TLSOTMTKOGAYWHTDI Chapter 46

Chapter 44: They’re all freaking lunatics

When Gu Chen Zhou’s WeChat message popped up, Zhuo Huaimo had just finished a passionate encounter with Qi Yanwang and was in the bathroom showering.

Qi Yanwang leaned against the headboard, staring at a screenshot of the core creative concept from the “Early Spring” script on the screen, along with Gu Chen Zhou’s attached message:

“If you don’t want this content to be on tomorrow’s headlines, meet me tonight at eight, same old place. You know what I want!”

Qi Yanwang’s lips curled into a cold smile. He quickly deleted the message and placed the phone back where it was.

The sound of the shower stopped, and as Zhuo Huaimo walked out, drying his hair, Qi Yanwang was casually flipping through a magazine as if nothing had happened.

“Not asleep yet?”

Zhuo Huaimo walked over and asked softly.

“Waiting for you!”

Qi Yanwang hooked his fingers on the belt of his bathrobe, tracing his finger along his waist. “Satisfied?”

Zhuo Huaimo glanced at him. “I think you’re the one who isn’t satisfied!”

Qi Yanwang stroked his back, slowly moving lower, his intentions obvious.

Zhuo Huaimo slapped his hand away with a “smack.”

“Stop it! I just showered, and I have work tomorrow!”

“Sit here!”

Qi Yanwang pulled him to the edge of the bed, grabbed the hair dryer from the bedside, and gently started drying his hair.

In moments like these, Zhuo Huaimo always felt that these days were incredibly wonderful. No, to be precise, every moment spent with Qi Yanwang was wonderful. How he wished time could freeze forever in this instant!

Zhuo Huaimo’s soft hair flowed through Qi Yanwang’s fingers, accompanied by the faint, familiar scent of his shower gel.

“I had a look at a house for you. The community environment and security are pretty good, and it has strong privacy. I’ll have your manager take you to see it when you’re free!”

Zhuo Huaimo said casually, flipping through a magazine distractedly, but his fingers couldn’t stop trembling.

Qi Yanwang paused with the hair dryer in his hand, his jawline visibly tightening.

This was an advance eviction notice; his heart clenched with pain.

Seeing Zhuo Huaimo’s nonchalant and indifferent demeanor, Qi Yanwang felt as if this was his regular routine.

He figured every ex received the same treatment, going through the same process.

His grip on the hair dryer tightened.

How many people had moved out of this villa, and how many people had held this hair dryer before?

Zhuo Huaimo noticed his silence, and his own heart hung in the balance. Just as he was wondering how to break the awkwardness, he heard Qi Yanwang respond in a deep voice,

“Okay!”

He carefully controlled every syllable.

Obedient, sad, submissive!

Zhuo Huaimo was engulfed in a strong sense of guilt.

Gu Chen Zhou, who hadn’t received a reply, swiped across the tablet and finally pressed the send button, the encrypted email with the original script flying to the inboxes of various media editors.

Instantly, the hot search topic #Early Spring alludes to political and business corruption# exploded across various websites.

At three in the morning, Zhuo Huaimo was awakened by a phone call.

The PR director’s voice trembled, “Early Spring has been exposed for plagiarism! A certain big V has released a complete script comparison!”

Zhuo Huaimo sat up abruptly. Qi Yanwang’s arm was still around his waist, his breathing long and seemingly asleep.

He gently pried Qi Yanwang’s hand off and got out of bed. When he turned on the computer, his pupils shrank sharply—

The top five hot searches were all about #”Xingyue” Media plagiarism#,

#Before Early Spring, a harsh winter will come for “Xingyue”#,

#Early Spring alludes to political and business corruption#

Qi Yanwang stood behind him at some point, his chin resting on his shoulder.

“Need any help?”

Zhuo Huaimo clenched the mouse. “Who exactly is spreading these rumors? How could the core creative concept of the script be leaked?”

Qi Yanwang’s lips brushed against his earlobe. “Could it be… someone from the company?”

