Chapter 32

Chapter 32

"When everyone is here, I'll start." Qi Wei simply nodded at Chi Tuo and grabbed the remote control for the projector on the coffee table.

She was in a hurry.

"This material was sent to Huan Zhou Entertainment by paparazzi wanting to get some year-end bonuses." Qi Wei had prepared everything well. It was unclear how she got this information, but she even had the phone call records of the paparazzi calling Yan Wan.

"It was supposed to be a routine operation. Teacher An wasn't involved in any intimate actions here, the only problem is that the two of them entered the obstetrics and gynecology department together."

"This level of material doesn't require the PR team at Huan Zhou. Yan Wan could handle it directly, but he didn't. He even called the other party several times."

"I can't get the content of the calls, but this paparazzi and I have some connections. He didn't say much, but it's pretty much what we expected. Yan Wan is starting to target Teacher An."

An Ye maintained her posture with her head resting on the hardcover book, swirling the wine in her glass, without speaking.

"I..." Lan Yifang awkwardly smiled as she took the remote from Qi Wei. After taking it, she waved her hand, "I didn't prepare anything to play, I just overheard a little."

"Go ahead." Qi Wei encouraged, looking at Lan Yifang.

"Brother Yan—no, Yan Wan is planning to start a rumor about Teacher An being pregnant." Lan Yifang hesitated and glanced at everyone in the room, her tone very uncertain as she added, "It’s possible... possibly saying Teacher An is having an affair."

Chi Tuo furrowed his brow. "With who? Is the person in the photo married?"

"No." Qi Wei pointed to the projector. "This person is a personal secretary. Yan Wan's target for the publicity stunt should be this secretary’s boss, Zhang Shenggeng from Huan Zhou Entertainment."

An Ye let out a light chuckle and finished the wine in her glass.

She didn’t continue the earlier conversation but quietly asked Chi Tuo, "Did you come here after drinking?"

"I'm awake now. You all continue." Chi Tuo answered softly, "No need to explain who Zhang Shenggeng is. I’m very familiar with the equity situation and organizational structure of Huan Zhou Entertainment. I’ll speak once you're done."

When he first entered and saw these two videos, he had almost woken up. A pile of questions was on his mind, but seeing An Ye’s demeanor, it seemed like she still planned to slowly explain the context to him.

Qi Wei gave him a smile that seemed to mix gossip and approval and nodded before continuing, "Our manpower is limited. Huan Zhou Entertainment isn't a place where connections alone can get information. Right now, we can only guess. But fortunately, Yan Wan’s style has always been very consistent. He’s used to everything going smoothly and arrogantly, plus Zhang Shenggeng is such an obvious target, so I believe our guess is correct."

"I’ll take a guess." An Ye finally spoke, her long nails adorned with diamonds shimmering in the light. "According to Yan Wan’s PR rhythm, the first move will definitely be releasing a hot search at midnight showing photos of me and an unfamiliar man entering and exiting the obstetrics and gynecology department, suspected of being pregnant."

"The timing will probably be after I start filming. The shooting location is still in Bai Port, but I won’t have time to go home every day. The schedule is tight, and I won’t have energy to deal with this kind of thing. I personally won’t respond, and the agency won’t say anything, which pretty much implies acknowledgment. He’ll blow it up and lead the public to speculate about the man who accompanied me to the hospital."

"Zhang Shenggeng is a veteran actor with national fame, so it wouldn’t be hard to expose the identity of his personal secretary."

"Then they’ll start speculating about my relationship with Zhang Shenggeng. The whole thing will probably ferment around Chinese New Year. They won’t directly say I’m having an affair with Zhang Shenggeng, but this kind of thing is like... well, it’s like shit. Even if you wipe it off, it still smells. Huan Zhou’s PR tactics are the most mature in the industry, I’m sure Yan Wan will make it so that I smell like shit all over. This is a warning to me."

"Will the character you're playing next, the split personality patient, have one particularly vulgar personality?" Qi Wei almost couldn’t finish the fruit she was eating after hearing this analogy. "But I guess that's pretty much how it will go. So, what were you doing with this secretary at the obstetrics and gynecology department?"

An Ye stared at her hand raised in the air, turning her finger and watching the diamonds sparkle in the light.

"This matter..." She hesitated. "Zhang Shenggeng’s youngest daughter is pregnant. It's an ectopic pregnancy, plus she has some underlying health issues, so it’s a very dangerous situation."

"Director Zhang of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Bai Port City Hospital is Dr. Zuo’s wife. Zhang Shenggeng came to me asking for help to get an appointment with her."

