“Hey, it’s you? Got another round of hand-to-hand combat with your female fans tonight?” Meng Xu asked with a teasing grin.
“Ah, Mr. Meng, you flatter me, you flatter me.” Qin Shou gave an awkward, bowing laugh.
“Tsk, can’t you play at a higher level for once? What’s so fun about messing around with ordinary people?” Meng Xu curled his lip.
“Yes, yes, Mr. Meng is absolutely right. So, Mr. Meng, are you here with Zhao Ying this time?”
Smack! Meng Xu slapped Qin Shou right across the face, leaving him stunned.
“Get the hell out of here! Zhao Ying? Is that a name you’re allowed to call? From now on, it’s ‘Goddess,’ got it?!”
“Yes, yes, Goddess, Goddess.” Qin Shou covered his cheek and put on a flattering smile.
“Hmph.” Meng Xu let out a snort through his nose and strutted off.
“Damn it, I used to call her Zhao Ying all the time! When did she become ‘Goddess’?” Taking an undeserved slap like that, Qin Shou was beyond frustrated.
The staff led Qin Shou straight to the entrance of the banquet hall. As soon as he stepped inside, he trotted over to a middle-aged man.
“Oh, Mr. Wang, you got here early.” Qin Shou bowed and scraped repeatedly.
“Mm, Xiao Qin, have a seat.” Wang Long tilted his chin toward the seat next to him.
“Oh, Mr. Wang, so this is that so-called ‘Clothes-Wearing Beast,’ huh?” Beside Wang Long, Ye Ziming raised an eyebrow arrogantly.
Qin Shou was about to blow his top when he heard that.
But to his surprise, Wang Long spoke up first.
“Haha, Mr. Ye sure has a sense of humor. His name is Qin—as in the Qin Dynasty—and Shou, as in ‘to feel.’ The name does tend to cause some misunderstandings.”
With that, Wang Long turned his head toward Qin Shou.
“Xiao Qin, this is Mr. Ye Ziming from Jiangnan City’s Ye Group, and he’s also the exclusive sponsor for this singing competition. Come over and say hello.”
As soon as Qin Shou heard that, he thought, Whoa, this guy’s a cash cow! Can’t afford to piss him off.
“So you’re Mr. Ye! Pleasure to meet you, pleasure to meet you.” Qin Shou bowed and scraped all over again.
“Haha, go have fun over there. Plenty of beauties around—don’t let your name down, alright?” Ye Ziming waved him off with utter contempt.
“Alright, alright. Mr. Ye, Mr. Wang, you two carry on. I’ll go sit over there.” Qin Shou gave them another little bow and walked away.
The banquet hall was mostly filled with judges from this singing competition—over a dozen celebrities. Even if they weren’t close, they all knew each other. They were greeting one another, and the atmosphere was quite pleasant.
“Mr. Ye, when should the banquet start?” A staff member walked over and asked Ye Ziming for instructions.
“Wait a bit longer. Mr. Meng isn’t back yet.” Ye Ziming waved the staff member away.
“Say, Mr. Wang, this Zhao Ying—she’s a popular singer, sure, but is she really that stuck-up? Even you can’t get her to come?” Ye Ziming asked Wang Long with a teasing tone.
“Sigh.” Wang Long let out a sigh. “Mr. Ye, you don’t know the whole story. Zhao Ying is someone Mr. Meng has his eyes on. But the thing is, Mr. Meng doesn’t like to use force—he insists on winning her over through proper channels. That’s ended up becoming Zhao Ying’s shield. With Mr. Meng backing her, no one dares to lay a finger on her. Otherwise, do you think I’d let her get away with being so arrogant?”
“Oh, so that’s how it is.” Ye Ziming frowned and nodded.
“So, do you think Mr. Meng can get her to come?”
“I doubt it.” Wang Long shook his head.
Sure enough, as soon as Wang Long finished speaking, Meng Xu walked in looking dejected.
“Mr. Meng.” Wang Long quickly put on a smiling face and went up to greet him.
“How’d it go, Mr. Meng?” Ye Ziming also got up and walked over, his smile a little submissive.
“Tsk, don’t even mention it. Damn it, forget it—let’s not wait anymore. Start the banquet.” Meng Xu didn’t stop walking and plopped down directly onto the sofa in the middle.
Ye Ziming quickly called over a staff member and ordered the banquet to begin.
“Mr. Meng, on behalf of the Ye family, I welcome you to Jiangnan City. If you need anything while you’re here, just let me know. I’m not bragging, but in Jiangnan City, there’s nothing I can’t get done.” Ye Ziming raised his glass of red wine toward Meng Xu.
