Chapter 243: The Benefactor Fate Sent Her

Chapter 243: The Benefactor Fate Sent Her

It was an equity transfer agreement. Mao Rusong intended to transfer forty-five percent of a company in his name to Wu Chen.

An entertainment company. But not his principal holding, Dingshang Entertainment.

Dingshang Entertainment had a complicated ownership structure. Although Mao Rusong was its actual controller and largest shareholder, he held only thirty-seven percent.

Dingshang Entertainment had more than ten other shareholders and shareholding entities besides, all of them part of Mao Rusong’s network. They were his partners in business, and they were also a component of his power and reach.

The company in which he meant to hand Wu Chen forty-five percent was called Chenghai Entertainment.

Mao Rusong had founded it alone five years earlier. Its main business was web dramas, online variety shows, and online films.

In those five years Chenghai Entertainment had never produced a breakout web variety show or web drama. Its revenue, however, had held up quite well. It generally cleared more than twenty million yuan in profit a year.

At a common price-to-earnings multiple of ten, Chenghai Entertainment ought to be valued at around two hundred million yuan.

Forty-five percent, then, was worth roughly ninety million.

But the price written into the agreement was—

one yuan.

He was giving it away.

A purely symbolic one yuan.

This was absolutely not an “apology” for what Mao Qi had done.

Or rather, it was not merely an apology. That had been settled the day before, and on top of it Mao Rusong had already given Wu Chen Zhuang Xiaodie, on whom he had spent more than ten million yuan over time.

That should have been enough. And even if Mao Rusong still could not rest easy, there was no need to go this far.

So Wu Chen, who understood Mao Rusong’s temperament and how the man operated, could see that while some apology might be folded into this transfer, its larger purpose was—

to build a relationship. To establish a connection. To become one of Wu Chen’s own people.

If Mao Rusong was willing to hand over equity worth ninety million yuan, then he clearly believed the benefits Wu Chen could bring him ran far past ninety million.

Gu Ruibo had plainly influenced him enormously.

Wu Chen skimmed the agreement first, then read it through carefully from beginning to end, turning every page.

“Mr. Wu, if there’s no problem, just sign. Leave the rest to me.”

Mao Rusong watched him read and repeated himself, smiling.

He offered no explanation at all for why he was transferring forty-five percent at a price of one yuan.

He felt none was needed. Wu Chen should understand.

And of course he did.

When he finished reading, Wu Chen did not so much as go through the motions of refusing. That would only have been hypocritical. They were both men who understood the situation.

And Wu Chen was quite willing to become Mao Rusong’s “friend.”

However—

“I can’t sign this agreement.”

Wu Chen looked up and smiled.

Mao Rusong’s expression shifted. He thought Wu Chen was refusing outright, and he understood that if Wu Chen turned him down this time, he would likely never get another chance to build anything deeper.

“Ding Ruilong and I are going to be investigating each other.”

Wu Chen smiled again.

“So for the moment it isn’t convenient for me to hold shares in your company under my own name. It could affect you. You understand?”

Mao Rusong relaxed at once.

He understood. He understood perfectly.

“Hahaha. Mr. Wu thinks of everything.”

Mao Rusong laughed.

“Then you make the arrangements, Mr. Wu. Name a proxy and I’ll cooperate. We can set another day and—”

“No need for another day.”

Wu Chen cut him off.

“I’ll make a call.”

He took out his phone, keyed in an unsaved number, and dialed.

Five or six seconds passed before the other end picked up.

“Hello?”

A clear, pleasant young woman’s voice.

“Are you up?”

Wu Chen asked, smiling.

“Is this— is this Mr. Wu?”

She had recognized his voice. It was Zhuang Xiaodie.

“Yes. It’s me.”

“Mr. Wu. I got up around noon.”

“Where are you?”

“Waiting for you in the room.”

“Come out. The office at the far end of the corridor.”

“All right, Mr. Wu.”

A minute or two after the call ended, Zhuang Xiaodie arrived. A bodyguard opened the door and she walked straight into the office.

“Mr. Wu… Boss Mao…”

She came up to the desk and greeted them each in turn.

Mao Rusong’s expression looked rather odd.

“Here. Look it over and sign. Sign everywhere in the Party B section.”

Still seated, Wu Chen raised a hand and passed the agreement to her.

