"Right, just take a good rest during this time. When a suitable resource is available, I'll inform you as soon as possible. You have to use this time to recharge. Don't be decadent."

This deceitful old fox!

Ye Qing didn't bother arguing with her agent. She had no hopes of Chaoxun Entertainment. Now that it was being acquired by Lu Corporation, she was even less likely to have any excessive expectations of it.

After leaving the office, Ye Qing decided to call Older Sister Li. Right after she turned on the phone, she received Mother Ye's call.

(T/N: Older Sister Li appeared in chapter part 207. She's secretly working for Shen Weiyin.)

“Qingqing, how could you hang up before Mom was done talking?"

Ye Qing suppressed her displeasure and hastily whispered, "Mom, I'm busy right now. I don't have time to talk to you. I'll come visit you when I have time."

"Wait!" Mother Ye sighed. "Don't hang up yet. Wait until Mom is done talking…"

Mother Ye told Ye Qing what happened with Mrs. Lu today. Ye Qing furrowed her brow and asked, "You're saying that Mrs. Lu wants me to quit the entertainment industry?"

"Yes. Not only that, she told us to not bother Ye Zhen in the future and gave your dad 30 million yuan." Mother Ye paused. "Qingqing, you have to come home as soon as you have time. That 30 million yuan can't fall in your dad's hands!"

Ye Qing was at a loss. "What?"

"You don't know this, but after his company was acquired, he…" Mother Ye seemed embarrassed to say the next part. "He's addicted to gambling!"

Since Ye Corporation had fallen into the hands of others, Ye Zhenting had been at home sighing all day. He was a person that loved to be in the limelight and cared a lot about how others viewed him. Now that he couldn't keep his company, he was afraid of seeing old friends and becoming a laughingstock.

However, there was no secret that could be kept forever. One of his friends found out and sought him out to go drinking to alleviate his sorrows. After getting very drunk, he was pushed to a gambling table by that friend and won a lot of money.

Father Ye, who had lost everything in the business world, won a lot of money and was very high-spirited. Once he had gotten a taste of success and savored it, the situation got out of hand.

"What's going on?!" Ye Qing was incredulous. She knew that her father wasn't reliable, but no matter how unreliable he was, he never touched p*rn, gambling, or drugs.

"Why would I lie to you? Just recently, winning and losing in succession, he lost a few million yuan. That's why I said that 30 million yuan definitely can't fall into your father's hands. That money will be gone forever once that happens!" Mother Ye sighed. "There's nothing I can do about him. He won't listen to me no matter how I persuade him."

Mrs. Lu was right. 30 million yuan would be enough for the rest of their lives, but if Ye Zhenting took that money to gamble, that money would be lost.

After hearing this, Ye Qing was silent for a while. She felt a suffocating pressure as if a heap of things had fallen over on her. She was physically and mentally exhausted.

"Okay, I'll come back tomorrow. Don't worry."

After hastily saying a few more words to comfort Mother Ye, Ye Qing ended the call. Father Ye's issue wasn't pressing yet. Her top priority was to resolve her plight. If she was really kept out of the public's eye, then she won't have a chance in the entertainment industry.

Ye Qing went to a lounge, locked the door, and called Older Sister Li.

“Older Sister Li, Chaoxun Entertainment is about to be acquired by Lu Corporation, and the company wants to keep me out of the public's eye. I really can't continue to stay here. Older Sister Li, you said you would find a way out for me."

Older Sister Li methodically replied in a calm tone, "Don't worry, I'll definitely handle this issue for you. Before Lu Corporation acquires Chaoxun Entertainment, I'll at least negotiate the termination of your contract. We've known each other for so long. You should know about my reputation in the entertainment industry. I definitely won't burn bridges after crossing it."

Hearing Older Sister Li's guarantee, Ye Qing was relieved.

Right after ending the call with Ye Qing, Older Sister Li called Shen Weiyin and informed her of Ye Qing's situation.

Shen Weiyin indifferently said, "Older Sister Li, it's not a trash dump over here. I won't accept just anyone."

Older Sister Li paused. She naturally understood the meaning of Shen Weiyin's words. She smiled and said, "I understand."

Shen Weiyin ended the call, leaned back in the car seat, and closed her eyes to rest.

