Chapter 24 I'm the male lead's backer, I don't want to be a backer! ...

Si Qi blinked hard, trying to process everything he had just seen.

Following his past habits, when he received the original owner's memories, he would only read the general life experience of the original owner, and would not deliberately touch many private contents.

Therefore, upon seeing this completely unexpected thing, Si Qi was stunned for a moment, hesitating whether to recall the memories related to these clothes. The emotions related to the clothes took over Si Qi's mind first, like a series of sumptuous feasts, constantly tempting Si Qi's nerves and stimulating his thinking.

He opened the cabinet door as if possessed, his fingertips gently stroking the fabric of the clothes as if touching some rare treasure.

"marvelous……"

He murmured to himself, not even realizing what he was saying. He slightly hooked his finger, picked up a hanger with a thin bodysuit hanging on it, held it up in front of the mirror, and compared it to himself. An intoxicated look unconsciously appeared on his face.

"It's so beautiful..."

He unbuttoned the top button, took off his clean, white shirt, and smoothly put it on.

When Si Qi saw the effect of the clothes on himself, which were clearly not clothes that ordinary people would wear, he was stunned for a moment, and then his ears turned bright red.

What is he doing?

Even the original owner, who liked these things, only collected them but never dared to actually wear them. How could he be more uninhibited than the original owner!

Well, that's exactly the kind of thing he's capable of doing...

Si Qi's heart was filled with anticipation. He looked around to make sure no outsiders could see them, then with a swift movement, he tossed Xiu Xiu into the small dark room and began his furtive and amused act.

Wow, that's great! Wow, this is even better! Ahhh, that one is absolutely amazing!

Si Qi, dressed, excitedly bit his lower lip, admiring the scenery in front of him in the mirror. His eyes were misty and his cheeks were flushed. He looked like a dragon that had plunged into a treasure-filled nest and was so intoxicated that he was unable to extricate himself.

After repeatedly changing clothes and admiring himself for over an hour, Si Qi was completely satisfied with this somewhat shameful hobby and transformed back into the gentle and refined businessman he once again.

Apart from the lingering trace of ecstasy on his face, no one could tell what Si Qi had just done.

At this moment, Xiu Xiu was released by Si Qi.

The little golden dragon, holding a game controller, was suddenly returned to the consciousness space, still looking a bit bewildered.

Just now, after being suddenly thrown into the dark room, Xiu Xiu remained remarkably calm, guessing that the main god had suddenly found his master, transformed into a lecherous ghost, and immediately started developing restricted-content scenarios with his master upon meeting him.

When the results came out, they found that there was nothing around them except Si Qi, who was wearing soft and loose casual clothes and did not look like he had just met with the God.

So Xiuxiu, who had been with Siqi day and night since birth and knew his situation very well, quickly realized something.

"—Is it the original owner's residual consciousness?"

In order to better impersonate the original owner and avoid arousing suspicion from outsiders, Si Qi often inherits a part of the original owner's consciousness that remains in the body.

For example, the original owner's personality, interests, talents, memories, beliefs, instincts, as well as the subconscious gesture of raising a hand to adjust glasses when vision is blurry, and the unconscious evasive reaction when facing a life-threatening crisis.

These things all rely on "instinct," and cannot be achieved by relying on Si Qi.

You can't expect a god to instinctively fear death or genuinely worship a deity or idol—in Si Qi's case, that's really hard to achieve. Just like a human wouldn't cry and scream as if they'd really died just because a game character's neck was bitten off by a monster, after all, it's just a game character. What does it matter how gory the scene is? It has nothing to do with "themselves".

When acquiring memories, copying some elements left behind by the original owner is a small trick in role-playing.

The situation that led to Xiuxiu being suddenly sent to the dark room by Siqi was probably caused by the instincts left in the original owner's body.

Si Qi readily admitted, "Yes."

Xiuxiu asked curiously, "What is it?"

