Chapter 61: World Two [31]

None of them had collaborated much before, so their conversation topics remained relatively restrained. They mainly shared some insider news known within the industry circles and exchanged contact information.

As it happened, just as Jing Ke’s group finished eating and was leaving the hot pot restaurant, another private room’s occupants were also coming out. It was the three other male guests from the livestream and some members of the Production Team.

However, compared to Jing Ke’s group, who all looked perfectly normal, this other group had clearly been pairing their hot pot with alcohol.

Especially the Director. Having the livestream viewer count exceed ten million had him so excited he’d downed a whole bottle of baijiu. He needed the Assistant Director to support him just to keep from collapsing onto the floor.

“President Jing! What a coincidence, you’re dining here too!” Spotting their Financial Backer, the Director greeted her with a beaming, slightly drunken smile.

“President Jing, see? Wasn’t I right before? Investing in our program is a guaranteed profit! Over ten million live viewers for the very first episode! With a start this good, it can’t possibly go downhill from here.” The Director boasted boldly, thumping his own chest for emphasis.

“You are indeed correct. An innovative program’s ceiling will inherently be much higher than traditional variety shows,” Jing Ke stated factually.

Setting aside her own minor personal feelings, the Production Team’s willingness to provide such character-driven scripts, to refrain from intervening in the guests’ autonomous voting, and not force the true culprit’s capture at this point in time was a remarkably bold move.

“Honestly, we have President Jing’s good fortune to thank for that. When I submitted the program for approval, this first case was originally flagged for revision. But when the censors saw President Jing was the Investor, they suddenly relented. They only emphasized that the Young Duke absolutely had to be played by a female guest.”

The Director was clearly quite drunk, blurting out some internal, somewhat confidential matters without any sense of reserve.

Seeing this, the Assistant Director beside him hastily stuffed some food into the Director’s mouth to shut him up. He smiled and greeted Jing Ke hurriedly before quickly dragging the Director away.

They had already left the private rooms and were now in the main hall. If they lingered any longer, some customers might start recognizing them. Making the Trending Topics for the wrong reasons would be a disaster.

After the Director had been whisked away, Qin Zheng and the other two finally turned to look at Jing Ke with surprised expressions. Qin Zheng gave a rueful smile. “So President Jing is the show’s Investor! And here I was, trying to recommend President Jing for a Love Observation Variety Show… God, that’s embarrassing…”

“President Jing, please, I beg you, pretend you never heard what I said earlier.” Qin Zheng couldn’t help but press her palms together in supplication.

She had actually heard rumors that the program had a new Financial Backer, but because things had been tight recently, she hadn’t pried further. Never expected to run into the rumored Investor at a time like this.

“It’s fine. The variety show format you recommended is quite novel too. If they’re short on investment, you can let me know. I’m quite interested,” Jing Ke smiled.

She certainly wouldn’t hold such a minor comment against Qin Zheng. Besides, New Life Entertainment had quite a few good-looking trainees. If they could participate in that show Qin Zheng mentioned, perhaps the company could even launch a few promising newcomers.

“Here’s my card. Feel free to contact me if needed…” Jing Ke said, reaching into her pocket to pull out her business card.

But when she put her hand in, she grabbed nothing but air. Not only did she fail to produce her card, she pulled out a tube of lipstick instead.

“Ah, that looks like mine. We all tossed our coats onto the sofa earlier—we probably grabbed the wrong ones on the way out.” Shao Qing recognized the lipstick in Jing Ke’s hand, her face showing a flicker of embarrassment.

Back when they were staying in Mianyang, they had gone shopping together at the mall many times. To avoid standing out too much, they’d even bought several identical coats.

For relatively loose-fitting coats, a mere five-centimeter height difference wasn’t enough to require different clothing sizes.

“Teacher Shao and President Jing… live together?” Pan Jing immediately latched onto the key point.

“Yeah, Jing Ke just returned from abroad recently, and I’m her only close friend in China. I happen to live alone anyway, so we’re roommates.” Shao Qing laughed it off casually. “Anyway, we’ve already exchanged contact info. We can just keep in touch via WeChat.”

“Alright, I’ll ask my friend. If they’re short on investment, I’ll reach out to you, President Jing.” Qin Zheng smiled, suppressing the curious questions that had bubbled up.

