I'm Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten

Chapter 155: Chapter 137: Jiang Jingshi’s Proposal

During the drive, Lin Zhengran asked where they were headed.

Jiang Jingshi replied, ”I know a restaurant that serves excellent French cuisine. How about I take you there to try it, Zhengran?”

Lin Zhengran thought that was a bit much:

”There’s no need, Jiang. We came out this afternoon to talk business, not specifically for a meal. Besides, I have to head back tonight. We can just find somewhere to talk.”

Jiang Jingshi’s gentle eyes turned to Lin Zhengran. ”But we did say last time that we still had a meal to get to.”

”Yes, but I’m guessing the French restaurant you mentioned isn’t cheap, Jiang. I’m afraid if I accept this meal, I won’t know when I can return the favor. You were the one who paid last time, after all.”

She laughed. ”Do we really need to keep such careful track?” She had an idea. ”How about this? If you really don’t want to go somewhere like that, Zhengran, let me ask you... what did you have for dinner last night?”

Lin Zhengran didn’t know what she was getting at. ”Scrambled eggs with tomato. From the school cafeteria.”

”Was it good?”

He shrugged. ”Not really. It’s cafeteria food, you can imagine.”

Jiang Jingshi covered her mouth with the back of her hand and laughed. ”That’s what I figured. Well then, how about this? Forget the restaurant. Tonight, I’ll personally make you some scrambled eggs with tomato. A simple home-cooked meal. We’ll go straight to my music team’s office.”

The driver, though silent, was surprised. ’President Jiang is going to cook for someone?’ In all the years he’d worked for Jiang Jingshi, he had never seen such a thing.

Jiang Jingshi found an excuse for the meal. ”Besides, cooking is a hobby of mine. And I make excellent scrambled eggs with tomato. It’s not expensive. Of course, if you feel bad about me spending all the money, Zhengran, how about you buy the tomatoes and eggs?”

Lin Zhengran smiled. He didn’t really care what they ate. ”Alright, that works for dinner. Thank you for the trouble, Jiang.”

”It’s no trouble at all.” She called to the driver, ”To the supermarket.”

The driver grunted in acknowledgment. ”Yes, President Jiang.”

The car turned and headed for the supermarket. And so, Lin Zhengran and Jiang Jingshi, rather bizarrely, went and bought some tomatoes and eggs.

Afterward, they went to Jiang Jingshi’s music team’s studio.

When they arrived, there were still many singers inside the studio practicing and rehearsing. The moment they saw Jiang Jingshi, many stood up to greet her. ”President Jiang is here.”

”Hello, President Jiang!”

Jiang Jingshi nodded at them in response.

Lin Zhengran walked alongside Jiang Jingshi, taking in the layout of her music studio. The place was worlds apart from Jiang Xueli’s studio.

For one, the space alone was about twice as large.

It was a three-story design, with a circular staircase on each side in addition to the elevator. It had everything you could ask for: personal lounges, break rooms, and more.

The style was grand yet minimalist.

And even though it was a place where singers gathered, the soundproofing was excellent.

Lin Zhengran had been to Jiang Xueli’s studio many times. There, you could stand outside a room and, without even getting too close, clearly hear the sounds from within, though the singers didn’t disturb each other since they wore headphones to practice.

But here at Jiang Jingshi’s place, as Lin Zhengran walked past the rooms and observed the singers in the practice booths through glass walls, he could barely hear their singing unless he strained his ears.

’Such a huge difference between a company founded by the rich and one founded by the not-so-rich.’

Jiang Jingshi seemed to notice his reaction and said, a little sheepishly:

”I invested far more money into this music studio than my taekwondo investment. After all, the music industry requires a lot of resources. But... a single New Star Chart revealed all our flaws. We’re still not quite there yet.”

Lin Zhengran gave his honest assessment. ”I wouldn’t say that. Your music team is very strong, Jiang. Compared to the contestants from other studios, they were overwhelmingly dominant.”

Jiang Jingshi said meaningfully, ”And yet, we still lost to you?”

Lin Zhengran just smiled.

”It was just good luck.”

Jiang Jingshi’s lips curved into a smile as well. She didn’t believe in luck. ’Skill is skill.’

The two of them arrived at her office and opened the door. Jiang Jingshi’s office was simpler than he had imagined.

Aside from a water cooler, a sofa, a computer desk, and a file cabinet, there was nothing else.

Before closing the door, she gave an order to the people outside, having learned her lesson: ”Don’t disturb me unless it’s important. And remember to knock if you need something.”

Her subordinates thought to themselves, ’When have we ever dared not to knock?’

But they nodded anyway.

Jiang Jingshi closed the door and drew the curtains.

Lin Zhengran blinked, curious.

Jiang Jingshi gracefully picked up a file from her desk and sat down next to Lin Zhengran. ”I’ve investigated the matter over the past couple of days. You can take a look.”

Lin Zhengran took the file and began to flip through it. He saw that it was filled with information about a company called Pan Cheng Electronics.

Jiang Jingshi explained:

”This Pan Cheng Electronics has been making a name for itself in the internet sector for the past two years. They’ve been a competitor to our Jiang Group on several occasions. But because we’re an established enterprise with a loyal customer base, they’ve repeatedly hit a wall.”

”Of course, you can’t win all the time; they’ve won a few times too. But even so, after several clashes, they haven’t really come out ahead overall.”

Lin Zhengran continued to read through the file.

He saw some photos in the file, as well as information about the singers from New Star Music.

”So what you’re saying, Jiang, is that this Pan Cheng Electronics was the one that orchestrated the incident at the last music competition?”

Jiang Jingshi nodded.

