They surrounded me right after the breakup.

The next morning.

When Shen Qingning woke up, Jiang Han was no longer in bed.

She lay on her side and reached out to touch the pillow next to her; the pillowcase still retained a little warmth.

Shen Qingning sat up from the covers. The black gauze from last night was draped at the foot of the bed, and the necklace was still around her neck.

The black stockings were no longer recognizable and had scattered into several pieces.

Last night, when she was half asleep, she felt someone cover her with a blanket.

When I went downstairs, Qiu Siyao had already left, and Lin Yaoyao had also gone out to do voice acting.

Jiang Han changed into a dark gray shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.

"Xingyue has signed a new batch of new talents, and they will be taught basic skills by teachers."

"But experience in this industry needs to be guided by experienced people, so you should guide them."

Jiang Han did not deliberately emphasize to Shen Qingning that she used to be a star, nor did he mention that she was just idling around after retiring from the entertainment industry.

He simply treated this as a normal work arrangement.

……

Star Moon Media Company.

Shen Qingning's registration process was very simple.

The administration issued her a work badge; her department was the Artist Training Department.

When she walked into the office building, all the employees she encountered recognized her.

Her initial declaration of retiring from the entertainment industry caused quite a stir, and now it seems that her relationship with Chairman Jiang was indeed not simple.

Shen Qingning pinned her employee badge to her collar and then went to the chairman's secretary's office.

The administrators told her that no one was using the office while Attorney Xia was being seconded to handle a case.

Pushing open the door, I saw that the pothos plant on the table was still alive.

The lisianthus in the vase had dried up, and the petals had fallen onto the table and were blown by the air conditioner to the side of the keyboard.

Shen Qingning put the dried flowers into the trash can, then sat down and organized the documents on the table.

Organize them according to the labels previously marked by Xia Yutong.

Contract review, legal coordination, case file summaries, and daily routines.

Each category was organized into folders of different colors, with the labels facing out, and placed in the corresponding compartments on the bookshelf.

When Shen Qingning was tidying up the bottom drawer, she saw a stack of draft paper covered with dense writing.

She turned the page over and found that the entire sheet of paper contained only two words that kept repeating: Jianghan.

Shen Qingning recognized Xia Yutong's handwriting.

The strokes are straight and even, each one meticulously written.

In some places, the pen tip was pressed too hard, leaving tiny dents on the paper.

Shen Qingning flipped to the back and found several messy notes.

Some were written and then crossed out, some were circled and then crossed out.

She folded the draft paper again and put it at the bottom of the drawer, where she found an A4 sheet of paper underneath.

There are only a few lines of text above.

[With Nezha's box office exceeding 40 billion yuan, Xia Yutong is at his mercy]

The signature at the bottom is Xia Yutong's.

Shen Qingning recalled the scene of chatting with Xia Yutong in bed that night.

She told Xia Yutong not to be anxious or to do anything deliberately.

When the time comes and the situation becomes special, you'll know what to do.

Just go with the flow and don't let others influence you.

Shen Qingning said those words because she saw a reflection of her past self in Xia Yutong.

……

The next room is the chairman's office.

Jiang Han received a call from Xia Yutong.

Jiang Han leaned back in his office chair, his phone pressed against his ear.

Xia Yutong's voice came through the microphone, with background noise as if she were in the lobby of an office building.

"Jiang Han, I was checking Rongbang Construction's old files in Shanghai when I met a former employee who handled the cancellation approval back then."

"Jiang Boyong was the one who issued cancellation orders to three companies at the same time back then."

"The point isn't him, the point is that Jiang Boyong has a nephew named Jiang Guangyao."

Xia Yutong paused for a moment, and the sound of papers turning over came from the microphone.

"I think this might have an impact on your business operations at Star Moon Media."

"Jiang Boyong had no children, so he raised this nephew as his heir."

"All of the Chiang family's wealth, including Universal Music and Gain Capital, can be traced back to Chiang Boyong."

"In other words, the position that Jiang Guangyao is currently in at Universal Music was built up by the bankruptcy liquidation of Yuantao Building Materials."

"The chain of this asset transfer has been buried for many years, and no one knew that there was such a relationship between Jiang Boyong and Jiang Guangyao."

Jiang Han tightened his grip on his phone.

Universal Music has always presented itself as an independent entity within the industry, and Chiang Kuang-yao himself has never mentioned his family background in any public setting.

Now, Xia Yutong is tearing away this veil layer by layer.

"This clue was found in the old files of Rongbang Construction, where Jiang Guangyao's name appeared on the shareholder list."

"His shareholding in Rongbang coincided entirely with the time your father went bankrupt."

"Add to that the record of Jiang Boyong issuing cancellation orders to three companies back then, and all the timelines match up."

"One of them came to the meeting, and the other signed the cancellation approval. That's when the uncle and nephew started working together."

Jiang Han did not respond.

He recalled the first time Universal Music Group made a move against Star Moon.

Fang Chongwen laid out Shan Yichun's marketing data on the table and said that Jiang Guangyao was throwing money away with Universal's assets.

At that time, he only regarded it as normal competition from business rivals.

Now the cards have been revealed.

It's not conventional competition; it's asset defense.

Jiang Guangyao may already know Jiang Han's identity.

They were afraid he would dig up old accounts related to Yuantao Building Materials and trace them back to the source of the Jiang family's asset transfer.

"I will organize the relevant materials," Xia Yutong said.

"Okay, take care and get some rest."

Jiang Han hung up the phone, stood up, and walked to the window.

Traffic congestion had already begun on Jingzhou Peak in the distance.

Once the uncle-nephew relationship between Jiang Guangyao and Jiang Boyong is confirmed, the old case will no longer be a simple commercial dispute.

The bankruptcy of Yuantao Building Materials directly provided the initial capital accumulation for the Jiang family's asset empire.

During his years at Universal Music, every song Chiang Kuang-yao released and every movie he invested in was an attempt to whitewash this bloodstained asset.

Jiang Han returned to his desk, picked up the landline, and dialed Fang Chongwen's number.

"Teacher Fang, have you heard anything from Universal Music lately?"

"Not at the moment."

Jiang Han sent Xia Yutong another message, asking him to discuss countermeasures with Director Xia.

Xia Yutong replied immediately that she understood.

"Knock knock knock!" A short knock sounded at the door.

Shen Qingning came in and quietly walked behind Jiang Han, placing her hands on his shoulders.

I pressed my thumb into the muscles on both sides of the back of his neck, gradually increasing the pressure.

On her first day at Xingyue Media, her job was to serve the chairman well.

Jiang Han's shoulders slowly relaxed, and her fingers pressed down along the inside of her shoulder blades, pressing every inch very carefully.