The next day, everyone in the company was issuing emergency statements and appeasing investors.

The phone in Zhuo Huaimo’s office rang non-stop, and the PR director rushed in repeatedly, her face pale, repeating the same lines no less than ten times.

“CEO Zhuo, the investors are demanding an emergency meeting!”

“CEO Zhuo, more investors are demanding to withdraw their funds!”

And the biggest investor—Liu Jinchen—stormed in as Zhuo Huaimo was signing the third emergency PR document.

“Three hundred million in investment wasn’t for you to play house with!”

Liu Jinchen slammed the tablet on the table, the screen displaying all the negative reports about “Early Spring” and “Xingyue.”

He waved the leaked script screenshot. “The whole internet is digging for the prototypes. I’m not going to wade into this minefield!”

Zhuo Huaimo slowly took off his gold-rimmed glasses and wiped them.

“Mr. Liu, when you invested in Floating City back then, didn’t you say that art needs a spirit of adventure?”

He pulled up the box office curve. “That film alluded to the mafia laundering money. That was much more exciting than this.”

“Those were my dad’s political enemies!”

Liu Jinchen suddenly leaned forward, propping himself on the edge of the table, his watch hitting the solid wood surface with a dull thud.

“That doesn’t matter to me now. The old man has retired abroad! I can’t wait to stay away from this group of politicians. Do you think I’ll play the living Bodhisattva?”

Qi Yanwang suddenly pushed the door open, glanced at the withdrawal letter on the table.

“I heard you just signed a deal for an African diamond mine? I happen to be interested in filming a wilderness survival show…”

“Stop trying to play games with me!”

Liu Jinchen flipped over the coffee cup, the brown stain spreading on the withdrawal letter.

“If I don’t see a termination agreement by nine o’clock tomorrow morning, I have plenty of ways to freeze all of ‘Xingyue’s’ liquid assets!”

Zhuo Huaimo suddenly chuckled.

He rotated the tablet, displaying the Liu Group’s tax evasion records from the past three years. “Mr. Liu, how many hot searches do you think this data is worth?”

His finger lightly tapped the screen. “Or… is it worth a three-month grace period?”

The air suddenly solidified.

Qi Yanwang’s pupils contracted slightly—

Zhuo Huaimo had always been the kind of person to have a Plan B. Ever since Liu Jinchen invested in “Early Spring,” he had been preparing to guard against him.

But this so-called tax evasion record…

Liu Jinchen’s Adam’s apple bobbed three times, and he suddenly clapped and laughed.

“CEO Zhuo, you truly are CEO Zhuo.”

He loosened his tie and sat down. “Three months is fine, but I want double the collateral!”

“Use mine!”

Qi Yanwang suddenly spoke.

He pulled up the property certificates on his phone. “Three properties plus a private equity fund, well over six hundred million.”

Zhuo Huaimo suddenly looked up, his gaze colliding with Qi Yanwang’s burning eyes.

Liu Jinchen chuckled as he got up.

“Alright, have your legal team connect with mine tomorrow!”

He glanced at Qi Yanwang before leaving. “The little wolfdog protecting his master is truly touching!”

The moment the door closed, Zhuo Huaimo grabbed Qi Yanwang’s wrist.

“Are you crazy? That’s all your assets!”

Qi Yanwang turned around and pressed him against the French windows, his palm pressed against the reflection of the two of them on the glass. “If I can’t pay it back in three months…”

He bit Zhuo Huaimo’s earlobe. “I’ll use you as collateral!”

Zhuo Huaimo’s expression was grave, his eyes frighteningly deep, with no intention of flirting with him.

Qi Yanwang released his grip, his fingers gently stroking Zhuo Huaimo’s reddened earlobe. “Just kidding.”

He turned to pack up the documents. “If I can’t pay it back, I’ll just earn more. Get me more gigs, and increase my cut a bit…”

Zhuo Huaimo grabbed his wrist. “Those properties are all your assets.”

