How to Stir the Antagonist

Once the Li Group fell into Li Xingqing’s hands, it was naturally no longer what it had been under Li Ji. She made sweeping cuts, cutting away a great many useless projects and ousting a whole batch of incompetent executives who had been coasting along doing nothing. The side businesses Li Ji had forced in over the years just to pad out appearances were swept away overnight.

That was bound to offend plenty of people; but at the same time, several upcoming Li Group projects were announced as joint ventures with the Jiang family, which drew even more attention.

Back when Li Ji was in charge, he had tried several times to curry favor with the Jiang family, only to be completely ignored. Yet now that Li Xingqing had taken over, the Jiang family had come knocking to cooperate? And not just on one project, but several at once. That made it clear this wasn’t ordinary business at all; it was a real show of support.

This forced many people who hadn’t quite understood the situation to reassess it. When Li Ji had been in power, most of them had been fence-sitters, leaning whichever way held the most power. Now Li Xingqing had cleaned house with ruthless efficiency and brought in the Jiang family as a backer; the direction of the wind had suddenly become crystal clear.

So those who had been waiting and wavering started moving at once. Invitations to all kinds of dinners came in like snowflakes. Li Xingqing declined most of them; occasionally, she would attend one or two, sit down, and say nothing.

Her attitude only made more people uneasy. They were afraid the next target of her blade would be them. Seeing that Li Xingqing was neither easy to flatter nor easy to intimidate, they had no choice but to dig around and try to figure out her temperament.

And that was how the capital-grab-and-script-snatching scandal from years ago, which had once caused a huge stir, was dug up again. Following the threads, quite a few people pulled Xi Zhen’s name back into the story as well.

With old matters resurfacing, a few people who thought themselves clever automatically filled in the blanks and cooked up a drama of their own: Xi Zhen and Li Xingqing must have some kind of grudge, right?

Once that idea took root, people began making plans of their own.

After Li Xingqing took office, she had acted with such force that countless people wanted to win her favor but couldn’t find a way in. She didn’t accept gifts, she didn’t attend dinners, and even flattery had nowhere to land. But now, if they could help Boss Li “teach a lesson” to the person who had opposed her back then, wouldn’t that be a golden opportunity handed to them on a platter?

As for these undercurrents, Li Xingqing still didn’t know much. She had been so busy lately that her feet barely touched the ground, with no time to deal with those roundabout little schemes. She also had no idea that someone had already set Xi Zhen up in the shadows as a target for “pleasing” her.

All she knew was this: Xi Zhen had started ignoring her again.

The flowers sent over every day had vanished. Messages took ages to get a reply, and when they did, they were only lukewarm one-liners. Calls were answered after just a few rings, but the tone was flat as boiled water. Xi Zhen would answer whatever was asked; if a question was hard to answer, she would simply fall silent, never adding a single extra word, as though Li Xingqing were some kind of plague.

Her attitude was neither cold nor warm; it was as if she had pushed Li Xingqing outside some invisible boundary.

Li Xingqing’s brows knitted tighter and tighter. Something felt wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She picked up her phone again, pulled up the chat with Xi Zhen, typed a line, deleted it, typed another, deleted that too. After several repeats, she finally sent: “Do you have time today, sis?”

After sending it, she laid the phone face down on the desk and stared at the ceiling.

Three minutes, five minutes, ten minutes... Her phone vibrated. Li Xingqing flipped it over at once, only to see Xi Zhen’s cool reply.

Xi Zhen: [Can’t today. I have something to do.]

Li Xingqing stared at those six words, her lips pressing into a thin line. Something to do; again, something to do. She drew a slow breath and picked up the desk phone.

The assistant answered quickly. “Boss Li, go ahead.”

“Find out what Xi Zhen has been doing lately.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, then a crisp reply: “Understood.”

Li Xingqing hung up and leaned back in her chair, tapping the desktop idly with her fingers. Her gaze drifted to the window. It was raining outside.

Summer storms came fast and hard. Raindrops slammed against the glass with sharp, popping sounds. Water streamed down the window, turning the neon lights outside into a blur of shifting color.

Ten minutes later, the desk phone rang.

“Boss Li, I’ve got it. Ms. Xi has been busy with the new drama’s project launch; it looks like she’s trying to raise investment.” The assistant paused. “And it doesn’t seem to be going well.”

Raising investment?

Li Xingqing’s fingers stopped on the desktop, her expression unreadable.

Why wasn’t Xi Zhen coming to her? She was right here; the Li Group’s resources were right here. As long as Xi Zhen asked, she could give her anything.

But Xi Zhen hadn’t. She would rather go alone to those dinners and smile for others’ approval than come to her.

Li Xingqing’s expression darkened by the second. Was it because of what Xi Zhen had said that day? That line about them not being a good fit? Or was it because she had been too busy lately, making Xi Zhen feel she couldn’t be relied on?

Or did Xi Zhen see her, Li Xingqing, as no different from those investors who required socializing, flattery, and careful probing?

At that thought, Li Xingqing’s brows drew even tighter. She suddenly felt irritated, her fingers unconsciously toying with the fountain pen beside her.

With a sharp clack, the pen was swept ruthlessly to the floor by its owner, rolling to the edge of the desk before coming to rest quietly on the carpet.

