Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 7
byAcquisition
Chengxing Entertainment was founded in the 1990s. In the early 2000s, it produced several hit Xianxia dramas, launching the careers of many new-generation stars.
Later, the company went public and underwent restructuring. The leadership and decision-making layers were replaced, and the quality of subsequent TV series and films plummeted. Directors and artists under the company left one after another.
Seven years ago, founder Xie Mingzhi, with the help of his wife’s family, began repurchasing shares of Chengxing Entertainment, attempting to replicate the success of the previous hit Xianxia dramas and make a comeback. Unfortunately, the results were minimal.
It wasn’t until three years ago that Chengxing Entertainment signed Su Qian. Su Qian became instantly popular with a rebirth revenge drama, quickly rising to the ranks of top traffic stars, and directly revitalizing the near-dead Chengxing Entertainment.
Now, Shen Zhiyu has announced his joining Chengxing Entertainment. The company’s chance for a turnaround is practically imminent.
Acquiring Chengxing at this moment is quite tricky.
Jiang Zhou took off his glasses, rubbed his tired eyes, and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the lights twinkled like stars, and the street traffic flowed like weaving threads.
Jiang Zhou recalled the light spilling from the balcony across the hall the night before and felt a slight itch in his heart.
He had been busy with the acquisition of Chengxing Entertainment these past two days, deliberately staying away, hoping to use work to bury the thoughts suppressed deep inside.
But Jiang Zhou found this to be futile.
Once the suppressed thoughts arose, they were like a trapped beast escaping its cage, impossible to stop.
Jiang Zhou warned himself: just one look.
He picked up his phone, found the hidden application on the interface, unlocked it, and tapped it open.
A tall figure abruptly appeared on the screen, and clear human voices came from the phone.
“Alright, I’ll be back tomorrow. I promise to spend quality time with you at home this time.”
Shen Zhiyu hung up the phone and looked toward the dark balcony opposite.
Jiang Zhou was caught off guard and met his gaze in the image.
With a soft “click,” Jiang Zhou immediately locked his phone, his breathing uncontrollably trembling. He felt extremely guilty, like a thief.
A knock sounded on the door.
Jiang Zhou composed himself, put away his phone, and said, “Come in.”
Wei Yan pushed the door open. “Mr. Jiang, Miss Su has agreed to meet with you tonight.”
“Good. Are all the documents ready?”
Wei Yan nodded, his expression hesitant. He seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.
Jiang Zhou waited in the restaurant for half an hour.
Su Qian finally arrived, fashionably late.
She had come directly from an event, still wearing a golden strapless mermaid dress, which highlighted her exquisite figure. Her makeup was bright and captivating.
“I apologize, Mr. Jiang, for keeping you waiting. There was a slight incident at the event just now.” Su Qian tugged at the hem of her mermaid dress and sat down opposite Jiang Zhou.
“It’s no matter.” Jiang Zhou handed her the menu.
Su Qian took the menu, ordered a few dishes without hesitation, and smiled, “I haven’t eaten for two days because of today’s event.”
“Tonight, thanks to Mr. Jiang, I can finally have a full meal.”
Due to the constraints of television screens, celebrities, regardless of gender, are becoming increasingly thin. Dieting has become the norm for those in the industry.
The food was served quickly.
Su Qian ate a few mouthfuls, swallowing them hastily, then stopped. Although she said she would eat a full meal, she only ate to about one-third satiety.
Seeing that she was finished, Jiang Zhou got straight to the point: “This is the contract we prepared for Miss Su.”
Su Qian took the contract and casually flipped through it. She had already made her calculations before coming, but when she saw the terms in person, she couldn’t help but be surprised.
This contract was much more generous than she had imagined, even unreasonably so.
Although Su Qian hadn’t been in the entertainment industry for long, she was well aware of its murky depths.
The contract Jiang Zhou offered would be excessive even for any top-tier actress. Offering it to her made one inevitably think of transactions outside the contract.
Su Qian began to scrutinize the man before her.
Jiang Zhou was wearing a custom-tailored suit. His height was superior, and his appearance was striking—his physique and looks would be more than enough for the entertainment industry.
Why would a man like this need to use such methods for a casting couch arrangement when he could find any woman he wanted?
For a long time, Su Qian remained silent.
Jiang Zhou knew she had misunderstood but offered no explanation.
Languang Media suddenly acquiring Chengxing needed a reason. He didn’t want everyone’s attention focused on Shen Zhiyu, so Su Qian was the perfect shield.
After a long silence.
Su Qian finally spoke again, “Mr. Jiang, do you think I can convince Xie Mingzhi?”
“Three years ago, Miss Su sought treatment at a private hospital.” Jiang Zhou stopped there, making his point.
“How do you know…” Su Qian’s expression froze upon hearing this, the color instantly draining from her face. Her fingers, which had been resting casually on the table, unconsciously tightened.
However, she quickly understood. With money and power, some things are impossible to hide with a simple investigation.
She had only dared to do it back then because she was certain Xie Mingzhi wouldn’t dare to investigate.
Jiang Zhou proactively seeking her out now, however, gave her an opportunity.
With this thought, Su Qian calmed down.
“If I agree, that matter…”
“Rest assured, all files will cease to exist, and no third person will ever know about it.”
“Truly?”
“Naturally.”
“What if… what if I don’t agree…”
“Miss Su.” Jiang Zhou suddenly called out, the warmth in his eyes instantly vanishing, replaced by cold indifference. “You are a smart person; you know how to choose.”
Su Qian was startled by his sudden change of demeanor and quickly agreed.
“Alright, I agree. However, I need a little time.”
“One day.”
“One day? That’s too short.”
