Chapter 124—An Office Affair

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The office rang with Old Master Gu’s excited, delighted laughter. “I told you our little Ran would be blessed by heaven. Everything in her life has always gone smoothly. Beicheng, what are you standing there for? Looking at a photograph is nothing compared with seeing her in person. Come on, let’s go. Follow your grandfather to the airport and bring Ran home.”

Gu Beicheng set down the photograph in his hand and nodded at the delighted old man. With his long legs carrying him forward, he followed Old Master Gu out of the office, with Shen Mubai close behind.

“Beicheng, you’re worried that Gu Yan might do something to Mu Ran, aren’t you?”

Shen Mubai cast a furtive glance at Old Master Gu, who was striding ahead, then lowered his voice and spoke solemnly to Gu Beicheng, who was walking slowly beside him with a thoughtful expression.

“This isn’t right, Beicheng. Mu Ran is safe and sound, so why do you still look as though you’ve lost your soul?”

Based on his understanding of Gu Beicheng, the man would normally rush off to find Mu Ran the instant he heard even the slightest news about her.

There was no way he should be wearing this gloomy, composed, unreadable expression.

Could it be that Shen Mubai had really guessed correctly?

Was Gu Beicheng worried about Gu Yan?

“Mubai, arrange for some people.”

Gu Beicheng’s thin lips pressed into a line. A ruthless glint flashed in his fathomless black eyes. He was worried that Gu Yan might hypnotize Mu Ran.

“Don’t worry, Beicheng. If Gu Yan does anything to Mu Ran, the brothers and I won’t let him off.”

Shen Mubai had completely shed his usual smiling, crafty facade. At this moment, his decisive, formidable air was indistinguishable from Gu Beicheng’s.

“Fine. Just make sure everything is arranged.”

Gu Beicheng raised his heavy arm, which was somewhat numb, and gave the other man’s shoulder a firm pat.

“Once we bring Ranran home, I’ll give you some time off. Take care of your own affairs properly.”

A flicker of emotion shone in Shen Mubai’s eyes. He nodded at the man.

“All right, Beicheng.”

Shen Mubai was not only Gu Beicheng’s closest friend and the head of Chengxing Entertainment; he also managed several of the Shen family’s businesses.

These past few days, his troubles in love had completely drained him of any desire to work.

Yet he could not abandon the company simply because of his personal problems.

Whether it was Chengxing Entertainment or the Shen family’s businesses, both required his supervision.

Shen Mubai had originally arranged to go on a date with Li Li that day, but because of Mu Ran, he had to remain at Gu Beicheng’s side.

However, Gu Beicheng, that cold-faced but warm-hearted man, had seen through all his worries.

Since the boss had offered him time off, Shen Mubai naturally accepted it gladly. This way, he would not have to worry about the company and could devote himself entirely to making amends for the hurt he had caused Li Li over the years.

“Hey, Beicheng, why are you suddenly walking so fast?”

During the brief moment Shen Mubai had been distracted, Gu Beicheng’s tall, straight back had nearly vanished from sight.

“You don’t need to come. Help An Lan handle matters concerning Ranran and the company.”

Gu Beicheng’s forceful, unquestionable voice reached Shen Mubai’s ears, stopping him in his tracks.

Shen Mubai took out his phone and glanced through the trending topics on Weibo. Entire sections of the trending list were occupied by entries concerning Mu Ran.

“What’s going on with SY’s public-relations department? They don’t even know to suppress news about their own company’s president?”

Standing beside the elevator, Shen Mubai glanced at the floor they were on.

When the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside and tapped the button for the fifteenth floor.

“Good morning, President Shen.”

“Good morning, President Shen.”

Although Shen Mubai was in charge of Chengxing Entertainment, he returned to the headquarters, Chengxing Group, every few days to make an appearance—and, incidentally, flirt with the female employees.

Officially, he claimed he was inspecting the staff on Gu Beicheng’s behalf.

In truth, every employee of Chengxing Group knew that this pleasure-seeking President Shen was no gentleman either. He left a trail of romantic entanglements wherever he went.

But a handsome, eligible bachelor of his wealth was bound to attract women.

