Director Zhao hadn’t said it outright, but Jing Yuan was sharp enough.
He quickly guessed something from the way the production crew looked at their group.
Clenching his teeth, he endured the hunger until midnight, then swiftly pulled out the phone he’d brought with him.
Even though this was a survival show, the production team didn’t confiscate phones.
Walking along the coastline, he made a call to his manager.
After getting a clear picture of the situation, he took a moment to calm himself.
“How’s that guy surnamed Hu? Do you think he’s usable?”
The manager let out a snort of laughter.
“A one-hundred-percent idiot. Before he even showed up, the crew from the drama he’d been filming was already planning to kick him out. But that’s actually the good thing—he’s stupid enough that he’ll believe whatever you tell him.”
Jing Yuan gave a low hum in response.
“Then let him do it. As for Fan Qing—I don’t think he can be left around any longer.”
As he spoke, a trace of coldness surfaced in his eyes.
“I’ll make the arrangements, but…”
The manager’s voice carried a subtle note.
Jing Yuan’s eyes flickered as he let out a quiet breath.
“Is it about Mr. Zhuo?”
“It’s good that you know.”
The manager felt a headache coming on as well.
“Ever since you went on the show, he hasn’t asked about you again, but recently I’ve heard he’s been in frequent contact with the company. I’m worried that—”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Jing Yuan’s heart sank halfway in an instant.
He knew perfectly well how the company treated investors, especially someone at Mr. Zhuo’s level. What he feared most was that the moment he returned from the show, the company would personally push him straight into Mr. Zhuo’s arms.
Just thinking about it made Jing Yuan shudder.
He deliberately softened his voice, but the calculation beneath it was enough to make one’s scalp prickle.
“Then while you’re at it, have that Hu guy show his face in front of Mr. Zhuo. Let him leak a bit about who Mr. Zhuo really is.”
“You mean…”
The manager understood immediately.
After thinking it over, he nodded.
“That works too. I’ll go make the arrangements.”
Then, with pointed emphasis, he added,
“But you also need to put in some real effort on this show. Your popularity’s been dropping pretty badly lately.”
The call ended. Jing Yuan replayed the manager’s last words in his mind, his gaze turning icy.
After a period of internal cleanup, Tenghuang finally eased up a bit for Fan Qing.
Just as Jian Feiyang wrapped up filming and Fan Qing was getting ready to pick him up, another small issue cropped up on Tenghuang’s end.
The newly transferred Hu Yelin couldn’t keep himself in line. The very first thing he did after joining his new company was post a long essay online.
The first point of that essay was an accusation that his former company had an ugly way of doing things—kicking him out and then snatching away the male lead role in a historical drama that he’d already secured.
Still shots from that drama had already been released, and with Hu Yelin playing the victim, many of his fans immediately believed him.
Right away, fans were stirred up and began flooding Tenghuang’s official account with insults.
If that were all, it wouldn’t really matter. Fan Qing didn’t care much about that kind of harmless noise.
But after posting the essay, Hu Yelin continued stirring trouble a few days later. He didn’t say anything outright, but he released a lot of vague, suggestive hints.
Among them, Fan Qing’s name was alluded to several times.
The content revolved around insinuations that Fan Qing and Jin Yi were involved, that Jin Yi practiced blatant favoritism, that Tenghuang was now in complete chaos, and that all resources were distributed through unspoken rules.
Hu Yelin even hinted that Hua Zi and Jin Yi were also involved with each other.
After a round of dragging everyone down together, it seemed as though from top to bottom, there wasn’t a single decent person left in Tenghuang—except Hu Yelin himself, who had jumped ship.
Fan Qing was fine with it, but when Jin Yi saw those exposés, he was so furious that he stormed straight into the company—and specifically called Fan Qing over.
“I mean, does this guy seriously have no shame? He actually dares to say this kind of stuff? Why doesn’t he talk about his own unspoken-rule deal with Vice President Chen? And does he really think no one knows about his affair with Vice President Chen’s wife too? What a joke, acting all clean and noble!”
Jin Yi was so angry his mouth was practically crooked.
He’d been diligently coming into the office every day, playing the role of a figurehead. Why?
Wasn’t it just so Fan Qing could help him straighten things out and make real money?
