“Teacher Yuan, calm down.”
Taking someone’s money means solving their problems. Assistant manager Wen Ying stepped in to defuse the situation: “This is Mengjiao’s charm, isn’t it? You like her straightforwardness.”
Wen Ying’s words didn’t comfort Yuan Fenghui.
Yuan Fenghui was now plunged into deep self-doubt.
Straightforwardness?
When Li Mengjiao boldly knocked on her office door to pitch herself, Yuan Fenghui had indeed liked her candor. Now, she was paying the price for her hasty decision: that candor was just Li Mengjiao’s camouflage—deep down, she was a complete airhead!
Could she really hold out until this airhead became a superstar?
She might get infuriated to death by this airhead first!
Yuan Fenghui’s chest heaved. Li Mengjiao timidly patted her back to soothe her: “I was just joking to lighten the mood because you seemed so tense. How could I perform a split for the sponsor? I’m not crazy!”
Now even Wen Ying stayed silent.
Li Mengjiao looked at Wen Ying, then at Yuan Fenghui, incredulous: “…You guys really thought that?”
Wen Ying & Yuan Fenghui: o(*￣︶￣*)o!
Silence was the best response.
Amid Li Mengjiao’s loud self-defense, the airport announcement called-safety called for Wen Ying’s group to board.
Before boarding, Wen Ying sent Old Wen a text explaining her trip to Hunan and who she was going with. She didn’t mention the long-term part-time job, only that she was needed in Hunan to promote Tianjiao’s drama as its screenwriter.
See, she had some conscience. Otherwise, if Manager Chen found out about Hunan and Old Wen couldn’t explain, he might be a goner before she returned to Chengdu!
After explaining her trip, Wen Ying, fearing Manager Chen’s barrage of calls, decisively turned off her phone.
As the plane took off, Wen Ying felt she’d forgotten something again. But as Yuan Fenghui started talking, she pushed it aside to discuss how to secure the brand ambassador role for Li Mengjiao.
…
Chengdu.
9:30 PM. Xie Qian checked his phone—no new messages.
The night felt unusually quiet, with no one disturbing him.
Xie Qian didn’t think much of it at first. He had his own matters to attend to. School was no pressure, but business was new territory. He’d planned to make good use of the land near Hongqiao Airport, but it was too rundown. Small factories were willing to rent, but the rent was low, not even covering renovation costs.
Renting it out for two years was too short for factories—they’d have to relocate equipment later.
Renting to individual tenants was never an option for Xie Qian.
Sure, the land was an old building materials factory site with workshops and old dorms. If the workshops couldn’t be rented, the dorms could bring income.
Others might think any profit was good, but Xie Qian’s calculations showed it wasn’t worth it.
Renting as a factory required managing just a few tenants, with the factory handling its workers.
Renting to scattered tenants meant Xie Qian had to manage their safety.
Collecting rent was a hassle, too time-consuming.
High tenant turnover meant safety risks.
Most importantly, if the land faced demolition, too many tenants could cause disputes.
Agent Gong Sheng found a few tenants, but Xie Qian wasn’t satisfied. Gong Sheng smiled and suggested, “If Young Master Xie isn’t ready to develop the land, why not use the empty space yourself?”
Gong Sheng tailored his advice to the client.
Though Xie Qian was a minor, he could afford such a large plot, so Gong Sheng didn’t underestimate his background.
As for running the business… Gong Sheng, never missing a chance to profit, offered to recommend professional managers.
Xie Qian thought it over for days and made up his mind that night.
The land near Hongqiao Airport was too valuable to sit idle—it’d be used for logistics warehousing!
No matter how clever Xie Qian was, he was still a high school kid with a teenage urge to share. He wanted to tell his friends about his decision.
But by 10:30 PM, his phone screen remained silent.
This was past the time Wen Ying usually sent her goodnight text.
After 10:30, she wouldn’t bother him… so why no goodnight text tonight?
Xie Qian stared at his phone.
Calling Hamster this late didn’t seem right.
She might be asleep.
Or maybe she was too absorbed in her homework to check her phone.
Or…
Forget it, thinking too much was pointless—better to ask directly.
“You asleep?” he texted, then, feeling it was abrupt, added, “If you’re up, I’ve got something to tell you.”
Both messages sank without a reply.
After five minutes, Xie Qian couldn’t wait and called.
“The number you have dialed is switched off—”
So, her phone was off.
Xie Qian put down his phone.
Friday night at 10:30 wasn’t Wen Ying’s bedtime.
With a brain the size of a pine nut, juggling school, writing, and life’s chaos, Hamster never slept before 11 PM. Xie Qian even suspected her rest came after midnight—sleeping in was a luxury for her!
Xie Qian thought it over and called Wang Shuang, waking him up.
Slackers like Wang Shuang slept early unless they were binge-watching dramas or gaming. Wang Shuang, exhausted from the set until 10 PM, barely washed his face and feet before collapsing into bed. He was dreaming of Tianjiao’s drama soaring in ratings, with Yuan Fenghui praising his contributions and offering a raise, when the phone jolted him awake.
Groggily grabbing the phone, ready to snap, he saw “Xie Noob” on the caller ID and regained some clarity.
Xie Qian was only a noob at games—outside of gaming, he could crush Wang Shuang a hundred times over. Wang Shuang didn’t dare ignore his call.
Besides, Xie Qian invested three million in Tianjiao’s drama. How could an assistant producer stand up to the investor?
“Xie… Xie Qian, what’s up?” Wang Shuang mumbled, nearly slipping and saying “Xie Daddy.”
Unaware of Wang Shuang’s thoughts, Xie Qian said, “Nothing big, just checking on the company. How’s the filming going?”
An investor asking about progress was normal.
Wang Shuang yawned, “Going smoothly. We’ll wrap in a month. Could’ve been sooner, but Teacher Yuan took Li Mengjiao and Wen Ying to Hunan tonight, so the lead actress is gone, and a lot of scenes can’t be shot…”
Oh.
So they went to Hunan. No wonder her phone was off.
The issue wasn’t the phone being off—it was that Hamster was being sneaky. Feeling guilty, perhaps?
Xie Qian suspected he hadn’t given Wen Ying enough homework, leaving her with energy to run around with Yuan Fenghui.
