Chapter 8 – The Feel
The other end of the line was silent for three seconds. “If I were possessed, believe me, the first thing they would do is terminate your contract. That way, I wouldn’t have to work overtime. What do you think?”
The fury of a wage slave!
Lin Ganzhi knew in his heart that for a manager to go this far was true love. After all, given the original owner’s situation, he didn’t know what others thought, but he certainly couldn’t see any future for him in the entertainment industry.
“Hehehe, I knew you were the best, Brother Zhang~ Sending you a heart~” After saying this, Lin Ganzhi suddenly felt a chill to his right.
Lin Ganzhi turned his head, sensing something. He saw Yan Shengping sitting there, calm and composed, not even sparing him a glance.
Hmm, must be my imagination~
“Hey, stop with the flattery for now. First, tell me, what’s this about you digging for wild vegetables? President Yan wouldn’t go so far as to abuse you.” This was a declarative sentence.
Lin Ganzhi now suspected that Zhang Dianhuai was either a fan of Yan Shengping, or… secretly in love with him!
Otherwise, with Yan Shengping’s current universally loathed status, why would anyone be willing to speak up for him?
Lin Ganzhi glanced mournfully at Yan Shengping. He already had a young, beautiful wife at home, yet he was still out there exuding his charm. So annoying!
The innocently implicated Yan Shengping: …
“Why aren’t you talking? You didn’t actually go digging for wild vegetables, did you?” Zhang Dianhuai questioned.
“How could that be! I was just bored and planted some vegetables. A paparazzi probably snapped a picture while I was loosening the soil. It’s really not easy for them to work. This is the suburbs, it must take two or three hours to get here from the city center~” Lin Ganzhi lamented on behalf of the working class.
“Hmph, you’re thinking too much. Even at their worst, paparazzi would be squatting for recently debuted starlets. What would they have to do with you? This post of yours was published two weeks ago. At first, it was just a regular person posting on Weibo. Then one day, it suddenly got linked to President Yan’s traffic and blew up, that’s how it shot to the trending topics.”
“…Oh.” So he didn’t even get on the trending topics by his own merit!
“By the way, what did you just say you were doing? Planting vegetables? You, planting vegetables?” Zhang Dianhuai finally processed it and was horrified. “I don’t believe it. Send me a picture later. Don’t joke about such a serious issue. Did you get photographed by a regular person while chasing butterflies on the lawn?”
It had to be said, as a top-tier manager, Zhang Dianhuai really understood the artists under him. But…
“Brother Zhang, I’m not the Fragrant Concubine, hahahahaha~” Lin Ganzhi was amused by Zhang Dianhuai’s line of thinking.
“…Tsk~”
Oh boy, he’s annoyed.
After ending the call with Zhang Dianhuai, Lin Ganzhi roughly explained the countermeasures they had discussed.
Uncle Yan: “Ganzhi, your company is really good. Very responsible.”
Yan Shengping glanced at Lin Ganzhi and said, “This incident will affect your future work. Even if the truth comes out, people won’t be willing to accept it since I’m involved. Just spend the money to suppress the trending topic and reduce the exposure.”
“What about you?” Lin Ganzhi blurted out, his eyes fixed on Yan Shengping.
Yan Shengping paused for a moment, his gaze unconsciously averting. “In my current situation, this incident being a rumor won’t make things better. At the same time, it can’t get much worse.”
These words struck a small crack in Lin Ganzhi’s heart. As the fragments fell, they scraped against his heart, sending a dense, throbbing pain through him.
“That won’t do! I caused this, how can I let you take the blame? This self-destructive thinking of yours is completely wrong! Even though we, you know, have a lot of anti-fans online, we’re not a… a trash can! We can’t just say every pot thrown at us smells fragrant! That kind of behavior isn’t cool, it’s stupid! My dear, even if you want to show off in front of me, you can’t use a pyrrhic method to make my heart ache~”
To express his determination, Lin Ganzhi tried hard to make his eyes look extra sparkly. He eagerly tried to lean closer, but Yan Shengping turned his head away.
Why isn’t he looking? What about the tears I just squeezed out!
Lin Ganzhi resentfully grabbed Yan Shengping’s sleeve and nudged closer with a “duang-duang” motion. The soft strands of his hair brushed against Yan Shengping’s chin. Yan Shengping had twisted away so much there was nowhere left to retreat, forcing him to look at Lin Ganzhi’s bun-like face. It still had that silly look. The decent words he had just managed to say were almost completely ruined by this expression.
Their current posture was very much like the moment a gourd baby is born. Yan Shengping was the vine, and Lin Ganzhi was the gourd, half his body dangling in mid-air, supported by Yan Shengping’s arm.
“If you don’t pull back, I’m letting go,” Yan Shengping’s expression showed no hint of joking.
Lin Ganzhi immediately scrambled back and sat up properly! He looked incredibly well-behaved!
An inexplicable smile touched Yan Shengping’s eyes.
But, at this moment, even Yan Shengping, who held dual master’s degrees from the country’s top university, couldn’t clearly articulate his feelings.
“Then let’s wait a day. If it’s not resolved, we’ll spend the money to suppress it, so that ‘your day’ can come sooner.” In the end, Yan Shengping couldn’t resist teasing Lin Ganzhi.