Si Qiqing coughed: "It's just... some small props and stuff. The original owner liked acting."

Xiuxiu nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite: "I see..."

Seeing that Si Qi was reluctant to talk about it, Xiu Xiu wasn't the kind of system that would pry and make its master feel awkward. It lowered its head and clicked the start button on the controller to continue the game.

Si Qi was spared the awkward situation of having to explain to Xiu Xiu what the props were. He was filled with satisfaction from what had just happened, and strolled leisurely downstairs and out the door. He went to the villa next door and found his mother.

The original owner's mother and father did not live in the same place; their daily lives and the housekeepers and servants they hired were completely separate.

Although they maintained a marital relationship in name, the original owner's mother had established her own business long ago with the help of the original owner's grandfather.

Although the company was not as large as the family business that the original owner's father had passed down through generations, its income was definitely enough to support the original owner's mother in raising the original owner and to provide a wealthy and comfortable life for herself and her son.

The reason she didn't get a divorce was because it would make her relationship with her grandfather awkward, and it would also be difficult for her to win custody of her son.

In addition, she and her husband usually live separately, treating it as a widowed-style marriage, so it doesn't have much of an impact.

And so, day after day, they maintained their marital relationship without breaking it off.

Even today.

When Si Qi entered the room, his relaxed and comfortable state immediately caught the attention of his mother, who was always concerned about her son.

This woman, whose features appeared exceptionally gentle and kind, asked her child with concern, "Are you in a good mood today?"

Si Qi nodded: "I've decided to resign and leave the company."

The woman exclaimed in surprise, "Why so suddenly?"

She knew her son was very interested in the entertainment industry, and following in his father's footsteps and joining the company as his grandfather had instructed was a logical step, both professionally and personally. Her son had previously shown a strong desire to focus on developing the company, so his sudden statement was truly unexpected.

Si Qi smiled and said, "I'd like to try other industries; I think they would be very interesting."

He briefly explained to his mother why he thought this way, and his mother, who always respected her children's wishes, smiled and nodded, "It's good that you've made up your mind, Mom supports you."

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something, and her eyes lit up as she said to Si Qi, "In that case, how about you come to my company and help me out? I can let you take over my company."

Si Qi asked in confusion, "Hmm?"

Simu's main business has absolutely no connection to the entertainment industry; it primarily produces mineral water beverages and various snack products.

The characteristics of these products are remarkably similar to Si's own personality, primarily emphasizing "high-quality products" and "health benefits." They never blindly pursue trends or use chemical additives to create an overly stimulating and intense taste; they only bring out the inherent advantages of the ingredients.

Even taking the most basic product, "water," as an example, many companies produce bottled water that has been purified through processes like distillation and electrodialysis to remove impurities, sourced directly from tap water. However, the water produced by Si Mama Company is pure mineral water from an entire natural lake, rich in trace elements like calcium, potassium, magnesium, and selenium. The raw materials and costs alone are significantly higher than tap water—otherwise, those international luxury brands wouldn't sell their Fuxing Mountain natural spring water at such high prices. But the taste is clearly not as palatable as purified water, and some people might even dislike drinking it because of this.

Then there are fruit juice drinks. The juice in them is absolutely made from fresh fruit picked from the orchard, directly squeezed into a natural product rich in vitamins, rather than using industrial methods to create a fruity taste. It may not be as refreshing and invigorating as the latter, but it will definitely not harm your health after drinking it, and may even meet the nutritional needs of the human body.

Some adults don't allow their children to drink too many beverages, fearing the additives in them are bad for their health and will make them lose their appetite. But Si Mama's products won't do that.

Or rather, she produced her products according to this standard from the very beginning, not purely for profit.

She spends less on herself each year than she does on donations, and when hiring employees, she consciously chooses people with disabilities to provide them with jobs and help them solve their survival problems.

This shows that besides preventing herself from spending that scumbag's money, another reason why Mrs. Si runs a business is to find something to do, such as charity work, to help more people in need.