”That’s right. New Star Music and that singer of mine, Jiang Cheng, took money from Pan Cheng Electronics Company during the last competition. Their company has a new product launch coming up, and they were probably planning to use the competition to generate buzz and direct customers their way.”

Jiang Jingshi added a reminder:

”Of course, this was all done under the table. On the surface, there’s no evidence that they were really the ones behind it. But besides them, no one else would dare pull something like this.”

”There’s a vice president at Pan Cheng Electronics who is fond of these sorts of dirty tricks. And since their plan failed, I’ve heard they’ve now set their sights on the current New Star Chart. They’ll probably make a move soon.”

Lin Zhengran studied the information in the file on Jiang Xueli and the music studio from his own town.

”A move... to acquire our studio?”

Jiang Jingshi nodded with a smile.

”Most likely. Because even though you’ve beaten me twice, Zhengran, the truth is, I’d never lost so thoroughly before I met you. And you have no resources to speak of.”

”I, on the other hand, have money and connections. And yet I still lost. So it’s not just my people who were shocked; I imagine people from other companies would be shocked to see this too.”

She said seriously:

”In any case, as long as the people at Pan Cheng Electronics aren’t fools, they will definitely want to get their hands on a talent like Jiang Xueli. Especially since the studio behind you has no backing.”

”It would be incredibly simple for them to deal with a music studio like that. They’re watching the chart rankings obsessively right now. I think they’re probably getting ready to make their move.”

Lin Zhengran finished reading the file and closed it.

”Mm, and the owner of our studio definitely won’t agree to an acquisition. She’s someone with a lot of dreams. Her team has been lukewarm for years, but she’s always been dedicated to discovering and nurturing new talent.”

”So if Pan Cheng Electronics fails to poach her talent, they’ll probably resort to other methods to force the studio to give people up.”

”Yes. Also, there’s something I haven’t told you, Zhengran. A while ago, I also approached your studio’s owner about an acquisition. I even tried to buy out Jiang Xueli’s contract.”

Lin Zhengran looked at Jiang Jingshi, seemingly having expected this.

Jiang Jingshi was shocked by Lin Zhengran’s calm reaction, yet at the same time, not surprised. ”My thinking was that if I could recruit Jiang Xueli, you would follow her, right, Zhengran? In the end, the one I really want is you.”

They looked into each other’s eyes. A faint blush appeared on Jiang Jingshi’s face.

”Of course, my recruitment plan failed in the end. Your owner has no intention of being acquired and turned me down. This proves one thing: if I couldn’t get her, then Pan Cheng Electronics definitely won’t be able to get Jiang Xueli either. But their people... they aren’t as gentle as I am.”

”So the studio is bound to run into trouble.”

”Not necessarily ’bound to’.” Jiang Jingshi leaned back on the sofa and crossed her legs.

”Let’s say high probability. The good thing is that we know what they’re planning in advance, so we can take precautions. But I have to remind you, Zhengran, even if you manage to weather this storm, forgive my bluntness, but that little studio of yours simply can’t support a budding treasure like Jiang Xueli.”

Jiang Jingshi’s voice suddenly grew much softer as she looked at Lin Zhengran. ”And you won’t stay there forever either, right? I had someone look into the contract Jiang Xueli signed with the studio. It wouldn’t be difficult for her to leave.”

Lin Zhengran suddenly laughed as he looked at her. ”I understand what you mean, Jiang. You still hope that Jiang Xueli and I will come over to your side?”

To his surprise, Jiang Jingshi shook her head, a delighted smile on her face.

”No. I already asked you about that last time, and you refused, Zhengran. Since that’s the case, I won’t be so tactless as to ask again. What I want to say this time is... if you trust me, Zhengran, how about we open a studio together?”

”You and me, Jiang?”

”Mm-hm.” She pointed at herself and then at Lin Zhengran with utmost sincerity.

”I’ll be the vice president, and you’ll be the president. I’ll support you. You’re still young, but with me teaching you, I think you’ll learn the company’s affairs very quickly. We can put both our names down as the legal representatives, or if you’re worried about the risk, we can just put mine.”

”Whenever you’re ready to be the president, we can draft a contract and add your name at any time. You’ll get the larger share of the stocks; I’ll take less. In short, I would never cheat you. I’m being completely sincere.”

She let out a long breath, still a little afraid that Lin Zhengran would refuse. ”I know that starting a company together is risky unless you completely trust your partner. So this time, you’ll provide the talent, Zhengran, and I’ll provide the money.”

”That way, even if we end up losing money, you won’t lose a thing. And I’m confident that with the two of us working together, we’ll only make money, not lose it. Because we’re investing in people, too.”

Her gaze was as gentle as water.

”Think about it, Zhengran. Jiang Xueli and He Qing are both very young right now, but their talent is already beginning to show.”

”Their careers will develop very quickly from here on out. And without a stable backer, they will always face resistance. But if you have your own company, it’s different. They won’t have to be at the mercy of others anymore. And I will definitely do my best to help you.”

Lin Zhengran hadn’t expected Jiang Jingshi to propose something like this.

Especially since, from her description, there was almost no downside for him.

Jiang Jingshi took the file from his hands.

”I know you’re going to ask me why I’m doing this. Because other than winning you over, Zhengran, there’s no other benefit for me. But... to be honest, I actually think it’s worth it. Maybe this is what it means to appreciate talent.”

’Although it might also be because of some other emotions at play.’

The moment she finished speaking, there was a sudden knock on the door. ”President Jiang, it’s urgent!”

Jiang Jingshi looked towards the door. ”What is it? Just say it.”

The person standing at the door replied, ”It’s the studio you had us keeping an eye on. There’s a problem!”