But Lin Ganzhi couldn’t retort. There’s a saying: you have to fill the pit you dug yourself, even if you have to cry while doing it!
At that moment, an abrupt ringtone interrupted their conversation.
It was Uncle Yan’s phone.
“Um, it’s Madam Zhong,” Uncle Yan gestured towards Yan Shengping.
Yan Shengping’s eyes turned cold, but he still nodded.
The call connected. Before Uncle Yan could even say “hello,” the other party unleashed a torrent of words: “Uncle Yan, where’s Yan Shengping? I’ve called him several times and he won’t answer! Does he really not want to acknowledge me as his mother anymore? Wasn’t it embarrassing enough a few months ago? Now he’s found Lin Ganzhi to be embarrassed with. I don’t care if he’s sleeping or not, you wake him up right now!”
Hey, what kind of person is this! Lin Ganzhi’s protective instincts flared up, but the next second he was pulled back by Yan Shengping.
“Uncle Yan,” Yan Shengping held out his hand.
Uncle Yan quickly handed him the phone.
“I have already severed ties with the Zhong family. This matter will not affect them.”
“Not affect the Zhong family? Heh, Yan Shengping, when you left, I was angry, but I was thinking of bringing you back in a few years after your father’s anger subsided. I was just letting you stay outside for a few years. But what about you? It’s only been a few months, and you’re making Lin Ganzhi eat wild vegetables outside? You weren’t so poor that you couldn’t afford to eat when you left, were you? We gave you a full five million! Now that this is on the trending topics, people will think our Zhong family abused you. Tell me, with a clear conscience, did we abuse you? If it weren’t for you repeatedly hurting your brother… oh, right, and Jingyi. He’s at a critical point in his career right now. How much would it affect him if people found out his family abused their adopted son!”
Even Uncle Yan couldn’t stand listening anymore and was about to hang up on Yan Shengping’s behalf, but was stopped by a look from him.
“You mean I need to issue a formal statement, telling the media that I have completely severed ties with the Zhong family, and that anything I do in the future has nothing to do with them, right?” Yan Shengping’s face was expressionless, looking completely unaffected.
On the contrary, Madam Zhong, who had been aggressive at the beginning, fell silent. She didn’t want the family to be affected, and she was indeed disappointed in this child she had raised since he was young. But, hadn’t she also said that once he had reflected enough, she was still willing to take him back?
“You can just push Lin Ganzhi out, say he’s seeking attention, for—”
“I think the former method is more of a once-and-for-all solution. He is now my legal partner. No matter how bad things get, I will not use him to protect some so-called reputation,” Yan Shengping said, word by word.
Lin Ganzhi’s eyelashes trembled. Was Yan Shengping protecting him?
Hmm, a little touching.
Mm, the boss cares about him!
As Lin Ganzhi’s thoughts ran wild, the tips of his ears turned red.
“You! Fine, fine, do whatever you want! You’ve already deleted me anyway. Your father was right. I guess I really did raise you for nothing!” Madam Zhong hung up the phone angrily.
“Master,” Uncle Yan called out worriedly.
Although Yan Shengping’s face was unpleasant, it was no longer as bloodless as it had been during previous calls.
“Uncle Yan, this is how it should have been done from the start. I’ll contact Tian Nini in a bit to help me issue a statement.” As Yan Shengping said this, he seemed to become much more relaxed.
“What about me, what about me?!” Lin Ganzhi looked over eagerly, his eyes shining.
Yan Shengping’s heart stirred. He reached out and pinched one of Lin Ganzhi’s cheeks.
…It felt even better than a steamed bun. Like milk pudding.
“Ooh, wha are oo oing!” Lin Ganzhi’s words were slurred, his eyes looking pitifully at Yan Shengping, even though it didn’t hurt.
Only then did Yan Shengping react. He let go as if he’d been shocked, the residual warmth making his fingertips feel a little hot. “You take a picture and go to bed early.” His tone carried a hint of guilt. After saying that, Yan Shengping stood up, said goodbye, and went upstairs.
It had a bit of an air of fleeing in panic.
But Lin Ganzhi didn’t notice.
“Uncle Yan, can you help me with the light? I’m going to take a picture!” Lin Ganzhi slipped on his little shark slippers and padded towards the door.
“Okay, okay!” Uncle Yan followed behind, very cooperatively.
However, what no one expected was that what went viral online first wasn’t Yan Shengping’s statement, but a long post from Zhong Jingyi late at night:
[I’m truly sorry to disturb everyone so late. Regarding today’s trending topic, I hope everyone will not attack my brother, Mr. Yan Shengping. As far as I know, my brother is a person who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. There must be another reason for what happened. Although my brother has temporarily deleted me, I will do my best to get in touch with him to understand the cause of the matter. Although my brother’s personality may be somewhat different from mine, I believe he will be willing to explain it clearly to me and tell everyone the real truth. Moreover, Ganzhi is also my junior. He still has a lot of potential in his acting career. I also hope that everyone will not attack him. I hope everyone can look at this matter rationally. Thank you.]
Once this paragraph was posted, it was like a huge stone thrown into a shallow pond, creating a thousand layers of waves. Marketing accounts and Zhong Jingyi’s fans instantly couldn’t sleep, discussing it wildly online. The heat and discussion level exploded!