Chapter 6: His Compensation – Pillow Talk Is the Most Persuasive Weapon…

“Beautiful? Woman?” Chen Qingyue stared at Pei Yunzhe in disbelief. “Pigs climbing trees, iron trees blooming… You? Chasing a woman?”

Pei Yunzhe replied calmly, “I’m simply stating objective facts—there’s no personal sentiment involved.”

“This bag—” Chen Qingyue pointed mockingly at the ladies’ handbag Pei Yunzhe had placed on the table. “Pei Yunzhe, how cheap can you be? That’s what you gift a girl?”

“Mind your own business. Just take care of your bar.” Pei Yunzhe casually grabbed the drink menu and pointed. “Two of these.”

“Tch. Just make sure you pay.”

---

On the other side of the bar…

Zhong Yang, still trying to stay hidden, suddenly felt a weight on her shoulder. She turned instinctively—and was met with the grinning face of Chen Qingyue.

“Big star, what are you squatting down here for?”

Zhong Yang gave a dry chuckle. “Haha, dropped something… Just picking it up.”

“Did you see that tall, handsome guy just now?” Chen Qingyue pointed while mixing a drink. “Next time he comes, charge him five times the price.”

Zhong Yang nodded without quite understanding. She hesitated. “Boss, are you close with him?”

“Of course. Grew up together—” Chen Qingyue suddenly seemed struck by a terrifying thought. “Wait… You’re not into him, are you?”

Zhong Yang waved frantically, equally horrified. “No, no! Just curious!”

“You scared me… Anyway, here—bring this to him. I’ve got another table to serve.”

---

What’s meant to come will come—no hiding, no escape.

She’d already done the deed. She couldn’t possibly chicken out of facing the consequences now.

A real woman bends and stretches, faces every blow life throws at her head-on!

Zhong Yang took a deep breath and marched resolutely toward Pei Yunzhe’s table.

He was fully focused on his phone and hadn’t noticed her approach. She cleared her throat.

“Mr. Pei, your drink.”

He looked up from his documents. Seeing it was her, he put his phone down. “You work here?”

He had assumed she was just a customer at Lake.

Zhong Yang nodded. “Thank you for going out of your way to return my bag. I actually have something I’d like to say to you—would it be alright to trouble you for five minutes?”

Pei Yunzhe gestured to the seat across from him. “Coincidentally, I have something to say too. Sit.”

“You go first,” Zhong Yang offered politely.

He glanced at her. “No, go ahead.”

In that brief moment, Zhong Yang actually found his attitude… surprisingly decent.

But then she remembered all the rumors about this bigshot that Xu Youyou had told her—and she immediately put her guard back up.

“Mr. Pei, I’m sorry. I was really rude to you last night. That was my fault—I shouldn’t have been so emotional…”

Words like these—so humble and submissive—were something the old Zhong Yang from a year ago would never have said. But life had beaten a lot of that idealism out of her. She’d come to understand that the world wasn’t just black and white.

“I know… If you wanted to squash me like an ant, it’d be easy. But I’m begging you, please don’t ruin my future.”

She bowed a full 90 degrees. “Please—name your terms. What do I have to do for you to let me go?”

No response.

Zhong Yang slowly straightened up, only to find Pei Yunzhe’s deep, unreadable gaze fixed on her.

She stammered. “Wh-what is it?”

He looked almost amused. “Miss Zhong, when did I ever say I was going to ruin your life?”

“No, no, that’s just me misspeaking,” she quickly bowed again. “Someone like you—generous and principled—wouldn’t bother holding a grudge.”

Reputation meant everything, especially for someone in power. They had to appear morally upright at all times. Any hint of wrongdoing, and it was always blamed on others. She got that.

Pei Yunzhe didn’t confirm or deny it. He simply said, “Please, sit.”

“Of course.” Noticing the faint impatience in his tone, Zhong Yang obediently sat down, posture perfect, smile practiced.

Then—without any warning—Pei Yunzhe got straight to the point.

“Miss Zhong, I didn’t get the chance to say this yesterday, so I’ll say it now. Due to a misjudgment on my part, I hurt your dignity. I’m sorry.”

…What?

He—he apologized?

There was a fourth outcome she hadn’t expected…

Zhong Yang’s eyes went wide in shock.

Pei Yunzhe pushed the handbag toward her and continued. “So, as compensation for wrongly judging you, I’ll let you make one request. Anything.”

“Th-this…” Zhong Yang was speechless. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.” He pulled out a sleek black-and-gold business card and handed it to her. “Think it over and let me know.”

The gold-embossed card was held out by a pale, slender hand, but Zhong Yang hesitated to accept it.

