Everyone Thought He Was Easy to Control

“What are you talking about?” Tao Ruoqing finally couldn’t listen anymore, putting down her soup bowl and letting out a soft scolding.

Just like Tao Ruoqing had tirelessly emotionally manipulated him for a full nineteen years, Ye Zhiqiu knew very well that some things couldn’t be rushed, and mustn’t be rushed.

However, Tao Ruoqing had always been sensitive and suspicious. Today, he only needed to plant a seed of unease in her heart and let it slowly take root and sprout. That would be enough.

“Mom,” Ye Zhiqiu smiled, eyes and brows curved, very innocent, “just a joke. What are you so nervous about?”

Having lived a life of being waited on hand and foot since childhood, Ye Zhiqiu didn’t have a very clear concept of money. Previously, he even had a bit of a lofty disdain for money.
So today’s remark made Tao Ruoqing particularly alert.
But thinking carefully, there really was no substantive content in his words.

Tao Ruoqing fell silent for a moment, then had no choice but to change the subject.

“Lately, your attitude toward relationships is starting to resemble your father’s,” she furrowed her brows. “Joking about relationships so casually only makes Mom worry about you. Understand?”

Ye Zhiqiu hated Ye Hongxian’s womanizing outside the home the most. Of the father–son arguments, eight out of ten were related to that.
Tao Ruoqing was confident that hearing such an evaluation, Ye Zhiqiu would reflect on himself.
Even if he didn’t have someone he particularly liked now, he would definitely regulate his attitude toward relationships.

If Qi Xin was smart enough, he should be able to seize this opportunity.

“I’m nothing like him,” hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu indeed became unhappy. His face instantly cooled, as if covered in frost.

“That’s good, not like him,” Tao Ruoqing smiled, coaxing him again. “Isn’t Mom just worried about you?”

Ye Zhiqiu pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

Tao Ruoqing stood up, gently rubbing Ye Zhiqiu’s hair, smiling again. “Still, dyeing your hair back makes you look well-behaved.”
Ye Zhiqiu paused for a moment. After a short while, he finally remembered he had previously dyed his hair silver. It was only because of this celebration banquet that Ye Hongxian had forcibly made him dye it back.

“Hmm,” like a cat whose fur had been smoothed, he lifted his face to look at Ye Zheng. “Does it look good, bro?”
Ye Zheng was about to go upstairs to work. Hearing this, his steps paused, and he turned his head to look at him.

The young man’s light-brown eyes held a smile, like a spring lake under the lights, clear and warm. Especially the faint rosy little mole on the tip of his nose—it gave off a particularly cute and playful charm.

No one could deny Ye Zhiqiu’s beauty. Ye Zheng was no exception. He nodded. “Looks good.”

“Tsk,” Ye Zhixia put down his cutlery. “He really has to make the whole family dote on him.”

“So what?” Ye Zhiqiu arrogantly lifted his chin. “This young master is just favored—what about it? Jealous?”

“Alright,” Tao Ruoqing smiled, stepping between the two, saying to Ye Zhixia, “You’re the one with too much to say. Do you still want Mom to help pack your luggage for joining the production crew?”

“Want,” Ye Zhixia immediately stood up.

“And you,” Tao Ruoqing looked at Ye Zhiqiu again. “Tomorrow’s Monday. You have class early in the morning. Don’t go out today—rest early.”

She appeared fair and considerate. Ye Zhiqiu also nodded.

Tao Ruoqing accompanied Ye Zhixia upstairs to pack. Ye Zheng also went to handle official matters. For a while, only Ye Zhiqiu remained downstairs.

He poured himself a glass of water and slowly drank it all, then finally picked up the phone that had been vibrating nonstop and opened it.

The group chat had already exploded. Jin Baobao was wailing dramatically.
Ye Zhiqiu hadn’t expected that yesterday’s club incident would actually have follow-up developments.

