Chapter 241: Date [2 in 1]
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
The very clever Luo Mingxin chose neither of the paths. He gave a call to Boss Mo and explained the situation before asking if he could bring another guest. If that was not possible, Luo Mingxin wondered if Boss Mo could bring Ye Shuang as his plus one. If that was not even possible, then… Luo Mingxin would have no choice but to cancel on his date.
Naturally, Boss Mo was one of the invited guests. However, he had already decided to bring one of his signed people to brush up on her popularity. At the same time, Boss Mo actually wanted to use Luo Mingxin to set up a barricade for Ye Shuang, silently telling her that she should stay away from Xia Cheng so that she would not ruin the good relations.h.i.+p between them.
To his disappointment, Luo Mingxin was so useless, and he could not resist the girl’s firepower at all. In fact, he was beaten with just one hit. To prevent Luo Mingxin from offending the up and coming star, Boss Mo had no choice but to sigh and change his date.
“Xiao Shuang sure looks pretty today, but I wonder, how do you plan to introduce yourself?” Boss Mo put his arm around Ye Shuang’s arm. He maintained a friendly smile as he looked ahead, but upon closer inspection, one could see the slight twitch on the edge of his lips.
“Haven’t we gone over this?” Ye Shuang replied directly. Her lips curled upward in a polite and quiet smile as she answered without moving her lips. “I am your relative from extended family.”
Boss Mo silently gave a thumbs up to Ye Shuang’s skill and sighed. “For some reason, I feel like today’s party is going to have an unpredictable ending.”
Originally, Boss Mo had seen Ye Shuang as a normal youth with some level of capability. Even though he had thought that the girl was remarkable, that level of remarkability was within the range that he could consider as being cute. However, after more in depth interaction, Boss Mo had started to realize that he had no idea where Ye Shuang’s bottom line was.
First, it was already quite anomalous that she was able to make Luo Mingxin so afraid of her. Then, she did not have the nerves of a normal girl when she attended a function like this. Finally, it was the ventriloquism. If this was just hobby… No, Boss Mo found that hard to believe. Who would train such a simple hobby to this level of expertise? Furthermore, he had not seen the girl perform this skill before, so the chance of this being a personal hobby was very low.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Mo. I promise to not drag you down.” Ye Shuang consoled the man in a confident voice. Due to the fact that she had latched upon a high-quality male partner this time, Ye Shuang managed to save the money that would have been spent on attire. Tian Mo Media had a changing room that was ready for its employees. It was complete with dresses, hats, shoes, pants, and various accessories. To select an outfit that was suitable for a party was easy as ABC.
Saving this expense, Ye Shuang was naturally very happy. Since she planned to work together with Tian Mo Media for a long time and she did not have the plan to make things difficult for Boss Mo, Ye Shuang naturally would not do anything too out of line at the party. In fact, if Boss Mo had any additional request like he wished to know about a certain party guest, Ye Shuang was willing to do everything within her power to help.
It was such a steal, was it not‽ How was a normal celebrity going to be as useful as she was‽
Ye Shuang was feeling touched by her kindness as she followed Boss Mo into the hall. However, what happened next quickly shattered her desire to pay her debt of grat.i.tude.
“Boss Mo! Long time no see, that time…”
“Boss Mo, I heard you just started a new movie, you look at my…”
“Boss Mo…”
Like a bunch of bees spotting the singular flower, the guests swamped Boss Mo when he stepped into the room. The crowd almost shoved Ye Shuang away.
Ye Shuang suddenly realized that there was no reason for her to exist there. This was because the group of male and female celebrities could not wait to expose the color of their underwear. It was one thing for them to give updates on their current situation, but they also could not wait to introduce to Boss Mo their relatives and friends whom they had brought along with them.
What happened to the friendly little spy that she was going to play? The mutual help and friendly interaction? If it was like this, then there was no situation for her to show that she had her reason to be there!
