Xiao Sheng instantly felt as if thorns were pricking his back, sweating profusely.

The oppressive feeling from Ji Qinghe made his heart flutter with unease, as if a boulder was pressing on it, making it difficult to breathe.

He finally realized that he had greatly underestimated this man before him. His intimidating presence and aura could only belong to someone who had long held high positions of power—definitely not as simple as a specially hired consultant.

He even had a premonition that offending this man would be a thousand times more terrifying than offending Shen Qianzhan.

It was a fear and submission that arose from deep within his heart.

It made his back soaked with sweat, his eyelids heavy with pressure, and he didn’t dare to look up and meet his gaze.

At this moment, Xiao Sheng suddenly regretted his rashness.

His lips moved, wanting to speak up and defend himself. But when the words reached his lips, his tongue seemed frozen and he couldn’t make any sound.

After a moment, Ji Qinghe looked away, laughed almost inaudibly, and asked: “Producer Xiao and General Manager Su have quite a close relationship, don’t you?”

“A romantic relationship?” His eyes were deep and profound. Though phrased as a question, his tone was absolutely certain.

Xiao Sheng’s heart sank as he looked at him with pursed lips.

Ji Qinghe glanced at him indifferently, seeming unconcerned.

He was even stingy with letting his gaze linger on him, lowering his head to adjust his cufflinks.

Above his head was a small arc of light refracted from the crystal chandelier, the light brilliant and bright, illuminating the wall shadows’ dark patterns so clearly that every texture was visible.

——

The dining room door opened and closed gently several times, with deliberately muffled footsteps slowly entering the serving area.

Shortly after, a server from the restaurant department lowered his voice and asked: “Why aren’t the dishes being served?”

After a “shush,” there was rustling and pulling inside, like a game where whoever gained the upper hand would dominate the battlefield.

Shen Qianzhan was surprised that she still had the mind to speculate about what was happening in the serving area, but her heart still had an empty space reserved for daydreaming.

She suddenly felt that life was life because every minute and second, various people were performing according to their own scripts in this stage play called “Life.”

She wasn’t in God’s perspective, so she couldn’t see clearly how many obstacles and troubles she would encounter ahead, nor could she put herself in others’ shoes to understand their thinking logic and confusing behavior. But once life passed this stage and she looked back—in this scene, aside from extras and supporting characters, only drama and absurdity filled the stage.

Perhaps it was true that getting older made one more Buddhist in considering things.

If the Shen Qianzhan from a few years ago had encountered tonight’s incident, even if she didn’t call for violence, bullying with power would have been inevitable. Xiao Sheng wanting to walk out that door unscathed?

Not a chance.

Shen Qianzhan lowered her eyes to look at Ji Qinghe.

From her angle, looking down from above, she could clearly see the dark shadows cast by the light converging at his eyelashes and nose bridge. His eye sockets were deep, and the shadows at his eyebrows and eye corners were dark and profound, like broken halberds buried in sand, outlining his features with three-dimensional clarity.

He seemed completely unaware of the prying gazes from all directions, leisurely rolling up his sleeves to reveal a section of well-defined wrist.

On that wrist, he wore a dark gray metallic mechanical watch with interlocking links. The watch face was slightly convex, and beneath the curved surface were unadorned fine gears, rotating clockwise in perfect synchronization around the movement axis, one wheel and one tooth, seamlessly fitting together.

Although Ji Qinghe had a habit of wearing watches, he often changed them several times a day.

At first, Shen Qianzhan was openly amazed, appreciating them one by one. After a long time, she gradually became numb. Even knowing that one of his watches could equal a Beijing apartment, she couldn’t muster any interest in playing with them.

But this industrial-style hardcore watch, she had never seen before. The entire watch was like a completely transparent three-dimensional mechanical hub, with all gears and screws operating within this small space, both exquisite and like a miniature wheel of time, extremely unique.

——

Xiao Sheng’s focus was completely different from Shen Qianzhan’s. He didn’t appreciate the watch’s masterful craftsmanship—what he saw was only the clearly visible Bu Zhong Sui logo on the watch’s curved surface.

