This actor has something

Chapter 414 Suspicious

A bolt from the blue!

Hong Kong actresses have given us a big surprise.

See? It's really someone else who does the fancy stuff.

In late January 2008, just before the Lunar New Year, Hong Kong's entertainment circle put on a passionate performance, leaving the entire Chinese-language entertainment industry somewhat stunned.

At first, only a few photos were posted on the forum, but since it involved a popular young actor from Hong Kong, those in the know were waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

As the Spring Festival approached, more and more photos were leaked. These days, nothing is off-limits on the internet, and the content is quite explicit, so the entire set of photos was circulated more and more widely.

He Daqi is feeling somewhat melancholy.

He never expected that this matter would be related to him.

Thanks to the current size of Yabo.com, people in Hong Kong have been contacting He Daqi and his wife, hoping they can help suppress the matter.

Fortunately, the Chinese New Year is approaching, and using the topic of the Spring Festival is a convenient way to put things on hold, so this matter was not difficult to handle.

"Qi-zai, thank you so much this time. I'm going to Beijing to record a song in a while, and I'll ask you out for a good drink then." Cheng Long's voice sounded a little tired, probably stunned by this bombshell.

“Okay, big brother, it’s nothing, it’s nothing. With our relationship, I’ll definitely help you if you ask.” He Daqi replied cheerfully, looking at Zhou Huimin who was also on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, he leisurely looked at the photos on his phone, thoroughly enjoying them and occasionally clicking his tongue in amazement.

Zhou Huimin hung up the phone after chatting for a short while, then peeked at He Daqi's phone screen and said irritably, "Still looking?! Are you regretting it? You didn't listen to my advice to go and seduce her. I told you that this little slut is too good at playing games. You missed your chance."

"Tsk, now that the courier service isn't delivering and we can't shop online, after the New Year you buy two policewoman uniforms and we'll try them on. Oh, and while you're at it, buy a men's one too. This time we'll play two roles, one where I'll play the boss and the other where I'll play the thief."

Upon hearing this, Vivian Chow giggled and moved closer, her little hands starting to wander.

"Are you good at playing a thief? Let Madam check you out carefully."

"Stop fooling around, lie back down on your own pillow, let's talk about something serious."

He Daqi stopped her sneaky little hands and tried to push Zhou Huimin aside.

Zhou Huimin persisted, clinging to He Daqi and refusing to budge. She even pressed her head against He Daqi's chest and said with a grin, "If you want to talk about serious matters, just say it. It's not like I can't hear you. Why do you want me to lie back down?"

Seeing her shameless attitude, He Daqi chuckled and, too lazy to argue about the issue any further, got straight to the point.

"You said the companies of these female celebrities who were exposed aren't calling us, so why are so many unrelated companies calling us?"

"Is that even a question? Of course, they're afraid someone will take the pot and they'll have nothing to eat. You know how much artists in Hong Kong demand. With this incident, all Hong Kong artists will be implicated, which means they'll collectively have their salaries reduced by two levels. Of course, they'll unite and help suppress this matter."

He Daqi was preoccupied with another matter and hadn't thought about this aspect carefully. But now that Zhou Huimin had brought it up, he realized it too.

In this sense, this is actually a good thing for mainland artists. After all, there is a huge difference in pay between the two sides. Just think about how Zhang Yimou cast Chow Yun-fat in "Curse of the Golden Flower," and the majority of the film's budget was probably spent on Chow Yun-fat's salary.

If Chow Yun-fat's "Curse of the Golden Flower" had been filmed after this incident, he probably would have had to lower his price. So it really does concern the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry.

After Zhou Huimin explained the situation, He Daqi stopped thinking about it and started talking about what had been bothering him for the past two days.

He turned off his phone screen and placed it on the bedside table, letting Vivian Chow roam over him. He gently stroked her hair and said:

“I’ve been thinking about something these past two days. I had previously ruled out Xie Tingfeng as a suspect, thinking it was impossible for him to hire a private investigator. But now that this has happened, I’m starting to think Xie Tingfeng is a suspect again.”

Zhou Huimin stopped her handiwork and looked up at He Daqi in surprise: "What do you mean?"

"When I found out he had a child, I thought he was living a happy and fulfilling life. But now it seems something's not right. Do you think it's possible that Xie Tingfeng knew about his wife's situation but was too embarrassed to say anything, and that he's been holding it in until it's caused him psychological problems? Isn't that how it always goes on TV? He gets mentally unstable and then develops destructive tendencies. Plus, I slapped him in the face back then, so he can't take it out on his wife. So he's planning to secretly do something to me."