They’d finally kicked out all the parasites, Hua Zi’s marketable face had started bringing in profits, and he’d even picked out which new car he wanted to buy. And now this Hu whatever guy wanted to come after his assets!
Wasn’t that ridiculous?
No—this was beyond ridiculous.
Fan Qing hadn’t expected Jin Yi to be this angry.
And he really didn’t want Jin Yi to know about Hu Yelin having an affair with Vice President Chen’s wife.
Rubbing his ears that had suffered Jin Yi’s verbal assault, Fan Qing remained perfectly calm.
“What are you getting worked up over? Let him jump. It’s perfect timing. Remember what I told you last time—two brands were interested in working with him. They just called to get in touch with us.”
“Huh?”
Jin Yi froze.
“What endorsements?”
Fan Qing smiled and tapped the documents that had just been sent over.
“Watches and perfume.”
Jin Yi leaned in for a look.
They weren’t ultra high-end, but they were well-known domestic brands.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
“These two were originally looking for Hu Yelin?”
“You can’t say that exactly.”
Fan Qing reminded him, “Don’t forget—I had Vice President Chen hold onto all brand resources before he left. These two were ones he still wanted to give to Hu Yelin without telling me. But I’d noticed emails going back and forth with these brands before, so I asked about them.”
It turned out Vice President Chen had gone to great lengths to secure those two deals.
He’d probably planned to hide them and quietly save them for Hu Yelin. Those brands had been tight-lipped too—but Hu Yelin’s little stunt ended up costing him both opportunities.
Jin Yi listened, half lost.
“But Hu Yelin is smearing the company and smearing you right now. Why would those two brands suddenly refuse to use him as a spokesperson instead?”
Fan Qing raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t you check Weibo before coming in?”
Running over halfway through the gossip, weren’t you?
Jin Yi glanced over, then pulled out his phone and checked.
One look—
Damn it!
The tables had turned! Hu Yelin’s comment section was full of people tearing him apart!
Looking closer, it turned out the director of Hu Yelin’s drama crew had come out swinging.
He personally posted on social media, directly exposing that Hu Yelin had only managed to land the male lead role thanks to the already-fired Vice President Chen.
Not only that, the director also released several behind-the-scenes clips. Click on any one of them, and they were all solid proof of Hu Yelin throwing his weight around on set.
On top of that, Jin Yi carefully dug through the comments and found another exposé—this one from Hu Yelin’s former assistant.
The assistant personally revealed a whole series of Hu Yelin’s misdeeds, including hospital injury reports—all caused by Hu Yelin himself.
Once all this evidence was out in the open, it wasn’t just Hu Yelin’s fans who no longer dared to say anything.
Even the agent who had originally planned to use Hu Yelin as a chess piece was so furious his face nearly twisted out of shape.
All he had wanted was for Hu Yelin to play the victim a bit, stir up fan sympathy, and then keep subtly hinting at Fan Qing.
And the result?
Hu Yelin went straight for the nuclear option and ended up dragging his entire self down with him!
The chess piece hadn’t even been used yet, and it was already completely ruined.
“Wow, wow, wow. With a personality like that, he still dared to file a preemptive complaint?”
Jin Yi clicked his tongue in amazement, then couldn’t help glancing at Fan Qing.
“But this director and that assistant… don’t tell me you saw this coming?”
Fan Qing didn’t even look up.
“He was leaving, and he was being poached by another company. Do you really think I wouldn’t prepare in advance?”
Listen to that.
He sounded exactly like Jin Yi’s older brother.
Who knew how the hearts of these people were wired—felt like every inch of them was made of scheming thoughts.
“So what are you planning to do with those endorsement resources that fell into our laps?”
Jin Yi asked curiously.
Logically speaking, they couldn’t give them to Jian Feiyang, right?
Even though Jian Feiyang was under Fan Qing, he wasn’t part of Tenghuang.
“I already have arrangements. I’ve settled things with them.”
Fan Qing quickly sent out two text messages.
“Guan Junhao? What are you doing here too?”
Hua Zi knocked on the door and immediately spotted Guan Junhao already inside.
Guan Junhao rubbed his freshly cut short hair and chuckled.
