After hearing Shen Mingzheng’s question, Su Ning was slightly taken aback. He pondered for a moment before replying, “It’s not about guilt; guilt is just a small part of it.”

To say his actions were driven by guilt would be misleading since the previous incidents were caused by the original Su Ning, not him.

“Pity? Not exactly either,” Su Ning shook his head, “He’s my artist, and I’m responsible for him. I need to provide him with the best opportunities within my limits; it’s as simple as that.”

This was the principle he had adhered to back when he was a top manager.

So it wasn’t so much about sacrifice; it was just what he had always done.

Shen Mingzheng didn’t stop there and continued to look him in the eyes, “Your artist? Guang Ying Entertainment has more than one artist.”

“No, no, that’s different. I’m not the president of Guang Ying Entertainment; I can’t be responsible for every artist. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t just accept anyone.”

Su Ning spread his hands; he was very strict about the definition of “my artist.” While many people clamor to enter the entertainment industry, truly good talents suitable for being artists are scarce.

“Shen Mingzheng, you’re also in the industry, so I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but when I entered this field, I believed the best way to be accountable to the audience was to place the right people in the right positions.”

“Some people are born for the stage, but their path is blocked by undeserved obstacles. It’s my job to remove those blocks, and that’s where I ‘fit’ in.”

Su Ning’s voice was soft, but there was a sincere inflection in his speech.

“Wouldn’t it be a huge loss to the industry and the audience if a talented individual were ruined just like that?”

His main goal when he first joined the industry was indeed to make money, but if he really had no beliefs, Su Ning couldn’t have grown step by step.

Even after the hellish start post-transmigration, his core principles hadn’t changed.

Since Shen Mingzheng had indeed shared a lot of information with him, Su Ning’s response was very serious.

However, he didn’t know how Shen Mingzheng would interpret it.

Some might listen and think he was just spouting grand, empty words, not taking him seriously and just laughing it off.

As for Shen Mingzheng, after hearing these words, he was silent for a long time before softly chuckling, “Li Chu is lucky to have met you.”

He believed what Su Ning said, which was unfortunate, as he hadn’t met such a version of Su Ning in his last life.

But knowing him now was not too late.

“What are your plans next?” he quickly changed the subject.

Frankly, Su Ning had done almost everything he wanted to do.

He had unhesitatingly dealt with Shen Huai because he needed to force him out of the show, and during this time, he considered it safe to entrust Li Chu to the program’s secluded training camp. Without his phone, Li Chu wouldn’t be disturbed by external news.

But the crisis at Guang Ying Entertainment wasn’t something simple to resolve; it was a chronic issue existing before his transmigration. What Su Ning could do was quickly extract the promising Li Chu without letting him be affected by these troubles.

He would do his utmost to make Shen Huai pay a steep price, ensuring he didn’t succeed, but that might not save Guang Ying Entertainment, especially since not everyone in the company was on his side.

“To be honest, I don’t really have a plan,” Su Ning sighed. “I’ll just have to take it one step at a time.”

Then Shen Mingzheng offered Su Ning a novel suggestion: “Then, Su Ning, do you want to continue collaborating with me?”

“Do you still need to collaborate with me, Shen Mingzheng?” Su Ning smiled. “You seem quite capable on your own, not needing anyone’s help.”

Even if Shen Film Industry was out of money, that was on Shen Ting and his son, Shen Huai; Shen Mingzheng shouldn’t be the one to bear the blame, no matter how the accounts were settled.

But Shen Mingzheng shook his head.

“Su Ning, you think too simply of the Shen family,” he said, “and too simply of the elder Mr. Shen. I’m not that special in the family head’s eyes.”

As he spoke, the light cast a shadow over his face, deepening the intensity of his gaze.

Many said his “background was extraordinary,” and Shen Mingzheng didn’t deny this.

While the elder Mr. Shen did hold some familial affection for him, a child brought back into the fold, it wasn’t much, especially when it came to choosing an heir—it was extremely stringent.

In fact, when Shen Mingzheng was sent to Hai Cheng, he was unaware of Shen Film Industry’s severe financial crisis, not even realizing it in his past life.

Back then, Shen Huai had successfully devoured Guang Ying Entertainment using his extensive connections, perfectly concealing this issue.

Now, Shen Film Industry’s crisis was as evident as that of Guang Ying Entertainment.

Shen Mingzheng had real power when parachuted into Hai Cheng, an advantage given by the elder Mr. Shen, but the critical information withheld was a planned disadvantage; Shen Huai, while fully aware and able to prepare in advance, still couldn’t secure the actual heir status of Shen Film Industry. Each had their pros and cons.