"Impressive, very impressive. I'm a witness to Miss Shen's means today. It seems that I'll have to be extra careful and on my guard in our future cooperation."

Shen Weiyin opened her eyes and looked at Lu Shaoyan, who was cheering her on. “Lu Shaoyan, are you scared?"

Lu Shaoyan met her gaze. "Scared! Of course I'm scared. If a femme fatale like you plays tricks on me or wants to mess with me, I'll have no ability to resist."

Shen Weiyin looked away and remained silent.

"There's one part I don't understand. You clearly know it'll be easy to clarify the truth about the piano matter, so why did you insist on blowing up that issue?"

Preoccupied, Shen Weiyin looked out at the car window. She could see the reflections of her image, leaping behind like a movie reel as the car drove past. Her tone was calm. "To give myself a chance to give up."

She was sure that Lu Beichuan had seen the gossip about Ye Zhen's past. An ordinary, mediocre person like Ye Zhen who had no accomplishments could only stay at home to care for children and be a housewife. How could she be worthy of 上Lu Beichuan?

She had mentioned this matter more than once in front of Lu Beichuan. Lu Beichuan and even the rest of his family knew about Ye Zhen's inferiority. Despite that, Lu Beichuan and his family didn't have any reaction. She had lost completely in a crushing defeat.

"Nothing can be better than if you've figured things out. A woman like you, why waste yourself by rigidly sticking to one man? As long as the Shen's don't fall and you're willing, there'll be a line of outstanding men waiting for you. Don't you agree, Miss Shen?"

Everything that Shen Weiyin had was based on the Shen's power. Without the Shen's backing her and being her pillar, the dog eat dog entertainment industry would have swallowed her up a long time ago.

She knew very well that her family had given her everything, so it couldn't fall!

Shen Weiyin took a deep breath and turned her head to face him. "Don't worry, I've already said everything that I should with Grandpa."

"You're a smart person." Lu Shaoyan lightly smiled. "But that Ye Qing is really amazing. She was actually able to find those videos and use them to attack Ye Zhen. What you said was right. You don't accept just anyone, like those trash people."

Lu Shaoyan was watching a video of Ye Zhen when she was in school on his phone.

Shen Weiyin indifferently looked at him. "You're being too complimentary. Without you secretly adding fuel to the fire, how could everything have gone so smoothly?

Lu Shaoyan raised his eyebrows and lightly smiled at her in response.

The car slowly drove into the Shen's mansion. With Shen Weiyin leading the way, Lu Shaoyan and her entered the Shen's home.

Lu Shaoyan stayed at the Shen's until dusk and smugly left.

***

After gossip was maliciously spread online and a fermenting period passed, there was a tendency for the tables to turn on the online gossipers.

Digging out and posting that video of Ye Zhen was an infringement of her privacy right. Creating an animation of that video and damaging Ye Zhen's reputation was even more vile. There was a water army promoting that video the first two days. It looked like a huge war was being waged, but there weren't that many people actually paying attention to this matter.

Ye Zhen had guessed correctly. She wasn't someone in the entertainment industry and Ye Qing wasn't a big star. This type of matter shouldn't have made a splash to begin with.

Instead, the complacent attitudes and vicious words of the bloggers who were spreading the videos and animations caused the displeasure of other netizens and caught traction. The bigger the water army, the more serious the negative repercussions that boomeranged back at them.

"Blogger, you made an animation from the video of Ye Zhen without her permission. That's infringing on her portrait rights!"

"This blogger's disgusting actions continue down in the comment section. Humiliating others to attract attention, the bottom line of marketing accounts are getting worse!"

"I heard Lu Corporation has already sent lawyer letters to these bloggers. I hope Lu Corporation doesn't let them off easily and goes through with severely punishing them through legal means.!"

"Yes! Severe punishment! These scumbags can't be let off!"

In less than half a day, the voices of these crusaders overwhelmed the bloggers and water army. They commented and sent private messages to the bloggers that had posted and spread the video and animation. With the wave of these crusaders suppressing those Weibo bloggers, they finally stopped mocking Ye Zhen.

The Weibo bloggers stopped, but Lu Corporation didn't.

