Wen Dongrong’s move to Jinling was settled just like that.
The one who probably felt most gutted was Old Li. Wen Dongrong had only just pulled strings to get him transferred to Rongcheng, and now the bloke was swanning off himself, leaving Old Li all alone in a brand-new workplace. What could Old Li do? He could only wipe away his tears and congratulate this jammy sod Wen Dongrong. At forty-three he was still being hand-picked by the leadership to tag along. That kind of luck wasn’t something ordinary folk got.
When Chen Li heard Old Wen was off to Jinling, she rushed over to ask her big sister Chen Ru what the plan was.
Chen Ru already had it all worked out. “Let him go to Jinling first. Once he’s properly settled, I’ll follow.”
Chen Li opened her mouth, hesitated, then Chen Ru smiled. “Were you about to say I’m sacrificing too much?”
Chen Li waved her hands frantically. “No, no, that’s not what I meant. This is between you and my brother-in-law. You’ve both agreed, so of course I respect your decision.”
Chen Li had indeed wanted to persuade her otherwise, but she swallowed the words. She was afraid her good intentions might end up stirring trouble.
Chen Ru was perfectly calm. “I’ve thought about it seriously. When a husband and wife live together, little squabbles don’t matter. When it comes to the big stuff, you have to stand united. I’ve no plans to divorce your brother-in-law just yet, so there’s no point planting seeds of resentment for the future. I’ll support him this once, and he’ll have no regrets for the rest of his life! Besides, I actually fancy a new platform myself, to see if I can climb a bit higher.”
In Rongcheng, Chen Ru had plenty of big clients, but a large chunk of them came through personal connections rather than pure ability.
Move to a new city, and if she could still reach the same heights, that would be genuine proof of Chen Ru’s own skill!
There was another reason she hadn’t told Wen Dongrong: she was willing to move to Jinling because it was close to Shanghai. Wen Ying was heading to Shanghai for university and almost certainly wouldn’t return to Rongcheng after graduating. Chen Ru needed to plan ahead.
After hearing Chen Ru’s arrangements, Chen Li gave her a big thumbs-up. “Sis, this is what you call planning for a rainy day!”
Chen Li hated the idea of being too far from her only close family, so she went home feeling down.
Deng Shangwei saw his wife looking glum and frantically scratched his head in worry.
When he found out why, he let out a huge sigh of relief. “What’s the big deal? If you can’t bear to be apart from your big sis, we’ll just go do business in Jinling too!”
Chen Li glared. “Are you mad? All our roots are in Rongcheng!”
Deng Shangwei himself didn’t mind. “Those roots were given to me by Brother Qin. Our seafood business has grown massive now and we’ve pretty much hit a ceiling. If I shrink my share I’ll feel hard done by, but if I try to expand further I’ll inevitably clash with Brother Qin… A change of scene might bring fresh opportunities?”
Qin Xianming himself hadn’t said a word about it; he kept telling Deng Shangwei to take a bigger share.
Deng Shangwei didn’t want to.
He had once saved Qin Xianming’s life, but thanks to that debt Qin Xianming had let him earn an absolute fortune. Deng Shangwei didn’t want to keep profiting off Qin Xianming forever.
Doing business with Qin Xianming was comfortable: Qin supplied the goods, let Deng pick the best quality first, and bore all the risk while Deng raked in the cash without lifting a finger.
From seafood to crayfish, then investing with Qin Xianming and Wang Jun in Happy Valley projects, Deng Shangwei now had assets worth over thirty million. It was time to stand on his own two feet!
Deng Shangwei listed a whole string of pros and cons, but he didn’t fool Chen Li for a second.
“Even if we do go independent, we’d be better off staying in Rongcheng!”
Deng Shangwei scratched his head. “Of course I know Rongcheng would be best, but there’s no end to making money. I just want you to be happy. You can’t bear leaving your big sister’s family, and I can’t bear leaving you.”
Deng Shangwei was an orphan, and Chen Li had lost her parents young too. Chen Li relied on Chen Ru; Deng Shangwei relied on Chen Li.
Home was wherever his wife was.
After the whole business of Yu Wenhao and Pan Li trying to screw them over, Deng Shangwei cherished his family even more.
“Look, your big sis still has a whole year before she moves to Jinling. In that year we can go scout things out, see if there’s a decent project. If there is, we’ll give it a go. If not, we won’t force it. Sound good?”
Chen Li nodded gently.
The couple sat on the sofa. Deng Shangwei put his arm round her shoulders, and Chen Li leaned her head against him. “I’ve never once regretted marrying you. Rich or poor, as long as our feelings stay the same, I’m happy.”
Deng Shangwei said nothing, but he felt exactly the same.
Being skint wasn’t scary. What was scary was having stacks of cash yet no family left to cherish.
Another reason Deng Shangwei wanted to expand elsewhere: Yu Wenhao’s son Yu Wei had just been released from prison.
Anyone with a criminal record already struggled to find work, and Yu Wei had once been a spoiled rich kid. He had no intention of living an ordinary life. The moment he got out he hooked up again with the remnants of his father’s old network.
Yu Wenhao and son saw their jail time as fully deserved in Deng Shangwei’s eyes, but the Yu family certainly didn’t think that way.
Bad people never reflect on themselves. They only blame Deng Shangwei and Qin Xianming for not rolling over and letting the father-and-son duo fleece them.
The moment Yu Wei was released, Qin Xianming put people on him, worried he’d seek revenge against the Qin family.
Deng Shangwei was naturally on guard too.
Constantly watching for thieves was fine, but one slip-up could be fatal. Better to take the family somewhere else and put some distance between them and a dangerous nutter like Yu Wei!
Deng Shangwei himself could stay if needed. He was even thinking of sending his wife and two sons away first.
