PTBLSI chapter 20

 

Seeing the look in Fu Yanchuan’s eyes, Qi Xi thought something serious had happened. He handed the phone to Fu Yanchuan. After squeezing over to his side, he used his hand to open the chat history with Brother Zha and asked, “What’s wrong? Did he get scammed or something?”

Fu Yanchuan thought that Qi Xi always managed to think of things in the most unlikely of ways. He stayed silent and scrolled up from the most recent messages.

There weren’t many messages between the two. No irrelevant small talk—only commissions. He stopped at messages from a month ago. There was no need to read further to guess what they would say.

The term “PUA”[mfn] “PUA” originally stands for “Pick-Up Artist,” in Chinese internet slang, It describes someone who controls another person through psychological pressure (such as belittling their abilities, status, or appearance) often used in a relationship or work place.[/mfn] wasn’t anything new in recent years, and this kind of verbal manipulation that suppresses others to gain control had existed long before that.

Clearly filled with belittlement and malice, those messages were obviously sent to Qi Xi to crush his confidence. Qi Xi was so firmly convinced that his drawings were bad entirely because of these tactics.

Seeing that Fu Yanchuan was staring at him without speaking, Qi Xi touched his face and asked, “What’s wrong, Brother Yan?”

“When did he start introducing commissions to you? How many paintings have you drawn?”

“Brother Zha?”

Qi Xi didn’t understand why Fu Yanchuan was asking, but he thought carefully and replied, counting by years, “We met when I had just started my freshman year. A few months later, he found out that I wanted to make money, so he introduced me to commissions. It’s been over two years now. I’ve drawn—if not over a hundred, then at least dozens. Why are you asking this?”

“Was the payment he gave you all a few hundred?”

“Of course not!”

Qi Xi retorted, “At first, there were only one hundred. What’s going on?”

Fu Yanchuan stared at him for a long while, then suddenly asked, “Did you ever doubt it?”

“Doubted what?”

“That your paintings could be worth a higher price?”

Qi Xi had certainly thought about it. If one of his paintings could sell for tens of thousands one day, he would never lack money again.

But hearing Fu Yanchuan say it made him too embarrassed to admit his wishful thinking. He laughed and replied, “Are you joking with me? President Bai even lied and said he spent one hundred thousand to commission me. I’m not stupid enough to believe that! I just draw because I like it, and I earn money from it. It’s great if I earn more, but I can’t earn that much. As long as drawing makes me happy, that’s enough!”

“President Bai?”

Fu Yanchuan heard a familiar name. Qi Xi explained, “The President Bai whose head I smashed last time. After he got out, he kept looking for me, saying he appreciated my paintings. But he was actually just trying to trick me into drinking with him again!”

After the incident at the police station, Fu Yanchuan had been worried that Bai Peiyong would cause Qi Xi more trouble, so he had someone investigate him. Bai Peiyong was indeed the owner of Jianshan Art Museum. He was frivolous, but he had no criminal record.

Bai Peiyong saying he appreciated Qi Xi’s paintings was probably genuine. The 100,000 commission was probably also true. Brother Zha was the one really scamming Qi Xi.

Qi Xi got scammed primarily because he trusted people too easily, especially those who had shown him kindness initially. In his heart, they would always be “good people,” just like himself.

This was Qi Xi’s flaw, but it was also something more precious than the rarest gemstone. Having seen too much suspicion and doubt between people, Fu Yanchuan didn’t want to destroy Qi Xi’s pure trust in others.

“It’s fine. Go eat.”

In the end, Fu Yanchuan didn’t come out and say it. After having dinner with Qi Xi, he returned to his room and asked someone to look up Bai Peiyong’s phone number.

When Bai Peiyong received Fu Yanchuan’s call, he was almost scared to death and immediately confessed, “Did Qi Xi say something to you? I really didn’t harass him. I genuinely wanted to buy his paintings. But I suspect he might be getting scammed, and he doesn’t believe me.”

Fu Yanchuan stood by the floor-to-ceiling window with his phone. “That’s exactly what I’m calling about. What do you know?”

Hearing that Fu Yanchuan wasn’t calling to settle accounts, Bai Peiyong relaxed and told him about his suspicions and the entire commission process.

