Ji Ling’s first reaction was, ‘Support your relationship?’
Wait—what relationship?
Were they in the same kind of relationship as Yan Yueshi and Xu Jing?
But Yan Yixuan was still fuming and immediately snapped, “Don’t try to change the subject! Ji Ling is different. He’s young, his career’s on the rise. Can your washed-up old director even compare?”
‘Thanks for the compliment,’ Ji Ling thought, ‘but aren’t we focusing on the wrong part here?’
Yan Yueshi wouldn’t back down. “You’re biased! Why is it okay for you to be biased, but I can’t? Go marry some rich heiress then! If there’s no British princess, there’s gotta be a Japanese one!”
Yan Yixuan was so mad, smoke could’ve come out of his ears. He snapped, “Quit talking nonsense! You’re just a girl getting swept up by sweet talk—tell me, why would a director that much older than you go after you? If it’s not for your money, then what? Can you open your eyes and see clearly for once?”
Yan Yueshi’s eyes turned red with frustration. Hearing her brother speak like that about Xu Jing made her feel so wronged. She said, “You’re the one who knows nothing and just runs your mouth! He told me from the start that if my family found out, they’d never approve. He even tried to talk me out of it several times—it was me who insisted…”
She should’ve stopped there. But once she kept going, Yan Yixuan didn’t feel moved—he completely lost it.
“You’re chasing him?!” he roared. “You could kill him just by throwing money at him! You’re prettier than half the actresses out there, and you’re the one throwing yourself at him?!”
Ji Ling watched as the conversation spiraled completely off track and Yan Yueshi burst into tears on the side. He hurried to smooth things over.
“Fighting won’t solve anything. You guys should both cool down. We’re all family—arguing in public like this doesn’t look good.”
Ji Ling honestly didn’t know who to side with—Yan Yixuan or Yan Yueshi.
He wasn’t totally on board with Yan Yueshi’s choice either, but he also knew that Yan Yixuan’s way of handling things would only make things worse.
And he could understand where Yan Yixuan was coming from too. He’d always seen his little sister as a spoiled princess. Now he finds out the princess got snatched away by some old dragon—of course he’d want to chop the dragon into pieces.
But seriously, arguing like this on the street wasn’t helping anyone.
Yan Yixuan must’ve realized that too. He grumbled irritably and ordered, “Get in the car. We’re going home.”
Yan Yueshi wiped her eyes, her makeup all smudged, looking totally miserable. She didn’t say a word and just followed her brother toward the SUV.
Neither of them said goodbye to Ji Ling. He stood there, watching the car pull out of the parking lot, and let out a long sigh.
They were probably going to keep arguing once they got home. But that was family business—he couldn’t step in.
Ji Ling headed back to the theater. The audience had all cleared out, and Zhong Mingwei and the other actors from the premiere were already gone. His staff were cleaning up the promo materials and getting ready to return to the office.
The first wave of reviews for the movie had already dropped. Ji Ling pulled out his phone and took a quick look on the movie rating site. The response was pretty mixed, just as he’d expected. The main controversy? The acting skills of a few boy-band idols.
He didn’t have time to look closely before spotting Xu Jing standing in front of his company’s promotional banner—he’d been waiting there the whole time.
Ji Ling wasn’t sure how to react. He walked over and told him, “Miss Yan went home with her brother.”
Xu Jing was quite a bit older and clearly more composed. He didn’t show much reaction when he heard that. Just gave a small nod and said, “Yueshi really likes the lead in this movie. She wanted to come to the premiere, so I got us a couple tickets. I didn’t expect to run into her brother.”
With Yan Yixuan gone, he no longer called her ‘Miss Yan.’ He used a much more affectionate tone.
‘So, the real culprit was the pretty-boy lead. Yueshi was just a fan after all.’
Ji Ling felt a bit conflicted. “I’m the one handling the movie’s promotion. I’m friends with her brother. We’ve been working on a project together, so he dropped by to take a look.”
Xu Jing replied, “Ah, I see. What a coincidence.” His tone stayed calm, like he’d already seen all this coming. “But honestly, this day was bound to come. If I were her brother, I wouldn’t agree to this relationship either.”
