Chapter 26: Don

Brother Tian~

The single phrase “Brother Tian” struck Old Tian’s soft spot.

Not only had two agents gone out to buy Nokia 3210s—Yao Weihong and Fan Xuexue were also sent out to procure them.

Zhanqi · Laideng and Shi Feng couldn’t go—they were busy handling the new rumors Qi Hao had created.

Gao Fei went to check at her own home.

Supposedly she had a small storage room filled with birthday gifts, Children’s Day presents, New Year gifts, Mid-Autumn Festival gifts from her dad… many of which had never been used.

Qi Hao himself had also gone out.

A military coat, hat, scarf, paired with light brown glasses—even though he looked a bit sneaky, at least no one could recognize him as the hot celebrity who had tripped on the red carpet a few days ago.

Everyone was assigned areas by region to avoid redundant, useless effort.

Either achieve the goal—or reach the cemetery!

Qi Hao went to Xizhimen Mobile Phone Street.

“Boss…”

The boss looked up and was instantly startled, thinking he’d been robbed.

Fortunately, the next words weren’t “Boss, lend me some cash.”

“Do you have a Nokia 3210?” Qi Hao asked directly—he had no time to chat; there were too many phone shops left to visit.

“Nokia? Sure—we’ve got the latest N93i, 3.2 million pixels… the E90’s not bad either. Wait, what are you asking for?”

The shop owner suspected he’d misheard.

“3210!”

“We don’t have it!”

“Goodbye then!”

One shop after another—Qi Hao visited seven or eight and found no one still stocking eight-year-old inventory.

At best, some shops asked if he wanted used ones.

And those were the kind nearly worn smooth from constant handling.

The Nokia 3210 originally retailed for over three thousand yuan—equivalent to two or three months’ salary for many.

No store, no matter how big, would keep stock of it.

From just after ten in the morning until half past one in the afternoon, Qi Hao scoured three streets and found nothing.

Just as he was hesitating whether to keep searching, Zhang Nan had news.

When Qi Hao arrived at the company, he saw a dozen phone boxes on the table.

“All of them?”

“Yes, all Nokia 3210s. There are other models too—if you want, I’ll go get them.” Zhang Nan nodded.

“I searched all morning and found nothing—got called crazy. How did you find them?”

Qi Hao felt his intelligence had been insulted.

He admitted he wasn’t particularly smart and sometimes Landeyongnao , but this huge gap still made him question life itself.

Was his cerebellum underdeveloped and his cortex completely undeveloped?

“I checked several stores too and realized it was impossible to find the Nokia 3210 this way. So I changed my approach—I called friends and acquaintances at state-owned enterprises, asked if they still had any leftover stock. And sure enough, we found some.”

Zhang Nan didn’t seem particularly proud.

He just thought those state-owned enterprises were poorly managed, wasteful, and lacked proper accountability systems.

Totally unsuitable for building a career.

“How much did it cost?” Qi Hao didn’t actually need so many.

One would be enough for him.

But since Zhang Nan had gotten them, he had no objection to buying them all—he wouldn’t let employees bear the cost themselves.

A boss who did that wasn’t even human.

“They didn’t charge us—they just cleared out the inventory for free,” Zhang Nan said casually.

“Then let me treat everyone to dinner—what do you all feel like eating?”

Qi Hao distributed the dozen phones—one each, keeping only two for himself.

“There’s a good restaurant called Akasaka Tei in the mall next door,” said veteran legal officer Yao Weihong—his belly clearly marked him as a seasoned foodie.

He was extremely fat, and the reason? He’d never been thin since childhood.

“Akasaka Tei? I only know Akasaka Re.” Old Tian muttered sarcastically.

“Is Akasaka Re tasty?” The coal boss’s daughter perked up.

“Don’t corrupt the children!” Marketing head Shi Feng rolled his eyes—future company growth still depended on the coal boss.

He sent his daughter here to integrate with society, not to give birth.

“Have you ever eaten chestnuts?” Old Tian turned to ask Gao Fei.

Gao Fei suddenly understood: “Chestnuts? I love chestnuts—I’ll ask my maid to make some and bring them tomorrow.”

The group headed to the restaurant and began eating.

Budebushuo ，Qi Hao’s studio staff were all pretty decent—they got along exceptionally well.

Most were just “bulls and horses” who worked for pay; even a simple meal from the boss made them happy.

But Janchi Laiden’s mouth was sealed shut.

Unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t utter a single word.

But Qi Hao suspected that suppressing himself like this would inevitably lead to a massive retaliation against coworkers after he passed probation.

“It seems Dong Jie is dating Pan Yueming. Boss, did you ever have rumors with her?” Gao Fei asked curiously.

Only she would dare ask the boss such a topic.

“Dong Jie? No… I don’t think so?” Qi Hao looked helplessly at Old Tian.

