Chapter 41: She's a money-grubber, but also a friendly reminder—she's going to run away. ...

The whistleblower approached both Mingyuan and Chaoxing simultaneously, offering to sell their last video for 10 million RMB. This is no small sum and would require a meeting to discuss for any agency.

While Mingyuan was still having internal discussions and meetings, they received the message that "the whistleblower has posted the video online," leaving Huang Shan stunned.

The speed was too fast; the transaction was completed in just over ten minutes. There was simply not enough time to determine the severity of the situation, assess the risks to the artist, or even transfer the funds from the company's finances.

So, is it because Chaoxing was afraid that the only pillar of support would collapse that he recklessly misappropriated his private property?

Regardless, Mingyuan completely lost this round. The video was also released precisely at the end of lunch break, a time when everyone is online on their phones, so its popularity only increased, and Huang Shan was furious.

The last video recording featured Xiao Tang. If it had only focused on the part where they arrived at the first studio ahead of everyone else and were turned away by photographer Dawn because their makeup and styling didn't meet the requirements, there would still have been room for reconciliation.

However, the whistleblower also posted Xiao Tang's project proposal, which contained no mention of the shooting tasks at the First Studio.

All the videos, when put together, clearly show that Xiao Tangfang forcibly occupied the studio. If Zhu Qingzhi hadn't been quick-witted and fought back, she would have had no choice but to swallow her anger. This was a complete case of workplace bullying.

Xiao Tang's entry was flooded with insults, and the innocent and pure flower was labeled as a scheming woman and a scheming green tea.

Because of Xiao Zhao's influence, Moli hasn't proposed terminating the contract yet, but they've clearly taken a backseat to Xiao Tang's role as their spokesperson. If Xiao Tang's reputation can't be salvaged, next year's contract is likely to fall through.

Five hours after the trending topic went viral, FTYL released a statement.

They explained that the chaos in the studio was due to internal management issues within the planning team, and expressed their deepest apologies for the inconvenience caused to the two artists and their teams.

Mingyuan followed suit and also issued a statement.

It is said that Xiao Tang had admired Dawn for a long time. When she met him at the First Studio, she was too excited and, out of a fan mentality, made some unreasonable demands.

For example, she wanted Dawn to take a set of unreleased photos of her, which is why Dawn suggested that she change her look.

This indirectly explains that occupying the studio was not her intention, but she deeply apologized for the series of events that ensued, and said that she would hold herself to higher standards in the future, welcoming supervision from fans and the general public.

As for LR and Katrina, one reposted the Weibo post announcing Zhu Qingzhi's endorsement, and the other released a new collection of photos of Zhu Qingzhi wearing Katrina's personal clothes. In short, both sides completely ignored Xiao Tang's apology and did not give him any face.

There was no movement from Chaoxing's side, and Zhu Qingzhi was also captured by Lu Yao.

At dusk in Beijing, skyscrapers stand side by side, neon lights flash, inseparable from the setting sun hanging on the horizon.

The snow continued to fall for several hours without stopping. Through the French windows, you could see snowflakes fluttering in the air. A few snowflakes clung to the misty glass, gradually melting into water as they warmed up.

After the fog dissipated, Zhu Qingzhi's pouty and unhappy face was revealed. She had been left in Lu Yao's office for a full two hours!

Moreover, his office had nothing superfluous except for the necessary furnishings. She was bored but dared not leave, so she could only stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and write by breathing on it.

Just as Lian Shang opened the door to change her juice, the words "Lu Yao is a lunatic" were finished on the glass.

"Miss."

Immediately, Zhu Qingzhi instinctively used her back to shield herself, and fearlessly rubbed the words off.

"Brother Lian, is my brother still in his meeting?" She blinked a few times and began to feign pitifulness. "It's snowing outside. It's not safe for a girl like me to drive alone if it gets any later."

Her throat was practically burning from the pressure, and Lu Yao's indifferent face appeared from behind Lian Shang, his cold voice exploding: "At a time like this, you don't have a husband anymore?"