“Give me all the information you know about that person.”

Fu Yanchuan’s tone was completely commanding. Bai Peiyong was displeased but answered, “No problem, no problem! I’ll fully cooperate with whatever President Fu needs. After that, can you tell Qi Xi—”

Before he could finish, Fu Yanchuan hung up. He cursed under his breath in anger.

After receiving Brother Zha’s information, Fu Yanchuan gave it to his private legal advisor. Early the next morning, he learned Brother Zha’s real identity.

Brother Zha’s real name was Huang Yujian, who was 32 years old this year. He graduated ten years ago from an unranked art academy. Currently unemployed, he accepted commercial commissions online as Qi Xi’s assistant on YI.

The lawyer contacted Huang Yujian regarding a commission, ordering one painting for 200,000 and paying a 40,000 deposit. The lawyer then obtained Huang Yujian’s commission contract.

Fu Yanchuan read through the contract. Party B was not Qi Xi or Huang Yujian, but rather a studio. Qi Xi was listed as an artist who provides commissions to the studio.

In other words, how much of the 200,000 Qi Xi would receive depended on the contract he had signed with the studio.

Given Qi Xi’s understanding of contracts, it’s likely that this contract didn’t protect any of his rights. Otherwise, one painting wouldn’t be worth only a few hundred.

Qi Xi had been scammed like this for over two years yet was happily celebrating earning 1,000 after working for two weeks.

Fu Yanchuan took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose, and went to look for Qi Xi.

It was Saturday. Qi Xi didn’t need to get up early for class and was still sleeping in.

Fu Yanchuan knocked on the door twice, but there was no response. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a loud “thud” inside, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground.

Half a minute later, the door opened. Qi Xi stood there, rubbing his messy hair and looking at Fu Yanchuan.

“Brother Yan, morning.”

Fu Yanchuan’s gaze moved from Qi Xi’s face to his collarbone. The pajama buttons weren’t fastened all the way up. The collar hung wide open, sliding to one side and exposing half of his shoulder.

He calmly pulled up the collar that had slipped down on Qi Xi and fastened the buttons that he hadn’t done up properly. Then he asked, “Do you still want to sleep?”

Qi Xi yawned, smiled at him, and shook his head. Suddenly, he grabbed Fu Yanchuan’s hand, which was buttoning his shirt. His eyes filled with what he thought was cleverness as he asked, “Brother Yan, aren’t you going to work today? You came to find me so early—could it be you want to—”

As he spoke, his hand climbed up Fu Yanchuan’s arm and reached his shoulder. He leaned in and stood on tiptoe, stopping right in front of Fu Yanchuan’s lips.

“—do what a stand-in is supposed to do with me?”

Fu Yanchuan’s hands tightened around Qi Xi’s waist. After pausing for a moment, he pushed Qi Xi away. Qi Xi’s hands slid down from his shoulders. Only then did Fu Yanchuan say, “I have something to tell you.”

“Oh.”

Disappointed, Qi Xi retreated into the room, sat on the bed, hugged the orange cat, and said, “What is it? Go ahead.”

As if listening to Qi Xi, Fu Yanchuan sat on the stool at the foot of the bed facing him and asked, “Have you ever signed a contract with Huang Yujian?”

“Huang Yujian? Who’s that?”

“The one who collects commissions for you.”

Qi Xi understood. “Oh, Brother Zha! Yes, I have. He signs a contract with me every time. He wouldn’t scam me.”

“Show me the contract.”

Qi Xi thought it was strange that Fu Yanchuan was suddenly so interested in the commission matter. He jumped off the bed and rummaged through a suitcase for a long time before finding a contract he had signed with Brother Zha.

Fu Yanchuan took it and read it carefully. Just as he thought, Qi Xi wasn’t a formal employee of the studio. Instead, he provided artwork to the studio under a contract. Once the artwork was submitted, the studio owned all copyrights, and the studio decided the payment Qi Xi received each time.

Essentially, it was as if Qi Xi had sold all the rights to his paintings to the studio for only a few hundred. No matter how much money the studio made selling his paintings afterward, Qi Xi received nothing.

