The Lu family and the Sun family have a longstanding relationship, and the two groups serve as strategic allies.
Recently, the granddaughter of Chairman Sun returned from studying abroad. A simple family banquet was arranged, inviting the Lu family parents and Lu Qin to join for a casual dinner.
With less than ten people at the table, apart from a few inquiries about Miss Sun’s future plans, there was generally no need for formalities. It was a relaxed dinner.
Lu Qin was seated next to Sun Se, who, for him, was a childhood playmate and a future business partner.
“SeSe just returned to the country and is not familiar with the domestic management system. Lu Qin, could you let her learn from you for a while? Both of you are young, with similar ideologies. Whenever I talk to SeSe about certain things, she always feels that I’m not progressive enough. Hey, after drinking Western ink, she talks in a set manner.”
“Learning” was just a euphemism; in reality, it meant allowing Miss Sun to gain some prestige within the Lu Group before naturally switching to her family’s industry. It seemed more respectable than parachuting in as the young lady of the family.
Lu Qin agreed, but in his mind, he thought about assigning a younger secretary to mentor Sun Se. Moreover, he wondered if he could bring in Pei Rong as his secretary.
Uncle Sun’s words gave him an idea: was there a possibility of guiding Pei Rong, step by step, from the entertainment industry to a position in the Lu Group?
Compared to teaching Sun Se, Lu Qin was much more interested in teaching Pei Rong.
Of course, he knew that Pei Rong’s attitude towards learning was quite poor, and the reward system didn’t work.
Well... maybe a punishment system could be surprisingly effective.
After dinner, the Lu family bid farewell to the Sun family. Lu Qin personally drove his parents home and stayed at their house for the night.
Mrs. Jiang praised Sun Se for a while, saying she looked even more beautiful as she grew older. Seeing Lu Qin remaining silent while driving, she changed the topic: “With SeSe’s looks, she could also enter the entertainment industry. But nowadays, male celebrities in the entertainment industry are even more beautiful than the females.”
Mrs. Jiang playfully poked Lu Jianye. “Old Lu, isn’t there a celebrity named Pei Rong? He’s the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”
Lu Jianye replied, “Didn’t you say our son was the most handsome before?”
Mrs. Jiang laughed, “Different kinds of handsome.”
Suddenly, Lu Jianye said, “I will also attend tomorrow’s lunch meeting.”
Lu Qin was taken aback and said, “Alright.”
Tomorrow was Monday, and the so-called lunch meeting was essentially a gathering of the company’s top executives to discuss issues not suitable for formal meetings. These could be trivial matters, such as deciding the cafeteria menu for the next quarter, mainly aimed at enhancing communication between the CEO and the top executives.
Lu Qin had already thought about the agenda for tomorrow: the business drama. Since he had decided to lend an office floor and have Pei Rong as the lead, it couldn’t be an ordinary business drama anymore. With so many elites in the Lu Group, each person making a few modifications would instantly elevate the plot.
The script needed to be changed into a corporate drama with the background centered around the Lu family, and Pei Rong was the representative character of the Lu family.
Currently, many companies adopted the approach of directly integrating themselves into the background of TV dramas to increase their visibility. There were many successful examples, but for a giant like the Lu family, it seemed unnecessary, especially since the subsidiaries under Lu’s could easily secure endorsements from entertainment industry stars.
Lu Qin envisioned Pei Rong appearing as the first lead in the opening credits, with the Lu Group listed as the sole investor at the end credits. From the beginning to the end, the connection was remarkably tight.
This drama would bind the images of Pei Rong and the Lu family together. Since artists had unpredictable factors and potential scandals in the future could negatively impact the group, Lu Qin needed to convince other high-ranking officials.
Lu Qin thought that all uncertainties stemmed from insufficient strength on their part. With him around, there would be no issues with Pei Rong’s image.
After reaching home, Lu Qin called Pei Rong, “Did you go to sleep?”
Pei Rong answered slowly, “Getting ready to sleep.”
Lu Qin said, “Dress a bit more formally tomorrow. I’ll have Secretary Gao pick you up.”
