Chapter 34: Connections

Chapter 34: Connections

Just as Ji Mingxiu had said, it wasn’t more than a few days before he returned from outside.

The day after he came back to the capital, he made plans with Shi Ling to meet up.

Ji Mingxiu said seriously, "I need to check if you really weren’t deceived by the Zhou family."

For some reason, Shi Ling couldn’t shake the feeling that Ji Mingxiu just wanted to confirm whether he had really turned down the dating reality show invitation.

And indeed, Ji Mingxiu was quite concerned about this.

The day Ji Mingxiu returned to the capital was a Friday, so the day they planned to meet was on a Saturday with no classes.

Before meeting Ji Mingxiu, Shi Ling organized the project materials in his dormitory.

Fang Lingyun came over and asked, "What are you doing?"

Shi Ling didn’t hide it from him and said, "I’m organizing the project materials. With Shao Qin and Mo Jin on board, the next level is basically set. We’re just waiting for the models from Senior Sister Xue. I’ll take this to Boss Ji and show him what we’ve accomplished over this period."

As he spoke, he swiped the tablet to the next page, showing the latest original artwork that Jiang Sijie had sent him. "In case Boss Ji feels generous and decides to invest a few more million, wouldn’t that be great? We’re not particularly short of money right now, but who would say no to more?"

Without a doubt, Boss Ji was indeed very wealthy. According to Ji Mingxiu himself, this project seemed to be funded privately by him.

Because going through the approval process from the Ji Group would take quite a long time, and they seemed to be in a hurry at the time, Ji Mingxiu decided to fund it privately.

The transfer from his personal account was much faster.

Fang Lingyun knew about this too.

Sitting in his seat, Fang hummed twice and said, "The Ji family is really rich. Seriously, there are so many rich people in the world, why can’t I be one of them?"

Upon hearing this, the other three in the dormitory felt a bit of jealousy.

Mo Jin, twitching at the corner of his mouth, said, "If you were really that rich, wouldn’t you have invested yourself? And then you’d be our leader, instead of leaving the boss title to Ji Mingxiu?"

"Not only that, why would I need to seek investment from Ji Mingxiu? And get sarcastic remarks from him? Who does he think he is?"

Fair point.

Shao Qin retracted his gaze and continued typing on his computer, preparing the next chapter for their project. "Senior Sister Xue probably thinks the same."

Fang Lingyun shook his head. "Exactly. But unfortunately, none of us can afford such a large sum of money."

At that moment, Shi Ling suddenly said, "Should we ask HR to hire more concept artists? I think it’s about time we build our own art team. Even though Senior Sister Xue has hired a team, she’s managing both the concept art and modeling. She must be quite busy."

"Art is the core of the game. It’s about time we establish our own art team."

Fang Lingyun nodded. "I’ll ask HR to focus on hiring more artists."

After finishing the organization, Shi Ling looked at the time. It was almost eleven.

He stood up. "I’m leaving now."

Knowing he was going to meet the investor, the other three waved him off. "Go, go. Make sure to keep the investor happy."

"It’s a pity for our dear Shi Ling, having to coax Ji Mingxiu every now and then."

Neither Mo Jin nor Shao Qin responded to Fang Lingyun’s remark.

But deep down, both of them, having experienced the negotiation with Ji Mingxiu, silently agreed with Fang. They just didn’t have the guts to openly comment on the investor.

Shao Qin muttered, "I’ll just stick to coding. Whether it’s investment or negotiations, I’ll leave it to you guys."

At that moment, the ‘poor’ Shi Ling was facing Ji Mingxiu.

Just as Shi Ling had anticipated, Ji Mingxiu, who had just returned to the capital, didn’t even take a few days to rest before rushing to meet Shi Ling. The main reason was that he wanted to confirm in person whether Shi Ling had been bothered by any strange people.

This strange person specifically referred to the staff of the dating reality show *Heartbeat 100*.

Ever since he learned that Shi Ling had received an invitation to the show, he had someone investigate the program thoroughly.

This show was one of the rare ones that could actually invite elite singles from various industries. Although the primary purpose of these elites seemed to be publicity, like how the Zhou family had Zhou Su participate in the show to promote their company, finding a partner wasn’t the main focus. It was more like finding a temporary meal companion on the show.

These elites didn’t really need to go on a show to find a partner, and the show focused more on displaying their daily lives rather than romantic relationships, which was something ordinary people wouldn’t usually have access to and could spark their curiosity.

However, after three seasons, the show had started to lose its appeal. The ratings for the third season weren’t looking good, and it needed some genuine romantic elements to spice things up. Coincidentally, Zhou Su had a perfect ‘love triangle’ situation around him. Although Zhou Su was still a college student, he was already half in the entertainment industry, which suited the show’s intentions perfectly.

As for Shi Ling…

In a way, he and Zhou Su were natural competitors. However, because Shi Ling disdained the identity given to him by the Zhou family, the competition between them seemed non-existent. But in reality, Zhou Su, both openly and secretly, seemed to be trying to compete with Shi Ling.

The reason why the dating reality show’s invitation had reached Shi Ling was largely due to the arrogance of both the Zhou family and the production team.