If it were someone else, Ms. Si might find it difficult to hand over the business she has run for so many years to them, because it is not easy to find people in the world who can uphold their original intentions and value product quality more than their own interests. Their standards are limited to whether the quality inspection can be passed, whether the product is easy to sell, and whether it can make more money. They do not care about "taking on social responsibility".

Si Qi, however, did not.

Her son possessed the same kindness as her, and his business acumen surpassed that of most people. She would be at ease, even pleased, if the company were handed over to Si Qi.

So she made the suggestion without hesitation.

Si Qi paused for two seconds, and seeing that his mother was indeed looking forward to it, he nodded in agreement: "Of course!"

A person doesn't have to do only one kind of business in their lifetime.

Although he initially planned to work in an industry related to Chu Feng, he could simply start a new company later.

When Si Qi agreed, his mother was overjoyed. She stood up from her seat, took his hand, and led him outside, saying, "Come, come, let's go to the company. I'll introduce you to the company and let you meet the people there..."

On a whim, the mother and son went to the company, called over several senior executives, and had them tour the company with them. This quickly gave Si Qi an understanding of the company's structure, its main products, and its business operations, giving him a general overview.

"What do you think?" Si's mother looked at Si Qi expectantly.

“Very good,” Si Qi said with a smile.

From an outsider's perspective, Si Mama's business development can only be described as lukewarm. There are no "blockbuster" products, let alone flagship products that people would choose first when they see them on supermarket shelves. The turnover can only be described as maintaining profitability and slowly increasing.

From the perspective of the operators, Si Mama's company is really "perfect". At least 80% of the shares are in Si Mama's hands. The remaining shares are not scattered shares, but distributed to the company's long-term employees and factory workers. Therefore, it is very convenient to manage. It is like heaven and earth compared to Si Family Entertainment Company, which is like the Warring States period with many warlords dividing the world.

Therefore, if Si Qi really had to choose which company to run, he would choose the latter without hesitation. Whether considering the ease of operation or future development potential, his mother's company is far more suitable.

As if guiding him, Si's mother asked, "So, what are your thoughts after this trip?"

This also gives Si Qi an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities in front of the senior executives.

Si Qi pondered for a moment, then stated his opinion quite frankly.

"I think our company's products are still very competitive in the market. The main problem is that our marketing efforts are lacking, and we could also make some adjustments to the taste."

Si Qi said, "Most of the popular drinks on the market now have completely different selling points than ours, which is the main reason for our poor sales. Consumers choose based on taste and trendiness; they see these things frequently in advertisements, so they subconsciously choose these products when they go to the supermarket. Because everyone around them is drinking them, they will also buy them to drink."

"Our products are generally perceived as something we drank in our childhood, that is nutritious, and that tastes okay. This is our weakness, but it is also our strength."

Si Qi gestured to invite them to the conference room for a detailed discussion, saying as they walked, "Now that the internet is so developed, many young people are starting to pay attention to their health because they often stay up late and are addicted to electronic products. They're drinking goji berries in their thermos cups and watching videos about the health risks of staying up late on their neck and back—maybe they don't have the patience to get up early to run or go to the gym after get off work, but they're willing to do things that are easy and effortless and good for their health."

"The characteristic of 'a healthy beverage' can help us carve out a completely different path in the current popular market, a path that others simply cannot compete with. Our sugar-free drinks are better than sugary carbonated drinks, and our juices are fresher and purer than others—that's a fact. So we can start from this point and make our product's selling point a new trend..."

Si Qi sat down in the conference room and said to the senior executives who were listening more and more intently, "I used to run an entertainment company, and I am very good at marketing, creating momentum, and making a single product fashionable and setting a trend. So I know that sometimes, what we need to do is not to painstakingly join a certain circle and let consumers choose us from a group of products, but to create a new set of rules, open up a completely new track, break out of the vicious cycle of mutual cannibalization with other products, and become an independent 'brand'."

