Chapter 36

Inside the VIP reception room, the client representative negotiating Chen Mo's endorsement contract was lounging on the sofa, flipping through a fashion magazine.

Chen Mo pushed open the door and entered. Seeing the casually relaxed man in a suit sitting on the reception room sofa, he could not help asking in surprise, "Why are you here?"

Chapter 36

"Why can't it be me?" Mu Yu set aside the fashion magazine in his hand, rose to his feet, and smiled.

"Wasn't I supposed to be endorsing Lele Potato Chips?" Chen Mo looked utterly baffled. He could not figure out why the CEO of Mu Group had come personally to negotiate a potato chip endorsement. Wasn't that a bit of overkill?

"Because Lele Potato Chips is also a product under Mu Group. We at Mu Group place great importance on this change of spokesperson." Mu Yu smiled. He did not mention that Lele Potato Chips was merely a brand owned by one of Mu Group's food companies, much less how he had coerced and tempted his second brother into handing over the authority to negotiate the endorsement contract.

However, Mu Yu's vague explanation could not fool Chen Mo, who had studied information on various companies for stock trading, nor could it convince Dong, who knew full well there was something fishy going on. Yang Qindong frowned almost imperceptibly before saying with a smile, "It seems Mu Group truly does value this endorsement. For the CEO to personally handle negotiations over a small brand under a mere subsidiary is certainly an honor for us."

Mu Yu smiled warmly and said unhurriedly, "The Lele brand was founded by my father when he was young. At the time, domestic food safety violations were constantly being exposed, and even famous international brands were frequently caught up in scandals over substandard manufacturing processes. For the sake of his children's physical and mental well-being, my father resolved to establish Lele Food Processing, hoping his own children could eat safe and tasty snacks. Unexpectedly, through the collective efforts of the group's employees and consumers' trust, Lele eventually became the most famous food brand in the country. This shows how important Lele is to Mu Group. Its value lies not only in its reputation and profitability, but also in the memories it carries for generations of the Mu Family. Therefore, Mu Group is extremely strict about the image and character of every product spokesperson. Naturally, there is nothing inappropriate about my handling this matter personally."

Watching Mu Yu maintain a straight face while spouting nonsense, Chen Mo could not help laughing.

Mu Yu looked at Chen Mo gently before adding, "By the time we finish discussing this, it should be noon. We can go have hot pot."

"That won't work." Chen Mo's smile faded slightly. Looking apologetically at Mu Yu, he said, "I already made plans with Bin to have mala tang at noon. I thought we were having hot pot tonight—"

"Can we add one more person?" Mu Yu interrupted him and asked directly.

"What?" Chen Mo was a little dazed.

Mu Yu patiently repeated, "Aren't you having mala tang? Add me in. I've never had it before."

Chen Mo stared at Mu Yu, somewhat speechless. After thinking it over, he could only nod. "Of course. No problem."

Next, both sides sat down to discuss the details of the endorsement contract—though there was not much to discuss. As the chief person in charge of the negotiations, Mu Yu had already instructed the Secretariat Department to draft an extremely generous endorsement contract based on Chen Mo's current popularity and market value. The endorsement term was three years, and the final endorsement fee took Chen Mo's potential into account. For example, one clause clearly stipulated how the fee would increase if Chen Mo were nominated for the Best Actor Award or Best Supporting Actor Award after his film was released, and how many times it would multiply if he actually won either award due to his sharply increased value...

In short, judging from the contract details, Lele Potato Chips was more than sincere. Every potentially contentious point had already been considered. As long as Chen Mo and Yang Qindong were willing to accept the endorsement, there was practically nothing to criticize in the overall terms.

It was businesslike while also accommodating personal preferences. Boss Mu's ability to keep public and private matters separate was truly impressive.

Yang Qindong secretly praised him. After offering more professional suggestions on several detailed clauses, the two sides finalized the endorsement contract. Yang Qindong instructed an employee from the Administration Department to take the newly finalized contract for printing. Once it was brought back and confirmed correct by Yang Qindong and Boss Mu's assistant, both parties signed it.

