The Scum Gong Refuses the Crematorium [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 6

Song Liguang rummaged through the trash cans outside Chengnan No. 1 for a long time, but Sheng Yan completely ignored him.

Eventually, he couldn’t stand the scorching sun any longer. Seeing no reaction from the house, he picked through the refuse and retrieved a giant humanoid teddy bear—one Sheng Yan had bought him when he first took him in, fearing Song Liguang would be scared to sleep alone at night.

Before leaving, he glanced back at the gates of Chengnan No. 1 and gritted his teeth in defiance. So, what if he wasn’t allowed back for now?

Sheng Yan, that workaholic, barely spent any time at home anyway. In the five years Song Liguang had lived there, the number of times they had actually met could be counted on one hand. Without the “Crematorium” memory triggers, there wasn’t much point in coming here.

Fortunately, he had more than just those memory triggers up his sleeve. Lest it be forgotten, he had diligently delivered meals to Sheng Yan at the Shengshi Group for five whole years!

Five years!

In that time, who in the Shengshi Group didn’t know him?

Not just Wu Cheng, but even some senior executives and managers held a high opinion of him. Among so many people, there were bound to be one or two who would put in a good word for him in front of Sheng Yan. Human emotions are complex, after all.

If one person said he was good, Sheng Yan might not feel anything. But what if it were eight or ten? If everyone said a little something, it would surely force Sheng Yan to reminisce about his virtues.

Meanwhile, that Lu Mingyue had done nothing for Sheng Yan except treat him with cold indifference. Now that Lu had lost the cooperation with Shengshi, as long as Song could minimize the contact between him and Sheng Yan, it was only a matter of time before Sheng Yan obediently returned to the “regret” plotline.

Thinking of this, Song Liguang ignored the sunburn on his face and took out his phone to contact several Shengshi executives, inviting them to dinner.

Lu Mingyue’s sudden change in attitude. Becoming close to Sheng Yan was likely a desperate “sink or swim” move now that his project was canceled. Sheng Yan clearly still had feelings for him. Despite the scandal of taking five million from Sheng Yan’s mother to go abroad, as long as Lu played the victim, Sheng Yan’s “love-brain” would surely fall back under his thumb.

All Song had to do now was kill any chance of cooperation between Lu Mingyue and Shengshi. Then, no matter what tricks Lu used, it would be useless!

Song Liguang’s five years of meal deliveries hadn’t been in vain. Many Shengshi executives viewed him as the future “Boss’s Husband” and looked out for him. Upon his invitation, several of them arrived.

Wu Cheng, of course, was the first to respond to any movement from Song Liguang.

Once in the private dining room, Wu was the first to notice something was wrong: “Brother Song, what happened to your face?”

Song Liguang hadn’t noticed until it was pointed out. He reached up to touch his cheek, hissed in pain, and then shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

Wu Cheng stepped forward to inspect it, fuming: “Half your face is red and swollen and you say it’s nothing?”

Gu Yiheng, who had followed a step behind, paused and frowned at the sight of the swollen cheek.

“Did someone bully you, Brother Song?” Wu Cheng pressed. Being deeply involved in the entertainment industry through his social media accounts, his first thought was some industry drama.

“Huh?” Song Liguang looked dazed, then shook his head. “No, it’s just a sunburn.”

“How did you get a sunburn like that out of nowhere?” Wu Cheng didn’t believe him.

Song Liguang remained silent, his gaze falling on the dirty teddy bear sitting on a nearby chair.

This bear was a frequent guest on Song Liguang’s social media. Whenever he went back to Chengnan No. 1, the bear would inevitably appear in his photos. People often asked him if the bear had a special meaning. His answer was always: “It was bought by someone very important.”

Wu Cheng didn’t need to guess who that was. Given how much Song Liguang valued that bear, he would never have let it get into such a state. There was only one person who could have done this.

He asked in shock: “Did President Sheng throw out your things?”

Song Liguang’s expression turned deeply humiliated. He bit his lip. “No… I just didn’t belong there anyway.”