...Didn't Zhou Shicheng say he wasn't familiar with Lu Yao? Is this what you call not being familiar?! Are they treating her like a Japanese person?!

Zhu Qingzhi's eyes widened, and her face flushed red instantly. She really wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground.

Lian Shang walked over, ignoring her shocked gaze, placed the juice on the coffee table, and solemnly asked, "Would you like me to contact President Wen for you, Miss?"

She shook her head vigorously, like a rattle-drum.

Lian Shang's smile remained unchanged, clearly indicating that he already knew her answer but deliberately said it, adding fuel to the fire on her face.

She knew it; all the men who worked as CEO assistants were cunning and ruthless!

Lian Shang stopped short of leaving, closed the door, and left without lingering. He remained calm throughout, like a programmed robot.

Lu Yao glanced at Zhu Qingzhi, then stepped inside. The folder flew from his hand to his desk, and he turned on the monitor with a blank expression.

He's been so busy with an international cooperation case lately that he still has to take time out to deal with Zhu Qingzhi's affairs. I don't know what Wen Qi is good for; ever since Zhu Qingzhi married him, so many things have happened.

Zhu Qingzhi looked at Lu Yao's expression, pursed her lips, and carefully walked towards the sofa. She didn't forget to glance back at the now-cleaned glass, feigning composure: "What do you want?"

There's been a lot of talk about you lately.

...Alright, one strike to kill.

Zhu Qingzhi took a sip of juice but didn't reply.

Lu Yao cut straight to the point, leaving no room for ambiguity: "You'd better terminate your contract with Chaoxing as soon as possible. They gave you ten million just like that, without even going through the company account; it was their personal property. What do you think it's for? Are they hoping you'll become Chaoxing's cash cow in the future?"

He saw all the news trending on social media today and contacted Dawn immediately to find out the details of the story. However, he had no reason to negotiate with FTYL, so he could only ask Lian Shang to dig into the whistleblower's background privately.

The truth was uncovered: it was Xiao Tang's former assistant who had been fired. Lu Yao immediately guessed that this was a retaliatory tactic by the assistant, and Zhu Qingzhi had simply become a part of their scheme.

But Chaoxing's actions surprised him. Capital games aren't actually that complicated; sometimes they're just simple transactions of money and sex, and the rules of the entertainment industry and the business world are pretty much the same.

Currently, it seems that Chaoxing is providing Zhu Qingzhi with too many resources, and the quality of these resources is unmatched by others. At crucial moments, he is even willing to use his personal assets to clear obstacles for Zhu Qingzhi.

Lu Yao frowned. He opened Chaoxing's information on his computer desktop and spent almost a whole day searching through it. He had collected a lot of information about Chaoxing's directors, shareholders, asset structure, and even the most obscure news, but he couldn't find a single useful piece of information.

All of this led him to only one conclusion: [the person behind Chaoxing had ulterior motives towards Zhu Qingzhi].

So he immediately followed up with a second suggestion: "It's fine if you don't terminate the contract. Just reveal your identity, and with the Lu family as your guarantor, no one can do anything to you."

Zhu Qingzhi lowered her head and bit the straw, looking listless and distressed, but in reality, she was poking around in the juice with the straw.

So sometimes you really can't blame him for having a bad temper! With that silly, heartless attitude, who wouldn't get angry?

Lu Yao closed his eyes, put his index and middle fingers together, and tapped the table twice. "If you don't want to talk in my office, let's talk at home."

Zhu Qingzhi immediately put down her juice and ran to Lu Yao to fawn over him: "Brother~, I think what you said makes a lot of sense."

In fact, she knew everything Lu Yao was saying. To put it bluntly, she wasn't a naive girl who was easily fooled. In reality, she came to Chaoxing because of the resources Chaoxing offered.

"It doesn't sound good to have to terminate contracts with two agencies in such a short time. Besides, Asahi gave me too many resources, and it's quite unethical for them to just walk away like that."

