Chapter 85: Fan Xiaopang: I

The World Health Organization issued a global alert on SARS.

Yu Yanli stared at the newspaper’s SARS news, pondering whether to stock up on medicine and supplies at home.

The “Monthly Intelligence” had warned of future events—this thing might last for months.

As for whether to hoard medical supplies to profit during the SARS outbreak, Yu Yanli didn’t consider it at all.

To some extent, it bordered on profiteering from national disaster; the money would burn your hands, and worse, the risk was enormous—if you became an example, your career would be over.

Yu Yanli had other ways to make money; he wasn’t so stupid as to risk his life for this.

If he truly wanted to make a quick profit, increasing his position in medical-related stocks would be safer and potentially more profitable than flipping medical supplies.

As he was thinking, his desk was tapped—he looked up to see Li Xue, Li Bingbing’s sister.

“You’re quick.”

Yu Yanli nodded, then called out: “Xiao Hu, bring water.”

“Coming, coming!”

From the adjacent office area came a reply; soon after, a round-faced girl carefully placed a disposable paper cup in front of Li Xue, then turned and left.

Yu Yanli smiled: “Just hired a new girl—does odd jobs and doubles as an assistant secretary. No experience. I have to remind her just to pour tea.”

Li Xue didn’t care about that; instead, she looked at him with mild annoyance.

“Director Yu, Boss Yu—you promised to help my sister land a role, and you haven’t shown your face for a whole month. Isn’t that irresponsible?”

“I’m not physically here, but aren’t we always in touch by phone? Which of the strategies I gave you had a problem?”

Yu Yanli smiled lightly, then pulled a folder from his drawer and placed it on the desk.

“Don’t say I’m just hiding behind the scenes—this contains the plot summary of ‘Cell Phone’ and the character requirements for the female lead, including some of Feng’s own ideas.”

“You two have already been preparing for a while. With these materials, it should be enough.”

Li Xue flipped through the documents, stunned, and stared at Yu Yanli: “How did you get these?”

“Money, the right person, and it’s done.”

Yu Yanli remained calm. He could have obtained the full script of ‘Cell Phone’ if he wanted—understanding Feng Xiaogang’s thoughts was child’s play.

For Yu Yanli, the key was keeping the information from being too extreme and explaining its source reasonably.

Yu Yanli stuck to his old trick—no explanation.

The more you say, the more likely you are to slip up. A few brief words, and the other person fills in the blanks themselves—this hides the truth and adds a touch of mystery to him.

True to form, after hearing Yu Yanli’s words, Li Xue’s expression grew complicated, and finally she blurted out:

“How much did you pay? We’ll cover it—we won’t let you spend your own money.”

Obtaining the plot summary and character specifications for a major Huayi project, plus Feng Xiaogang’s personal insights—this couldn’t have cost little.

“Ah, about the money—we’ll settle that later.”

Yu Yanli didn’t respond, but told Li Xue: “You can read it here. Memorize as much as you can. The documents can’t be taken away—I’ll destroy them later.”

Seeing Li Xue’s confusion, Yu Yanli explained: “They helped me. I can’t betray them. I must uphold brotherhood—so no evidence can remain.”

“When you get back, tell your sister this is known only to the three of us. Keep it buried deep. If anyone asks, say you and your sister figured it out yourselves or found out through your own sources.”

All this talk of brotherhood was just flattery—really, it was theatrics to scare Li Xue and her sister, adding an extra layer of security.

To prevent these two from being clueless and blabbing around, drawing unwanted attention and trouble.

“Understood. We’ll keep it secret.”

Li Xue, unaware of the full picture, was awed by Yu Yanli’s maneuvering and solemnly pledged her word.

When Li Xue had memorized enough, Yu Yanli pulled out the several pages containing the plot summary and other details from the folder, tore them into shreds, and tossed them into the trash.

After tearing them up, Yu Yanli wondered if he’d gone too far—then Li Xue, still uneasy, asked:

“Is this safe? Shouldn’t I buy a lighter and burn them?”

“...”

Yu Yanli nearly cracked up, holding back his laugh: “No need. We’re not underground agents passing secrets. Tearing them is enough.”

Li Xue blushed slightly, then remembered something else and spoke up: “Hua Jie seems to have sensed something. Yesterday she talked to my sister, probing subtly.”

Yu Yanli wasn’t concerned: “You two have contacted Feng Xiaogang more than once or twice. If she didn’t notice, she wouldn’t be worth her salt.”

“I’m not talking about Director Feng.”

Li Xue looked at Yu Yanli with a strange expression: “Hua Jie thinks my sister might be in contact with some outside company or agent.”

“Why?”

“It’s because of the strategies you gave us. Hua Jie thinks they’re too clever to be my sister’s ideas, and not my style either—so she suspects my sister has been disloyal.”

Yu Yanli suddenly understood. Li Bingbing had always been close to Wang Jinghua. Li Xue was smart, but still young and inexperienced.

Previously, he’d told the sisters to bypass Wang Jinghua and deal directly with Feng Xiaogang. The subsequent strategies had all increased their leverage in casting.

Wang Jinghua had risen from a junior assistant to the top agent on the mainland—her perceptiveness was obvious. And these two sisters were her own protégées.

At first she might not have noticed, but over time, with so many actions, she couldn’t possibly miss it.

“Actually, this might not be a bad thing.”