For the Shen family’s main branch, this crisis was just a screening test.

To some extent, Shen Mingzheng and Shen Huai could be considered peers in the Shen family, both in the pool of heirs, and the elder Mr. Shen had specifically chosen them, setting them up like gladiators in an arena.

Most importantly, there was no preset question for this battle; when the elder Mr. Shen sent Shen Mingzheng to Hai Cheng, he only told him, “You’ve suffered too much while away from home. Go and have some fun in Hai Cheng. If you need more money, just tell Chen Tao.”

It seemed warm and affectionate.

But if Shen Mingzheng had truly just “had some fun” and even quickly achieved success in investing in Idol Star Map, it would be far from meeting the Shen family’s expectations.

Fortunately, Shen Mingzheng hadn’t indulged in the transient success. Due to this achievement, some of the older management in Shen Film Industry began to notice him, gradually revealing some internal information. Chen Tao, thoroughly loyal, helped him discover many clues, and it wasn’t long before they clarified the situation.

This wasn’t as Liang Xiaoliang thought, with Shen Mingzheng coming with a clear mission; from the beginning, Shen Mingzheng was also a pawn in the game.

Backstage, Su Ning listened to all this and took some time to silently ponder whether these revelations were true or false. But Shen Mingzheng’s willingness to share so much was already quite extraordinary.

Subsequently, Shen Mingzheng revealed his true intentions.

“Su Ning, let’s collaborate,” he said, “We’re the best partners. Shen Huai and Jiang Chenfeng are nothing compared.”

“Most importantly, I’ll take control of Shen Film Industry, and you can preserve Guang Ying Entertainment. Furthermore, this can be an opportunity for you to become the actual controller of the company. You should be in that position.”

But to Su Ning, his words sounded almost fantastical, and he didn’t immediately agree.

“If you say you can save Shen Film Industry, I believe it,” he complimented Shen Mingzheng, “But if it’s about saving Guang Ying Entertainment, then I really don’t believe that.”

After all, Guang Ying Entertainment was a mess of bad debts.

Shen Mingzheng looked at him: “Of course, I can’t save Guang Ying Entertainment, but you can.”

“How can I…”

“Change your engagement partner, Su Ning, to me,” he said. “I’m not like Shen Huai. I won’t touch the things in the will. If you don’t believe it, we can sign a prenuptial agreement in advance.”

“With that inheritance, you could save Guang Ying Entertainment. I believe you can do it.”

“This would be a win-win for us.”

Su Ning: …

Even the workaholic bachelor from his previous life would have been wide-eyed upon hearing this.

Even though he realized Shen Mingzheng wanted him to access the inheritance this way, largely devoid of emotional factors, it was still shocking.

This was Su Ning’s first time seeing someone propose marriage, uh, if it could be called that, in the form of a business negotiation.

From the outside, Shen Mingzheng indeed seemed overly composed, proposing as if he were presenting a project in a boardroom.

But in this backstage area, poorly lit and rarely frequented by others, Su Ning couldn’t see all of Shen Mingzheng’s expressions clearly.

Shen Mingzheng was well-prepared and had laid out much groundwork, but his hand trembled slightly as he spoke those words, and after speaking, he even unconsciously tightened his grip on the hem of his clothes. He was actually very nervous, something not just Su Ning, but perhaps Shen Mingzheng himself hadn’t realized.

He just stared intently at Su Ning, waiting for a response.

But Su Ning, after some thought, didn’t immediately agree.

“Thank you for telling me all this,” he said, “but I need to think it over.”

Everyone knew the inheritance left by the elder Mr. Su was a lifesaver, but precisely because of this, it needed to be considered more carefully.

Su Ning knew he was too unfamiliar with the original story and hadn’t been in this world long. In this world, where everyone had hidden depths, even if he did get the huge sum of money, it wasn’t certain he could keep it.

He felt Shen Mingzheng was a bit disappointed upon hearing this response, but he didn’t say much, only leaving with, “It’s right that you don’t fully trust me now, no worries, I’ll prove myself to you with my actions.”

Su Ning: …

Alright, stop talking; it really did feel like a marriage proposal.

He didn’t voice this thought, and when the two walked out from there, they still appeared politely to everyone else.

Then, not long after, an urgent Liang Xiaoliang came over, insisting on dragging him away.

Liang Xiaoliang, after hearing the whole story, was so astounded he even set down his chopsticks and stopped eating, murmuring to himself, “This really does sound like something the elder Mr. Shen would do.”

