Chapter 28: Big Fish

After much pus.h.i.+ng and exchanging of cups, they finished the meal. By then, Zhong Yibin's relations.h.i.+p with Zhuo Yuan had already progressed to the point where they called each other "Yuan-ge" and "Er Bing". As for the investigation of the marketing account, Zhuo Yuan declared that he would handle it but for no one else to know that he was the one doing the investigation.

Zhuo Yuan had driven himself over and wasn't able to drive now since he had drunk. Zhong Jiabin expressed that he would let the driver send him back first but Zhuo Yuan waved his hand in rejection. He called for a subst.i.tute driver and waved farewell to them.

Yu Tang happened to come out to send someone off as well. Huang Dong had brought a driver and didn't need Yu Tang to fuss, leaving without bothering them.

The two groups of people met at the waiting area. Zhong Yibin looked towards the dark-eyed, reserved Yu Tang and waved at him, "Director Yu, what a coincidence."

Yu Tang turned to look at him, "The two Zhong Directors appear to have drunk a considerable amount too, why not join me in drinking some hangover tea."

"Then we won't stand on courtesy," Zhong Jiabin took the lead in agreeing before his brother could speak.

Zhong Jiabin dragged the still staring blankly Zhong Yibin back to the lobby. There was a tea room at the side of the lobby that offered tea which had the effect of dissolving alcoholic influence. The place charged according to status.

"Director Zhong specially waited for me. Is there anything you would like to say to me?" Yu Tang didn't show the slightest sign of intoxication. He directly sat on a European-style sofa chair and faintly looked towards Zhong Jiabin.

Zhong Yibin was stunned. He had felt that the duration of tonight's dinner had been slightly longer, but he hadn't seen his big brother intentionally dragging the time… After turning his head to look at the a.s.sistant standing behind his brother, he suddenly realized that the a.s.sistant being dispatched was likely for the purpose of keeping an eye on Yu Tang's movements.

"It was just a moment of curiosity. Why would Director Yu be interested in Old Waves' shares," Zhong Jiabin took a sip of his hangover tea. The tea had a bitter and astringent taste and was not particularly nice to drink. Shengs.h.i.+ had the intention of acquiring some of Old Waves' shares too, but they were too expensive. Moreover, Old Waves did not have much s.p.a.ce for improvement. Hence, this plan could only be put on hold.

"Heh, you are truly clever. Gleaning so much just based on my meeting with Huang Dong," Yu Tang was obviously younger than Zhong Yibin yet his manner of speaking was more mature than even Zhong Jiabin, as if he was an elder.

"I don't have any other intentions. I just wanted to remind Director Yu that Yuhua is also eyeing Old Waves' shares," Zhong Jiabin took yet another sip of the hangover tea before rising to bid farewell. Yuhua was currently in the middle of fighting for a project with Shengs.h.i.+. It could not be more ideal for Shengs.h.i.+ should Yuhua's funds be delayed from their fighting with Yu Tang over the shares.

Yu Tang drained his cup of tea in one gulp and looked at Zhong Jiabin with a smile that was also not a smile[1], "Director Zhong, you have impressive means. But if you want to reap the benefits, you must at least have some sincerity."

Zhong Jiabin paused for a moment as he left and turned to look at Yu Tang, "Naturally."

Yu Tang poured himself another cup of hangover tea and raised his cup towards the pair of brothers, "Would small Director Zhong not like to drink a few more cups? Are you not afraid of being ignored by your wife?"

Zhong Yibin c.o.c.ked his head. He felt that this Director Yu was rather interesting and went back for another cup. Yu Tang squinted and clinked gla.s.ses with him, the two of them gulping it down at one go.

Zhong Yibin sat in the car as he watched Yu Tang's car leave. He asked in curiosity, "Is Yu Tang married?" So young, his appearance was that of someone in his early twenties yet he already had a wife?

"No," Zhong Jiabin leaned against the seat as he rubbed the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows, "He's cohabiting with his boyfriend. His boyfriend is the Director of Xinghai Entertainment."

