What’s wrong with having a late-night meal?
It’s not the meal that’s questionable, but the person suggesting it.
If Du Zhaohui knew what Chen Xiliang was thinking, he would certainly want to kill this small-time clothing business owner.
Yes, even Luna’s current scale appeared quite small in Du Zhaohui’s eyes.
Chen Xiliang also held another identity as a shareholder of Qihang Capital, though with only 3.5% shares compared to Du Zhaohui’s 30%. Still, this barely qualified him to be Du’s follower.
Luna was a business Xia Xiaolan arranged for Zhou Cheng. Initially funded by Zhou Cheng’s own savings, but since he was an active military officer, the shares couldn’t be registered under his name, so they remained under Xia Xiaolan’s.
Xia Xiaolan felt she was managing it on Zhou Cheng’s behalf, dedicating herself to developing Luna. Heaven rewarded hardworking women… well, after she married Zhou Cheng, it truly became her enterprise!
In Du Zhaohui’s eyes, Luna was 100% Xia Xiaolan’s business, and Chen Xiliang was merely working for her.
Du Zhaohui didn’t care about Chen’s thoughts. When Young Master Du invited Ye Jiawen for a late supper, he genuinely meant just that.
But Ye Jiawen was being overly cautious, unable to relax in Du Zhaohui’s presence.
Du Zhaohui raised his eyebrows, looking every bit like the antagonist from a script, resembling a ‘patron’ attempting to take advantage of a new entertainment industry talent…
“What’s wrong? Don’t you like the dishes I ordered?”
“They’re fine, they’re fine…”
“If they’re fine, why aren’t you eating?”
Ye Jiawen was nearly in tears. Seeing Du Zhaohui’s bodyguards standing on either side and the restaurant practically cleared out, she decided to be frank:
“Director Du, couldn’t you just let me be? Someone as insignificant as me surely doesn’t affect your interests!”
Taking advantage of her?
Du Zhaohui had no such intentions.
Ye Jiawen wasn’t worried about that, but something else entirely.
“You’re quite bold, still pursuing your acting dreams… Ye Jiawen? I remember you used to be called ‘He Shiyuan’ unless I’m mistaken.”
People in Shenzhen were still looking for ‘He Shiyuan’, yet she dared to appear in public under this name.
Ye Jiawen had changed her name and had some work done on her face, enhancing her beauty to another level. She had transformed herself into TVB’s new potential star.
Du Zhaohui’s invitation wasn’t out of interest in Ye Jiawen herself.
He remembered that Xia Xiaolan had quite liked ‘He Shiyuan’, which was one of Xia Xiaolan’s most distinctive traits. Unlike young ladies like Lu Yunshi or He Zhitong, if someone didn’t click with Xia Xiaolan, she wouldn’t bother trying to please them.
If someone’s conduct earned Xia Xiaolan’s respect, she would show them respect regardless of their background, even if they were a prostitute!
‘He Shiyuan’ had tricked Yuan Han in Shenzhen, disrupting Du Zhaoqi’s plans.
Fearing Du Zhaoqi’s retribution, ‘He Shiyuan’ quickly went into hiding. Unexpectedly, Du Zhaohui encountered her again today at the dinner with Uncle Shao.
Though he had never dealt with ‘He Shiyuan’ directly, he knew she had worked for Du Zhaoqi.
When Du Zhaohui exposed her ‘stage name’, Ye Jiawen was nearly in tears.
She didn’t know why she had been so impulsive in choosing to help Ye Xiaoqiong when she fell out with Second Young Master Du. Though the plan succeeded and she received payment from Ye Xiaoqiong, she didn’t dare stay in Hong Kong and fled to Taiwan.
In Taiwan, Ye Jiawen actively sought medical treatment, initially counting down her days to death. Yet heaven seemed unwilling to let her die, so she had no choice but to live on.
