Chapter 327: Qin and Dong Grow Close, Lu Bu Reports, Merger Proceeds

The set of "The Wind Blows" in the city

We were just filming, so we didn't know what was happening outside; shooting is paused for a break, and the assistant will come over with the news right away.

Li Bingbing reacted quickly, watching Fan Xiaopang with interest, and said: "Tsk tsk, no wonder filming is so exhausting—you're earning baby formula money."

"I'm curious—when the baby's born, will it call you 'Little Mom' or 'Concubine'?"

"Call your grandma a leg."

Fan Xiaopang cursed, and normally she'd have fought back with this old stick, but right now she had no energy to argue—she just called Yang Tianzhen and went into the RV to shut the door and discuss.

"Ah, so comfortable."

Li Bingbing wasn't angry at being scolded; instead, she looked delighted—not because she was masochistic, but because she saw Fan Xiaopang's facade crack.

After fighting for so long, exchanging daily barbs, they'd both grown nearly immune to each other's attacks.

You insult me, I insult you back—bland, pointless squabbling that means nothing.

Today she was being sarcastic, and normally Fan Xiaopang would've retorted or sneered in silence—but Fan just exploded in rage, ran off without even wanting to argue, and lost all dignity.

She's panicked!

She's panicked!

Li Bingbing loved seeing Fan Xiaopang humiliated—Fan's violent reaction scattered even that tiny bit of bitterness in her heart, replaced by glee.

But Fan Xiaopang had no interest in Li Bingbing—she entered the RV and pulled Yang Tianzhen aside.

"Is the rumor true?"

"Right now it's just online gossip; no one's made any official statement. I tried to dig around discreetly, but I haven't gotten anything concrete yet."

Yang Tianzhen shared Fan Xiaopang's fate—rising or falling together—so she understood how critical this was to Fan.

Since hearing the news, she'd been rushing to investigate, but the time was too short, so information remained limited.

Another reason: this involves Yan Li and Boss Qin, so it's sensitive. Without Fan Xiaopang's approval, she dared not dig deeply into any of the three.

Especially Yan Li—if she got caught probing his private affairs, even Fan Xiaopang couldn't protect her.

Fan Xiaopang thought for a moment, then chose to cut straight to the point: she called Yan Li directly.

Yang Tianzhen wisely stepped out to guard the door. About five to six minutes later, Fan Xiaopang opened the door and let her in—her expression had noticeably softened.

"Sis, is everything okay?"

Yang Tianzhen saw the vibe and made a judgment—Fan Xiaopang nodded: "It's a misunderstanding. They bought them for Guan Yue and Ma Yi."

"That's it?"

Yang Tianzhen didn't believe it—the excuse felt too flimsy. Fan Xiaopang glanced at her.

"He wouldn't lie to me, and he has no reason to lie about this."

Yan Li might temporarily hide things from her for some reason, but now that she'd come straight to him, he had no excuse to keep hiding.

Yang Tianzhen thought it over and agreed it made sense.

A baby can't be hidden forever, and now it's been exposed—if she's really pregnant, they'd just say so outright. This isn't a palace drama; they're not afraid Fan Xiaopang will harm the child.

"Phew…"

Knowing it was a misunderstanding, Yang Tianzhen let out a long breath. The current situation had Fan Xiaopang single-handedly pressing down on Boss Qin—even if the two teamed up, they'd still be on the defensive.

But if the two had a child, the dynamics could shift entirely—reversal wasn't out of the question.

"Sis, this was a misunderstanding, but next time it might not be—shouldn't we plan ahead?"

"How?"

Fan Xiaopang pinched her eyebrows: "Yi'an is about to go public. If I go have a baby, even if he doesn't care, my influence and equity in the company will take a huge hit."

Once Yi'an goes public, aside from shareholders who invested money or resources,

among employees, whether based on past contributions or strategic celebrity goals, Fan Xiaopang is likely to receive the largest share of equity.

But that's only if Fan Xiaopang maintains her dominant position—if she steps away to have a baby, even with Yan Li's favor, her equity returns will definitely suffer.

After all these years of struggle, to give up right before the fruit is ripe—Fan Xiaopang couldn't accept it.

Moreover, this isn't just about her own interests—it includes the child's interests too.

Boss Qin is incompetent; he can only care for the child. In the future, whatever family wealth Yan Li gives, that's all they'll get.

She's different—through her contributions and her status in Yan Li's career, she can give her child far more agency and leave behind a substantial inheritance.

"Being first to get fat doesn't mean you're fat; being last to get fat can crush the bed. We've pulled off comebacks before—no need to worry."

Fan Xiaopang wasn't sure if she was comforting Yang Tianzhen or boosting herself—but on the surface, she still looked confident.

Yang Tianzhen didn't care what she thought inside, but she said aloud: "Sis, you're the strongest. No matter what, I support you."

…

Among all the women, Fan Xiaopang was the only one bold enough to call him directly; others remained silent or used intermediaries to congratulate and probe.

Yan Li was worn out by the harassment and considered posting a statement on Weibo, but feared it would be an admission of guilt—too sensitive. He alerted Qin Lan and Dong Xuan.

Qin Lan proactively interacted with Ma Yi on Weibo, casually revealing the situation.

Guan Yue also posted a baby photo on Weibo, commenting on Dong Xuan's post: jokingly telling her, as godmother, to be generous and not buy cheap junk for the child. Dong Xuan replied: "OK."

Their exchange naturally prompted enthusiastic media accounts to repost and clarify.

