Marry a female star at a bargain price

Chapter 244, Section 245: Finding Cao Yuanzhi

Lin Xiao finally found time to meet Cao Yuanzhi on Saturday afternoon.

The two met at Cao Yuanzhi's house.

It's called a "date," but it's actually Lin Xiao's one-sided, domineering CEO-style forced love, while Cao Yuanzhi seems like a coy little green tea who's half-heartedly accepting it.

This is how the two talked on the phone.

Lin Xiao: "Come out here, let's meet!"

Cao Yuanzhi: "He's gone, I'm fine..."

Lin Xiao: "Where are you?!"

Cao Yuanzhi: "I'm really fine..."

Lin Xiao: "I'll go straight to your house!"

Cao Yuanzhi: "..."

After a moment of silence, Cao Yuanzhi reluctantly agreed: "Alright then... I'll send you the address!"

Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment: "I've been to your house, you don't need to send me the address!"

After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, Cao Yuanzhi said, "I'll send you the address..."

Then he hung up the phone.

Lin Xiao looked completely bewildered. Five seconds later, he received a new address on WeChat.

Lin Xiao's eyes widened when he saw it.

It was located in an old neighborhood in the suburbs of Haicheng, not at all the high-end residential area in the core location that Lin Xiao had visited last time.

This sudden change, coupled with Cao Yuanzhi's recent series of misfortunes, and his half-hearted attitude and seemingly drained tone on the phone just now...

Lin Xiao became increasingly certain: This guy was really in trouble!
We are becoming increasingly vigilant and will not speculate further.

In the afternoon, he called Chen Jiajia to his apartment to keep his wife company—although Xixi kept saying that everything was fine and that her five-month pregnancy was already stable, Lin Xiao was still worried.

After all, this is Haicheng, not home.

So he still called Chen Jiajia over; he felt at ease knowing that someone was by his wife's side.

After handing over the reins to Chen Jiajia.

He then took a taxi to the address sent by Cao Yuanzhi.

Because the location was in the suburbs, the ride-hailing car took more than half an hour to arrive.

At this moment, the exquisite and luxurious modern city has disappeared from sight, replaced by dilapidated and old houses that resemble those in a third-tier city.

This difference made Lin Xiao deeply realize the meaning of the saying: Shanghai has many facets, and your savings determine where you stand!

Lin Xiao wholeheartedly agreed.

But they didn't even bother to look at it!
What bullshit that savings determine position? I look down on your crappy Shanghai. I can live happily and freely in my third-tier town, so what?
To put it bluntly, most of those who cried out in despair in Shanghai were actually just trapping themselves in their own mess.

In our country, everyone has a way out.

If you don't back down, you can't blame anyone else!

Lin Xiao turned left and right for a long time before finally finding the address Cao Yuanzhi had sent him. He climbed six floors before finally finding the place.

By this time, he was already panting heavily.

I knocked on the door, and it took a long time for it to open.

Before Lin Xiao even saw the person, a pungent smell of alcohol hit him, almost making him unable to open his eyes.

"Holy crap, this flavor is intoxicating!"

It took Lin Xiao a while to realize that the disheveled, unkempt man in front of him, who looked emaciated and drained of his life force, was none other than Cao Yuanzhi.

"My goodness, what happened to you?"

Lin Xiao was shocked!

Cao Yuanzhi scratched his head awkwardly, then asked, "Where's the wine?"

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes at him, carried the braised food and fruit he bought on the way into the house, and fanned his nose with his hand as he walked, trying to dispel the complex sour smell of various liquors, including baijiu, red wine, and beer.

This is a small house with only one bedroom and one living room. The interior area is quite large, no more than 30 square meters.

The curtains were all drawn, the room was dark, and there were wine jars all over the floor. In the corner, there were several dusty suitcases that had obviously never been opened since they were moved here.

The scene and the sight left Lin Xiao in awe.

This is practically the standard scene in movies and TV shows where the protagonist becomes despondent after suffering a setback.

Then the female lead comes to the male lead's door, scolds him, and he suddenly realizes his mistakes, repents, works hard, defeats his enemy, moves the female lead, and gets a happy ending!

Well, the script is pretty good.