His voice was hoarse. “Where will you live when you move out next month?”

Qi Yanwang paused, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.

He smiled and winked. “How about… you support me? I’ll work for you for free for the rest of my life.”

Zhuo Huaimo looked away. “The villa in the south of the city is empty. You can move back there first…”

Before he could finish speaking, Qi Yanwang suddenly pinned him against the French windows.

The glass reflected the shattered light in his eyes. “Is CEO Zhuo in such a hurry to get rid of me?”

He bit Zhuo Huaimo’s Adam’s apple. “Or… are you afraid I’ll stick around and never leave?”

Zhuo Huaimo’s fingers dug into his back, his voice as light as a sigh.

“Three months is almost here…”

Qi Yanwang abruptly released him, grabbed his coat, and walked out.

“I’m going to see off that bastard Liu!”

The sensor lights in the underground garage flickered on and off.

Liu Jinchen leaned against his Maserati, smoking a cigarette, and chuckled when he saw Qi Yanwang.

“Aren’t you afraid of being suspected by getting on my car so blatantly?”

Qi Yanwang opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

“Stop talking nonsense. Make the follow-up prettier!”

“You still have the nerve to say that to me. I regret agreeing to this!”

Liu Jinchen irritably exhaled a smoke ring. “I think I’m crazy to wade into this mess. Zhuo Huaimo is too damn scary. When he threw out that financial statement, I almost pissed myself!”

“It’s fake!”

“What?”

“He didn’t even look closely at the dates before obediently admitting it. Serves you right for falling for it!”

“Damn it!”

Liu Jinchen instantly became agitated. “That Zhuo is conning me!”

Qi Yanwang lazily bit on a cigarette. “Behave yourself in the future, pay your taxes honestly, so you can withstand scrutiny!”

“Damn it, you’re all a bunch of lunatics!”

Liu Jinchen glanced at him. “Are you really going to bet all your assets on me? I don’t think there’s any saving Early Spring. After three months, if you let me earn three hundred million for nothing, I’d feel a little bad!”

Qi Yanwang glanced at him. “Dare you take it?”

“Dare!”

Liu Jinchen stubbornly said, “I’m putting my head on the line, acting with you to deceive Zhuo Huaimo. I deserve this!”

Qi Yanwang coldly scoffed. “Don’t get any ideas about my things!”

“Heh, threatening me?”

Liu Jinchen sneered. “So I’m busy before and after, contributing money and effort to help you, and I don’t get any benefits?”

As he spoke, he looked at Qi Yanwang suggestively, his hand even reaching for his thigh, only to be forcefully pried away.

“Hey, that hurts!”

Qi Yanwang was too lazy to bother with him and directly threw a USB drive to him.

“Your dad’s illegitimate child’s information in Switzerland. Is that enough to shut you up?”

Liu Jinchen’s eyes widened instantly. “Holy shit, you even found that? The old man hid him so well that my mom and I searched for years and couldn’t find him. How did you dig him up?”

Qi Yanwang glanced at him. “After completing the procedures tomorrow, register several investment companies overseas! Start buying up “Xingyue’s” shares!”

Liu Jinchen’s eyes widened when he heard that. “You’re going crazy! Isn’t messing with Early Spring enough? You still want his company?”

“The only thing I want… has always been him!”

“You’re really crazy! How can you guarantee that he will sell “Xingyue’s” shares?”

“He will!”

“Qi Yanwang, you really are a lunatic! More crazy than I am!”

Liu Jinchen stubbed out the cigarette in his hand. “We lowlifes don’t understand your so-called deep affection, but I don’t want to get involved!”

Qi Yanwang flicked the cigarette ash and suddenly asked,

“Then why are you helping me?”

“Because it’s interesting!”

Liu Jinchen smiled. “Watching Zhuo Huaimo get bitten by the little wolfdog he raised himself is more exciting than playing with little celebrities!”

Suddenly, Qi Yanwang’s phone vibrated. It was a pinned message popping up.

“Come back early!”