Bowing to Arranged Marriage [Rebirth] - Chapter 18

Upon hearing Kang Minghong say he was coming to the company, Zheng Xiyun replied, “Fine, come and take Zheng Yoaquin away with you. You can leave too. I’m breaking up with you. Wishing you both happiness.”

With that, Zheng Xiyun didn’t give Kang Minghong a chance to respond and decisively hung up. She then placed the documents Mu Qing had given her into her bag, preparing to go find Zhang Yi.

As she put on her coat, Zheng Yoaquin asked, “Are you really going to break up with Kang Minghong?”

Zheng Xiyun looked at her expressionlessly and said, “Yes. Honestly, if you had told me earlier that you liked him, I wouldn’t have gotten together with him in the first place.”

Zheng Yoaquin hadn’t expected her to say that. She had always known she could steal Kang Minghong away, but she never imagined Zheng Xiyun didn’t care about him at all.

“Xiyun,” Zhang Meiyan interjected, her mind on another matter. “If you break up with Kang Minghong, what about the Mu family situation? They can’t wait any longer!”

Zheng Xiyun picked up her handbag and walked out of the office as she spoke, “I’m off work now. Don’t stay in my office, or if anything goes missing today, you’ll be held responsible.”

Before they could start arguing with her, she turned back to Zhang Meiyan and asked, “Has the Mu family been contacting you all this time?”

Zhang Meiyan froze for a moment before quickly replying, “You refused to communicate with them, and your father is too busy. Who else would mediate for you if not me?”

“Thanks for that,” Zheng Xiyun said flatly, emphasizing the word “mediate,” before stepping out of the office. The two women followed her out, not daring to stay behind. They were genuinely afraid Zheng Xiyun might accuse them of stealing.

As she drove out of the company parking lot, her phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth, and she dialed Mu Qing’s number.

“Miss me already?” Mu Qing’s voice filled the car, brimming with delight and surprise.

Keeping her eyes on the road, Zheng Xiyun asked, “Who in your family is handling matters between us?”

“Hmm? Everyone, I suppose. Why?” Zheng Xiyun had never brought this up before.

“My stepmother said your family has been pressuring hard and that I’ve been able to stay carefree only because she’s been mediating for me,” Zheng Xiyun repeated Zhang Meiyan’s words.

Ah, the stepmother…

Mu Qing instantly understood the implication from her tone. “Got it. I’ll go home right now and have my parents put her in her place. You should be able to live even more freely!”

Her words made Zheng Xiyun pause before she asked, “Was I that obvious?” Enough for Mu Qing to say something like that.

Mu Qing replied, “Yeah, it was clear you don’t like your stepmother. But it’s fine. Who you like or dislike is your right. Just like how you don’t like me, all I can do is keep pursuing you! Anyway, she won’t dare say such things to you again.”

After Mu Qing finished, Zheng Xiyun said, “I’m driving. I’ll hang up now.”

Once the call ended, Zheng Xiyun kept her hands on the wheel, but her eyes grew distant and sorrowful.

Is it really my right to like whoever I want? she thought, her nose tingling with suppressed emotion. Ever since her mother passed away, her preferences and affections had never been taken seriously by anyone.

Shaking off the melancholy, Zheng Xiyun didn’t want Zhang Yi to see her like this and worry.

Arriving at Zhang Yi’s office, Zheng Xiyun had already calmed down. She handed the materials given to her by Mu Qing to Zhang Yi. “Mu Qing gave me these. It turns out Kang Minghong was behind everything that happened before.”

Zhang Yi was stunned into silence as she looked at Zheng Xiyun. She flipped through the documents, which detailed Kang Minghong’s actions, including evidence of his past infidelity.

“Truly the work of the Mu family,” Zhang Yi remarked, closing the folder. She turned to Zheng Xiyun and said, “We should still hand this over to Luo Xiaoli. The news reports are still being suppressed.”

Zheng Xiyun nodded and produced another document. “This is the endorsement contract. Mu Qing brought it over today for me to sign.”

Zhang Yi took it and immediately skimmed through the key points. When she saw the endorsement fee, she asked Zheng Xiyun, “This amount won’t change again, will it?”

Zheng Xiyun looked puzzled. “No, it shouldn’t. The contract’s already signed, isn’t it?”

Zhang Yi rolled her eyes. “Mu Qing has always been a freelancer, so fine. But you, a manager and CEO for years, how could you make such a rookie mistake? Even though we invested in the face mask company, we’re not the legal representatives! And endorsement contracts need to be signed by the artist. What’s the point of Mu Qing signing here? Isn’t the legal rep of Jiateng Entertainment someone else?”

“…” Zheng Xiyun froze for a moment before realization dawned on her. She buried her face in her hands, her ears tinged with a faint pink. All that strategizing with Mu Qing in the office, and she’d forgotten something so crucial.

The endorsement couldn’t be delayed, so Zheng Xiyun had no choice but to contact Mu Qing again and ask her to bring Qin Nan along.

Mu Qing, however, ran into trouble. Though she’d never worked in a corporate setting, she could still read people’s expressions. Qin Nan flipped through the contract expressionlessly and, after ten seconds, set it down on the table. She looked at Mu Qing and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this endorsement.”

Mu Qing nodded understandingly. “I know the fee is a bit low. I’ll make up the difference for you.”

