Chapter 16

◎ Feng Xueming Sends Fan Qi Home ◎

Fan Qi walked over, and Feng Xueming lowered his head to speak to her. “You should stay away from Mr. Lin in the future.”

“Huh?” Fan Qi was a bit confused.

“He’s notorious… for being that kind of person. There was an actress who was with him for two months before she tried to commit suicide. It’s said that he’s very extreme in how he plays with people,” Feng Xueming said, giving her an expression that clearly meant “you know what I mean.”

As a former finance professional, Fan Qi immediately understood. “Thanks for the warning. I won’t have any contact with him.”

Fan Qi understood, but she also realized that Feng Xueming might not have the best intentions for her either.

After finishing the banquet shoot, Fan Qi removed her makeup, changed her clothes, and Feng Xueming had arranged a dinner at the club.

Miss Wang invited everyone to have dinner at the club, and Feng Xueming, as the host, accompanied everyone throughout the event, fully playing the role of a devoted protector.

After Fan Qi refused to drink alcohol, her agent said, “Fan Qi, you used to be great at drinking. Don’t spoil the mood. Just have a little.”

“Miss Fan, how about a drink?” Feng Xueming suggested.

“I really don’t drink. If it weren’t for being forced to drink and socialize, I wouldn’t want to leave the entertainment industry to go somewhere else to make money,” Fan Qi replied.

When they first met, Feng Xueming was attracted to her looks and aura, setting her as a target. The second time they met, he thought she was playing hard to get, and it made the challenge more enticing. After hearing what Liao Yazhe had said about her, he started to doubt his previous assumptions, but by now, facing his attempts at flattery, she was calm and indifferent.

If it had been any other actress, they would have been criticized for not appreciating the offer, but when it came from her mouth, it actually sounded true.

Feng Xueming continued with her line of thought, “I see, actually, I don’t like drinking either. In business, there’s no choice. But I’ll have a drink with you. Orange juice?”

“Sure,” Fan Qi agreed.

Feng Xueming had someone pour her orange juice, then moved a plate of geoduck sashimi in front of her. “Miss Fan, geoduck sashimi. I don’t know if you’re okay with it?”

“I don’t have any particular dislikes,” Fan Qi replied.

Hearing this, Feng Xueming used the public chopsticks to place a piece of geoduck in her wasabi-soy sauce dish.

“Mr. Feng, I’ll do it myself,” Fan Qi told him.

“Mr. Feng is such a gentleman!” her agent said, with a sycophantic smile.

Feng Xueming looked at Fan Qi, who was focused on eating, and replied, “It’s nothing.”

Fan Qi was very familiar with this kind of person—handsome, exuding an elite aura, a gentleman in front of others, but in reality, full of vices.

There was a director who once flirted with her. He had a wife at home, slept with actresses in the company, and even engaged in activities with clients. His wife had tried everything to save him, but even after getting vaccinated against HPV, she couldn’t save their marriage. She ended up distributing flyers with her diagnosis outside the company, letting everyone know the shameful secrets that had already been exposed.

To live longer, stay away from dirty men.

Seeing Fan Qi’s indifferent reaction, Feng Xueming continued to flatter her. “Miss Fan, I heard from Yazhe that you’re really good at picking stocks? Bought on Thursday, sold on Friday, and made a 50% profit?”

Everyone at the table turned to look at her, and her agent’s eyes practically sparkled with excitement.

The stock Ailai Electronics had risen by a penny on Friday, and Fan Qi had already made a 30% profit on it. She considered it a good start. Such stocks, in their early stages, always went through ups and downs, and there would be adjustments, so she decided to take the profit while it was available and had Liao Yazhe handle the sell-off.

“It was just luck. It’s like gambling—someone who’s just starting to gamble will win a few times,” Fan Qi deflected, attributing everything to luck. She thought she was being clear and didn’t want to talk about it any further.

Feng Xueming continued to praise her, “I heard from Yazhe that you’re preparing for the stockbroker exam, and you’ll participate in the stockbroker competition in August?”

Liao Yazhe was truly a big mouth, telling Feng Xueming everything and pretending to remind himself that Feng Xueming was pursuing her.

“I’ll give it a try. If I pass, maybe I can be on that program. A former actress turned stockbroker—now that’s a headline,” Fan Qi said casually, but then she stumbled over the word “headline” in Shanghai dialect, saying it like “xue-tou” before correcting herself, “It’s a ‘headline.’”

“‘Headline,’” Feng Xueming chuckled, repeating the word in Shanghai dialect. He then switched to Cantonese. “It has the same meaning in Cantonese—something that grabs attention.”

“Mr. Feng, your Shanghai dialect is quite authentic!”

“Old Mr. Liu speaks fluent Shanghai dialect. I’m sure you know, many of the big tycoons in this city have Shanghai blood. Old Mr. Liu is…” her agent trailed off.

Two days ago, Fan Qi had heard Miss Xiang mention this story, so she pretended not to know and asked her manager, “Is Old Mr. Liu also from Shanghai?”

Her agent, under her focused gaze, hesitated. What would he say? Would he claim that Old Mr. Liu wasn’t from Shanghai, but that his first wife was? And that Feng Xueming must be the grandson of his current wife? But his current wife wasn’t from Shanghai either.

The atmosphere became awkward just as sizzling grilled beef arrived at the table. Feng Xueming turned to Fan Qi and said, “This beef looks pretty good. Would you like to try a bite?”