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: Holy crap, holy crap, you guys don’t know, right? Meng Qingyan was actually at that club yesterday too! Why is heaven so cruel to me? Letting me be so close to him, breathing the same air, yet cruelly making me miss him…]

[Lele: Huh? Really? Fake?]

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: Image.jpg. A senior of mine went there to play today, heard the staff discussing it. They even took a group photo together. Crying miserably.jpg]

[Lele: Pat pat, don’t cry, don’t cry. There will definitely be chances in the future.]

[Li Shao: Just chasing a star, what are you crying about? What kind of prospect is that? Doesn’t your family still have Bai You?]

Bai You was the son of the Jin family’s housekeeper, Aunt Bai. He entered the entertainment industry at sixteen or seventeen. Unfortunately, although he had excellent looks, he never became famous.
Because he had lived in the Jin household with his mother since childhood, he and Jin Baobao shared an especially deep bond.

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: You really know how to bring up the worst possible topic. My little Bai dislikes Yan-yan the most. QAQ.]

[Li Shao: …]

So Meng Qingyan was also there last night. No wonder it was such a lavish production.

Ye Zhiqiu pondered for a moment, then lowered his head and typed.

[Yi Ye Zhi Qiu: What are you crying about? Later, this young master will take you to visit Meng Shao’s set.]

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: Really? Fake? Excited.jpg]

[Yi Ye Zhi Qiu: Have I ever lied to you?]

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: Then I’ll kneel and thank Lord Qiu first. Kowtow.jpg]

[Li Shao: Don’t be happy too soon. Everyone knows Young Master Meng only films one or two series a year. He’s already finished two this year. You’ll have to wait for the next one.]

[Lele: Pat pat pat.]

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: I don’t care, I want it! Running wild everywhere.jpg]

[…]

Ye Zhiqiu chuckled.

Also chasing stars, Jin Baobao’s taste was far better.
Compared to Gao Wenye, Meng Qingyan—whether in ability, family background, or character—left the other far behind.
No wonder Gao Wenye had always tried to bind himself to Meng Qingyan, becoming addicted to riding his coattails.

They chatted a bit more before Li Shaojun wrapped things up.

[Li Shao: An authentic Sichuan hotpot just opened on the commercial street outside our school. Lunch together tomorrow?]

Their schools weren’t far apart. They occasionally grabbed meals together, and were very familiar with the food scenes outside each other’s campuses.

[Zhao Cai Jin Bao: Absolutely. I need good food to heal my heartbreak wounds.]

[Yi Ye Zhang Mu: … Have some dignity.]

[Lele: Sounds good. Xiaoqiu likes spicy food the most.]

The typing hand suddenly froze. Ye Zhiqiu paused.

Qi Xin never touched spicy food. To accommodate his taste, in the later years of his past life, Ye Zhiqiu had hardly eaten dishes he liked.

If not for Tang Le’s comment, Ye Zhiqiu might have even forgotten that he used to be crazy about spicy food.

Lost in thought, his phone vibrated again. A string of all-too-familiar numbers jumped onto the screen.
Like Jiang Nan’s chat history, Qi Xin’s phone number had never changed.
Indeed, quite devoted.

Ye Zhiqiu’s lips curled slightly, drawing out a trace of mockery, the smile in his eyes cool and thin.

At the same time, Qi Xin was gripping his phone tightly.
He didn’t know why, but talking to Ye Zhiqiu inexplicably made him nervous.

The ringtone rang for quite a while, until his inner anxiety grew restless, before the other side finally answered.
The young man’s clear, pleasant voice sounded in his ear, exceptionally nice. “Who is this?”

“It’s me,” Qi Xin tried hard to steady his voice. “Qi Xin.”

The other side suddenly fell silent. Qi Xin’s heart tightened, his palms uncontrollably turning slick with sweat.

“The one from the club last night…” he reminded, afraid Ye Zhiqiu would forget him again.

