Take a stroll and let off some steam.

After finishing his run early the next morning, Jiang Songhe, preoccupied with finalizing the cooperation with TANG, arrived at the company around 8 a.m.

As soon as I entered the gate by scanning my face, I bumped into Xu Qin, who was walking out.

Jiang Songhe glanced down at the cardboard box in Xu Qin's arms, which was full of personal belongings. Perhaps because she had already considered the worst-case scenario and was seeing her former employee pack up and jump ship to another company, she was surprisingly calm.

There was nothing more to say. Jiang Songhe didn't bother to give Xu Qin a second glance, lifted her eyelids and looked straight ahead, brushing past him.

"Thank you, Mr. Jiang, for signing and letting me go." A faint whisper came from behind, "My wife and I are very grateful to you."

Xu Qin's resignation application was signed by Jiang Songhe at the company that night after listening to Lin Duole's handover report before going to the G6club meeting, adhering to the principle that "a gentleman's word is as good as his bond".

Just a few hours after signing the contract, Jiang Songhe learned from Liang Jinping, the platform's producer, in the 888 private room that Ciyi Culture, the company Xu Qin was going to switch jobs to, was behind the scenes promoting "Yan Ge Xing".

Xu Qin's current words of gratitude are extremely ironic and tantamount to slapping Jiang Songhe in the face.

A wave of unease washed over Jiang Songhe. She stopped and turned to stare coldly at Xu Qin: "Is there anything else you want to say to me?"

Xu Qin turned his face away, picked at the edges of the cardboard box, and didn't say anything.

Jiang Songhe tensed his jaw muscles, nodded knowingly, turned his head back, and said, "I won't see you out."

The sound of leather shoes clicking on the ground echoed in the empty corridor with a heart-pounding, urging drumbeat, soon mixed with the chaotic sounds of a chase.

"President Jiang, President Jiang, please don't blame me. I was under so much pressure back then..." Xu Qin took a few steps and bounced the cardboard box, gradually becoming breathless and incoherent. "I'm not as young or quick-witted as Lin Duole. I have elderly parents and young children to support, and my whole family depends on me. I have to think carefully before spending a penny on myself. My usual pastime is just eating and drinking at a street stall... I was forced by life, President Jiang..."

Jiang Songhe strode to his office, opened the door, and saw Xu Qin making a move to follow him in and continue his rambling. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he bluntly told Xu Qin to leave.

“You should save those words for your onboarding speech at Ciyi, instead of wasting each other’s time at Yunhe.” Jiang Songhe stepped into the room, went straight to the desk and sat down, pointing her palm towards the door, “Take care.”

"You know..." Xu Qin's eyes widened, his mouth opened and closed for a moment, and then his arm holding the cardboard box sank down.

Jiang Songhe withdrew his gaze, opened the computer on the table to block the hunched figure outside the door, and started working on the work that had accumulated over the past few days.

A barely perceptible sound of hinges turning came from the entrance, but the latch didn't click to engage.

"Currently, Ciyi has only communicated with the platform. They are also observing whether there will be two dramas competing for the annual film list. As for Shen Zongli's matter, they are already negotiating with the paparazzi and should release it after the internal data is made available for monitoring, depending on the situation."

Xu Qin paused for a moment, then continued, "That's all the inside information I know, President Jiang. I really didn't expect them to take Yunhe as an opponent..."

Jiang Songhe remained expressionless and silent, his eyes fixed on the computer screen, but the sound of his typing grew louder and louder. He had barely finished speaking when he entered the room when he slammed his thumb down on the Enter key.

Click, the office door was finally closed.

Jiang Songhe frowned and squinted, then scrolled back to the top of the page to examine the lengthy, all-English contract that TANG had sent to Yunhe, with the legal terms highlighted in red.

After reading through sixteen pages of densely packed text, Jiang Songhe drew a conclusion based on his professional experience—

The reason TANG proposed various harsh terms regarding the usage rights of "Sacrifice Night Dawn" and responded extremely slowly is most likely because they simply do not want the transformation work of the company's top artist to be used by the relatively unknown Yunhe.

Was this Jonathan's idea, or the idea of ​​the company's senior management?

Before learning that "Yan Ge Xing" was being sabotaged, Jiang Songhe would have stopped short of taking action and decisively adopted Plan B. But faced with the current situation, he had no choice but to rise to the challenge and fight for it.

Fortunately, TANG did not offer much objection to the fact that they only invited Jonathan to sing in the OST.

Therefore, Jiang Songhe personally contacted the legal department of both companies and asked her to delete all the clauses concerning the film and television usage rights of "Sacrifice Night Dawn" and add a clause to the OST cooperation content: Your company's artist Janus must cooperate with the promotion of "Yan Ge Xing" throughout the process.

