Chapter 35

“President Xi, we’ve investigated the company Ms Xia Man has been working to build. Tang Yin and Jiang Wan are both in the company.” Xi Mo’s assistant reported the findings of his investigation to Xi Mo.

“Company?” Cold light flashed in Xi Mo’s eyes. “Where did the capital come from?”

“It’s the inheritance left behind by Ms Xia Man’s mother as well as-”

“Humph, well, she certainly is brave.” Even after all these years, she was just as naïve and rash as before. Did she really think opening a company was that easy?

“I don’t want to see her company, understand?” He wanted to let Xia Man understand that only he could protect her.

The assistant’s expression turned strange as his lips writhed before he spoke, “President Xi, Ms Xia Man’s company is headquartered in the capital…”

Xi Mo’s dagger-like glare shot towards the assistant, causing him to tremble and his face to turn ashen as cold sweat dripped off his brow.

He hadn’t expected Xia Man to open the company in the capital. Even if the Xi family could call the shots in Qing City, they didn’t have much influence in the capital. The capital was where the truly influential and powerful lived. It was a place that could swallow a person whole and not even spit out the bones^[1]. ‘Just how big did her guts have to be to dare open a company in the capital? It seems like this time I don’t even have to make a move and she’ll come crawling back soon enough.’

As the assistant looked at the terrifying smile on his boss’ face, he only felt a cold wind blowing on his back as his heart – as well as the lungs enfolding it – trembled.

……

Only Shi Sheng and Xia Man had been aware from the beginning that the company would be opened in the capital so the two of them weren’t worried at all about offending Xi Mo and Xia Xuan. The Xi and Xia families could only count as powerful families in Qing City but in the capital, they were only third-rate families at most.

Back then, Xia Man hadn’t agreed to this point but after some ‘convincing’ {conning} by Shi Sheng, by the time she reacted, she had already agreed. Since the matter of choosing the company’s address had been completely managed by Shi Sheng, Xia Man hadn’t been aware of the specifics.

Xia Man and Tang Yin only reacted when they were standing inside a certain office building in the capital.

Tang Yin “…” ‘Our company is headquartered in the capital?!’

Xia Man “…” ‘…And it’s in a prime location?!’

‘Big Miss^[2], even if making money is easy for you, you don’t have to squander it all like this right?’

After another period of busying themselves, the company was finally on track.

They had originally planned to let Tang Yin be the CEO since neither Shi Sheng nor Xia Man wanted to be the CEO. However, Tang Yin refused the post, saying that he just wanted to be the director in charge of the company’s artists. Shi Sheng could only spend a large sum to invite a professional from overseas.

Tang Yin was in charge of scouting out talents while Shi Sheng and Xia Man went off to challenge the entertainment circle. After all, Shi Sheng still had a mission to do.

The only thing Shi Sheng did during meetings was to give money, give money, and give more money.

The professional CEO was stunned. ‘Working for this kind of boss is the best thing one could wish for.’

Tang Yin was already used to this. Though he didn’t know how much Shi Sheng had on hand, he knew that the company had never had a shortage of funds.

Want to act something? Throw money at people!

Want to be the lead? Just sponsor the show!

Although the company had funds, the company rules were rather strict. The artists working for the company had to have good self-discipline and take care of themselves. They must not scheme for opportunities. They were not allowed to get into conflicts with artists of the same company and had to have good team spirit. As long as they had the ability, they would get the resources.

The contract had maximised the interests of the artists so they received equal treatment and opportunities at the company. This resulted in almost no internal conflicts. Shi Sheng and Xia Man assumed the roles of fellow artists in front of them.

Though Shi Sheng looked easy to get along with, people who had contact with her before knew that she wasn’t as cute as her appearance suggested. She seemed to have thorns all over her; If she was unhappy, she’d make you unhappy too. Though, if you didn’t provoke her, she wouldn’t prick you either.

Because she was one of the first artists to enter the company and was now a 3^rd rank celebrity who only needed an opportunity to leap to the 2^nd rank, they didn’t have any conflict of interests with her.

Sometimes the company would even make her bring along people. Though she always had an unwilling face on, if anyone dared to bully them, she would definitely defend them so no one dared to provoke her.

Xia Man however, was a different story. She was very welcomed in the company, she was simply the equivalent of their company’s auspicious creature. “Man-jie, Man-jie, you came to the company today? Are you done filming for the day?” Xia Man was immediately surrounded by girls upon entering the company.

“Man-jie, the last time I went to visit your set you weren’t there…”

“Man-jie, I’ve been working hard recently. When will you be free to give me some pointers?”

Shi Sheng arrived a few minutes after Xia Man. The first thing she saw when she entered was Xia Man being surrounded. The moment she appeared though, those girls immediately quietened down.

Xia Man turned around to find Shi Sheng who was exuding a mafia-esque Big Sister vibe. She was wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses. Together with her short, cropped hair, she looked awesomely cold as she strode over.

The other girls were all stunned by her aura!

But the next second, Shi Sheng took off her sunglasses and her entire aura changed as she spoke with disdain, “How come you’re back too?”

Xia Man was already used to her sudden changes in aura but those other girls weren’t. Can you imagine if one moment you saw a goddess and the next moment, she turned into a madwoman^[3]?

“Tang-ge told me to come back.” Xia Man shrugged. “Let’s go up. You guys work hard!”

The first sentence was addressed to Shi Sheng while the second one was to the group of girls around her.

The girls nodded their heads. ‘*grateful sobs* Man-jie is the best! Man-jie is so pretty and kind, she also encourages us. We have to work hard!’

Tang Yin and the CEO had already been waiting for a while now. The moment Shi Sheng entered the office, she forcibly occupied the CEO’s computer. Xia Man and Tang Yin cast helpless glances at each other. ‘What else can this person do besides money?

…Okay, so maybe that’s the most important job already.’

Tang Yin and Xia Man made their reports before discussing about the areas the company was developing in recently. Finally, they asked Shi Sheng for her opinion.

“The team the company has been developing recently can go public now. Xiaowan, weren’t you participating in a reality TV show recently? I remember you were allowed to bring people on set. Xiaowan, can you bring them there for some exposure?

“Why is it me again? And that reality TV show is so harsh, do you want those buds to fall before they’ve even bloomed?”

Tang Yin, “…” ‘Can’t you be more optimistic?’

CEO “…” ‘I don’t understand this boss of mine.’

“It won’t be like that. Xiaowan, that reality TV show has gotten a lot of attention recently and all they’re doing is to show themselves. It’s not as if they’re going to participate throughout.” Xia Man spoke calmly. You shouldn’t take her words seriously, otherwise you’d lose.

“That’s so unfair.” Shi Sheng blurted out. “How come I have exhaust myself but they can just show themselves? That won’t do. I heard the programme’s been looking for sponsors recently…”

“Er, Xiaoman, how’s the progress on that movie you’re acting in?” Tang Yin quickly changed the subject. If he let her continue on, she’d definitely get the company to sponsor the programme. And she’d probably torment them to the point it would become part of their dark history!

“It’s doing quite well and filming is about to be over…” Xia Man clearly knew what Shi Sheng was like so she cooperated with Tang Yin. The CEO meanwhile, was just sitting there confused. ‘I really don’t understand these bosses of mine.’

^[1] Swallow a person whole and not spit out the bones is used to describe a ruthless, scary thing/place.

^[2] This is used to emphasize their disbelief and a bit of exasperation.

^[3] This sounded so much better in the raws since it uses wordplay. Remember how Lu Qingyun called Su Yixiu a “god…ly madman” in Chapter 27.