, he's an outstanding person.
But the words stuck in his throat, and he couldn't quite explain it.
As the CEO of Huansheng Entertainment, saying something like that would probably sound insincere no matter how you put it.
After telling Sally to keep an eye on the online trends, Yin Chengjue logged into his own Weibo and reposted the ad, captioning it: Reservation placed.
Three knocks sounded on the office door. Yin Chengjue called out, "Come in."
Assistant Guan walked in, his expression somewhat complicated: "President Yin, do you remember that trainee named Fei Zhengqi?"
"Hmm?" Yin Chengjue looked up: "What about him?"
Assistant Guan: "Wasn't he exposed with some black material before? Then he temporarily withdrew from the recording of Hey Brother, Let's Debut! Logically, he should be shelved. But just now, I received an email, signed with his name."
"What's the content of the email?" Yin Chengjue was more concerned about this. Nothing brings someone to the hall of the three treasures without reason. If it wasn't about important documents, Fei Zhengqi wouldn't have sent it, and Assistant Guan wouldn't have come specially to report it.
"It's... the procurement list for the Qi Family Pharmaceuticals this year. It details several non-compliant reagents, and the sales volume of these against-regulation reagents is very high in private sales at the pharmacies under their corporation." Assistant Guan adjusted his glasses, his expression very serious: "President Yin, I feel this matter isn't that simple. It might be a trap."
Yin Chengjue pondered for a long time, then suddenly smiled: "No, it's actually very simple. Even a dog will jump over a wall when cornered. What won't people do when pushed to the brink? If we really want a reason, blame Second Young Master Qi for poor judgment, underestimating others."
Assistant Guan still seemed a bit puzzled.
Second Young Master Qi and Fei Zhengqi had a sugar daddy relationship. Now that Fei Zhengqi was exposing the Qi family's dirty laundry to their rivals, how could Second Young Master Qi possibly let him off? And this was also hugely detrimental to Fei Zhengqi's own future!
Wait! Fei Zhengqi had been exposed with black history and had temporarily withdrawn from Hey Brother, Let's Debut! His future was already bleak.
A lightbulb went off in Assistant Guan's head: "President Yin, do you mean... exposing Fei Zhengqi's black material was Second Young Master Qi's doing? Fei Zhengqi, seeing his star path darken, decided to go for broke and also sent the black material on the Qi family he had collected to their other rivals?"
Yin Chengjue nodded slightly: "So I said, Second Young Master Qi isn't as brainy as his old man. He can't even see the capabilities of the people around him."
Assistant Guan read through the documents Fei Zhengqi sent and quickly replied, asking if he could meet in person.
Fei Zhengqi was probably very anxious too. Not long after Assistant Guan's email reply was sent out, Fei Zhengqi immediately sent an address, along with a proposed meeting time.
After just a few short days, the glamorous Fei Zhengqi seen on TV had changed dramatically.
Yin Chengjue's memory of him was still stuck in that storyline song where he acted alongside Rong Yu as the scholar and the nandan role, his image in the scholar's long gown and mandarin jacket still fresh in mind.
Later, Fei Zhengqi formed a CP with Ming Qian and often appeared together on the show, so Yin Chengjue paid less attention.
Fei Zhengqi's performance on the show wasn't very lively, he was even overly somber. Because he didn't actively communicate much with others, he seemed somewhat difficult to get along with. This was why when Ming Qian actively approached him and he gave a slight response under Ming Qian's gentle attack, many CP fans would go wild screaming.
Among the many handsome guys, his looks could only be considered above average. Fans called him the Melancholy Prince, happy to find a single spark of light from his gloomy face. Any tiny change in expression they managed to dig up would make them scream with joy.
Of course, this was all based on the fans liking him. Once certain black material appeared, making fans feel tired and no longer loving him, those little joys of working hard to excavate his shining points on him could easily be completely denied, leading to dropping their fandom and turning critical.
This was also the reason Fei Zhengqi lost fans so severely this time.
Now, Fei Zhengqi sat across from Yin Chengjue, wearing a black baseball cap, a blue medical mask, and simple casual clothes. A cup of plain tea sat beside his hand, the heat from the cup slowly rising and dissipating into the air.
Fei Zhengqi's gaze was fixed intently on that wisp of rising steam, seemingly already lost in thought.
Yin Chengjue knocked on the table.