This matter had touched Lu Corporation's bottom line. The company had sent lawyer letters to the bloggers that had uploaded and spread the videos and animation and reported them to the police for infringing on Ye Zhen's portrait rights.

Only one week after the bloggers were reported to the police, the police arrested and brought to trial all of the people responsible, and Lu Corporation expressed that it would pursue this matter to the end.

Under these circumstances, Ye Zhen issued a statement: 1) I hope that the directors see my potential for being able to act in horror movies without having to apply makeup. 2) I hope the relevant departments can arrest and bring to justice the responsible parties. 3) I don't know how to play the piano. 4) Thank you to the netizens that spoke out for me.

This almost self-depreciating clarification statement won her a favorable impression from many people. There was a vast stretch of content online where people expressed that they were outraged by the injustice done to Ye Zhen and that these marketing accounts had no bottom line.

"Rofl. Mrs. Lu, who doesn't need to wear makeup to act in a horror movie, is too cute!"

"The people that started the rumors and created trouble should all be severely punished. I'm on Ye Zhen's side. I hope the relevant departments can bring the responsible people to justice!"

"She's worthy of being Mrs. Lu. So domineering even when issuing a statement! Love her."

"So then the person playing the piano in the video is Ye Qing? She's so short-tempered…"

"I apologize for what I said about Ye Zhen. I should have waited until I knew the truth before speaking."

Seeing that the situation had changed, Ye Zhen wasn't surprised.

Most people were kind. When it came to those marketing accounts' malicious behavior, there was no need for her to resentfully lash out at them and explain herself. There would naturally be people that would scold those marketing accounts for her.

In this type of matter, most people wouldn't pay attention to Ye Zhen's prestigious identity as Mrs. Lu. Instead, they viewed her merely as an ordinary person being willfully insulted and maliciously defamed by marketing accounts. This unfair treatment was enough to make many people sympathetic to Ye Zhen and stand on her side to support her.

To begin with, Ye Zhen didn't care much about the mixture of truths and deceit that were separated by internet cables. What made Ye Zhen helpless was Mother Lu.

Lu Beichuan and her were sitting across from Mother Lu and listening to her vividly describe what happened during her meeting with the Ye's. Ye Zhen was shocked when she heard Mother Lu saying she had bought out her relationship with her parents for 30 million yuan.

"30 million yuan?"

Mother Lu wavered when she saw that Ye Zhen was shocked.

She knew that although Ye Zhen had been treated unfairly by her parents and didn't have much affection for them, they were still the parents that had given birth to her and raised her. She had taken charge of this matter for Ye Zhen's own good, but it was still overstepping as her mother-in-law.

The smile on Mother Lu instantly dropped. Nervous and uneasy, she asked Ye Zhen, "Zhenzhen ah, do you feel that Mom shouldn't have…"

"No, that's not it. Don't misunderstand, Mom." Ye Zhen smiled and said, "That's not what I mean."

If gossip wasn't a fearful thing, then she couldn't be happier at the thought of having nothing to do with the Ye's.

Mother Ye had a bias against her. Father Ye was a money-sucking vampire. Those two people cared about benefits above all else. For money, they could even sell their younger daughter. In the novel, after Ye Qing and Lin Zhan came back and opposed Lu Corporation, Father Ye and Mother Ye immediately broke off their relationship with Ye Zhen. They stated that they only had one daughter, Ye Qing. They didn't care if Ye Zhen lived or died.

She was fine that Mother Lu had dealt with this issue for her, but she didn't think paying 30 million yuan was worth it.

"Mom, you didn't have to handle this yourself. I could have done it myself. And also… you used 30 million yuan for it…" What a waste to use that money on the Ye's!

Of course, she couldn't say that last part to Mother Lu.

Mother Lu smiled. "I thought you were worried over something else. A mere 30 million yuan, that's nothing. Don't take it to heart."

"But…"

Lu Beichuan held Ye Zhen. "Mom did the right thing," he lightly said, "No matter what, they're your parents. Even if they treated you badly, you have to repay them for giving birth to you and raising you. I don't want others to attack you for being unfilial. It's worth it to spend 30 million yuan to resolve this issue."

For lack of a better option, Ye Zhen said, "But that's 30 million yuan!"

And with Father Ye and Mother Ye's nature, that 30 million yuan wouldn't last for long.

