Chapter 26 – 026

After Xie Yunjing finished speaking, he hung up the phone. Gu Xian came out after washing up and asked him, “Whose call was that?”

“An advertisement promotion,” Xie Yunjing lied, his expression remaining completely unchanged.

Suspicious, Gu Xian took back his phone. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Don’t believe me? You can call back.”

Xie Yunjing had just invested 200 million in his project. If it was something related to 《The Legend of Song Mountain》 and he was hiding it, it would be a direct affront to the money involved. Besides 《The Legend of Song Mountain》, he didn’t have any other pressing matters recently.

“I’m not calling back.” If it really was an advertisement promotion, calling back would make him look like an idiot. He wasn’t about to fall for Xie Yunjing’s provocation. Plus, if it was truly something important, the other party would definitely call again.

Gu Xian held his phone while Xie Yunjing picked up a book. The two of them settled into their respective corners of the bed, each minding their own business, until Gu Xian’s well-informed friends sent him a message.

Jiang Longxing?

Gu Xian stared at his phone screen in confusion. Did he know someone by that name?

Muzi Qiu: Brother, this guy went to the same high school as us. He was pretty bold. He kept causing trouble for you even after getting dealt with multiple times. He even dared to mess with Xie Yunjing.

Gu Xian’s memory was jogged. Back in high school, there indeed was someone like that, always stirring up trouble between him and Xie Yunjing.

But was his name really Jiang Longxing?

Gu Xian nudged Xie Yunjing with his elbow. “Hey, back in high school, do you remember that troublemaker named Jiang Longxing?”

Troublemaker?

Xie Yunjing glanced at him silently. If Jiang Longxing was the troublemaker, then what did that make the two of them who got dragged into the mess?

He turned a page of his book. “I don’t remember.”

Gu Xian didn’t care whether he remembered or not. “That guy was always meddling in our business back in high school. I almost thought he had a crush on you!”

Xie Yunjing paused for a moment, then looked up and said, “Why don’t you say he had a crush on you?”

Gu Xian scoffed, “A crush on me? Is that even possible? I beat him up so many times, what is he, a masochist with a crush on me?”

Another message came through on his phone. After reading it carefully, Gu Xian looked down on Jiang Longxing even more. “What the hell? His family’s been doing well these past few years, and now he’s resorting to bribing screenwriters and directors just to get back at me for beating him up back then? That’s all he’s capable of!”

Li Yuqiu and the others also thought Jiang Longxing’s actions were completely pointless, purely the work of someone with too much time on their hands and a few screws loose.

Gu Xian watched as they continued to ridicule Jiang Longxing. Suddenly, he turned to Xie Yunjing and asked, “Do you think it’s because I married you, and he got jealous? Is that why he’s messing with me again?”

Bribing nearly all the reliable screenwriters and directors in the entertainment industry to ensure they refused Guangyao Media’s offers wasn’t a small amount of money. To spend so much over some petty high school grudge, this guy was truly out of his mind.

No matter how much Gu Xian thought about it, he just couldn’t make sense of it.

Xie Yunjing closed the book in his hand. “You keep pushing the blame for Jiang Longxing bothering you onto me. Are you trying to say you can’t handle him yourself and want me to deal with him for you?”

“Rubbish!” The gossip-loving expression on Gu Xian’s face vanished instantly. “He’s just a loser I’ve already defeated. Who needs your help? If someone’s giving me trouble for no reason, should I just sit there clueless and let myself be taken advantage of like an idiot?”

“…” Xie Yunjing stopped what he was doing and just looked at him. “You really are pretty dumb.”

“Huh?” Gu Xian immediately exploded, ignoring his phone. “Xie Yunjing, who are you calling dumb? From second grade to first year of high school, there were 137 exams in total. I took first place 72 times, and you only got 65! A loser!”

“If you count the second and third year of high school, I got first place 83 times, and you only got 72.”

“That’s because I was going easy on you!”

“But the fact remains, I got first place more times than you.”

He couldn’t remember the person who always caused him trouble, yet he remembered every single time they competed over grades. Xie Yunjing unconsciously gave a faint smile. “Fool.”

*

“Mr. Xie, everyone in the meeting room has already arrived.”

“Alright.” Xie Yunjing flipped through the last document in front of him. “Go ahead and let them know to wait for a bit. I’ll head over as soon as I finish reviewing this schedule.”

“Understood.” The assistant, holding the documents needed for the meeting, started walking out but was stopped halfway by Xie Yunjing calling out to him again.

“Wait a moment.” Xie Yunjing tapped on a name on the schedule. “Has the person from Jianghe Group responsible for signing the contract arrived?”

“Mr. Xie, please hold on.” The assistant took out their phone and, after a brief call, replied, “The young master of Jianghe Group arrived half an hour ago.”

Xie Yunjing flipped back a few pages of the schedule, covering the name “Jiang Longxing” on the previous page.

He stood up and instructed the assistant, “Come with me to the Jianghe Group’s reception room. Have the person originally in charge of negotiating the contract deliver the materials to me immediately. I’ll handle the discussion with Jianghe personally.”