Zhong Yibin's eyes lit up. Yu Tang actually had a male wife as well, no wonder he urged him to drink one more cup of hangover tea. This was definitely the result of someone who had personally experienced it!

On their way back, it started pouring again. Summer in the city was akin to a child's expressions, constantly changing. Zhong Yibin couldn't resist giving Chu Qin another call, "Are you home yet? It's raining outside."

Even if Chu Qin and Lin Xiaoxiao were to eat three portions of crayfish, they should have finished eating by then, "I'm home, where are you?"

"We just pa.s.sed the third ring, probably need another half an hour," Zhong Yibin honestly said as he glanced at the navigation device for the driver in front.

Zhong Jiabin gazed at the rain outside the window as he listened to his brother's sticky call.

"Drank a bit of wine…"

"Oh, no, I'm not driving. I'm using my brother's car…"

"Ah, I would have forgotten if you hadn't brought it up, hehe…"

The sticky tone of voice contained some intention of acting spoiled. Zhong Jiabin snorted. Such a big person yet he still tried to act spoiled. His brother after losing his memories truly embodied the idea of regressing the longer he lived.

Just as he thought this, his brother beside him suddenly s.h.i.+fted over, "Brother…"

That fawning tone was exactly the same as the one he used to talk to Chu Qin. Zhong Jiabin turned and saw that his brother's large head was about to rest on his shoulder. Pus.h.i.+ng his head away with a hand, Zhong Jiabin asked, "What?"

"I want to make that

an excellent TV series, can you give me more money?" Zhong Yibin asked pitifully.

"… According to the project plan that was submitted, the thunder film[3] is more profitable," It was Zhong Jiabin's first time being looked at by his brother in such a manner. The pressure that the pair of sparkling eyes exerted on him even caused his speech to lose some of its decisiveness.

"They didn't do it well. I'll bring the complete one to you tomorrow!" Zhong Yibin solemnly vowed as his hands pulled shamelessly at his brother's sleeves.

Zhong Jiabin allowed his brother's pulling of his sleeves and ended up with a costly custom-made suit that was creased. With an expressionless face, he said, "Bring it with you tomorrow when you come for the meeting."

"Yeah!" Zhong Yibin cheered. Acting spoiled was indeed effective against his brother! At this time, they reached their destination. The car rolled to a stop outside the gate of Chu Qin's residence and Zhong Yibin knocked his head lightly against his brother's shoulder, "Brother, I'm leaving. See you tomorrow!"

Chu Qin stood at the gate of the residence, his hand holding a large rainbow umbrella. The rainbow umbrella was very wide and was supported by sixteen ribs. It was very st.u.r.dy and would not be blown away even if they were standing in the middle of a rainstorm. It was sufficient to shelter two people.

"Baby!" Zhong Yibin noticed him and immediately pounced over.

Chu Qin went up and hurriedly sheltered him with the umbrella, waving a hand towards the Zhong family's big brother in the car.

Zhong Jiabin saw that there was someone to receive his brother and didn't say anything more, indicating for his driver to start the car. When he could no longer see the two people, he took his time to straighten his wrinkled clothes. He made a fist with one hand and pressed it against his lips and the corner of his mouth that was curved so high it seemed like it would split apart.

The rainy weather was the best time for sleeping. The ecstatic Zhong Yibin opened the windows and let the sound of the rain come in. They didn't need to use the air-conditioner, breathing in the air that carried the scent of rain would let them sleep soundly.

Chu Qin was afraid that it would be hot at night so he laid out the summer sleeping mat. The mat was made of bamboo, something that was new to Zhong Yibin. He rolled around and ended up rolling to Chu Qin's side.

"En, no problem, it's been good lately," Chu Qin was speaking to his mother on the phone. Seeing Zhong Yibin roll over, he pressed against the large head attempting to lick his back dimples.

His family did not reside in the city and his parents were used to living in their hometown. They weren't willing to come over so they only met during the occasional festival when he would go back. Mother Chu looked at the news just now and saw that there was a sudden rainstorm in the city, so she hurriedly called to ask if her son was working overtime. After asking a bunch of questions about his daily life, the conversation inadvertently s.h.i.+fted to finding a partner.