If Lin Xiao were a woman, the current plot would be even more perfect!

"Wow!"

Lin Xiao drew back the curtains, and the blinding light shone in, almost blinding Cao Yuanzhi.

"Junior, you..."

"Tell me, what happened?"

Lin Xiao didn't give him a chance and asked directly.

Cao Yuanzhi scratched his head in embarrassment. His face was so pale from his own actions that it was almost unrecognizable. It was already unsightly before, but now it could only be described as "horrifying".

"What? What happened..." Cao Yuanzhi didn't dare to look at him, his eyes darting away.

"Old Cao, my wife is waiting for me at home. I don't have time to play games with you!"

Lin Xiao wanted to find a place to sit down, but after looking around, he couldn't find a place to put his butt down. He could only lean against the door frame and say, "Why did you leave Feihong Entertainment? Why did you get yourself into this state? And what about your house? What's the story behind moving here? Did you sell your old house?"

Cao Yuanzhi was speechless, stunned by the question.

Lin Xiao got impatient: "Old Cao, can't you just get to the point already?"

Cao Yuanzhi was so exasperated that he stomped his feet: "Hey, junior, just leave it alone. I'm a grown man, I know what I'm doing. Anyway, I haven't broken any laws or regulations, I won't harm you or your wife, and I won't expose your identity, so don't worry!"

These words made Lin Xiao narrow his eyes.

Cao Yuanzhi may seem to have said nothing, but he has actually revealed a lot of information.

He specifically emphasized that he would not reveal the information that he was the mysterious musician Ma Yao, which means that his current predicament is definitely related to this matter!

This discovery made Lin Xiao's heart sink.

It seems I guessed correctly!

The reason he was so determined to find Cao Yuanzhi was because he felt that Cao's sudden departure was very suspicious.

Lao Cao left his original company, Tiansheng Entertainment, and joined Feihong Entertainment, where Han Xixi worked. On the surface, this was just a normal job change within the industry, but in fact, it had a lot to do with Lin Xiao.

So naturally, Lin Xiao's first reaction to the fact that he was doing so well but then suddenly resigned was that it was related to him.

Now, a simple trick has proven to be exactly what happened.

He couldn't leave now.

I plopped down on the sofa, which was piled high with dirty clothes. There was a sticky mess underneath me, and I had no idea what it was.

Lin Xiao was too lazy to care anymore, and was determined to pester him to the end: "The more you say that, the less I'm leaving! You just want to drink, right? I'll order takeout right now, and we'll drink to our hearts' content today!!"

As he spoke, he indeed took out his phone and started ordering takeout.

Cao Yuanzhi was so anxious that he scratched his head in front of him. Because of drinking heavily for several days, he was very weak. He almost couldn't stand up after standing for only a short while.

"Junior, what are you doing...?"

"I'll drink with you!"

Lin Xiao remained calm. "You took such good care of me in college, and we've had a great working relationship over the years. Now that you're in trouble and don't want to talk to me, I don't mind. Anyway, as a friend, I can't just walk away—I don't have many friends to begin with, and you're one of them. What would it look like if I left now? I'm going to stick with you today..."

As Lin Xiao spoke, he decided to go all out and lay down directly on the sticky sofa.

Cao Yuanzhi was both amused and exasperated.

No one would believe it if I told them, but Ma Yao, a talented musician whose few masterpieces have shocked the entire music industry, is now acting like a rogue in his own home?
Where is the reasoning here?
"Alright, alright, stop buying alcohol... I told you, okay?"

"Row!"

Lin Xiao immediately tossed his phone aside, sat up straight, and smiled like a model student.

Cao Yuanzhi was speechless.

He scratched his head, feeling lost and unsure where to sit down.

"Where...where should I begin?"

"Let's start with your resignation!"

Lin Xiao asked seriously, "You were doing so well at Feihong, why did you suddenly resign? I even had Xixi's assistant go to the company to ask, and we didn't hear that you had caused any trouble. On the contrary, everyone in the music department highly recognized your musical skills... There's no reason for you to just resign like that."

Cao Yuanzhi gestured with his lips.

"Um... you probably wouldn't believe me if I said I'm tired of this, right?"