After He Daqi finished speaking, Zhou Huimin did not rush to respond. The couple frowned and pondered. The bedroom became quiet, with only the ticking of the clock remaining.

After a long while, Vivian Chow said, "I think it's unlikely, but you never know. After the New Year, we can investigate in this direction. If it really is Tse Ting-fung, we can use this incident to teach him a lesson. The two of them can forget about returning to the entertainment industry."

"Alright, go to sleep early. We need to get up early tomorrow to go to the Central Bank building."

Go to bed early? Go to bed early, my foot!
Zhou Huimin had no intention of going to bed early. He Daqi's dog-faced expression when he looked at the photos had angered her. With the Lunar New Year approaching and firecrackers going off outside, Zhou Huimin was determined to give He Daqi a good talking-to.

……

……

On New Year's Eve, every household is lit up.

After finishing their performance of "Unforgettable Tonight," He Daqi and his wife leisurely exited the CCTV building. Outside, everything was covered in white snow, which had already reached the level of the first step.

The snowfall was exceptionally heavy this Spring Festival, and even now, snowflakes are still falling from the sky.

He Daqi thought last year's snowfall was quite heavy, but compared to this year, last year's snow was nothing.

The nanny van drove slowly on the road. A journey that usually takes less than half an hour took an hour and a half today.

It was almost two o'clock when they got back to the villa. As soon as the couple entered, they saw Zhou's mother sleeping on the sofa, with one child in each arm.

The two little ones were sleeping soundly. He Daqi made quite a commotion when he opened the door, but they weren't awakened and continued to snuggle in Zhou's mother's arms and sleep soundly.

Zhou's mother opened her eyes and, seeing that He Daqi and Zhou Huimin had returned, glanced at the wall clock in the living room, noticing it was almost two o'clock, and said softly, "You're back?"

He Daqi smiled and nodded, then changed his shoes at the door.

Zhou Huimin took off her high heels and stepped barefoot onto the thick carpet. She tiptoed to the sofa, leaned close to her mother's ear, and whispered, "Mommy, why did you let them both fall asleep on the sofa?"

"They were making a ruckus tonight, insisting I watch the Spring Festival Gala. They said they'd come back soon after you finished singing 'Unforgettable Tonight' so they could wish you a Happy New Year. But I fell asleep before I even got to see it. I don't know what time they went to sleep," Zhou's mother said, yawning. He Daqi walked over and, hearing her say this, chuckled and said, "Mom, Happy New Year."

"Okay, Happy New Year to you, Daqi."

Seeing that the two children were sleeping soundly, He Daqi prepared to gently carry them upstairs. Unexpectedly, as soon as he touched his precious son, the little guy opened his eyes.

The little one rubbed his eyes sleepily, then exclaimed with delight, "Mom and Dad, you're back?"

Well, his shout woke up his little sister too. He Daqi's little darling got up with a grin and stood on the sofa, reaching out her arms for He Daqi to hug her.

"Happy Chinese New Year, Mom and Dad."

"Yes, Happy New Year to you, Lele."

"Me too! Me too! Happy Chinese New Year, Mom and Dad!"

"Okay, Happy New Year to Huanhuan too."

Fortunately, the two little ones were in a sleepy state at the time. After waking up, I didn't chat with them for more than a few words before they started yawning incessantly.

He Daqi carried them both upstairs to their room, one in each arm, and then slowly went back downstairs to his bedroom.

Zhou Huimin was already lying in bed playing on her phone, and didn't even look up when she heard He Daqi come in.

"Go to sleep, stop looking at this. We need to go visit relatives early tomorrow morning."

"Ah."

……

……

January 12th, February 18th.

Today marks the official start of work after the Chinese New Year holiday.

He Daqi strolled around the third floor of Yonghui Qiming, mainly to wish the employees a Happy New Year.

After estimating that they had already met, he led Zhou Huimin and the three managers of Ya Yue to the upper floors via elevator.

On the 16th floor, the original Yabo.com sign is gone.

What's hanging at the entrance now are pictures and colors; this is the new company that Asia-Pacific Special Effects Department has spun off from.

Before the New Year, I was busy with nothing but moving. Now that everything is settled, we can start work today.

"Happy New Year, Senior Brother Zhou and Senior Sister Sun."

"Happy New Year, Daqi!"