He gave a faint smile, and the corners of his eyes held a trace of weariness. “Yueshi is a bright sunrise. I’m not quite at sunset yet, but let’s just say… it’s around three or four in the afternoon.”
And Yan Yueshi wasn’t just pretty—she was loaded.
May-December relationships were common in showbiz. But usually, it was a rich guy and a beautiful girl. In this case, Yan Yueshi was a socialite from a business empire. Ji Ling knew she owned five percent of Yan Corporation’s shares. Based on the company’s market value, that translated into a staggering amount of money.
Xu Jing, on the other hand, wasn’t bad-looking and had kept himself in great shape. He’d acted in a lot of films—though he never quite hit the jackpot with awards, he had box office hits under his belt. He wasn’t a top-tier director, but he was certainly mainstream, and he had a good reputation.
Still, the moment he got involved with Yan Yueshi, labels would stick to him like glue—gold digger, cradle robber, fortune hunter.
And the cold truth was, just like Yan Yixuan said, ‘he wasn’t worthy of her.’
Ji Ling still didn’t know if Xu Jing had any ulterior motives. He could see that Yan Yueshi was serious, but Xu Jing was too experienced, too guarded. He never wore his heart on his sleeve, and Ji Ling couldn’t tell if the guy truly cared.
Not that it mattered—Xu Jing knew better than anyone. He was older and more worldly. He knew how to hide his thoughts. No one could really figure him out.
Ji Ling was just an outsider in all this, so he couldn’t say much. Xu Jing could tell, and said to him, “Thanks, Boss Ji. If there’s a chance in the future, I’d love to work together.”
Then he nodded politely and left.
Ji Ling let out another sigh, and followed his staff out of the theater, heading back to the office.
The crime thriller that had led to Yan Yixuan discovering Yan Yueshi’s relationship had exploded online.
Part of it was the movie’s own appeal, and part of it came from Ji Ling’s company giving it a push.
The controversy centered around whether the idols’ acting was good enough.
The internet was a battlefield. Some people were raving about how much progress they’d made, calling it a massive improvement. Others just scoffed and said it was still the same old garbage.
And the one everyone used as the benchmark for good acting? Zhong Mingwei, of course.
There were even tons of memes floating around—pictures of her photoshopped to look like she was looking down on the world, with captions like ‘They’re all trash.’
But hey, at least there was buzz. Buzz meant people got curious and showed up at the theaters. Once they did, they found the plot tight, exciting, and way better than expected. After the movie, they joined the online debates, pulling in even more people.
Just like that, the legend of Ji Ling’s PR magic continued.
But to be fair, this time most of the hype came from the audience themselves. The hot takes weren’t Ji Ling’s idea—it was all the actors bringing their own drama to the table. Ji Ling just steered the conversation in the right direction and made sure the cast looked good.
Honestly, this might’ve been the easiest win of Ji Ling’s career. Aside from the long shoot that made him wait forever, he barely had to lift a finger—and the paycheck was fat.
He knew luck wouldn’t always be on his side, so he was already eyeing the next big thing: expanding into theater chains.
The Yan Corporation’s decision-making meeting was scheduled for a few days later.
Ji Ling, of course, wasn’t invited. He sat around in his own office, waiting for news.
If Yan Corporation chose not to work with him, he could still start a theater chain on his own. It’d be a hassle to rent venues and the scale wouldn’t be huge, but he had a backup plan.
It wasn’t like he had no way out. But if Yan Yixuan lost this round, Yan Yili would definitely seize the opportunity to push harder.
So far, it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Still, until the final verdict was in, Ji Ling couldn’t relax.
He spent the whole day waiting in his office—but nothing came from the Yan Corporation.
Ji Ling knew some meetings could drag on for days, but he still couldn’t help wondering—did the Yan family always operate like this? Did every meeting end in an argument?
Thinking about it, he figured Yan Yixuan must be exhausted. Now he didn’t just have to argue with Yan Yili, but with Yan Yueshi too.
Apparently, the whole Yan family had a knack for arguing.
From top to bottom, everyone had their own principles and would never back down. If they couldn’t convince each other, they’d just start arguing.
Stubbornness ran in the blood.
As Ji Ling waited, his thoughts drifted aimlessly. Night had long fallen, and still—nothing.
The rest of the office had clocked out. Ji Ling figured there was no point sitting around, so he threw on his coat and stepped out.