"..." Lin Xiao gave him a look, letting him figure it out himself.

"OK then!"

Cao Yuanzhi had no choice but to admit that he wouldn't be able to get rid of this smart and loyal brother unless he revealed some real information today.

"I resigned...because I was threatened!"

"A threat?!" Lin Xiao exclaimed in surprise, his voice rising an octave.

"Hmm, a threat!"

Cao Yuanzhi spoke calmly.

Lin Xiao was startled for a moment, and it took him a while to ask, "Who? And why?"

Cao Yuanzhi said helplessly, "I've fallen to this state, you can tell even with your toes that it's because of someone neither of us can afford to offend... so don't ask anymore!"

Lin Xiao frowned, his expression serious, and he was furious.

"Was your sale of the house also related to being threatened by this person?"

"Yes!" Cao Yuanzhi nodded.

"Good guy!"

Even though Lin Xiao was mentally prepared and had considered many possibilities, he even suspected that Lao Cao had a terminal illness.

But to my utter surprise, this was the answer.

"Fine, if you won't say who it is, at least tell me what it's about?"

“This…” Cao Yuanzhi hesitated.

"Is it related to me?"

"Um?!"

Cao Yuanzhi's eyes widened in surprise. This subconscious reaction didn't lie, and Lin Xiao knew that he had indeed guessed correctly.

"It really does have something to do with me!"

"Hey... Lin Xiao, don't ask anymore, anyway, it's all over now..."

"To settle what?"

Lin Xiao sneered, glancing around before kicking a wine bottle on the ground. "That's it? You call this the end of it?"

Cao Yuanzhi was speechless and sighed.

Lin Xiao calmed down and said seriously, "Old Cao, you know what kind of person I am. I consider you my friend, and I would never sit idly by if something happened to you. Not to mention, this matter is related to me, so there's even less reason for me to stand idly by. So, you either tell me what happened right now, or we'll just wait here. I won't leave until I hear the whole story!"

As she spoke, she spread her legs and leaned back on the sofa, looking like she was determined not to leave.

Cao Yuanzhi was convinced.

This junior was always a cold and aloof heartthrob in college. Countless girls pursued him relentlessly, but he never even got a chance to speak to them.

Now look what's happened! The cold-faced god has turned into a local scoundrel and is now staying in his own home, refusing to leave.

Cao Yuanzhi nearly scratched his head bald before finally surrendering.

"Okay, I'll say it... it's Zhong Jiawen!"

he said.

Upon hearing this name, Lin Xiao paused again.

After a moment of surprise, he recalled what this enchanting woman had recently done to Xixi, and suddenly everything made sense.

He didn't speak, waiting for Cao Yuanzhi to continue.

"About six months ago, I met her at a bar and that's how we got to know each other."

When mentioning Chung Chia-wen, Tsao Yuan-chi's eyes lit up. "Back then, she hadn't appeared on 'The Voice of China' yet. Although she had acted in a few TV series and released two singles, none of them made a splash, so she was still a nobody in the entertainment industry."

"I didn't know her at the time, but I thought she was cheerful, generous, beautiful, and sexy, and I was instantly captivated by her. She was also willing to flirt with me, and before long, we got together."

"At first, I was just playing around! You know me, after being in the industry for so long, I don't believe in real feelings anymore, but Jiawen... she's really different from those women in the entertainment industry!"
"Although she also loves to have fun, smokes, drinks, and has tattoos, she's very straightforward and generous, not at all pretentious or affected. I gradually became more and more infatuated with her; seeing her made me happy, and not seeing her made me miss her... I realized that I had truly fallen for her this time!"

"After finding this out, I planned to confess my feelings to her. If she agreed to be with me, I would settle down and never go out and mess around again. But on the very night I was about to confess, her boyfriend showed up at my door..."

As Lin Xiao listened, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, his shock no less than when he first saw Avatar.

This story is truly mind-blowing!

A bitch who smokes, drinks, has tattoos, but is a good girl!

A playboy encounters a higher-level sea queen and is manipulated without realizing it, even thinking he has found true love – what a joke!

Even more shockingly, their meeting was probably not a matter of fate or destiny, but rather a well-planned conspiracy.

