Chapter 292 - You No Longer Have to Fear the Ying Family (1/2)
“She’s younger and prettier than you!” Wan Qingsi said.
An Ru released a chuckle and then began unzipping her dress. She wore a strapless mini dress today, so there was nothing stopping the dress from sliding down her body to the floor like a piece of loose cloth.
“Take a look! Look at my body.” An Ru sashayed towards Wan Qingsi. She refused to believe that this man wouldn’t react to her body.
Wan Qingsi sprang to his feet, the sight of which caused An Ru’s heart filled with delight. Her hopes were dashed, however, when she saw Wan Qingsi marching towards the door instead or approaching her. Next thing she knew, the door was yanked open. An Ru panicked and quickly crouched down behind the desk. Then, she heard Wan Qingsi barking out an order to someone.
“Call the security, now! Ask them to throw this lunatic out!”
At the door, An Ru’s bodyguard had already sensed that something was amiss. The guards were just about to charge into the office when they suddenly heard An Ru. “Don’t come in! I’m fine!” An Ru yelled, her voice laced with anger and mortification.
Wan Qingsi leveled one last cold stare at An Ru. Then, he stormed out of the office, leaving the door open. When he walked past Qi Xiu, he said, “Watch our stuff, will you? Don’t let these savages steal our things.”
The sight of Wan Qingsi walking away from her without so much as a backward glance turned An Ru into a madwoman; seconds after he left, An Ru began screaming hysterically. “Shut the door, damn it! Shut the damn door!”
Having just witnessed An Ru’s revolting behavior, Wan Qingsi first impulse was to fly straight to New Zealand to see Ah Sha. Then it occurred to him that An Ru might try to contrive petty schemes and make a mess of things while he was away. A wave of frustration ripped through Wan Qingsi at the thought.
In the end, he left the building and got into his car. Inside, he logged on to his personal— and rarely touched— Weibo account and made a post, “Just saw something disgusting. What should I do if I get the styes?” He even added an emoticon at the end.
“Young Miss, the young master just made a post on Weibo!” It was now Ah Sha’s break-time, and Xiao Hua was showing Ah Sha her phone excitedly. Ah Sha read the words on the screen and then burst out laughing; she could pretty much guess what it was that had just happened. Tang Yue, on the other hand, didn’t find any of it amusing at all.
When the whole crew got back to the hotel that night, Tang Yue stopped Ah Sha outside her room. “Have you seen the news?” Tang Yue asked.
“I did.”
“And you’re not scared?”
“You seem even more frightened than me,” Ah Sha said, eyeing Tang Yue briefly. “Why is that? What, did you piss her off before this?”
Tang Yue curled her lips in distaste. “No.”
Deep down, Tang Yue knew that she hadn’t shown An Ru much courtesy and civility in the past. In fact, when An Ru first joined Stars Entertainment, Tang Yue had secretly schemed against An Ru simply because she envied An Ru for being a celebrity that Wan Qingsi had personally recruited into Stars Entertainment.
“Her background is as powerful as the Ying family. She might not even fear Ying Xin, let alone you,” Tang Yue went on. “Even if Senior Wan doesn’t have the heart to break up with you, she can easily hire someone to screw you up real bad.”
Ah Sha opened the door of her room. “Well, I guess I’ll just take it as it comes, then!” Ah Sha said flippantly.
“You…” Tang Yue was cut off by the slam of Ah Sha’s door. Staring at the closed door, Tang Yue stomped her foot angrily.
Indeed, An Ru’s popularity skyrocketed. Entertainment companies back in Hong Kong were now offering to help her release new albums. Some had even offered her several movie roles.
Wan Qingsi stared at the invitation card that had been sent to his office. “A new costume drama co-produced by Sky Entertainment and some Hong Kong company?”
“Sky Entertainment is Mo Nan’s company,” Qi Xiu said, his eyes darting briefly to the invitation card. “Are you going to the launch party tomorrow night?”
“Why not? He’s already involved in this business, so it’s just a matter of time before we have to interact with him.”
