Xu Zifan looked at Feng Xuanqi in astonishment, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He had clearly prepared a huge feast, so why did she think of going to the lottery? Just thinking about how the chairman of Shenghuang secretly posted "Shenghuang is the best" made him feel quite mysterious. Sure enough, she was only twenty-one years old, but she still had a girlish side deep down.
Feng Xuanqi calmly put down her phone, as if she had only glanced at her schedule. Xu Zifan saw through her act but didn't say anything. He gestured for her to sit down, "President Feng, please have a seat and try it to see if you like it."
Feng Xuanqi sat demurely in her chair, first raising her wine glass and swirling the red wine inside, then smiled and said, "Welcome to the Holy Emperor. I hope we can achieve mutual success and a win-win situation in the future."
"Definitely, cheers!" Xu Zifan clinked glasses with her, took a sip of red wine, and urged her again, "President Feng, please try this. Consider it a thank you gift. Thank you, President Feng, for letting me leave Lihua and clearing my name of all my scandals."
Feng Xuanqi nodded, "Then I won't stand on ceremony, you eat too."
Feng Xuanqi finally picked up a piece of food with her chopsticks, her eyes lighting up after tasting it. Then, maintaining her chairman's dignity, she tried to eat as quickly as possible. After a few bites, she felt this wasn't quite right, so she changed the subject.
"You seem to have some artists you don't get along with at Lihua. What are your plans for the future? Will you just let it go or will you find a chance to settle the score?"
"Of course, I'll find an opportunity to settle scores," Xu Zifan said matter-of-factly, without any attempt to hide anything. "I don't need to do anything special. Once I'm in a much higher position than them, as long as I show even the slightest sign that I don't like them, someone will naturally make things difficult for them."
Feng Xuanqi raised an eyebrow in surprise and laughed, "That's a very honest answer. I thought you would show off your magnanimity in front of me. Aren't you afraid that others will think you're petty?"
"Of course I'll be 'generous' to outsiders, but we definitely need to be honest with each other." Xu Zifan saw her look up in surprise before changing the subject and continuing, "After all, we need to help each other succeed, and we shouldn't hide the truth from each other. That's how we can cooperate better."
Feng Xuanqi breathed a sigh of relief. Xu Zifan probably wasn't flirting with her; he was just talking about cooperation. She liked his honesty and raised her glass with a smile, saying, "Then let's toast to your honesty. I hope you can develop smoothly at Holy Emperor and realize your dreams as soon as possible."
"Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Feng." Xu Zifan took a sip of his drink and asked, "What do you think of the dishes, Mr. Feng? Are they alright?"
"It's delicious. Every dish is very well made. No wonder you can gain so many fans just because of your food skills." Feng Xuanqi thought for a moment and then tentatively asked, "Is it possible for your cooking skills to decline? Shouldn't you practice more often and have people taste-test your dishes? It would be troublesome if a fan went through a lot of trouble to win a prize and the taste disappointed them."
Xu Zifan had just taken a sip of soup when he heard this and almost spat it out. "Don't think I can't see through your intentions just because you're giving advice in such a serious tone." The subtext was clearly that he was just trying to freeload!
Xu Zifan swallowed the soup while suppressing a laugh, and put on a troubled expression. "I'm also worried about this. President Feng, you know my plans for the future. I'll definitely be very busy and won't have much time to cook carefully. My cooking skills might really decline."
You can't usually tell the difference by tasting it yourself; you'd have to find someone else to try it… I'm on good terms with the Chen Zaimin and Yi Xiao families, but they're also entertainers and very busy, so I feel bad about constantly bothering them. It's really not a good solution."
Feng Xuanqi put down her chopsticks and looked at him. "So, do you have any good ideas?"
Xu Zifan teased her on purpose, "How about letting my assistant try it? He follows me around all day, so it's the most convenient for him to try the food. It can also be considered a perk for him."
Feng Xuanqi's slightly upturned lips visibly flattened.
Xu Zifan then said, "No, he works for me, how could he dare say it's not good? Having the assistant taste it is useless. Otherwise... Dong Ge? He's my manager, he should help me keep an eye on things."
Feng Xuanqi lowered her eyes.
Xu Zifan laughed and said, "It's still not good. Besides me, Brother Dong also has a Best Actor and a Best Actress under him. He definitely needs to take care of them. I can't keep bothering him."
Xu Zifan looked at her as if he had just thought of something, and suddenly said, "President Feng, I heard that the chairman has a lot of social engagements, and sometimes he forgets to eat when he's busy, and he's also prone to stomach aches. Is that true?"
Feng Xuanqi said in a bad mood, "That's pretty much how it is during the rising phase."
Xu Zifan rested his chin on his hand and smiled at her, "Then, President Feng, could you help me with the taste test? Whenever I have time to cook, I'll send a portion to President Feng. That way, President Feng can eat on time and also check if my skills have deteriorated. It's a win-win situation. President Feng, please help me. You are the most suitable reviewer. I trust you."
Feng Xuanqi felt a flutter in her heart for a moment, the feeling of having delicious food in her hands!
"Okay, I recruited you with a lot of money, and I hope you do better and better. Work hard." Feng Xuanqi said calmly, and the corners of her mouth turned up again.
Perhaps the "tasting" brought the two closer, because they chatted while eating, and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Feng Xuanqi also gradually took off her cold mask and became much more approachable.
