People don't care to drink it at all

"Mr. Jiang, what brings you here to discuss?"

Xu Qin's gaze quickly swept over the bottle of MotiXin Thirteen Black Pearl next to Jiang Songhe. His forehead was glistening with sweat when the light from the bar chandelier hit him, probably because he had rushed to the appointment and was in the evening rush hour.

"Heh, you sit down first." Jiang Songhe chuckled, glancing across the seat next to her with one hand and pressing the other on the table as she turned around. Once she caught Xu Qin sitting down out of the corner of her eye, she quickly opened the bottle of CMB·58888.

With a pop, the cork was uncorked. Xu Qin stared blankly, pursed his lips, and unconsciously clenched his hands on the edge of the bar.

The red wine slowly flowed into a Nude glass with its bottom firmly held in place. The wine line just passed the tip of his thumb. Jiang Songhe twisted his wrist and raised his hand, steadily pushing the glass to Xu Qin. Then, he poured himself a glass in the same way.

"Try it." Jiang Songhe nodded with her chin in invitation, but did not rush to drink with him. Instead, she waited for her unhurried actions to finish before replacing the cork on the exquisite black bottle with one topped with a miniature sculpture.

Seeing Xu Qin take a sip from his glass, Jiang Songhe then began to get down to business: "The taste of aged whisky changes gradually with the first glass after it's been opened. We can take our time to talk about it during that period."

Xu Qin's expression visibly turned strange. The fine wine seemed to have turned into poison in his eyes. He scratched his throat, swallowed the wine in his mouth, and declined in a hoarse voice, "No, Mr. Jiang, I didn't tell my wife I was coming out. You should just cut to the chase and get to the point..."

"Alright." Jiang Songhe smiled and turned her head to beckon to the bar, "A-Jie, pass me the things."

A short while later, a young bartender appeared with bags and bundles. He first gave Jiang Songhe a silly smile, but when he turned to Xu Qin, he secretly rolled his eyes. Even when he handed over the several gift boxes of baby products in his arms, his movements became noticeably stiff.

When Jiang Songhe reached out to take it, Xu Qin picked up his cup again, his head bowed, revealing a hint of guilt.

“These are brands that Songyun used when he was a child. They have a good reputation and the quality is excellent.” The row of high-end gift boxes slid up to Xu Qin’s eyes. “Your wife should be able to use them soon.”

Xu Qin put down his glass to touch the eye-catching brand logo, but was too embarrassed to push it away. He stepped back slightly, using the edge of the bar counter as a step: "You're too kind, Mr. Jiang. My two kids aren't as precious as Teacher Jiang. I appreciate your kindness, but if I accept such a nice thing, and the kids get used to it, the house might not be able to hold onto it all, haha."

"How could that be? I've already mentioned giving you a raise to HR, but actually, it's not because of that." Jiang Songhe realized he was being a bit too hasty, finally took a sip of his drink, paused for a moment, and continued, "You've worked hard these past few days, and the company should show its appreciation."

"What are you saying? That's all I should do. I even think I haven't done enough, haha~" Xu Qin's dry laughter was frequent and awkward.

Jiang Songhe could tell that this was just polite talk, and there was no useful information to be gleaned from polite talk. So he went back to Xu Qin's previous sentence and tried to extract the key words: "You said you were afraid of not being able to cover the bottom line? Well then, give me an expected number, and I will give you a satisfactory treatment."

"I was just saying, you really don't need to waste any more time and money on me. I personally mentored Xiaolin..." Xu Qin abruptly stopped, "Hey! You have a good eye for talent. Xiaolin will definitely be able to stand on his own in the future. Yunhe is fine with or without me!"

Jiang Songhe stopped laughing and explained seriously the reason for promoting Lin Duole: "I didn't mean to replace you with Lin Duole. My consideration is that he is young and quick-thinking, so he will focus on publicity and distribution in the future, while you are experienced and steady, so you will focus on production. My intention is to have him work with you. You know him very well, which will reduce communication costs and free up your time and energy to take care of your family."

Hearing his usually cold and taciturn boss unusually patiently explain so much to him, Xu Qin, who was like an ant on a hot pan just a second ago, fidgeting and casually protesting on his high stool, was completely stunned the next second.

"So... that's what you were thinking?" Xu Qin avoided Jiang Songhe's gaze, reached for the wine glass in front of him, touched it several times before finally grasping it, and then hesitantly brought it to his lips and took a sip.

“Yes.” Jiang Songhe didn’t press further. His next words were a mixture of motives and emotions. He said that he was not good at saying these things, so he turned his upper body, took a sip of wine, and then said to the wall full of wine, “Yunhe needs you.”

"..."

The two figures seemed to be frozen in time, only their hands holding the cups silently rising and falling in alternating rhythms.

