Chapter 1020: The Honey Trap

Yu Zhiwei wore an Armani suit, but the shoulder line had clearly slumped by half an inch and the cuffs were a section too long; one look and it was obvious it was an off-the-rack garment bought in a hurry.

He swayed over holding a wine glass, let his gaze slide over Jiang Wanyu, and grinned, "Chairman Ma, aren't you going to introduce such a beautiful girl to your brothers? Hogging it all to yourself isn't very kind, is it?"

Ma Rui knew perfectly well that this guy had come to help him out of a tight spot.

Having been in this line of work for a long time, they had long ago summarized an ironclad rule—in the film and television industry, the one thing you must never offend is a beautiful woman.

She might only be a minor actress today, but you never know if tomorrow she might become the apple of some big shot's eye; if that big shot happens to have eyes and ears everywhere, your own company would end up suffering the consequences.

Over the years, they had learned their fair share of such lessons, so a tacit understanding had long formed within the team: whenever Ma Rui was entangled by some beauty and couldn't get away, a few "lecherous" colleagues would always emerge in time to stir up trouble and "snatch" the person away.

Yu Zhiwei was the best actor among these few; he could play someone who favored men, or someone who played for both teams.

Ma Rui took the opportunity to put on a stern face, lowered his voice, and scolded Yu Zhiwei, "Yu Zhiwei, are you out of your mind? This is someone from Hollywood; don't provoke her, we can't afford to offend her!"

After scolding him, he hurriedly turned his head and apologized to Jiang Wanyu with a fawning smile, "Miss Jiang, I am truly sorry. This is our company's Deputy General Manager. He's capable in business, but he's a bit of a flirt and can't help himself when he sees a young, beautiful girl. But he's really not a bad person; he just likes to tease and play with young girls and won't do anything out of line."

Jiang Wanyu was quite magnanimous and didn't take it to heart at all, smiling as she reached out her hand, "Nice to meet you, Manager Yu."

Yu Zhiwei gripped her hand and refused to let go for a long time, suddenly switching to Yue Cuisine dialect, lowering his voice to ask, "Pretty girl, do you fancy our Chairman Ma? If you want to get to know him, I can help you make the connection, but... you'll have to show a little sincerity."

Jiang Wanyu's cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly pondered in her mind—what exactly did "show a little sincerity" mean? Was it asking for money, or was there some other motive?

She felt a slight chill in her heart, but her face betrayed nothing, "Mr. Yu, please don't misunderstand. Although I am an actress, my family is not short of money; I am in this line of work purely out of interest. I approached Mr. Ma because I want to discuss a partnership. I am very optimistic about the *Ghost Blows Out the Light* series in Chairman Ma's hands; whether it's joint development or a buyout of the copyright, it's all up for discussion."

Yu Zhiwei, however, avoided the topic of partnership and continued to say with a cheeky grin in Yue Cuisine dialect, "Oh my, I've been moved by Miss Jiang's beauty. Why don't we date for a bit first? It will make things more convenient when we discuss the partnership later, won't it?"

Jiang Wanyu was rendered speechless by his blunt words, and the blush on her face grew even deeper. She simply stopped paying attention to Yu Zhiwei, raised her hand to pick up a glass of champagne, and clinked glasses lightly with Ma Rui, "It's been a pleasure meeting you today, Chairman Ma. Don't forget the negotiation we agreed upon for tomorrow afternoon."

She had intended to chat a bit more, but with the pestering Yu Zhiwei constantly crowding in to make his presence felt, she no longer had the heart for small talk.

She turned and walked toward Li Jiaxin and her group, turning back to urge before leaving, "Remember, tomorrow afternoon."

Ma Rui nodded busily, his face full of enthusiastic smiles, "It is truly our honor that Miss Jiang has taken an interest in our company. To tell you the truth, our company has yet to have any foreign capital invested or stationed here."

Yu Zhiwei listened from the side, the corners of his mouth twitching; he cursed inwardly: this kid is really lying through his teeth, when it was clearly he himself who adamantly refused foreign capital.

The moment Jiang Wanyu left, the playful look on Yu Zhiwei's face vanished completely. He leaned close to Ma Rui and whispered ingratiatingly, "Chairman Ma, don't blame me for ruining your fun. This time, it was Chairman He who instructed me to come over."

Hearing this, Ma Rui became alert and asked, "Does Uncle have any instructions?"