…
Wen Ying didn’t get much downtime after returning to Rongcheng. She had barely rested two days before Yuan Fenghui summoned her to the company.
“Who do you want to handle the plagiarism lawsuit against Blue Whale?”
“Lawyer Zheng, obviously!”
If there was a case, it had to go to their own people. Why let someone else earn the money?
Suing Blue Whale for plagiarism wasn’t some small claim. Any other lawyer would charge a fortune, so that money absolutely had to go to Big Brother Zheng!
If Senior Brother Zheng built a solid financial foundation while he was still young, maybe he’d go bald a bit slower?
Yuan Fenghui immediately rang Zheng Zhihe and asked him to come over.
A lawsuit meant fees, and Zheng Zhihe promised he’d be there within half an hour!
Zheng Zhihe hadn’t arrived yet when Yuan Fenghui pulled a small box from her drawer. “I heard you’ve received your admission letter. I was in Shanghai on business last week and picked you up a little something. Congratulations on getting into university, and congratulations on stepping into the adult world.”
“This is too much…”
Wen Ying genuinely felt awkward.
Because sales of “Searching for Yong” hadn’t yet broken two million copies, Yuan Fenghui had never taken her agent commission after handling the publishing contract.
No commission, yet she’d done heaps of work and was now spending her own money on gifts. Even someone as shameless as Wen Ying felt a bit embarrassed.
Yuan Fenghui raised an eyebrow. “Really don’t want it?”
Well, in that case she’d better take it.
Wen Ying opened the box. Inside was a watch.
She recognised the brand. No diamonds, plain dial, just an entry-level model. Expensive, but not so pricey it would stress her out.
All psychological burden vanished, leaving only the pure joy of receiving a present.
Without waiting to be prompted, Wen Ying slipped the watch onto her wrist, admiring it from every angle, utterly delighted.
“Thank you, Teacher Yuan. I really love it~”
“As long as you like it. It’s not anything terribly expensive. Just wear it for fun.”
Yuan Fenghui could afford far pricier watches, but there was no need.
It was the height of summer, so when Zheng Zhihe arrived he was still in shirt and trousers, sweat pouring off his forehead.
“You’re finally suing Blue Whale.”
Zheng Zhihe had always assumed this case was his for the taking, yet he’d waited so long he’d started to think Wen Ying might not sue at all.
Why sue now?
Because “Crown of Thorns” was about to wrap filming, of course.
Director Fan had tipped Yuan Fenghui off: the timing was perfect. Under the contract, Hunan Satellite TV still owed five million for “Crown of Thorns”, but Director Fan was dragging his feet. The moment Wen Ying filed the lawsuit, Hunan Satellite TV would instantly save that five million.
Not only would Director Fan avoid paying, he could countersue Manager Guan for breach of contract and actually make money off him. Beautiful.
Zheng Zhihe asked Wen Ying how much compensation she wanted to claim. Wen Ying and Yuan Fenghui exchanged a glance. Yuan Fenghui signalled for Wen Ying to speak.
Wen Ying thought for a moment. “Let’s go for five million.”
“Pfft—”
Zheng Zhihe nearly choked on his own spit.
“Blue Whale hasn’t even earned five million in royalties from ‘Crown of Thorns’, has she? You want her to pay five million?”
His girlfriend worked for a publishing group, so Zheng Zhihe knew the industry well. Hardly any domestic authors got 15% royalties; Blue Whale’s rate was definitely lower.
“Crown of Thorns” had an initial print run of 600,000 copies and hadn’t been reprinted yet. Even at 15%, Blue Whale wouldn’t have pocketed more than three million in total!
Wen Ying looked disapproving. “Lawyer Zheng, what kind of attorney are you? Trying to save money for the defendant already? Whether she’s earned five million or not is none of my business. I’m calculating the financial loss her plagiarism caused me. If ‘Crown of Thorns’ hadn’t existed, my ‘Starry River and You’ might have sold an extra 600,000 copies. Blue Whale stole my readership through plagiarism and then sold the film rights. All told, is five million really too much to ask?”
Put like that, five million actually seemed quite reasonable, especially since “Crown of Thorns” had also sold its adaptation rights.
Besides, you claim five million, the court knocks it down, and if you end up with two million the case will still make Zheng Zhihe famous!
As for whether Blue Whale could afford to compensate Wen Ying, or how much she’d have to pay Manager Guan for torpedoing the drama project, what did that have to do with Wen Ying?
It wasn’t as if Wen Ying had held a gun to Blue Whale’s head and forced her to plagiarise!
After finalising the lawsuit details with Zheng Zhihe, Wen Ying rang Xie Qian.
She wasn’t sure what Xie Qian was busy with, but she heard someone on the other end call “Mr Xie”.
“…Hahaha, does that make you sound really old?”
Wen Ying teased him a little. Xie Qian never got annoyed.
No matter what Wen Ying said, Xie Qian listened patiently. As long as he didn’t hang up, the whole crowd around him waited patiently too.
Finally Xie Qian ended the call and gestured for the others to continue.
The attractive brand manager spoke with a trace of envy that was hard to catch. “Mr Xie, whoever receives this gift from you is going to be thrilled.”
Money was nothing.
In Shanghai, rich people were ten a penny!
What was rare was being rich, ridiculously good-looking, and caring this much about the recipient. He had revised the design three times himself, then, when the in-house designers couldn’t grasp his vision, drawn the final sketch with his own hand… that was genuinely exceptional!
The design was stunning. The finished piece made according to Xie Qian’s drawing was equally stunning.
The brand even wanted to buy the design outright, but Xie Qian naturally refused.
When the brand manager asked why, Xie Qian replied mildly, “Because the person receiving it is special to me. I don’t want to see anyone else wearing the same style. Is that really so hard to understand?”
