Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 262 Chen Duling, the Third Wheel Among the Three
"Huh? You don't need to invite me, I'm not going!"

Meng waved his hand and immediately refused Li Bin's "kind" invitation.

After refusing, she glanced at Chen Xiu and thought: If I appear in public with Brother Xiu, his fans will scrutinize me with magnifying glasses. It's terrifying. I can't go. I absolutely can't go!

As soon as Meng Ziyi refused, Chen Duling quickly expressed her own stance.

"I'm just here as a guest at Chen Xiu and Meng Meng's house today. It doesn't seem appropriate for me to attend the press conference. Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Li."

Neither of you are going?

Li Bin clicked his tongue in regret. He made this suggestion partly because he wanted to ride on Chen Xiu's popularity and attract attention to the press conference.

The most attention-grabbing way to generate traffic is undoubtedly when celebrities announce their relationships...

Hearing him confirm, Meng Ziyi, who had been holding back for a long time and was finally able to speak, did not miss the opportunity to speak.

"No way! Are you trying to ride on my and Xiu-ge's coattails?"

"Forehead……"

Li Bin, who is always outspoken, was completely stumped by Meng Ziyi's question.

He wasn't unfamiliar with women in the entertainment industry, but when faced with the world of capital, these women basically turned into quails, stammering and speechless.

Li Bin had never seen anyone speak so unrestrainedly as Meng Ziyi before.

Considering his own position, Li Bin didn't want to argue with Meng Ziyi, so he turned to look at Chen Xiu: "President Chen, your girlfriend..."

"If she says she's not going, then we won't go!"

Chen Xiu said in a doting tone, not seeing anything wrong with Meng Ziyi's retort to Li Bin.

However, after expressing his stance, he didn't let those words land flat on the ground.

"Mr. Li, I will definitely accept your kind invitation. I have my own thoughts and plans, and although my expression may be a bit too direct, I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, I don't mind."

Li Bin forced a smile, knowing that Chen Xiu was saving face for him, so he didn't say anything more and could only continue to talk about the situation of NIO's investors.

"Mr. Chen, do you know Mr. Liu from Jingdong?"

I haven't had much contact with it...

While Chen Xiu was chatting with Li Bin, Meng Ziyi chuckled silently and turned to give Chen Duling a smug look.

Chen Xiu knew why she wasn't going and expressed her respect, which made everyone very happy. Among the people present, she could only share this joy with her "best friend" Chen Duling.

Chen Duling responded with a faint smile, but in her heart she was thinking how close he was to the meaning of words...

"Duling, do you know Mrs. Liu, the CEO of Jingdong?"

"Huh? What?"

Chen Duling looked at Li Bin with confusion, wondering why he would turn the topic to her, especially to such an unrelated topic.

Li Bin explained, "I just talked to President Chen about President Liu of Jingdong. His wife looks a lot like you, and they seem to be about the same age. She's from Nanjing and used to be an internet celebrity. You studied at Nanjing University, so I was wondering if you two know each other."

This question is impolite.

However, considering Li Bin's outspoken nature, it's not surprising that he asked this question.

"There are tons of people in the entertainment industry who look alike; it's impossible for them all to know each other."

Chen Xiu spoke up to defuse the situation, preventing Chen Duling from getting caught up in the awkward topic.

Among female celebrities, the most taboo thing is for someone to look too much like someone else.

Liu Shishi's nickname "Little Fairy Liu" given to her by Tangren Media directly caused a conflict between the two sides' celebrities and fans.

Although Mrs. Liu, whom Li Bin mentioned, is not in the entertainment industry, the topic was still somewhat impolite to Chen Duling.

Chen Xiu's quick answer prompted Chen Duling to give him a grateful look, and then she added, "I don't know her, and I don't know who you're talking about."

"Oh, sorry."

Li Bin smiled apologetically, explaining that he was just quick to speak and only realized after he finished that he had said something wrong.

Fortunately, there weren't many people around, so there was nothing shameful about apologizing.

After this awkward and stiff conversation, Chen Xiu didn't want Li Bin to stay any longer, so she stood up and said, "Mr. Li, why don't we go upstairs to the study and continue our conversation?"

"No need! I've said everything I needed to say. Mr. Shen will discuss the financing matters with you later. Mr. Chen, if you have no other questions, I'll take my leave now."

"I send you."

Chen Xiu didn't even bother with polite attempts to persuade him to stay; he simply stood up and pretended to see him off.

Li Bin pursed his lips, seemingly unconcerned, and appeared to be somewhat used to this scene.

After seeing everyone off, Chen Xiu returned and saw Meng Ziyi and Chen Duling huddled together, whispering and summarizing the meal.

"Dudu, what's the deal with that person that Mr. Li just asked about?"

"I don't know either, I haven't paid attention to this kind of information."

"Oh, he seems like he's not very reliable..."

"You said he's unreliable, but I think you're pretty unreliable too."

Chen Xiu came up behind the two and spoke directly, her tone deliberately serious, but more teasing than accusatory.

Meng Ziyi stiffened for a moment, then slowly stood up, turned around and said with a simple smile, "Brother Xiu, you're back."

"Heh, Li Bin may be outspoken, but it's not good to talk badly about people behind their backs."