“The lead actress has already been confirmed. It’s An Ru,” Qi Xiu reminded.
“That’s to be expected,” Wan Qingsi said, not sounding the slightest bit surprised. “How else could he have landed a partnership with a company based in Hong Kong?”
The next day, Wan Qingsi went to see Ying Qingcang.
“Are you attending the event tonight?” Ying Qingcang asked without preamble.
“Definitely,” Wan Qingsi said. “Mo Nan’s probably planning to take me out first and then force you to make a move. The moment you yield, he’ll join forces with the Wen family to take over Xin Enterprises.”
“He actually had the guts to cut a deal with Wen Pintang, and with his level of intelligence no less?” Ying Qingcang said, laughing derisively. “There are so many ways Wen Pintang could use to destroy him later that I can’t even tell which one is the likeliest.”
“Why did you bring Aunt Qing along when you had dinner with the Wen Pintang last time?” Wan Qingsi asked strangely. After all, Ying Qingcang had never allowed Xin Qing to interact with another man. And yet he brought her to have dinner with Wen Pintang? That just made no sense at all.
Ying Qingcang’s face turned sour the moment Wan Qingsi mentioned that dinner. “It’s nothing,” Ying Qingcang growled. “He did Ah Qing a small favor.”
For a moment, Wan Qingsi just stared at Ying Qingcang with a look of mild surprise. But after a while, Wan Qingsi seemed to have caught on to what Ying Qingcang meant.
“What did Wen Pintang say?”
Ying Qingcang snorted. “I bet he’s just waiting for me and Mo Nan to tear each other apart before he finally swoops in,” Ying Qingcang said. “Just ignore him for the time being. It’s pretty obvious what he’s planning. He’s just waiting for a fire to start and then add fuel to it when it does.”
Wan Qingsi nodded in agreement. “You don’t have to worry about Stars Entertainment. I’ll handle things there myself.”
“About the Lin family,” Ying Qingcang said, “You can ask Young Master Shen for help if you don’t feel like dealing with them.” Ying Qingcang said before he paused to give Wan Qingsi a pointed look. “Don’t involve your father unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Ying Qingcang reminded.
“I understand,” Wan Qingsi said, standing up.
Getting Boss Wan involved in this mess was a slippery slope indeed. On its own, the Triad wasn’t terrifying. But Boss Wan’s involvement would shift the balance of power in the Southeast Asia underworld; and not to mention causing a turmoil between law enforcement and the underworld.
The main concern right now was that it was impossible for them to make any moves without getting the Shen Family involved too. At the moment, Young Master Shen was spending all his time with a pregnant Zhang Mi in New York. Zhang Mi was due pretty soon, and Ying Qingcang didn’t want Young Master Shen to focus on anything else other than the upcoming birth of his child.
Wan Qingsi attended the dinner party alone that night. Upon his arrival, Wan Qingsi heard the voice of Sky Entertainment’s speaker; the guy was bragging on stage about Sky Entertainment pulling off a miraculous feat this year by surpassing the box office sales of “The Chronicles of The Emperor’s Harem”. Well, the truth was that although the box office sales of “The Chronicles of The Emperor’s Harem” wasn’t bad, it was nothing to write home about, either.
Just then, Wan Qingsi heard a voice calling him. “President Wan!” He turned around and saw Mo Nan walking over with a glass of wine in his hand. Beside Mo Nan was the stunning Zhuang Yan.
It seemed like Zhuang Yan was planning to hold on to those deep pockets.
“Congratulations,” Wan Qingsi said in a tone devoid of sincerity. “I hope you don’t lose the money you’ve invested in this movie.”
Mo Nan released a roar of laughter. “That’s not going to be a problem. Well, I guess you still didn’t know then, President Wan. In that case, let me remind you that An Ru had also invested in this movie. And I’m pretty sure it will be a hit, considering the Lin family’s influence!”
“Ah, I see. Now that makes sense,” Wan Qingsi said in amusement. “I was wondering why the entire cast consists of thrash.”