She truly wouldn't do something like crossing the river and then burning the bridge.

"Besides, I'm your own sister. Even if I don't reveal my identity, you still have to back me up! Don't you think so, brother?"

Lu Yao never objected to her entering the entertainment industry. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he would even discuss career planning with her. The controversy over the replacement of the actress in "Beauty" was because Lu Yao couldn't stand it and used his own resources to help her.

She had a playful, carefree attitude, showing none of the shrewdness she displayed in the TV series.

Lu Yao still harbored resentment towards her for leaving him on the street early in the morning, especially since she treated him differently, giving the only scarf to Wen Qi and not caring about his life or death as her own brother.

"You call me 'brother' all the time, but ignore me when you don't. In the dead of winter, aren't you afraid I'll freeze to death on the street?" Lu Yao poked her forehead, pushed her back hard, and got up from his seat. "Does Wen Qi know you're here with me?"

Zhu Qingzhi rubbed her temples. When she first heard Lu Yao mention Wen Qi, she felt a little guilty thinking about her "outrageous" behavior that morning, and she didn't know where to look.

Lu Yao completely ignored her: "It's snowing heavily, I'm worried about you driving, I'll call him to pick me up."

"No need, no need, I'll just take a taxi. Besides, he might be working overtime..." Zhu Qingzhi hurriedly waved her hand to refuse.

Lu Yao only glanced at her, and Zhu Qingzhi didn't say anything.

He grabbed the folder on the table and walked out, saying, "I have something to do. Remember to close the door behind you."

Once inside the conference room, he called Wen Qi, saying, "My sister is marrying you, so she won't be bullied."

Lu Yao didn't beat around the bush. He casually lit a cigarette but didn't smoke it, holding it between his fingers. "I've investigated Xiao Tang's background. She doesn't have much of a relationship with Zhao Zhixun, but she's having an affair with Zhao Jianming, and her relationship with Zhao Shiyan seems to be complicated as well."

His voice was mild, and he had long lost his previous sharp temper.

Wen Qi had just finished revising the proposal and was leaning back in a soft chair with her eyes closed, not in the mood to compete with Lu Yao: "I've also checked, but it's not the right time yet."

Lu Yao flicked his cigarette ash and laughed: "She's a money-grubber, and so are you?"

The person behind Chaoxing is Wen Qi. He should have realized this long ago, but he has been ignoring it all along. However, there is no need to expose him or be honest with Zhu Qingzhi.

After all, given Zhu Qingzhi's personality, there was really no need for him to get involved; otherwise, he would suffer the consequences. Moreover, these kinds of "identity revelation" incidents are only entertaining when the parties involved confront each other face-to-face.

At this point, all the participants in the online meeting arrived one after another, waiting for Lu Yao to begin.

Lu Yao stubbed out his cigarette, typed "Please wait" and said, "It's just a movie, it doesn't matter if it loses all its value. But forget it, let's go along with her."

Indeed, even he couldn't ignore Zhu Qingzhi's feelings. Money was one thing, but this girl was definitely thinking about Director Xu's hard work.

Wen Qi heard the sound of typing on the keyboard from the other end of the line, glanced at his watch, and seemed to be kindly reminding him: "Being late is not a good habit."

Clearly implying something, Lu Yao clicked his tongue and said, "Hey, I'm quite curious, when did you start having your eye on her?"

"Get to the point."

Lu Yao didn't expect this bastard to say anything nice: "She's in my office right now. If you're free, Mr. Wen, could you come pick her up? Friendly reminder: you'd better be there within five minutes, otherwise she might run away, and I won't be able to control her."

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Author's note: Kiyoshi [resting her chin on her hand]: It's clearly a movie for three people.

Wen Qi [question mark]: Three minutes.

Lu Yao [Let me see]: Tsk.

Author [Empty Bowl]: Looking forward to the meal (Everyone's inner monologue: [Food])

This came so unexpectedly! [laughing and crying while covering face]