Chapter Sixty-Three: Mr. Qian, a Wealthy Man! Five Million Means Nothing to Him

After coming out of the bathroom, Chen Fang keenly noticed that the barbecue on the coffee table had noticeably diminished.

That fat guy!

He kept saying he wouldn’t eat, but in reality, he’d been craving it for ages.

Still, Chen Fang thought it was a good thing. Pang Tong’s previous eating habits had been excessive and uncontrolled, but now, during his weight loss period, he had swung to the opposite extreme. If this continued, his health would definitely suffer.

Chen Fang didn’t expose Pang Tong. He simply sat back down on the sofa, picked up a skewer, and began eating.

Where could he possibly scrape together five million?

That was a problem.

Five million was, in fact, a lot of money. Only when compared to a hundred million did it seem somewhat insignificant. But in reality, whether it was a hundred million or five million, the difference meant little to Chen Fang at this point—he couldn’t come up with either amount anyway.

He considered his options.

He had three possible routes.

The first was to borrow from Ji Mei.

But Chen Fang felt that would make him look too much like a freeloader. Although he didn’t mind the idea, Ji Mei had just spent a fortune buying him a guitar. To ask her for money again now would really be too much.

So, that option was off the table.

The second route: borrow from Xi Yuanyuan.

After all, he was one of her artists, and there was some sentiment there. Plus, after visiting her home today, it was clear that her assets far exceeded five million.

He pondered for a moment.

No, he couldn’t choose this route either.

His relationship with Xi Yuanyuan wasn’t especially close. Even if she was willing to lend him the money, not only would he have to pay it back, but he’d also owe her a favor.

And favors were the hardest to repay.

If he borrowed from Ji Mei, perhaps a long night together would settle the debt. But with Xi Yuanyuan, it wouldn’t be so simple.

Generally speaking, Chen Fang didn’t like owing people favors.

So, only a third option remained.

Borrow from the company!

However, Chen Fang wasn’t sure how likely that was to succeed. After all, he’d only just joined Future Stardom and hadn’t yet established firm relationships within the company. If he asked to borrow five million, if he were the boss, he probably wouldn’t agree either.

Five million was no small sum, after all.

“We’ll just have to take it one step at a time,” Chen Fang murmured to himself.

First, he would try to borrow from the company. If that didn’t work, he’d have no choice but to ask Xi Yuanyuan.

He absolutely had to buy the song “East Wind Breaks.” The system had said before that the price of each song wasn’t fixed and might fluctuate, so he needed to purchase it as soon as possible. Otherwise, if he waited too long, the damn system might raise the price again.

Chen Fang sat there lost in thought.

Suddenly, Pang Tong spoke up as if remembering something, “By the way, two people came looking for you today.”

Two people?

Chen Fang was taken aback.

Who would be looking for him?

Pang Tong thought for a moment. “The first was a middle-aged man, looked rather refined, always smiling. He asked if you were in, and when I said you weren’t, he left.”

“What’s his name?”

“Qian Youlai.”

President Qian?

The chairman was looking for him?

Chen Fang pulled out his phone, pressed the power button, and realized he didn’t know when his phone had run out of battery.

“Did he say what he wanted?”

Pang Tong shook his head. “He just said if you came back, to give him a call.”

Chen Fang nodded. It didn’t seem urgent.

He fetched his charger from his room, plugged in his phone, and casually asked, “Who was the second person?”

“A middle-aged woman named Tong Qin. She left a file for you. I was too lazy to look at it—it’s in the drawer under the coffee table.” Pang Tong pointed below. Since it was for Chen Fang, he hadn’t opened it, but he’d noticed the cover mentioned something about a signing contract.

Chen Fang pulled out the document—it was a contract for participating in a variety show.

Tong Qin was impressively efficient. That afternoon, Chen Fang had only just called her to agree to join the romance show, and by evening, the contract had already been delivered to his home.

He skimmed through it—the content was fine, and the pay was about what Tong Qin had estimated, just 150,000.

Nothing to be done about it. Chen Fang’s celebrity status wasn’t high, so this was already a decent fee.

The recording for the show would begin in two days and last a week, so it wouldn’t clash with the formal taping of Starlight Road.

He had to admit, the caliber of a top agent was indeed impressive.

Once his phone had charged for a bit, Chen Fang called Tong Qin to discuss the variety show.

Because it was a romance show, the program demanded that all the guests be very attractive. After all, the only way audiences would root for on-screen couples was if both stars were good-looking.

No one liked unattractive pairings.

According to the plan, in two days the production team would come to Future Stardom to pick up Chen Fang. All he had to do was bring a few changes of clothes and necessities; the rest would be provided.

This episode of “Let’s Fall in Love Together” featured four temporary couples. Chen Fang was paired with An Tinghan. He didn’t need to remember details about the other three pairs, as their interactions would be minimal.

It was worth mentioning that Cheng Jie was also in this episode.

Originally, Chen Fang had replaced Cheng Jie’s spot and thought Cheng Jie would drop out of the show.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Jie’s agency found him another female star for his on-screen partner. She wasn’t as popular as An Tinghan, but she was still a rising star.

Now, this episode was sure to be interesting.

“Be careful of Cheng Jie,” Tong Qin warned.

He was a petty man, and his agency wasn’t to be underestimated. If they found an opportunity, they’d definitely try to trip Chen Fang up.

Chen Fang took this to heart and ended the call.

Next, he dialed Qian Youlai.

“President Qian, what did you need from me?”

“It’s about the year-end music festival.”

Chen Fang sat up straight. To be honest, he was quite interested in the festival.

“I’ve submitted your name for consideration at the music festival. So, at the end of the year, you’ll need to attend,” Qian Youlai explained. He’d already submitted Chen Fang’s name a few days ago.

Generally speaking, as long as a name was submitted, the artist could attend the festival.

But attending didn’t mean he’d win an award—most participants were basically there as audience members.

Newcomers like Chen Fang were essentially extras: cannon fodder, nobodies, background figures.

In the history of the national music festival, no newcomer had ever won an award in their debut year. Even An Tinghan, who’d made a meteoric rise, only received her award in her second year.

Qian Youlai knew this well.

Chen Fang’s chances of winning were slim.

But being able to attend the music festival was an achievement in itself.

“Do you think I could win an award?” Chen Fang asked.

There was a brief silence. “It’s unlikely,” Qian Youlai admitted.

Chen Fang said nothing more.

After a few more reminders, Qian Youlai was about to hang up when Chen Fang hurriedly called out, “President Qian, don’t hang up yet.”

“Is there something else?” Qian Youlai’s tone was sincere, with no trace of perfunctoriness.

These days, the entire Future Stardom company was relying on Chen Fang to lead the way, so anything involving him was important.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Chen Fang hesitated for a few seconds before awkwardly saying, “President Qian, I’d like to borrow some money from the company.”

“How much?”

“Five million.”

“That’s nothing. No need to go through company accounts—I’ll lend it to you personally.”

Qian Youlai didn’t even ask what the money was for. He agreed immediately.

Chen Fang was deeply moved!

See, this is the benefit of following the right boss.

Looking back, joining Future Stardom had truly been the right decision.