After Wen Ying quit milk tea, skewers and burgers, the only remaining obstacle on her weight loss path was the fried skewers stall at the gate of the provincial key school!
There was no helping it. The fried skewers at this stall right outside the school were simply too delicious.
This shop’s fried potatoes typically came in two forms: one was potatoes fried to a firmer texture, then mixed while hot with chilli powder, spring onions, celery and seasonings like soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and salt, usually with some finely chopped fish mint added for that soul-stirring essence; the other had soft and glutinous potatoes inside, with a crispy fried crust outside. This type of fried potato was perfect for dipping straight into dry chilli powder!
Li Mengjiao preferred the former and would usually ask the boss for extra vinegar.
Wen Ying liked the latter. She could finish an entire plate of fried potato chunks coated in chilli powder by herself.
Xie Qian ate neither.
He not only avoided the fried potatoes but would not touch any item on the fried skewers menu.
In fact, Xie Qian had more than once wanted to educate Wen Ying about the harms of “frying oil”, but Wen Ying had already adopted a pose of utter despair at the thought of not eating fried skewers. Xie Qian could only hold back.
Ruining someone else’s appetite for food was wrong. Xie Qian could only manage himself.
At this moment, Xie Qian’s confession session had only just begun. When Wen Ying looked up at him, her eyes full of confusion, Xie Qian suddenly felt at a loss.
No wonder Chinese people always liked to discuss business over meals. If things did not go smoothly, eating could ease the awkwardness!
Just like now, Xie Qian almost wanted to pick up his chopsticks and try a fried potato from the plate… He did not want to eat it. He simply wanted to do something to relieve his nervous mood.
He had kept it from Wen Ying for so long. If he told her now, would she be angry?
The powerful youth, soon to turn eighteen, with clear and firm plans for his future life, who could turn around the grades of poor students, yet feared losing Wen Ying’s favour.
He regarded Wen Ying as his best friend.
He hoped Wen Ying saw him the same way.
In the hamster’s heart, he should be a presence that was beautiful and excellent, special and one of a kind!
At some point, Xie Qian had intuitively mastered the skill of “self-deception”. Upon closer reflection, one could see that the standard Xie Qian hoped Wen Ying would respond with had already exceeded the scope of “good friends”.
The fried skewers shop was very noisy. Yet the lady boss was remarkably trendy and played Jay’s songs in the shop every day. The students all said this was a fried skewers shop where mixed elements exploded. When certain song melodies played, one might suddenly feel like confessing while eating. A confession laced with the aroma of frying oil was suffocating.
Jay was the mark of youth for Wen Ying’s generation.
No matter whether one liked this singer in one’s youth, a dozen or so years later when youth had faded, hearing his songs again could still prompt one to hum along with the melody for a few lines.
The shop was currently playing “Nocturne”.
This was not a song suited for confessions. It was Xie Qian’s hesitation that had amplified a certain ambiguous atmosphere to the full.
Wen Ying’s gaze wandered. Her eyes darted left and right without settling. She had no mind even to touch the fried potatoes right in front of her with her chopsticks.
“What do you want to say? I am getting a bit nervous!”
Wen Ying urged him.
The words Xie Qian had just organised in his mind scattered again. He simply abandoned the predetermined order and decided to say whatever came to mind.
“I can pay you back the money soon.”
“…Ah?!”
Wen Ying’s heart had been lifted high, only for Xie Qian to say he was repaying the money!
“I am in no rush! My mum has already bought the house in the Magic City. The royalties from last quarter are enough for the down payment. I have no need for money right now.”
She had invested ten million yuan in Tianjiao shares. In future, when Tianjiao invested in film and television dramas, Wen Ying no longer needed to invest separately in any particular production. Instead, she would receive dividends as a shareholder.
Tianjiao earned money not only from producing dramas and selling copyrights. The three signed artists, Li Mengjiao, Yun Chen and Zhang Yangning, were equally lucrative. For every income they earned, whether from acting fees, commercial performances, advertising shoots or endorsements, the company would take a cut according to contract proportions.
Yuan Fenghui arranged few commercial performances for the three, seemingly reducing their earnings but actually driving up the per-event price.
What to do when someone was popular and hard to book?