People split into believers and skeptics, but at least there was an official explanation—and fewer people bothered Yan Li.

Still, while the baby issue quieted down, Qin Lan and Dong Xuan's "intimate" postures drew some netizens' attention.

Dong Xuan was the "ex-girlfriend" acknowledged by both Yan Li and herself, and all signs suggested their breakup was a facade.

Qin Lan was the cohabiting girlfriend exposed in the blog scandal; Yan Li never publicly responded, but his attitude amounted to tacit approval.

Yan Li dating two women wasn't surprising—everyone knew it. But for both women to coexist so harmoniously? That earned admiration.

Then again, it wasn't new—he'd already made Li Bingbing and Ma Yi film together, not once but multiple times. Maybe they'd done more than just film together.

Fuck, male netizens ground their teeth in envy—Yan Li's life was better than any online novel.

Maybe because too many envied Yan Li, everyone hoped he'd go bankrupt—rumors about his business troubles were endless.

Just online, the self-proclaimed creditors of Yan Li added up to nearly a hundred. Add employees, bank staff, partners, and insiders who learned the truth from friends—there were at least ten thousand.

A few days ago, Yan Li's net worth was over five billion. Now he owed billions, and the debt kept rolling up.

Surprisingly, these rumors weren't all bad for Yan Li—at least no one came asking to borrow money.

With the financial crisis, everyone was struggling. Yan Li was famous and well-connected; many friends planned to ask him for help.

Now that rumors painted him as unstable, they automatically filtered out most of them—those left could barely bring themselves to ask, given his apparent hardship.

Some even feared Yan Li would ask them for loans—and couldn't get through on the phone.

Yan Li had originally planned a triumphant return storyline—but now he was rewriting the script.

He'd return, of course—he needed to reassure investors and the company, and future investments couldn't be hidden. But how he returned needed careful planning, so he wouldn't brag and then get swarmed by vultures.

Hmm—he needed a story.

A gripping, dramatic tale of bloody battles, fighting through eight fronts to break free.

I endured endless pressure, suffered countless hardships, risked half my life to earn this money—and now I have to pour it into a few money-sucking beasts under me.

How dare you ask to borrow?

On what grounds do you ask to borrow?!

These days, you can't be too poor or desperate—others will look down on you and demoralize your team. But you can't be too rich either—everyone will try to take advantage.

So the ideal state is: having wealth, but no liquid cash—most of your money tied up in company assets, while you personally appear "poor."

Yan Li even considered buying hair dye to turn his hair gray-white, to show how much pressure and effort he'd endured.

Later he thought it was too theatrical and feared it might affect Weibo and Yi'an's operations, so he dropped the idea.

Better to wait until after the crisis, claim he'd gone completely white-haired from stress, then say he dyed it daily to hide it from others' worries—pretending calmness, with a tighter logic, and appearing more dignified.

Whether his hair actually turned white? Netizens didn't hide under his bed to check—truth or lie, it was all up to his word.

This photo incident, besides making Yan Li's "debts" grow, was a full public exposure of Qin Lan and Dong Xuan.

Their relationship with Yan Li was now openly confirmed and widely known—even their "harmonious harem" was exposed. Both felt awkward, yet a tiny thrill lingered.

At least now they didn't have to watch that fox-faced Fan alone play the victim—even if temporarily inferior, they now had presence.

But this behavior violated public morals. In today's relatively conservative social climate, it drew criticism and controversy, adding pressure.

Fortunately, Yan Li was beside them, soothing and comforting them both, easing their burdens considerably.

Coincidentally, North Film Academy wanted to avoid the spotlight—the school leadership suggested Dong Xuan take a short leave. Dong Xuan seized the chance and stayed in Xiangjiang.

Daily "Xuan-Lan" pairings were impossible, but Yan Li would occasionally make excuses, beg and wheedle. In this special phase, with Qin and Dong both feeling defeated, they'd half-heartedly let him have his way.

Over time, Yan Li even felt Qin and Dong's relationship had improved.

Unlike Li Bingbing and Ma Yi—those two were fiercely competitive, constantly clashing in every way.

Qin and Dong weren't so dominant; they even had some altruistic traits. Combined with the pressure from Fan Xiaopang, Yan Li's mediation, and favorable timing and circumstances,

after spending time together, they'd developed mutual understanding and quiet rapport. Their relationship wasn't intimate or harmonious—but the hostility had faded significantly.

They dared not go shopping together. When Yan Li was busy, they could still watch dramas together, do beauty treatments, or practice exercises.

When Tong Yaya came to Xiangjiang to visit Dong Xuan, Qin Lan even invited Cai Jier from the Teddy Sisterhood—they played mahjong all afternoon, leaving Tong Yaya nearly questioning reality.

"Sis? What… what's going on here?"

According to Guan Yue, Qin Lan was a mortal enemy—how could they be laughing and chatting like this?

"Just pretending. The real enemy is Fan."

Dong Xuan couldn't admit their bond had softened because of the "Xuan-Lan" pairing, so she chose a plausible excuse.

They'd once supported Yang Mi together; now, given the situation, playing along was understandable… right?

Tong Yaya didn't know how to judge, but as the little sister, she dared not contradict.

Besides, Qin and Dong's alliance benefited her—she no longer had to fear war with the Teddy Sisterhood. As for Fan Xiaopang? Too big a player—she, a minor player, had no business worrying about her.

Tong Yaya and Dong Xuan were close, and exchanged a few heartfelt words.