CH 88

Chapter 88: Begging for Forgiveness

“These are a few advertisement offers, pick one that you like.” Chen Ke threw Gongxi Qiao a few advertising offers, and then carefully surveyed the gorgeous living room. Compared with this, the settings in those luxury TV dramas were just weak.

Gongxi Qiao didn’t show up for several days, so he had to come to the door personally. As soon as the car entered the gate of the estate, hatred of the rich was born in his heart. In the Imperial Capital, a place where every inch of land cost gold, it was amazing to have such a large estate. His own house was a toilet compared to this place.

Gongxi Qiao didn’t know that Chen Ke was shocked by the Xi clan’s estate. He flipped through the information of the brands in his hand, all of which were upscale and safe designer brands, including perfume, leather shoes, and luxury cars. Those products were rated quite high in the outside world, and many times were synonymous with wealth and status.

“Armani perfume and this vehicle endorsement, are they global endorsements or regional endorsements?” Gongxi Qiao picked out two. “If they’re global endorsements, help me accept them.”

“Okay, I’ll negotiate with the other parties before we talk.” Seeing that Gongxi Qiao was interested in taking them, Chen Ke would just negotiate with the manufacturers. With Gongxi Qiao’s current status, endorsements were naturally of a higher grade. It wasn’t about quantity, but about quality.

“Have you been staying at Mr. Xi’s place recently?” Chen Ke saw that Gongxi Qiao was still wearing a robe, leaning on the sofa with a blanket covering his body. This appearance wasn’t like being a guest, but treating himself as the owner of the place.

“Mm-hmm, he has a lot of chefs here, and the craftsmanship is also good,” Gongxi Qiao said with a satisfied face. “It’s really comfortable to live a life of eating and sleeping and sleeping and eating here.”

Chen Ke said, “Mr. Xi is so generous.” Keeping such a brazen guest in the house and serving good food and drink, how come he couldn’t meet such a rich and generous friend?

“Am I being stingy?” Gongxi Qiao raised his eyebrows, then said, “It’s still early. Why don’t we go outside and have tea in the courtyard, and you can stay here for dinner.”

Chen Ke said, “Okay, I want to try the chef’s work too.” The main reason he stayed was to see what Xi Qing’s attitude towards Xiao Qiao was, and to caution Xiao Qiao.

As a manager, he was concerned about Gongxi Qiao. Among the entire company, Xiao Qiao was the biggest name, and other entertainment companies were trying to poach him, which was just unkind.

It was a little cold outside the house, but the temperature was perfect in the flower room. Chen Ke looked at the beautiful flower room and couldn’t help but say enviously, “It’s beautiful.”

Gongxi Qiao thought of Xi Qing’s parents and nodded. “Yeah, I heard that his parents built it years ago. He hired someone to take good care of it these years.”

Chen Ke knew who this “he” referred to. He had read about Xi Qing’s life in the gossip tabloids, so when Gongxi Qiao mentioned his parents, he was taken aback for a moment before saying, “It’s really well taken care of.”

The two went into the flower room, where many flowers were blooming beautifully and the air was very fresh. On the table set up in the flower room, tea and various dim sum and dried fruits had been set up, and a bodyguard and servant were standing in the corner.

The good black tea was refreshing. Chen Ke put down the tea cup and said, “Right now you have a great opportunity to develop. Those who are more qualified than you are not as young as you are, and those who are younger than you are not as qualified as you are, not to mention your resources and contacts. Originally I was worried about Film Emperor Gu blocking your development, making you unable to become a domestic superstar male entertainer for several years, but now there’s no need to worry about that.”

“What happened to Gu Nan?” Hearing this from Chen Ke, Gongxi Qiao guessed that something might have happened to him so he asked, “Isn’t his status in the country quite high?”

“What’s the use of having a high status?” Chen Ke didn’t care much. “In the past, the media bragged about how he was doing abroad, but we all knew how well he was actually doing. It was just a matter of saving face and fooling the fans outside, but who in the circle took it seriously?

“If he was really doing so well abroad, why bother coming back? He just couldn’t make it abroad anymore.” Chen Ke took a piece of dim sum and put it in his mouth. It melted in his mouth, sweet but not greasy. “Look at the past year since he returned to the country. Has he released any notable works?”

After Gu Nan returned to the country, he took two not so bad endorsements, and then went on some shows that had a good reputation. After being well-off for two or three months, he relied on the studio’s tactics to maintain his popularity, and didn’t get any major productions.

Gongxi Qiao didn’t speak as he sipped his tea. He didn’t feel anything towards Gu Nan. Previously, Gu Nan’s studio used him for hype. He was well aware of the situation, but that kind of thing wasn’t unusual. He didn’t hate anyone for such a trivial matter, and he wasn’t angry. He knew that Gu Nan wasn’t the only one who used him for hype, just that Gu Nan was particularly famous.

“We must seize this opportunity while Gu Nan’s popularity is decreasing now, and step on Gu Nan, so that no one will keep comparing you with Gu Nan later.” In the eyes of the manager, of course, his own artist was always the best.

“‘Golden Manor 3’ won’t start until May next year. You don’t have anything to do these days but to appear on a few shows and make a few cameo appearances in some big productions.” Chen Ke shook the advertising offers in his hand again. “Also, these two advertisements should be treated with care.”