Everyone found Si Qi's vision very appealing, but they were unsure whether it would actually work.

Sometimes, saying something and doing it are two completely different things.

Seeing everyone's doubts, Si Qi smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone. I won't make any major changes within the company. We'll remain the same as before. I will just invest in advertising and start promoting our products. You'll see what happens next."

In his previous world, Si Qi had seen many similar marketing advertisements, such as "X-Fu Spring Water is a little sweet", "Give Brain Gold as a gift", and "Got milk?" These simple and unpretentious yet deeply resonant advertising slogans were very effective.

These were all long-time employees of the company, and they had a certain understanding of their boss's son. Si Qi's abilities in learning and business had indeed been outstanding since childhood. Plus, Si Qi had said he only wanted to do some advertising and wouldn't be making any sweeping reforms to the company, so letting him try it out was perfectly acceptable—Si Qi, with his background in the entertainment industry, should be very good at publicity, so doing this could only have benefits, not drawbacks. Everyone readily accepted Si Qi's suggestion.

Sitting at the head of the table, Mrs. Si watched her son's sparkling face as he talked about his work, her eyes filled with affection.

She really liked Si Qi's confident demeanor and was full of anticipation for working with him in the future.

Therefore, when Si Qi and she returned home at night and he asked her, "Do you want a divorce?", she was silent for only a few seconds before decisively nodding: "Yes!"

In fact, she could have divorced Si's father long ago. After Si Qi came of age, she could have completely cut ties with the messy and corrupt relatives of the Si family.

However, a few years ago, when Grandpa Si was still alive, Mrs. Si didn't want to upset him. Besides, Si Qi had joined the Si family company, and her staying with the family could provide him with some assistance, so she never considered divorce.

Now that both of those reasons that held her back are gone, she no longer needs to force herself to stay.

Mrs. Si said casually, "I'll go and get a divorce from him tomorrow!"

Si Qi smiled, "Then I'll pack my things tonight and move here tomorrow."

Mrs. Si couldn't be happier: "Great, great, you can move into the room I prepared for you right away. From now on, it'll be just the two of us, mother and son, and we won't have to see that guy anymore! By the way, how about we move to Longshan? The air there is much better!"

Si Qi's eyes crinkled into a smile, showing absolutely no objection: "Okay."

The mother and son acted swiftly and decisively. Before Si's father could even react, they called a moving company and evacuated the villa area. The neighboring villa was deserted overnight, and Si Qi's room was also empty. A divorce petition was delivered to Si's father by the lawyer, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

It's not that he cherishes Si Qi and his mother that much, but things that he'd taken for granted for over twenty years suddenly changed. The relationship that he thought might last a lifetime was abruptly severed, and it felt strangely awkward, as if a piece of his heart was missing.

Of course, Si's father would never say this. He arrived at the company with his several illegitimate children, ready to demand the return of his shares from Si Qi and order Si Qi to hand over his job completely to his brothers and sisters.

To everyone's surprise, Si Qi, who used to be busy from nine to ten at the company, had completely disappeared the day he told him he was resigning.

Everything was handled by Si Qi's secretary. Si Qi sent him all his previous work in electronic format, and the secretary delivered the documents to Si Qi's office for signatures.

Si Qizhen stopped coming altogether.

Si's father's punch landed on cotton; his idea of ​​venting his inner turmoil on Si Qi, having his illegitimate children provoke Si Qi, and ideally having a big fight with him, was completely thwarted.

Si Qi has completely cut off contact with him.

"Ha, I can't be bothered with his disdain." Thinking this, Mr. Si received the shares that originally belonged to him from the lawyer, suddenly gaining a large sum of money that most people couldn't spend in several lifetimes.

After leaving his sons and daughters, who were all vying to join the company, inside, Mr. Si happily went out to enjoy himself.

