HTI: Chapter 30

Xie Yang and Qiu Xing stopped talking to each other. They were obviously in a Cold War.

Liu Sha saw the two people who went straight through the door at home while ignoring each other. Then she found Zhou Miao and asked, “What happened to them? They were fine when they went out.”

Zhou Miao wiped the sweat around his neck and briefly outlined the discussion between Xie Yang and Qiu Xing about whether Qiu Xing was spoiling his nephew or not and if his nephew should be spoiled.

“In the end, the boss was so angry by the little boss that he couldn’t speak. The little boss seemed to be in a better mood and took the initiative to talk to the boss. However, the boss ignored him so the little boss ignored the boss as well.”

Liu Sha endured it but she couldn’t hold back her smile.

Zhou Miao was anxious. “How can you be smiling? They are fighting!”

“It’s fine!” Liu Sha waved her hand. “Arguing is also a way of communication and can increase understanding and peace of mind.”

Zhou Miao became more anxious and his heart was full of bitterness.

The bosses were communicating but when the boss was in a bad mood, it was the subordinates who were unlucky!

After returning to his room, Xie Yang sat at his desk and carefully recalled the two conversations with Feng Qinglin and Qiu Xing.

The plot needed to change a little bit. He didn’t know if the things instilled into the uncle and nephew would affect the development of the plot. And… he sat up straight, opened his laptop and clicked on Yang Xing’s official website.

The sales volume of the mini digital album had broken through three million during the time he went out. It officially pushed the sales volume of the luxurious album Huangtian made for Ji Zehui, Broken Cocoon, below it.

Xie Yang exited the official website and opened Weibo. In the past few days, the topics created by IUD disbanding continued to increase and Weibo’s hot list was occupied by various IUD performance video clips. Among them was the song ‘IUD’ being sung in two different styles. This was praised by countless music critics and had even been affirmed by several national media.

The state-owned media praised the new IUD as four ideals with ‘ideals, a bottom line, strength and character.’ They hoped that more high-quality newcomers like Xie Yang would appear in the entertainment industry and that there would be more performers with a positive energy like the new IUD.

The image of the new IUD was completely elevated and IUD fans were flattered. They went to the official state-owned media to thank it for its affirmation and expressed that they would learn from the positive energy of their idols and strive to become better.

Xie Yang watched the fans’ exaggerated praise and smiled before going to the major music-related video sites.

It seemed that the entire Internet and music side of things had become the world of ‘IUD’. The super hot Broken Cocoon released half a month ago was put under pressure and the discussion and heat weren’t as good as before.

This wasn’t something that had happened in the novel. Ji Zehui’s status in Huangtian wasn’t low and it was unknown if he would be disturbed by this wave. Would there be a storm in the upper ranks of Huangtian and would this affect the female lead?

A butterfly kept flapping its wings. There might only be some peripheral changes but sooner or later, it would affect the centre.

Just before dinner, Xie Yang suddenly received a call from Hu Biao.

“Ke Lan’s role was stolen and it was Huangtian’s work. One of the investors in Director Bi’s new drama is Huangtian’s acquaintance. They dismissed Ke Lan for a newcomer of Huangtian using the grounds that Ke Lan’s age doesn’t match the role.”

Xie Yang went downstairs and continued to speak, “What else?”

“How do you know there is something else?”

“A guess.”

Hu Biao was relieved by Xie Yang’s calmness and continued, “There is no news from a singing variety that I previously contacted for Tong Jian. The cover shot of a magazine I talked about yesterday is also gone. And…”

Hu Biao expressed a lot in one breath like he had been suffocating from the long air pressure. Then he summed it up. “In other words, we’ve lost contact with most of the high-quality work that we received during this period. Huangtian knows that we need quality new jobs to stabilize everyone’s popularity after going solo. Xie Yang, if there is no work, no exposure or our popularity is consumed by low quality work, even popular artists will soon be forgotten by the public.”

Xie Yang didn’t speak.

Hu Biao’s voice was filled with some anxiety. “It doesn’t matter for Tong Jian right now. In any case, he is busy recording the new album and it is fine if he doesn’t pick up any work for the time being. However, Ke Lan can’t afford any delays. He might be popular now but his popularity is as a singer, not in the TV circle. He has to cross mountains and there aren’t many good crews. Without the opportunity of Director Bi, it is unknown how long we will have to wait for the next good role. This is also my fault. I have always been an agent of singers and never thought about developing contacts in the TV circle.”

Xie Yang finally opened his mouth. “I remember that Director Bi has an apprentice?”

Hu Biao was stunned for a moment. “Yes, there is an apprentice but he previously made micro-movies. It hasn’t been long since he started following Director Bi. Why mention this?”

“Contact Director Bi and ask if his apprentice has any plans to make a TV series recently. IF so, I will invest in full as long as Ke Lan is the main character.”

Hu Biao sucked in a breath. “Investment? Aren’t you afraid of losing money?!”

“Direct Bi’s techniques are excellent and he cooperates with golden screenwriters. I am certain that he will choose an apprentice with good skills. In addition, if his apprentice wants to make a movie then he will definitely help check the script. Now under Huangtian’s pressure, Director Bi was persuaded to let go of Ke Lan. If you go talk to him about cooperation that will also help his apprentice, I’m certain he won’t refuse. In addition, find an acting teacher for Ke Lan and polish his acting skills before starting the new job. We can’t let him go out and be ashamed later.”