One was an entertainment industry Investor who had just returned to the country. The other was an artist who had only recently cleared her name of scandal and black marks, transforming into a publicly recognized paragon of virtue. And now they were living together… If there wasn’t some connection between them, Qin Zheng swore she’d write her own name backward.

But speculation aside, this was only their first collaboration with Shao Qing, and their acquaintance with Jing Ke was even more recent. No one was tactless enough to pry. After leaving the hot pot restaurant, they each boarded their respective Little Assistant’s car and headed home.

In January, the temperature in Sea City had already dropped below freezing. Coupled with the heavy snowfall the night before, today, which had no sun to begin with, felt especially bone-chillingly cold.

Not long after getting into the car, the wind outside picked up. Lowering the car window by even a centimeter was enough to let biting gusts of icy wind snake their way into one’s collar.

Successfully hiding clues and campaigning for votes was no easy feat. During those two-plus hours of filming, Shao Qing’s brain cells had been running at maximum overdrive.

Add to that a very full stomach of hot pot, and being blasted by the car’s warm heater… Shao Qing quickly began to drift off.

The driver was the Little Assistant. Jing Ke was sitting with her in the back seat. Both were people Shao Qing trusted completely, so she was in a state of utter relaxation. After her eyelids battled for two minutes, she fell asleep leaning against the seat.

Shao Qing’s body and head gradually tilted towards Jing Ke. After struggling twice to sit back up, she finally gave in, her head lolling onto Jing Ke’s shoulder.

Jing Ke instinctively looked over. Shao Qing’s eyelashes, the bridge of her nose, and her full lips were thus reflected in Jing Ke’s amber eyes.

A thought seemed to surface, and Jing Ke furrowed her brow unconsciously, a faint trace of inner conflict appearing in her eyes.

But the emotion was fleeting. Seeing that Shao Qing was sleeping soundly, Jing Ke, with her long reach, used one hand to grab the coat set aside and draped it over Shao Qing.

Noticing this in the rearview mirror, the Little Assistant driving discreetly adjusted the car’s heater temperature and slowed down even further to avoid disturbing his boss’s rest.

The filming location for Who Is the Murderer? was also in Sea City, but it was an hour and twenty minutes’ drive from where Shao Qing lived.

With the Lunar New Year approaching, there were more vehicles on the road than usual. It took the Little Assistant two full hours to finally reach their destination.

“Shao Qing, we’re home,” Jing Ke said softly, looking down as the car came to a stop.

“Mm? Home?” Hearing her name, Shao Qing’s eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes with a trace of grogginess.

Realizing almost half her body was leaning against Jing Ke, Shao Qing gradually collected her wits and sat up straight.

“How long did I sleep? Why does it look like it’s getting dark outside?” Shao Qing rubbed her eyes.

“It’s almost four-thirty. You slept a little over an hour,” Jing Ke explained. “Traffic was heavy; there was a ten-kilometer stretch of slow-moving congestion midway.”

“Four-thirty already?” Shao Qing repeated, glancing down at the coat draped over her.

Technically, based on ownership, this coat was hers. But Jing Ke had been wearing it since this morning. If she smelled it closely, it even held the faint scent of Jing Ke’s usual shampoo.

“Is your shoulder sore? Did I make it numb?” After fully waking, Shao Qing turned her head to look at Jing Ke, her eyes still carrying a trace of dampness from sleep. It softened her usual sharpness, replacing it with a hint of fragile beauty.

“It’s okay. The coat is thick, and you’re not heavy.” Jing Ke smiled, handing the nearby scarf to Shao Qing. “If you’re still tired, go sleep in your room later. It’ll be more comfortable.”

Shao Qing nodded, taking the scarf. She also massaged Jing Ke’s shoulder a couple of times on the way. Seeing Jing Ke’s expression remained normal, she believed her words.

After sleeping in the car for over an hour, Shao Qing wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy. Plus, the hot pot had left her feeling quite full. So she simply went to the gym to practice her sword.

With the official shooting start date for her new project drawing closer, Shao Qing felt a rare sense of urgency. She practiced alone, and when Jing Ke was free, she even had Jing Ke act as her sparring opponent.