The Li sisters were too close to the situation—they felt awkward and anxious about hiding things from their agent, so when Wang Jinghua caught on, they panicked.

Yu Yanli had no such concerns. He wasn’t poaching; helping Li Bingbing land a role was, in a way, helping Wang Jinghua too.

Wang Jinghua should thank him—he had no reason to panic.

Li Xue was puzzled: “A good thing?”

“Yes.”

Yu Yanli nodded: “Before, Hua Jie might not have been fully on your side. But now that you’ve made progress with Feng, it’s time to confront her and ask her to seal the deal.”

Li Xue hesitated: “Will it work? Didn’t you say we should secure Feng first, then approach Hua Jie?”

“Circumstances change.”

Yu Yanli patiently explained to Li Xue: “Hua Jie came to you because she fears you’ll leave. Now is the perfect time to play the victim, complain about her favoritism.”

“No matter her reaction, she’ll have to show some gesture of reassurance.”

“At the final moment with Feng Xiaogang, if you make a request and she refuses, she’s effectively cutting ties with you two. Do you think she’d do that?”

“No way.”

Li Xue’s face lit up with realization, and she looked gratefully at Yu Yanli: “Thank you for the advice.”

“It’s nothing. Besides, I’m not doing this for free.”

Yu Yanli reminded Li Xue—he wasn’t helping out of kindness; Li Bingbing would owe him a favor later.

Li Xue understood his meaning and declared firmly: “Don’t worry. My sister won’t break her word.”

They discussed further details. As lunchtime neared, Yu Yanli prepared to dismiss her.

“Alright, go back and inform your sister. If anything changes, we’ll stay in touch by phone.”

“Okay.”

Li Xue picked up her small bag and stood to leave. Just before reaching the door, she turned back. Seeing Yu Yanli’s surprised expression, her cheeks flushed slightly, but her tone was calm.

“It’s almost noon. Let me treat you to lunch.”

Yu Yanli glanced at Li Xue. Her eyes and eyebrows resembled her sister Li Bingbing’s, but her features weren’t as refined or three-dimensional, and her aura lacked the striking, elegant charm that made her sister unforgettable.

Still, Li Xue was intelligent and meticulous—a woman with depth.

Unfortunately, Yu Yanli was a vulgar man. He cared more about a woman’s face and figure than her inner qualities.

So...

“Let me treat you.”

Yu Yanli smiled, pulled his car keys from the drawer, and prepared to take Li Xue out to eat.

Whether he was personally interested in her didn’t matter—he’d still need her sister’s help later. He owed her at least a meal.

————

One day later, Wang Jinghua, pressured by the Li sisters, finally figured out who their mysterious “mentor” was.

After agreeing to help Li Bingbing, Wang Jinghua sat in her office, recalling the young man who had rejected her, her emotions complicated.

She hadn’t misjudged him—Yu Yanli was born to be an agent.

Even better than she’d thought. She had channels and resources, pushing Fan Xiaopang to the top, while he stayed hidden, pulling the strings behind the Li sisters.

Now Li Bingbing had a decisive lead—and had even turned the tables on her, forcing her to switch sides and support Li Bingbing.

“A real talent.”

The more Wang Jinghua thought about it, the more she coveted him. If he joined her team with her full backing, he’d achieve great things—and her influence at Huayi would soar.

As she was thinking, her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, she sighed wearily, built up her courage for a few seconds, then answered.

“Bingbing, how’s it going on set? I saw the weather forecast—Hengdian’s cooling down. Stay warm.”

“Don’t rush. Listen to me—Director Feng and the company both favor her. I can’t do anything about it.”

“Next time, next time Feng’s movie—I’ll make sure you get the role. You’re young. You’ve got time.”

“...”

After much coaxing, she finally calmed the girl down. Wang Jinghua exhaled, then remembered something and couldn’t resist asking:

“I remember you acted with Yu Yanli. How’s your relationship with him?”

“Yu Yanli?”

Fan Xiaopang was confused—why was her agent suddenly bringing up that scheming guy? But she didn’t think much of it and replied casually:

“Not great. We don’t get along.”

“What a pity. If you two were close, you might have gotten the role this time.”

Wang Jinghua recalled how much the Li sisters had praised Yu Yanli, and sighed at fate’s irony.

Fan Xiaopang had known Yan Li longer than anyone; if he’d cultivated a good relationship with Yan Li, with both of them on his side, landing the lead role in “Mobile Phone” would have been a sure thing—but instead, Li Bingbing got it for free.

“Sister Hua, what exactly happened? Tell me all the details.”

Fan Xiaopang didn’t understand the situation, but knew there was something she wasn’t aware of, so she began asking Wang Jinghua for answers.

A few minutes later, Fan Xiaopang hung up the phone, unable to put her feelings into words.

It wasn’t Yan Li’s fault—he had no obligation; she herself had firmly declared they’d go their separate ways, so whatever Yan Li did didn’t concern her.

But if she didn’t blame him, he’d effectively helped Li Bingbing snatch the female lead role in “Mobile Phone” right out of her hands.

Fan Xiaopang wrestled with it for a long time, then finally kicked a small stone angrily into the distance.

She and Yan Li were born under incompatible stars; whenever she met him, bad luck followed. She’d go find a temple as soon as she got back, pray to heaven to keep her far away from Yan Li from now on…

(End of Chapter)