After a long silence, the thin figure shrugged, tilted his head back sharply, and quickly lowered his head, apologizing in a low voice: "I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang, I already signed it this morning."

His once-straight back seemed to falter slightly, but he still looked ahead, accepting reality without any emotion: "Forget about the non-compete clause, just one thing: I'll only sign my resignation application when you've completely handed over the work."

"It's nothing. Thank you, Mr. Jiang."

-

After Xu Qin left, Jiang Songhe remained in a meditative posture, leaning on the bar, rubbing his temples and drinking alone. Even when he switched to human mode and mentally weighed the pros and cons, his state was still one of utter confusion.

While waiting for Xu Qin's reply, he considered whether to use the "non-compete" and "confidentiality" agreements to threaten him.

Jiang Songhe was well aware that Xu Qin was about to become a father of two. Although he had no experience as a father, he had experience raising a life from infancy to adolescence.

Leaving aside financial pressures, it's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed and driven to the brink of collapse by the seemingly incomprehensible parenting advice during the initial stages of parenting. Getting some fresh air every day, with a perfectly legitimate reason, is absolutely essential.

Jiang Songhe's novice period began two months before he turned eighteen. Without any family or partner to guide or support him, he had to rely entirely on self-study and trial and error. Jiang Songyun, that tiny, tender little bean, couldn't express herself and could only cry; she was completely dependent on others.

Because there was no place for him to go outside and catch his breath, Jiang Songhe often hid in the bathroom to shield himself from the baby's incessant wailing. When the wailing became heart-wrenching, he would lean against the door to get up, wash his hands and face at the sink to calm down. Once calm, he would resume his responsibilities as the eldest brother and father.

As time went on, Jiang Songhe developed obsessive-compulsive disorder related to cleanliness.

Fortunately, with experience, Jiang Songhe gradually adapted and got the hang of it. The number of times she went to the bathroom decreased, washing her face was eliminated, and she didn't wash her hands as frequently as before.

Therefore, putting himself in others' shoes, Xu Qin needs a job, and one that provides a livelihood.

If Jiang Songhe uses a non-compete agreement to cut off Xu Qin's breathing space and source of income during his novice period, Xu Qin could very well be overwhelmed by the pressure of survival and the resentment of his family within a year, or even less.

When the time comes, what will Xu Qin, who is in charge of the entire process of "Yan Ge Xing" and has mastered the many hidden dangers of the project, do in a state of collapse?

So, "non-compete agreements are out of the question."

In the entertainment industry, confidentiality agreements are usually signed for all matters, big and small. However, Jiang Songhe, being in the industry himself, has witnessed far too many shocking scandals still breaking under such circumstances. A thin piece of paper can only restrain honest people; it's impossible to guard against unscrupulous individuals. Even if someone breaches the agreement, the only consequences are accountability and compensation.

However, the damage is irreversible. Those hindsight criticisms are merely scratching the surface. It would be better to abandon the threats and manipulations, respect past relationships, and have a clear and transparent handover. This would at least ensure that "Yan Ge Xing" is not affected to the greatest extent possible.

Therefore, there is no need to mention "signing a supplementary confidentiality agreement" again.

Furthermore, since a handover is necessary, the person making the handover can only be Yunhe's newly appointed producer, Lin Duole. Lin Duole has a close relationship with Xu Qin, and if something goes wrong and an investigation is launched, Lin Duole will probably be implicated as well.

The progress will inevitably be hindered, and ultimately it will be "Yan Ge Xing" and Jiang Songyun who suffer. In the end, any relationship depends entirely on conscience. Jiang Songhe can only gamble that Xu Qin is a gentleman who will still uphold morality and cherish feelings after a clean break.

...

With a snap, a hand suddenly reached in front of Jiang Songhe's eyes and snapped its fingers.

"Hey, what's wrong with our CEO Jiang?" Li Luxiao successfully brought her back to her senses. He leaned his long arm across the bar, squinted one eye, and focused on Jiang Songhe, who was sitting incongruously behind a row of maternity and baby gift boxes. He teased, "Why didn't you accept the warmth personally delivered by the aloof and domineering CEO?"

Seeing Li Luxiao making fun of her, Jiang Songhe was furious. She then remembered that on New Year's Eve in 2008, in a bar near Jiuweng Bridge, this guy had given her a stupid suggestion to trick Ni Haolang into buying absinthe.

"You've been a bartender for over ten years, and your skills and eyesight are still lacking?" Jiang Songhe, fueled by alcohol and a head full of grievances, continued to vent his anger, "When the person came back, was it because they wanted to order this 58,000 but couldn't bring themselves to do it? I think you're just looking down on people; the person doesn't even care about drinking."

"What...what are you saying?!"