Pei Rong asked, “Can I not go?”
Lu Qin replied, “It’s just having lunch with my subordinates, very relaxed and effortless.”
Pei Rong said, “Oh.”
The next day, Secretary Gao came to pick up Pei Rong at half-past ten, seeing Pei Rong’s outfit and being amazed, “Don’t you need to change into something else?”
Pei Rong, hands in pockets, said, “If I have to change, then I won’t go.”
He was wearing a pure cotton T-shirt and long pants. There was a lifelike tiger head on the T-shirt, protruding three centimeters thick, surrounded by fluffy fur. In the middle was heavy embroidery depicting the black-and-white markings on the tiger’s forehead, making it look vivid.
The wind blew the fur on the tiger’s head backward, giving it an imposing look. However, the one wearing the clothes was a lazy beauty, like a blooming rose.
Pei Rong carefully chose this T-shirt. The tiger head could conceal his slightly bulging abdomen, provide warmth and cushioning, combining multiple functions perfectly.
The pants were gray, nothing special. He wore a pair of tiger head slippers on his feet, particularly friendly to his oversized feet.
A trendy outfit that would turn heads on the street... Secretary Gao began to feel a headache, but wisely, he didn’t take the matter upon himself. Instead, he had someone send a spare suit in Pei Rong’s size to the company and opened the car door, saying, “Mr. Pei, please.”
***
Lu Qin was in a meeting in the morning, and Pei Rong was arranged to wait in his office.
The assistant sweetly asked him what he wanted to drink.
Pei Rong pointed to the tea on the table. “Just bring me a cup, any will do.”
Secretary Gao explained, “President Lu likes to drink traditional tea, which most people find hard to appreciate. Do we need to change it for something else?”
Pei Rong muttered, “How rough.”
He imagined President Lu, who managed a myriad of tasks daily, drinking tea to stay alert, likely gulping it down. He didn’t have time to savor carefully chosen teas; he preferred the coarse stems sold by the pound—affordable but with a robust flavor.
Secretary Gao asked, “What?”
Pei Rong said, “Just give me a cup of plain hot water.”
Pei Rong held the cup of hot water and stood up, taking a stroll.
He planned to have a showdown with Lu Qin today, had scripted his words like rehearsing lines. Still, inexplicably, he felt nervous now.
Perhaps he vaguely knew that Lu Qin’s reaction was unpredictable.
With nervousness, Pei Rong couldn’t sit still; his legs became stiff and prone to cramping. Secretary Gao said he could walk around, so Pei Rong aimlessly wandered.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in the tearoom, he looked down from the high floor, and the incessant flow of vehicles seemed very small.
“I saw President Lu for the first time coming to work without changing clothes, indicating he didn’t go home last night.”
“How do you know?”
“The shirt was so wrinkled, not even ironed; it’s the same one from yesterday.”
“I heard Miss Sun from the Sun family returned to the country. President Lu went to the airport to pick her up and had dinner together yesterday...”
“Is this a portrayal of modern efficient wealthy families?”
“Go away. Have you dug under President Lu’s car?”
“I haven’t, but I saw President Lu personally introducing her to the company this morning and specifically instructed Secretary Wang to take care of her.”
“President Lu highly favored Secretary Wang, even more so than Secretary Gao. Next year, he could casually go to a branch and be at the level of a junior executive.”
The two office workers in the tea room gossiped about the president, brewed their respective cups of coffee, and left without noticing Pei Rong behind the greenery.
Pei Rong’s hand holding the water cup tightened. He walked back.
“Pei Rong.”
Lu QÃn called out to him, seeing his clothes, his eyebrows immediately furrowed. “Didn’t I tell you to dress more formally?”
Pei Rong looked at his own clothes and thought, “I haven’t even bothered with your wrinkled clothes; why are you bothering me?”
“This is comfortable.”
Lu Qin glanced at his watch, and Secretary Gao quickly said, “There are spare clothes.”
Lu Qin: “Go change.”
Pei Rong was here to mess around today. He put his hands in the tiger pockets and said, “No need to change.”
