My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 142: Could It All Be a Conspiracy? (8000 words, asking for monthly passes!)

Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Could It All Be a Conspiracy? (8000 words, asking for monthly passes!)

.....

Chen Yan finished various deductions and calculations on his way home.

Upon arriving, he switched his shoes and glanced at his computer desktop.

The "Divine Summoning Incense" was still burning relentlessly, its smoke swirling upward as if it were endless.

After freshening up, Chen Yan decided to tackle things one at a time.

He first opened the game, then clicked on the "Profession Wealth Value" to withdraw funds.

As usual, the game provided Chen Yan with a string of special Bitcoin private keys along with the corresponding transaction time.

Chen Yan didn’t know how the game accurately predicted the optimal moment to sell a certain amount of Bitcoin to withdraw the expected amount of money, but it was always spot on.

So, following the prompt on his phone screen, he booted up his computer and started the operation.

Half an hour later, the transaction was complete, and Chen Yan’s account swelled by 20.24 million in cash.

For the first time, his cash reserves had reached the twenty-million level.

Never having held so much money before, Chen Yan felt momentarily like he was dreaming.

How long had he been playing this game? Now he possessed assets worth half a billion and twenty million in cash!

With this game, his dream of becoming the world’s richest wasn’t far-fetched at all!

While he was thinking this, a prompt suddenly popped up on his phone screen,

"Notice: The player’s cumulative cashback amount has exceeded thirty million. The following advice is offered: once the total withdrawal amount surpasses one billion, the game will change the modus of withdrawing funds, at which point the player must retain at least ten million in cash on hand. If there is insufficient cash, preventing full withdrawal, the game will not issue any compensatory funds."

Seeing the notice, the delighted Chen Yan paused for a moment.

Withdrawal amount surpassing a hundred million would change the method again?

And he needed to reserve ten million in cash?

Could it be... preparing him for some investment?

With furrowed brows, Chen Yan pondered.

Although this constant change in withdrawal methods was a bit troublesome, such varied methods of withdrawal were admittedly safer.

And... could he possibly make some extra money with the commercial opportunities provided by these withdrawal methods?

Could this... truly be the right way to play the game?

After hesitating for a while, Chen Yan jotted down this piece of information and his thoughts in his "Game Strategy Notebook."

He planned to give it a try when he had time.

After noting the information... Chen Yan put down his phone and proceeded to his second task of the evening.

He took out the Instant Camera photo of Yang Rou’s silhouette.

After one night, the Instant Film should have already "appraised" successfully.

So, Chen Yan turned it over to take a look.

"Yang Rou: Female, Producer, Professional Manager"

Personality Evaluation: This person is straightforward and serious. She works swiftly and decisively, doesn’t appreciate jokes, and holds grudges. Patient, ambitious, and assertsive. Confident and resilient.

Capability Evaluation: Possesses exceptionally strong judgment in film and television projects, fairly strong managerial skills, fairly strong organizational skills, moderate interpersonal skills, and weaker socializing abilities. Recommended to be responsible for film and television aspects.

Potential Evaluation: Possesses fairly high managerial potential that could be further developed. Other potentials are nearly maximized.

Overall Evaluation: A gold-standard producer with exceptional acumen in film and television projects. With her overseeing projects, you could almost leave everything to do with them in her hands.

Comprehensive Evaluation: Three and a half stars. (An extra star in the film and television industry)

Chen Yan was stunned by Yang Rou’s luxurious evaluations for a full fifteen seconds.

After a while, he opened a drawer and rummaged through it, finding and examining Lu Man’s Instant Film evaluation.

"Vain, willful, joker." "Poor acting skills," "Not much substance," "Likely to mess things up"...

Initially, when Chen Yan saw the game’s evaluation of Lu Man, he thought this method of evaluating people was comical, geared more towards humor rather than being rigorous.

But after seeing Yang Rou’s evaluation, Chen Yan suddenly realized... it was just Lu Man’s unique style, right?

Look at the string of positive traits in someone else’s personality evaluation, except for "holding grudges."

Then look at the string of "strong" in their capacity evaluation.

Lu Man, does your face hurt?

Contrasting Lu Man’s film against Yang Rou’s evaluation, Chen Yan didn’t hesitate anymore.

This talent, he must secure her! With her, setting aside other factors, that "five hundred million" box office for Lu Man seemed more likely to net at least two hundred million.