Mother Lu answered back with conviction, "Could it be that my daughter-in-law isn't worth 30 million yuan? Alright, Zhenzhen, don't take this matter to heart. Just leave the Ye's to their fate. Since they accepted the 30 million yuan, you don't have to feign civility with them anymore. Save yourself from that annoyance."

Ye Zhen silently looked at Mother Lu before expressing heartfelt gratitude, "Mom, thank you."

"We're a family. What's there to thank. By the way, Beichuan, did you resolve that online matter?"

Lu Beichuan nodded. "Settled."

Mother Lu deeply sighed. "Those people online are too idle. If you encounter this kind of thing in the future, just call the police!"

Smiling, Ye Zhen persuaded, "Mom, those people aren't worth getting angry over."

"How can I not be angry? It's so obvious that the person playing the piano isn't you and yet so many people mistakenly thought Ye Qing was you. And that school video. Ai… I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Those people are simply too bad!" Mother Lu stood up. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. It's getting late. I'm turning in for the night. You two should go rest earlier too."

Ye Zhen watched Mother Lu going upstairs, then Lu Beichuan and her went upstairs and to separate bathrooms.

After coming out of the bathroom, Ye Zhen went to check on the sleeping Zhouzhou in the nursery before going back to their room.

Lu Beichuan came out of the bathroom, wiping his wet hair with a towel, with his chest partially exposed.

Ye Zhen stiffly looked away from the drool-worthy scene. She forced herself to smile and asked Lu Beichuan, "How was your meeting with Mayor Zhou today?"

Lu Beichuan had walked over to his desk and picked a report. He casually answered, "Went well." Suddenly thinking of something, he looked at Ye Zhen. "I'm sorry. You were wronged these past two days"

Ye Zhen shrugged. "It's fine."

She understood that Lu Beichuan was referring to not immediately clarifying that the person playing the piano wasn't her. It would normally be easy to clarify such an issue, but since the host of the party was Mayor Zhou, clarifying that matter would be tricky.

When government officials and business people mingled together, people were more likely to go overboard in speculating, so government officials and business people had to be careful with what they said. It would be easy to prove that Ye Qing was the one playing piano and not Ye Zhen at the function, but it wouldn't be good to make public that there was such a large private function.

First of all, it would greatly damage Mayor Zhou's impression of them if they did that.

Lu Beichuan closed the report and walked over to Ye Zhen. He quietly said, "Mayor Zhou also asked about your matter."

"He knows about that?"

"Of course."

Ye Zhen raised her eyebrows. Receiving Mayor Zhou's concern and guilt was worth being wronged a little bit.

"By the way, the process of acquiring Chaoxun Entertainment is coming to an end. After the contract is signed the day after tomorrow, Chaoxun Entertainment will officially become a subsidiary of Lu Corporation. Chaoxun is already set up in the entertainment industry. When the times comes, whether you want to invest in a movie or do anything related to the entertainment industry, you can discuss it with Chaoxun Entertainment."

He added, "Chaoxun Entertainment has been going downhill, so Lu Corporation will inevitably inject capital into it after the acquisition process is done. Based on Chaoxun Entertainment's current condition, it's not competitive right now. Work together with Qin Zhiyin to see if the two of you can pull this company back up. There'll be plenty of opportunities to invest in the entertainment industry in the future."

Ye Zhen was silent for a while. She had heard about Chaoxun Entertainment. It was true that the company's current situation wasn't good. It didn't have resources or popular stars. For a company like that, without Lu Corporation's acquisition, it was only a matter of time before it went bankrupt or was absorbed into another entertainment company.

"To bring a company back up, having financial resources is crucial, but quality actors are also crucial. If we can poach some stars…" Ye Zhen's eyes brightened. She raised her head and looked at Lu Beichuan. "Can I sign a few little fresh meats?"

Gloom flashed across Lu Beichuan's eyes. Without hesitation, he coldly and sternly said, "Not allowed!"

Sign a little fresh meat?

Don't even think about it.

(T/N: Little fresh meats are used to describe attractive young men with delicate, well-groomed androgynous appearances.)

Without even mentioning the future market for little fresh meats, they were already a main force in the current entertainment industry. Little fresh meats had the looks and the skills to launch their careers, making it easier to attract fans.