Fei Zhengqi's eyes moved, finally looking at Yin Chengjue.
"I don't have time to watch you space out here," Yin Chengjue said.
Fei Zhengqi nodded. The weariness in his eyes, which the mask couldn't hide, was evident. He said, "I have something you'd be interested in, but I have one condition for the exchange."
Fei Zhengqi's fingertips rested on the teacup, unconsciously rubbing it. His voice sounded a bit hoarse: "Five million. Transfer it to this account."
Fei Zhengqi took a card out of his pocket and pushed it towards Yin Chengjue.
Yin Chengjue remained unmoved, looking at him expressionlessly.
Seeing Yin Chengjue didn't respond, Fei Zhengqi didn't back down either. Instead, he continued: "You will definitely be interested. It's about your father, Feng Chengda."
Yin Chengjue frowned slightly: "I'm not interested in matters concerning him." Besides, Feng Chengda was still lying in the hospital; what kind of big waves could he possibly make now?
But Fei Zhengqi said: "You will be interested. I saw his lawyer go to find Qi Yangtian."
Qi Yangtian, that is, the father of Second Young Master Qi, The CEO of Qi Family Pharmaceuticals.
"You seem to know a lot about the internal affairs of the Qi family. Second Young Master Qi really likes you? Takes you everywhere he goes?" Yin Chengjue probed.
A trace of mockery flashed in Fei Zhengqi's eyes. Looking closer, it also seemed like self-mockery.
"Those kind of playboys, what do they know about liking or not liking? It's all just playing around. They play with one after another, never stopping." Fei Zhengqi lowered his gaze, his fingertips picking at the pattern on the teacup one by one. "Anyway, you just need to know that I do indeed know quite a lot. Feng Chengda and Qi Yangtian have reached some kind of agreement. I also know a little about the content of their agreement."
Fei Zhengqi said: "Five million. That's my only demand. Then I'll tell you the content of their secret plot. Our transaction will be settled, and we'll pretend today's meeting never happened."
Yin Chengjue couldn't help but laugh: "Do you think I'm easy to fool? With one ambiguous sentence, I'll willingly hand over money? Kid, my money isn't that easy to earn. Besides..."
Yin Chengjue paused before saying: "I have my own estimation of how much trouble Feng Chengda can stir up now."
"DNA test," Fei Zhengqi looked at Yin Chengjue and said: "Feng Chengda's lawyer secretly went to Qi Yangtian to do a DNA test. They want to test whether you are Feng Chengda's son or not."
Yin Chengjue finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Fei Zhengqi: "..." ???
It took Yin Chengjue a long time to stop laughing. He said, "So what was the result? Am I or am I not? Seriously, I actually hope I'm not. I really don't want to have the slightest connection to that old thing."
Fei Zhengqi clearly didn't quite understand Yin Chengjue's train of thought: "Aren't you afraid they will spread rumors about your mother's lack of chastity?"
Yin Chengjue sneered: "Afraid of what? He himself had an affair and had a son with someone else, yet he still expects my mom to be a twenty-four filial pious wife? No matter what the DNA test result is, it doesn't change the fact that Feng Chengda raised a son outside during his marriage, right?"
Yin Chengjue stood up, straightening his lapels and cuffs: "If you called me out just to tell me this, then I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested."
Fei Zhengqi clenched his fists, a flash of panic in his eyes.
Seeing Yin Chengjue turn to leave, Fei Zhengqi hurriedly said: "Wait! Then do you know that Qi Le wants to target Rong Yu?"
Qi Le was the name of Second Young Master Qi. Yin Chengjue's steps halted, his eyebrows raising slightly: "What?"
Fei Zhengqi seemed desperate to get that money. Seeing Yin Chengjue show a bit of interest, he immediately said: "President Yin, do you know Liu Huan? He's a somewhat famous traffic star with fans. Recently, he caught Qi Le's eye and has been acting more and more arrogantly."
Fei Zhengqi, who usually spoke very little, seemed like he wanted to say all the words of his lifetime today. His eyes held a sense of urgency, as if he had already staked everything. As long as Yin Chengjue was willing to make this information exchange, he was willing to say anything.
"He went to an audition the other day. After returning, he told Qi Le that he can't stand Rong Yu and begged Qi Le to teach Rong Yu a lesson." Fei Zhengqi said: "President Yin, Rong Yu is an artist under your company, right?"
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