HTI: Chapter 81

Xie Yang left home and first went to the company to put away his luggage. Then he drove to the recording studio under Long Shuyou’s name.

During the Spring Festival, the team arranged by Qin Cheng and Long Shuyou had completed all the preparations before recording the album. During this time, Xie Yang only needed to concentrate on recording the songs.

Long Shuyou personally waited in the parking lot of the recording studio. He received Xie Yang and immediately asked, “Are you writing piano music for I See Xuanyuan?”

“I’ll send it to you later.”

Long Shuyou was very satisfied.

After the two of them went upstairs, they first got together with the production team for a brief meeting. Then they immediately plunged into the song recording. Long Shuyou was really professional and was sensitive to music and sound. Many times, Xie Yang thought he had sung to the perfect place but he could always radiate a new vitality with the help of Long Shuyou.

Working with excellent people was simply enjoyable. The more they recorded, the more focused they became. By the time Xie Yang finished recording with a tired voice, it was already dark.

Qin Cheng had rushed over a few hours ago and was waiting to the side. He saw that everyone was done and placed some takeaway on the table for dinner. Then he told Xie Yang, “You are recording songs and you have to protect your voice. The dishes I ordered for you are relatively light. Even if you aren’t used to it, you have to overcome it. I will take you for a big meal after the recording.”

Xie Yang heard the word ‘light’ and instinctively thought of Qiu Xing. He raised his eyes to the window and the night scenery spread outside it. Then he sat at the table and picked up his chopsticks. “It’s fine. I’m not picky about food.”

Qin Cheng also sat down.

During the meal, Qin Cheng briefly talked about the release of the new song and the job offers received recently. Then he glanced at Long Shuyou and the other staff members who were eating a bit further away. Long Shuyou had on headphones as he listened to the piano music while eating. Qin Cheng moved closer to Xie Yang and lowered his voice. “I briefly checked Hong Zhijie.”

Xie Yang stopped his chopsticks. “Is there anything special?”

“Hong Zhijie has an investment vision and a wide range of contacts. The information on the surface is quite big and I can’t finish it for a while. I will talk about gossip. Hong Zhijie and his wife divorced a year ago. His wife is the boss of Ka Xu, Yang Qing.”

Xie Yang asked, “Is the relationship between him and his wife usually good?”

“This isn’t clear. Hong Zhijie rarely talks about emotional matters outside. The marriage back then was also a hidden marriage and was especially low-key.”

“Are you talking about Hong Zhijie?”

The voice belonged to Long Shuyou. Xie Yang glanced at Long Shuyou who had taken off his headphones. “Yes, I am paying attention to him recently. Do you have any specific information about him?”

Long Shuyou first ate two bites of rice to fill his stomach and then replied, “Yes, Hong Zhijie has been monetizing resources recently. His actions are quite big. He seems to be on a big boat and wants to open his own entertainment company.”

Open an entertainment company?

Huangtian.

Xie Yang understood everything. “So it turned out to be like this.”

If he had to say a place that wasn’t right, it was that Mu Zhouyi lied to Feng Qinglin. She didn’t want to move to Ka Xu at all. She wanted to give herself a bigger backer in Huangtian.

Compared with the huge Huangtian, Ka Xu was just a medium-sized company that had only been established for over 10 years. Its strength really wasn’t sufficient. It would naturally be better to stay in Huangtian if possible.

So the real situation should be that Mu Zhouyi and Hong Zhijie were working together. She wanted to get rid of the shackles of He Rumin and Huangtian while he was unwilling to just be a shareholder in Ka Xu. Mu Zhouyi was responsible for removing the He Rumin father and son and provided Hong Zhijie with a chance to eat Huangtian. Meanwhile, Hong Zhijie was responsible for protecting Mu Zhouyi.

Hong Zhijie had been in the circle for many years and his resources and contacts were excellent. Now he was madly cashing out. He should be raising money to invest in Huangtian.

Hong Zhijie wasn’t only rich, he also had stocks in Ka Xu. The biggest crisis of the current Huangtian was artists leaving. If Hong Zhijue could take part of Ka Xu’s artists to Huangtian to fill in this vacancy…

Xie Yang squeezed his chopsticks.

No wonder why Huangtian wasn’t panicked and why the chairman and He Rumin had stopped looking for Mu Zhouyi. Mu Zhouyi should be staying by Hong Zhijie’s side. They couldn’t act against such an important cooperation bargaining chip for Hong Zhijie’s investment.

Mu Zhouyi was really a bit capable. She had thought of a way to survive.

Qin Cheng saw that Xie Yang hadn’t moved for a long time and couldn’t help touching him. “What is it?”

Xie Yang returned to his senses. He worried that the occasion wasn’t right and said nothing. He shook his head at Qin Cheng and continued to eat.

Once they returned to the company, Xie Yang told Qin Cheng his guess. Qin Cheng frowned after listening to it. “Will Yang Xing be targeted? He Rumin’s recording and Mu Zhouyi’s hot searches were done here. I tried to conceal it but if they check it…”

“Don’t worry, even if they check it, they won’t dare to do anything to Yang Xing for the time being. Huangtian is currently overwhelmed and needs to recuperate. They have no energy to find trouble.”