The allure of the outside world allowed him to quickly adapt to his new life. He swiftly forgot about his son, whom he used to see every day, and his ex-wife, whom he could only occasionally hear news about, and became hopelessly infatuated with her.

One month later, Mr. Si arrived at the central shopping mall in his car, carrying a beautiful woman in his arms. Inside the car, he saw a mineral water advertisement playing on the large screen in the square.

He was very familiar with this mineral water; it was a brand owned by his ex-wife.

This made him glance at it a couple more times before looking away. He didn't care about something that cost only two yuan a bottle and that he wouldn't normally touch. He lowered his head and kissed the soft, fragrant woman in his arms, then smiled and said to his lover, "Come on, let's go buy you a bag! Whether it's tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, I'll buy it for you!"

He has plenty of money now!

The beautiful woman sweetly flirted with Si's father, their affectionate demeanor resembling that of a couple on the other side of the city.

"Zhou, you've worked hard. Come and have some water." Bai Qian handed the water to Zhou Wu, her face full of concern and care.

In order to set up the studio, Zhou Wu has been working day and night for the past month, and he has barely managed to assemble his team.

He doesn't have many connections, and the people he finds are only considered average in the industry.

But that's nothing. Si Qi is worth a hundred people. After the basic framework is in place, Si Qi will help with the rest.

He took the bottled water his girlfriend handed him, glanced at the packaging, and his gaze lingered on it for a couple of seconds longer than expected.

Bai Qian noticed and asked him what was wrong.

“It’s nothing,” Zhou Wu shook his head, not explaining that it was a product from Si Qi’s mother’s family, but simply asking curiously, “Why did you suddenly buy this?”

Bai Qian would be willing to drink water that costs only two yuan?

Bai Qian said nonchalantly, "I just bought it on a whim."

Bai Qian enjoys surfing the internet and is one of the people who is most frequently exposed to advertisements in her daily life.

Over the past few days, she has frequently seen advertisements for this mineral water in different places, and belatedly realized from the advertisements that the water is of very good quality.

When she went to the supermarket to shop and planned to buy some water to take home, she subconsciously remembered that well-known advertising slogan. She knew that this brand of water was pure natural lake water, rich in various minerals, and tasted very good, completely different from purified water—so she chose this brand without hesitation.

When it comes to buying things, if you're going to buy something anyway, why not buy something that suits your taste? Besides, this thing is of very good quality.

Seeing this, Zhou Wu didn't ask any more questions. He just drank his mineral water while thinking about Si Qi, whom he hadn't contacted for a while.

That's strange. Why doesn't Xiao Qi care about how her studio is doing?

Being in the entertainment industry and managing an entire agency, Si Qi should know better than anyone how many difficulties a celebrity will encounter in the early stages of leaving the company and setting up their own personal studio.

Thinking about the hardships he had endured in starting his business, and the effort he had put into making calls and pulling strings to get the relevant contracts sorted out, Zhou Wu felt that Si Qi's indifference towards him after terminating the contract was too cold-hearted.

Just then, Bai Qian casually asked him, "I heard that the cast of the ancient costume drama 'A Thousand Loves' is auditioning for roles. Do you want to go and take a look?"

According to the original timeline, Zhou Wu should be joining the production team by now, right? Perhaps she can use her connection with the male lead, Zhou Wu, to get a good role in this hit TV series.

This way, not only can you avoid breaking up with your boyfriend, but you can also become a familiar face in the entertainment industry and become a household name as a female celebrity. What a great thing!

Unexpectedly, Zhou Wu's emotions flared up upon hearing this, and he retorted in a rather unfriendly tone, "You're already being interviewed?"

How could he not know about something so important!

Bai Qian exclaimed in surprise, "What? You didn't know?"

Wasn't this a done deal, arranged by Si Qi and assigned to Zhou Wu before the production team was even formed? How could Zhou Wu not know!

Zhou Wu was also very angry: "I didn't know! Xiao Qi had been keeping an eye on this script for me for a long time. He said he would reserve the male lead role for me, and I have been waiting for his notification."