The specific form of cooperation will be communicated online by both parties at least three days in advance.

It's a rule to ensure that the person who sends the email is consistent. No matter how anxious Jiang Songhe is, he has to wait for Lin Duole to come to the company before he can hand it over to Lin Duole.

While waiting, Jiang Songhe closed his laptop and reviewed what Xu Qin had said before leaving the company.

We cannot believe it completely, nor can we completely disbelieve it.

Jiang Songhe put himself in Ciyi's shoes, and combined this with his knowledge of the other party's usual tricks to deduce the truth.

The phrases "only releasing rumors" and "negotiating with paparazzi" suggest that Ciyi has not yet obtained concrete evidence of Shen Zongli's domestic violence. With the platform's film slate about to be released, the fact that Ciyi has not yet approached them with threats or inducements only confirms the truth of these two points.

It is known that Shen Zongli has already paid the paparazzi a considerable hush money. If Ciyi wants to extract more dirt from the paparazzi, it will have to pay an even larger amount of money before the paparazzi will risk being sued by Shen Zongli to divulge the information.

Since the ultimate goal is to acquire projects at low prices, destroying them before the premiere of "Yan Ge Xing" only eliminates a potential competitor and has no other added value.

Traffic on each platform is like a pie; no matter how much competition you eliminate, the pie is always the same size. It's better to use what you have than to eliminate rivals. Ciyi has built its empire through such methods; why would it engage in a deal where the investment and return are disproportionate?

That's why we have to wait for the platform to release its list of shows and for the internal data monitoring of the projects to be broadcast before we can confirm whether "Yan Ge Xing" can be considered a threatening competitor, estimate its value, and then decide whether to acquire it or destroy it by leaking information.

That's quite a grand strategy.

Jiang Songhe sorted out the situation, and fortunately, Yunhe still had time.

But not many.

Without delay, he quickly adjusted his strategy, deciding to attack both TANG and the paparazzi Lei Dachui simultaneously.

He sent a WeChat message to Lin Duole, giving written instructions on how to follow up on the contract signing in the new direction, and to report any progress to him immediately.

He then dialed the phone number of Mr. Tao, the second largest investor in "Yan Ge Xing".

-

Tao Lifeng said on the phone that he was in Dongcheng on business and asked Jiang Songhe to meet him at the Ziyuan Pavilion in the Huodaofu Hotel.

Led by the concierge, Jiang Songhe entered a courtyard house that blended Chinese and Western architectural styles. The Ziyuan Pavilion was located there, with a restaurant on the first floor and a tea room on the second. Seeing that the first floor was empty, Jiang Songhe climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"You've arrived?" Tao Lifeng sat at the head of the tea table, with a screen behind him. "You've come quite quickly. It seems you were really in a hurry."

Jiang Songhe nodded in greeting, passed through several archways, approached the tea table and called out to the person. Tao Lifeng gestured with his chin toward the seat opposite him, and then he took off his trench coat and draped it over the back of the armchair before sitting down.

Tao Lifeng slowly rubbed the tea, grabbed the gaiwan and poured the tea into a bamboo shoot-shaped fairness cup. Then he raised his wrist and moved the pointed spout above the tray on which the teacups were placed: "President Jiang is a very busy person, it is really not easy to meet him."

Jiang Songhe rubbed his knuckles and subconsciously reached out to take it. Tao Lifeng then turned the pointed spout and poured the tea directly onto the head of a Pixiu tea pet next to the tray.

Pixiu's expression suddenly changed. Jiang Songhe withdrew his hand and explained, "I've been accompanying Songyun to the Star Show competition in Maner for some time now. I just returned to the country and was unexpectedly hospitalized. I haven't been able to visit you right away. Please forgive me."

Suddenly, a scraping sound came from behind the screen. The two of them looked in the direction of the sound, and the sound stopped immediately.

Jiang Songhe glanced at the half-open lattice window on one side of the screen, thinking that the wind had blown the potted plants behind the screen. Without thinking further, she simply interlaced her fingers on her knees and waited for Tao Lifeng to finish the entire tea ceremony.

A cup of tea was finally placed on the table in front of them. Jiang Songhe waited for Tao Lifeng to take a sip first, and then picked it up and brought it to his lips.

"You wouldn't come here without a reason. Tell me, what's wrong with 'Yan Ge Xing' this time?"

Tao Lifeng put down his cup, picked up a wooden box from beside him, flipped it open, took out a cigar, smelled it, slit his fingers with scissors, cut a slanted end, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a blowtorch.

The cigar smelled too spicy, and Jiang Songhe suppressed the urge to cough, held his breath for a moment, and then explained the whole story, including the cause and effect and the risk plan.

