Chapter 39
"The general manager is waiting for you in his office..." she told Ye Mo.
The private elevator doors opened and closed. Only once the elevator began ascending did the two receptionists finally withdraw their furtive gazes.
Their eyes met, and both saw the astonishment in the other's eyes.
"...That person just now-unless I'm mistaken, wasn't that the famous star Ye Mo? Why would she come to our company?"
"Whoa, what's her relationship with the general manager? He actually sent his Secretary Huang down to pick her up personally... Do you think she could be his girlfriend?"
"That doesn't seem likely. I haven't heard anything about that... Wait, her surname is Ye. Could she be the general manager's younger sister?"
The two receptionists exchanged a glance, the astonishment in their eyes deepening. But however much they speculated, their guesses had no basis, and they had no way of confirming the truth, so they left it at a little gossip.
Meanwhile, Ye Mo and Shen Yan followed Secretary Huang to Ye Lin's office.
Ye Lin was working. When he saw them enter, he merely told them to sit first and continued working with his head lowered. Only when he had finished the work at hand for the moment did he remove his glasses, rise, and sit down in front of them.
"It's not even noon yet. What brings you here all of a sudden?" he asked Ye Mo.
Ye Mo leaned closer and asked, "Big Brother, do you know anyone from the Qi Corporation?"
Ye Lin said, "The Qi Corporation?"
Ye Mo explained, "The one that owns Fengxing."
The Qi Corporation's businesses were mainly in entertainment, and [Fengxing] was its largest and best-known business. Fengxing encompassed sixty percent of the country's cinema chains, which was why Shen Yan's first reaction upon learning that Qi Yuwen had snatched the role of [Xia Mei] was to swallow this bitter pill in silence.
-With a financial powerhouse controlling so many cinema chains, Director Ji could not possibly go against its wishes if he had any sense.
"The Qi Corporation that owns Fengxing," Ye Lin repeated, then nodded. "We don't have much business dealings, but I do know them... Why? Did someone from Fengxing do something to you?"
Ye Mo puffed out her cheeks and complained, "Qi Yuwen snatched the role I recently auditioned for!"
She introduced Qi Yuwen to Ye Lin. "Qi Yuwen is the boss of Star Chasing Entertainment and Fengxing's second young master. With the Qi Corporation backing him, he's the main investor in the drama I auditioned for. So he threatened to withdraw his investment to make the director give that role to his little lover!"
Indignant, she looked pitifully at Ye Lin and said, "Big Brother, you have to help me. You don't want to watch your little sister get bullied like this by someone from the Qi Corporation, do you?"
Ye Lin rubbed his chin and considered it before asking unhurriedly, "How do you want me to help?"
Ye Mo said as though it were only natural, "By using your influence to help me snatch the role back, of course!"
Ye Lin wore a faint, ambiguous smile. "You certainly sound justified about throwing your weight around."
Ye Mo declared earnestly, "He threw his weight around first. I'm only following his example and giving him a taste of his own medicine!"
Since he had used power to pressure others and money to coerce them, she would do the same and let Qi Yuwen experience it too.
Ye Lin smiled and nodded. "You seem to have a point... All right, as your older brother, naturally I should listen to my little sister. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do. So tell me, what do you want me to do?"
Ye Mo gave it serious thought and asked, "Big Brother, you said you know people from the Qi Family. Who do you know?"
Ye Lin clasped his hands together. "The Qi Corporation's president and general manager, naturally!"
Seeing that Ye Mo did not seem to know who those two were, he clarified, "The father and older brother of that Qi Yuwen you mentioned."
There were two brothers in the Qi Family, Qi Yuheng and Qi Yuwen, with Qi Yuheng being the elder. Like Ye Lin, he had already joined the Qi Corporation at a young age. The corporation's president was clearly grooming him as his successor, and the Qi Corporation would evidently be handed over to him in the end.
In a sense, Qi Yuheng's position in the Qi Corporation was much like Ye Lin's position in the Ye Corporation.
That was what Ye Mo thought.
[It's different, actually.] 888 spoke in Ye Mo's mind. [Host, your eldest brother already holds eighty percent of the power in the Ye Corporation, but Qi Yuheng doesn't!]
Qi Yuheng's position was nowhere near as secure as Ye Lin's.
888 shared the Qi Family's gossip with Ye Mo.
The Qi Corporation's president was named Qi Youcai, a very simple, straightforward name that clearly showed his parents' hopes.
Qi Youcai was already over sixty, no longer young, but he still refused to loosen his grip on power in the Qi Corporation. Although Qi Yuheng was its general manager, he still had to consult his father on many matters, leaving him rather hamstrung at work.
Besides that, Qi Yuheng had quite a few brothers. On the surface, Qi Yuwen was his only brother, but in reality, who knew how many illegitimate
children
Qi Youcai had outside the family? And... even Qi Yuheng's own younger brother, Qi Yuwen, was far from content to behave himself.
[Qi Yuheng still sees Qi Yuwen as his dear little brother and treats him incredibly well. Star Chasing owes much of its current success to Qi Yuheng's support!] [Unfortunately, Qi Yuheng has no idea that Qi Yuwen has secretly joined forces with the other illegitimate children to oust him!]
Why would Qi Yuwen want his older brother ousted when they shared the same mother? The reason was actually very simple: self-interest.
As the successor Qi Youcai had painstakingly groomed, as long as Qi Yuheng remained in his position, Qi Yuwen would never have a chance to fight for power in the Qi Corporation. Only once Qi Yuheng stepped down could the day come when Qi Yuwen became its president.
Poor Qi Yuheng could never have imagined how many things his own younger brother, with whom he had been close since childhood, had done behind his back to wrong him.
Ye Mo, who had unexpectedly been fed a mouthful of Qi Family gossip, was speechless. "..."
So Qi Yuwen actually harbored those intentions? she could not help thinking. But the next second, she suddenly realized that this was actually good news for her.
According to 888, Qi Yuwen's Star Chasing Entertainment could not have developed this far without his older brother Qi Yuheng's efforts. But if Qi Yuheng knew what Qi Yuwen had done behind his back, would he still help him like this?
At that thought, Ye Mo's gaze flickered, and she made up her mind.
"Big Brother." She looked at Ye Lin and asked with a beaming smile, "I'd like to invite Young Master Qi to dinner!"
Ye Lin nodded without objection, rose, and walked to his desk. He pressed the intercom button and called Secretary Huang in.
"...I'd like to invite General Manager Qi Yuheng of Fengxing to dinner. Make the arrangements," he said.
"General Manager Qi of Fengxing?" Secretary Huang confirmed. Once she was certain, she nodded and said with complete dependability, "Understood. I'll contact Fengxing immediately."
To both the Qi Corporation and Fengxing, the Ye Corporation was a colossus. Thus, when someone from the Ye Corporation invited their general manager to dinner, no matter how one looked at it, even if Qi Yuheng had no time, he would certainly have to make time.
So Ye Mo was not surprised when they received an affirmative reply from the Qi Corporation.
"...It feels so good to throw your weight around!" she remarked to Ye Lin, looking thoroughly pleased.
Amused, Ye Lin said, "Congratulations, then, Miss Ye. From now on, you can throw your weight around all you like."
"Congratulations to you too." Ye Mo's eyes curved with her smile.
Evening soon arrived.
Secretary Huang booked dinner at a Western restaurant. Unlike the Western restaurant the two of them had visited last time, this one had a cold, businesslike air. The people coming and going wore reserved, polite expressions, without much warmth.