Chapter 418: How Powerful Would It Become?

Chapter 418: How Powerful Would It Become?

Su Lei knelt on the floor, begging for mercy, tears and snot streaming down his face.

The vocal coaches’ office erupted, on both sides of the partition. Everyone could hear him. Carrying on like this, he had as good as confessed that he’d leaked the audio.

Behind the partition.

Anger had risen in An Menglan’s face, and her eyes were ice-cold. Li Ruobing wore that look often, whenever something displeased her. An Menglan, though… this time she was truly furious. Even the most even-tempered person couldn’t stand for something like this.

“Call the police!”

That was all she said before she turned to go.

She would send Su Lei to prison and make sure he never got out. Magic Cube Studio too, and whoever had ultimately bought the audio. Every one of them was going down!

“Boss! Boss, don’t go! I know I was wrong, I really do! Spare me, please, spare me…” Close to breaking down, Su Lei shuffled after her on his knees as she turned away, reaching for her ankle.

With his other hand he was slapping his own face.

He never got near her.

The two bodyguards had been watching him the whole time. The instant he moved, one stepped in and pinned him while the other took the laptop so he couldn’t damage it.

An Menglan, Wu Chen, and Zhuang Xiaodie left the vocal coaches’ office together. None of the vice presidents followed. They had things they wanted to say, but by now even a fool could see An Menglan was in a foul mood.

Soon.

The elevator was rising toward the eleventh floor.

Only the three of them were inside.

“Sigh…”

An Menglan had been standing in silence with her arms folded. Suddenly she let out a sigh, and the tension went out of her. She lowered her arms.

She seemed to have pulled herself together. The anger had only been momentary. She’d known since last night there was a traitor; she just hadn’t known who. Now that he’d been found, she ought to be glad.

She had rid the company of a hidden danger.

Ding!

The eleventh floor.

They stepped out and walked toward the president’s office. An Menglan kept glancing at Wu Chen. After several looks, she finally pressed her lips together and said, “Mr. Wu.”

“Hm?” He looked at her with a smile. “What is it?”

“Thank you for all your trouble. You were right!” She smiled too.

Wu Chen smiled back.

“So… can you tell me now, Mr. Wu?” she asked.

“Tell you what?” he said, smiling. He wasn’t playing dumb, only teasing her. He raised a hand. “I’m going to stop by the restroom first. I’ll tell you in a bit.”

“All right!” She nodded.

An Menglan and Zhuang Xiaodie went back to the president’s office.

Wu Chen walked on a few more steps and went into the eleventh-floor restroom.

The men’s room was empty.

He really did use the toilet first and wash his hands. But afterward, instead of leaving, he went to the window at the far end, took out his phone, and dialed.

It connected quickly.

“Hello, Mr. Wu,” came Peng Wei’s voice.

“Get ready. Xia Xiaobin is going to be arrested and sent to prison soon,” Wu Chen said without preamble.

“Xia Xiaobin? Xia Xiaobin from Magic Cube?” Peng Wei sounded startled.

Of course he knew who Xia Xiaobin was. To Peng Wei, he was an “old friend.” In reality, a competitor.

“That’s right. Him,” Wu Chen said. “Prepare ahead of time. Once Xia Xiaobin’s in prison, take over Magic Cube Studio’s resources. I’ve got the numbers of a few middlemen for you. Write them down…”

“Okay, okay, okay!” Peng Wei kept saying.

When Wu Chen had given him the numbers, he added, “If you can manage it, I’d like you to swallow Magic Cube whole. How you go about it is up to you…”

“Okay, okay! I understand, Mr. Wu. Don’t worry! I promise I won’t let you down!” Peng Wei agreed at once, a note of excitement creeping into his voice.

He’d only been working for Wu Chen a short while, and already a windfall this big had dropped into his lap. Of course he was excited.

Wave Studio was already number one in the country. If it swallowed Magic Cube too, how powerful would it become?

