Chapter 386: Why Are You Paying Me?

Chapter 386: Why Are You Paying Me?

An Menglan had made up her mind. If Peng Wei agreed, she would pay thirty million to buy the photos back.

Liu Jing went to make the arrangements.

She contacted the company’s finance department to prepare thirty million in cash, and called Peng Wei to set a meeting place.

An Menglan left the gym too. She was still in her yoga clothes and needed to go upstairs and change.

On the second floor, the master bedroom and the second bedroom faced each other across the hall. When An Menglan got back to her room, the master-bedroom door was open. Song Xuan was lying on her stomach on the bed, hugging a pillow and watching a hit drama on her tablet.

With An Menglan doing yoga, Song Xuan had nothing to do, and the drama she’d been following had dropped a new episode the night before, so she’d put it on.

Song Xuan heard footsteps.

When she got up and stepped out of her room, the door opposite was just closing. She went over and knocked. “Miss An? Done already?”

She was a little puzzled. An Menglan had said she’d practice for an hour, and it had hardly been any time at all.

“It’s not locked,” An Menglan called.

Song Xuan pushed the door open and went in.

An Menglan had already begun changing. They were both women, so there was nothing to be shy about, and An Menglan wasn’t fussy about such things.

“I’m stopping for now. I’m going out in a bit.” She looked up at Song Xuan in the doorway and smiled.

“Is something urgent? Do you need my help?” Song Xuan asked. She was always eager to help her idol.

“Mm… no.” An Menglan hesitated, then added, “I’m just meeting an old friend.”

She wasn’t telling Song Xuan the truth.

Mainly, she didn’t want Song Xuan getting too caught up in this. She also wanted to keep it from Wu Chen, and she was afraid Song Xuan would tip off her Senior.

On her way upstairs, An Menglan had considered whether to tell Wu Chen before meeting Peng Wei.

She had decided against it at once.

She simply felt that the way Wu Chen had handled the whole business was all wrong.

He didn’t understand the entertainment industry.

It felt like he was blundering about. Threats, kidnapping… it was far too heavy-handed.

Her worry was that if she told him she was meeting Peng Wei, he would drive over and insist on joining the negotiation… and then the talks would certainly collapse.

So it was safer to meet Peng Wei alone.

Whether it worked or not, she could tell Wu Chen afterward.

She changed, chatted with Song Xuan a few minutes longer, and left. Song Xuan didn’t press her on whom exactly she was meeting. She had said an old friend; Song Xuan could hardly interrogate her.

The Rolls-Royce pulled out onto the road.

A-Li, her bodyguard, was driving, naturally.

Liu Jing, her assistant, sat in the front passenger seat.

An Menglan sat in the back.

“Boss, the meeting’s at Qingyuan Teahouse in Central District. Peng Wei said he’s nearby, so he can go straight there…” Liu Jing twisted around to tell her.

She was still holding her phone, the map and navigation on the screen.

“Mm. Okay.” An Menglan nodded and said nothing more.

There was no need to ask. Liu Jing had been with her for years and had always been someone she could count on.

About half an hour later.

Central District.

Qingyuan Teahouse.

The Rolls-Royce appeared down the street, slowed, and stopped at the curb outside. A-Li parked and got out with An Menglan and Liu Jing.

The three of them went in.

Liu Jing gave the hostess the name of the private room, and the hostess led them upstairs.

Third floor. Tianshui Yise.

The hostess brought them to the door, pushed it open, invited them in, and left.

Without needing to be told, A-Li and Liu Jing stayed outside. An Menglan went in alone.

Inside, Peng Wei was already on his feet. As she came in, he stepped forward to greet her, beaming. “Hahaha, Miss An, it’s an honor for me, Peng, that you’d do me the favor of coming! Hahahaha…” Laughing, he held out his hand.

An Menglan had just taken off her mask. She raised her hand as well.

They shook.

“Boss Peng. I’ve heard a great deal about you.” She smiled faintly, her voice rich and magnetic.

The atmosphere was perfectly cordial.

Paparazzi tailed celebrities for money; celebrities paid money to make trouble go away. The two sides were natural adversaries, yet each needed something from the other. So, naturally, everything was cordial.