He thought about going to Jinyuan but paused—what if he ran into Yan Yueshi? He wouldn’t even know what to say. So instead, he turned the car around and headed straight to the Yan Corporation.
He didn’t go inside. Instead, he parked a little ways off and waited in the car.
An hour or so later, Yan Yixuan finally called.
“Someone will officially contact you tomorrow to discuss the next steps,” Yan Yixuan said.
Ji Ling laughed, “Could you be any more roundabout? Why not just say we’re working together already?”
Tomorrow, the headlines would be all over the news—Yan Corporation was giving up on real estate sales and diving headfirst into cinema chains.
It was going to make waves.
Just thinking about it got Ji Ling a little fired up.
“You done for the day? I’m not far from your office,” Ji Ling said, clearly hinting that he wanted to see him.
Yan Yixuan paused for a moment. “Send me your location.”
A short while later, Yan Yixuan pulled open the passenger door and slid into the seat beside Ji Ling.
“You’ve been here the whole time?” he asked.
As he got in, he loosened his tie, dropping the whole intimidating chairman vibe in an instant.
Ji Ling said, “I couldn’t focus on anything without hearing from you. Lucky for me, there’s always something going on in the entertainment world to keep me entertained.”
Then, switching gears, Ji Ling brought up Yan Yueshi. “How’s your sister doing?”
Yan Yixuan gave him a strange look. “What could be wrong with her? I just told her to stay home and cool off for a bit.”
“…That’s not the best way to handle it,” Ji Ling muttered. “You can’t just shut her out.”
Yan Yixuan waved it off, clearly not wanting to go into it. “I’ve got it under control.”
Alright, fine. Ji Ling didn’t push. He moved on. “So, how’d the meeting go today?”
Yan Yixuan turned to him and said seriously, “Originally, I was planning to discuss it with you tomorrow, but since you’ve been waiting out here all this time, I’ll just tell you now.”
Ji Ling raised a brow, seeing how serious he looked. “Alright. Go ahead.”
“At the meeting today, Yan Yili’s plan got shot down almost immediately. The shareholders and board were all a lot more interested in breaking into the cultural industry,” Yan Yixuan explained.
None of that was surprising. If Yan Yili was rejected so quickly, then something else must’ve dragged the meeting out.
Sure enough, Yan Yixuan went on, “Our version of the plan is bigger than the one you proposed. We’re starting with a few malls in third- and fourth-tier cities, then gradually taking back the theater spaces in our own malls, aiming to build a nationwide chain.”
Ji Ling narrowed his eyes.
That meant more money. More tech. A much bigger ask.
As expected, Yan Yixuan said, “We’ll invest more capital into your company so Yan Corporation can get a bigger share of the profits.” He paused, then added, “The board wants more control. They want a larger stake in your company. One of them even said we should just acquire it outright.”
Ji Ling didn’t hesitate. “No way. That’s not happening. Don’t even think about it. I’ve never been anyone’s employee and I’m not starting now.”
That had always been his bottom line. He’d rather borrow money than give up ownership of his own company.
He knew big corporations like Yan Corporaton usually expanded by acquiring other businesses. But this time, they didn’t have the tech or the connections to do it themselves. Ji Ling had brought all of that to the table. So cooperation was the only way. Acquisition? Not an option.
Yan Yixuan saw how fired up he was and chuckled. “I knew you’d flip the second I said it.” He added, “I told them the same thing. If we push for a buyout now, you’ll push back, and Luo’s family won’t agree either. It’s not worth the trouble.”
Ji Ling turned to him, stared hard, and asked straight-up, “If Luo’s family wasn’t backing me, would you try to force an acquisition?” Then he turned away again, staring out the windshield. “If that’s what you’re thinking too, then I…”
He didn’t finish. Because honestly, he didn’t know what he’d do.
At least, he would be disappointed.
Yan Yixuan gave him a faint smile. “Trust me.”
They didn’t drive off. Just sat there in the quiet.
Ji Ling tapped the steering wheel. “I’m not letting you guys own too much of my company.”
Yan Yixuan stayed as calm as ever. “I know. This is our first venture into a new field, and we need your help. We want more shares, yes, but you can keep your founder’s voting rights.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