After her condition stabilized, Hong Kong media reported that Second Young Master Du had been arrested.
Without Du Zhaoqi’s threat looming over her, the dormant acting dream in Ye Jiawen’s heart stirred again.
With her qualities, she could have debuted in Taiwan, but following the principle of getting back up where you fell, she returned to Hong Kong, changed her name, and started fresh—she wasn’t lying, she had attended TVB’s acting training program before!
She genuinely had acting talent, knew how to network, and was willing to do whatever it took to act. She would do anything required for a role.
Such a talented and obedient young actress quickly caught the attention of the television station’s higher-ups. Due to her apparently ‘clean background’, Uncle Shao brought her to today’s dinner.
Ye Jiawen cursed her bad luck. Had she known she would meet Du Zhaohui, she would have prayed he wouldn’t notice someone as insignificant as her. However, Du Zhaohui’s interest in ‘He Shiyuan’ exceeded her expectations:
“…Director Du, that’s how things are. I’m just trying to make a living, absolutely no ill intentions.”
She desperately hoped Young Master Du wouldn’t misunderstand and think she was still working for Second Young Master.
Second Young Master was finished anyway!
Tears welled up in Ye Jiawen’s eyes, genuinely this time, not acting.
The Du family wasn’t to be trifled with. While Du Zhaohui might not want to take advantage of her, he could easily prevent her from working at TVB with a single word of displeasure, shattering her acting dreams!
Du Zhaohui looked at her strangely:
“I’m not some vicious demon, why are you trembling while talking?”
And wearing such a low-cut outfit, was she trying to seduce him with that trembling?
Bah!
He, Du-Most-Handsome-in-Hong-Kong·Supreme-Power-Hui was the epitome of righteousness. When he said late-night meal, he meant exactly that. How could he be so easily seduced?
Demon?
Humans were far scarier than demons.
Ye Jiawen truly couldn’t understand Du Zhaohui’s intentions. When told not to tremble, she stopped, burying her fear deep inside.
Strangely enough, when Ye Jiawen was playing ‘He Shiyuan’, she had feared nothing.
She hadn’t even feared disobeying Du Zhaoqi and helping Ye Xiaoqiong.
Indeed, once someone developed a will to live and an attachment to this world, they became more cautious.
Du Zhaohui couldn’t connect with the pretending-to-be-fearless Ye Jiawen. He just wanted to understand what schemes ‘He Shiyuan’ had been involved in.
After questioning her repeatedly, he discovered this woman had changed her name simply to pursue an acting career at TVB. Du Zhaohui began to understand why Xia Xiaolan had respected this prostitute.
Not all prostitutes were the same.
This one was a hundred times stronger than Xia Ziyu…
Du Zhaohui momentarily lost focus before quickly composing himself and standing up:
“As long as you have no connection to Du Zhaoqi and haven’t returned to Hong Kong to cause trouble, I won’t make things difficult for you. If you want to be an actress, work hard at it. You seem to have some real talent, even Xia… praised you before. Don’t waste your talent, or you’ll have me to answer to!”
After saying this, Du Zhaohui left with his people.
Ye Jiawen stared at the untouched late-night dishes, feeling like she’d escaped death, her back soaked with sweat.
Fortunately, she hadn’t stubbornly helped Second Young Master Du back then, or she certainly wouldn’t have escaped this predicament today.
Wait, who did Young Master Du say had praised her?
Director Xia?
Ye Jiawen could only think of Xia Xiaolan.
“Director Xia is indeed quite remarkable…”
Ye Jiawen muttered to herself.
Too bad she couldn’t become a powerful woman like Director Xia. She could only rely on her modest talent to barely make a living in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry.
TVB newcomer Ye Jiawen, who had been invited for a late-night meal, felt small, pitiful, and helpless. Angered, she cleared away all the food Du Zhaohui had ordered—these rich people were truly sick, scaring her half to death just to warn her not to waste her talent?!