Chapter 304 - 243: Carrot and Stick

Chapter 304: Chapter 243: Carrot and Stick

"But rest assured, Chairman Gu, I will strictly manage this matter in the future. If a situation like today’s ever happens again at Xingchuan Entertainment, regardless of the person’s position or seniority, you won’t have to lift a finger. I’ll clean house myself."

Gu Heng nodded slightly, raised his glass, and clinked it with Chu Zhengxiong’s. The matter was considered closed.

After Zhang Juewen left, the atmosphere in the private room remained unchanged.

It was just that as the various high-level executives laughed, chatted, and drank, the somewhat wanton gazes they had originally directed at the seven girls had all been reined in.

This was especially true for Lin Qingge; they didn’t even dare to look at her anymore.

Even though Gu Heng had been acting strictly by the book to enforce discipline, who could say that his display of authority wasn’t, even in some small part, meant to get Lin Qingge out of a jam?

No one could say for sure.

Under these circumstances, staying away was the best option.

As the drinks flowed, the night wore on.

"Chairman Gu..."

Gu Heng stepped out of the private room, intending to use the restroom. The moment he was out the door, Xu Liang came up to him and called his name softly.

"What is it?"

Seeing Xu Liang speaking so quietly, Gu Heng knew he had something to report.

"Chairman Chu just came to me and, without another word, stuffed a bank card into my hand. He said to use the money on it to settle the bill, and then to put the remaining balance on a prepaid card."

"I originally thought the amount on the card would be close to tonight’s bill. But when I checked it on the POS machine just now, I found there’s a full two million on it."

Xu Liang concisely reported the situation to Gu Heng.

"Hmm..."

"Deduct tonight’s bill from the card. Tomorrow, take the remainder to the group headquarters and find Qi Min. Have her set up a Zhen Cui Group stored-value card for Chu Zhengxiong, one that’s valid across all our brands. Then, have Qi Min deliver it to him personally."

Gu Heng mulled it over for a moment before giving Xu Liang his instructions.

He knew this was Chu Zhengxiong’s way of indirectly expressing his gratitude.

He chose not to refuse it.

A mere two million was, frankly, insignificant compared to the help Gu Heng had provided to the Xingchuan International Group today.

The 100,000-plus viewers Gu Heng had drawn to the group’s debut stream alone were worth far more than two million. That wasn’t even counting the favor Han Lixin now owed Gu Heng, which would allow Xingchuan Entertainment to ride his coattails for free—a benefit whose value was even harder to quantify.

"Understood."

Xu Liang replied respectfully.

...

The celebration banquet lasted until just after one in the morning.

The group walked out of Sushi Yun together. Aside from the unfortunate Zhang Juewen, it was safe to say that everyone, host and guest alike, had had a wonderful time.

"Chairman Gu, I..."

"There’s something I want to talk to you about."

Just as everyone was getting into their cars, Lin Qingge, looking a little embarrassed, suddenly approached Gu Heng and spoke to him in a low voice.

"Where are you staying tonight?"

Gu Heng looked at Lin Qingge’s fair face, which was tinged with a faint blush, and asked her directly.

Lin Qingge answered truthfully, "I rent an apartment near the university. Since the school is on break, that’s where I’ve been staying."

"Get in the car."

"I’ll give you a ride home."

"We can talk on the way."

Gu Heng tilted his head towards the car, gesturing for her to get in.

"Ah..."

"I don’t think that’s a good idea."

Lin Qingge subconsciously glanced around, her expression a little uneasy.

"Why?"

"Afraid of starting rumors?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow. "Or are you afraid I have ill intentions toward you?"

"Of course not!"

After speaking, Lin Qingge puffed out her fair cheeks slightly. She glanced at the white executive van next to Gu Heng, lowered her head, and slipped right inside.

"Qingge is on my way, so I’m giving her a ride home."

"It’s dark out, so you all be careful on the road."

Gu Heng said this casually to Chu Zhengxiong and the others, then followed her into the white van. Under their watchful eyes, the vehicle quickly pulled away and drove off.

Inside the quiet cabin, a soundproof partition rose to completely separate the front and rear passenger compartments.

As a fifty-inch transparent mega-screen slowly descended, the spacious and soft zero-gravity seats simultaneously reclined, instantly transforming the entire rear space into what felt like a private movie theater.

The constantly running in-car air purification system kept the cabin air fresh at all times, preventing any feeling of stuffiness.

This was the Rosharon Bay Stream, nicknamed a "mobile palace on wheels." It had just been delivered to Gu Heng a week ago. Nowadays, unless it was a special occasion, he took this car almost everywhere he went—the ride was simply that comfortable.

After getting in, Gu Heng took two bottles of electrolyte water from the in-car refrigerator.

"Drinking this after alcohol helps you sober up faster."

Gu Heng handed one bottle to Lin Qingge.

"Thank you."

Late at night, being alone with Gu Heng in such a relatively confined space made Lin Qingge inexplicably nervous.

"Didn’t you just say you had something to talk to me about?"

Gu Heng twisted the cap off his bottle of electrolyte water and took two large gulps.

Back at the dinner table, Gu Heng had mostly been drinking with Chu Zhengxiong.

They had been trading toasts back and forth.

The amounts weren’t large each time, but the toasts were frequent.

It all added up. Although Gu Heng wasn’t drunk, he was definitely a little buzzed.

"Oh, right..."

Reminded by Gu Heng, Lin Qingge remembered why she had gotten in the car in the first place. "Chairman Gu, I just did the math. You sent me 100 [Descent of the King] gifts tonight. I get a 375 yuan commission for each one, which comes out to 37,500 yuan. Let me send it back to you on WhatsApp now."

"It’s your commission. Why would you send it to me?"

Gu Heng hadn’t expected this was what Lin Qingge wanted to talk about. He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Just keep it. I was going to send those gifts to someone anyway. Might as well be someone I know."

"No, no, no..."

"I’ve already taken advantage of your kindness more than enough today."

"Not only did I benefit from your traffic during the stream, but even after it ended, I got to mooch off the platform’s promotional traffic you got for me."

Lin Qingge’s expression was sincere. "Under these circumstances, if I took your money on top of all that, my conscience wouldn’t be clear."

"Chu Zhengxiong has already paid me back for the money I spent on gifts."

Gu Heng shook his head. "Let’s see how the company handles it. If they don’t count the 100 gifts I sent you as promotional and give you the commission as usual, then just take the money when it comes."

"Then I’ll just return the money to you then," Lin Qingge said immediately.

"Oh?"

"Are you that determined to return this money?"

Gu Heng gazed into Lin Qingge’s lively, doe-like eyes and asked softly, "Are you that eager to draw a line between us?"

"No!"

"That’s not what I meant!"

Lin Qingge hadn’t expected Gu Heng to interpret it that way. She grew a little flustered. "I... I never wanted to draw a line between us."

"Then what did you mean?"

Seeing her expression, Gu Heng slowly leaned toward Lin Qingge, his voice becoming much softer and gentler.

"I..."

"I just..."

As Gu Heng’s body slowly closed in on her, Lin Qingge felt like her heart was about to leap out of her throat. Her mind went completely blank, and her thoughts became increasingly jumbled. She had no idea how to respond to him.

"Feeling bad about taking advantage of me?"

"Trying to make up for it this way?"

Gu Heng moved even closer to Lin Qingge, whose face grew redder and redder until she looked completely drunk. Even her eyes started to glisten.

"That’s easy to solve."

Gu Heng finally stopped when he was only a few centimeters from Lin Qingge’s lips. His gaze was like a hook. "You just have to let me take advantage of you in return. Then we’ll be even..."