"Huh?" The assistant was taken aback, not expecting Li Quyin to make such a request.
"I want to have a chat with him." Li Quyin typically appeared in public as Shen Bailou, and handled company matters privately. The company had hired specific people for such tasks.
Usually, Li Quyin didn’t involve himself too much, but this time, the situation was clearly different.
"Alright, I'll go ask him," the assistant agreed, sensing that Li Quyin was genuinely angry this time.
"And about the task I gave you earlier, why haven't I heard anything yet?" Li Quyin asked again.
"Huh?" The assistant was puzzled again, trying hard to recall what task Li Quyin had given him but couldn't think of anything left undone.
"Didn't I ask you to make a list of the things I’ve done that might make people hate me?"
"B-boss?" The assistant stammered, thinking Li Quyin was just casually mentioning it.
Was Li Quyin serious about this?
What kind of shock did he experience?
"Hurry up."
After giving instructions, Li Quyin hung up the phone.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a bit of a headache.
He was determined to succeed in the movie project.
Everything had been going smoothly, which had allowed him to relax, but just as things were about to finalize, this troublesome expert appeared.
If the person had only been trying to raise the price, he would have agreed to pay more, but it turned out that even that wasn’t enough for them, and they were secretly causing trouble.
Thinking about this, Li Quyin made another call to his agent.
The agent was named Miao Mingyi. While he was called an agent, he was more like a business partner.
Back when Li Quyin left his family to start his own business, he met Miao Mingyi, and they collaborated.
Later, when Li Quyin founded his current entertainment company, Miao Mingyi invested in it, holding ten percent of the company’s shares.
Although he didn't have management rights, he was still the second-largest shareholder in the company.
The phone rang for a while before it was answered. On the other end, Miao Mingyi sounded as if he had just been woken up, his tone a bit grumpy, "Who is it?"
"It's me."
Recognizing Li Quyin’s voice, the other end fell silent for a moment, and then the tone changed, "Weren't you on vacation? Why are you suddenly calling?"
Li Quyin frowned slightly, vaguely hearing a woman's voice in the background. He usually didn't meddle in Miao Mingyi’s private life, but it didn’t mean he approved of it.
"It's about my movie. I need you to investigate that expert's background," Li Quyin said.
The assistant could only handle trivial matters or pass messages, but the real decision-maker was still Miao Mingyi. Li Quyin preferred talking directly to him for efficiency.
"What expert?" Miao Mingyi asked, confused.
"The expert we tried to hire as an advisor for my movie. Weren’t we told that he was causing trouble behind the scenes, preventing others from taking the job?" Li Quyin’s tone was icy.
"Did that happen?" Miao Mingyi was surprised; he hadn’t heard about it!
Li Quyin’s gaze darkened, his fingers impatiently tapping on the desk. This was crossing the line.
On the other end, Miao Mingyi seemed to realize he had gone too far, quickly explaining, "I was taking a rare break, drank all night with some friends, and just got up this morning..."
After a brief explanation, he added hastily, "Don't worry, I'll get to the bottom of this right away."
Li Quyin said nothing.
"Don't worry, it's just an expert. There are plenty of experts out there. I can’t believe anyone would turn down money. And you’re Shen Bailou, the Grand Actor. Just your name alone should be enough to..."
Before he could finish, Li Quyin hung up the phone.
This was typical of Miao Mingyi—boastful and overconfident.
In fact, Li Quyin had long wanted to replace him.
But he had been busy with filming and had yet to find a suitable replacement. Plus, with Miao Mingyi holding shares in the company and their friendship, replacing him wasn’t easy.
Moreover, despite his bad temper and overconfidence, he was sharp and had never made any major mistakes.
This made it hard for Li Quyin to find an excuse.
Thinking about Miao Mingyi’s behavior, Li Quyin's face grew colder.
On the other end, still mid-sentence, Miao Mingyi suddenly heard the busy signal, and his face darkened.
He tossed his phone onto the bedside table, rubbed his face, and cursed, "What the hell!"
The heavily made-up woman beside him quickly tried to appease him with a smile.
Miao Mingyi impatiently pushed her away. After a moment, he picked up his phone again and called someone at the company.
"What’s wrong with you people? You can't even handle such a small matter! Does the company pay you just to do nothing?" he shouted as soon as the call connected.
"It’s not that, we’ve tried many things, but..."
"Not what? How many days has it been? Have you resolved this issue? All you know is how to argue."
"But, Mr. Miao, that expert doesn’t even want to meet with us, let alone talk. He’s even told others not to..."