Mu Yu handed the contract to his assistant, then stood and extended his right hand to Chen Mo with a smile. "Looks like we'll be celebrating this partnership by eating mala tang."

Chen Mo reached out and shook Mu Yu's hand. Smiling, he said, "That's certainly a unique way to celebrate." At the very least, no one before them had likely done anything like it.

Though they were supposedly going out for mala tang, people of Mu Yu, Yuan Haobin, and Chen Mo's status could hardly go to a roadside stall or little street shop and invite a crowd of onlookers.

In the end, they went to a three-star Sichuan restaurant across from the company. The environment was elegant, and the food was excellent. Most importantly, it was run by someone in the industry and paid close attention to guests' privacy.

After asking everyone's preferences, Chen Mo ordered four servings of mala tang and two servings of mala ban. Naturally, the levels of spice varied according to personal taste. Taking Mu Yu's stomach and Yuan Haobin's throat into consideration, he also ordered several milder, stomach-nourishing dishes, along with cornmeal steamed buns that could count as a staple food. Finally, he ordered the hot pot restaurant's homemade fruit and vegetable juice and grape wine, then handed the menu to Boss Mu with a smile.

Mu Yu took the menu and ordered boiled fish and spicy duck heads—both of which Chen Mo liked—before passing the menu to Yuan Haobin. Yuan Haobin flipped through it from beginning to end, then from end to beginning, ordering seven or eight dishes in a row, all heavily seasoned and spicy. Finally, under K's nearly murderous glare, he reluctantly passed the menu to Yang Qindong. Dong did not order anything at all, simply passing it to the junior assistants seated farther down the table. Each assistant symbolically ordered one dish. Seeing this, Chen Mo joked, "Everyone, don't go easy on Yuan, the Heavenly King. He earned so much from his concert; he can definitely afford one meal. It's not often that we get a chance to mooch off a rich guy, so we can't let it slip away."

The assistants burst out laughing. K looked at Mu Yu with a complicated expression and said with a smile, "I really didn't expect Boss Mu and Chen Mo to be this close."

Mu Yu smiled faintly at that, glanced at Chen Mo, and replied casually, "I suppose we just clicked."

K gave an awkward smile and was about to say more when Yuan Haobin cut in, smiling. "Fate really is something remarkable. Take me, for instance—I never expected to be having mala tang with Boss Mu today. I really have Chen Mo to thank for that."

After saying that, he pulled Chen Mo into a discussion about filming an MV and teaching him the Moonwalk. He did not deliberately try to chat up Mu Yu, but neither was he rude enough to ignore him.

Soon, all the dishes were served. Mu Yu used the serving chopsticks to place a duck head in Chen Mo's bowl. Chen Mo did not forget to give Mu Yu a cornmeal bun in return, then pushed the lightly numbing, mildly spicy mala tang in front of him. Smiling brightly, he said, "Try it?"

Mu Yu smiled and picked up some greens with his chopsticks. The vegetables, cooked in the rich beef bone broth, had an unusually fresh and tender texture. Combined with a mild numbing heat, they were exceptionally refreshing.

Meanwhile, Chen Mo, who was busy eating spicy duck heads, was hissing from the intense numbing heat and spice. Seeing Chen Mo's glossy lips turn bright red from the heat, Mu Yu's eyes darkened slightly. He casually poured him a glass of chilled fruit and vegetable juice and handed it over with a smile. "If it's too spicy, have some juice."

Chen Mo nodded, snatched the juice, and drained it in one go. Across the table, Yuan Haobin had silently finished half a bowl of mala tang. Seeing this, he could not help mocking Chen Mo. "Last time, you looked so eager when you watched me eat that I thought you were something special. Turns out one spicy duck head is all you can handle, and you still dared challenge me..."