Boss Mo smiled politely with the group of people. He then patted the back of Ye Shuang’s hands as he made the introduction to the crowd, saying that she was his distant relative. Then with the aura of a big boss, he turned to tell Ye Shuang, “I have to talk business with some people, so why don’t you go play on your own? You’ll be fine. If there’s any trouble, just come back to find your Uncle Mo.”
Suddenly, Ye Shuang felt like such a vase. Ye Shuang, who felt a certain way, left while maintaining a polite smile on her face. She did not take long to locate Luo Mingxin, who was around the bar with the actress.
“This is such a coincidence.” Ye Shuang had an expression that appeared like they were old friends having a chance meeting. “I’m surprised Celebrity Luo showed up to an event like this.”
Coincidence your head! We just talked on the phone yesterday! Luo Mingxin smiled patiently and then turned to apologize to the actress next to him. “I’m so sorry, but I need to spend some time here. Do you mind…”
“Of course not. I’ll see Celebrity Luo later.” The actress was a clever person as well. She smiled kindly and bade farewell to the both of them before leaving. She waltzed away gracefully to another group of people who were at the other end of the room and soon joined their conversation.
“Boss Mo doesn’t have the time for me, so I came to find you to help me.” Ye Shuang waited until the actress had left and shrugged without waiting for Luo Mingxin to ask. She sighed and said, “Can you help introduce me to Xia Cheng? I only need to chat with him for some time. It should not be too difficult for someone like you, right?”
“It is indeed not difficult, but if you want do anything bad or illegal, please leave me out of it.” Despite his complaint, Luo Mingxin still opened his arms to Ye Shuang.
Ye Shuang took the man’s offered hand and then followed the man’s meandering steps toward Xia Cheng. Why would they be called meandering steps? Because they did not move toward their target directly—they stopped along the way to share conversation with other people. Therefore, when Xia Cheng suddenly realized that Celebrity Luo was walking past him, he did not realize that this was done on purpose.
“Mr. Luo!” Xia Cheng called after him in greeting. Just as the couple turned around with surprise, he lifted his gla.s.s of wine and then moved forward to joke kindly. “I still have not had the chance to chat with Celebrity Luo today. This is… When did you change his date?”
“Mr. Xia? I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you there earlier.” Luo Mingxin laughed apologetically like he was really embarra.s.sed about this. Then he turned to Ye Shuang and made the introduction between them. “This is Boss Mo’s niece. Her name is Ye Shuang. We just ran into each other at the party, and since Boss Mo is busy with other things, I help to look after her. Xiao Shuang, this is Mr. Xia Cheng, the largest investor for Oligarchy of n.o.bility.”
Xia Cheng laughed happily. “You flatter me. It’s not that big an investment. I only brought in 8,000,000. The bigger part is still provided by Tian Mo Media. I tried to give more, but Boss Mo has rejected me.”
“I also wish to bring in 8,000,000, but they did not even want a cent from me. Boss Mo is only trying the adaptation for the first time, and he’s just worried that you might lose the money,” Luo Mingxin explained with a smile.
Everyone understood but did not point it out. Boss Mo was not afraid of losses. To be frank, it was due to the issue of profit. The script that was adapted was good, the cast was famous, the budget was full, and the director was Director Zhou again. If the film still failed with so many conditions, then both Boss Mo and Luo Mingxin did not want to believe in true love anymore.
Xia Cheng smiled and did not say anything. He led the two to the buffet table. With interest, he took care of Ye Shuang and tried to drag her into the conversation. “I’ve not seen Miss Ye before. I’m surprised such a socialite is hiding at Boss Mo’s home. I wonder if Miss Ye is interested in movies as well?”
“I was once a star chaser.” Ye Shuang decided to use the naïve and cute persona that day. She blinked and continued in a happy tone. “I heard there would be many celebrities coming today, and I had to annoy my uncle for such a long time before he agreed to bring me as his date. Unfortunately, after we arrived, my uncle was swamped by other guests, and he has no time to play with me anymore. Therefore, I had to rely on Brother Luo to bring me around.”