She had insulted him, and she hadn’t really lost anything… Wouldn’t taking this seem shameless?

Then again… if she played this rare opportunity right, maybe she could finally clean her reputation and get back into acting…

After a moment’s thought, she took the card and tucked it into her recovered handbag. “Alright. I’ll think about it.”

---

12:00 AM – In the cab home

Zhong Yang finally received a message from Zhang Yue.

[Zhang Yue]: Where the hell did you go last night?

[zy]: Oh, nothing. Just yelled at your Mr. Pei a bit, then went home. 🙂

Seconds later, Zhang Yue called.

“Zhong Yang, are you trying to die?!”

Zhong Yang held the phone away from her ear and replied lazily, “What do you care? Not like I’m eating your rice.”

“Pei Yunzhe blacklisted Producer Yin today! Because of you! Just wait!”

Zhong Yang almost sounded cheerful. “Wait for what? The contract termination from Yuntian?”

“In your dreams! You want out, follow the penalty terms in your contract!”

Her brief hope evaporated.

She hung up on Zhang Yue.

A whole day had passed. Yin Qi and Zhang Yue only now came after her, which meant—Pei Yunzhe hadn’t told them anything about what happened last night.

Not only that—he had personally returned her bag and apologized…

She pulled out the black-gold business card. It bore the Pei Group logo, a phone number, and the name Pei Yunzhe.

She ran her fingers across it, thinking about what he’d said.

Any one request…?

If he helped, maybe she could cancel her contract for free.

Or land a lead role written just for her?

Or—heck—a hundred wishes?

Zhong Yang let her imagination run wild, so much so she didn’t notice she’d arrived at Xiangming Huafu.

The night breeze cooled her excited mind.

She shook her head, a self-deprecating smile in her eyes.

Humans—such greedy creatures when given a glimmer of hope.

Pei wasn’t Aladdin’s lamp or Doraemon. He was a capitalist, a cold strategist.

What kind of fantasy was she having?

Best to stay away from him—before she got played herself.

As she stepped into the elevator, her phone lit up.

[Agent]: Miss Zhong, have you decided yet?

Earlier that day, an agent said someone wanted to buy her apartment—urgently. Money wasn’t an issue, but speed was.

Still clinging to hope that Yuntian might terminate her contract first, she told them she’d decide by tomorrow.

True to his word, the agent messaged her just after midnight.

Zhong Yang sighed and stared at her apartment door for a long time before replying.

[zy]: Alright. Let’s show it at 9 AM.

This was the plan all along.

Everything was still on track.

She told herself: Don’t be sad. This is a good thing.

---

The next day.

Zhong Yang woke up early, showed the apartment, signed the papers, and got 150 million transferred to her account.

At 2 PM, she exited the subway holding a check that felt heavy in her purse.

Not far off stood the familiar glass office tower, its name spelled out in bold characters.

The sunlight reflected off the glass, glaring. She lifted her hand to block it.

Three years ago, she’d stood in the same place, after riding the same subway, filled with dreams as she looked up at that building.

But distance creates beauty—and getting closer had revealed only ugliness.

Signing with Yuntian had been one of the biggest mistakes of her life—and she’d paid dearly.

Yuntian signed countless naive newcomers every year with harsh contracts, offering little support or promotion. Their business model relied on volume—as long as 1 in 100 made it big, they profited.

Those who wanted to cancel had to pay big. More profit.

Those with no money and bad luck? Their careers were slowly drained away.

Zhong Yang had to fight her way out…

---

Knock knock knock.

“Come in,” came Zhang Yue’s flat voice from the office.

“Big-time manager, how’s your mood today?” Zhong Yang walked in and plopped onto the couch without waiting for permission. Her crossed legs and swinging heels looked entirely at ease.

Zhang Yue sneered. “What are you doing here?”

Zhong Yang smiled. “Just checking in.”

Zhang Yue’s expression darkened. “Cut the act. What did you say to Mr. Pei?”

They had long known that pillow talk was the most effective persuasion.

If they could get someone to warm Pei Yunzhe’s bed, funding would be easy.

But who? Naturally, a pretty little actress with weaknesses—someone easy to control.

Like Zhong Yang.

A comeback was nearly impossible for her now.

But for Pei Yunzhe? Child’s play.

Zhang Yue thought: no matter how proud she was before, Zhong Yang should be begging for help now.

And that night, Zhong Yang did act the part—Pei Yunzhe took her number, left with her bag, and neither of them came back…

Until, 24 hours later, Yin Qi called and shouted, “What the hell happened with Zhong Yang? Pei Yunzhe actually blocked me!”