"He says he won’t meet, so you don’t meet him? Have you no legs or brains to go find him? And who does he think he is? I don’t believe anyone can resist money..."
"I’m telling you, if this isn’t resolved by the day after tomorrow, you can all pack up and leave!"
After scolding, Miao Mingyi angrily tossed the phone aside.
Xia Xixi woke up naturally after a good sleep, and it was already mid-afternoon.
When he arrived at the lounge, Li Quyin was sitting there reading, so focused that it felt wrong to disturb him.
It wasn’t until Li Quyin turned the page that he noticed someone had joined him.
"Awake?" Li Quyin put down the magazine.
"Why didn’t you wake me?" Xia Xixi set down his coffee.
He had slept for two days since coming here.
A smile tugged at Li Quyin’s lips, "I thought you must be tired, so I wanted you to get more rest."
They had gone for a long hike in the morning.
Xia Xixi didn’t respond. Sometimes, Li Quyin could be very attentive, especially toward him.
"Are we going fishing later?" Li Quyin asked again.
Xia Xixi glanced at him, knowing Li Quyin was still eager to catch a fish for him to eat.
"I asked the locals, and they said this season is great for fishing. We probably just had bad luck yesterday," Li Quyin added, fearing Xia Xixi might refuse.
"Alright," Xia Xixi took a sip of his coffee, "Did something happen?"
Since earlier, Li Quyin’s expression had been a bit off.
Hearing this, Li Quyin hesitated. He didn’t want to bring his work frustrations to Xia Xixi.
But facing Xia Xixi’s inquiry, he couldn't help but start talking, "It's work-related, about that person from before."
"What happened with him?" Xia Xixi recalled Li Quyin mentioning someone particularly unpleasant.
"He’s causing trouble behind my back." Li Quyin’s cold eyes were as sharp as ice—he’d better not find that person.
"Why?"
Li Quyin gave a bitter smile, "Probably for money."
Xia Xixi asked no more. When it comes to money, some people are willing to do anything.
"Time really flies," Li Quyin sighed.
Tomorrow afternoon, they would have to leave.
Li Quyin looked across at Xia Xixi, who still looked exactly as he had when they first met.
A white shirt, slim black trousers, exuding the clean, pure air of a university student.
In his eyes, there was none of the messy, worldly concerns.
"What kind of work do you do?" Li Quyin suddenly asked, finding it hard to imagine Xia Xixi in a regular nine-to-five job.
Xia Xixi was about to say he worked in antique appraisal but swallowed his words. His profession had always been looked down upon.
Not out of contempt, but rather due to a lack of understanding.
In many people’s minds, those in his line of work were either digging up graves in remote mountains or conning people in alleyways with fake goods.
"I write reports," Xia Xixi replied.
He didn’t have much work, hardly needed to go to the office, and mostly just showed up when necessary or helped with appraisals.
Among all the tasks, writing reports was what he did most.
So technically, he wasn’t lying.
Hearing this, Li Quyin tried to picture Xia Xixi sitting in an office writing reports and couldn’t help but smile. It just didn’t match his image.
He had always imagined Xia Xixi living in a secluded mountain forest, drinking dew and surviving on ethereal energy.
"And you?" Xia Xixi didn’t want to discuss himself further.
He was also a bit worried that Li Quyin might guess his true identity. After all, it wasn’t the right time to reveal it, fearing Li Quyin might feel inferior.
He would tell him when the time was right.
Moreover, his identity wasn’t just limited to being an appraisal expert.
"Me?" Li Quyin was caught off guard, "I just do odd jobs, wherever I’m needed..."
Xia Xixi’s lips moved slightly. Odd jobs?
"No full-time job?"
"Uh? Yeah, that’s right," Li Quyin responded vaguely.
Artists work on a contract basis, moving from one project to the next, often on the road. Describing it as doing odd jobs seemed pretty accurate.
Most importantly, he couldn’t exactly say his job was acting.
Xia Xixi looked at Li Quyin, but his mind was on Shen Bailou. The Shen family treated Shen Bailou like a treasure but treated Li Quyin like he was nothing.
It was remarkable that Li Quyin hadn’t developed a twisted personality. If it had been someone else, they might have become bitter and cynical long ago.
As they were chatting, Li Quyin's phone suddenly rang.
He wasn’t going to answer, but a glance at the screen showed it was a message from Miao Mingyi, sending the expert’s details and contact information.
Li Quyin immediately sat up straight, unlocking his screen to check.
Almost simultaneously, Xia Xixi’s phone rang too.
It was a message from his friend about Shen Bailou.