After the divorce, I started to transfer

Back at Zijinyuan, it was getting dark, but the lights in the villa were warm and bright, just in time for dinner.

Sitting around an elegant dining table with the two women, Chen Feng ate a sumptuous dinner while casually chatting about the endorsement dispute between Zhang Jingwen and Zhang Yuxi, as well as the less-than-honorable role played by Hu Rui in it.

"Have you heard anything about this before?" Chen Feng asked, chewing his food while observing the two women's faces.

Sun Xiaorui nodded first and responded softly, "I've heard people in the company talking about this. I also asked Hu Rui privately at the time, and her answer was that Zhang Jingwen and Zhang Yuxi would compete fairly, so I didn't say anything more. Later, I heard that Zhang Yuxi complained to President Ren, and I knew about it, but because I didn't have any solid evidence to prove that Hu Rui deliberately recommended Zhang Jingwen to steal Zhang Yuxi's endorsement, I couldn't say anything."

Wu Mengting, however, seemed unconvinced. She put down her soup bowl and retorted directly, "Who told you this? Did someone from Zhang Yuxi's side complain to you? Jingwen has already successfully signed those two endorsements; it's a done deal. What is she complaining about? In terms of current popularity and commercial value, she can't compare to Jingwen at all. Since it's fair competition, you should accept the loss instead of going around reporting on others."

Chen Feng's expression turned slightly serious. He corrected, "The focus of the discussion now is not who wins or loses, but the role Hu Rui played. She deliberately tripped up Zhang Yuxi and artificially intensified the conflict between her and Jingwen. This behavior has seriously affected the internal unity of our company. In addition, the two major brands took advantage of the competition between our two artists to undercut each other, ultimately harming the overall interests of our company."

Wu Mengting still seemed unconcerned, arguing, "This matter can't be entirely blamed on Hu Rui. Her initial intention was simply to keep these two important endorsements within our company. Zhang Yuxi may have misunderstood her. Besides, the two major brands initially contacted Zhang Yuxi, but that doesn't mean the endorsements were exclusively hers. Moreover, the two endorsements that Jingwen secured weren't cheap, and they didn't cause any substantial financial loss to the company."

Chen Feng shook his head and said in a deep voice, "If it weren't for the sexual harassment incident some time ago, which unexpectedly boosted Jingwen's fame and media attention, the original endorsement fee certainly wouldn't have been this high. We can't use this unexpected outcome to cover up Hu Rui's dereliction of duty in this process."

Wu Mengting narrowed her eyes slightly and asked, "From what you're saying, you now have a problem with Hu Rui?"

“That’s right.” Chen Feng nodded readily in admission. “I do believe that she is no longer competent for the position of manager of the artist department. Although I don’t usually get involved in the company’s day-to-day affairs, I still have some understanding of the work situation of the managers of several core departments. Simply put, Hu Rui has become unambitious and lazy in her work. More importantly, our company has developed too fast. In less than two years, it has grown from an unknown makeshift team into a ‘big company’ with a market value of more than 3 billion.”

Hu Rui's mindset and approach to things are still stuck at the level she was when she was an assistant manager. She not only can't keep up with the company's rapid development, but she also lacks effort and even has poor relationships with most of the company's signed artists. Of course, Zhang Jingwen might be an exception.

Wu Mengting silently shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth, then picked up a couple more bites of vegetables, chewed carefully for a while, and then thoughtfully said as she ate, "Currently, the company doesn't have a large number of signed artists. Even if you include He Xiaofeng and the 'Two Zhangs' who have their own studios, it's less than ten people at most. Moreover, the artist department has also added a lot of staff. In terms of management scale, I think Hu Rui is capable enough. However, you are the boss after all. If you insist on replacing her, I have no objection, but the premise is that you must find a more suitable and more convincing candidate."

Chen Feng didn't immediately respond to Wu Mengting's words. Instead, he turned to Sun Xiaorui, who had been eating quietly, and asked, "Xiaorui, what's your opinion?"

Sun Xiaorui paused for a moment, swallowed the food in her mouth, and then carefully said, "Hu Rui is, after all, a veteran of the company. Wouldn't it seem a bit heartless to fire her like this? Besides, she was introduced by Sister Lian, Yang Ziying's agent, and worked as Sister Lian's assistant. She and Yang Ziying are acquaintances."

Chen Feng waved his hand, his tone resolute: "We don't need to worry about Sister Lian and Yang Ziying. Our company has a cooperative relationship with them, we don't owe them anything, and we don't need to be afraid of them. Hu Rui has only been working with Sister Lian for less than a year, how deep can their relationship be? Besides, this is purely an internal personnel adjustment within our company, and they have no say in it."

At this point, Chen Feng turned his gaze back to Wu Mengting and asked directly, "But you, Mengting, everyone in the company says Hu Rui is one of your people. If I really replaced her, wouldn't you be upset?"