This method looked sophisticated and airtight, making civil liability difficult to pursue.

After staring at the contract for a long time, Fu Yanchuan noticed Qi Xi crawling over from the bed and resting his head on his thigh. He asked, “Brother Yan, is there something wrong with the contract?”

“If I tell you that your paintings are very good, would you believe me?”

Qi Xi tilted his head back, his chin almost touching Fu Yanchuan’s thigh. He stared at Fu Yanchuan seriously for a while, then asked in confusion, “Why?”

“Why what?”

Fu Yanchuan didn’t understand. Qi Xi asked “Why do you think my drawings are good? Is it because I resemble your white moonlight, and you love the crow and its feathers?”

“How did you connect it to that?”

Fu Yanchuan couldn’t help but pinch Qi Xi’s cheek. Unconsciously, he bent down closer to Qi Xi and said, “I’m willing to pay one million for that painting from last night. After you finish it, will you sell it to me?”

Qi Xi suddenly slapped Fu Yanchuan’s hand away, sat up, and looked at him in shock. “Are you messing with me?”

“I’m serious.”

Meeting his resolute gaze, Qi Xi asked, “My paintings aren’t worth that much. Why would you buy it?”

“Qi Xi.”

Fu Yanchuan sat up straight and said seriously, “Art itself has no fixed price. If someone is willing to pay that price, then it’s worth it.”

“But my paintings aren’t that good!”

Fu Yanchuan took out his tablet and opened a promotional page for a game. The featured image was an illustration of an ancient demon that the lawyer had found among Qi Xi’s works on YI.

He asked Qi Xi, “Do you remember this painting?”

Qi Xi recognized it at a glance because he had drawn it himself. He sensed something was off, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

Fu Yanchuan continued, “This is a game with over 20 million downloads. Having your artwork used as its promotional illustration means tens of millions of people will acknowledge your work.”

“But—”

Qi Xi scrunched up his face as if he had encountered an unsolvable problem.

Fu Yanchuan smoothed the furrow between his brows and said in a low, gentle voice, “You still haven’t figured it out, idiot?”

“No. Why is my painting on this?”

Fu Yanchuan said helplessly, “Have you been to the Jianshan Art Museum?”

Qi Xi nodded. He continued, “Bai Peiyong didn’t lie to you. He wanted to hang your painting in the museum, which means your work is on par with the other paintings there.”

“You mean… I actually draw very well?”

“Yes.”

After thinking about it for a long time, Qi Xi asked, “Can it really sell for one hundred thousand?”

“It could sell for even more.”

Qi Xi considered it seriously for another two seconds, then suddenly got excited. “Then can I ask Brother Zha to raise the price?”

Fu Yanchuan suddenly sighed, pressed Qi Xi’s shoulder, and pushed him down onto the bed to lie there. He said helplessly, “He’s the one who took your money. Do you understand now?”

Qi Xi blinked at Fu Yanchuan for a long time. “You mean Brother Zha was scamming me? He sold my paintings at a high price to the game, but only gave me a few hundred?”

“Yes.”

Fu Yanchuan let out a breath. Negotiating billion-level projects had never felt so exhausting. Qi Xi suddenly hugged his arm and sat up, asking in confusion, “Why would he scam me?”

“Qi Xi, do you know how many people money can turn against their family and friends?”

“Did he do it to scam my money?”

Fu Yanchuan quietly stared at Qi Xi. He had thought that Qi Xi would have trouble accepting the truth or that it would be difficult for him to regain his confidence after being belittled for so long.

Instead, Qi Xi froze for a moment, then lunged forward, crashing into his arms and almost knocking him off the stool. He pressed his face into Fu Yanchuan’s shoulder and said excitedly, “Does this mean I can make a lot of money in the future? I can become rich and never have to worry money anymore. I won’t have to pitifully ask my stepmother for money anymore! Brother Yan, you’re really too good!”

Fu Yanchuan’s hand hovered in the air for a long while before finally landing on Qi Xi’s back. After a while, he pulled Qi Xi off him and asked, “How do you want to deal with Huang Yujian?”

Qi Xi thought for a moment. “Can I get back the money he scammed from me?”

“Of course you can.”

 

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