"Partner…" Chu Qin pursed his lips and looked towards Zhong Yibin, who was looking at him with round eyes, "I do have one whose two years older than me."

"What is there to be scared of when it's only two years. The older ones know better how to dote on you!" Mother Chu couldn't be happier. Her stupid son finally knew how to find a wife, "Bring the person home during the new year."

"En, we'll talk about it again," Chu Qin made a vague sound of agreement. He hung up after conversing a bit more about the family's daily life.

His birth was ordinary and his family had no relations to the entertainment industry. His father was a teacher while his mother worked for a state-owned enterprise. Later on, her company went bankrupt so she went to do her own business. Her personality was very fiery so her business also did well. He hadn't came out to his family yet. After all, his father was a traditional intellectual who would definitely not accept it. Hence, Chu Qin could only take it slowly.

"Mother allowed you to bring me home!" Zhong Yibin was very excited, "I'm so handsome and rich, Mother will definitely like me."

"Chop off your little brother[4], then Mother will like you," Chu Qin inclined his head as he glanced at him.

Zhong Yibin made a pained face as he pretended to seriously think it over. He then turned over and lay down in the shape of a large character, "Come, I can sacrifice my little brother for the sake of Athena!"

"You want to offer your little brother to Athena?" Chu Qin climbed on top of him and jabbed him with a finger, "This is called committing blasphemy, do you know that?"

Zhong Yibin reacted after being jabbed by Chu Qin. He seized Chu Qin's waist and pressed the soft flesh on his b.u.t.tocks, "You are my Athena! G.o.ddess, will you allow your devoted warrior to see what the color of your boxers is today?"

"Pff haha…" Chu Qin was so amused that he lay against his body laughing, causing his ear to be bitten by that opportunistic guy.

In the end, the sacred Chu Athena Qin received the pious believer Zhong chicken's chick as an offering on the bamboo mat.

On the morning of the second day, Zhong Yibin woke up early and dug out the records on expenses. Within the folder, he found a text file detailing plenty of opinions on this particular project.

[The market is currently saturated with different types of thunder dramas. But the public aren't fools, they will only watch a thunder drama if there is nothing else notable to watch. And they will once watch it once, which means that those TV dramas which thunder them to death will only be popular for a while and will not attain the chance to be broadcasted a second time. Moreover, the right to broadcast online also made up a portion of the profits that could not be neglected. If they were to go ahead with filming a thunder drama, they would have to give up on this part of the profits and damage Shengs.h.i.+'s reputation. It was necessary to film an outstanding TV drama…]

Zhong Yibin touched his chin. This should be his prepared script for a speech before he lost his memories. There was even a file of slides he had prepared next to it. This was still very useful. Previously, he had busied himself with looking through the emails and information and had not carefully examined the things in his own computer. Thinking this, he conveniently clicked on a few hard disks to look around.

Disk E contained work data, disk E contained a variety of software and disk F contained several pictures and videos. When he curiously clicked on a video, it appeared to be a school drama. A teenager dressed in a school uniform walked along the boulevard when suddenly a burly chap rushed out, covered his mouth and kidnapped him.

Eh, was it a crime drama? Zhong Yibin raised an eyebrow and continued watching. That burly guy tied the teenager's hands together with string and started taking off his clothes while spouting words of his country's language.

Chu Qin walked out with a yawn and went to pour a cup of water. He caught a glimpse of Zhong Yibin's screen and spurted out a mouthful of water.

[1] 似笑非笑: There is no English equivalent for this idiom so I translated it literally.

[2] 後宮淑妃: Honestly not sure if I'm translating this right… any help will be appreciated!

[3] 雷劇: A term for a certain set of TV series that is based on anything mythology/legend etc in China. In order to achieve the greatest impact, all aspects of the series are filmed in an exaggerated manner to create a film that borders on preposterous. Sorry I wasn't sure what this term was in previous chapters so it was translated as popular drama. All previous chapters with this term have been updated~

[4] 雞雞: A childish way of saying p.e.n.i.s. This isn't as explicit as directly saying p.e.n.i.s so I tried to make it less direct as well.

Translator's corner: Merry Christmas!?