His pupils contracted slightly as he stared at the watch intently for several seconds.

As a world-class luxury brand, Bu Zhong Sui was still somewhat young compared to mature first-tier brands. From establishing its foothold to opening the domestic market, its market share was still far from first-tier luxury brands.

Even the first Bu Zhong Sui products to enter the domestic market weren’t its haute couture, cosmetics, and jewelry, but its watch series.

Several years ago, Bu Zhong Sui’s watch brand released a concept promotional video globally. Besides showcasing various bestselling watches, it also displayed classical collector clocks of great collection value. But most eye-catching was this purely handmade mechanical watch.

This watch, due to its unique design style and expensive production cost, instantly became popular and became every man’s dream watch.

Unfortunately, Bu Zhong Sui ultimately never sold this watch.

After competing in several design competitions, it concluded with the Bu Zhong Sui embossed logo embedded in the curved surface and withdrew from the world stage. Thereafter, all reports about it were verifying the identity of its wearer.

Now, its existence symbolized only one identity—the founder of Bu Zhong Sui watch brand.

In an instant, all speculations about Ji Qinghe’s identity were confirmed.

Xiao Sheng’s lips instantly turned pale, cold sweat continuously flowing down his back.

Last year when “Spring River” started filming, he stationed himself with the crew, moving between various film studios and shooting locations, rarely returning to Beijing. He didn’t even return for year-end film festivals, award ceremonies, and Qiandeng’s annual meeting, only recording crew behind-the-scenes footage and blessing videos to send back to Beijing.

“Spring River” was Qiandeng Pictures’ key project. Xiao Sheng intended to use it to establish his own territory and compete with Shen Qianzhan, putting 120% of his effort into monitoring progress.

During this period, both his shielding himself from Beijing circle gossip to work behind closed doors and his remote location in the south causing information blockage played a role.

The developments related to Shen Qianzhan were either that she had secured exclusive investment from Bu Zhong Sui and collaborated with Bu Zhong Sui watch brand to co-produce a tribute drama, or that she had somehow gotten incredibly lucky to invite the long-retired veteran screenwriter Jiang Juanshan and signed the rising dark horse director Shao Chouxie to create together.

The luxurious configuration of the crew made rumors about “Time” potentially competing with “Spring River” for next year’s TV festival’s Best TV Drama award increasingly loud.

All these things made Xiao Sheng unhappy, with darkness growing wildly in his heart.

At this time, “Spring River’s” filming first encountered bottlenecks, then met with snowstorms. The pressure of being chased and even surpassed by Shen Qianzhan made him unable to focus on other matters, causing him to completely ignore her romantic affair with Bu Zhong Sui’s executive CEO. He wholeheartedly hoped that “Spring River” could overcome difficulties, wrap up filming quickly and enter post-production, so he could be first to compete for Qiandeng’s promotional resources and funding for a final gamble.

However, the consequences of being eager for quick success and underestimating opponents—just this once was enough to make him fall into an abyss of eternal damnation.

The man beside Shen Qianzhan was far more than just a consultant. The entire golden kingdom behind him represented wealth and status that ordinary people could never reach in their lifetime. No matter who it was, they had to avoid his sharp edge and yield three points.

And he had the audacity to use Shen Qianzhan to curry favor and seek rewards, directly offending both of these ancestors completely.

While they were in a standoff, Xiao Sheng’s phone on the table buzzed with vibration, indicating an incoming call.

The dining room instantly became as quiet as if time had stopped and clocks had frozen, with only the scraping sound of the phone vibrating against the glass table surface repeatedly, tirelessly, ringing over and over.

Everyone’s gaze unanimously fell on that noisy phone.

——Anyone calling at this sensitive time didn’t need guessing to know who it was.

Shen Qianzhan slightly curved her lips, revealing an extremely sarcastic smile.

She wasn’t too angry. Having seen the darkness and secrets of this circle, Xiao Sheng’s methods were nothing in her view. Since he hadn’t succeeded, what awaited him was far more than her harmless ridicule and mockery. After tonight, without help from influential people, Xiao Sheng would probably disappear from this circle entirely.