Brother Luo could not help but s.h.i.+ver when he heard this crisp, sweet voice. His eyes that looked at Ye Shuang were filled with terror and shock. Please, don’t do this! The change of style is too fast—I can’t handle it!
Before Xia Meng turned his gaze to him, Luo Mingxin quickly arranged his expression and said in a gentlemanly way, “To accompany Xiao Shuang is an honor for me as well.”
“At the end of the day, I’m the host. Even if Boss Mo is not free, I could not have you two be bored,” Xia Cheng replied with a soft expression, but his impression of Ye Shuang had improved by a lot. Ye Shuang purposely made it sound like she was close to the Mo family for this big fish to get hooked on his own, so naturally, she played along. Therefore, the two went back and forth. They continued to play dumb, and soon, they abandoned Luo Mingxin and moved away to converse on their own.
…
Boss Mo had finally greeted everyone at the party. He got time to look for Ye Shuang and follow her movement. He looked around the hall and did not find her, so he moved outside. Holding the gla.s.s of wine, he wandered around the garden but still failed to find Ye Shuang. However, he did spot Luo Mingxin.
Boss Mo saw Luo Mingxin was stranded, so he walked over to ask in surprise, “Xiao Luo, why are you all alone? Where is your date?”
“She was tricked away by Xiao Shuang.” Luo Mingxin chuckled before sighing. Then he asked with interest, “By the way, Boss Mo, do you know why Xiao Shuang wanted to come to this party today?”
“How would an old man like me know what young people nowadays are thinking?” Boss Mo played dumb. “I did not see Xiao Shuang inside, do you know where she is?”
Luo Mingxin revealed a mysterious smile and played dumb as well. “Young people will not stick at one place, so how would I know where she has wondered off to.”
“You do have a point.” Boss Mo smiled. Such a sly little fox!
“Indeed, indeed.” Luo Mingxin smiled in return. The old fox still has his claws!
One knew that Ye Shuang’s target was Xia Meng. The other knew that Ye Shuang’s acting skills were unbelievable. Neither party was willing to share their known information; therefore, they smiled and chatted for a long time, but no progress had been made. Ten minutes later, Boss Mo realized that he would not get any more information from Luo Mingxin. With the combination of boredom and worry for Ye Shuang, he parted and went away. He walked around the place and finally got the information from one of the maids. She said that Ye Shuang had wandered off to the kitchen. Therefore, with dark lines down his face, he headed to the kitchen.
Ye Shuang was enjoying the company of the workers. The party provided quite a number of pastries and cakes, but the ones supplied at the buffet were naturally not as numerous as the ones in the kitchen. Furthermore, Ye Shuang did not want to stay outside to scare others with her appet.i.te, so she felt more like herself inside the kitchen.
Boss Mo face-palmed and felt a headache coming. He ground his teeth and tried to keep his temper in check. “Xiao Shuang, why didn’t you just eat outside at the party?”
“The things outside are exposed to the wind, and they have already hardened. So, they can’t be better than the food that is fresh out of the oven. Furthermore, so many people are standing around the buffet table. Their face powder and saliva will accidentally fly into the food as they chat around the table.” Ye Shuang slipped a macaroon into her mouth and munched on it with satisfaction. Then, she turned, ignoring the expression on Boss Mo’s face, and provided several suggestions to the cook. “By the way, what did you say that the guest from earlier ask for? The one that likes his food with plenty of salt.”
“Xiao Shuang, do you mind coming with me?” Boss Mo hoped that Ye Shuang would leave with him and stop being so friendly with the help. What if some other guest saw this? What would they say?
Ye Shuang swiped a can of freshly baked cookies. She hugged it in her chest and followed Boss Mo out of the kitchen. “How can I help you, Boss Mo?”
“What is really your reason for being here today?” Boss Mo really did not know what to say anymore. He had less and less of an idea what kind of ident.i.ty Ye Shuang played.
