LOI Chapter 51 — Career Planning

“Are you fucking stupid?” Jiang Si’s sarcasm was particularly grating over the phone. “I knew he was up to no good the moment I received the invitation, but you actually went?”

After SPL officially announced their new spokesperson, online trolls turned Liu Qing into the entertainment industry’s biggest joke. His Weibo was now unbearable to look at.

He was already extremely irritated, and Jiang Si just had to call to make his presence known. If not for having something to ask, Liu Qing wouldn’t have even answered this call.

“Who exactly is Yan Zhi?” Liu Qing ignored Jiang Si’s taunts and asked patiently.

“Not sure,” Jiang Si said. “The fact that he could pull my CVV endorsement shows he has significant influence. Even I know to lay low, but you’re acting like an idiot and going against him.”

“Isn’t he just Yan Fei’s son?” Liu Qing really didn’t understand. “No matter how well-connected he is in the fashion world, how could he possibly meddle in brand operations?”

“I’ve already asked my European contacts to look into it. He’s definitely more than just ‘well-connected,'” Jiang Si said, then asked amusedly, “What’s the deal with your clothes? I heard SPL never lent you anything.”

“I bought it myself!” Liu Qing snapped impatiently. “I never said I’d be SPL’s spokesperson.”

“We’re both old foxes here, so drop the act,” Jiang Si said. “I know you were aiming for a brand ambassador or friend role. Without your guidance, would your fans spread rumors like that?”

Liu Qing did have those intentions, which was why he allowed his fans to spread rumors about him representing SPL.

When he approached SPL to borrow clothes, the department head he dealt with was exceedingly polite. He never imagined SPL would “backstab” him like this.

“I bet your PR team is so busy right now,” Jiang Si said, sounding as if he was enjoying the show. “I’ll give you a friendly reminder. If you clarify that you bought the clothes yourself, you’ll basically confirm your ‘entertainment industry clown’ status. Better to blame it on the staff, say there was a miscommunication.”

“I know,” Liu Qing said irritably. “Mind your own business.”

“Also,” Jiang Si continued, “once this blows over, let’s end our collaboration. I’ve been working with you for a year and only gotten less popular. You must be cursed or something.”

“Ha,” Liu Qing laughed bitterly. “What, regretting dumping Rong Ke now?”

“I’ve regretted that for ages,” Jiang Si spat before abruptly hanging up.

Hearing the dial tone, Liu Qing angrily threw his phone across the room.

He went to the bathroom and splashed water on his face, leaving the tap running as he contemplated how to minimize the impact of this incident.

His PR team shared Jiang Si’s opinion, suggesting they blame the staff.

The problem was, SPL could easily verify that Liu Qing bought the outfit through a VIP client. That client could even speak up, making it impossible to use the “miscommunication” excuse.

——There had been no communication to begin with, so how could there be a miscommunication?

At this moment, the company’s higher-ups were in a meeting discussing the matter. Liu Qing had initially been part of the online conference but was suddenly asked to leave—a very bad sign.

If this couldn’t be resolved satisfactorily, the company might abandon him.

“Fuck,” Liu Qing slammed his fist into the mirror, blood immediately seeping from his knuckles.

Outside the bathroom, someone knocked on the door. The assistant poked their head in and said cautiously, “Ge, Director Wen wants you to take his call.”

“I’m busy!” Liu Qing roared, venting his frustration, but quickly composed himself. He rinsed the blood off his hand, wrapped it in a towel, and returned to the living room.

The phone lay undamaged on the sofa, and it did not cut off contact with the outside world as Liu Qing had hoped.

He picked up the phone and checked his missed calls. When he saw the words “Sick Pervert,” he felt an involuntary chill down his spine.

As he hesitated whether to call back, the phone suddenly rang, startling Liu Qing so much he almost dropped it.

Taking a deep breath, he answered, trying to mask the nervousness in his voice. “Teacher…”

“You seem to enjoy shopping lately,” Wen Cheng’s tone was characteristically slow and deliberate. “A three-million-yuan outfit? You’re even more extravagant than me.”

Liu Qing thought to himself, Weren’t you the one who told me to use your card? After being tortured so badly each time, what’s wrong with buying something as compensation?

However, he meekly replied, “I bought this outfit for work purposes.”

“To make a fool of yourself in public?” Wen Cheng’s voice suddenly turned cold.

Liu Qing had never seen Wen Cheng angry before.

Although he was often criticized by Wen Cheng for his poor performance, Wen Cheng had never sounded this furious.

At this point, the company executives were no longer important. If Wen Cheng abandoned him, Liu Qing would have no chance of making a comeback.

“Teacher, let me explain…”

“Come explain in person.”

“But I have a scheduled appearance tomorrow…”

“I want to see you before midnight tonight.”

Liu Qing clutched the phone that had already been hung up. After struggling internally for a long, he finally made up his mind. He told his assistant, “I’m not going to tomorrow’s appointment. If the company asks, say I’m taking time to clear my head.”

“Uh.” The assistant felt this wasn’t right. “Given the current situation, that might not be a good idea.”

“Did I ask for your opinion?” Liu Qing said coldly.

The assistant said no more: “Okay, Ge.”

–

After accepting the SPL endorsement, Rong Ke became busier than before.

Shooting SPL’s commercial, shooting the cover for an SPL-sponsored fashion magazine, attending events at SPL headquarters… He spent all of September fulfilling his duties as a spokesperson.

By the time he finished, it was already the National Day holiday. He had taken so many flights during this period that he had no desire to go out. So, Yan Zhi also canceled their travel plans, and the two just stayed at home, enjoying their time alone together.

