Chapter 846 — The Scam Company

"All right. Go ahead and make the arrangements." Wei Zhao had not expected Lai Pangzi to have everything planned so thoroughly, and it came as something of a surprise.

"As for Xiaofen, I'll have her start out in quality control. The position of quality-control manager is vacant at the moment, but there's no rush to put her in it. Once she's familiar with the work, we can promote her to manager." Lai Pangzi explained.

"You've thought it through carefully." Wei Zhao was a classic case of nepotism, but neither Kang Xiaobo nor Xiaofen would let their connections go to their heads. Kang Xiaobo might be Wei Zhao's younger brother, but was not Lai Pangzi, the company's general manager, also Wei Zhao's younger brother?

Given Kang Xiaobo's grades, he could not realistically get into any respectable university. At best, he would end up at some third-rate school. It was not that he lacked diligence; he simply was not particularly gifted. He was nowhere near as clever as the young lady or Shen Yushu, and he was not especially shrewd either. No matter how hard he studied, he could only maintain a position somewhere in the lower middle of his class.

Kang Xiaobo had come to terms with that some time ago. He had therefore decided to put his studies aside and devote his energy to managing the company instead. When the time came, he could muddle through at some third-rate university, then pursue an MBA or something similar after the company had achieved results. It was not a bad path to take.

Kang Xiaobo's parents had evidently reached the same conclusion. What was the point of studying hard for ten years? Was it not to secure a good job in the future? Now he had one, and not just any job, but the position of vice president. In this day and age, even a PhD who had returned from overseas could not simply be handed a vice-presidential post without experience or connections.

After Wei Zhao left, Lai Pangzi began working his connections and searching for a way in. To ordinary people, the contact details of entertainers might be closely guarded secrets, but to wealthy businessmen they were nothing of the sort. They were always organizing events and seeking celebrity endorsements, and entertainment companies were more than willing to work with them.

Lai Pangzi soon located the entertainment company that represented Xu Shilan and got in touch with her manager.

It had to be said that managers of top-tier stars like Xu Shilan tended to be rather overbearing. The moment she answered the phone, she demanded brusquely, "Who is this? What do you want?"

Lai Pangzi frowned at her tone, but answered patiently all the same. "Hello. I'm calling from a company. We'd like to work with Miss Xu Shilan..."

Hearing that Lai Pangzi represented a company, the manager's tone eased somewhat, though it remained distinctly cold. "Which company? What kind of resources do you have? What sort of cooperation are you seeking with Miss Xu? Is it an appearance at an event or an endorsement deal?"

Her indifference was understandable. Countless people called to harass Xu Shilan every day, and her manager was sick to death of it. Until she had confirmed the caller's identity, there was no chance she would let her guard down.

"Hello. I'm Lai Changyi, general manager of Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals. I'm calling because we'd like Miss Xu Shilan to endorse one of our products and attend a launch event for it." Lai Pangzi could tell that the manager was a brisk, no-nonsense woman, so he dispensed with the pleasantries and stated his purpose directly.

"Doctor Guan Pharmaceuticals?" The woman paused in evident surprise. Then she asked, "Is that Guan Xuemin's company?"

"Yes... Doctor Guan is Guan Xuemin..." Lai Pangzi nodded. It seemed she had heard of the company after all.

"Guan Xuemin's company? Isn't that a scam company? What kind of Doctor Guan? He's Doctor Con Man!" The manager's tone turned vicious at once. Before Lai Pangzi could say another word, she slammed the phone down with a sharp click.

"Beep... beep... beep..." Lai Pangzi held the receiver to his ear as the dead line droned on, utterly at a loss whether to laugh or cry. How had Guan Xuemin become a con man? And how had his own company become a scam company? When had he ever offended Xu Shilan's manager?

"Sister Wang, why were you speaking so loudly? And why did you call them con men?" A voice as sweet as the sound of heaven rose behind Wang-jie. A young woman in a bathrobe approached, her fair, translucent skin touched with a delicate flush. She looked like a fairy fresh from her bath. Moisture still clung to her loosely falling hair, and though not a trace of powder or rouge touched her lovely face, she remained captivatingly beautiful.

She was the superstar Xu Shilan, adored by countless fans and treated as a youth idol by scores of middle-school and university students. Yet at that moment she had none of a great star's hauteur. She came up behind her manager like a mischievous girl and bent over to look at her phone, wanting to see whom she had just called.

Wang-jie immediately abandoned her earlier frostiness. Concern spread across her face as she turned to Xu Shilan. "Xiaohan, are you feeling better?"

"I'm all right. Really, I'm fine..." Xu Shilan shook her head and gave her a sweet smile. "You don't have to worry about me, Sister Wang. By the way, you still haven't told me what happened earlier. And why have you been so irritable lately? You sound icy every time you answer the phone..."

"It's not that I'm being icy. Some entertainment reporters keep pretending to be fans or potential partners and calling to pry into this and that. It's infuriating!" Wang-jie sighed. "I suppose we'll have to change the number soon. Far too many people know this one."

"But what if someone really is calling to discuss a collaboration?" Xu Shilan nodded, then asked.

"I can tell within a few sentences whether someone is serious about working with us. Some people have more money than sense and call just to amuse themselves. Our Xiaohan isn't that kind of woman. If they want to flirt with a celebrity, they can go bother someone else!" After several years as an agent, Wang-jie had developed a pair of eyes sharp enough to see through anything. Any company capable of offering Xu Shilan a serious endorsement fee would be a well-known corporation. It certainly would not be some obscure little firm no one had ever heard of.

"Oh... So that last caller was someone you didn't want to work with?" Xu Shilan knew Wang-jie was only looking out for her, so she was not offended. She had lost her mother when she was very young and had depended on the Wang family's daughter next door ever since. Whenever people bullied her back then, Wang-jie had always stood in front of her and protected her.

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