“Oh~” the other side chuckled. “You. What’s the matter?”

“Yesterday, didn’t I mention a good restaurant?” Qi Xin’s emotions rose and fell along with Ye Zhiqiu’s tone. “I wanted to invite you to try it. Is tomorrow noon convenient?”

He knew Ye Zhiqiu’s class schedule. After tomorrow’s morning classes ended, there were no classes until around four in the afternoon. Time was more than enough.

“I already have plans tomorrow noon. Evening,” the person on the other end said indifferently. “As for the restaurant, I’ll decide.”

Seeing Ye Zhiqiu hadn’t refused, Qi Xin was immediately overjoyed, and naturally had no objections. “Okay.”

After hanging up, Qi Xin sat quietly for quite a while. His wildly pounding heart slowly calmed down.
Ignoring that it was still early, he got up to pick out clothes for tomorrow’s meeting.

.

VIA’s reply came exceptionally fast. Early Monday morning, still on the way to school, Ye Zhiqiu received their reply email.

Even though he knew he wanted to use them as a stepping stone, even though he only gave them one quarter, VIA still readily agreed to all his demands.
It was clear they had truly reached a point where they had to fight to the death.

“Guess you’re lucky,” Ye Zhiqiu muttered softly while reading the email.

“What?” Uncle Wang in front thought he was talking to him and raised his voice to ask.

Ye Zhiqiu looked up with a smile. “Uncle Wang, I can drive myself to and from school from now on. No need for you to pick me up every day.”

“That won’t do,” Uncle Wang said. “Madam won’t agree either.”

“I’ll talk to Mom,” Ye Zhiqiu said. “I can even drive race cars. What’s there to worry about driving to school?”

Besides needing money, this was another reason he asked Ye Zheng and Tao Ruoqing for the race car.
Before confirming Uncle Wang’s stance, he couldn’t have him following him at all times.
That would be very unfavorable to his future plans.

At the same time, in Q.L.’s office building, Luo Da had just knocked on Qin Jianhe’s office door.
Seeing Qin Jianhe was on a call, he was so anxious he nearly wanted to spin in circles on the spot.

“What is it?” After hanging up, Qin Jianhe finally gave him a look.

“Ye Zhiqiu rejected our company,” Luo Da handed over the PAD logged into the design department’s email, still feeling it was unbelievable. “How could he possibly reject Q.L.?”

Qin Jianhe raised his hand to take it, lowering his eyes to read the extremely short reply.

The man in a tailored suit looked calm, as if he wouldn’t blink even if the sky fell.
This calmness—or indifference—somehow eased the anxiety in Luo Da’s heart.

“Q.L. isn’t legal tender,” Qin Jianhe didn’t comment on the reply, only handed the PAD back. “How could everyone like it?”

“But he shouldn’t have chosen VIA either,” Luo Da’s brows knitted so tightly they could kill a fly. “Between Q.L. and VIA, no normal person would choose VIA, right?”

There was a Monday morning meeting. Qin Jianhe lowered his eyes to review the materials just sent by the secretary. Hearing this, he cast a meaningful glance at the PAD in Luo Da’s hands.

Luo Da froze.
Damn it, he didn’t mean to insult Ye Zhiqiu as not human.

“I mean,” Luo Da struggled to explain, “he’s young. Could he have been fooled?”

“He only signed with VIA for one quarter, and disclosed this information to Q.L.,” Qin Jianhe had to remind the talent-obsessed Luo Da. “Obviously, he’s using VIA as a springboard.”

Luo Da: “…”

“But Q.L. already opened its doors to him. What more does he want?” Luo Da was confused. “President Qin, do you think I should arrange another meeting with that kid to talk?”

Qin Jianhe curled his lips in mild amusement, noncommittal.
Some people’s greed was deeper than a bottomless pit—he had long grown used to it.
He said nothing.

Because Luo Da needed to experience these things himself.