The body Jing Ke possessed was extremely healthy, and her learning ability was exceptionally outstanding. After training with Shao Qing and professional martial arts instructors for some time, the fluidity of her Sword Moves was even better than Shao Qing’s.

Initially, Shao Qing couldn’t help but feel a twinge of petty jealousy. She even tried sneaking in extra practice while Jing Ke was cooking, hoping to amaze Jing Ke through sheer effort.

But after a week of hard work, Shao Qing discovered the gap between them had only widened. Jing Ke’s learning ability had reached a level that surprised even the professional instructors.

That martial arts instructor even wanted to take Jing Ke as her Disciple and pass all her kung fu onto her.

Whoosh—

Exhaling a breath, Shao Qing cast all useless thoughts aside. Gripping her solid Wooden Sword designed for practice, she treated Jing Ke as the Villain she needed to defeat and began unleashing a flurry of moves.

Jing Ke had been trained intensively by Shao Qing and knew her role was a villain whose martial arts surpassed the female swordswoman. So her attacks were relatively sharper and more aggressive. From time to time, she lightly smacked Shao Qing’s body with the flat of her sword, marking a ‘hit.’

After sparring back and forth for half an hour, both of them, in the air-conditioned room, had broken out in a fine layer of sweat. An inexplicable sense of exhilaration rose in Shao Qing’s heart.

“Phew— Jing Ke, I think I might be getting a swelled head. Somehow I feel like if I were transported back to ancient times, I could be a proper Heroine now,” Shao Qing said, hanging her sweat towel around her neck and unscrewing her bottle cap for a sip of warm water.

“If you also had a Sword made with modern technology, becoming a Heroine wouldn’t be that difficult,” Jing Ke replied, also opening her own bottle and drinking in small sips.

“Thinking about it that way, yeah. Owning a Sword that cuts through iron like mud seems like standard equipment for protagonists roaming the Jianghu,” Shao Qing chuckled, picking up her phone to check her messages.

“Jing Ke, send me your bank account number. The company just paid me for the variety show appearance. After tax, it’s 500,000. Based on what we agreed before, we split this money.”

Shao Qing hadn’t forgotten their initial decision. She couldn’t accept Jing Ke’s one-sided contribution. Although Jing Ke always said Shao Qing’s Fortune was reward enough for her, one thing was one thing. Money she owed, Shao Qing was determined to pay.

“Just a moment, let me look it up,” Jing Ke didn’t refuse. After finding her bank account details, she quickly copied them and sent them to Shao Qing.

Shao Qing tapped away at her phone screen, completed the facial recognition verification, and swiftly transferred the money.

“Shao Qing, if I remember correctly, your contract with Zongheng Entertainment expires this June. Have you considered coming to New Life Entertainment?” Jing Ke glanced at the incoming SMS notification, checking her balance.

Over 500 million still in this account. Plenty more projects to invest in.

“That… I haven’t decided yet. Sister Ke hasn’t spoken to me about it either,” Shao Qing sat down on a chair, her elegant brows furrowing slightly.

“If they offer better terms, would you choose to stay?” Jing Ke asked from a different angle.

Shao Qing pursed her lips. “Mr. Yuan being arrested by the police has had a somewhat negative impact on the company. Barring any surprises, he should be leaving Zongheng Entertainment after the case verdict is announced.”

“So you want to stay?” Jing Ke asked, her hand gripping the towel unconsciously tightening.

“There’s a part of me that does. If Zongheng Entertainment can give me more freedom, I might consider it,” Shao Qing hesitated for a moment, then answered truthfully.

Shao Qing actually knew very well why Jing Ke had acquired Banana Entertainment and turned it into New Life Entertainment. She also knew why Jing Ke was so enthusiastic about investing in various projects within the industry.

But Shao Qing felt she couldn’t bear that much care and attention from Jing Ke. She could provide Jing Ke with far too little. Jing Ke could even reshape the entire entertainment industry for her sake.

If it were any other normal capitalist doing this, Shao Qing could comfort herself with the thought they were just here to make money from the industry through investment.

But Jing Ke was different. Jing Ke was willing to transfer everything she owned to Shao Qing based on a single word from her. How could she possibly be investing and throwing money around just for profit!

