Chapter 520: It’s Time!

Chapter 520: It’s Time!

“What did you say?” A flicker passed through Wu Chen’s eyes, but his tone remained casual.

“I said… I said…” Peng Wei sounded hesitant, almost timid. Then a hint of defensiveness crept into his voice. “Mr. Wu, I didn’t really have a choice… I told him I wasn’t the one who could make that decision. But I didn’t say it was you, Mr. Wu…”

Peng Wei had clearly failed to cover things up properly.

Or rather, he felt that by revealing someone was directing him from behind the scenes without discussing it with Wu Chen first, he’d done something wrong!

An Huaiguo hadn’t contacted Wu Chen directly. He had called Peng Wei. That told Peng Wei that An Huaiguo didn’t know Wu Chen existed in this affair. Even his daughter, An Menglan, hadn’t revealed anything.

Yet Peng Wei had let An Huaiguo know there was someone else behind him, directing everything.

That would undoubtedly prompt An Huaiguo to investigate.

And Peng Wei had no idea whether it was appropriate to expose Wu Chen’s identity—or even his involvement—to An Huaiguo at this point.

“I understand,” Wu Chen replied simply.

He could understand Peng Wei’s position.

Peng Wei was actually a very slippery man. If anyone else had called, he could have dodged the question with a few vague remarks and left it at that, without giving any definite answer.

But the person calling him wasn’t just anyone. It was An Huaiguo!

In terms of status, An Huaiguo was far above the owner of Hezhong Media. They weren’t even on the same level.

Huaxing Entertainment was only one division of the vast Huaxing Group. As a billionaire tycoon from Xiangjiang, An Huaiguo had more than money. His status was exceptional.

He belonged to the very highest social circles.

The owner of Hezhong Media wouldn’t even be in a position to speak as an equal to An Huaiguo. Only the powerful backer behind Hezhong’s owner could meet him on equal footing.

Faced with someone of that stature, Peng Wei didn’t dare talk carelessly or try to bluff his way through.

“What else did you tell him?” Wu Chen asked.

“…Not much. Just that I couldn’t make the decision… and that I’d call him back,” Peng Wei said.

“Mm…” Wu Chen considered that for a moment.

“Mr. Wu, what do you think we should do about this?” Peng Wei asked at once. After a brief pause, he began speaking faster. “Mr. Wu, I think… Boss An has personally called to ask us to stop. I suspect he’s already reached an agreement with Hezhong. There probably won’t be any more conflict between the two sides…”

Peng Wei was trying to persuade Wu Chen.

He was afraid!

And he had every reason to be!

If Wu Chen refused to stop, he could very well anger An Huaiguo. Wu Chen had the Li family behind him and probably wouldn’t suffer much, but Peng Wei had no such powerful backing. After all, he was the person actually carrying out many of the operations. If he continued provoking hostilities and caused Huaxing major losses, then perhaps… even Wu Chen wouldn’t be able to protect him.

That was how Peng Wei saw it.

Wu Chen could imagine exactly what Peng Wei was thinking.

At the same time, he could tell that Peng Wei was wrong about one thing.

Huaxing and Hezhong had absolutely not negotiated a peace!

First of all, there hadn’t been enough time. Xu Weilai had jumped off the building less than an hour ago. Second, Hezhong had just driven Xu Weilai to his death. There was no way it would approach Huaxing seeking peace on its own initiative. If it did, Huaxing would inevitably demand exorbitant compensation.

And An Huaiguo… someone on his side had just died. He was even less likely to seek peace with Hezhong. An ordinary person wouldn’t be so timid, much less An Huaiguo.

Yet in reality, An Huaiguo had backed down.

He didn’t want the conflict between Huaxing and Hezhong to continue. He didn’t want the situation to escalate any further. Hezhong’s Zhou Shenglong had been ruined, and Huaxing had lost a hugely popular young star. In terms of corporate losses alone, the two sides weren’t all that far apart.

An Huaiguo wanted it all to end immediately!

Wu Chen reasoned that An Huaiguo’s desire to end the conflict had nothing to do with peace negotiations, pressure from anyone else, or fear of some powerful figure behind Hezhong.

It came down to a simple reason.

Public opinion could destroy Huaxing.

Public opinion attracted the attention of those above.

The authorities!

The entertainment industry’s sordid affairs regularly made the trending lists, but they generally didn’t provoke punishment from the highest levels of power. Whether a celebrity was caught cheating, a wedding became an internet sensation, or some other rumor circulated, such stories could have an enormous impact without necessarily creating extremely negative public sentiment.

But this time, a top idol had actually died.

There was no stopping that news from coming out. When it did, the storm would dwarf anything that had come before.

The uproar would be unprecedented!

And if things went further, if Huaxing and Hezhong continued striking at each other, who knew what disaster might emerge? One wave of public outrage would follow another. The authorities would certainly intervene then, and the consequences would be impossible to predict.

An Huaiguo was, after all, a Xiangjiang tycoon.

He was much more cautious when doing business on the mainland.

He was certainly a powerful man, but there were still people more powerful than him.

By comparison, Hezhong acted far more boldly.

It was a mainland entertainment giant, after all, one of the biggest in the industry. Naturally, its relationships with the influential figures responsible for overseeing entertainment and related industries were closer.

Hezhong Media had been established back in the 1990s and had deep connections in the capital’s cultural circles.

Huaxing Entertainment, under Huaxing Group, had been founded as early as the 1980s, but its early business was all in Xiangjiang. It had only entered the mainland market a little over ten years ago.

Wu Chen also knew that although Huaxing Group’s finances were currently sound, its business development hadn’t been going smoothly. Expansion had long since stalled. It could even be said that the company was falling behind the times.