Lu Qin choked for a moment.
The atmosphere between the two froze awkwardly.
Secretary Gao observed in silence, noticing that Pei Rong deliberately wore this outfit with a hint of defiance towards Lu Qin. Lu Qin intended to introduce Pei Rong to the company’s top management during the lunch meeting, including his father. Others doubted whether Pei Rong could portray a professional image, but Lu Qin assured them. However, Pei Rong had different plans.
Lu Qin took Pei Rong to the lounge, threw the suit on the bed, and said, “Many people are watching. How about changing into something formal?”
Pei Rong sat on the edge of the bed, looking up at him. “Isn’t it just lunch? Why so formal?”
His hands in the tiger pockets covered his stomach. Changing clothes was impossible. He lifted his foot. “Aren’t tiger-head shoes cute?”
Lu Qin: “...”
Lu Qin’s plan was completely disrupted. His forehead veins pulsed. With a dark face, he attended the lunch meeting with Pei Rong.
Lu Qin didn’t speak. No one discussed the “compatibility of Pei Rong and the Lu family.” Everyone harmoniously dined, discussing family matters and suggesting menu changes for the cafeteria in summer.
Under Lu Qin’s deep gaze, Pei Rong leisurely enjoyed a seafood casserole noodle.
Chairman Lu put the plate in the recycling bin, wiped his hands, and said to his son, “I don’t quite agree with your proposal because you can’t control him. Of course, if you insist, no one will stop you.”
Feeling terrible after his father denied something important related to Pei Rong, Lu Qin pursed his thin lips, and his jawline became sharper.
After everyone finished eating and left the exclusive cafeteria, returning to their respective offices, Pei Rong wiped his mouth, stood up, tidied up the dishes, and put them in the recycling bin.
Lu Qin closed his eyes, suppressed his frustration, and said to Pei Rong, “Go to the lounge and take a nap.”
If Pei Rong wasn’t a business elite, then change the approach, make it more down-to-earth, and add some overtime.
Pei Rong: “Do we still have a schedule in the afternoon?”
Lu Qin: “The film and television contract for that business war drama will be signed in the legal department this afternoon.”
So fast? Clearly, it was just mentioned on the plane earlier! Was this Lu Qin’s efficiency?
Pei Rong opened his mouth to say something, but Lu Qin held his chin, pressing him against the lounge door, eagerly kissing his cheeks and forehead.
Pei Rong’s skin was already good, irresistibly charming. After becoming pregnant, his skin became even better, like plump milk, tempting to touch.
His lips were rosy, hair jet black, moving further away from the false packaging of the entertainment industry, leaving behind a true beauty that captivated with every glance.
Pei Rong was forced to tilt his chin up, gently sniffing the scent of the laundry detergent on Lu Qin’s shirt collar, lowering his gaze and slowly relaxing his hands that were blocking in front of him.
After a while, Lu Qin let him go, quickly saying, “I’ll have my secretary wake you up at two.”
Today’s lunch meeting was more important to Lu Qin than the shareholders’ meeting. The morning was already bad; the afternoon could not be worse. He must complete one of the two things he anticipated today.
“Lu Qin.”
“Let’s talk after work.”
Pei Rong lay on the bed, closed his eyes. Unexpectedly, Lu Qin refused to communicate again.
Should he say Lu Qin was an instinctively fierce beast?
Wasn’t it just a drama? Why did he have to make him film it?
In fact, it would be better to communicate beforehand.
Pei Rong lay for a while, anticipating that his scheduled time for his Weibo announcement was approaching, and quietly left the company.
He didn’t want to have a physical conflict with Lu Qin. When Lu Qin saw the Weibo announcing his withdrawal from the entertainment industry, he would know the contract wouldn’t be signed, and he might explode in anger.
Add that to the morning incident, and he would likely come looking for him. This wasn’t as simple as sending Lu Qin a cute radish-cutting sticker; he had challenged Lu Qin’s authority within the company.
When the headline “Top Star Pei Rong’s Exit from the Entertainment Industry and Global Tour” exploded, everyone in the President’s Office heard a loud noise.