Raise the price, of course!
Commercial performances should be few but fine: either exceptionally high-paying or for very important occasions.
Apart from commercial performances, there were acting fees.
Leaving that aside for now, Li Mengjiao and the other two had not yet taken external roles. They were all paid by Tianjiao for acting in the company’s own productions. The fees could not be too high.
At present, besides commercial performances, advertising and endorsement income took the lion’s share.
Li Mengjiao, apart from her dairy brand endorsement, had signed an advertising deal this year with a domestic clothing brand. The brand’s target customers were the vast number of teenagers. Li Mengjiao’s dual identity as “student + big star” fitted the brand’s needs perfectly. Coupled with Yuan Fenghui’s ongoing efforts to build Li Mengjiao’s image as a good student, she was not only the darling in fans’ hearts but had also won the affection and approval of many parents.
Unless Yuan Fenghui did not want to compete, once she did, similar advertising endorsements would be offered to Li Mengjiao first. That was Li Mengjiao’s popularity and status!
A learning machine brand had also approached Li Mengjiao. She feared that accepting this ad would make fans see her as a true academic topper, whipping her to compete for the gaokao top spot or the like. No matter how much the brand offered, she refused to take it unto death. Yuan Fenghui respected her personal wishes and declined.
Yun Chen was impressive.
Yun Chen had not taken a single ad before. After acting in two dramas, one as an elite rich young master and the other as an idol superstar, both roles carried an innate air of nobility. Right after “Xinghe and You” finished airing in the summer holidays this year, a famous watch brand confirmed Yun Chen as the spokesperson for one of their series… Though it was just one series rather than a full-line endorsement, it was still incredibly impressive. Ordinary idol stars could not touch endorsements at this level!
After Yun Chen took this endorsement, invitations to fashion events suddenly poured in. He had nearly covered the covers of all major domestic fashion magazines!
Zhang Yangning, on the other hand, had not yet had time for ads. The original soundtrack album for “Xinghe and You” had sold out. Not only did Zhang Yangning get a share, but as Tianjiao’s shareholder, Wen Ying earned money from every album sold!
This portion of income was ongoing and long-term. As long as Tianjiao operated, the shareholders would have money to take.
There was another portion of income, not from investments but from Wen Ying’s creations.
“Teen Idol” had passed its bestseller peak, but as long as readers still wanted to read the book, Wen Ying would receive royalties.
For the novel “Xinghe and You” with the same name, Wen Ying only had 6% royalties, but the sales were so strong it did not matter.
She also had her ongoing serial “Seeking Yong” and would write short and medium stories for the magazine. No matter how one calculated, she would not lack money.
As Wen Ying itemised her income, Xie Qian’s tension vanished. Instead, he wanted to laugh:
“You are a creditor like no other I have heard of! If every creditor were like you, borrowing would not be called borrowing but charity. Are you worried about my cash flow? You need not worry on that score. There were rumours before that the land I bought would be requisitioned for demolition. The matter now has concrete progress. Someone from the local government’s relevant department has already contacted Gong Sheng.”
Xie Qian spoke lightly, but in fact, in the Hongqiao area of the Magic City, for this demolition, countless families were enacting stories of joy and sorrow.
As soon as the demolition notice was posted, the government would lock down all houses in an area, refusing to recognise additions or extensions, suspending property transaction procedures, disallowing new household registrations, halting all splits of households and the like. The next step would be to mobilise house by house for demolition!
Xie Qian’s logistics company occupied such a large plot of land that the relevant departments feared Gong Sheng would demand the moon. Contacting him was to test the waters.
The negotiation process would be lengthy. Not only for the large plot and factory under Xie Qian, but ordinary folk crammed into small homes also wanted better demolition compensation!
Some were easily satisfied, some chose to be nail households, and for others, with compensation not in place, families first fought until heads bled.
Xie Qian had long planned. He would not take all cash compensation but leverage the superior location and negotiate with the government for another form of “compensation”. If handled well, the logistics company would expand in one go, capitalising on the advantages near Hongqiao Airport and railway station!
Ah, the land Xie Qian bought was finally to be demolished!
Wen Ying murmured, “Is that what you wanted to say? Xie Qian, you are about to become a great tycoon!”