Li Xingqing didn’t even look at it. She only took a deep breath and instructed the assistant, “Find out exactly what Xi Zhen is doing tonight. If it’s a dinner,” she paused, then emphasized, “where it is, who’s there, what kind of event it is. I want every detail.”

The assistant was highly efficient and quickly sent over a string of messages.

“Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Hall 3 at Baiyujing, Starlight Entertainment industry networking event.”

“Starlight Entertainment signed an annual strategic cooperation agreement with Qingshi Culture, a Li Group subsidiary, last month. They’re currently negotiating joint investment in three projects.”

“Starlight Entertainment’s President Zhou Ping will be attending tonight.”

Starlight Entertainment, Zhou Ping.

Li Xingqing looked at the name and felt oddly familiar, yet she couldn’t quite remember where she had heard it.

“Let President Zhou know,” Li Xingqing said calmly, “that I’m free today and would like to drop by.”

The assistant clearly froze. “Tonight? But you...” Tonight wasn’t she still supposed to be busy?

“I’ve cleared my schedule temporarily,” Li Xingqing cut in. “Tell him not to make a fuss; just leave me a seat.” She was afraid Xi Zhen would hear about it and decide not to come at all just to avoid her. That was exactly the kind of thing Xi Zhen would do.

“...Understood, Boss Li.” The assistant quickly sent the invitation to Xi Zhen’s phone.

Seeing the invitation on her screen, Li Xingqing ignored the stack of urgent red documents spread across the desk, stood up, picked up her car keys, and strode out of the office. The rain outside had eased somewhat; it was now a light, steady drizzle, as if it were grumbling about something.

The door closed softly behind her, and the lights in the corridor brightened one by one as she passed.

Li Xingqing pressed the elevator button and watched the numbers tick downward floor by floor. She remembered what the assistant had just told her: “Ms. Xi really values this project,” “She’s been polishing it for two years,” “But the subject matter is too niche; many people aren’t optimistic about it.”

The elevator reached the underground garage. She stepped out, found her car, opened the door, and got in.

Raindrops struck the windshield. The wipers hadn’t been turned on yet, so the water on the glass smeared the lights outside into blurred halos. Li Xingqing switched on the wipers and drove onto the main road. The rain outside, the rush of tires through standing water, the scrape of the wipers moving back and forth, all tangled together, making her restless.

When Zhou Ping received the call from Li Xingqing’s assistant, he thought he was dreaming.

He had been in a state of utter disarray lately. Starlight Entertainment’s accounts did not have enough money to carry them through the quarter.

Last year, two major projects had flopped in succession, and a large number of popular artists had terminated their contracts. His position had long since become unstable. If it weren’t for his wife barely managing to secure a few joint investments with Qingshi, he probably would have been forced out already; that was also why he had completely neglected Song Xunqing.

Back when Song Xunqing was at the height of her popularity, she had been his cash cow. He had been more than willing to prop her up, and even his wife had turned a blind eye. But now Song Xunqing was wrapped in scandal and hated by everyone; he had no intention of wading into that muddy water.

Still, he never would have imagined that the new boss of the Li Group would actually be willing to attend his little banquet.

One had to know: after that boss ruthlessly sent her illegitimate brother in, she could be said to have real power in her hands. Yet for someone like that, the number of public appearances she had made since taking office could be counted on one hand. So many people had begged and pleaded, only to receive the same answer every time: “Boss Li’s schedule is full.” There were even rumors in the circle that the new boss was hideously ugly and hated socializing at all costs.

But now, she was willing to come to his evening event.

Zhou Ping slowly straightened up, his back suddenly stiff with renewed energy. He had no choice but to start believing those groundless rumors.

What was it again? When Boss Li had been exiled after being harmed by her illegitimate brother, by some twist of fate she had ended up on Xi Zhen’s set, only to be kicked when she was down. And Boss Li supposedly hated women like Xi Zhen the most; anyone who got along with Xi Zhen was making an enemy of her.

Before, Zhou Ping had thought these were nothing more than gossip from unknown sources and utterly untrustworthy. But at this critical moment, Li Xingqing was coming in person; didn’t that mean everything had a trail to follow?

Zhou Ping steadied himself. Then, as if a thought had just struck him, a huge grin spread across his face. If Li Xingqing knew about all the tricks he had pulled against Xi Zhen over the years, and if he could use this chance to help Li Xingqing get revenge on Xi Zhen, then perhaps, in a good mood, she might casually let something useful slip his way. Wouldn’t that solve his immediate crisis?

Exactly. That was the logic.

Who was Li Xingqing? The new helm of the Li Group; even the Jiang family had to give her some respect. If even a tiny bit slipped through her fingers, a project investment, some platform resources, or even just a single sentence—it would be enough to keep Starlight Entertainment afloat for three years.

And all he had to do to get that was set a few traps for Xi Zhen at tonight’s banquet and make that overconfident woman lose face in public. A deal like that was worth it.

The more Zhou Ping thought about it, the more workable the plan seemed. He pulled out his phone and dialed Song Xunqing.

“Xunqing, it’s not that I didn’t help you back then. It was really that I could barely protect myself. But after all these years of friendship, could I really just forget you? Don’t worry; as long as you seize tonight’s chance, I guarantee you’ll get back to the top.”