“Xia Cheng is too clever. I cannot just slip into his study. Even if I can, I might not find anything useful.” The crunch of the biscuit punctured their conversation. Ye Shuang licked her finger and said, “Thankfully, there are quite a number of workers here, and they are all talkative and friendly. If you ask them, you’ll pretty much know the type of company Xia Cheng has been keeping recently.”
Boss Mo felt a stomach ache coming. “What is so special about Xia Cheng that he deserves such close attention from you? Why don’t you tell me directly, and I’ll see whether I can find out anything for you‽”
Boss Mo had planned to cross his arms and not get himself involved, but from the looks of it, that would not work. If he stayed away, he had no idea what kind of tricks the girl might resort to next. Today, she had mixed into the kitchen to reach out to the cooks; tomorrow, she might mix into the film crew. If he did not stop Ye Shuang before things became serious or before she made a fool of herself, the future would be filled with too many surprises, surprises that Boss Mo was not sure he would like.
“Uncle Mo, I’ve already told you the entertainment business in Xiang Jiang is not clean, but you did not think too much of it. Even if you did, the problem there might not be one that you would wish to get involved in. So, let it be. I thank you for your concern, and if I need your help, I will definitely reach out to you.” Ye Shuang finished the box of cookies and was about to turn back into the kitchen to ask for another box when Boss Mo pulled on her arm to stop her.
“Wait a minute, tell me what you have found out tonight first.” Boss Mo was half suspicious.
Ye Shuang thought about it and pulled out a fist to place between herself and Boss Mo. She pulled up her finger one by one to count. “One, Xia Cheng is trying very hard to endear himself to Tian Mo Media, and this is more than just necessary for business partner. I feel like because of you, he has even tried to flirt with me.
“Two, the owner of this apartment is not Xia Cheng. Before Xia Cheng arrived in Shanghai, other people lived here, and occasionally, the original tenant would call for a delivery. The food serviced would normally fit four to five people.
“Three, Xia Cheng is not a local from Xiang Jiang. His daily food intake is more similar to the liking of the people from Dongbei 1 , but his speech contains the accent of Xiang Jiang. Accent and food habits are cultivated through a long period of time. He’s a Dongbei citizen with Yue Yu’s accent 2 ? Then is pretending to be a Xiang Jiang citizen, or has he recently become interested in food from Dongbei region?”
What the f*ck, she really dug up some stuff‽ Boss Mo felt incredibly shocked. He had thought that the girl was just playing, so he was surprised his casual question would lead to so many revelations. Ye Shuang shook her three fingers before Boss Mo and then pulled her hand back to hug her chest. “Alas, the cooks here are just temp workers. Other than the daily meals and this party, they do not spend time here, so they only know so much.”
Boss Mo frowned, conflicted. “Even if there are irregularities with Mr. Xia, that doesn’t really mean anything. Perhaps he came from a less than glorious background and wishes to create a new identify for himself when he’s out and about?”
This kind of practice was not that uncommon. Many people refused to bring up their dark history after they had made it. Perhaps they thought that their humble beginning might lessen their accomplishment. This was especially true in the entertainment business—many people were willing to have themselves surrounded by scandals and gossip rather than have the media say that they were backward. Therefore, those with a bad given name would find an artist’s name—those with a humble background would lie about their background. Many people would do everything within their power to hide the history that they were ashamed of.
People had different personalities, and it was hard to tell what might be shameful to someone. Therefore, the best solution to avoid stepping on other people’s tails was to act dumb. If it was not something that would be beneficial to oneself, if one had come across something that one should not, one should just pretend to not see it—who would care whether the man was wearing briefs or boxers?
“I didn’t say that his strange eating habits mean that he has to be suspicious, but how would you explain the first and second anomalies?” Ye Shuang smiled. “Furthermore, I’m just gathering information and coming up with speculations. As long as there’s suspicion, he deserves a closer look. Actual evidence is not that important to me—after all, I do not plan to hash it out openly with the man.”
The party was a private event. Even though the place was filled with stars, there were few reporters that could get in. Most of the reporters could only take pictures outside of the apartment, so the atmosphere inside was quite relaxed.