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Bai Port City Hospital is one of the top departments in the country. Director Zhang is ranked among the top three obstetricians in the nation. She doesn’t take regular consultations and only opens four outpatient days a year, making it nearly impossible to get an appointment with her. Even a semi-retired actor like Zhang Shenggeng has difficulty finding connections. In the end, he found An Ye, which even surprised her.

"How did he find you?" Qi Wei frowned. "It’s not like you’re connected in any way."

"Because his youngest daughter is sixteen years old and pregnant." An Ye said calmly. "It can’t be made public, so going through Dr. Zuo is the safest option."

Lan Yifang, who hadn’t experienced anything too major, made a small sound of surprise and then furrowed her brows as she looked at Qi Wei. "That... that’s hard to explain."Even Lan Yifang could think of this, so others naturally had already considered it.

Yan Wan's move was very vicious. Once this news broke, even Zhang Shenggeng and his wife wouldn’t be able to come out and defend this scandal, because they would need to protect their youngest daughter.

And An Ye was not the kind of person who would expose a sixteen-year-old girl’s privacy for a vague rumor.

Yan Wan must have chosen this as his entry point because of this reason.

Qi Wei clapped her hands: "Alright, then the solution will become a bit more complicated. Right now, I can think of two options."

She extended one finger: "Hire an outsourced team to help with PR, say that you were just doing a routine women’s health check-up, and while you're at it, promote a set of educational content about gynecological examinations. As long as Yan Wan doesn't keep pushing it, this issue can be brushed off."

"The only problem with this method is Zhang Shenggeng’s secretary. What’s his name again?" Qi Wei asked.

An Ye furrowed her brows, holding her wine glass: "…I think it’s Luo? I’m not sure, I don’t remember."

Qi Wei: "…Alright, Secretary Luo, does he have a girlfriend?"

An Ye: "…Huh? I only met him once. It was when Zhang Shenggeng’s wife got upset and was hospitalized. Zhang Shenggeng himself couldn’t show up, so I had to meet with him."

Qi Wei: "…"

Chi Tuo, who had been looking down at his phone, chimed in: "Luo Xiaoxu, 31 years old, unmarried, probably doesn’t have a girlfriend either."

There was a brief moment of silence.

Chi Tuo raised his head and waved his hand: "You all continue."

Qi Wei paused for a moment before saying something off-topic: "Teacher An, your childhood friend is impressive. He’s done his homework quite thoroughly."

An Ye smiled lightly.

This was probably how he looked when working—similar to when he used to do assignments, but with a bit more pressure.

Qi Wei immediately continued: "If Secretary Luo is single, then this plan is fixed. If Yan Wan keeps pushing, you can sacrifice and create a brief scandal with him. It would make sense for your ‘boyfriend’ to accompany you for a health check."

"However, this plan is pending. I need to confirm if Secretary Luo has any bad history before deciding."

Qi Wei tapped her phone twice and made a "2" gesture.

"The second plan is to ignore it. Huan Zhou won’t let rumors about Zhang Shenggeng’s affair spread unchecked. Their performance this year has been poor, and one of their major shareholders being involved in a scandal would cause their stock price to drop further. So they’ll definitely control the situation."

"But..." Lan Yifang raised her hand cautiously.

Chi Tuo glanced at the young assistant.

This assistant that An Ye had found, although always wearing an awkward smile and being introverted and timid, seemed to understand everything, and did what needed to be done. Her questions and comments showed that she was in the loop, which was quite surprising.

Qi Wei snapped her fingers: "That’s the problem. Huan Zhou is filled with internal strife. There are so many people who want to bring down Zhang Shenggeng and Teacher An. When the company’s internal politics and the affair angle are added to it, even if this is just a baseless rumor, it could be used by malicious people to stir things up."

"As long as we don’t act, they will move to the next step, and we’ll know what Yan Wan is planning for Teacher An."

"Although it’s risky, I’m actually leaning toward the second plan," Qi Wei said. "We all know someone will create a big scandal for Teacher An soon, and there’s no way to avoid it…"

Qi Wei paused for a second and looked at Chi Tuo: "Lawyer Chi, what’s your opinion on this?"

It was a very sudden question. Everyone except Chi Tuo had probably had similar meetings many times already. As a newcomer, Chi Tuo truly needed to think about it.