But now the production team has already reached the stage of public auditions, and he only just found out about it, much later than other stars!

"Then Si Qi should have already gotten you a role, right?" Bai Qian asked uncertainly.

"I've never even met the director, let alone auditioned. How did I get this?" Zhou Wu knew the interview process and was well aware that his situation was nothing like what he had expected. He was furious: "What's wrong with Xiao Qi? If he wasn't busy, I could arrange the role in advance and make some arrangements, but he didn't even bother to notify us when the interview started!"

As he spoke, Zhou Wu took out his phone and, full of anger, dialed Si Qi's number. He wanted Si Qi to help him get the male lead in the film crew as soon as possible, and also to complain about why Si Qi hadn't come to help him lately and didn't care about his brother's situation.

"I think Si Qi really doesn't treat you like one of his own," Bai Qian said, seizing every opportunity to sow discord between Zhou Wu and others, adding fuel to the fire. "He knows perfectly well that you don't have any money, yet he still insists that you pay him such a huge sum! He acts like he has no reason to take care of you once you leave his company. He doesn't bother to find people who could easily help you or do the work that could easily be done for you. He pretends not to know anything and makes you have to come to him and beg him three or four times before he'll do anything."

Zhou Wu was seething with anger. He didn't refute what Bai Qian said, and in fact, deep down he actually agreed with her. He planned to call Si Qi later and ask him why he treated him this way.

The phone rang a few times before Si Qi answered it quickly.

Zhou Wu took a deep breath and didn't directly ask Si Qi why Si Qi hadn't helped him with the work. Instead, he took a roundabout approach, planning to first catch up with Si Qi, ask how he had been doing lately, and then tell him about his current situation, complaining to Si Qi about how unfair Si Qi was.

He tried to be tactful and "save face" for Si Qi, but Si Qi didn't mince words and didn't follow his approach at all. Si Qi bluntly said, "How have I been lately? Because I always allocated resources to you and allowed you to terminate your contract without my permission, I caused dissatisfaction among many people in the company, which angered the company's shareholders. I was fired from the company!"

Zhou Wu was dumbfounded, almost thinking he had misheard: "What did you say?"

“That happened a month ago,” Si Qi said sarcastically, “You really care about your brother! It happened so long ago, and you only find out now.”

Zhou Wu was speechless, caught between guilt for "I'm doomed, I've ruined my brother's inheritance rights" and worry for "I'm doomed, Si Qi can't help me anymore, what should I do?" Si Qi's words, half-mocking and half-accusing, left him speechless.

"I...I don't know either..."

"This matter has been widely discussed in the industry for a long time. If you had paid any attention to my situation and noticed what difficulties I encountered at the company because of your departure, things wouldn't have turned out like this," Si Qi said with dissatisfaction. "I don't blame you for causing me to leave the company. After all, it was my own decision to favor you with resources and allow you to break your contract. But when you called just now, it was clearly not to show concern for me or ask how I was doing, but because you yourself were having difficulties, right?"

The stark truth left Zhou Wu with no room for rebuttal. Already speechless, Zhou Wu had no choice but to apologize to Si Qi in a low voice, in front of Bai Qian's incredulous expression: "I'm sorry, Xiao Qi, I really didn't know..."

Si Qi sounded incredibly tired as he sighed on the other end of the phone, "Never mind, I don't blame you. I know what kind of person you are."

This kind of statement, which was even more shameful than simple blame, made Zhou Wu dare not mention the ancient costume drama crew again. He just kept apologizing to Si Qi, promising that he would definitely repay Si Qi in the future and find a way to "atone for his sins".

Bai Qian, who was standing to the side, was so angry when she heard this that she felt like her lungs were about to explode.

You said you were going to denounce Si Qi? Why are you apologizing to Si Qi instead!

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Author's Note: --

Si Qi: (￣▽￣) Strike first!