Feng Xuanqi ate a lot of the food on the table, showing her great enthusiasm. When the lottery results were announced, none of her five alternate accounts won, which made her feel a little disappointed, as if she had missed out on a fortune.
Xu Zifan consistently kept quiet despite his apparent understanding, and when preparing the three sets of dishes for the lucky draw, he also remade one of the dishes that Feng Xuanqi liked. He then sent the three sets of dishes intended for his fans to...
Go outside, then pack the four dishes and one soup for Feng Xuanqi and give them to her.
"President Feng, when you were at the company, I saw that you still had work to finish and you would probably be busy until very late. Take this back as a midnight snack, eat it and digest it for a while before going to sleep."
Feng Xuanqi was surprised and hadn't even realized what was happening when she took the food. "This is for me? You made one for me too?"
Xu Zifan stood in front of her, looking down at her with gentle eyes and a smile. "I don't know why, but I feel a special sense of belonging to the Holy Emperor. I also feel close to President Feng. He's easy to get along with, and I unconsciously want to care for him."
Feng Xuanqi felt something was off; why did those words sound a bit ambiguous?
He noticed a change in Feng Xuanqi's expression, and changed the subject, saying, "I have very few friends, and I've always wanted to make more friends I can talk to. However, I'm not powerful enough right now, so I don't dare to hope to be friends with President Feng. There's plenty of time in the future, and I hope I can realize my dream soon."
Feng Xuanqi said politely, "Friendship isn't based on social status. You're very kind, and you'll definitely make more and more friends. Thank you for your hospitality today and for the late-night snack. I'll be going now."
"I'll take you." Xu Zifan helped her carry her food and briefcase, walked her to the parking space, and watched her leave before going upstairs.
Feng Xuanqi was driving, with music playing softly as she hummed along, a bright smile on her face, clearly in a very good mood.
She didn't win the prize, but the prize was only for one dish, and Xu Zifan made her four dishes and a soup. This was like winning the grand prize! Moreover, Xu Zifan would make even more for her in the future, asking her to help taste them. She didn't even want to eat any other food.
She knew Xu Zifan would be very busy in the future, so she decided to give him more resources from the city and avoid sending him to other places if possible, otherwise she would run out of food.
She was busy processing documents until late at night. Around 11 p.m., she heated up her food, enjoyed a delicious meal, and then went to the gym to take a slow walk on the treadmill.
Before going to sleep, she thought of Xu Zifan again and couldn't help but sigh that he was really idol material. Even the things he said casually were so charming. If he went down the idol route, his fans would definitely love him to death. His talent for charming people was too strong.
Xu Zifan's fans love him now because they are either fans of his looks or foodies, and he completely satisfies them.
Right now, the online discussions about Xu Zifan are all harmonious. Tan Yi secretly hired online trolls to smear him, but his posts and comments were deleted instantly. The trolls' computers were even hacked and crashed. Tan Yi was furious and could only watch helplessly as fans showered Xu Zifan with compliments.
In the early hours of the morning, Xu Zifan asked Shao Hua to post a scoop online: "A detailed list of Tan Yi's past girlfriends, he only loves this one type."
The post contains pictures and evidence, all of which were dug up by Xu Zifan after hacking into Tan Yi's various former accounts.
Tan Yi has dated five girlfriends in total: three in high school and two in college. They were all the same type: long, straight black hair, oval face, fair skin, and good figure.
This certainly isn't a stain on his reputation, since he didn't cheat or toy with anyone's feelings. But he's a celebrity, and these sudden revelations give fans the feeling that their idol has been brought down from his pedestal.
Moreover, he changed five girlfriends in four years, which is completely different from the image of a devoted and loyal man that most people admire. Many people think he is a playboy.
Many people enjoyed the gossip and joked that Tan Yi was quite the ladies' man, quite different from his on-screen image.
Most netizens just joked about it and didn't think the story was particularly sensational. However, Tan Yi and Bai Xue were different. Bai Xue was furious when she saw the intimate photos of Tan Yi with his ex-girlfriends, but she managed to comfort herself by saying that it was all in the past.
But when she saw that Tan Yi's five ex-girlfriends all looked the same, she suddenly remembered Xu Zifan's words about marrying a wife to climb the social ladder.
She likes short, neat hair that never reaches her shoulders. She likes to dye her hair and changes its color from time to time. Moreover, her figure is a bit flat, not as curvy as her ex-girlfriends in the photos. She doesn't have an oval face; she has a heart-shaped face!
Why did Tan Yi's tastes change so drastically when it came to her? She's not his type at all. Is he with her because of love or social status?
Bai Xue was completely flustered. She turned off her phone and refused to contact Tan Yi; she needed to calm down. Chairman Bai was also displeased. Tan Yi was his prospective son-in-law, yet he had changed girlfriends so frequently in the past. How could he be good to his daughter? This person definitely needed to be observed for a while longer. He already felt some dislike and rejection towards Tan Yi.
Tan Yi was in a terrible predicament. His agent thought it wasn't a big deal, not a stain on his reputation, but he felt there was a huge problem. If he couldn't appease Bai Xue, what good would it do him to become a movie star? Could he compare to a company as big as Lihua?
He was so agitated that he didn't sleep all night, and finally couldn't stay awake any longer until dawn.
Xu Zifan, refreshed after a night of cultivation, was making breakfast when Shao Hua dropped the bombshell: "Tan Yi's current girlfriend is Bai Xue, the daughter of the chairman of Lihua Group. She has a penchant for subversion. Is it true love or something else?"