“Second Young Master called me over to talk about an endorsement.”
Hua Zi froze, then blurted out,
“You too?”
“All of you.”
Fan Qing cut off their conversation.
He briefly explained how they’d picked up the resources by chance, then gestured to them.
“Do a good job with the shoots. Even if these are resources we picked up, don’t waste them.”
Hua Zi and Guan Junhao couldn’t care less that these were hand-me-down opportunities.
If anything, they wished opportunities like this would fall into their laps every single day.
Still…
Hua Zi frowned slightly.
“I know a bit about that Hu guy. He’s pretty vindictive. When the time comes, will the company side—”
He said “the company,” but his eyes were fixed on Fan Qing.
He knew the inside story. Outsiders didn’t know that Fan Qing was effectively in charge of Tenghuang, but Hu Yelin definitely did.
This time, with his resources being snatched away, given what Hua Zi knew about him, Hu Yelin would absolutely hold a grudge against Fan Qing—after all, he couldn’t exactly go after Second Young Master Jin.
Fan Qing raised an eyebrow. When he spoke, his calm and composure were impossible to ignore.
“Just focus on shooting your ads. I’ll handle these matters.”
Hua Zi still wanted to warn him about Hu Yelin’s character, but Jin Yi lazily spoke up from the side.
“What are you worried about? He managed to deal with someone like Chen, and he’s got me backing him—who could possibly touch him?”
More importantly, Jin Yi’s brother was also Fan Qing’s backer, alright?
Otherwise, how could Fan Qing have made such sweeping changes in the company without causing any major backlash?
Hua Zi thought about it and fell silent.
…That was true.
“By the way, isn’t Jian Feiyang’s survival show about to air?”
Jin Yi suddenly remembered.
“Jian Feiyang?”
Hua Zi was just wondering what someone from another company had to do with them when he caught sight of Fan Qing sitting there and suddenly realized—
This person had been handling Tenghuang’s affairs with such force that he had almost forgotten.
This man was actually an agent from another company.
“Then how about we all go to my villa to watch the premiere together?”
Jin Yi suggested enthusiastically.
“I’m fine with that.”
Hua Zi was the first to speak up.
As long as it wasn’t drinking with clients, watching a premiere together was nothing.
Guan Junhao laughed cheerfully.
“No problem. Second Young Master, want me to boost your rank? I happen to be free today.”
Smooth.
Jin Yi gave him a thumbs-up.
He seriously needed to suggest a year-end bonus to Fan Qing someday—call it the Best Employee Award.
And that award would absolutely belong to Guan Junhao, no question.
That left only Fan Qing.
Jin Yi grinned and scooted over next to him.
“So, you going or not?”
Was Second Young Master Jin treating this like a company team-building activity?
Fan Qing felt a bit helpless, but still decided to give his nominal boss some face.
The group set off in grand fashion. Jin Yi even ordered food delivery from a pretty decent restaurant.
Just as they arrived at the villa, the restaurant’s delivery truck pulled up as well.
Both groups converged and poured straight into Jin Yi’s villa.
They had just settled in when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Jin Yi froze in the middle of the crowd.
“Who is it?”
He instinctively moved to open the door, but Fan Qing, who was closer, stood up first.
“I’ll get it.”
“Oh, okay.”
As soon as Jin Yi said that, he suddenly whipped his head around.
Wait—that wasn’t right.
This was a villa neighborhood. Who would be knocking on his door?
The only person who ever knocked would be—
Fan Qing swiftly adjusted his collar, cuffs, and hair, then quickly removed his thick-framed glasses and replaced them with the disposable contact lenses he carried with him.
Waltz, who was standing closest, was completely dumbfounded.
He watched in disbelief as Fan Qing quickly finished swapping to contact lenses, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle… of perfume?
That wasn’t all. He also grabbed a spray bottle and quickly misted twice into his mouth!
Waltz: …
He was utterly stunned and had to admit—this was next-level professionalism.
When the door opened, Nie Luo looked up—and met Fan Qing’s gaze, eyes shimmering with moisture and intertwined with a burning intensity.
He froze slightly.
The next moment, a faint, pleasant fragrance accompanied Fan Qing’s light, playful laugh.
“Brother, long time no see.”