Yu Zhiwei scanned the guests around them and whispered into his ear, "Chairman He suspects that this woman is highly likely a spy sent from abroad. The Chairman intends to use your contact with her to follow the vine and pluck the melon, identifying her handlers and wiping out the entire intelligence chain in one fell swoop."

After hearing this, Ma Rui couldn't help but shiver.

In his childhood, he had often heard his mother, He Yushui, recount the past of his uncle, He Yuzhu, catching spies; those thrilling stories were already very familiar to him.

He never imagined that a plot that only existed in stories would now fall upon himself.

Previously, he had only noticed that Jiang Wanyu was acting too proactively, and simply assumed the other party had taken a fancy to the film resources in his hands; he hadn't suspected the spy angle at all.

But his uncle was always steady and meticulous in his actions and would never speculate without cause. He immediately tightened his focus and asked in a low voice, "Then to what extent do I need to play along with her?"

Yu Zhiwei shoved his shoulder and winked, "Still don't understand? Just do what the actor does in the movie *007*!"

Ma Rui immediately scolded, "Go to hell! If I play for real, Yang Jing and Liu Wei will definitely skin me alive!"

Yu Zhiwei chuckled and said solemnly, "Something personally decided by Chairman He—could it be a small matter?"

Ma Rui was momentarily speechless, his heart filled with anxiety. Just then, Yang Jing walked over in a hurry, looking puzzled, "Ma Rui, I was just talking to the General Manager of the China Dragon company. The person spoke entirely in empty words with no substance at all. Could there be something fishy hidden in this?"

Not long after, Liu Wei also walked out of the private room and came quickly to Ma Rui's side, her expression grave, "Ma Rui, the Huanya company's words during this negotiation were hollow. They've completely changed from their usual eager stance on cooperation and are beating around the bush everywhere. The situation is very wrong."

Ma Rui was always sharp-minded; connecting these few events together, he instantly grasped the underlying meaning, "Sure enough, Uncle's eyes are sharp. He saw at a glance that someone had deliberately set a trap for us tonight."

Yang Jing's heart tightened. She had never encountered this kind of undercurrent maneuvering, and her voice trembled slightly, "We just arrived in Hong Kong, how did we get targeted?"

Ma Rui snorted coldly, "In my opinion, the one they've been targeting from the start is Uncle..."

Liu Wei gripped her fingers nervously, "Then what should we do now?"

Ma Rui smiled calmly instead, "With Uncle in charge, we don't need to worry too much; just follow his arrangements."

He paused, then revealed a sheepish smile as he came clean to the two of them, "I'll tell you both in advance: Uncle ordered me to pretend to play along with this Hollywood Chinese-American actress to see what she's up to. You two, you two better not get jealous for no reason."

Upon hearing this, Yang Jing immediately reached out and pinched his arm, gritting her teeth, "Don't you dare play for real! This kind of woman has been trained; who knows, you might get a knife in your heart while you're lost in the moment."

Ma Rui curled his lip, "I've been practicing martial arts with Uncle for over a decade and have seen plenty of big and small scenes; how could such a thing happen?"

Liu Wei rolled her eyes from the side and chimed in, "Bruce Lee was good at Kung Fu, but in the end, didn't he..."

"Stop, stop!" Ma Rui interrupted, glaring, and said irritably, "What's wrong with you two today? Every sentence is aimed at me?"

Yang Jing retorted in a low voice, "Don't use Uncle as a shield for everything; you looked quite happy to me."

The two of them sang in harmony, squeezing Ma Rui until he had no words to defend himself. Unable to handle the two women's questioning, he simply pulled away and left.

He walked quickly to He Yuzhu's side and complained with a mournful face, "Uncle, the task you assigned me this time is truly unfair."

He Yuzhu was chatting with someone while holding a wine glass; hearing this, he turned to look at him, "What do you mean by that?"

Ma Rui said with a bitter face, "Yu Zhiwei passed on the message that you want me to date that Hollywood beauty. I have no experience with this kind of task; why don't you teach me?"

He Yuzhu rolled his eyes after hearing this and raised his hand to pat the back of his head, "You're overthinking. The other party has ulterior motives for approaching you; don't think you can easily take advantage of her."

Ma Rui suddenly realized and hurriedly flattered him, "As expected of Uncle, your experience is profound and your considerations are thorough."

He Yuzhu raised his foot and kicked his butt lightly, scolding sternly, "Stop with the glib tongue. If you keep overthinking and making wild guesses, see how I deal with you."