“If you came to New Life Entertainment, I could give you twenty percent of the shares. You’d be your own Boss, and the contract would be extremely lenient,” Jing Ke said, trying to sway Shao Qing with attractive terms.

But upon hearing Jing Ke’s words, Shao Qing’s conflict only deepened. Her desire to stay, originally around thirty percent, crept up to fifty percent.

“Jing Ke, I’ve told you, you don’t need to do so much for me anymore. You’re someone with status and position now. Maybe you could find some hobbies for yourself, experience life a little?” Shao Qing said, a note of distress in her voice.

“I don’t have any special hobbies. Isn’t experiencing life exactly what I’m doing by living with you?” Jing Ke countered.

Shao Qing was momentarily at a loss for words. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, you don’t need to revolve around me. I’m not the center of your life. You should be the center of your own life.”

“But I only exist because of you. If you don’t need me, I could just reside within you as a Consciousness Form. There was no need to obtain a Human body,” Jing Ke stated, her tone very calm and matter-of-fact.

“Shao Qing, sometimes you don’t need to overthink things. There’s no need to carry such a heavy burden.” Jing Ke paused, trying to find a suitable comparison.

“The Fortune around you has mostly returned. Any Fortune that accumulates beyond this point—half of it will belong to me,” Jing Ke continued. “The Fortune you consider insignificant is very important to me.”

“Is it?” Shao Qing asked with some confusion.

“Yes. Take your current Fortune, for example. If you gave me half, I could use that Fortune to conduct at least twenty transactions with a certain entity.”

Jing Ke explained: “Meaning, that Fortune could, at minimum, grant me twenty more identities and bodies like the one I have now, allowing me to exist in this world for two thousand years.”

“Huh?” Shao Qing couldn’t help but gape slightly, astonishment stark in her eyes. “My half of that Fortune is worth that much?”

Jing Ke nodded. “Yes, that’s a conservative estimate. So you don’t need to feel indebted to me. What I gain from you is far more than you imagine.”

“Wait, let me calculate this.” Shao Qing made a timeout gesture.

“Half my Fortune equals twenty of you. So the current you only needs one-fortieth of my Fortune?” Shao Qing calculated on her fingers.

Jing Ke nodded. “Correct. Such a small amount, utterly insignificant to a certain entity.”

“Fine. One-fortieth of me is utterly insignificant to me too. Take one-fortieth of my Fortune now. That way, I might feel at ease enough to accept shares in New Life Entertainment and jump ship to your company,” Shao Qing declared.

“You’ve already said my Fortune has mostly recovered. Xu Yin was also taken away by the police for investigation; he probably won’t crawl back.” Shao Qing preempted whatever Jing Ke was about to say.

“So whether I have this one-fortieth or not makes no difference to me, right?” Shao Qing looked at Jing Ke with a grin, a sly glint in her eyes.

“Are you certain you want to give me that portion of Fortune right now?” Jing Ke asked.

“Absolutely, totally, one hundred percent certain. Only then can I accept your resource-feeding with a clear conscience.” Shao Qing nodded without hesitation.

Jing Ke frowned slightly. After thinking for a minute, she ultimately chose to respect Shao Qing’s decision. She produced the supplementary Contract and had Shao Qing sign it.

“The stroke falls, regret is futile. Think carefully before deciding,” Jing Ke warned.

But Shao Qing clearly didn’t take her words to heart. Taking the special pen, she smoothly signed her ornate signature onto the Contract.

The moment the final stroke was complete, from Jing Ke’s perspective, she could see very clearly a wisp of golden light separating from Shao Qing’s body and seamlessly merging into her own.

Simultaneously, Jing Ke’s Core began to emit a faint warmth, as if resonating with that wisp of golden Fortune.

Mm? Resonance? Why is my Core resonating with Shao Qing’s Fortune?

A massive question mark appeared in Jing Ke’s mind. She couldn’t help but check her Core to see if something was wrong.

Jing Ke knew her Core held something very important sealed within—precious memories and emotions preserved from the previous world.

However, Jing Ke had never checked the specific content. She only occasionally felt flickers of familiarity.

But what was this now? Why was Shao Qing’s Fortune resonating with what was sealed within her Core?