Just thinking about it, Peng Wei felt he’d be laughing in his sleep.

They talked a little longer. When they were nearly done, Peng Wei couldn’t help himself. “Mr. Wu, this Xia Xiaobin… did he cross you?”

He already suspected Wu Chen had “taken care of” Xia Xiaobin.

“He brought it on himself. As for the details… wait for the news. It’ll get around soon enough.” Wu Chen couldn’t be bothered to say more. “All right, that’s it for now. Get to work.”

“Sure, sure, Mr. Wu. Take care.”

The call ended.

Wu Chen left the restroom and went back to An Menglan’s office.

Inside, An Menglan and Zhuang Xiaodie sat side by side on the sofa, talking.

Wu Chen pushed the door open, looked them over, and asked with a smile, “What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing much.” An Menglan looked up at him. She watched him cross to the armchair and sit, then said, “Mr. Wu, you can tell me now, can’t you?”

The more she thought about it, the more uncanny it seemed. How had he “solved the case” just by reading the files? And gotten every bit of it right?

“Su Lei met Xia Xiaobin two years ago, purely by chance. After that… he became Xia Xiaobin’s source inside your company. Over the past two years he’s sold internal company information to…”

Wu Chen gave her the short version.

An Menglan nodded when he finished, then asked at once, “But how do you know all this, Mr. Wu?”

That was the real question.

Wu Chen was a young man in Donghai who’d only just graduated. However capable he was, how could he have known in advance about something so far removed from him?

“Before I came here, I spoke with Peng Wei on the phone. We talked…” Wu Chen said with a smile, and left it vague.

Understanding dawned on her face at once.

Peng Wei was the mainland’s number-one paparazzo. Whatever he knew about the entertainment industry, it somehow didn’t seem surprising.

She didn’t sense that Wu Chen was lying to her.

He really had spoken with Peng Wei once before coming, but the leak had never come up.

The truth was, Wu Chen knew Su Lei was Xia Xiaobin’s source from the thousand-year loop.

Every entertainment, media, or music company of any real size had paparazzi sources inside it. Without exception.

They weren’t full-time operatives. Paparazzi studios sought out employees at entertainment companies and bought them off, turning them into sources.

Naturally Menghua Music had them too, and Su Lei wasn’t the only one.

Wu Chen knew of three. All three had sold major information to paparazzi studios before.

Last night, the moment An Menglan told him about the leak, he had put Su Lei and the other two straight onto his mental list of suspects.

Menghua had employees who’d leaked smaller things too, of course, like artists’ whereabouts. But those people had nothing to do with this. They wouldn’t dare.

Leaking the audio was a crime. Only someone like Su Lei, who was already willing to sell major information, would dare do something like this.

Three suspects.

Then today, An Menglan had shown him the files on the five suspects her bodyguards had turned up. Only one of the five overlapped with his three.

Su Lei.

The only paparazzi source among the five.

It had to be him. No question.

That was why Wu Chen had named him the moment he saw the files. But he could never tell An Menglan the truth. That would mean the thousand-year loop.

“Mr. Wu, then what exactly is between you and Peng Wei…” Now that she thought she understood, An Menglan wanted to know more.

Wu Chen suddenly glanced at his watch.

Then he looked up and cut her off with a smile. “Miss An, let’s leave that for now. Before your company closes for the day, I want to record a song…”

“Hm?” She blinked. “Record a song?”

“Right. I’ll record a new song and release it tonight.” He nodded.

She blinked again, then shot to her feet, delighted. “Mr. Wu, you’ve changed your mind? You’re willing to debut as a singer?”

It was such a wonderful surprise. Her whole face lit up.

“No.” Wu Chen smiled and shook his head.

“No?” She blinked at him again. “Then, Mr. Wu, what do you…”

“Call it…” He drew the words out as he stood, smoothing his suit jacket out of habit. “Call it a remedy for the leak.”

“A remedy?” She didn’t follow. How could his releasing a song remedy a leak?