Chapter 846 — A Scam Company

"All right, I'll leave the arrangements to you." Wei Zhao hadn't expected Fatty Lai to have everything so neatly in hand, and it caught him a little by surprise.

"As for Xiaofen, I'll have her start in the quality inspection department for now. The manager's post there is still vacant — once she's got the hang of the work, there'll be time enough to move her into it," Fatty Lai explained.

"You've thought it through thoroughly." Wei Zhao was the classic nepotist, but neither Kang Xiaofeng nor Xiaofen would ever let that connection go to their heads. Kang Xiaofeng was Wei Zhao's underling, true — but wasn't Fatty Lai, the company's general manager, Wei Zhao's underling as well?

With grades like Kang Xiaofeng's, he realistically had no hope of getting into any decent university; at best a third-rate one. It wasn't for lack of effort — the boy simply wasn't gifted. He had none of the Young Miss's or Shen Yushu's cleverness, and not a scheming bone in his body, so no matter how hard he studied, he could never climb above the lower-middle of the pack.

Kang Xiaofeng had come around to seeing things clearly some time ago, so he had simply set his studies aside and poured his energy into managing the company instead. By and by he could coast through some third-rate university, and once he'd racked up real achievements on the business side, he could go for an MBA or the like — not a bad path at all.

Kang's parents had clearly come to the same conclusion. What were ten years of grinding over books for? Wasn't it all for a good job in the end? Now the job was in hand — and not just any job, but a vice presidency. These days, even a PhD from overseas couldn't land you a VP title straight out of the gate without experience and connections.

After Wei Zhao left, Fatty Lai set about working his contacts. The phone numbers of entertainment-circle celebrities might be closely guarded secrets to ordinary folk, but not to men of means like him — they were always putting on events and hunting for endorsements, and the agencies were only too happy to cooperate.

Fatty Lai quickly tracked down the agency representing Xu Shilan and got in touch with her manager.

It had to be said, managers of top-tier stars like Xu Shilan carried themselves with real attitude. Picking up the phone, the man barked impatiently, "Who is this? What do you want?"

The manner of it made Fatty Lai frown, but he kept his patience. "Hello, I'm with a company. I'd like to discuss a collaboration with Miss Xu Shilan..."

Hearing that Fatty Lai represented a company, the manager softened slightly, though his tone stayed cold. "Which company? How big are you? What sort of collaboration with Miss Xu — an event appearance or a product endorsement?"

You couldn't blame the man for being curt. These days the phone rang constantly with people pestering Xu Shilan, and he was worn ragged by it day in and day out. Until he knew exactly who was on the other end, there was no way he'd let his guard down.

"Hello, this is Lai Changshan, general manager of Doctor Guan's Pharmaceuticals. I'm calling about Miss Xu Shilan doing an endorsement for our product, and appearing at a new product launch!" Fatty Lai could tell the manager was a no-nonsense sort, so he skipped the pleasantries and stated his purpose outright.

"Doctor Guan's Pharmaceuticals?" The other man clearly paused, then asked, "Is that Guan Xuewen's company?"

"Yes... Doctor Guan is Guan Xuewen..." Fatty Lai nodded. So the man knew of the company, did he?

"Guan Xuewen's company — isn't that a scam outfit? Doctor Guan, my eye — Guan the Swindler!" The manager's tone turned savage on the spot, and before Fatty Lai could get a word in, the line went dead with a bang.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..." Fatty Lai stood holding the receiver, the dial tone humming in his ear, caught somewhere between laughter and tears. How had Guan Xuewen become a swindler? How had his own company become a scam outfit? When on earth had he offended Xu Shilan's manager?

"Sister Wang, why were you shouting like that? And why did you call them a swindler?" A voice like something from heaven sounded behind Sister Wang. A girl in a bathrobe came walking over, her skin fair and translucent with a faint flush, like a fairy fresh from the bath. Her hair, still damp, hung loosely about her; her pretty face bore not a trace of powder or rouge, yet she was as lovely as ever.

This was Xu Shilan, the superstar with legions of fans, idolized as a youth icon by countless middle schoolers and college students. Yet just now she showed not the slightest air of a big star. She came up behind her manager like a playful girl and bent to peek at the phone, curious to see whom Sister Wang had been calling.

"Xiaohan, are you feeling better?" Sister Wang's coldness vanished in an instant; her face filled with concern as she turned to look at Xu Shilan.

"I'm fine, really..." Xu Shilan shook her head and gave a sweet smile. "Sister Wang, don't worry about me. Oh — you still haven't told me what that was about. And Sister Wang, why have you been so short-tempered lately? Every time you answer the phone you're ice-cold..."

"It's not that I'm cold. It's these entertainment reporters — they keep calling up pretending to be fans or business partners, fishing around for one thing or another. They've worn my patience to nothing!" Sister Wang sighed. "Looks like I'll have to change my number before long. Far too many people have this one."

"But what if someone really is calling about a collaboration?" Xu Shilan nodded and asked.

"I can tell in a few sentences whether it's a real collaboration or not. Some people have more money than sense and call up just for a lark. Our Xiaohan isn't that sort of girl — if you want to chase a star, go chase someone else!" Sister Wang had been a manager for years and had honed a pair of sharp eyes. The companies that could genuinely afford Xu Shilan's fee were all well-known major enterprises, not some little outfit nobody had ever heard of.

"Oh... so that call just now, that was one of the ones not worth collaborating with?" Xu Shilan knew Sister Wang only had her best interests at heart, so she wasn't upset. She had lost her mother as a child and had always depended on Sister Wang, the neighbor, as her closest kin. Back then, whenever she was bullied, it was Sister Wang who stood in front of her to protect her.