“That’s not the issue,” Qin Nan replied. “If I accept this endorsement today, once word gets out, my future endorsement fees will never rise again.”

This was an unspoken rule in the entertainment industry. If a celebrity accepted a high-paying endorsement or saw a raise in their acting fees, future collaborators would have to match that rate. The only exception was for projects or endorsements far beneath their status. Sometimes, to elevate their image, they might even reduce their fees or work for free.

Clearly, 8 Cups Water Face Masks wasn’t an internationally renowned luxury brand, and Qin Nan wasn’t about to lower her standards for it.

This was nothing like what Mu Qing had imagined. Both Qin Nan and her agent were looking at her with disapproval.

“I understand. Let’s wait for the 8 Cups Water representative to arrive, and you can discuss it with them directly,” Mu Qing said, seeing no other way out. Qin Nan wouldn’t accept her compensation, and Zheng Xiyun certainly wouldn’t either.

It was the first time Mu Qing had ever felt so humiliated.

After returning home, Mu Qing sought out her brother, Mu Jin, and told him what had happened. Mu Jin looked at his sister with a mix of exasperation and sympathy, ruffling her messy yet soft short hair. “Who knew you had the makings of a foolish ruler? You really are something.”

Mu Qing’s face flushed. “Brother! Even you’re mocking me! Why didn’t you warn me beforehand? Now I’ve made a fool of myself!”

Mu Jin chuckled. “I didn’t think it through. Who’d have guessed you wouldn’t even know something like this?”

Mu Qing had never been involved in the family business. In her generation, the Mu family had only one daughter, and she was doted on immensely. When Mu Qing developed a passion for photography in college, she pursued it wholeheartedly. The Mu family had no shortage of talent or money, so they let her follow her own path. She ended up winning several prestigious awards in her field, but she had absolutely no experience in corporate management or related matters.

“It was my oversight,” Mu Jin admitted. “But Qin Nan wouldn’t deliberately inflate her price. Securing her as a spokesperson is worth every penny, even if the cost is higher than what you initially offered.”

Mu Qing sighed, “I know. It’s just that when I think about how smug I was in front of Zheng Xiyun today, I want to bury myself in embarrassment. It’s so humiliating.”

Mu Jin chuckled, “How come she didn’t notice either? You not understanding is one thing, but she’s been in the company for years. She must have signed countless contracts by now.”

Mu Qing looked up at Mu Jin, her amber eyes brightening from their earlier gloom, and then she grinned foolishly.

Even if Zheng Xiyun hadn’t noticed the contract issue at the time because she was flustered by Mu Qing, the thought that Zheng Xiyun would feel just as embarrassed and awkward made Mu Qing inexplicably happy.

Qin Nan’s schedule had been set long ago. She was attending an awards ceremony in the next two days, so the contract negotiations were scheduled for two days later.

Seizing the opportunity, Zheng Xiyun made another trip to Su Zhou.

Luo Xiaoli let out a sigh of relief when she saw her. “I’m glad to see you safe.”

At Luo Xiaoli’s invitation, Zheng Xiyun took a seat on the sofa and handed over the documents she had brought. “What’s wrong? Did I cause you any trouble?”

Luo Xiaoli quickly shook her head. “No, it’s Kang Minghong who stirred things up. I’ve been keeping an eye out to see if any other journalists received leaked emails. If news about the charity organization sending assassins after you were to get out, even if it were later debunked, the damage would be significant.”

Zheng Xiyun nodded in understanding. “All the evidence is here. It should be comprehensive. If possible, file the lawsuit as soon as you can.”

“Of course,” Luo Xiaoli replied, flipping through the documents. “The sooner this is resolved, the better for everyone. The longer it drags on, the messier it’ll get.”

Then she added, “By the way, after your call, I asked someone to look into it. The email my friend received was sent by Kang Minghong’s college classmate on his behalf. We contacted that person, and he said Kang Minghong told him he had an urgent matter and couldn’t send the email himself, but it was time-sensitive. So, he asked his friend to log in and send it for him, even instructing him to download an IP-changing software to make it appear as if the email was sent from Shanghai—so his boss wouldn’t realize it wasn’t Kang Minghong himself.”

“And he actually believed that?” Zheng Xiyun was stunned. The lie was riddled with holes. With smartphones being so advanced these days, sending an email from a phone was quick and easy especially if it was already drafted. Besides, what company would even track which IP address an employee’s email came from?

Luo Xiaoli skimmed through the evidence, getting a general idea of the case, then set the documents down and looked at Zheng Xiyun helplessly. “He did. And when I told him I was a lawyer, he nearly cried out of fear of getting sued. I did some digging. Kang Minghong’s classmate is a total recluse, the kind who barely knows the basics of how the world works.”

Zheng Xiyun suddenly understood. “That’s why Kang Minghong chose him.”

Luo Xiaoli nodded. “Exactly.”

Later, Luo Xiaoli added, “I have a case to handle in the next two days, so I might not be able to fly to Beijing until after that. Once you’re back in Beijing, go straight to the police. I’ll keep a copy of the evidence, and you can hand the originals over to them. Kang Minghong will probably hire a lawyer, but this evidence should be enough.”

Zheng Xiyun nodded and bid Luo Xiaoli farewell. Since both were busy, Luo Xiaoli didn’t press her to stay.