According to Ji Mingxiu’s investigation, the show needed Shi Ling to add fuel to Zhou Su’s ‘love triangle’ situation. Being a student from the most prestigious university in the country, Shi Ling himself was a selling point that could attract viewers.

And from the Zhou family’s perspective, no matter what, Shi Ling was still part of the Zhou family bloodline. As long as Shi Ling appeared on the show, the traffic generated would ultimately benefit the Zhou family.

However, according to what Shi Ling had said before, he had already rejected the show’s invitation.

Ji Mingxiu was worried that someone might not give up so easily.

Given the previous incident with Zhong Shao as a cautionary tale, Ji Mingxiu made an appointment to meet Shi Ling at noon this time and arrived early at the gate of Jingda University.

There are thousands of students and faculty at Jing University, and during lunch hours, it gets especially crowded. Although there are cafeterias on campus, on weekends, quite a few people prefer to head out.

By the time Shi Ling appeared at the school gate, he would be lost in the sea of people. It wouldn’t be easy to find him.

Even if the other party was looking for someone, they definitely wouldn’t be as fast as him. Besides, he was right here, so there was no way another incident of his date being intercepted would happen.

Ji Mingxiu was quite confident. However, what he didn’t expect was that the other party’s speed was indeed not much slower than his.

Mainly, the people going out at noon on weekends, apart from those already walking hand-in-hand with their partners, were mostly just heading out for a good meal. These people weren’t too concerned about their appearance.

In comparison, Shi Ling, who looked much better than the average person, was meeting Ji Mingxiu. Even if he hadn’t dressed carefully, he was still neat and tidy, making him stand out significantly more than the others.

As a result, the moment Shi Ling appeared at the school gate, he was noticed.

Ji Mingxiu noticed him naturally as well.

It had been a few days since Ji Mingxiu had seen Shi Ling, and he had only recently realized his own feelings thanks to someone else’s reminder. Now, seeing Shi Ling again, he felt an unusual sense of nervousness.

In just that short moment, a stranger was already standing in front of Shi Ling.

Ji Mingxiu: ……

Thank the law, or else he would already be dead without a burial.

Ji Mingxiu hesitated for just a moment, and by the time he snapped out of it, he had already reached Shi Ling and the stranger.

He pulled Shi Ling, positioning him behind his back, then spoke unkindly to the stranger, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Ji Mingxiu’s tone was hostile, but the stranger wasn’t much better, “What are you doing? I just wanted to talk to Shi classmate…”

Before he could finish, Ji Mingxiu’s glare rendered him speechless.

The stranger shut up resentfully and then silently glanced at Ji Mingxiu again.

Although he didn’t know who this sudden person was, he had a feeling he wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

The stranger muttered to himself, thinking that they had definitely done their homework before coming to intercept someone. Logically, Shi Ling was just a university student who got into Jing University and had been living off part-time jobs with no background. The only “background” Shi Ling had was the Zhou family, and they were currently siding with their program, which was why he had the audacity to come and intercept him.

No one had ever mentioned that there was someone like this in Shi Ling’s network.

The stranger tried to take a few steps back, attempting to get a better look at this sudden stranger.

Seeing that the stranger had stopped talking, Ji Mingxiu nodded in satisfaction and turned to advise Shi Ling, “You should talk to fewer strangers in the future. You never know what their intentions are; most of them aren’t up to any good.”

Shi Ling nodded in agreement, “I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t be scammed.”

As they continued talking, the stranger couldn’t hold back any longer and interjected, “What ill intentions? I just wanted to invite Shi classmate onto a show.”

Ji Mingxiu immediately understood the stranger’s motives, “And that’s not ill-intentioned?”

Shi Ling calmed him down, “Forget it, I’ve already refused.”

“Ji Mingxiu, let’s go somewhere else.”

Ji Mingxiu nodded in agreement, “I’ve booked a restaurant, let’s go…”

Before he could finish, the stranger, hearing that they were about to leave, quickly stepped forward and grabbed Shi Ling’s sleeve, “Wait, Shi classmate, let’s talk some more. Please reconsider.”

Shi Ling stumbled slightly from the tug and couldn’t help but sigh as he faced the stranger, “Use this time to find someone else. If the show is as good as you say, there must be others willing to go on it. I have no desire for publicity, nor am I looking for a partner, so I won’t be joining in on this.”

The stranger still didn’t let go, “Shi classmate, think about it. You don’t have to do anything on our show; just eat, drink, and have fun. Plus, Zhou Su is also on the show, and you two could…”

Ji Mingxiu clicked his tongue and removed the stranger’s offending hand from Shi Ling’s sleeve, “Then you’ve got the wrong person. Students at Jing University rarely care about eating, drinking, and having fun. For them, indulging in such activities in December would be equivalent to failing their finals.”

“Also, don’t associate Zhou Su and the Zhou family with Shi Ling. They have nothing to do with each other.”

After a moment’s thought, he added, “But you can discuss Ji Mingxiu and Shi Ling together.”

Ji Mingxiu and Shi Ling can be related.