"You want to use my connections to mobilize all the production companies of Shen Zongli's unreleased dramas to shut that paparazzi up?" The scarlet dot between Tao Lifeng's fingers gradually charred and died down. He took off his cigar and put it in front of the blowtorch nozzle. "You've got a pretty good plan."

"Have you forgotten that if the project really fails, as an investor, I have the right to sue Yunhe for 'failure to report known risks'? I have invested in more than just 'Yan Ge Xing'. It's just a little time cost. I won't lose anything by not helping you."

Jiang Songhe met Tao Lifeng's sharp, eagle-like gaze without flinching. Instead, he took out a share transfer agreement he had prepared before the meeting from his business bag and handed it over.

"I don't need to say more about the quality of 'Yan Ge Xing,' otherwise you wouldn't have stepped in at the beginning to help sign the Best Actor and take on an important villain role." Jiang Songhe said neither humbly nor arrogantly. "As a senior in the industry, you should have heard about Ciyi's methods. Rather than let 'Yan Ge Xing' fall into the hands of others at a low price, I would rather show my sincerity and work together with you."

Tao Lifeng chuckled upon hearing this, put the cigar between his teeth again, and while using a blowtorch to singe his feet, he exhaled smoke and said, "Are you implying something to me? After your trip to Maner, you've grown some cunning and learned to be roundabout."

"I wouldn't dare." Jiang Songhe placed the empty cup beside her steadily next to the agreement.

Tao Lifeng picked up the teapot with one hand, skipped the step of going to sea, refilled the two empty cups with tea, and then placed the teapot directly on the agreement: "A few vague numbers can't get me on your ship."

Jiang Songhe glanced at the agreement cover, which was soaked and bubbled with tea, his brow twitched slightly, and his tongue traced a circle around his tightly closed teeth without making a sound. He didn't speak or reach out again, but waited for Tao Lifeng to continue the conversation.

“True sincerity is that your ship will dock at my Tao family's wharf from now on, and hoist my Tao family's sails.” Tao Lifeng squinted, took a puff of his cigar, and pushed the teacup, which was seven-tenths full, back to Jiang Songhe’s side. “Being my son-in-law, Tao Lifeng, will not only save you from losing money, but you can also enjoy the cool breeze and fatten up.”

Jiang Songhe pushed the teacup away with his palm raised: "I'm sorry, President Tao, I can't agree to that."

"You 'can't agree'?" Tao Lifeng's amiable expression vanished as he shoved his cigar into the ashtray and stubbed it out.

Jiang Songhe remained unmoved, straightening his posture even more as he raised his chin and demonstrated his stance through his actions: "Yes."

Tao Lifeng was so enraged by Jiang Songhe's attitude that his face suddenly turned pale, and he roared, "My daughter has a good family background, she's beautiful, and she's a graduate student at the New York Film Academy. She's condescending to be with a half-baked guy like you. What more could you want?!"

Jiang Songhe replied in a deep voice: "Just as you said, Tao Nianhe deserves a better partner. Besides, she is an independent and progressive woman, and she doesn't need you to find her a marriage partner..."

Snap!

Tao Lifeng slammed the teapot on the ground: "I think you've forgotten who introduced you to this circle?! You're so arrogant, aren't you?! I'll ask you one last time, do you agree or not?!"

"I'm sorry." Jiang Songhe reached out and took back the badly altered agreement.

"Very well!" Tao Lifeng stood up abruptly, knocking over the armchair with a thud. He strode straight towards the archway. "You can stick to this 'today or tomorrow' show and be stubborn to the end! I want to see if you'll regret it when Yunhe goes bankrupt and is liquidated!"

Jiang Songhe had long anticipated this day and knew the answer. The worst outcome would be that he would lose himself, and Jiang Songyun would be completely absolved of any blame, so naturally he would have nothing to regret.

"Where are you going later?" Jiang Songhe still respected and appreciated Tao Lifeng from the bottom of her heart, so she calmly tidied herself up, stood up and asked the departing figure, "Let me see you off."

Tao Lifeng didn't even turn his head: "No need, stop giving me that nonsense."

"dad!"

Suddenly, a woman's voice called out urgently from behind the screen.

Tao Lifeng's foot, which was about to step out of the archway, hovered halfway down the path before he stepped back. One hand rose and disappeared in front of his head and face; judging from the movement, it seemed as if he had slapped his forehead.

Tao Lifeng and Jiang Songhe turned around together and looked at the screen.

A woman with short, shoulder-length hair emerged from behind the screen. Jiang Songhe's expression froze: "Tao, Tao Nian...?"

"It's me, Brother Songhe, long time no see." Tao Nian smiled brightly at Jiang Songhe, then turned her face to Tao Lifeng, who was walking back, and said coquettishly, "Weren't you going downstairs? Go ahead, take a stroll and clear your mind."

"I want to catch up with Brother Songhe alone."