At this, both Wu Cheng and Gu Yiheng frowned. Wu Cheng shouted: “President Sheng kicked you out?!”

Song Liguang went silent, his eyes reddening with embarrassment. “Let’s not talk about it,” he said with a forced smile, trying to change the subject. “I didn’t invite you here for that.”

Seeing his distress, Wu Cheng dropped the subject and pulled out a chair. “Brother Song, if you have any trouble, just say it. I’ll help if I can.”

“Thank you,” Song Liguang said gratefully. “I’m fine, really.” He paused. “I actually wanted to ask, is Mr. Sheng, the Boss… is he sick?”

“Seriously, Brother Song?” Wu Cheng was still indignant. “He kicked you out and you’re still worried about him?”

“It wasn’t exactly ‘kicking out’…” Song Liguang’s eyes welled up again. “We’ve ended our relationship. It wasn’t appropriate for my things to stay there.” He asked again: “Is the Boss really ill?”

Wu Cheng felt Song Liguang was a lost cause for being so devoted. “Yes, he’s sick. Been sick for half a month.”

“Ah!” Song Liguang looked frantic. “Is it serious?”

“It should be okay,” Wu Cheng replied. As the third assistant, he wasn’t a personal aide and didn’t know the specifics. “I heard from Assistant Lu that the Boss is just resting at home. Assistant Lu goes there to report on work, so it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“That’s good.” Song Liguang let out a long breath and smiled in relief.

This smile caught the eye of Gu Yiheng. Seeing Gu’s frowning face, Song Liguang immediately pulled back his smile.

Gu Yiheng was the CFO of Shengshi, known for being difficult and strictly logical. Seeing Song Liguang act like a mouse facing a cat, Gu raised an eyebrow. “Since you care so much, why don’t you go see him yourself?”

This seemed to hit a nerve. Song Liguang turned pale. “He… he already has someone caring for him.”

“Who?” Wu Cheng asked.

Song Liguang bit his lip and said nothing. Wu Cheng immediately understood. “Lu Mingyue?”

Song Liguang bit his lip even harder.

Wu Cheng slammed the table. “I knew it! Why else would President Sheng suddenly throw out your things? Lu Mingyue must be instigating this!”

“Don’t say that,” Song Liguang murmured. “What if he isn’t?”

“Brother Song, you’re too kind, that’s why people walk all over you,” Wu Cheng analyzed. “If he wasn’t whispering in the Boss’s ear, why would the Boss throw your stuff out now of all times?”

Song Liguang frowned. “But he has no reason to.”

“Of course, he does!” Wu Cheng was agitated. “He wants the cooperation with Shengshi back!”

Song Liguang looked confused. “But… hasn’t the cooperation been canceled?”

Wu Cheng clapped his hands. “Exactly! Because it was canceled, he needs to tighten his grip on President Sheng!” He leaned in. “Think about it. Back when the Boss was chasing him, did Lu Mingyue ever give him the time of day?”

Song Liguang remained silent.

“Now that he’s offended the Boss and lost the project, he’s lost his golden goose. Can he accept that?” Wu Cheng concluded. “He’s definitely trying to repair the relationship. The Boss still has feelings for him; as long as Lu plays nice and apologizes, the Boss will fold. And you,” he looked at Song Liguang with frustration, “you are the stumbling block between them. He’s going to do everything he can to kick you out of the way.”

“But I never tried to stop him.” Song Liguang whispered.

“Oh, please! Do you think he’ll spare you just because you didn’t resist?” Wu Cheng was done with Song’s weakness. “He’s the ‘original,’ you’re the ‘stand-in.’ Anyone in his position would find you an eyesore. If he doesn’t target you, who will?”

Song Liguang was speechless.

Gu Yiheng, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke up with a frown: “So you’re saying Lu Mingyue is getting close to Sheng Yan just to get the project back, and not out of genuine feelings?”

Wu Cheng replied: “Definitely! He was never this attentive before. Now that the project is gone, he’s suddenly all over him. Anyone can see the problem!”

