Chapter 30
On Monday, Xiao Yi personally went to Xiao Huang Entertainment. The elevator went straight to the top floor and entered the office of Xiao Huang’s CEO, Zhou Qi, almost giving him a heart attack.
Although everyone in the entertainment industry respectfully called him CEO Zhou, in the end, he was just an employee of the Xiao family. The profits of Xiao Huang Entertainment were insignificant compared to the vast Xiao family empire. Board members rarely came to inspect, and today, he didn’t know what had prompted the young master of the Xiao family to visit. He hastily wanted to instruct his subordinates to prepare tea and water.
Xiao Yi, who took off his sunglasses, waved his hand to stop his enthusiasm. “No need, I don’t want too many people to know I’m here. It’s a small matter. After I’m done, I’ll leave.” He had initially thought of sending Ali, but he was afraid things wouldn’t be explained clearly.
And when it came to revenge, doing it himself was more satisfying.
Zhou Qi respectfully said, “Young Master Xiao, as you wish, I will take care of it.”
“How is the acquisition of Guangyu Media going?”
Zhou Qi was unsure why Xiao Yi suddenly cared about such a small matter, but he reported truthfully, “It’s not going very smoothly. We’ve offered generous terms, and both Mr. Chen from Guangyu and most of the senior management are satisfied. However, Mr. Chen’s son strongly opposes it. He is the company’s heir, and Mr. Chen can’t override him, so this matter has been stalled.”
Xiao Yi sneered, “Give it a month, apply pressure on Guangyu. Sign their artists who have some popularity, claim the breach of contract fees from me, cut off their partnerships, keep the acquisition price the same, promise not to touch Mr. Chen’s position, and keep the senior management who haven’t had any serious job issues in the past unchanged. Tell them exactly that.”
Zhou Qi widened his eyes in astonishment. Why spend a lot of money to acquire when they had already poached valuable artists? This young master was too willful, wasn’t he?
“Young Master Xiao, a month seems a bit rushed…” Zhou Qi said cautiously.
Xiao Yi gave him a stern look, “If you can get this done as soon as possible, I will allocate an additional 50% to Xiao Huang’s budget for next year. Just one month. Finish it one day early, and I’ll add 10%. Two days early, 20%. Do you understand?”
Zhou Qi listened and was almost overwhelmed with excitement. Getting Xiao Huang an increase in the budget from the Xiao family headquarters was not only cumbersome but also incredibly difficult. In previous years, a 10% increase was already a cause for celebration throughout the company, and Xiao Yi was now suggesting 50% or even more! As the beloved grandson of the chairman, Zhou Qi had complete faith that Xiao Yi could make it happen with just a casual word.
“Thank you, Young Master Xiao! I will make sure the entire company works diligently to get this done!” Zhou Qi bowed deeply, his face flushed with gratitude.
Leaving the office, Xiao Yi insisted that Zhou Qi didn’t need to accompany him and took the elevator alone. He discreetly put on his sunglasses, trying to avoid encountering other people to prevent his plans from leaking.
However, halfway down the elevator ride, a young girl entered and stood beside him, occasionally stealing glances at him. Xiao Yi was accustomed to such enthusiastic looks and kept a straight face, gazing ahead without reacting.
Both of them were heading to the underground parking lot and left the elevator together. The girl suddenly spoke up, “Are you… Young Master Xiao Yi?”
Xiao Yi stopped in his tracks, took off his sunglasses, and turned to look at the girl with a slight frown. “Who are you?”
He hadn’t seen the person in front of him before, and there weren’t many people in Xiao Huang who knew him. How did she know his name, especially when he was wearing sunglasses?
The girl timidly replied, “I’m Lan Lingling. You may not know me, but I’ve always wanted to thank you in person.”
“Why do you need to thank me?”
Lan Lingling quickly glanced at him, her cheeks turning crimson. “I used to be an artist at Guangyu, and I offended the company’s senior management. You signed me into Xiao Huang and even paid my breach of contract fee. I’m really grateful to you.”
Only then did Xiao Yi have a vague impression of the name. She was the small artist who was brought to accompany Hua Fuqiang by Chen Shaoguang, the one who had refused to compromise and cursed Hua Fuqiang. Xiao Yi had discovered this incident when investigating Chen Shaoguang and had felt sorry for her. He had helped her on a whim, but since Ali had taken care of it, he hadn’t met her and hadn’t paid much attention to this small matter. He didn’t expect to run into her today.
This girl, despite her delicate appearance, had a lot of integrity. Xiao Yi admired such people and smiled, saying, “It was just a small favor.”
Lan Lingling was almost immediately charmed by his captivating smile. Her heart pounded, and her face blushed even more.
At that time, she had almost been pushed into a corner and had just started her career with little popularity. She had offended the higher-ups and important clients, and since then, the company had cut off all resources for her. Even her agent had treated her with cold eyes. She wanted to leave Guangyu but couldn’t afford the hefty breach of contract fee. During that period, she could only rely on her previous earnings to make ends meet, and she felt miserable.
However, one day, a man called and said he was willing to pay her breach of contract fee and sign her into Xiao Huang.
At first, she didn’t believe it and thought it was a scam. Who would give her such a large sum of money for no reason and sign her, an unknown small role, into the leading company in the industry, Xiao Huang Entertainment? But when the long string of zeros appeared in her bank account, she finally believed that she had encountered a benefactor.
When she tearfully thanked the person on the phone, they said, “This was all ordered by my family’s young master. If you want to thank anyone, thank him.”
Lan Lingling quickly asked who the young master was, and the person on the other end seemed reluctant to say, but unable to resist her tearful plea, they reluctantly revealed the name, “My family’s young master is from the Xiao Group, Xiao Yi. You probably won’t meet him, so you don’t have to worry too much. This is not a difficult task for him.”
Xiao Yi’s name had deeply imprinted itself in Lan Lingling’s heart. She searched the internet for news about the Xiao Group and finally found a report featuring the man who had saved her.
He was surprisingly young and handsome, standing next to his dignified older brother. He had an extraordinary charm, and his eyebrows and eyes exuded arrogance and confidence. The slight curve of his lips made him seem a bit rogue, but it also radiated an irresistible allure.
Lan Lingling’s gratitude had almost instantly turned into admiration upon seeing his photo. However, she also understood that their statuses were worlds apart, so she didn’t have many expectations. She simply hoped for a chance to meet him in person and express her gratitude.
As soon as she entered the elevator, she was captivated by the tall man beside her. Even with sunglasses on, she couldn’t conceal his handsome appearance. Moreover, she had seen Xiao Yi’s photo countless times, so she immediately recognized his figure and mustered the courage to stop him.
Seeing that Xiao Yi was about to leave after speaking, Lan Lingling quickly said, “You lent me the money, and I will definitely work hard to repay you!”
Xiao Yi couldn’t help but smile. The hundreds of thousands he had given her were nothing to him, but this girl’s character was genuinely commendable. He wouldn’t ridicule honest people.
“Alright, when you’ve saved up enough money, call the person who contacted you before. He will inform me. You don’t need to worry about interest, and there’s no time limit. Repay it whenever you can,” Xiao Yi said before waving and heading to his car.
Lan Lingling watched him walk away with admiration. She thought this man was too gentle and kind-hearted, which was completely different from his carefree appearance.
Little did she know that Xiao Yi was being unusually affable because things were going well with the person he cared about recently, and he was in a great mood.
