Mad Dragon gets out of prison and marries a beautiful CEO.

Chapter 111

"Three million is fine." Chen Li interrupted him, "But what I want is not a permanent seat. Su Wan wants to be the closing guest, to compete with those two artists from Li Family Entertainment and Xiaoran Media."

Chen Guodong's smile froze for a moment.

He put his reading glasses back on, as if trying to see through Chen Li's true nature through the lenses, and after a long while he finally spoke:

"Do you know how much Li Family Entertainment and Xiaoran Media invested? Together, they invested twelve million. You think three million is enough to put Su Wan on equal footing with them? That's going too far, you know?"

"I'm not trying to put Su Wan on equal footing with them." Chen Li's voice wasn't loud, but every word clearly reached Chen Guodong's ears. "I want the three people in this show to stand on the same stage, and then the audience can see for themselves who wins and who loses."

Chen Guodong did not answer immediately. He picked up the thermos on the table, took a sip, and put it down with a soft tapping sound as the bottom of the cup hit the table.

Chen Li noticed that his gaze swept over the bookshelf behind him, where a framed ink painting was displayed, signed by a relatively unknown but well-regarded modern painter.

"Does Director Chen like calligraphy and painting?"

Chen Li followed his gaze and looked back at the painting.

Chen Guodong didn't speak, but his hand holding the thermos cup paused for a moment.

Chen Li stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and examined the inscription on the painting up close. Then he turned to Chen Guodong and said:

"The artist of this painting is surnamed Zhou, from the Lingnan region, and he's not considered a famous artist."

"But if Director Chen is interested, I know someone who has a landscape scroll by Mr. Zhou, which is three times larger than this one and in excellent condition."

Chen Guodong slowly ran his fingers around the thermos, looked at Chen Li for several seconds, and then slowly spoke:

"Three million is too little. If Xinghai Entertainment can increase the investment to five million and also allocate the publicity resources to the production team, I can consider adjusting the lineup and schedule."

Chen Li stood in front of the bookshelf for two seconds, not rushing to agree.

He took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and sent a message to Song Qingtong:

"Is the production filing for Yuncheng TV's variety show 'Star Project' in your system? Please check if this program involves any illegal financial transactions."

Then he turned to Chen Guodong and said:

"Director Chen, I'll think about the investment more. I'll send you Su Wan's acting information first, so you can keep a copy."

Chen Guodong nodded, wrote his personal email address on a sticky note, and handed it over.

Chen Li took it, glanced at it, put it in his pocket, said goodbye, and left the office.

After leaving the house, he stood at the elevator entrance for a few seconds when his phone vibrated.

Song Qingtong's message has come back:

"The production filing for 'Starlight Project' was compliant, but there was a 'special cooperation fee' item in the production budget sheet, amounting to 2.5 million, with the remarks column blank."

"If this program is investigated, this money will be difficult to explain."

After reading the message, Chen Li put his phone back in his pocket.

He knew how to get Chen Guodong to open up, not just through investment and calligraphy and paintings, but also by making him realize that the risks of not opening up were even greater.

That afternoon.

Chen Li had Ah Kun find out the address of the new house that Chen Guodong's wife was renovating, and then had Xiao Wen draft an investment intention letter with Xinghai Entertainment as a co-producer.

He didn't rush to hand over either document, but left it on the desk in his study to air out overnight.

The next morning, Chen Guodong called himself, and his voice was much more polite than the day before:

"Mr. Chen, I've reconsidered Su Wan's situation. Please have her reserve her schedule first; the specific lineup and schedule will be released next week."

Chen Li answered the phone while leaning against the wall in the tea room, his voice calm and unhurried:

"Thank you, Director Chen. I'll wait for news next week."

Now, the tables have turned, and the other party is in charge of talking to him.

After hanging up the phone, he put it on the table, picked up the investment intention document that Xiaowen had drafted yesterday, glanced at it, and casually tossed it into the drawer. He wouldn't need it anymore.

Sometimes letting the other party know what leverage you have is more effective than actually making a move.

He stood up and walked to the window. The lawn in the Bihulong Courtyard was lush and shiny in the afternoon sun. The water mist from the sprinkler drew an arc in the air and refracted into a faint rainbow in the sunlight.

The wind outside the window swept through the woods, carrying the warm scent of grass and soil baked by the sun.

The variety show that Su Wan wanted to be on now has an entry point.

Now we'll see how long Lin Xiao and the two artists from the Li family can last on stage.

……

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the lineup for "Starlight Project" was released.

Yuncheng TV's official Weibo account posted a long image with ten artists' promotional photos lined up in a row. Su Wan's photo was in the fifth position, slightly to the left of center, a typical position in the final section, but still quite eye-catching.

Less than half an hour after the post was published, Chen Li's phone started vibrating.

First, Sister Hong sent a voice message. When I opened it, her voice rose in pitch:

"Mr. Chen! The list is out! Su Wan is in! She's fifth! Ms. Wen just posted a screenshot in the group chat, and the whole company is in an uproar!"

Then came Su Wan's own message, which consisted of only one emoji—a little person giving a thumbs-up—without any further words.

But this one emoji carries more weight than a lengthy thank you.

She was telling Chen Li, "I saw it, you did it."

Chen Li replied with an "Mm," placed his phone on the tea table, and put pressure on the Li family and Lin Xiao, now he was just waiting to see what would happen.

at the same time.

In the top-floor office of the Qinglongtang headquarters in the East District, Lin Xiao placed his phone on the desk, the screen still lit up with the push notification from Yuncheng TV.

She leaned back in her chair, her thumb slowly twirling the sandalwood prayer beads on her wrist, her face expressionless.

Operations Director Ma Lan, standing opposite the desk, waited with her hands at her sides. It took about ten seconds before Lin Xiao spoke.

"What's going on with Chen Guodong?"

Ma Lan spoke in a very low voice:

"Chen Guodong's immediate supervisor spoke with him yesterday afternoon."

"I don't know what they talked about, but Chen Guodong's attitude changed a lot during the meeting at the station this morning. He originally said that there was a conflict in the scheduling of the Suwan Evening News, but this morning he changed his tune and said that it had been 'coordinated'."

Lin Xiao paused for a moment while fiddling with the prayer beads, then flipped her phone face down on the table.

"He has someone who paved the way for him. Chen Guodong is greedy but timid. Someone has something on him."

She stood up and walked to the window. The buildings in the East District gleamed with a grayish-white luster in the afternoon light, and the tin sheds of the medicinal herb market stood out conspicuously among the high-rise buildings.

"Let's put Su Wan's matter aside for now. Being on the show doesn't mean anything. Whether the audience will accept it after the first episode airs is another matter."

"Focus on Lao Liu and keep a close eye on Runfeng Trading's progress in signing the contract with him."

Malan nodded:

"clear."

Before leaving get off work that day, Ah Kun called.

His tone was a degree more tense than usual:

"Mr. Chen, Old Liu from the market was picked up by a van this afternoon."

"The car didn't have license plates, but it's the same car that appeared around the time Uncle Wang was kidnapped."

"My men followed them for a while, but lost them near Qingxi Road."