The assistant was momentarily stunned. “But what about the meeting?”

Without looking back, Xie Yunjing replied, “Let them discuss on their own for now.”

“Manager Zhang, you’re finally here…” The enthusiastic greeting from inside the reception room abruptly stopped when they saw who was at the door.

Jiang Longxing, who had been sitting upright, almost jumped out of his seat in shock and blurted out, “Xie Yunjing!”

Someone next to him, likely an elder, gave him a pat, prompting him to quickly correct himself, “Mr. Xie! Mr. Xie, hello!”

Xie Yunjing didn’t even acknowledge them with a nod. He walked straight to the sofa opposite Jiang Longxing, sat down, and took the materials from the assistant’s hands. As he flipped through them, he said, “Sister Yu, coffee.”

The assistant quickly returned with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. However, the fact that there was only one cup made the atmosphere in the reception room suddenly tense.

After taking a sip of his coffee, Xie Yunjing finally seemed to notice that the people from Jianghe Group were still standing in their welcoming postures. “Why aren’t you sitting? Is it because the sofas at our Xie Group aren’t comfortable enough for you?”

“No, not at all!” The person next to Jiang Longxing, Jiang Yongjun, his uncle and the one actually responsible for negotiating the contract today, quickly responded.

Jiang Yongjun pulled Jiang Longxing to sit down and said ingratiatingly, “We just didn’t expect Mr. Xie to come in person. It’s a bit overwhelming! Manager Zhang, he…?”

“Zhang Mo isn’t feeling well.” Xie Yunjing tossed the materials onto the table in front of the Jiang family uncle and nephew. “I think Jianghe’s asking price is a bit too high.”

Jiang Yongjun’s expression turned awkward. “But this is already our bottom line. We had already discussed this with Manager Zhang, and we were just about to sign the contract.”

“Now you’re negotiating with me.”

Xie Yunjing leisurely sipped his coffee, showing no intention of revealing the price he had in mind.

Jiang Yongjun nervously rubbed his hands on his thighs. While Jianghe Group had been doing well in recent years, securing a partnership with Xie Group was still a rare and valuable opportunity. To land this deal, they had indeed already offered their lowest price.

He nudged Jiang Longxing beside him and whispered, “Didn’t you say you and Mr. Xie were high school classmates? Hurry up and use that connection!”

Jiang Longxing’s expression turned sour. Ever since negotiations with the Xie Group began, he had bragged to the people at Jianghe Group about being high school classmates with Xie Yunjing, even claiming they had once been close friends who stood united against common enemies. Only he himself knew what their relationship was really like.

Because of his boasting, his father had placed high hopes on this deal, insisting that he seize the opportunity to secure a partnership with the Xie Group. Now, he had no choice but to force a smile and awkwardly say to Xie Yunjing, “X-Xie Yunjing, it’s been a long time.”

Xie Yunjing leisurely glanced at him. “Has Young Master Jiang still not come up with a new offer?”

“Uh…” Jiang Longxing turned to Jiang Yongjun for help.

Jiang Yongjun shot him a disdainful look, clearly unimpressed by his incompetence. Forcing a pained smile, he said to Xie Yunjing, “Mr. Xie, how about Jianghe Group lowers it by another two percent?”

Xie Yunjing adopted a thoughtful pose, remaining silent until Jiang Yongjun’s impatience started to show on his face. Only then did he speak, “Still too high.”

Jiang Yongjun’s forced smile was so strained it was nearly frozen in place. “Mr. Xie, this really is our lowest offer. If we go any lower, Jianghe won’t have any profit left at all. Look, we’re showing such sincerity, and Longxing used to have a good relationship with you. Could you please show some generosity and stop pushing the price down?”

“I have a good relationship with Jiang Longxing?” Xie Yunjing’s expression turned playful. “But I’ve heard that Jianghe Group has been quite active recently and doesn’t seem to be lacking for profit. Drop another ten percent, and I’ll sign the contract with you.”

“Ten—ten percent?” Jiang Yongjun couldn’t hold back any longer. This was outright extortion. A ten percent reduction wouldn’t just eliminate profits, but it was blatantly asking Jianghe to take a loss!

“Mr. Xie, isn’t this a bit too much…”

“Xie Yunjing!” Jiang Longxing suddenly spoke up, gritting his teeth in embarrassment. “I know I shouldn’t have messed with you in the past, but that has nothing to do with the cooperation we’re discussing today, nor with Jianghe Group. Can you just finish negotiating the contract properly first? After that, however you want to retaliate against me, I’ll let you handle it as you see fit.”

Jiang Yongjun looked utterly shocked, as if he couldn’t comprehend what Jiang Longxing was saying.

Xie Yunjing, however, smiled. “Who said I’m retaliating against you for the past?”

“Then why—”

“Don’t tell me my voice wasn’t clear enough?” Xie Yunjing pointed to his throat, then suddenly let his expression darken.

“You’re not even worthy.”

Author’s Note:

Earlier chapters’ Xiao Xie: My wife is such a fool QAQ.

Still Xiao Xie: Thank goodness my wife is a fool.