After Jin Yi said that, he carefully watched Fan Qing’s expression.
To be fair, this couldn’t possibly be blamed on him, right?
Fan Qing had always felt that Second Young Master Jin was quite capable.
For example, at making people furious.
Or repeatedly testing his bottom line.
Or, like right now.
His gaze fell on the three bodyguards in front of him. Fan Qing slowly exhaled.
“You do know that I already owe President Jin a favor, right?”
Fan Qing… wasn’t angry?
That felt off.
Something wasn’t right.
Jin Yi answered cautiously, testing the waters.
“I know a bit. It’s because of Old Nie, right?”
Asking his brother for help was only natural, but when his brother helped Fan Qing, that definitely counted as a favor owed.
In that regard, Fan Qing really couldn’t compare to him—working hard yourself was never as good as having a great brother!
Fan Qing: ?
He had no idea what exactly Second Young Master Jin was thinking, but—
Why did Second Young Master Jin look increasingly punchable?
Unaware that such a dangerous thought had crossed Fan Qing’s mind, Jin Yi glanced at him again.
“So… maybe say something?”
He wasn’t performing a solo act. It was boring to talk alone.
Fan Qing looked at him and, graciously, responded.
“When you owe enough debts, one more doesn’t weigh you down. Got it?”
After saying that, he walked over to the three bodyguards Jin Yi had brought and asked them a few basic questions.
Though the men looked taciturn, they answered everything they should.
They really were sent by President Jin.
And according to them, they were insiders—trained personally under President Jin.
Hearing that, Fan Qing silently noted it.
Then they really were very much “his own people.”
The bodyguards didn’t know much beyond that.
They only knew that President Jin had brought them over because he believed Second Young Master Jin might not be safe lately—and he had specifically mentioned someone from the Zhuo family.
“Zhuo Yuan?”
Fan Qing immediately understood.
It seemed President Jin had traced things back to Zhuo Yuan as well.
But assigning bodyguards personally?
Did President Jin really think it was necessary?
Fan Qing sank into thought.
What kind of person Jin Si truly was—he still couldn’t fully figure out.
Aside from what Jin Si allowed him to know, Jin Si was practically untraceable.
And yet Fan Qing had clearly noticed that anyone with real status or influence had heard of Jin Si.
Sometimes, being untraceable actually said even more.
If even someone like President Jin was personally warning him to be careful…
Fan Qing gradually came to a conclusion.
It really was time to be cautious.
And Jing Yuan, too.
Fan Qing lightly tapped the tabletop with his fingertips, his brow slowly knitting together.
If Zhuo Yuan made a move, Jing Yuan would definitely be involved.
He really couldn’t afford to underestimate Jing Yuan.
He didn’t know how Jing Yuan had managed to enchant that Mister Zhuo so thoroughly, but the fact that Mister Zhuo was willing to exert this much effort for him meant one thing—
Jing Yuan was far from simple.
Rubbing his brow, Fan Qing’s expression was far from pleasant.
Jing Yuan still had to be dealt with.
The problem was that Zhuo Yuan stood behind him—so how exactly was he supposed to get to Jing Yuan?
Seeing Fan Qing standing there, deep in thought and clearly not planning to acknowledge him, Jin Yi shrugged.
He was used to it.
His brother had often been like this too.
But—
Jin Yi sneakily glanced at Fan Qing.
He tried waving back and forth in front of him.
No response.
What about pacing around?
Fan Qing still didn’t react.
Jin Yi was overjoyed.
He leaned over and whispered something to one of the five bodyguards.
The bodyguard shot him a strange look but still carried out the order.
Less than five minutes later, the bodyguard strode back.
Jin Yi took the file from his hands with barely contained glee.
Then, very quietly, he placed it on Fan Qing’s desk.
After finishing, he stole another look at Fan Qing.
Perfect—Fan Qing hadn’t noticed a thing!
Jin Yi took a deep breath and swung his arm.
Time to retreat!
He turned on his heel and bolted.
Working was absolutely impossible—never in this lifetime.
Only by being a proper good-for-nothing playboy could he fully understand the rest of his life, hehe~
As soon as he left, the five hulking bodyguards surged out after him.
The corner of Fan Qing’s eye twitched violently.
Sometimes, he really wanted to crack open Second Young Master Jin’s head and take a look.
Not for any other reason—he just genuinely wanted to know how Second Young Master Jin’s thought process managed to be so wildly different from that of a normal human being.
His twitching gaze swept over the document on the desk.
…Forget it.
He hadn’t actually expected Second Young Master Jin to finish reading it anyway.
After steadying himself, Fan Qing sat back down.
Just as he opened the file, he suddenly thought of something and looked toward the bodyguards.
“You said earlier that you were personally trained by President Jin. Aside from your regular duties, do you take on other paid assignments?”
The bodyguards exchanged glances. One of them spoke in a low voice.
“Yes, but we don’t handle that side ourselves.”
That was enough.
Fan Qing nodded in understanding.
At that moment, the assistant who had been silent all this time stepped forward.
“Manager Fan, do you have something in mind? I can help make contact.”
Hm?
Only then did Fan Qing look at him.
The assistant smiled politely.
Right—he’d almost forgotten.
Seeing how composed and unassuming the assistant was, Fan Qing sighed inwardly.
He really had been looking too far afield.
Compared to others, the assistant personally assigned by President Jin would naturally know these matters best.
Fan Qing tapped the desk and asked, “I want to consult about pricing and the scope of protection. Do you know the details?”
The assistant smiled faintly.
“Of course.”