Qin Cheng temporarily suppressed his worry and looked around at the small bedroom that had been arranged by Wu Shui in advance. He asked for confirmation, “You will really stay in the company for a while?”

Xie Yang nodded.

“Mr Qiu’s side…”

“I’ve already told him.”

Qin Cheng felt that Xie Yang’s attitude wasn’t quite right. He carefully examined Xie Yang’s expression and hesitated. “Xie Yang, are you fighting with your husband again?”

“Is it obvious?” Xie Yang turned to look at the opposite Rongding Building and his eyes fell on the ninth floor. He found that the location of Qiu Xing’s office still had the lights on and he lowered his head to take out his phone. He saw that after one afternoon and one evening, Qiu Xing had called and sent him several WeChat messages. He opened WeChat while replying, “It isn’t a big contradiction but I want to scare him.”

Qin Cheng, “……”

He decisively gave up on speaking.

Qiu Xing had sent a total of three WeChat messages. Two were before dinner and one was 10 minutes ago.

These were the two before dinner.

Qiu Xing: Come to Rongding for dinner.

Qiu Xing: You aren’t at Yang Xing?

Then there was the one 10 minutes ago.

Qiu Xing: Busy?

Xie Yang glanced at the Rongding Building opposite him and typed.

Xie Yang: I went to the studio in the afternoon.

Xie Yang: I will sleep directly at Yang Xing tonight. Good night.

Then he turned off the lights in the office and small bedroom and returned to the windows. 10 minutes later, the lights of Qiu Xing’s office turned off and Xie Yang’s mobile phone vibrated.

Qiu Xing: Good night.

Qiu Xing: Eat together tomorrow?

For a coward, this type of meal invitation was probably the limit.

Xie Yang didn’t reply. He stood in front of the French windows of the office. His gaze seemed to pass through the night to Qiu Xing, who was also standing in front of the French windows of his office. Xie Yang raised a hand to touch the window and tapped gently. “Good night, coward.”

***

The things that happened in the next week gradually confirmed Xie Yang’s conjecture.

Huangtian’s stock, which had been sold in large sums by retail investors, was suddenly bought in a frenzy. Huangtian’s equity information quietly changed and the He Rumin and son transferred their Huangtian shares in a high-profile manner. Finally, the day before the Lantern Festival, Huangtian issued an official statement that the He Rumin father and son had completely withdrawn from Huangtian’s board of directors and welcomed Hong Zhijie to assume the position of vice-chairman of Huangtian.

After that, Huangtian released a series of messages welcoming certain artists to Huangtian. They also announced several heavyweight projects that were difficult to get.

The moment this information came out, Huangtian’s continued downturn in stocks immediately stabilized and started to rise steadily. The crisis brought about by the unspoken rules was smoothly passed.

Contrary to Huangtian’s steady situation, Ka Xu was severely damaged due to a large number of artists leaving and many important projects and resources being taken. It almost became a shell company and quickly fell into bankruptcy.

***

After a busy day, Xie Yang found Fang Chengnan’s number and called it.

Fang Chengnan answered quickly in a tired voice. “Extreme Combat has already sent Ke Lan an invitation to cooperate. You will probably receive it tomorrow.”

“I’m not looking for you regarding Extreme Combat.”

Fang Chengnan was quiet for a few seconds. “You want to sign me as well?”

“It seems that many companies have contacted you recently. Where do you want to go?”

Fang Chengnan didn’t talk.

“Do you want to stay in Ka Xu? To be honest, I’m very surprised. As one of their top artists, you have many better choices. However, you didn’t follow Hong Zhijie or move to other big companies. It feels… very righteous.”

Fang Chengnan finally spoke. “I just don’t want to regret it later. Ka Xu raised me up. I… If I go as well, Ka Xu will really be over.”

“Thus, I’m not here to dig you. I want to talk to your boss about business. Ask Yang Qing if she is willing to learn from Hong Zhijie and invest in shares like Hong Zhijie’s shares in Huangtian.”

Fang Chengnan’s voice changed. “What did you say?”

***

Not long after returning to Yang Xing, Xie Yang received a WeChat message from Qiu Xing.

Qiu Xing: The review is tomorrow.

Xie Yang deliberately waited a while before returning the message.

Xie Yang: I’ll be home tonight.

Qiu Xing didn’t reply. Xie Yang put away the phone, picked up the pot of cactus next to him and sucked in a wave of plant energy. Then he left the office. A week had passed and it was time to go back and give it to Qiu Xing.

More than an hour later, the car stopped in front of the villa. Xie Yang got out of the car and entered through the door. He glanced at the empty living room, paused and walked to the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

Xie Yang stopped and looked in the direction of the dining room. Qiu Xing walked out with a glass of milk, trying to make his expression and tone appear more normal. He handed the milk to Xie Yang and said, “Drink this before going to sleep.”

“Thank you.”

Xie Yang reached out for the milk but Qiu Xing didn’t let go. Xie Yang raised his eyes to look at Qiu Xing.

“…You’re skinny.” Qiu Xing slowly released the cup of milk, pretending to casually command. “You might be busy but eat well. Don’t always eat takeaway.”

Xie Yang raised his eyebrow. “So you’re secretly peeping at my life through Wu Shui?”

Qiu Xing couldn’t stay calm and he instantly denied it. “No!”