Ye Zhen was just making a suggestion. She didn't expect that Lu Beichuan would have such a big reaction to it.

She really wanted to discuss the growing market for little fresh meats, but after seeing Lu Beichuan's gloomy expression, she swallowed down the points she had wanted to use to argue her point.

Lu Beichuan's face was as calm as always. "It's late. Let's go to sleep."

Ye Zhen looked at Lu Beichuan's half-exposed pectoral muscles and the rest of his well-built physique including his well-proportioned and powerful muscles. Visually or tactilely, they would be a wonderful treat.

Lu Beichuan had just reached his 30's and his energy hadn't reached its peak. With every passing day, he was more attractive and full of life, especially when he was wearing a suit and walking briskly without any expression and with his gaze fixed. In those moments, he was bursting with pheromones.

In Ye Zhen's opinion, Lu Beichuan wasn't any worse than the famous stars in the entertainment industry. As for those little fresh meats, they were even less of a match for him.

It was only natural that others would covet such a rich, handsome, and talented man. He had a physique that naturally attracted the opposite gender, so Ye Zhen didn't blame this situation where others would be attracted to him even though he wasn't inviting that attention.

Ye Zhen yawned and sleepily thought; if a man like him wasn't even interested in someone like Shen Weiyin, who could attract his interest?

She thought of how close their bodies were at Madam Zhou's birthday party. Lu Beichuan's hot breath, how she had stood on his feet to perform the dance steps, the words he had murmured into her ear that night, and how he was unlimited in showing her tolerance in the past. Lu Beichuan had expressed that he likes her in all sorts of ways.

But if he likes her, why didn't he clearly tell her?

Lu Beichuan was the kind of person who was clear in what he liked. As a person that was unscrupulous when it came to obtaining what he wanted, how could he let off someone that he likes?

But… Ye Zhen thought of that written contract. It felt like a thorn in her heart.

Perhaps, it was because of that written contract that Lu Beichuan treated her so well. Perhaps, it was just her delusion that his actions showed that he liked her.

Right now, her imagination was running wild, but when she was able to see the big picture later, it would mean nothing.

Feelings were inherently complicated. Let alone the feelings of a man like Lu Beichuan.

As she pondered this, sleepiness quickly overcame her. Ye Zhen fell asleep shortly after lying down.

Lying next to Ye Zhen, Lu Beichuan listened to her deep breathing and looked at the bright moonlight outside the window. He wasn't sleepy at all.

Two years, two years had passed since he woke up from his coma.

But in the past two years, Lu Beichuan didn't even mention the matter of s*xual intimacy between husband and wife, let alone talk about it with Ye Zhen.

He wasn't a saint. He was a normal man. Moreover, he was a young and vigorous man who had normal needs. After suppressing this need for two years, every night felt like torture.

What was it like to not touch or do anything to his lovely wife that was lying next to him? Torture.

Lu Beichuan took a deep breath and gulped. As the sweet scent that belonged to the woman by his pillow entered his nose, it stirred up all of the cells in his body. The fragrance in the air was like aphrodisiac poison that heated up his blood and prompted a man's most primitive desire.

It wasn't that he didn't have a physical reaction, but they shared a bed, so he had to forcibly suppress it. He had a contract with the woman next to him.

He had to wait until Ye Zhen completely accepted him. He couldn't force her.

He couldn't make Ye Zhen fall in love with him at first sight, so he could only patiently coax her and let familiarity breed fondness.

(T/N: This written contract had been mentioned so many times that I finally went back and looked through the chapters that the author had made edits to find the scene that has it. That scene feels so out of place with the rest of the original chapter and makes Ye Zhen's actions seem very illogical and unreasonable in the following chapters if they had that discussion early on. I kind of want to pretend that the earlier version I read is the final one.

Anyways, leading up to signing that contract, Lu Beichuan told Ye Zhen that he wasn't interested in her and that marrying anyone is a burden to him, so he might as well marry her since she's pregnant with his child. The agreement is simply he will provide for her financially in return for her marrying him, giving birth to his child, and serving as a reason to keep women that are interested in him away from him. It feels so out-of-character that he would even feel the need to lie to her and cause this unnecessary misunderstanding.)