The time spent meeting her was already sufficient; Jiang Zhou’s patience was completely exhausted.
He stood up, his tone cold, “Miss Su, do you think there is room for negotiation?”
The words were full of threat.
Su Qian could only grit her teeth and comply. “Fine, I agree.”
Jiang Zhou nodded and smiled. “Miss Su, welcome to Languang Media. Happy cooperation.”
“Oh, and one more thing I should remind Miss Su.”
“He is not someone you can provoke.”
Jiang Zhou left after saying this.
Before leaving, he gave Su Qian another copy of the acquisition contract.
Su Qian slumped back in her chair, drenched in cold sweat.
When Shen Zhiyu announced he was joining Chengxing Entertainment, a passerby suddenly leaked photos of him and Su Qian playing ball at Huanjia Club the day before.
Su Qian and Xie Mingzhi immediately agreed to have marketing accounts dig up their seemingly similar items, fabricating a close relationship between the two. They used Shen Zhiyu’s traffic to give Su Qian greater exposure.
When Shen Zhiyu was working in Korea, he had no scandals or negative rumors, and he never engaged in any relationship marketing.
They were initially worried that Shen Zhiyu would be angry and uncooperative. Therefore, when the fake relationship first started to ferment, Xie Mingzhi sent someone to gauge Shen Zhiyu’s attitude. Since the other party showed no resistance, they bought more and more aggressive marketing.
Su Qian didn’t know what the relationship was between the two men.
But judging by Jiang Zhou’s actions, it seemed far from simple.
Shen Zhiyu had just signed with Chengxing, and Jiang Zhou was already planning to acquire Chengxing, even managing to investigate that incident to threaten her.
Yet, it wasn’t purely a threat. Jiang Zhou also publicly offered her such a generous contract, clearly intended for others to see.
Who it was meant for was self-evident.
Jiang Zhou did not want Shen Zhiyu to know about this matter, nor did he want him to know that the acquisition of Chengxing was for his sake.
Therefore, the generous contract was a casual gift to her, the scapegoat.
Su Qian understood, and a wave of fear washed over her.
That same night, paparazzi released photos of Su Qian and Jiang Zhou having dinner together.
In the photos, Jiang Zhou’s gaze was gentle, and the woman smiled brightly. Their faces were clearly visible, leaving no room for denial.
To focus public attention on Jiang Zhou, Languang Media bought trending topics, and terms related to Jiang Zhou immediately climbed into the top three spots.
Without needing netizens to dig deep, Jiang Zhou’s identity naturally surfaced, as if they had prepared for this long ago.
At the same time, another photo—a three-person shot from Huanjia Club—was also exposed.
“It turns out it was a misunderstanding! Su Qian’s real partner is him.”
Not only that, many of Jiang Zhou’s personal photos were also posted online.
Some marketing accounts, just like they had done with Su Qian and Shen Zhiyu’s matching items two days prior, began digging up matching items between Su Qian and Jiang Zhou.
Upon investigation, they found that the matching items between the two were even more numerous than those with Shen Zhiyu.
Netizens suddenly realized the truth.
“All their matching items are products endorsed by Shen Zhiyu.”
“Shen Zhiyu was dragged into this for no reason.”
Soon, Jiang Zhou received a call from Xie Mingzhi.
The voice on the other end was furious. “Jiang Zhou, what is the meaning of this?”
Jiang Zhou set down his pen and asked leisurely, “I wonder which matter Mr. Xie is referring to?”
“Which matter?”
Xie Mingzhi suddenly understood. “You want Chengxing?”
Twenty years ago, after Chengxing went public, it was manipulated, causing its share structure to fragment and decision-making to become difficult.
Xie Mingzhi was forced out at the time and only managed to recover half the shares seven years ago, gaining some influence. However, his current cash flow was insufficient, and a large portion of Chengxing’s shares remained outside his control.
These past two days, Xie Mingzhi had been immersed in the joy of Shen Zhiyu signing with Chengxing, completely unaware that other shares were being acquired at lightning speed.
By the time he reacted, the shares held by others had almost been completely bought out.
Xie Mingzhi never imagined the person behind this would be Jiang Zhou.
Chengxing was like an ant before Languang Media. He truly didn’t need to personally crush an ant.
Was he doing this for Shen Zhiyu or Su Qian?
The next second, Xie Mingzhi got his answer.
“Hasn’t Su Qian contacted you yet?”
That wretched bitch.
Xie Mingzhi slammed down the phone.
Jiang Zhou stood up and poured himself a glass of liquor.
The strong alcohol went down, a burning line of fire dropping straight from his throat to the bottom of his stomach. His stomach walls spasmed and contracted, and sour liquid surged up his throat.
Jiang Zhou forced a smile, but only a muffled cough rolled out of his throat, accompanied by a breath that tasted of rust.
The office door was rudely pushed open.
Yuan Chong walked in, carrying two insulated containers. “Mr. Jiang, can you finally eat properly now?”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhou looked up and smiled. “Of course, I was just waiting for you.”
The public opinion regarding Jiang Zhou and Su Qian continued to ferment online.
Lu Shen forwarded one of the links to Shen Zhiyu.
“Isn’t this the guy from the bar?”
Shen Zhiyu clicked on the link.
It displayed several of Jiang Zhou’s personal photos. Most of the clothes and accessories he wore were matching items from brands Shen Zhiyu endorsed.
One photo was identical to what he wore that night at the bar.
Judging by the background, it seemed to have been taken that very night.
Shen Zhiyu clicked on a few related trending topics. Most were speculating about a romance between Jiang Zhou and Su Qian.
Heh, quite the player.
First the bar owner, then the little assistant, and now a popular young actress.
Lu Shen sent another message.
“He’s back at the bar again.”