After exchanging greetings, the group went to the office together.

This used to be Wang Rui's office, which He Daqi often came to. Looking at it now, not much has changed. Apart from teacups and ornaments, everything else is still Wang Rui's original set.

"Didn't you two get a new set of tables and chairs or anything?"

When He Daqi came in and saw this scene, he asked with some confusion.

"Why would we need to change anything? This desk is made of mahogany, and so is the coffee table. I already asked about this executive chair; a new set would cost tens of thousands. Yabo.com is really rich. They didn't take any of this stuff with them when they moved, which is perfect for us," Zhou Ning explained with a smile.

He Daqi chuckled in surprise. It wasn't that Yabo.com was rich; Wang Rui had bought it himself. But considering Wang Rui's net worth, he really didn't care about this little thing.

“Alright, I know Daqi is in a hurry to leave, so let’s get straight to the point. The drawing and color projects have officially started. This year, besides taking on projects, our main task is to expand recruitment and training. We need to at least double the number of employees. Wu Nannan will be in charge of this. Nannan, can you handle this in a month?” Liu Ying said, turning to Wu Nannan and asking her a question.

“No problem.” Wu Nannan nodded.

She was wearing two large earrings, and the way she swayed made He Daqi nervous, afraid that the earrings would fall to the ground. Even now, He Daqi still didn't quite understand Wu Nannan's aesthetic sense. What was the point of wearing such large earrings? He heard that this was a trend in Hong Kong.

Seeing Wu Nannan nod, Liu Ying continued, "Sister Hua is in charge of taking on projects, no need to elaborate. Most of the external projects we took on before were brought in by Sister Hua, and the rest were found by ourselves. But if we continue to take on projects, we need to be more selective and pick some simple ones that are easy to train new employees. Zhou Ning, Sun Fangfang, do you two have a plan for training them?"

"After the new employees are hired, the two of us plan to each lead an experienced employee to train the new employees for a month. The experienced employees will mentor the new employees, and after two months they will basically get the hang of it. Then, based on their learning progress, the two of us will group them into groups."

Zhou Ning had only been out of school for less than two years, and now he was already a senior executive in the company. He was incredibly diligent in his work. When Liu Ying asked him a question, he answered with a serious expression and explained the plan that he and Sun Fangfang had come up with.

Liu Ying listened to the plan and found it to be without problems, so she continued, "Okay, one month to recruit people, two months to train them, which means that the number of people will double and they will be working normally before June. The efficiency will definitely be much higher than it is now. The orders we have are almost booked until the end of the year. If we calculate it this way, after the efficiency is improved, these orders will probably be completed around October this year. Sister Hua, please keep this in mind and estimate how many jobs you want to take on."

"Don't worry, Xiao Liu, I'll definitely take on more projects according to the schedule here. If it's fast, I'll take on more; if it's slow, I'll take on fewer. But there's one thing I need to mention: shouldn't we raise our prices? After all, we're the only company in China that does special effects right now, and I've been wanting to talk about this for a while now."

Wang Jinghua's suggestion actually had ulterior motives. After all, the supplementary contract between the management and Lin Jianyue contained a performance-based agreement. If the earnings did not reach the target amount, the management team would suffer a loss.

After all, it goes without saying that Tuhe Color is now a leading enterprise and will definitely go public in the future. Even a few percent of the shares is not a small number, let alone a few percent.

After Wang Jinghua made her suggestion, everyone looked at He Daqi. Whether or not to raise the price really depended on what He Daqi said. Although Zhou Huimin now held 51% of the shares, the management knew the details.

He Daqi knew what Wang Jinghua was thinking, but he didn't care whether the price was raised or not. He just wanted to let her know about other situations, so he said:

"Regarding the price increase... let's take another look. I remember your performance-based agreement starts calculating the timeline after the expansion and training are completed, right? That's roughly from June this year to June next year. Let's finish the projects we agreed on earlier first and see how efficient we are."
If we can achieve the agreed-upon amount efficiently, then we shouldn't raise the price. Because next year, Beijing Film Academy will have graduates who can work in visual effects, and we certainly won't be the only visual effects company then. With more companies, the pricing for projects becomes unpredictable.

“Okay, let’s do it the way Daqi says. We’ll see how efficient it is later.” Wang Jinghua’s smile brightened when she heard that He Daqi hadn’t directly refused.

The group started discussing other things again. When they were almost done talking, He Daqi figured he could leave soon, and his phone rang in his pocket.

(End of this chapter)