The mainland economy was developing far too quickly. More and more major companies were emerging, with mainland conglomerates valued at hundreds of billions or even trillions.

Behind those companies were all manner of investors and powerful families, to one degree or another.

As a Xiangjiang tycoon, the An family owed An Huaiguo’s special status to Xiangjiang. But that same background also hindered his expansion on the mainland. The intricate networks of relationships among the mainland’s powerful families had been built over generations.

An Huaiguo did have connections on the mainland, but by comparison, they still fell short.

Fortunately, Huaxing had a strong foundation. That was the only reason it hadn’t been left completely behind—at least not yet.

Given all this, An Huaiguo’s decision to stop the conflict even after such a serious incident must also reflect concerns about the company’s future. With its other businesses struggling, he clearly didn’t want Huaxing Entertainment, its most successful division, to run into major trouble as well.

It was an extremely rational decision.

Cut off the conflict, immediately and decisively!

But that was not what Wu Chen wanted.

Wu Chen had always adapted to the way events developed, choosing the best response to each new situation. He had laid his plans layer upon layer to reach this point, and he neither accepted nor permitted anyone to interfere with what he intended to do.

After being trapped for a thousand years and finally gaining his freedom, he would do whatever he had decided to do.

And now that matters had developed this way, it was time to draw An Huaiguo into the game.

“Don’t worry about it. Proceed with everything as originally planned. If he calls you again, tell him plainly that the person behind you doesn’t agree. You don’t have to tell him who it is… I’ll make sure he finds out. I’ll handle An Huaiguo,” Wu Chen said into the phone.

“Well… all right! Yes, Mr. Wu!” Peng Wei hesitated briefly, then agreed with sudden decisiveness.

He very much wanted to persuade Wu Chen to reconsider, and he was afraid of getting into trouble himself.

But Wu Chen had spoken plainly. He clearly wasn’t inviting objections.

Besides, Wu Chen had said he would handle An Huaiguo.

“Mm… Someone will call you in a little over half an hour to verify my identity. Just confirm it,” Wu Chen added.

“All right!” Peng Wei answered.

The call ended.

Wu Chen put down his phone, picked up his knife and fork again without the slightest change in mood, and smiled across the table at the increasingly alluring Zhuang Xiaodie.

“Xu Weilai… how could he just…?” Zhuang Xiaodie leaned forward slightly and asked in a low voice.

“Couldn’t handle the pressure,” Wu Chen replied softly with a smile.

He didn’t tell Zhuang Xiaodie much more about Xu Weilai.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell her. A Western-style restaurant simply wasn’t the most convenient place to discuss it; other diners might overhear. Although Xu Weilai’s death was bound to become public sooner or later, the later it broke, the better.

They talked about something else.

Before long, their conversation returned to Mao Rusong and the company.

Having only just become a boss herself, Zhuang Xiaodie had plenty to say about that.

She felt the pressure and worried that if she messed things up, Wu Chen would be disappointed. But she was also full of motivation and eager to get to work.

Half an hour later.

It was one in the afternoon.

Wu Chen and Zhuang Xiaodie’s lunch was drawing to a close.

They paid the bill and left.

They parted outside Dolphin Bay Western Restaurant. Zhuang Xiaodie even set aside the last little bit of shyness she felt, ignored the passersby watching them, slipped both arms around Wu Chen’s neck, and kissed him of her own accord.

They both had things to do.

Zhuang Xiaodie watched Wu Chen get into his car. She knew he was going to An Menglan’s company that afternoon. Only after the blue Lamborghini pulled away and merged onto the street did she stop watching and walk toward her own car.

…

Two minutes later.

The Lamborghini was still speeding along Linjiang Avenue in Modu’s Dongpu District. The avenue was so long that Wu Chen hadn’t yet reached the end of it.

Inside the car, Wu Chen drove with one hand while taking out his phone with the other. He manually entered an unfamiliar number and called it.

It took more than ten seconds for someone to answer.

“Hello? Who is this?” It was a middle-aged man’s voice.

“Guan Hongrun asked me to find out how you’d like to die,” Wu Chen said directly, still smiling. Combined with his words, that faint smile was almost chilling!

“President Guan? You… you…” The man was clearly frightened. His voice immediately turned tense.

He had a guilty conscience and was terrified!

“Just kidding.” Wu Chen smiled again. “Relax. I haven’t told him about you sleeping with his wife… I’ll give you a chance. Come to Modu. Let’s meet and talk.”

“You—” The man sounded both shocked and utterly bewildered.

This man was Shang Yunlu, deputy director of Hezhong Media’s publicity department!

He had once been an actor. His fame had long since faded, but he still counted as a celebrity of sorts, even though he hadn’t appeared in a film or television production for more than ten years.

Guan Hongrun, whom Wu Chen had mentioned, was one of Hezhong Media’s cofounders. He was currently a senior executive vice president at the group’s parent company and president of its distribution subsidiary. He was primarily responsible for Hezhong Media’s publicity, promotion, and public relations.

In other words, he was Shang Yunlu’s boss’s boss!

Hezhong Media was an entertainment-industry giant.

If Shang Yunlu were assigned to one of its smaller departments or subsidiaries, he would at least hold a vice-presidential position. But within the group as a whole, he was only somewhat above an ordinary middle manager, not truly part of senior management.

Wu Chen needed him to do a few things.

And he intended to use Shang Yunlu’s help to deal with An Huaiguo!

“I’ll still be in Modu tomorrow. You have one chance. If you don’t come, or if you say anything you shouldn’t, Peng Wei will put you on the trending lists. And I’m sure President Guan would be delighted to send you to prison for embezzlement,” Wu Chen said again, smiling and speaking calmly.

“You… how do you… you… Peng Wei and you… who are you?!”

“Morning Mist.”