The arrangement was reasonable and easy, taking into account his lazy personality. Gongxi Qiao nodded and said, “Okay, you can arrange it for me.”

“Aren’t you curious about what’s going on with Gu Nan?” It was hard to hold gossip in your heart and not be able to talk about it.

Gongxi Qiao saw that Chen Ke was quite depressed, so he had to ask, “Oh, then what’s going on with him?”

Chen Ke felt choked for a moment. “It’s just that he offended someone, and a VIP spoke up and said that he wouldn’t use him as a spokesperson.”

That was a strange thing. Gu Nan was a person who knew how to handle things. How could he have offended a VIP that he shouldn’t have offended?

“When did it happen?” Gongxi Qiao looked up at Chen Ke. “Did Ringstar Entertainment just give up on the film emperor that they personally cultivated?”

“It was shortly after you participated in the Golden Leaf Awards.” Chen Ke thought about it. “It’s not that Ringstar didn’t want to take care of it, but that they didn’t dare to. In the entertainment industry, Ringstar is on top of the game, but Flower Country is so big, and there are many people that Ringstar can’t afford to offend.”

“After the Golden Leaf Awards?” Gongxi Qiao thoughtfully said, “Was it after I was tied up in Gu Nan’s hype?”

“It seems to be true,” Chen Ke said, and suddenly froze. “It can’t be ……”

Gongxi Qiao didn’t say anything. At this time a bodyguard walked in. “Qiao Shao, Mr. Xi is back.”

“So early today?” Gongxi Qiao smiled. “Then tell him that I’m over here in the flower room.”

After waiting for this bodyguard to leave, Chen Ke politely cautioned, “Isn’t it not good for us to just sit here and wait for the host to come and look for us?”

“It’s okay. We don’t pay attention to things like that.” Gongxi Qiao smiled. “Don’t worry, I have a handle on things.”

Seeing him like this, Chen Ke glanced at Gongxi Qiao suspiciously several times. This didn’t feel right.

Not a moment later, he saw Xi Qing, dressed in a white shirt and black vest, walking this way. The expression on his face was also very soft. He didn’t see the legendary coldness at all.

“Mr. Xi.” Seeing Xi Qing enter, Chen Ke unconsciously got up to greet him.

Xi Qing glanced at him and said with a nod, “Mr. Chen, welcome to my humble abode.”

“I’m sorry to bother you.” Standing in front of Xi Qing, Chen Ke was a bit formal.

“Please sit down, no need to be polite.” Xi Qing sat down next to Gongxi Qiao and took a sip from the cup of tea that Gongxi Qiao handed over to him. “I heard them say that you didn’t eat much at noon, are you not feeling well?”

“No, just that dinner was a little late.” Gongxi Qiao could see that Chen Ke was a little too respectful towards Xi Qing, but didn’t point it out on the surface. He just pushed a plate of dim sum in front of Chen Ke. “Brother Chen, try this dim sum.”

After that, Chen Ke became a silent person eating dim sum and drinking tea.

“We were just talking about Gu Nan when you came back,” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile. “Why are you back so early today?”

“I came back after the company’s business was finished.” Xi Qing put down his teacup and frowned slightly, “Gu Nan?” He thought for a moment before remembering that he had stated a couple of months ago that he wouldn’t use that artist for his products. “It rings a bell. What’s wrong with him, is he bothering you again?”

This word “again” really had a complicated meaning. Chen Ke took a sip of water to calm himself down.

“No,” Gongxi Qiao said with a smile. “We were only chatting.”

Chen Ke looked at the two men, suspicion growing in his heart. Obviously they were sitting together, and there were no ambiguous words or actions. Why did it kind of give him the feeling that …… the two were a couple?

Thinking about that possibility, Chen Ke’s back broke out in a cold sweat. If those two men were really together, what would be the consequences when word got out? He didn’t even dare to think about it. 

In the president’s office of Ringstar Entertainment, the president looked at Gu Nan sitting across from him and sighed helplessly. Gu Nan was personally cultivated by their company, and now, because of a word from the Xi family head, many people didn’t dare to use him. They were resentful, but didn’t dare to say anything, so now that he saw Gu Nan, he was helpless.

“Gu Nan, it’s not that the company isn’t doing anything, it’s that the attitude over there is firm. Our company is well-off in the circle, but it’s not strong enough to compete with the Xi family.” The old boss said with a sad face, “To tell you the truth, the reason we can do so well is because those prestigious families aren’t too interested in the entertainment industry. If they come down hard on us, with their financial background, sooner or later they would crowd us out of existence.”

When Gu Nan heard this, his face showed helplessness and bitterness. “I know the company’s plight and your difficulties, it’s just that …… I struggled for so many years, and all of a sudden I was inexplicably blocked. I’m really a little unwilling.”

“It’s really not possible. I’ll ask someone to think of a way to invite Master Xi for a meal, and then you can apologize to him.” Seeing Gu Nan like this, the old boss didn’t want to give up. “As long as Master Xi relents, there’s still room for this matter to be turned around.”

“Thank you, boss.” The bitterness on Gu Nan’s face changed to gratitude. “No matter what the result is, I want to try.”

“I know. Go back to rest first. It’s not easy to invite Master Xi to a dinner meeting.” The old president was also suffering in his heart, thinking about how he could invite the young and mysterious Xi family head out.

After Gu Nan left the president’s office, the gratitude on his face faded away and his face turned cold.