Chapter 383: Then Do You Have Five Hundred Million?

Chapter 383: Then Do You Have Five Hundred Million?

Peng Wei’s mind had gone completely blank.

He knew Li Ruobing’s voice.

The night before, unable to sleep, he had spent extra time online researching Li Ruobing, Li Ruotai, and the tycoons close to Wu Chen, Lu Guangnian among them.

There was nothing about Wu Chen personally online.

But the people around him were all known names on the internet.

Li Ruobing above all.

Her family background was hard to dig into, but her business dealings, news coverage, and video footage were easy to find.

Why had she reacted like that?

A photo like that, and she wasn’t furious?

She had even asked whether Wu Chen had sent it just to get on her nerves.

Had she known already?

And she knew who Peng Wei was?

She’d called him annoying. Said she would handle it.

Make him shut up?

Peng Wei understood perfectly well that “handle” and “shut up” couldn’t simply be taken at face value.

She very likely didn’t mean simply keeping him quiet.

She might mean making sure he could never speak again.

To a powerful elite family like the Lis, someone like Peng Wei, who made his living on the shady margins of the entertainment world, was nothing but a small fry, however solid his connections and however unusual his standing in the industry.

Making him disappear, or putting him in prison, would be simple.

Peng Wei knew that very well.

That was why, the moment Li Ruobing said she would handle it, he had broken out in a cold sweat.

If Wu Chen had said yes right then, he would have been finished.

And now, though Wu Chen hadn’t said yes…

it felt as if only the manner of his death had changed.

Why was Li Ruobing like that?

Peng Wei couldn’t work it out.

Nor did he have the heart to analyze what was really going on, because it no longer mattered.

What mattered was that the dirt he had regarded as his lethal weapon, the thing that could deal Wu Chen a fatal blow, had lost all its power in that instant.

It was useless.

The more confident he had been before, the more terrified he was now.

Wu Chen’s habitual smile no longer looked arrogant or affected to him.

It had become frightening.

Unfathomable.

Only now did Peng Wei realize that Wu Chen’s expression never changed.

He was always smiling.

Peng Wei couldn’t read anything useful from his face or his eyes.

He couldn’t.

No one could.

Control that unwavering could only belong to someone with a deep and calculating mind.

Even within a smile, the slightest change in expression gave a different impression. A smile could be restrained, or stiff, or awkward.

It could reveal a person’s state of mind.

But Peng Wei…

had no idea what Wu Chen was thinking.

When one person begins to find another frightening, they tend to inflate everything the other does without realizing it, searching every gesture and mannerism for some deeper meaning.

In truth, Wu Chen simply smiled out of habit.

The private room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

Wu Chen kept smiling at him.

The look made Peng Wei’s skin crawl and sent a chill down his spine.

He no longer knew how to negotiate with Wu Chen.

He was entirely at his mercy now, to be molded however Wu Chen pleased.

Wu Chen held the knife.

Peng Wei was the meat on the chopping block.

There was no chance of turning the tables.

Wu Chen looked at him, then suddenly picked up his teacup and took a sip.

“You know something?” he said with a smile. “I don’t much like being threatened. People who threaten me don’t usually come to a good end.”

He set the cup down just as he finished.

“M-Mr. Wu, I think this might be a misunderstanding!” Peng Wei said.

His manner was utterly different from before.

Face?

Pride?

Were they worth more than his life?

As he spoke, he hurried to his feet, picked up the teapot, held the lid down with his other hand, leaned forward, and filled Wu Chen’s cup.

Splash…

“Have some tea, Mr. Wu. Please, have some tea.”

He sat back down, plainly not himself.

His nerves were stretched to breaking.

“A misunderstanding?” Wu Chen rested a hand lightly on his teacup and smiled at him. “As I recall, after you photographed Miss An, I called you right away. I warned you, didn’t I? And what did you do? Posted a teaser on Weibo, then came to Donghai to photograph me. What makes you think this is a misunderstanding?”

Wu Chen seemed a little aggressive now.

That, at least, matched Peng Wei’s picture of him.

Looking back, Peng Wei bitterly regretted his choices.

He’d had plenty of options at the time.

He could have called Wu Chen to make peace, promised not to publish the photos, and asked him to release his people.

Or he could have called An Menglan and smoothed things over.

It would have been easy to resolve, and none of the trouble that followed would ever have happened.

But he had made what now looked like the worst possible choice.

“Mr. Wu, I… I know I’ve caused you and Miss An a certain amount of psychological and emotional harm. I admit I was wrong. I can compensate you…” Inwardly frantic, Peng Wei gestured with both hands without realizing it. He kept a tight rein on his emotions, trying to look as sincere as he could.

His mental fortitude was still considerable.

At least the panic wasn’t written across his face.

He was decisive, too.

No more pointless talk.

Admit fault. Pay up.

“Compensate me? How?” Wu Chen’s smile turned slightly odd. “With money?”

Wu Chen had brought up money, and with that shift in his expression, Peng Wei concluded that money was what he wanted.

Money could settle the vast majority of conflicts.

Whether it was a squabble between little people or a feud between great families, it so often came down to money.

“Mr. Wu, name a figure! I’ll pay you for emotional distress!” Peng Wei said without hesitation.

He wanted nothing more than to settle this with money.

That would be the most direct way.

The cleanest.

Then they would be square.

“Are you very rich?” Wu Chen asked with a smile. “You make it sound so easy.”

It didn’t sound like doubt.

It sounded more like groundwork for an outrageous demand.

“I could never compare with you, Mr. Wu, but I’ll do everything I can,” Peng Wei said hurriedly, lowering himself further still. “Just name a number. I’ll make it happen. I swear I will!”

“You think I’m extorting you?” Wu Chen asked.

“No, no, no! It’s not extortion. It’s compensation for your emotional distress!” Peng Wei insisted. “Emotional compensation!”

Wu Chen fell silent for a moment, as if thinking.

He picked up his teacup and took another sip.

Peng Wei’s heart was in his throat.

He had already made up his mind: even if it cost him tens of millions, he would make this go away.

“I hear…” Wu Chen said as he set the cup down, in no hurry at all. “Boss Peng personally makes over a hundred million a year these days. Is that true?”

He raised an eyebrow.

Peng Wei’s face changed.

From the sound of it, Wu Chen meant to swallow his assets whole.

This was more than an outrageous demand.

He wanted Peng Wei’s entire fortune.

Peng Wei’s annual income really was over a hundred million now.

It rivaled that of the hottest top-tier stars.

But what he actually kept each year was nowhere near that dramatic.

His expenses were enormous.

Some of them never even appeared on the company’s books, and there were taxes to pay as well.

Besides, he hadn’t always earned like this.

As his studio grew, his income had risen in stages.

His total net worth now was only about five hundred million yuan.

And most of that…

There was no way he would keep that much in cash.

Most of it was invested.

The money he could actually touch came to only several tens of millions.

“Y-yes… a little over a hundred million…” Peng Wei answered.

He didn’t dare lie.

Wu Chen could easily check his income. Lying was pointless.

“Paparazzi make that kind of money?” Wu Chen laughed.

He folded his arms, rested his elbows on the table, tilted his head, and smiled at Peng Wei.

“Then do you have five hundred million?”

Something exploded in Peng Wei’s head with a roar.

He was struck dumb.

Wu Chen actually wanted everything he had?!