Gu Yiheng’s frown deepened. “Business is not a game. You can’t just cancel and restart whenever you feel like it. If everyone pulled stunts like this, Shengshi wouldn’t be able to function.”

Wu Cheng nodded. “Exactly, Director Gu. Lu Mingyue is just acting out because he knows the Boss likes him. We can’t let that kind of behavior fly in the company. A small project is one thing, but ruining the corporate culture is a bigger problem.”

With Gu Yiheng and Wu Cheng on his side, Song Liguang felt at ease. Shengshi wasn’t just Sheng Yan’s company; there were shareholders, directors, and management. Sheng Yan couldn’t just do whatever he wanted. Projects required a vote. As long as enough people opposed it, Sheng Yan would have to give up on Lu Mingyue.

He had cut Lu Mingyue off at the roots. Let’s see what he could do now.

On the other side.

Lu Mingyue, who had also suffered a setback with Sheng Yan, was in deep thought.

Did the five-million-dollar shock actually cure Sheng Yan’s “love-brain” and turn him into this rational, cold person? If he’d known that would work, he would have used the money to shock him years ago. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as “hindsight” in reality.

Lu Mingyue sat on his sofa, chin resting on his hands. Now that Sheng Yan wasn’t blinded by love, he had no leverage over Song Liguang either.

He realized the best way to strike back at Song Liguang was to find a proper investor. Song wanted to see him fail and crawl back abroad, right? If he successfully developed the project, it would be the ultimate slap in the face.

The problem was that the industry had effectively blacklisted his price point. To find investment, he would have to look outside the “circle.”

He smiled bitterly. Where would he find an outsider with millions of dollars to spare who was willing to bet on him? If he knew someone like that, his journey wouldn’t have been so difficult.

Wait! Millions of dollars.

Lu Mingyue’s eyes fell on the five-million-dollar check that Sheng Yan had rejected and he had taken back.

Suddenly, he laughed. A bright, radiant laugh.

When the mountains and rivers seem to end and the path is lost, the dark willows and bright flowers bring one to a new village.

An outsider, with capital, generous, and willing to invest. These “buffs” were all stacked right there on that check.

Lu Mingyue stood up, buttoned his shirt to the top, straightened his cuffs, and picked up the check. He walked out the door with newfound confidence.

Claiming illness, Sheng Yan spent another half month resting at home. During this time, neither Song Liguang nor Lu Mingyue bothered him, giving him a much-needed period of peace.

In a great mood, Sheng Yan finally stopped refusing Assistant Lu’s requests to return to the office. He picked up his cat and headed to Shengshi.

Now that he was free of the stand-in and the company was no longer working with Lu Mingyue, there shouldn’t be any more drama at the office, right?

Holding the cat, Sheng Yan thought about Lu Mingyue’s project. With the original owner’s memories, he knew the project was actually very good. From a pure investor’s perspective, he wouldn’t have minded investing in it. However, Lu Mingyue was the “White Moonlight,” and working with him would likely trigger the System’s moronic “wife-chasing” tasks.

Sheng Yan decided to stay far away.

But as soon as he stepped into the building, Assistant Lu notified him: “Boss, the Chairwoman wants you to attend a Board of Directors meeting.”

“Board meeting?” Sheng Yan was confused. Was there something so important happening? He looked at the assistant, who was equally clueless.

Sheng Yan put the kitten down and headed to the boardroom.

At the door, the original owner’s mother, Jiang Huaisu—the current Chairwoman—pulled him in. “You’re here! I have a great project to show you.”

She clapped her hands to get the attention of the shareholders and managers. “After half a month of investigation by myself and several shareholders, we have decided to restart the previously abandoned AAA Project. Now, let us welcome the project lead to explain the details.”

Applause broke out.

Sheng Yan turned toward the door. Amidst the clapping, Lu Mingyue, dressed in a sharp suit, walked onto the stage with calm confidence.

He gave a faint, elegant smile to Sheng Yan, who was sitting in the prime seat below.