After all, the others weren’t An Ye. They hadn’t known her for that long and hadn’t begun to trust him yet."The second plan is probably not going to work," Chi Tuo said. "If you could find out, Zhang Shenggeng will definitely find out. Moreover, this matter doesn’t have much to do with…"

He paused: "It’s not really related to An Ye, and Zhang Shenggeng will definitely be the more urgent one. Once he finds out, this scandal will likely not be able to break out. You might as well do him a favor and let him know what you’ve found out, and let him handle protecting his daughter."

Qi Wei clicked her tongue.

An Ye tilted her head, looking at Chi Tuo, but didn’t speak.

She had also drunk a little at the New Year’s party tonight—not much, just enough to get her tipsy enough to invite Chi Tuo over for a meeting.

It was a difficult situation, but she hadn’t found a good opportunity to bring Chi Tuo into the team recently. When she was confused, she became too close, and when she was clear-headed, she didn’t know how to approach him.

Luckily, Chi Tuo always remained calm.

His "academic overachiever" persona stood strong.

He spoke directly.

"Have you ever evaded taxes?" Chi Tuo suddenly asked.

An Ye, who had been lost in thought, froze. Qi Wei beside her widened her eyes in surprise.

Lan Yifang shook her head vigorously: "Of course not! Sister An is a model taxpayer. She has a tax certificate every year."

"Have you ever been involved in gambling, drugs, or anything like that?" Chi Tuo continued asking.

An Ye laughed: "No."

"Extramarital affairs, bullying, shady contracts, market manipulation, any of that?" Chi Tuo looked directly at An Ye.

An Ye also looked at him and shook her head: "No."

Qi Wei stopped talking.

Lan Yifang, not understanding the atmosphere, closed her mouth as well.

Chi Tuo leaned back against the sofa. Although he had sobered up, his mind still wasn’t as clear as usual after drinking. He ran through the information he had gathered recently and the things Qi Wei had just said in his mind before speaking again.

"Huan Zhou Entertainment’s financial report in April will look terrible. They expanded their investment portfolio and have had two consecutive years of net profit losses. Last year, they focused on their main business and invested in four major IP dramas, but all of them failed to break even. Several companies they acquired for celebrity capitalisation were bought at a heavy premium. In addition, their inventory and accounts receivable have been flagged with financial risks for five consecutive years. So, when their financial report comes out this April, it will likely cause investors to withdraw. There’s also a question about whether they can pay off their previous debts."

Chi Tuo lowered his head and fiddled with his phone, then projected a newly marked-up organizational chart of Huan Zhou Entertainment onto the living room’s projector.

"Currently, there are three factions within Huan Zhou. The conservative faction is led by Huan Zhou’s largest previous shareholder, Guan Li. He strongly opposes reforms. However, his shareholding has been decreasing for five consecutive years, and since last year, he has had little say. This year, three of the four major IP dramas that Huan Zhou invested in were under his control. The board is already discussing asking him to step down as chairman after the financial report."

"The radical faction is led by Lian Cheng. He previously worked in celebrity capital operations and has been suggesting that Huan Zhou withdraw from the traditional film industry to focus on idol culture—training, talent shows, idol economy, variety shows, live streaming, and short videos, industries that make quick money. His influence in the company has been increasing, and last year he even started investing in e-sports. His development department is currently the only department in Huan Zhou that’s not losing money."

"Lastly, there’s the fence-sitting faction represented by Zhang Shenggeng. His main career is still acting, and he knows nothing about running a company. He invested in the company for a comfortable life in retirement, living off dividends. For all the proposals made by the board, he’s always the last to vote, choosing whichever option has the most support."

"Although this person has no influence within Huan Zhou, he remains one of the company’s capital representatives in the public eye and among investors. He appears to be indifferent, but in fact, he is the only shareholder who has consistently increased his holdings and never reduced them."

After finishing his long explanation, Chi Tuo reached for a glass of water but realized that the three people remaining in the room were all staring at him.

Lan Yifang was the most transparent, and her wide-eyed stare showed a mix of shock and confusion.

Qi Wei looked like she was holding back a laugh. Honestly, Chi Tuo didn’t have a particularly good first impression of anyone other than An Ye, so at this moment, he only felt like Qi Wei was shifting between watching a joke and probing for more, jumping back and forth. His words had made Qi Wei stop probing, and now she was basically just watching the gossip unfold.

The gossip, of course, was about him and An Ye.

As for An Ye...Chi Tuo couldn't understand.

Because An Ye sat up, poured herself a glass of wine, and drank it in one go, her face, after the makeup, looking so exquisite that it almost resembled a mannequin's.