Boss Mo accompanied Ye Shuang for the other half of the party. Perhaps what Ye Shuang said earlier had left an impression on his mind, because when Xia Cheng came to talk to them later, he did feel the man was trying to flirt with his ‘niece’.
Ye Shuang playing along was the part that surprised Boss Mo. Even though she accepted the invitation to dance, she acted like she did not understand the meaning this gesture represented. She acted close and friendly around the man like she really did hit it off with him.
The party was finally over. When she followed Boss Mo and left in the car, she felt like she already had a rudimentary idea of the situation.
“By the way, Boss Mo.” Ye Shuang sat at the backseat and was reminded of another thing. “I wish to ask for a cameo from you. Do you mind if Brother Shuang comes for a cameo in a few days?”
Boss Mo’s mind was still quite confused. “Hmm, who? Wait, you’re talking about that Ye Shuang who played the big brother‽”
“Yes.” Ye Shuang nodded like she could make the decision for the man. “There is a limit to how much I can find out. If I want to go further, I’ll need to give up something like insider information about Tian Mo Media. That is rather risky, and I believe you will not agree to something like that, so the best solution now is to have Brother Shuang enter the film crew to send out his feelers.”
Boss Mo signaled for the driver in front to pull up the part.i.tion. After he confirmed that their conversation would not travel beyond the confines of the backseat, he continued. “But Xia Cheng is the investor. Even if he does come to the set, it will only be for once or twice. What will you find out by sending the man to the crew?”
“If there is really a problem with Xia Cheng, he will definitely go to the set after he finds out that Brother Shuang will be making an appearance.” Ye Shuang had full confidence. Brother Shuang had shown up in Chaohai’s casino before. Even though he did not play personally, by the way he had acted, the bespectacled would have been able to tell that Brother Shuang had a relations.h.i.+p with Zuo Feiyang.
It was unclear if they would pin the things that happened in Chaohai on Brother Shuang, but if the bespectacled man did send in a detailed report and if Xia Cheng was someone from the organization, for the sake of taking a closer look and being careful, he would show up on set. If she was mistaken or if the man did not know about what happened in Chaohai, at most, she would be cameoing in the film.
Boss Mo rubbed his temple. “The young man does have a talent in acting, and his face is… How about this? Tell me what kind of character he wants.”
“I also don’t know!” Ye Shuang looked at Boss Mo innocently. “I’ve not seen the final adaptation of the script, and I have no idea what kind of characters there are. In any case, just pick a random one as long as there aren’t too many lines. However, there have to be scenes where he shows up as well. If there is really no character like that, then just write an official of some sort into the script.”
“He’s not afraid of ruining his image, but I’m afraid that his fans will come after my company’s website.” Boss Mo was speechless as well. “Never mind, I’ll go back to take a look, but he has to pa.s.s the audition first.”
Ye Shuang nodded absent-mindedly. Then she added after she remembered something. “By the way, have Luo Mingxin make the introduction. Boss Mo, you’d better not show that you’re involved in this.”
Boss Mo looked at Ye Shuang again. “I understand.”
Then, they did not share anymore words. The car dropped Ye Shuang back at her hotel. After she entered her room, Ye Shuang typed up the day’s events in detail and sent an email to Han Chu before going to take a shower. When she got out from the bathroom, the reply from Han Chu had come. The content was basically that he had received the email and would continue to investigate the other two while he left Xia Cheng to Ye Shuang. Han Chu would try to see if he could dig up more personal information on the guy.
However, at the same time, Han Chu gave her a reminder. If Xia Cheng was really suspicious, the information that they had dug up might not be true—it might just be a fake persona.
Other than the official business, in the last paragraph of the email, Han Chu had another message to tell her.
“…the other agent has arrived in Shanghai as well. I’ve already given him your number. If you’re free, try to contact him, and if necessary, try to work together. His number is…”
The other agent? Ye Shuang’s hands that were drying her hair halted. She scratched her chin with antic.i.p.ation. She knew that there were other agents all over the country, but she had not had the chance to meet these colleagues before.