Sure enough.

Mao Rusong was certain now. Wu Chen really did mean to have Zhuang Xiaodie sign it.

Whoever signed this agreement received that forty-five percent. And it was actually going to end up under Zhuang Xiaodie’s name?

She had only started following Wu Chen the previous night. Mao Rusong could not tell whether the Zhuang Xiaodie he had cultivated was simply that remarkable, or whether Wu Chen simply did not care and was not afraid of anything going wrong.

Clearly, Mao Rusong did not understand Wu Chen’s way with women.

Zhuang Xiaodie turned the pages. Her expression changed, and changed again. She looked bewildered.

An equity transfer agreement.

She knew Chenghai Entertainment. She knew it was one of Mao Rusong’s companies. Over the past year he had quietly arranged for specialists from his entertainment companies, modeling companies, and media companies to train her in rotation. Speech and bearing, expression and acting, presence—everything had been trained.

She not only knew of Chenghai Entertainment. She had been there.

Forty-five percent equity?

For her?

Zhuang Xiaodie looked up with wide eyes, glancing between Wu Chen and Mao Rusong.

Still dazed.

Why?

She had owed Mao Rusong only a few million yuan. Now she had kept her promise and gone to Wu Chen. This was only the second day.

And Mao Rusong was already handing her shares that might be worth close to a hundred million?

“Originally I wanted Mr. Wu to sign. Mr. Wu said you should sign instead.”

Mao Rusong said it with a smile. It was a supremely tactful way of putting things.

“Miss Zhuang, sign it. There won’t be any problem with the agreement.”

Miss Zhuang, now.

In truth Mao Rusong had always treated Zhuang Xiaodie courteously.

He had thought it through from the start. She had originally been intended for Ding Ruilong. His purpose was to satisfy Ding Ruilong. And if Ding Ruilong was satisfied, that would mean Zhuang Xiaodie had a good relationship with him.

Under those circumstances, if Mao Rusong had wronged her beforehand, she could very well have used Ding Ruilong’s hand to pay him back.

Mao Rusong had thought all of it through. So from the beginning he had treated her with courtesy and never once forced her.

But before this it had been “Xiaodie.”

Never “Miss Zhuang.” That was a deeply respectful, deeply polite form of address.

After hearing him out, Zhuang Xiaodie was still dazed. She understood why the agreement had come to her now. She understood, too, that Mao Rusong had begun calling her Miss Zhuang because of Wu Chen.

But—

why was Wu Chen giving this to her?

She looked at him. Her face was faintly flushed, and there was something agitated in her expression.

The way she looked at him—

she felt she had truly met the benefactor fate had sent her.

“Mr. Wu, do you really want me to—”

She asked it very quietly. She hardly dared sign.

“Go ahead. It’s fine.”

Wu Chen turned his head toward her.

“If you’re interested, you can shoot films later, do some acting.”

He smiled when he finished. It sounded offhand.

It was not.

Zhuang Xiaodie was an Acting Department student at Modu University’s School of Film and Television. She had also spent a full year in intensive training arranged by Mao Rusong.

Her acting was genuinely superb.

So Wu Chen really did have the idea of cultivating a major star for the fun of it.

It sounded rather interesting.

All it would take was one production. With that, Wu Chen could make Zhuang Xiaodie explode into fame—become wildly popular, a superstar, a national goddess.

Zhuang Xiaodie kept looking at him. Her eyes had begun to redden.

It was the feeling that comes from being overwhelmed, from marveling at how utterly a life can turn. This might be the single greatest turning point of her existence.

She had assumed her future held nothing more than being some rich young master’s canary, kept in a cage in his house.

Now it seemed that was not it at all. Instead she was about to become one of the owners of an entertainment company.

And she might even be able to chase her own dream.

It was something she would not have dared dream of.

She looked at him as though she were about to cry.

“Sign it.”

Wu Chen smiled and said it once more.

And just then—

Ring-ring-ring…

Wu Chen’s phone rang. He took it out, glanced at the screen, and stood up.

Before he left he reminded her again. “Sign the agreement.”

Then he turned and walked out of the office to take the call in the corridor.

No one else could be allowed to hear it.

Because the caller was—

Li Maoren.

Li Maoren had called him out of the blue.

What had happened?