Chapter 61: Doing a Little Business, International Trade

"International trade, doing a bit of business."

In response to Yang Mi's inquiry, Li Qing answered very casually.

However, as far as Wang Mian was concerned,

This statement was completely accurate.

Arms trading and military exports could indeed be considered foreign trade...

Hearing this,

Yang Mi nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder Li Qing had been able to help her time and time again;

he must be doing quite well in foreign trade and have a substantial amount of money, otherwise how could he afford a villa like this?

Extremely grateful, Yang Mi said,

"Li Qing, thank you."

"If it weren't for you, I truly wouldn't know how to get through this crisis."

Li Qing accepted Yang Mi's gratitude,

but he was only doing all this because of Xuan Bao'er.

However, Li Qing had no intention of explaining himself.

Whatever he chose to do, no explanation was required.

After expressing her gratitude,

Yang Mi's expression turned somewhat worried as she looked at Li Qing earnestly.

"Li Qing, I'm very grateful to you, but please don't help me anymore in the future."

"Do not get mixed up in this muddy water. If they find out you're the one helping me, they certainly won't let you off."

"The waters in the entertainment industry run very deep."

These warnings and pieces of advice given to Li Qing

came straight from the bottom of Yang Mi's heart.

She really didn't want Li Qing to be dragged into this quagmire because of her.

Hearing this,

Li Qing smiled faintly and said nonchalantly,

"Perhaps it won't be as serious as you imagine?"

Yang Mi's tone grew a bit more serious.

"What I'm saying is not exaggerated at all, truly!"

"Li Qing, I don't want you to fall into danger!"

As she spoke, Yang Mi's face flushed a little more involuntarily, and she quickly added,

"After all, you have to take care of Xuan Bao'er..."

He Baibai, standing nearby, also emphasized,

"That's right, Brother Li... Brother Qing, those people in the entertainment industry are extremely bad. This circle is not as simple as it looks; the water is terribly murky!"

Since Li Qing had helped Yang Mi so much,

He Baibai respected him a lot more and felt that calling him "Brother" was only right.

Seeing the two of them looking so nervous and earnest,

Wang Mian couldn't help but chuckle.

Though it might not be very polite, he simply couldn't hold it back...

As for the supposed murkiness of the Beijing entertainment circle, how turbid it got depended entirely on how Brother Qing chose to play.

Once he had enough of playing, he could make the entire entertainment industry crystal clear by the very next day!

Because both Yang Mi and He Baibai meant well,

Li Qing didn't say much else and merely glossed over it with a vague,

"Alright, I understand."

Yang Mi nodded, still feeling uneasy as she said,

"Really, you must protect yourself and never take risks again."

"It's getting late, I... I should head back first."

Yang Mi stood up,

bade him farewell, and left the villa with He Baibai.

After watching Yang Mi leave,

Li Qing stood in the courtyard, taking a slow drag from a cigarette, his deep eyes seemingly lost in thought.

Beside him,

Wang Mian seemed to read Li Qing's mind, a smile playing on his face.

"Brother Qing, you don't actually plan to play around with the entertainment industry, do you?"

Li Qing exhaled a puff of smoke, the white wisps slowly drifting past his fingertips and rising across his face.

"Nothing better to do, might as well find something to occupy myself. Consider it collecting some interest for the grievances Xuan Bao'er suffered over the past three years."

Hearing this,

Wang Mian's eyes flashed, a hint of excitement crossing his face.

"Brother Qing, are you serious?"

"Heh, playing with the entertainment industry? That sounds like a lot of fun!"

Over the years,

Wang Mian had followed Li Qing across various countries, and in the course of developing their business, he had played games with countless powerful forces, watching numerous people perish in fierce power struggles.

Of course, the ultimate winner every single time was always Li Qing.

Now that they were back in the country,

apart from routinely supervising major corporations, Wang Mian basically had nothing to do, and his days were terribly boring.

If they were going to toy with the entertainment industry now, it would add plenty of amusement to their tedious lives.

"If the majority of celebrities in the entertainment industry suddenly vanished, I truly wonder what the domestic entertainment scene would turn into."

Wang Mian looked forward to it with anticipation, then turned to Li Qing with a serious expression and said,

"Brother Qing, actually, I could just have someone make Arthur Chen, Director Feng, and that Wu Yufei completely disappear."

Li Qing knew

that the "disappearing" Wang Mian spoke of didn't mean driving them out of the entertainment industry, but rather making them vanish from the face of the earth entirely!

Li Qing flicked the ash from his cigarette and said,

"This isn't abroad; we still need to keep a relatively low profile when doing things."