Yan Zhi’s cooking skills had improved considerably. It was mainly a matter of mastering seasoning, and after cooking more often, his dishes now looked quite presentable.

However, the kitchen remained as chaotic as ever.

After dinner, Rong Ke cleaned up Yan Zhi’s mess, and they sat together on the sofa to digest.

The TV was playing “Patchwork Family,” not from a streaming platform, but broadcasted by a TV station that had purchased the rights. Now, all major networks were scrambling to air it.

Rong Ke casually came across news related to Yan Zhi and asked lazily, lying on his lap, “Isn’t your contract ending soon?”

By now, Yan Zhi had been in China for a year. If he didn’t extend his contract, he would finish his consulting work at MQ.

“Yes,” Yan Zhi said, running his fingers through Rong Ke’s hair. “It’s about time I changed jobs.”

Like Rong Ke’s previous life experiences, Yan Zhi also enjoyed trying new things and wouldn’t stay in one position for too long.

The MQ consulting job was something he’d taken on a whim, so naturally, he wouldn’t continue indefinitely.

“Will you go back to Europe?” Rong Ke asked.

Selfishly, of course, he did not want Yan Zhi to go back, but if Yan Zhi had his own career plans, he wouldn’t interfere.

“How could I?” Yan Zhi looked at Rong Ke seriously. “I can’t bear to leave you with Jack and Lily.”

Rong Ke: “…”

Jack was a realistic dildo, and Lily was a vibrating egg.

These small toys all had their own English names.

Named by Yan Zhi.

“So, what are your plans?” Rong Ke asked.

“First, to be your agent,” Yan Zhi said. “Managing a company team is quite interesting.”

Now that Rong Ke’s work team had been established, they could prevent baseless attacks like before.

As for those two eager to blacken him—

Jiang Si hadn’t shown his face in a long time and seemed determined to maintain a low profile.

Liu Qing disappeared after the endorsement incident, reportedly canceling all his work. According to his fans, he planned to lay low for a while and would naturally reappear for the Qianhua TV Drama Awards.

In any case, the two people who irritated Rong Ke the most were gone, making his work environment feel much more comfortable.

Just as he thought this, Yan Zhi’s phone suddenly chimed with a WeChat notification. He glanced at it and said to Rong Ke, “Time to engage with fans.”

Rong Ke lazily remained on Yan Zhi’s lap without moving. “What do we have to do now?”

“The ad photos we shot last week are in. You need to post a promotional Weibo,” Yan Zhi said.

Knowing Yan Zhi wouldn’t mess around with work matters, Rong Ke handed over his phone. “You post it yourself.”

However, he was still worried, so he added, “SPL provided the copy, right? Don’t add anything unnecessary.”

“Of course not.” Yan Zhi quickly posted the Weibo and showed Rong Ke the phone. “See? I didn’t post anything improper, did I?”

It was a perfectly proper promotional post with text and images, nothing naughty at all.

Rong Ke smiled and said, “You’re becoming more and more like a real agent.”

“Of course.” Yan Zhi leaned down to kiss Rong Ke and said, “I’m going to shower. Tonight, we’ll play with Thomas.”

—Thomas was a cock ring.

Rong Ke couldn’t help but roll his eyes. It was supposed to be an activity for two, but every time they added a toy, he felt like they were having a threesome.

Rong Ke was about to go shower, too, but just as he was getting his change of clothes, he suddenly received a message from Zhou Lin.

[Zhou Lin: I’m betting with someone that you didn’t post that comment]
[Zhou Lin: It wasn’t you, right?]

Rong Ke, confused: [What comment?]

[Zhou Lin: On the Weibo you just posted]

Rong Ke suddenly had a bad feeling. He quickly checked the comments on his promotional Weibo post and saw that the top comment was from himself:

[Rong Ke: My husband has such good taste /happy]

Rong Ke: “…”

He nearly choked on his own blood.

“Yan Zhi!!!”

The sound of cheerful humming came from the bathroom of the master bedroom. Just as Rong Ke was about to burst in and confront him, his phone rang again.

Seeing the caller ID, Rong Ke immediately put aside his playful mood and went to the balcony.

“Teacher Xu?” Rong Ke asked, “Is something the matter?”

“Nothing much, just wanted to chat,” Xu Hong said. “I noticed you haven’t taken on any roles recently. Are you still choosing scripts?”

“Yes,” Rong Ke didn’t mention that he’d been a bit lazy and did not want to take on too much work. He asked, “Are the theater troupe’s performances going well?”

“They’re going well, very well,” Xu Hong said. “It’s like this. I have a friend who’s making a film. His name is Jiang Hua. You’ve probably heard of him. He’s preparing a crime-themed movie. It’s a story about a train heist. He plans to shoot it in one take, which requires extremely high acting skills from the performers. Are you interested in giving it a try?”

Rong Ke had indeed heard of Jiang Hua, a talented director known for his niche films. He had a good reputation in directing circles, but his works were critically acclaimed but not commercially successful.

He often had creative ideas, like what Xu Hong mentioned—shooting an entire movie in one take, which seemed almost impossible. This immediately piqued Rong Ke’s interest.

“We can discuss it,” Rong Ke said. “When is this movie planned to start shooting?”

“It’s almost ready, probably next month,” Xu Hong said. “It’s not a big production, so it won’t take too long to film.”

Next month…

That would conflict with Wen Cheng’s movie.

Rong Ke thought for a moment and said, “I’ll check my work schedule and get back to you, Teacher Xu.”

Author’s Note:

Readers might have overlooked a plot point: Yan Fei and Bruce’s marriage was not publicly announced.

Many people don’t know that Yan Zhi is the real heir (even Rong Ke doesn’t know).

They just think he’s well-connected and influential, nothing more.