Chen Xiu raised her hand and lightly flicked that beautiful cheek, a small punishment to deter others from taking it too seriously.

Meng Ziyi has a carefree and outspoken personality, and his mouth always precedes his thinking; he is a typical example of someone who exploits criminals.

Although she managed to avoid the "black-and-red" path of her previous life through her own arrangements, her personality remained exactly the same, and she still easily offended some petty people with her words. Chen Xiu noticed this and would still point it out, hoping she could be a little more careful.

Meng Ziyi knew that his behavior just now was somewhat inappropriate. When Chen Xiu pointed it out, he could only purse his lips and turn his dark eyes halfway around.

"I know it's not a good idea, but I still can't help but say it. Please remind me more often in the future!"

She even leaned her face closer, wanting Chen Xiu to flick her a few more times.

Looking at that bright and beautiful face, if it weren't for Chen Duling, who was like a human third wheel, Chen Xiu would have already started playing guitar.

This flirtatious behavior made Chen Duling feel extremely awkward.

"Chen Xiu, Mengmeng, I'm going to the living room now."

After saying that, Chen Duling fled to the living room.

After the third wheel left, Meng Ziyi not only didn't feel ashamed, but instead revealed a smug smile, then leaned forward, hugged Chen Xiu's neck, and breathed on him.

Chen Xiu felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She looked down at Meng Ziyi and saw that her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks were rosy, and her lips were smiling but not smiling.

"Brother Xiu, Dudu's gone."

"Ok?"

"Hehe, why don't you remind me now?"

"She might be hiding behind the door eavesdropping."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiu heard a rustling sound from behind, and the ripples in Meng Ziyi's eyes calmed down somewhat.

Just as Chen Xiu thought the war was over, a sly glint flashed in Meng Ziyi's eyes, and he stood on tiptoe and kissed Chen Xiu's lips.

They parted ways immediately after touching, and Meng Ziyi laughed, "I'll pay some tuition first, and you'll have to teach me well tonight."

"We don't need to wait until night. Let's go out and deal with Dudu first, and then go back to the room."

Chen Xiu patted Meng Ziyi, making her face turn even redder and her smile widen.

……

In the living room, Chen Duling sat on a single sofa with rosy cheeks, her gaze always involuntarily drifting to one side, where Chen Xiu and Meng Ziyi sat side by side.

Seeing that nothing had happened between the two, Chen Duling thought to herself: If I hadn't been in the restaurant, would they have done *that*? Tsk tsk, how embarrassing, I guess I shouldn't be here.

"that……"

"Dudu..."

Chen Duling and Chen Xiu spoke at the same time, then their eyes met, and they immediately began to defer to each other.

"Why don't you go first?" *2
The high level of understanding between the two added another layer of awkwardness, but fortunately, Meng Ziyi had no time to think about anything else at the moment.

Finally, Chen Xiu took the initiative to speak, "Why don't I go first?"

"Okay, you say."

"Thank you for making lunch. Otherwise, I would have ordered takeout to entertain my guests."

"It's okay, you gave me a lot of advice yesterday too."

Chen Duling lowered her head and waved her hand, but she couldn't help but think about the logic behind why she had prepared lunch to entertain Chen Xiu's guests...

Chen Xiu didn't think too much about it, and simply asked, "What do you think about the drama I mentioned to you yesterday?"

"You mean 'Hello, Old Times'?"

"Yes, are you interested?"

“I think acting in a campus-themed drama would be less difficult. I will ask my mother to contact iQiyi to try and get this drama.”

Chen Duling looked up at Chen Xiu and said that her mother was currently in charge of her artist management business.

Chen Xiu nodded and said, "Given your status, landing the lead role in a web series shouldn't be a problem. When you talk to your mother, you can tell her that I recommended this series."

"Oh."

Chen Duling nodded, but in her heart she was thinking that Chen Xiu was not the kind of person who liked to take credit. Hmm, she was probably worried that her mother would not agree to her acting in the web series, so she mentioned it.

Chen Duling thought she had guessed Chen Xiu's thoughts, but she only guessed half of them.

The other half means that in case anything goes wrong during the audition, Chen Duling's mother, Lin Hongying, will have an excuse to call Chen Xiu and seek help from outside the venue.

If this meaning were said directly, it would be somewhat undignified, and Chen Duling would probably find it difficult to accept. However, by having her convey it to Lin Hongying, everything would be self-evident.

After watching Chen Xiu express his gratitude to Chen Duling, Meng Ziyi pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "Brother Xiu, you helped Dudu choose a drama, when are you going to help me choose one too?"

"Aren't you going to audition for the female lead in 'Ashes of Love' next month?"

"Oh, I forgot."

"Ah."

Meng Ziyi, who had truly forgotten about the incident, saw Chen Xiu laughing at him and immediately punched him a few times with a look of dissatisfaction.

"You're still laughing at me!"

"Hahaha! Because it's really kind of funny."

"I'll make you laugh..."

"Um, Chen Xiu, Mengmeng, I'm going back to my room to rest now."

After giving this instruction, Chen Duling hurriedly went upstairs.

Seeing this, Chen Xiu and Meng Ziyi exchanged a glance, and a knowing smile appeared on their faces.

(End of this chapter)