Hu Biao still hesitated. “However, we haven’t seen Director Bi’s apprentice and don’t know his shooting style. In addition, what if Huangtian acts again—”

“The entertainment industry isn’t the world of Huangtian. They can throw money to snatch our chances and we can also throw money to create opportunities for ourselves. The famous directors all have a temper and Huangtian doesn’t always dare use money. Additionally, Huangtian might not necessarily be optimistic about Director Bi’s apprentice. If we invest, they might secretly laugh at us for being stupid.”

“……” Hu Biao didn’t dare say it but he also felt this type of investment was a bit silly. He wanted to talk for a while but he couldn’t persuade Xie Yang and was ready to hang up.

“Wait.” Xie Yang suddenly called out to Hu Biao again. “Once the negotiation is complete, arrange it so that I meet with Director Bi’s apprentice as soon as possible.”

Xie Yang wasn’t a philanthropist. Since he had decided to invest, he must make money. He also had other plans. The period of filming a TV series was too long and Ke Lan couldn’t stay hidden. If a cooperation was negotiated, he would like to use Reincarnation as a background and let Director Bi first make a music micro-movie for Ke Lan. This could be regarded as letting the two people familiar with each other in advance. If things didn’t work out then Xie Yang could stop the loss and terminate the cooperation in time.

After communicating all the details to Hu Biao, Xie Yang asked again, “Did Mo Bin sign with Huangtian?”

“It is unclear. Mo Bin recently had many activities suspended. He lost two endorsements and his personal image and commercial value aren’t as good as before. I don’t know if Huangtian will sign him. Why are you suddenly asking?”

“Find a way to let Mo Bin sign with another company. Don’t let him enter Huangtian.”

Hu Biao was surprised. “You want me to help Mo Bin?”

“No, it is for us. If Mo Bin enters Huangtian then Huangtian will definitely let Mo Bin keep stepping on our hype. We don’t want to clean after him again in the future.”

Hu Biao calmed down and gritted his teeth. “Okay! I’ll help him!”

The call with Hu Biao ended. Xie Yang entered the dining room and found that Qiu Xing wasn’t present. He asked the housekeeper who was serving the dishes, “What about Qiu Xing?”

Liu Sha, who followed Xie Yang into the dining room, replied instead of the housekeeper. “Ah Xing has gone to the sanatorium and shouldn’t come back tonight.”

Xie Yang nodded at Liu Sha to show he understood and sat down at the table.

“Ah Xing started to learn how to manage the company from a very young age. Everything in his life was under the heavy burden of taking over Rongding. His parents told him to support the Qiu family, save his nephew and don’t let the Feng family get rid of the Qiu family’s blood. He was under a lot of pressure.”

Xie Yang put down his chopsticks and watched Liu Sha.

Liu Sha put a resume on the table and stated, “Your vice-president.” Then she turned and left.

Xie Yang watched her leave for a while before picking up the resume. He took a look at it and froze in a stunned manner. He glanced at the empty seat on the opposite side, pointed a finger at the table and left the dining room with the resume.

Two hours later, Xie Yang sneaked into the sanatorium with the help of Zhou Miao.

Zhou Miao was very nervous. “Little boss, you have to make sure that the boss doesn’t lose his temper because of this. I didn’t want to do it but you kept calling me and—”

“I threatened to take you from Qiu Xing and abused you every day before you promised to help.” Xie Yang interrupted Zhou Miao’s words, his eyes locked on the terrace of the small building. “Don’t be afraid, I won’t really abuse you.” Then he placed Zhou Miao’s pass on his chest and entered the building.

On the terrace, Mother Qiu was watching the stars again. She tilted her head back and kept muttering something, her mind clearly in a daze.

Qiu Xing sat next to Mother Qiu, head bowed as he concentrated on cutting Mother Qiu’s nails. His always straight back was bent slightly and his combed hair fell over his forehead, softening his eyebrows and eyes.

“Mom, I saw Qinglin today. He was bullied by the Feng family again.”

Mother Qiu heard Feng Qinglin’s name and finally reluctantly looked away from the stars. She grasped Qiu Xing’s hand and asked, “Qinglin came home?”

“He turned.” Qiu Xing squeezed Mother Qiu’s hand and waited for her gaze to move back before bowing his head and continuing to polish her nails.

“I was going to clean up the Feng Company to give to Qinglin but a bad thing scolded me.” Qiu Xing frowned and complained. “You said that you found an obedient child for me. How is that bad thing obedient? He even scolded me.”

Mother Qiu suddenly stared at Qiu Xing. “Don’t be fierce!”

Qiu Xing choked and his furrowed brow loosened. He continued to polish her nails and asked, “…Mom, why are you so partial to him?”

After being quiet for a while, Qiu Xing took his mother’s hand again. “Mom, I hesitated. Qinglin is 24 years old. What should I do?”

Mother Qiu kept saying messy words such as ‘bring your sister back’, ‘take Qinglin home’ etc. Qiu Xing watched his mother for a long time before reaching out to pull Mother Qiu into his arms.

Xie Yang retracted the hand that was going to push open the terrace door and closed it again.

He turned to the car and threw the pass to Zhou Miao.

Zhou Miao grabbed it and looked behind Xie Yang, wondering, “Why did you come back alone? The boss?”

“He is acting spoiled with his mother.”

Zhou Miao looked frightened.