These facts were so stark that it was hard for Lin Xiao not to feel nauseous upon hearing them.

But seeing the deep affection on Old Cao's face as he spoke.

He couldn't very well point it out, so he could only grit his teeth and listen.

"It wasn't until then that I found out that Zhong Jiawen actually had a boyfriend, who was also her manager, named Liu Gang. This bastard always took advantage of her and used her things, and he often beat her. There was absolutely no affection between them!"

Cao Yuanzhi's voice became agitated, "I had seen those injuries on Jiawen before, and when I asked her how she got them, she said they were from filming. I have friends in the entertainment industry, and I know that actors often get these injuries, so I believed her... I never imagined that she, who appears optimistic and strong, had been enduring all this behind the scenes..."

Cao Yuanzhi spoke with a pained expression.

That expression was like a savior encountering a pure and innocent woman; his sense of justice was practically bursting out of the screen.

Lin Xiao simply couldn't listen anymore.

He didn't know Zhong Jiawen, but he could tell from the fact that this woman, through some unknown forces, persuaded Hunan TV and lobbied Xixi's agent Zhou Hui to jointly plan a big publicity stunt for her to rise to fame, and it was a great success.

Lin Xiao knew that this woman was not the kind of person who would be bullied and still stand strong on her own.

Furthermore, the man behind her is definitely not the gigolo boyfriend that Cao Yuanzhi described, but rather someone else with considerable influence.

In short: all of this was a complete and utter scam, specifically designed to target Cao Yuanzhi.

This is a scam involving pig slaughtering!

"Okay, okay, okay..."

Lin Xiao interrupted Cao Yuanzhi's reverie and asked bluntly, "Your affair with Zhong Jiawen was discovered by her boyfriend, and then what?"

Cao Yuanzhi said, "We had a fight, and I smashed a piece of jade he was carrying..."

Lin Xiao's face darkened.

"Could this jade be some kind of ancestral treasure, worth millions?"

"how do you know?"

"..."

Lin Xiao was speechless. He had seen many pig butchering scams, but this was the first time he had ever seen a pig so easy to slaughter.

"He's asking for an exorbitant price, and you just believe him? Why don't you send it for testing?"

"It cannot be tested!"

Cao Yuanzhi said urgently, "Liu Gang threatened me, saying that if I didn't pay compensation, he would expose Jiawen's two-timing. At that time, Jiawen had already been confirmed to be on 'The Voice of Life,' which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her... I couldn't just stand by and watch her be dragged down by such negative news at such a crucial moment!"

Looking at Lao Cao's determined expression, Lin Xiao was speechless.

"So you just obediently sold the house and lost money?"

"Um……"

Cao Yuanzhi continued, "Jiawen originally disagreed with me selling her. She came up with a plan: I would use my connections in the music industry to help her find a great song and make her a star on the 'Sound of Life' stage. That way, she could quickly earn millions, lose all her money, break up with her ex-boyfriend, and then be with me in peace..."

Lin Xiao nodded in shock.

"Hmm!! Good idea!!"

He was practically saying, "These abacus beads are about to hit my face! What is this woman up to? Can't you see it yet?"
Everyone in the music industry knows that Cao Yuanzhi is the only person besides Han Xixi who has access to the mysterious musician Ma Yao.

After going through all this trouble, Chung Chia-wen's final solution was to ask Tsao Yuan-chi to help her get a song. This is tantamount to saying: Go find Ma Yao and ask him to write a song for me!

Lin Xiao didn't believe that someone as intelligent as Cao Yuanzhi couldn't see through this woman's intentions.

So right now he's making all sorts of suggestive hints.

But Cao Yuanzhi seemed to have gone mad, unable to see through it, and firmly said, "I know Jiawen doesn't want me to sell the house! But money can be earned back. I was the one who started the fight, and I'm the one who owes the money. I can't hide behind a woman like a coward, so I rejected Jiawen's kindness, sold the house myself, and lost the money!"

Lin Xiao: "..."

My mother tongue at this moment is speechless, and my brother, you are a field, so green and vast, so green that it makes my heart flutter!

“I understand about selling the house, but what about resigning?” he asked, forcing himself to speak.