After all, the entertainment circle was so small—even without direct collaboration, there were always events, inevitable overlaps.

Especially when social circles intersected, it was easy to be introduced to each other.

“Look—he’s not even sure himself,” Old Tian chuckled.

He’d long advised Qi Hao to hand over Ao Bai’s guardianship to him.

Qi Hao wasn’t suited to raise Ao Bai.

He was suited to raise a Husky—they’d be a perfect match.

“What about Liu Tao? Why didn’t you attend Wang Ke’s wedding? Are they true love? Some netizens say Liu Tao only cares about Wang Ke’s money.”

Gao Fei seemed more interested in these internet gossip topics.

In fact, she’d agreed to work for her dad not just because he cried so pitifully, but also because she wanted to hear entertainment gossip up close to share with her Wild Boys.

“I didn’t know them well, so I didn’t go. And I’m not really into luxury wedding parties. As for them… I think it might’ve been love at first sight.”

Qi Hao didn’t know how to explain.

Same age roughly—look at Zhang Nan, outstanding work ethic, fully focused on his career; look at Gao Fei—she’s just a… rich little waste.

“Pfft~” Old Tian snorted, but said nothing further.

Janchi Laiden shoved another piece of meat into his already full mouth.

It bulged his eyeballs nearly out.

There was absolutely no way he could make any mocking sound.

“Is Fan Xuexue’s hand soft?” Seeing the boss was still calm, Gao Fei grew bolder.

“It’s fine,” Qi Hao didn’t know how to evaluate.

“Then…” Gao Fei clearly wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

“You’ve gone far enough,” Qi Hao was starting to fear her—aren’t you a curious little thing? So many questions.

Soft or not? What kind of nonsense is that?

Anyone hearing you’d think you’re a girl with a pervy streak.

As your dad’s brother, don’t blame me for criticizing you.

“Stars aren’t that different from normal people—just that the entertainment circle has slightly more beautiful women. Don’t overvalue stars.”

Old Tian offered a piece of advice.

“I’m just curious—if our boss goes to shoot a drama or meets some stars, can I tag along?”

Aside from her family’s endless money, Gao Fei was just an ordinary girl.

And one untouched by much knowledge or social contamination.

“Sure—but don’t embarrass me.”

What else could Qi Hao say?

In fact, many people in the entertainment industry are quite gossipy.

Qi Hao had signed autographs for plenty of people on set.

But perhaps out of jealousy or fear of favoritism, many stars disliked their own teams fanning other stars.

Qi Hao didn’t care about that.

He had few demands of his employees—just do your job well.

Everyone’s born of mother and father—no need to treat others like servants.

With New Year just days away, Qi Hao chose to take Ao Bai back to his hometown.

With so many days off for the holiday, he couldn’t leave Ao Bai alone in Beijing.

Moreover, Qi Hao’s hometown, Jinmen, isn’t far from here.

He can drive himself.

After the studio was established, the company bought several cars, supposedly to offset some taxes.

After more than two hours of driving, Qi Hao returned to his hometown.

Of course, he didn’t forget to bring the Nokia 3210.

“Hey, isn’t that Little Seven? The big star’s back home!”

The old woman on the first floor spotted Qi Hao and shouted with full voice.

“Grandma, have you eaten? Don’t tease me—I’m no big star,” Qi Hao begged hastily.

After chatting a few minutes with the old woman downstairs, he fled upstairs like a hunted man.

Qi Hao’s family lived in a century-old house.

When Jinmen was forced into becoming a nine-nation concession, many of the old houses became what is now called the “International Architecture Exhibition.”

Later, these old houses were allocated to the poor.

Externally, they looked like row houses, but inside they were dilapidated and extremely inconvenient.

Qi Hao’s parents were both elementary school teachers and received one of these houses.

He had always wanted his parents to move out and buy a small apartment, but after living there for decades, they were used to it and refused to leave.

“Dad, Mom, I’m back!”

Qi Hao set the cat cage on the ground and knocked on the door with one hand.

“What’s all this?” Opening the door and seeing his son laden with packages, Qi’s father frowned.

“It’s the New Year—I bought some stuff. Where’s Mom?”

Qi Hao handed the cat cage to his father and stepped inside.

Since both his parents worked, their allocated housing was slightly larger, so it wasn’t as cramped, but still too tight for a family of four.

“She went to the market with your sister. I told her not to go, but she insisted—there were crowds everywhere.”

The old man grumbled as he found clothes for Qi Hao.

The home’s heating had been upgraded and was too hot; if Qi Hao didn’t take off his outerwear after coming in from outside, he’d soon pass out from the heat.

“Dad, I need to tell you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Don’t get mad when I tell you,” Qi Hao said, genuinely nervous.

“What’s with this? Did a kitty cat get stuck in your throat? Just spit it out—why are you stammering?”

The old man grew angrier the more he looked at this useless son.