Chapter 112: It Shouldn't Be Like This

P.S.: Thanks to old friends and Little Mirror for their generous support.

The next day, at Tian Di Culture Company.

Gao Mingyuan sat in his office, beaming as he looked over several documents in his hands.

These papers detailed the company’s operational status over the past few months. Since Lin Chuan joined Tian Di Culture, everything had been sailing smoothly.

They had secured the endorsement deal with Cardi Corporation, and invitations for various large and small commercial performances were pouring in. Invitations from TV stations and radio stations followed in quick succession as well.

Now, no fewer than three to five record companies had come knocking, each promising to help Lin Chuan release albums and produce records.

In addition, music websites had also reached out to Gao Mingyuan, seeking collaboration.

With so many offers piling up, Gao Mingyuan was thrilled. After all, when it comes to making money, he was willing to work to exhaustion.

Knock, knock, knock!

A sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

Gao Mingyuan looked up, his smile fading slightly, and softly said, “Please come in.”

The door opened, and a heavily made-up woman in designer clothes entered the room with an expressionless face.

This was none other than Zhang Xiaoqiao.

“President Gao!” Zhang Xiaoqiao strode into the office and plopped down on the sofa without ceremony.

Gao Mingyuan frowned. Although his company wasn’t large, no one was usually so brazen. Even Lin Chuan was always polite when meeting him. But this woman? She treated the place as if she owned it.

Still, as the boss, Gao Mingyuan masked his displeasure with a faint smile and asked, “What brings you to the company today?”

Zhang Xiaoqiao snorted coldly. “President Gao, is Lin Chuan done with his work? When will he finally write a song for me? I’ve been waiting for news for ages.”

“Uh... well, you can’t be too impatient,” Gao Mingyuan replied with a smile. “Chuan has been pretty busy lately... Besides, writing songs isn’t something you can just do on command. Inspiration is needed, right?”

“Busy? Heh, President Gao, he’s certainly busy all right. Probably busy watching movies with other women every day, isn’t he?” Zhang Xiaoqiao sneered sarcastically.

“Watching movies?” Gao Mingyuan was momentarily taken aback, unsure of what she meant.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaoqiao opened her bag and pulled out a stack of photos, tossing them onto the desk. “I happened to catch these yesterday. No wonder he’s so busy.”

Frowning, Gao Mingyuan picked up the photos. At first glance, they didn’t seem significant, but upon closer inspection, he was quite startled.

The first photo showed Lin Chuan himself accompanied by a child—Lin Yiyang. There was also a girl who wasn’t especially beautiful but appeared quiet and gentle.

The three of them were standing inside a movie theater, all smiling brightly.

Immediately, Gao Mingyuan’s expression darkened. He quickly flipped through the photos, which all appeared to be candid shots of Lin Chuan and that girl inside the cinema.

The clarity wasn’t great, and the angles suggested the photos were taken from a distance—amateurish at best.

Ahem, that wasn’t the point.

After reviewing the pictures, Gao Mingyuan looked up, staring at Zhang Xiaoqiao for a few seconds before slowly asking, “You took these photos yesterday?”

“That’s right, yesterday afternoon. I was supposed to go to the movies with some friends, but unexpectedly ran into Lin Chuan at the theater. Didn’t expect he’d be busy dating some girl...” Zhang Xiaoqiao said with a half-smile.

Were her words true? Not exactly. She had clearly been tailing Lin Chuan to the cinema yesterday, but that was beside the point.

“This is outrageous,” Gao Mingyuan suddenly slammed the photos down on the desk, anger rising in his voice.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoqiao’s smile broadened. Seizing the moment, she threw more fuel on the fire.

“President Gao, luckily I was the one who ran into Lin Chuan yesterday. If those photos were snapped by the media and posted online, it would be a huge scandal.”

“Hmph, that Lin Chuan really doesn’t take me seriously. This is intolerable... Wait here, I’ll call him right now.” Gao Mingyuan, still breathing heavily from anger, picked up the desk phone and dialed.

Watching all this, Zhang Xiaoqiao thought, “You always use ‘busy’ as an excuse, huh? Now I’ve got you red-handed. Let’s see what excuse you’ll use to avoid writing me a song…”

But when Gao Mingyuan connected the call and spoke his first words, Zhang Xiaoqiao froze in disbelief. What was going on?

“Hey, Chuan, where are you? Why didn’t you tell me you were dating someone? Such a big deal and you keep me in the dark?” These were Gao Mingyuan’s exact words.

What Lin Chuan said on the other end was unknown, but Gao Mingyuan’s expression suddenly brightened from anger to a smile. He nodded and said, “Haha, alright, you focus on your business. We’ll talk when you get back... Oh, and bring that girl over sometime so I can meet her. After all, I’m your elder—I should keep an eye on you.”

When the call ended, Zhang Xiaoqiao was still in a daze... This didn’t add up. The boss should be furious, right? He should have yelled at Lin Chuan, demanded he return to the company, and forced him to write songs as penance.

But from what she just heard, it seemed quite the opposite: Gao Mingyuan fully supported Lin Chuan having a girlfriend.

Zhang Xiaoqiao was utterly bewildered. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t understand the situation. Of course, if she knew the relationship between Lin Chuan and Gao Mingyuan, she might not have been so presumptuous or bothered to embarrass herself with those photos.

“By the way, there’s no point in you keeping these photos. Why don’t you give them to me? Hmm, the girl isn’t bad-looking... Hey, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.” Gao Mingyuan said, flipping through the photos again with a thoughtful murmur.

There was no point in lingering any longer. Zhang Xiaoqiao stood, greeted President Gao, and left the office.

Downstairs, the same car from yesterday was waiting, along with the same middle-aged driver.

“Miss, where to now?” the driver asked after Zhang Xiaoqiao got in.

“Home,” she muttered weakly.

“Understood!” the driver replied, starting the engine and turning the car around swiftly.

Not far from the starting point, Zhang Xiaoqiao suddenly sat upright, speaking nervously. “Old Li, don’t you have a niece who works as a journalist?”

The driver stiffened, nodding. “Yes, Miss. But my niece works at a small outlet.”

“That’s fine. We won’t go home. Take me to a café. I want you to arrange for your niece to meet me. I have a huge favor to offer her...” Zhang Xiaoqiao said with a sinister smile.

“Uh... I’ll call her now.” The middle-aged man was puzzled, unsure what game his mistress was playing or what great favor she intended to offer his niece.

But as her driver, and since it was within his ability, he couldn’t refuse. He pulled out his phone, found a number, and dialed.