"I resigned because Liu Gang later found out my true identity and that I knew Teacher Ma Yao, which is you."

Cao Yuanzhi sighed, "He became greedy and wanted to use Jiawen's career to blackmail me into introducing you to him. I've been in the industry for so long, and as an agent, I know what Liu Gang wants from you."

“I know you don’t want to get involved in the entertainment industry, which is why you’ve been hiding your identity. So I can’t betray you no matter what! Besides, my relationship with Jiawen has become a tool for Liu Gang to blackmail us. Given his tone, it’s better if I break up with her directly and then leave Feihong Entertainment.”

"This way, your identity will be preserved, and Jiawen can focus on her career in the entertainment industry... One is my brother, and the other is the woman I love. I'm relieved that you two are doing well. As for myself, I have no parents and no ties, so I can live however I want..."

Cao Yuanzhi shook his head and sighed as he spoke, but his eyes held a sense of honor and determination in his self-sacrifice.

Lin Xiao was stunned and amazed by what he heard.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

Such a flawed scam, the adulterous couple practically read the whole plan to him, but he didn't notice, still immersed in the beautiful fantasy of a hero rescuing a damsel in distress and a fleeting romance.

Lin Xiao was so speechless he felt like he was about to explode.

But when I think about how this guy still protected me and kept the secret even in such a dangerous situation, I can't help but feel a little moved.

Don’t say anything else.

From Cao Yuanzhi's perspective, he was truly driven to desperation by his emotions and the bad guys. He could find a way to survive if he sold Ma Yao's contact information.

But he gritted his teeth and held back from saying anything.

She even sold her house and quit her job, hiding in her rented room, living a life of debauchery, without saying a single word to Lin Xiao.

For this reason alone, Lin Xiao respected him as a true man.

As for his "relationship" with Chung Ka-man!
Lin Xiao had no way of judging this.

As an outsider, he could have easily adopted a detached, objective stance, but Cao Yuanzhi, as someone involved, felt a rare stirring of the heart after years of a dissolute romantic life.

It can only be said that Chung Ka-man's level is really too high as a former sea queen.

It was so high that it made Cao Yuanzhi lose his mind.

Having lived two lives, Lin Xiao had seen many such mythical stories. In this world, there really are women who, with their extraordinary abilities, can make men entrust their entire fortunes and lives, even some men who stand at the top of the food chain.

For example, there are many women like Ms. Deng Wendi, a model of gold diggers, and the wife of superstar Aaron Kwok.

These men are already among the best of the best, yet they still willingly marry gold diggers, which shows how terrifying women's methods can be; it's just that ordinary people are not qualified to experience them.

Therefore, Lin Xiao does not judge Cao Yuanzhi at the moment.

At this moment, I feel nothing but boundless gratitude.

It's important to understand that Lao Cao believed he had found true love, and despite being caught in a double predicament of the temptation of love and the threat of self-interest, he stubbornly refused to reveal himself.

This is enough to prove that Lao Cao is a true man and a true brother.

For that reason alone, he had to pull him out of hell and let him see the light again.

"What are your plans for the future?" Lin Xiao asked.

"What plans... what other plans could I possibly have? I'll just take it one day at a time!"

Cao Yuanzhi smiled helplessly.

Lin Xiao didn't say much, knowing that he was currently facing the double blow of unemployment and heartbreak, and was at the lowest point in his life.

For the vast majority of people.

After such a major blow, it's very possible that one may never recover from it in their lifetime.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao had a solution.

“Didn’t you want to be a singer before? You’re still young, why don’t you give it a try?” he suggested.

"singer……"

Cao Yuanzhi chewed on these two unfamiliar yet familiar words, then shook his head helplessly. "Forget it. I had so many ambitions back then, but I failed. Now that I've fallen to this state, there's no point in meddy-headed anymore!"

Lin Xiao smiled without saying a word, took out a piece of paper from his body, slowly unfolded it, and then solemnly handed it over.

Cao Yuanzhi took it with suspicion.

The words "Love is like a tide" were prominently displayed above, with lyrics and musical notes below.

As a professional musician, he knew what it was at a glance.

Then the whole person was stunned.

(End of this chapter)