The rest... depends on how well the project chosen by Mei Li goes.

But what if Chenlu Company grows too successfully and profits immensely, and he is unable to continue investing?

Chen Yan hesitated momentarily.

Soon after, he waved off the concern.

Forget it, focus on the task at hand. Strive to reach five hundred million box office for "Love Lost in 23 Days" before considering what comes next.

At the very least, if he starts multiple projects and spends more money, he couldn’t believe he’d be refused in his endeavour to invest more... surely not.

...

[Yu Qiao Qiao’s Affection: 113]

[Lu Man’s Affection: 84] (Can’t Reach by Call -15, Touched +29, Looked Down Upon -5)

[Wealth Value: 38287]

[Profession Wealth: 0] (Withdrawn)

[Cash: 23.391 million+] (Withdrawal +20.24 million)

[Fixed Assets: 14.925 million]

....

The next day, Monday. The beginning of a new week.

In the morning, Chen Yan received a call from Yang Rou, expressing her willingness to join the new company.

But her demand for her position was to be the president of the film company, fully responsible for film investment, production, and other matters.

Although Chen Yan was very satisfied with her, he still sought the opinions of the other two shareholders considering the company was a partnership with Lu Man and Mei Li.

Compared to Lu Man, who was clueless, Mei Li understood the film circle much better. Overjoyed by the news of Yang Rou’s impending addition, Mei Li overwhelmingly voted approval, even casting Lu Man’s vote on her behalf.

With all three shareholders in agreement, Chen Yan formally accepted Yang Rou’s request.

Yang Rou proved to be as decisive and efficient as the game’s evaluation. Once Chen Yan confirmed, she came over to sign the contract by noon.

A salary of 2.9 million a year plus project bonuses and corresponding options for future performance over three years.

The offered conditions were generous, but justified.

Firstly, Yang Rou’s annual salary at Shanghe Film Industry was about 1.4 million, and secondly... judging by her track record with projects, one success could offset her salary expenses.

In comparison, Yang Rou didn’t even haggle over her salary.

She was more concerned about project bonuses and options because they signified that with a few years of hard work, she could become one of the company’s shareholders.

Such a transformation in status was what truly captivated her.

For Chen Yan...

Chen Yan didn’t care in the least. So what if more money was distributed, or even shares in the company? Every penny the company lacked, the game would double it back to him.

With Yang Rou on board, the company’s recruitment began to accelerate.

Chen Yan didn’t treat her like an outsider, handing over all recruitment-related matters for the film company to her. Other than a few key positions which required Chen Yan’s final approval, the rest was handled by Yang Rou.

.....

In the afternoon, at Tiandu Airport’s VIP lounge, Director Zhang sat leisurely nibbling on something while wearing sunglasses.

Opposite him was Xu Zhaoqing.

On their table lay several flight tickets, destined from Tiandu to Qin Island an hour later.

At that moment, however, Xu Zhaoqing was making a grim phone call.

"Um. I understand."

"Yang Rou has confirmed she’s joining? Alright."

After a moment, Xu Zhaoqing ended the call.

Director Zhang, still chewing a piece of bread, raised his head and asked, "What’s up?"

Xu Zhaoqing said sombrely, "Yang Rou has confirmed her decision to join Chenlu Film Company."

Director Zhang’s hand paused in motion.

After a few moments, he slowly resumed chewing, "If she has joined, let her be. She surely won’t openly step out and challenge us to a contest, will she?"

Xu Zhaoqing said, "According to the information my subordinates just gathered, Chen Yan values Yang Rou highly. He has directly appointed her as the president of the film company."

"The company’s affairs are entrusted entirely to her. She even gets to pick her own team to set up the new company."

"Rumors say Chen Yan only has one requirement of Yang Rou: that all projects must involve Lu Man, and she must be promoted by all means."

"Everything else is trivial."

Director Zhang was slightly taken aback, then he lifted his head, "That drastic? Is he not afraid of being marginalized or his subordinates embezzling?"

Xu Zhaoqing slowly shook his head, "Perhaps... he doesn’t care much about a small film company?"

"After all, his ultimate goal has always been to promote Lu Man."

"Or perhaps he is indeed that confident, a boss who dares to delegate?"

Director Zhang fell silent for a while.

He put down the bread in his hand.

"How are we going to handle this now that Yang Rou is gone?"

Xu Zhaoqing felt troubled.