Fan Qi picked up a piece and tasted it. “It’s delicious.”

Feng Xueming returned to the topic of Mr. Tang’s show. “Don’t dismiss it as just a gimmick. Yazhe also said that Mr. Liao himself will personally mentor you. In these past two years, he’s only personally mentored Yazhe.”

“It’s all for Yaohua’s development. Imagine—if a former actress who used to act in romance films suddenly became a stockbroker in a red vest, and a protégé of a stock market expert at that—wouldn’t that be terrifying? At that point, if we get newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations to create topics around it, it’ll definitely blow up.”

“If you start trading stocks and stand out, it’ll be even more popular.”

Fan Qi shifted the topic. “Let’s not talk about me. Let’s talk about this competition. With Mr. Tang’s and Mr. Liao’s influence, it should be really interesting. Mr. Feng, why don’t you ask Mr. Liao to approach Mr. Tang and see if he’s willing to sponsor the show? Mr. Tang could introduce it by saying ‘This program is exclusively sponsored by WO…’ before each episode begins.”

Fan Qi recited the sponsorship line from a previous television show: “If I’m lucky enough to pass the exam and get my license, along with today’s ad, the effect should be quite good.”

Feng Xueming raised his glass. “Good idea.”

Fan Qi clinked her glass with his, and Feng Xueming took a sip of his orange juice. “Miss Fan, if you were in business, you’d probably be quite good at it.”

“When we were in elementary school, we learned a text called The Little Monkey Goes Down the Mountain. The little monkey saw corn, picked some, then saw peaches, dropped the corn to pick the peaches, and then saw a watermelon… In the end, it saw a rabbit, dropped the watermelon, and chased after the rabbit. It couldn’t catch the rabbit and returned home empty-handed. I’ve already given up acting, and switched to stock trading. Am I going to give up on that too?”

Feng Xueming laughed out loud. “Miss Fan, I really didn’t expect you to be so interesting.”

After dinner, Feng Xueming suggested taking everyone to a bar in Central.

“You all go ahead! I don’t drink, and bars are too noisy, plus I don’t know if I’ll pass the exam, but I’ll always give it a try.” Fan Qi told Miss Wang, “Miss Wang, please help me call a taxi.”

Miss Wang stood up, and Feng Xueming stopped her. He turned to Fan Qi and said, “It’s so late, taxis aren’t safe. Let me take you home.”

“That’s right! Fan Qi, you’re so beautiful, it’s really unsafe to take a taxi at night. Earlier this year, there was a taxi driver who strangled a female passenger on Xie Fei Road in Wan Chai,” her manager told Fan Qi.

In her past life, Shanghai had excellent public security, and even though she had heard of such incidents, they felt distant. But the original owner’s memories indicated that the security in Hong Kong at this time wasn’t that great, and considering that she had dressed a bit sexily when taking the elevator that day, an oily middle-aged man had leered at her. Fan Qi couldn’t turn him down, especially since Feng Xueming still needed to maintain his demeanor and etiquette.

“Thank you,” Fan Qi said.

After Feng Xueming arranged for everyone to go to the bar, he led Fan Qi to the Lamborghini and drove out of the club.

Fan Qi knew how to socialize but didn’t enjoy it. She wasn’t interested in talking to a man who had intentions toward her, so she stayed almost completely silent in the car. Feng Xueming couldn’t quite figure her out. If it were any other woman, they would have gone to a jewelry store or boutique to buy jewelry or bags, then checked into a hotel room.

Feng Xueming never imagined that he’d be in a situation where he had to find a topic to talk about with a woman. At a red light, he glanced at Fan Qi’s profile, illuminated by the streetlights, which gave it an unusual allure. He made an attempt at conversation. “Sports cars are actually not practical. In a city like Hong Kong, with inconvenient transportation, it’s hard to really show off their superior performance.”

Is he trying to show off his car? Fan Qi decided to play along as a knowledgeable and perceptive woman. “That’s true. The noise is loud, the chassis is low, it’s only a two-seater, and when the roof is closed, it feels a bit suffocating. With the roof down, the wind is too strong, and when you drive faster, it gives you a headache.”

Feng Xueming turned to look at her, and Fan Qi’s expression was entirely sincere.

This was truly her genuine feeling. When she suddenly became rich, she bought a Lamborghini Aventador just because she was drawn to its cool design. But in daily use, it was so impractical. In the end, she bought it for over seven million and sold it for just over three million. It turned out to be her worst investment.

Being too honest often kills a conversation. Once again, there was an awkward silence as the car entered the underwater tunnel. Seeing that Feng Xueming didn’t make a move, she pressed a button to raise the roof. “The car exhaust dissipates too slowly in the tunnel.”

Feng Xueming had already noticed her expression of mild distaste. With all the members-only clubs, yacht piers, and luxury cars around, if it had been any other semi-popular actress, their eyes would have been wide with excitement. Yet she didn’t react at all, as if these things were nothing new to her.

When the car exited the tunnel, Fan Qi opened the roof again. The sports car’s space wasn’t very comfortable.

Feng Xueming was still trying to figure out how to continue the conversation. The roads were pretty clear, and the car quickly arrived at the main road near Fan Qi’s home. She told him to stop, and he asked, “Should I walk you in?”

Fan Qi looked ahead. A taxi in front of them had stopped, and a tall, thin figure was bending down to grab a suitcase. She smiled slightly and said, “No need. My boyfriend is back from his business trip.”