Wu Mengting frowned slightly and clarified, "We just have a fairly good personal relationship, but she is definitely not 'one of my people.' She is first and foremost a member of the company."

Chen Feng smiled and softened his tone: "Regardless of whether she is one of your people or not, I still hope that you can take control of this crucial department, the Artists Department. So, if you have a suitable candidate for the new Artists Department manager, you can recommend her to me directly. As long as I approve, she can replace Hu Rui."

Wu Mengting paused for a moment, then a faint smile involuntarily appeared on her lips. She readily nodded and agreed, "Okay, I'll look carefully and recommend you to anyone suitable."

Just now, when Chen Feng suddenly proposed replacing Hu Rui, she felt somewhat unhappy. Hu Rui was indeed her confidante; in the company, Hu Rui obeyed her every word, and that alone was enough.

But as she herself said, Chen Feng is, after all, the company's big boss and her boyfriend. Both professionally and personally, since Chen Feng has made his decision, she must respect and obey it.

More importantly, deep down she actually largely agreed with Chen Feng's assessment of Hu Rui. Hu Rui's recent work attitude had indeed been very lax, a fact that was almost universally acknowledged throughout the company.

The most obvious point is that the work of celebrities is unique, with schedules often packed and no holidays whatsoever. Especially when filming on set, staying up late or even all night is commonplace.

However, Hu Rui, the manager of the artist department, often had a completely different work schedule from the artists she managed. She strictly adhered to holidays, and would even turn off her phone during those times. Moreover, she would always turn off her phone after 10 p.m. every night, making it very difficult to contact her.

Her regular schedule may be healthy for her, but it seems extremely unfair to those artists who are constantly on the go.

Because artists may encounter various emergencies and thorny issues while working outside, and urgently need to consult and seek help from her, the artist department manager, they often cannot reach her at all when they need her the most.

Of course, Hu Rui probably knew that what she was doing was inappropriate. So, she delegated her "overtime obligations" and authority beyond her eight-hour workday to her assistant, a woman in her thirties who was supposedly related to her and had previously worked as a public relations person at a media company.

However, some people have been secretly spreading rumors that her assistant used to be a nightclub manager, commonly known as a "madam".

Regardless of Hu Rui's past identity, her work ability is clearly up to standard. Outside of working hours and holidays, she can indeed solve many troublesome problems encountered by artists for Hu Rui.

Therefore, Wu Mengting's statement that Hu Rui "is basically still competent" is based on comprehensive considerations and is not unfounded.

At this moment, Chen Feng handed over the power to choose a successor to her, and her discomfort immediately vanished. She even almost wanted to directly bring up Hu Rui's assistant.

But then she thought again that this assistant's background might not be clean, and her education was only a junior college degree, so she probably wouldn't be able to convince everyone. She temporarily suppressed the idea. Seeing her hesitation, Chen Feng urged her, "This matter should be settled as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Hu Rui continues to stay in this position, I'm afraid the company's artists will become increasingly disloyal. I only learned about Zhang Yuxi's situation by chance, and that's when I realized the seriousness of the problem. If it's not handled properly, Zhang Yuxi might terminate her contract with our company early, and even if she doesn't, there's no possibility of renewal after the contract expires."

Wu Mengting frowned: "It can't be that bad, can it? She's willing to leave you, her 'big sugar daddy'?"

Chen Feng was taken aback upon hearing this. He believed that his private relationship with Zhang Yuxi was quite private, and Wu Mengting should not know about it.

But judging from her tone and expression at this moment, could it be that she has already discovered something?
He vaguely concealed his true feelings, saying, "What kind of big spender am I to her? However, Hu Rui's actions this time have truly hurt her. I believe she has great personal potential and future commercial value, not to mention that she has made a lot of money for our company in the year or so since she signed with us. Therefore, in order to mend the rift between the company and her, and also as a kind of early investment in her, I plan to purchase a villa for her in the company's name as compensation and reward. What do you think?"

Wu Mengting narrowed her eyes slightly and asked scrutinizingly, "What kind of villa? Approximately how much will it cost?"

"Have you heard of the Shijia Courtyard? It's not far from our Zijinyuan area, and the total price is around 30 million. According to regulations, the company only needs to pay about 70% of the down payment. Since this house is her second property, the down payment ratio is higher."

"Wouldn't that mean paying 21 million?" Wu Mengting's eyes widened slightly, and she immediately objected. "No way, that price is too high. Her contract expires in three years. Do you think she can reach Jingwen's current level in three years? Not to mention being compared to Yang Ziying."