He couldn’t help saying, "It would’ve been better if we had gone earlier."

Director Zhang gave him a look, objecting, "If we had gone earlier, would he have given up Yang Rou for us?"

"Everyone knows Yang Rou’s calibre. Any company would welcome her."

"As long as she avoids deliberately competing against us, risking mutual destruction, she remains the sharpest sword in the circle."

"Do you think, Chen Yan would give her up?"

Xu Zhaoqing knew his words sounded somewhat blaming Director Zhang, something he regretted, so he added, "Indeed. No one would refuse her."

"And besides, their speed is too fast."

"I really didn’t expect they would have signed the contract within one day."

Hearing Xu Zhaoqing’s words, Director Zhang was momentarily stunned.

The wrinkles on his square face deepened.

After a while, he suddenly lifted his head, looking at Xu Zhaoqing, "Lao Xu... do you think... could this all have been a conspiracy from the beginning?"

Xu Zhaoqing looked bewildered, "What conspiracy?" freewebnøvel.com

Director Zhang’s face was etched with thought, "Don’t you find all this too coincidental?"

"A mere second-tier celebrity daring to snatch my promotional resources."

"Following the ban, Wang Meili immediately resigned blaming herself, and Yang Rou started discussing departure with Shanghe Film Industry."

"Soon after, within days, Lu Man and Wang Meili found a new financial backer. The new backer avidly supports them."

"And then... the day after Yang Rou’s departure is confirmed, she joins this new company."

"All the pieces fall into place."

Having spoken, Director Zhang felt that everything seemed to fall into order. He looked at Xu Zhaoqing, asserting, "Doesn’t it all seem too convenient to you?!"

"It’s a trap against us!"

Surprised by Director Zhang’s words, Xu Zhaoqing also looked at him in astonishment.

Although Xu Zhaoqing thought such an analysis was a bit far-fetched, going along with Director Zhang’s reasoning, he too began to sense something fishy.

Lowering his head and stroking his chin, he murmured, "Huh... I’m starting to see some sense in your words..."

"Your temper is well-known in the industry."

"Knowing full well it would anger you, Lu Man deliberately messed with your business, affecting your new film’s shoot."

"You flew into a rage and banned her."

"Then, they use the opportunity to slip away, luring you into their trap step by step, undermining your standing and voice within the industry."

"Thus, when you begin your new film, any mischief from their side could distract you. If your new film flops, then you..."

At that, he looked up, his face unbelieving as he looked at Director Zhang.

Director Zhang nodded seriously, then gritted his teeth, "That damned Yang Rou! After all these years, she still hasn’t forgotten that incident."

Xu Zhaoqing’s mouth fell open; probably wanting to dissuade Director Zhang from being so sensitive. But... with so many coincidences laid before him, he began to believe that perhaps this was indeed a conspiracy.

Especially as it involved past grievances and the Xu Brothers Film Company, he had to be cautious.

At that thought, an image suddenly flashed across his mind; he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Luckily... only Yang Rou has stepped into this. If Song Chuang got involved, that would complicate matters."

Director Zhang pondered briefly and then nodded slightly, "Indeed."

"Now that Yang Rou has become the president of the film company, Song Chuang, with his status, wouldn’t serve as a subordinate, so he likely isn’t involved. His resignation must be coincidence."

Xu Zhaoqing nodded and asked, "So, Lao Zhang, what’s your plan?"

Director Zhang thought hard for a minute.

Then, he looked up at Xu Zhaoqing, "What else can we do? They have designed this whole thing against us; we can’t just let them bully us."

"So... whether it’s the Zhao Family or the Wang Family, this is the film industry, the entertainment industry, not their medical or real estate business. In the film industry, are we afraid of them?"

Hearing Director Zhang say this, Xu Zhaoqing frowned and sat down on the chair, contemplating the gains and losses of the situation.

If it’s all a misunderstanding, but Yang Rou has already become their president, any chance of reconciliation on their part is virtually impossible.

And if it’s all a conspiracy, that means Chen Yan’s side has been targeting their company and Director Zhang from the start, then there’s no point in backing down.

That means... they don’t have a choice.

After all, they could not go to Chen Yan and suggest, "Resign Yang Rou, and we can be friends."

The other side would think them fools.

Thinking this, Xu Zhaoqing began to weigh the risks and "chances of winning" against Chen Yan...