“Hahaha, not at all, not at all. When it comes to fame, how could I possibly compare with you, Miss An? Haha… come, come, please, have a seat! I’m so sorry to have put you to the trouble of coming all this way, Miss An. I’d meant to call on you myself…”

Laughing, Peng Wei ushered her to a seat and ran through the usual courtesies.

None of it surprised An Menglan, because… it was always like this. In negotiations of this kind, paparazzi always kept an especially humble posture.

For the money, of course.

And.

More importantly.

To guard against being recorded.

Paparazzi were usually highly skilled negotiators. They never spoke harshly. They only spoke in double meanings, or dropped hints…

They would never utter an outright threat. Not one. Because that could be classed as extortion, and with sums this large, that meant enough prison time to last a lifetime.

On the way over, An Menglan had questioned Liu Jing closely about how negotiations with paparazzi worked.

This was her first time. Liu Jing had heard far more about these things and understood them better than she did.

Liu Jing had told her a great deal, and had specifically warned her not to be taken in by the paparazzi’s false friendliness.

Thirty million. No more. Not a single concession beyond that.

“Miss An, first of all, I absolutely must apologize to you!” As soon as they sat down, Peng Wei looked at An Menglan, who still wore her sunglasses, and got straight to the point.

“My people disturbed you. I’m truly sorry! I hope you can understand, though… In our line of work, making a living the way we do, these things are sometimes unavoidable… I can promise you there will never be a next time. I really am deeply sorry!”

An apology right out of the gate.

As fake as expected.

As disarming as expected.

Even so, An Menglan felt considerably better, because he had said there “would never be a next time.” That meant this could be settled. Peng Wei had come to make a deal.

“Boss Peng, I don’t think there’s any need to apologize. We’re both here in good faith, aren’t we?” An Menglan said with a smile.

“Yes, yes, yes! Good faith!” Peng Wei nodded hurriedly, then jumped up, lifted the teapot, and poured her tea.

Splash…

“Since we’re both here in good faith…” An Menglan took off her sunglasses, folded them, and held them in her hand. Once Peng Wei had poured and sat down again, she looked him in the eye and smiled. “I prefer to be direct. So let’s keep this simple and skip the… unnecessary talk. What do you think?”

“Uh…” Peng Wei paused, caught off guard. He hadn’t expected her to be so blunt.

Yet it suited him perfectly.

Because he was in a hurry to leave.

Not long after Wu Chen left, Peng Wei had gotten calls from his missing people. Li Ruotai’s side had let them go.

He had arranged a place to regroup with them.

He wanted to get back to Modu right away and start setting up the operation to get the dirt on Zhou Shenglong. But An Menglan was right here in Donghai, so he had hurried to get in touch with her.

Of the two tasks Wu Chen had given him, this was the first, and he wanted it done fast. The sooner, the better.

“All right. Let’s be direct!” Peng Wei said readily, recovering himself.

An Menglan gestured for him to go on.

“Mm…” Peng Wei weighed his words, watching her face. After about two seconds, he said, “Thirty million.”

An Menglan was surprised.

She hadn’t expected him to dare name a figure outright. She herself hadn’t raised money just now, because she knew that if she did, he wouldn’t respond.

Anything that could be classed as extortion, Peng Wei would steer well clear of. He was an old hand.

Yet here he was, naming a price.

That was fine too.

“All right. Thirty million.” An Menglan nodded.

“Miss An really is refreshingly straightforward, hahaha.” Peng Wei laughed. “Then, Miss An… give me a bank account.”

“Hm?” An Menglan blinked, took a moment, then asked, “Why do you want my account?”

She felt as if Peng Wei had stolen her line. She was the one who ought to be asking him for an account.

Her question threw Peng Wei too.

“Your account… so I can transfer the money to you.” He blinked.

“Transfer… money to me? Why are you paying me?” An Menglan was still at a loss. “Shouldn’t I be… paying you?”

Peng Wei stared blankly as well.

They stared at each other.

Both of them were a little dumbfounded.

What was going on? Where had things gone wrong?

The private room fell silent.