Before he could finish, Yuan Haobin, whose eyes were watering and nose had turned red from the spice, could not help pouring himself a glass of chilled grape wine.

Watching Yuan Haobin eat numbing, spicy, greasy food without any thought of protecting his throat, K could not help frowning. She wanted to remind him, but with Boss Mu and Chen Mo, outsiders, sitting beside them, she did not want to spoil the mood. She could only glare at Yuan Haobin in secret, inwardly complaining that he was such a glutton. Instead of currying favor with someone as important as Boss Mu, all he knew was eat, eat, eat.

Yang Qindong noticed K's restless, hesitant appearance and curled his lips into a faint smile. When K turned around, her gaze met Yang Qindong's smiling eyes. Caught off guard, her expression immediately became awkward.

For Yuan Haobin's sake, Yang Qindong discreetly looked away. Seeing Chen Mo finish a huge bowl of mala tang and reach for other dishes, his face bright red as though tears might spill at any moment, he immediately said, "You should eat less spicy food too. Be careful not to mess up your hormones."

Mu Yu, seated beside Chen Mo, had been watching Chen Mo's every move. Seeing that there was barely any food left in Chen Mo's bowl, he immediately placed two chopstickfuls of boiled fish slices into it.

Seeing that, Yang Qindong shot Chen Mo a helpless glare. Getting a small taste of K's feelings, he could only tease Yuan Haobin with a smile. "A-Bin, same goes for you. If you can't handle spicy food, don't force yourself. I'm afraid if you keep eating, your manager's eyes are going to pop out from glaring."

K had not expected Yang Qindong to expose her so easily. She could only look awkwardly at Yuan Haobin and say stiffly, "I'm only thinking of you, A-Bin. You're different from Chen Mo. He's an actor, but you're a singer. Of course you can't be so willful. You need to protect your throat properly..."

Before she could finish, Yuan Haobin placed a spicy duck head into his bowl and said with a smile, "You can't put it that way. The reason I became a singer was so I could live a better life. If I can't even eat the things I like, what's the point of making money?"

After saying that, Yuan Haobin put a cornmeal bun into K's bowl. "K, you should eat more too. It's because you haven't eaten anything that you have the time to overthink..."

With that round of banter, the matter was finally smoothed over.

After eating, everyone naturally went their separate ways. Knowing Chen Mo had nothing to do that afternoon, Mu Yu specifically asked, "Where are you going this afternoon?"

Chen Mo thought of the task Pei Qingjue had arranged for him and answered directly, "Going home to get online."

Mu Yu nodded and said with a smile, "Then I'll pick you up for hot pot tonight."

Chen Mo smiled too, realizing that aside from their first meeting, he and Mu Yu had basically only talked about food. At this rate, he would gain quite a few pounds, wouldn't he?

Mu Yu did not notice Chen Mo's inward grumbling. He looked at the sky, which had already grown somewhat overcast, and said with a smile, "Should I take you back to your apartment?"

Before Chen Mo could answer, Yang Qindong, who was standing nearby, immediately interjected, "No need to trouble Boss Mu. I already asked Xiao Ding to bring the car over. We'll just wait for Xiao Ding."

Mu Yu could only say, "All right, then. I'll go first. Get some rest this afternoon. I'll come pick you up tonight."

Chen Mo nodded and watched Mu Yu drive away.

As soon as Mu Yu left, Xiao Ding's car arrived as well. After taking the two of them back to the apartment, Yang Qindong said with a smile, "Today, you signed the endorsement for Lele Potato Chips. Over the next two days, we'll also be negotiating endorsements for a sportswear brand and a tea drink. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to secure all three. Then our Chen Mo will be a ten-million-level spokesperson. Even after deducting the company's share and taxes, you'll still take home several million. Have you thought about how to use that money?"

Thinking of what he wanted to do, Chen Mo immediately smiled. "What is there to think about? Either buy a house or buy stocks. Am I supposed to leave it in the bank and collect interest?"