Whenever Shen Mubai came to headquarters to see Gu Beicheng, several women would inevitably approach him, posing and preening as they tried to seduce him.

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In the end, however, those women were dismissed by the company’s president, Gu Beicheng.

At the annual meeting, Gu Beicheng had once issued an order forbidding female employees with improper intentions from attempting to seduce their superiors in order to advance themselves.

He had even directly warned everyone to stay away from Shen Mubai because the man already had a girlfriend. If he discovered that anyone at Chengxing Group was seducing a superior and knowingly becoming the other woman, they would be thrown out of Chengxing immediately.

Every year at the annual meeting, Gu Beicheng emphasized this matter in front of everyone.

Over time, the atmosphere between the company’s male and female employees became exceptionally professional, and no one was willing to approach, much less seduce, Shen Mubai, that shameless playboy.

“President Shen, we just saw President Gu rush out in such a hurry. Could it be that Mu Ran really was involved in the plane disaster...? It’s heartbreaking. She’s my favorite star.”

The female employee, dressed in professional attire, clutched her phone tightly. She craned her neck to look up at the tall, smiling Shen Mubai.

“President Shen, you and President Gu are so close. You must know what Mu Ran is really like in private, don’t you?”

“Hey, don’t ask anymore. Something unfortunate has already happened, so stop prying.”

One of Shen Mubai’s hands rested lazily in his pocket while the other loosely held his phone. He browsed the official reports concerning the plane carrying Mu Ran that had lost contact.

At present, the official media had yet to report that Mu Ran’s flight from the Imperial Capital to Country B was safely returning and had resumed its normal course.

The man leaned against one side of the elevator, his eyes narrowed slightly, giving away nothing of his emotions.

Seeing that Shen Mubai remained silent, the two female employees obediently fell quiet. They each took a step back, then glanced at the rising-floor display in unison.

“Who said something unfortunate had happened? Some gossip account on Weibo?”

Shen Mubai shifted slightly and looked down at the two women from the side. A chill radiated from his entire body, and the unmistakable anger in his expression struck straight through them.

Although Shen Mubai was not as imposing and unapproachable as Gu Beicheng, he was still a senior executive—and a wealthy heir besides. Even a seemingly casual question from him was enough to make the other person shiver.

“It wasn’t a gossip account. It was a news outlet with a verified account. The report appeared on Weibo and several news apps. It said that Mu Ran had died in a plane crash.”

The female employee who had claimed to be Mu Ran’s fan avoided his gaze. Her long fingernails dug into the handbag in her hands as she forced out a dry smile.

“We don’t believe it either, but the plane really has lost contact. The whole country is following the situation.”

“So a loss of contact automatically means a crash? What exactly do you have inside your heads? Hmm? Take a good look and find out which company that news account belongs to.”

Shen Mubai had also seen the fabricated report while browsing Weibo, but he had not taken it seriously.

Whenever the slightest incident occurred in society, attention-seeking gossip accounts immediately began churning out sensational lies.

The other female employee, who had been hiding in the corner of the elevator, raised her voice and held out her phone to her colleague.

“It’s Chaoyang Pictures! They’re rivals of Chengxing Entertainment and SY Entertainment!”

Shen Mubai let out an impatient, icy snort and swept his cold gaze over the two women, looking them up and down.

In an instant, the temperature inside the elevator seemed to drop several degrees.

“As employees of the public-relations department, did you not notice that the so-called ‘news report’ had the words Chengxing Group written all over it?”

His tone was frigid, and his words were filled with dissatisfaction and reproach.

The two women nodded together.

“We saw it.”

Shen Mubai curled his lips.

“If it isn’t an official report, then it has no credibility. And you’re still standing here discussing it at length? When you encounter an article spreading rumors about Chengxing Group, your public-relations department simply sits in the office? You even treat it as gossip?”

The elevator chimed.

The fifteenth floor had arrived.

Shen Mubai said nothing more. He turned and walked toward the office of the public-relations manager.

“What are you all staring at? Get back to work! All you do is idle around and gossip. I still have the authority to fire every one of you.”

His gaze was sharp and his words ruthless. The aura surrounding him was even more merciless than that of Chengxing’s president, Gu Beicheng.