Chen Feng frowned and argued, "Yang Ziying's former agency, Tianyi Entertainment, offered her a signing bonus of 100 million yuan to renew her contract. Therefore, I don't think giving Zhang Yuxi a 'signing bonus' of 20 million yuan after three years is too much, especially considering that it includes psychological compensation for the grievances she suffered in this incident. I've already verified that when those two major brands contacted Hu Rui, they clearly stated that they were only considering Zhang Yuxi and didn't mention Zhang Jingwen at all."

As a result, Hu Rui recommended Zhang Jingwen to the brand before the brand had even officially contacted Zhang Yuxi or begun endorsement negotiations. This led to the two women being exploited by the brand, resulting in them undercutting each other and creating vicious competition. If Jingwen hadn't unexpectedly gained popularity due to the sexual harassment incident, successfully overtaking Zhang Yuxi and securing the endorsement, our company would undoubtedly have suffered a significant financial loss. Hu Rui, as the company's representative, did something that seriously damaged Zhang Yuxi's personal interests. Don't you think our company should compensate her?"

"Are you really sure? Was it Hu Rui who deliberately sabotaged Zhang Yuxi behind her back?" Wu Mengting asked with some surprise, her expression becoming serious.

“Of course.” Chen Feng nodded solemnly. “Otherwise, do you think I would handle this matter so seriously?”

Wu Mengting fell silent again, lowered her head and continued eating, but her movements were much slower.

The atmosphere at the table became somewhat tense for a moment, and none of the three spoke. After a few minutes, just as Chen Feng began to eat his second bowl of rice, Wu Mengting suddenly spoke up, her voice seemingly calm: "Hu Rui is targeting Zhang Yuxi so much, perhaps part of it is to curry favor with me."

Chen Feng was taken aback, and asked with a puzzled look, "She's targeting Zhang Yuxi to curry favor with you? Do you have a grudge against Zhang Yuxi?"

Wu Mengting raised her eyes, glanced at Chen Feng with a resentful expression, and slowly said, "About two or three months ago, Hu Rui suddenly came to me and told me mysteriously that you were having an affair with Zhang Yuxi. She also showed me photos of you and Zhang Yuxi in front of the Four Seasons Hotel, saying that she bought them from a paparazzi for a high price."

Chen Feng was stunned for a moment, and after a long while, he finally gave a bitter smile: "So, the starting point of everything is actually because of me?"

He did consider denying it outright, but then felt it would be tasteless and pointless in this situation. Anyway, he figured he had plenty of debts to burn, so he might as well just admit it.

Wu Mengting nodded calmly: "You could say that. So, from now on, I will no longer use company resources to promote Zhang Yuxi. If she wants to terminate her contract early, she can, and I will at most give her a discount on the penalty for breach of contract."

Chen Feng immediately felt embarrassed and could only force a smile to smooth things over: "Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. Isn't what you're doing a bit inappropriate?"

Wu Mengting let out a cold laugh, her eyes sharp as knives: "I practically made Zhang Yuxi famous myself. I don't owe her anything; on the contrary, she owes me. She stole my man without my consent, and you still expect me to continue to be magnanimous and support her? Do you think I'm a fool or an idiot?"

Chen Feng suddenly felt a headache coming on and didn't know what to do for a moment.

Unexpectedly, this matter, after many twists and turns, ended up back on him. Had he known there were such hidden details, he certainly wouldn't have been so foolish as to get involved.

At worst, he could just let Hu Rui continue as her artist management manager, and he could privately buy Zhang Yuxi an apartment as compensation. He wasn't short of money. But now, things had become much more complicated.

Wu Mengting's words instantly put him in an awkward situation where he had no choice but to step forward or backward.

First and foremost, the most difficult issue is the handling of Hu Rui. According to Wu Mengting, Hu Rui's motive for deliberately causing trouble for Zhang Yuxi was actually to avenge her, the "official wife." Therefore, if Chen Feng insists on replacing Hu Rui, it would be tantamount to severely slapping Wu Mengting in the face.

Secondly, there was the matter of explaining things to Zhang Yuxi. Not long ago, he had made a solemn promise to her, vowing to seek justice for her, and even boasting that he would make the down payment for a luxury villa worth more than 30 million yuan as compensation.

In the current delicate situation, this usually authoritative boss and major investor seems unable to confidently support Zhang Yuxi anymore. Even the purchase of the villa can no longer be done in the company's name; he can only pay for it himself at most.

Because Wu Mengting also holds a crucial position in the company: Financial Controller. Any large-scale transfer of funds must be reviewed and approved by her; this is a necessary financial procedure. A down payment of over 20 million yuan for a property would be impossible to bypass her—it's simply a pipe dream.

Not to mention, he also had to consider the feelings and emotions of Wu Mengting, his "official girlfriend." After she had clearly expressed her strong dissatisfaction with Zhang Yuxi, if Chen Feng continued to insist on promoting Zhang Yuxi, it would be a huge disrespect to Wu Mengting. (End of Chapter)