She picked up her bag, examining Xiao Sheng from top to bottom: “From now on, Producer Xiao and I should keep to our separate paths—bridges to bridges, roads to roads.”

“Tonight, I must excuse myself from accompanying you further.”

——

After Shen Qianzhan left, people successively departed from their seats.

Qiao Xin, with her paramecium-sized courage, was nearly scared to death. She glanced at Su Zan who still didn’t intend to leave and quietly tugged at his sleeve.

Seeing no reaction from him, she boldly tugged again and whispered: “Let’s go!”

Sister Zhan has left, and you’re still staying for dinner?

Su Zan remained unmoved.

He kept looking at Xiao Sheng without saying a word.

Qiao Xin simply gave up.

Since joining Qiandeng, she had always followed Shen Qianzhan, so her position went without saying.

Su Zan was different. He was Qiandeng’s crown prince. Realistically speaking, both Shen Qianzhan and Xiao Sheng worked for Qiandeng and the Su family. Although he wasn’t in senior management or leadership, his background had already determined everything. There was no need for him to take sides and form factions with bottom-level workers like her.

Qiao Xin understood all the reasoning, but emotions were hard to control.

She had long suspected Xiao Sheng had bad intentions, but she hadn’t expected the two would clash like this tonight, tearing apart the facade of reality completely.

She stamped her feet, somewhat frustrated: “Then I’ll leave first.”

After speaking, she got up to leave.

Unexpectedly, just as Qiao Xin stood up, Su Zan grabbed her wrist with his backhand and forcibly pressed her back into her seat.

Without even glancing at the stunned Qiao Xin, he spoke: “In my sister’s eyes, I’m just a useless person who can’t be helped. In the company, all colleagues politely call me Young General Manager Su, but I know that none of them look up to me in their hearts—they think I’m just a second-generation heir who only knows how to eat, drink, and play.”

“I was indeed ignorant in the past, spending my days teasing cats and dogs. Producer Shen also truly disdained me. But all these years, only she has been generous with guidance and teaching, gradually allowing me to hold my head up. I never understood how a grown man like you could have such a narrow mind, constantly targeting a woman, and I don’t know how you developed such deep hostility toward her. She never touched your cake or engaged in unfair competition, yet you were narrow-minded enough to push her toward men of unknown backgrounds. Are you even human?”

Qiao Xin was dumbfounded.

She looked at Xiao Sheng’s extremely ashen face, then at Su Zan who seemed to have been soaked in highlighter powder for forty-nine days, her little heart pounding non-stop.

“Confess tonight’s events to my sister yourself. Qiandeng doesn’t welcome employees with evil intentions, and my family won’t welcome men like you who lack moral boundaries. Whatever relationship you have with my sister, as long as I’m alive, I won’t let my parents marry her to you.”

Having torn off all pretenses, Su Zan was too lazy to maintain surface politeness and friendliness. Like wind carrying electricity, his steps were quick and urgent as he soon left the dining room with Qiao Xin in tow.

After walking to the corner without looking back, Su Zan loosened his grip on Qiao Xin’s wrist and turned to ask her: “How was it? Did I perform well? Was I very manly?”

Qiao Xin choked.

For a moment, she couldn’t answer.

She lowered her eyes, staring at her toes, remaining silent for a long time.

Su Zan looked at her for a while, then reached out to pat her head: “It’s okay, Sister Zhan’s psychological resilience can handle ten more Xiao Shengs without problem. Have you forgotten how she beat up that investor’s wandering hands back then?”

“Don’t worry, I’m giving him three days. If he doesn’t confess to my sister voluntarily, I’ll go report to the higher-ups.”

Qiao Xin shook her head.

She wanted to say “It’s useless. Not to mention nothing happened—even if something had happened, General Manager Su wouldn’t necessarily severely punish Xiao Sheng.” These things were too common. From General Manager Su’s position, he would only minimize big issues and eliminate small ones, preferably not affecting the company’s reputation and image.

In the end, the one who would be wronged and compromised would only be Shen Qianzhan, with no exceptions.

So she said nothing, only looked up with a smile: “I’m not worried.”