The man was truly furious now.

Every report about Mu Ran on the internet had mentioned SY Entertainment and Chengxing Group together.

Shouldn’t the public-relations department have controlled the rumors immediately, or even issued a public statement?

Bang!

The door to the public-relations manager’s office slammed shut.

Immediately afterward came Shen Mubai’s thunderous roar of fury.

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Ten minutes later.

Chengxing Group and SY Entertainment jointly issued a statement declaring that they would sue those responsible for spreading rumors online.

“What’s going on with Chaoyang Pictures? Where did they get their confidence?”

Shen Mubai leaned against the public-relations manager’s desk, propping up his chin with one hand as he sank into thought.

For years, Chaoyang Pictures and Chengxing Entertainment had kept out of each other’s way. Why had they suddenly decided to cause trouble?

The public-relations manager nervously handed Shen Mubai a glass of water. He bent slightly at the waist, an obsequious smile fixed on his lips.

“President Shen, it may have something to do with Gao Tiange.”

Shen Mubai looked at him in confusion.

“Gao Tiange?”

The public-relations manager nodded repeatedly.

“Yes. Gao Tiange is Chaoyang Pictures’ leading actress. She owns a small share in the company and is also the mistress of Chaoyang’s president. That woman has a grudge against Miss Mu Ran, so she probably whispered something in the company president’s ear...”

The relationship between Chengxing Entertainment and SY Entertainment, the two giants of the entertainment industry, was bound to make other production companies envious. Chaoyang Pictures in particular, which had always proclaimed itself the number-one entertainment company, could no longer sit still.

“What did SY say?”

Shen Mubai guessed that Mu Ran would personally deal with Gao Tiange.

The public-relations manager replied, “President An Lan of SY said that Chengxing Entertainment need not get involved.”

Shen Mubai nodded and prepared to leave.

However, just as he reached the office door and stepped outside, he suddenly stopped.

The public-relations manager’s entire body stiffened. Unease began to churn in his heart, and he had no idea what President Shen intended to do next.

Shen Mubai pointed at the zipper of the man’s trousers, then shifted his deep gaze toward the tightly closed door of the lounge.

“Have her come out. You’ll submit your resignations together.”

After saying this, Shen Mubai picked up the bottle of disinfectant spray beside the door and disgustedly sprayed some onto his hands.

“Before you leave, wipe down the desk.”

The moment Shen Mubai had entered the room, he had caught an indescribable odor—one that could only be described as wholly inappropriate for children.

Combined with the public-relations manager’s startled, terrified expression and the wet stain on his trousers, even a shrewd man like Shen Mubai could piece together most of what had happened.

He had never imagined that the head of such a vital department at headquarters would behave with such impunity.

“President Shen, I’ve already given you more respect than you deserve. You’re only the president of Chengxing Entertainment, a subsidiary of Chengxing Group. You have no authority to dismiss anyone at headquarters. As the manager of the public-relations department, I’m even less someone you have the right to fire.”

The man followed angrily behind Shen Mubai, glaring at the back of his head and pointing a finger at his spine.

“Oh? I have no authority?”

All the employees in the public-relations department turned to look at the two men.

What was going on?

Was their manager an idiot?

Did he not know about Shen Mubai’s relationship with President Gu Beicheng?

Shen Mubai turned around and leaned against the glass wall, pointing at the trousers of the short, flushed, round-bellied man.

“What? Shall we let everyone see your measurements?”

The public-relations manager hurriedly turned around and pulled up his zipper.

Shen Mubai swept a cold glance around at the curious employees who were enjoying the spectacle.

“How many times has President Gu emphasized this? All improper workplace relationships are forbidden! Hmm? What is this, then? Fooling around in the lounge? Have all of you started taking yourselves too seriously simply because President Gu hasn’t been at the company these past few days?”

“You, you short fat man. I know exactly who your father is. President Gu let you become public-relations manager because your father once served under Old Master Gu, and because your academic credentials were decent. But I’m removing you from that position now. Pack up and get out.”

Shen Mubai sighed inwardly.

At last, he understood what Gu Beicheng had meant when he told him before leaving to “deal with the company’s affairs.”