“Sure, sure.” Meng Xu clinked glasses with Ye Ziming listlessly.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Meng? In a bad mood?” A woman with a pure, innocent look walked over holding a glass, plopped down right next to Meng Xu, and leaned her body against his.
Seeing this woman, the service staff nearby felt their hearts race.
Damn, that’s the famous actress Su Qi! She’s always appeared on screen as the pure and innocent goddess—the dream girl of countless men!
Meng Xu pulled Su Qi right into his arms.
“Damn it, I’m in a terrible mood tonight—I need to let off some serious steam.” As he spoke, his hands started to wander.
“How annoying!” Su Qi shot him a flirtatious glare, her eyes full of seduction.
The service staff were dumbfounded. Is this really the same pure goddess they see on TV?
Gulp, gulp. The staff swallowed hard, each secretly wishing they were the man in that position.
“Oh, Mr. Meng, I’ll excuse myself for a moment—I need to go greet the judges over there.” Ye Ziming, ever perceptive, stood up.
“Go on, go on.” Meng Xu waved without even looking up, pressing his mouth directly against Su Qi’s neck.
“Mr. Meng, I’ll excuse myself too.” Wang Long watched Su Qi’s look of utter pleasure and felt a tickle in his heart. Damn, even he hadn’t gotten a taste of this woman yet.
“All you big stars, eat well and have fun!” Ye Ziming held his wine glass and kept greeting the celebrity judges.
“Mr. Ye.” A young woman in revealing clothes with heavy makeup grabbed Ye Ziming’s arm. “Don’t forget what you promised me.”
As she spoke, she pressed herself right against Ye Ziming.
“Tsk, you little vixen. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten. Come with me.” He wrapped his arm around her and brought her over to a group of celebrities who were chatting together.
“Excuse me, everyone—big stars, artists.”
“Oh, Mr. Ye! Please, have a seat.” A few has-been singers and actors in their fifties or sixties quickly made room for him.
Ye Ziming didn’t stand on ceremony and plopped right down.
“This is my friend, Zhen Shuang. She’s also a contestant in this singing competition. As for what you all need to do—I don’t think I need to spell it out.”
“Please take care of me, esteemed artist seniors!” After Ye Ziming introduced her, Zhen Shuang quickly flashed the old-timers a sweet, charming smile.
“Oh, of course, of course! Have a seat, sit down and talk.” Zhen Shuang’s reputation as the seductive campus beauty wasn’t for nothing. With just a smile and a glance, she had these old lechers completely bewitched.
“Thank you, seniors.” Zhen Shuang twisted her slender waist and sat down next to one of the old celebrities.
Feeling the waft of perfume beside him, the old celebrity’s bones practically turned to jelly.
“Hey, you think sitting there is gonna get you first place?” Ye Ziming said sarcastically from the side.
“Mr. Ye, this is my first time meeting big stars—I’m just nervous!” Zhen Shuang said in a coquettish voice, then lifted herself up and plopped right onto the old celebrity’s lap.
“Oh, oh my…” The old celebrity was completely dumbfounded. His hands were hovering in the air, not knowing where to put them.
“Mr. Li, you’ll have to take good care of me during the competition, alright?” Zhen Shuang nibbled lightly on Mr. Li’s earlobe and blew a soft breath into his ear.
“Oh, of course, of course!” Mr. Li’s voice was trembling.
“Hehe, you’re so bad.” Zhen Shuang let out a flirtatious laugh and wrapped her arms around Mr. Li’s neck.
The other old celebrities nearby stared with wide eyes, their gazes burning as they watched Mr. Li and Zhen Shuang get cozy, swallowing hard again and again.
“Mr. Liu, you’ll have to help me out too, alright?” Noticing their stares, Zhen Shuang turned around and ran her slender fingers over the face of an old celebrity in glasses sitting next to Mr. Wang.
“Absolutely! I’ll definitely help—definitely!” Mr. Liu quickly grabbed Zhen Shuang’s little hand and started rubbing it incessantly.
“Alright, you all take your time getting acquainted.” Seeing that things were well underway, Ye Ziming stood up and walked away.
“Take care, Mr. Ye!”
“Take care, Mr. Ye!”
The old celebrities quickly put on smiling faces and half-rose from their seats to see him off.
As soon as Ye Ziming was gone, the old geezers’ true colors came out in full force.
“You know, Xiao Zhen, my vote is pretty crucial in this competition too.”
“So is mine! There was actually another female contestant who came to see me earlier—I was still debating whether to help her or not.”
…
Zhen Shuang knew exactly what these old farts were hinting at.
She turned her head toward the four or five old men and licked her lips.
“Dear artist seniors, since there’s no one else around, let’s drop the act. All of you—come at me together.”