He took out a brand-new phone—the very one he’d bought last time after getting reimbursed.
After scrolling for a moment, Fan Qing felt his own phone vibrate lightly.
A clear, straightforward price list had already been sent over.
Seeing Fan Qing reading it attentively, the assistant found an opening to add,
“If you’re planning to arrange this for Mister Nie, I’d recommend first checking whether Mister Nie has any requirements regarding appearance.”
Appearance?
Fan Qing paused, then immediately understood.
That was true.
Although both he and Nie Luo were currently under constant scrutiny from paparazzi, if someone suddenly appeared at Nie Luo’s side—especially someone with an overly striking appearance—it really could cause trouble for Nie Luo.
After thinking it over, Fan Qing nodded at the assistant.
“You’re very thoughtful. I’ll consult him first.”
Even if it was concern from a boyfriend, Nie Luo’s actual needs couldn’t be ignored.
The assistant smiled slightly and stepped back.
Mission accomplished, reputation intact.
Fan Qing took a moment to send Nie Luo a message.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to call or video chat, but Nie Luo had been on leave for quite a while due to setting up his studio.
His scenes in Rivers and Mountains Under Heaven hadn’t been fully filmed yet. The fact that Nie Luo had been able to take such a long leave was entirely because the director valued him and was doing him a favor.
Once the leave ended, Nie Luo immediately entered an intense filming schedule.
Sometimes he was busy until two or three in the morning.
Under those circumstances, answering calls—甚至 glancing at messages—was a luxury.
Even so, Nie Luo still found time to reply.
“If there’s really danger, then go ahead and arrange it.”
Fan Qing had just read that message when another one came in.
“You should be more careful too.”
Well-behaved, and sweet on top of it.
Fan Qing held his phone and looked at it for a long while, the smile at the corner of his eyes impossible to hide.
Such a good, obedient boyfriend—it really made him want to tie him up and take him home…
Fan Qing’s smile suddenly froze.
Home.
Home…
“…Tsk.”
It seemed that sometimes, having a boyfriend who was too well-behaved wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Thinking of the vastly different progress bars between him and Nie Luo, Fan Qing instantly calmed down again.
He had no choice but to calm down—after all, his boyfriend was just too good.
He arranged two bodyguards for Nie Luo at the highest price point.
One in the open, one in the shadows.
As for the three following him, after Fan Qing took them through the training room once—scaring the kids inside into stunned silence—he reduced his outings as much as possible.
That wasn’t particularly difficult.
He had already finalized a new variety show with Jian Feiyang; once the schedule opened up, they would head over.
As for Huazi, he had entered a film crew, and although Guan Junhao didn’t have any especially good arrangements at the moment, his previous endorsement had still brought him a small boost in popularity.
On top of that, Fan Qing spoke with the variety show’s director about Guan Junhao’s on-screen persona, suggesting it could be loosened up a bit. Things progressed fairly smoothly.
At present, the only thing occupying Fan Qing’s attention was the talent competition program he had seen earlier.
Holding the materials in his hand, Fan Qing was, for once, a little hesitant.
This was a large-scale talent competition newly launched by a major television network.
In essence, it was no different from past talent shows—except for one point: the status of the network itself.
An industry leader, with ratings at a near-monopolistic level. That alone was enough to make Fan Qing hesitate.
If this had been before, he would not have wavered at all.
Such a good opportunity, and the company just happened to have signed new trainees?
Then of course you send the newcomers on.
But…
Fan Qing could not help but picture Yuan Jing’s face in his mind—the one that could not even be described as “similar” to Jing Yuan, but rather exactly the same.
Too alike.
He thought.
As long as Yuan Jing appeared and gained exposure,
he would inevitably be tied together with Jing Yuan.
And once that happened, Tenghuang—and Fan Qing himself—would surely be dragged out by netizens, with old matters brought up all over again.
Was it worth it?
A mere newcomer signed by the company, a small artist whose future and prospects were still uncertain—was he really worth going this far for?
Still hesitating, Fan Qing slowly stood up.
He gestured to the three bodyguards.
“I’m going to take a look at the training room,” he had wanted to say that they did not need to follow, but after a moment’s thought, he changed his words. “Follow me, but keep a low profile. Stay farther back.”
All three bodyguards nodded in unison.
Fan Qing, well familiar with the place, made his way to the company’s training room.
As expected, Yuan Jing—whom he was looking for—was inside with the other trainees. From the looks of it, they were in a body movement class.
“Psst, pssst.”
Yuan Jing was in the middle of training when Huo Er, beside him, suddenly called out to him.
Yuan Jing was stretching his legs; he instinctively turned his head.
“Yuan Jing, don’t look around.”
The instructor called him out by name.
Yuan Jing immediately lowered his head obediently.
He let out a muffled groan.
“Captain, what are you doing?”
Huo Er did not want to either.
The problem was, if he did not share this with someone, he was too shocked inside!
And who else could he share it with, when Yuan Jing was right next to him?
He also let out a muffled sound.
“At the door. Manager Fan is watching.”
Heaven knew that just now, when he casually turned his head, the familiar face had flashed past the corner of his eye—he had almost been scared to death!
And not only that, he was actually a little pleasantly surprised—
What was Manager Fan?
A manager!
Him coming here—what if he was here to pick trainees he fancied?
Yuan Jing, reminded by him, shuddered instinctively.
The instructor immediately barked sharply,
“Yuan Jing, Huo Er, the two of you—come out here!”
Huh?
Could it be because of him?
Fan Qing raised an eyebrow and knocked on the door.