Having established its enterprise over a century ago and grown strong, which person in the Shen family wasn’t crafty?

The current situation of competition among the younger generation could be described as a fierce struggle for power, even more intense than a fight for a royal throne; indeed, the Shen family had a real throne at stake.

Su Ning could still eat calmly.

He was thinking about Shen Mingzheng.

He had always thought of Shen Mingzheng as unapproachably cold, like a flower on a high cliff, but this man was actually quite mad deep down, seeming to stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

To truly collaborate with him, uh, to marry him?

Su Ning couldn’t immediately answer that.

The later stages of the replacement competition in Idol Star Map were rushed to production, taking over the time slot originally scheduled for the live finale.

During this period, neither Shen Huai nor Sang Le made any further explanations, seeming to care less.

The public discussed it for a few days, and the scandal’s heat died down a bit, but when the official episode of the replacement competition aired, Idol Star Map, which had been buying spots on the trending searches since its debut, once again exploded on social media.

“I couldn’t believe it before it aired; Qilin actually came to compete, and not just one but two, including Qu Shoubai!”

“What’s more shocking is that Qilin participated but lost, alas.”

“They didn’t lose, thank you very much, it was just the preliminary rating, and Qu Shoubai also got an S, which doesn’t prove anything.”

“Just saying, the performance level of the replacement competition is comparable to the finals, right?”

“Is Sang Le dropping out? If there’s any improper relationship with a mentor, please honestly drop out like someone else, and let Li Chu and Qilin go to the finals together.”

“Support!”

On the day the replacement competition aired, Idol Star Map’s viewership on the streaming platform hit a new high, and the participating trainees’ discussion ratings skyrocketed. Li Chu’s newly established official social media account gained hundreds of thousands of followers overnight, with countless people expressing their affection for him, saying it was an overnight sensation.

Just as Su Ning had said, when he stood there for everyone to see, the audience would choose him.

That day, Su Ning glanced at the lively discussions a few times, pleased for Li Chu, and knowing that the original owner’s damage to the production team had been compensated for, as evidenced by the satisfied messages from Chen Yuan.

However, Li Chu’s competition journey was not smooth, fraught with difficulties.

Next was the song selection for the public performances. Li Chu didn’t initially pick Shan Chuan from Qilin during the team selection but chose Song Yu, who had shown his songwriting talent during his stage performance. Song Yu’s vote count was also not low, but purely singing was somewhat disadvantaged on such a stage.

Then Qu Shoubai picked his team members, naturally grouping the two from Qilin together.

The upcoming public performance was a head-to-head battle between the two teams, dancing to the same song, selected from a range provided by the production team. The person with the privilege to draw the song was Li Chu.

He really might have been unlucky. Out of many options, he drew Qilin’s signature song, “Crown Me.”

The replacement competition was tightly scheduled, and familiarity with the original song was crucial. “Crown Me,” originally a song for a four-person group, was challenging to adapt for five and had to be performed on stage within a short time. Qu Shoubai’s team undoubtedly had a greater advantage.

The last shot of the first episode of the replacement competition was Li Chu holding the song card he drew, looking somewhat dazed.

He turned to his teammates, while Qu Shoubai and Shan Chuan were already high-fiving in front of the cameras. His teammates, Song Yu and Ding Xi, looked at each other with a “what do we do now” expression.

That night, the hashtag #UnluckyLiChu even trended high on the hot search, with his slightly stunned expression becoming a widely circulated meme.

While the audience chuckled and joked, the fans who had just picked Li Chu were somewhat worried.

The gap between him and Qu Shoubai was already small, and now the other side had a huge home field advantage. Whether Sang Le would drop out was still uncertain—playing dead wasn’t an option. Now, there was only one spot left in the replacement competition.

What if he failed to advance and got knocked out?

Qilin’s people had a fallback, but what about Guang Ying Entertainment?

As Li Chu achieved results yet faced significant challenges, Guang Ying Entertainment was indeed having a hard time.

First, there was an increasing number of employee departures, then sudden withdrawals by several co-investors in projects, followed by a cash flow crisis and a broken capital chain, making the company’s predicament impossible to hide.

After the replacement competition aired, Su Ning received a late-night call from Su Hongda, who no longer had his usual robust scolding tone but sounded frantic as he spoke, “Several shareholders want to sell their stakes, just waiting for the shareholders’ meeting, damn it, these bastards who’ve embezzled who knows how much money!”

“Su Ning, give us some advice, what should we do?”

“Please.”