"Besides, if you do it that way, can you even call it playing? There's no fun in that at all."

Wang Mian smiled.

"True. Brother Qing, I know what to do."

Once the cigarette was finished, Li Qing turned around and walked back toward the villa.

"Alright, how we play this will depend on how the situation develops."

<span>"It's getting late, time to rest."</span>

...

Meanwhile,

in a certain villa in Shanghai.

In the brightly lit living room,

Director Feng sat in a chair, his aged eyelids drooping, and his expression extremely grim.

Sitting nearby

were Arthur Chen, Wu Yufei, and the director Li Wenwu.

None of their complexions looked good, and the atmosphere in the living room was heavy and oppressive.

After a moment of silence,

Arthur Chen spoke coldly,

"Uncle Feng, this Yu Liang has gone way too far!"

"If we don't destroy him, I won't be able to swallow this anger!"

"And of course, Yang Mi cannot be let off either!"

Today at the Jinghai Mansion, Arthur Chen had been slapped in public by Yu Liang.

This immense humiliation made him harbor murderous intent! Arthur Chen possessed the status of a young master in the entertainment industry;

if word got out that he had been slapped in the face and nothing came of it, how would he ever have the face to continue mingling in these circles?

Director Feng's expression was gloomy.

What Yu Liang did was a slap to his face as well!

It was even an open provocation against the entire Beijing entertainment clique!

However,

Director Feng was deeply scheming and naturally knew that there must be more to this matter than met the eye.

"Things aren't that simple. For Yu Liang to act so out of character, there must be something hidden behind the scenes that we don't know about."

Director Feng rolled his own cigarette and lit it, his voice sounding somewhat raspy.

"As a businessman, he wouldn't offend us for no reason, let alone create such deep enmity."

"Therefore, Yu Liang must have gotten his hands on a much larger bargaining chip before deciding to switch sides."

"And that chip is definitely huge!"

Hearing Director Feng's analysis,

Li Wenwu couldn't help but nod, saying,

"Director Feng is right. Yu Liang switching sides must mean Yang Mi offered him some kind of leverage behind the scenes, allowing Yu Liang to secure even greater benefits."

"Behind all this, things might be even more complicated than we imagine."

Arthur Chen said nothing,

knowing full well that Yu Liang must have defected for the sake of profits, willingly making a mortal enemy of him regardless of the cost.

Yet Arthur Chen couldn't figure out

what kind of benefit could possibly make Yu Liang do such a thing.

After all, Yang Mi was just a minor celebrity; what kind of benefits could she possibly offer Yu Liang?

Furthermore, Yu Liang should have known the consequences of going against the entire entertainment industry.

Even knowing the consequences, he still chose to do it anyway...

Thinking of this, Arthur Chen furrowed his brows and said,

"Does that mean Yang Mi really does have someone powerful supporting her behind the scenes?"

Listening to their conversation,

Wu Yufei felt immensely complicated inside.

The current situation seemed to have long since surpassed anything she could control.

Yang Mi, someone she used to easily suppress and crush, suddenly seemed to have leaped up to become an unreachably high figure!

"But what kind of backing could Yang Mi possibly have?"

Wu Yufei couldn't help but ask,

"Could it be the chairman of Jiaxing Media, Liu Yanbin?"

"That's impossible, right? Previously, Yu Liang wouldn't even give Liu Yanbin the time of day."

When it came to Yang Mi's backstage support,

everyone fell silent.

Even Director Feng wore a bewildered look;

his status in the entertainment industry was virtually unrivaled, and he knew Yang Mi's background quite well.

Yet now, the influence Yang Mi was displaying was entirely beyond what an ordinary celebrity could possess.

Arthur Chen lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said impatiently,

"I don't care who is backing Yang Mi."

"In any case, starting from this slap, I will absolutely not allow Yang Mi to stay in the entertainment industry any longer!"

"Since the other party still doesn't want to show their face yet, we'll go after Yang Mi and Yu Liang to force them out into the open!"

Arthur Chen's eyes were vicious, and his tone exceptionally sharp.

Even Wu Yufei was somewhat frightened.

She had never expected that what was originally just a dispute between celebrities

would now escalate into a game of chess between major factions!

This meant the situation had escalated to an entirely different level.

Director Feng said in a deep voice,

"Yang Mi must be eliminated. However, you must avoid being too impetuous in your actions. The more critical the moment, the less you can afford to make mistakes that give the other party something to hold against you."

"As for the matter of the filming location, I will find a way. The new drama should start filming as usual."

"As for Yang Mi, we need to employ some additional methods to force the person behind her out."