Chapter 41: The Dining Room at Yi Yunxue's Home

Chen Jiang got up, walked over to open the door, and saw that the visitor was none other than Yi Yunxue.

She was holding a document in her hand, which was the additional revenue-sharing contract for "Red Beans".

"Chen Jiang, I've brought the contract for you." Since multi-party participation contracts were too complicated, Chen Jiang had always signed paper contracts whenever a new song was released ever since he invested in the studio.

"Old Chen, who is it?" Zhang Jianlong's voice rang out.

"There's someone else at your place?" Yi Yunxue blinked.

"A buddy of mine is visiting," Chen Jiang said as he took a pair of slippers out of the shoe cabinet.

Walking into the apartment, Zhang Jianlong finally got a clear look at the visitor. "Am I seeing things?"

He rubbed his eyes and let out an exclamation of disbelief:

"Yi Yunxue!"

"Xuexue?" Wang Yue's eyes lit up instantly.

"Hello, are you a fan of mine?" Hearing how she addressed her, Yi Yunxue asked with a friendly smile.

"Yes, I'm a Snowflake! Xuexue, you actually know Brother Chen?!!" Wang Yue stood up in excitement.

"Old Chen, what is going on here?" Zhang Jianlong looked at Chen Jiang in bewilderment.

"I told you I opened an entertainment studio, but you just wouldn't believe me." Chen Jiang spread his hands.

"The company you mentioned couldn't possibly be Dream Rising Studio, right?" Zhang Jianlong asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, Dream Rising was founded by Yunxue and me together. She's the boss of the company, but I also hold a share of the stakes," Chen Jiang confessed.

"That's right, Chen Jiang is indeed a major shareholder in our studio," Yi Yunxue nodded.

"Xuexue, can I take a picture with you?" Wang Yue's previously somewhat aloof demeanor vanished, replaced by the expression of a devoted little fan.

"Sure. Since you're friends with Chen Jiang, we can even add each other on WeChat." A smile appeared on Yi Yunxue's face.

"Really? I'm so honored!" Wang Yue said excitedly.

"Is your girlfriend a fan of Yunxue?" Chen Jiang couldn't help asking Zhang Jianlong out of curiosity.

"Yeah, she's loved Yi Yunxue ever since her college days. She's basically an OG fan from her debut, and I even went to a concert with her before," Zhang Jianlong nodded.

"How did you get to know her?" he asked with some confusion.

"She lives right upstairs from me. We got to know each other after bumping into each other a few times," Chen Jiang briefly explained.

"I see." Zhang Jianlong had a sudden realization.

"Alright, we're connected." Yi Yunxue put away her phone.

"Thank you, Xuexue!" Having added Yi Yunxue on WeChat, the smile at the corners of Wang Yue's mouth simply couldn't be suppressed.

The two of them took a photo together.

"Alright, Chen Jiang, take a look at the contract first." Yi Yunxue handed the contract to Chen Jiang.

"A contract? What contract?" Zhang Jianlong looked utterly baffled.

"A song revenue-sharing contract," Yi Yunxue explained.

Wang Yue widened her beautiful eyes and looked at Chen Jiang. "Brother Chen, are you the great Chen Jiang?!"

"It's me." Seeing that he had been recognized, Chen Jiang simply admitted it outright.

Zhang Jianlong: ???

He stood frozen in place, unable to understand why his girlfriend was calling Old Chen "Great Chen Jiang".

"Jianlong, Brother Chen is the author of *Meeting*!" Wang Yue explained.

"You must have the wrong person. How could Old Chen possibly be..." Zhang Jianlong forced himself to remain calm.

"No mistake, it really is me," Chen Jiang said.

"Stop talking, let me process this for a second." Zhang Jianlong clutched his chest, a look of profound grief on his face:

"Wait, why are you so talented? Back in college, you were obviously just as ordinary as the rest of us!"

When he found out two years ago that Chen Jiang had suddenly struck it rich, he was genuinely happy for his buddy.

But now finding out that Chen Jiang was this talented? He simply couldn't accept it!

This was more agonizing than killing him!

"You... today you have to let me bleed you dry!" He looked at Chen Jiang with a serious gaze.

"Fine, fine, fine. Stop looking at me like that. I'll treat you to dinner, alright?" Chen Jiang laughed helplessly.

After signing the contract, Chen Jiang said to Yi Yunxue, "Let's go out for lunch together. It's hard for you to cook when I'm not home."

"Alright." Yi Yunxue nodded.

"You guys even eat together regularly?" Zhang Jianlong looked at the two of them with gossipy eyes.

Shocking! A college roommate of four years had actually hooked up with a major celebrity!

"Don't overthink it. We just share meals because it's inconvenient for Yunxue to cook for just one person," Chen Jiang gave a dry cough and explained.

"Really?" Zhang Jianlong expressed skepticism.

"Stop guessing wildly. Yunxue is a celebrity; if those paparazzi heard you, your buddy here would be all over the news," Chen Jiang said helplessly.

"There really is nothing going on between the two of us. We're just friends and colleagues!"

"That's right, we are completely innocent," Yi Yunxue chimed in with a nod.

"Speaking of which, how come you suddenly moved back to Shenzhen? Wasn't your dad's company in Shanghai?" Chen Jiang asked, voicing his doubt.

"My dad sent me to Shenzhen for some hands-on experience. Our family's conglomerate has a subsidiary here," Zhang Jianlong explained.

"Look at this rich kid!" Chen Jiang teased.

"You have no idea. When my identity was exposed, that supervisor who used to chew me out turned as pale as a ghost," Zhang Jianlong recounted.

"You didn't do anything to him, did you?" Chen Jiang asked out of curiosity.

"I didn't do anything to him. He hadn't done anything to harm the company's interests, and the guy is actually quite capable—he just reached middle age with a family to support, which is why he was afraid of getting fired. Otherwise, given his capability, changing companies wouldn't have been a big deal," Zhang Jianlong shook his head.

"Chen Jiang, I'm going back to the studio first. Call me when it's time to eat, and I'll drive over," Yi Yunxue said.

"Okay," Chen Jiang replied.

Yi Yunxue had finally gotten her driver's license some time ago, having had to retake the Class II test three times and the Class III test twice.

She was finally able to drive on her own now.

The couple drank some tea at Chen Jiang's place.

"We're heading back too. We just moved in, so we need to clean up," Zhang Jianlong said.

"Where are you guys living?" Chen Jiang asked.

"In the same residential complex as you. We live in the third building behind yours," Zhang Jianlong said. "My dad bought the apartment here a few years ago. Before I came over, he gave me the property deed, and that's when I found out it's the exact same complex as yours."

...

At noon, the three of them gathered in the underground parking garage.

Chen Jiang asked the two of them, "Which restaurant do you want to eat at?"

"You're letting us pick? Then you're really going to let us rip you off this once!" Zhang Jianlong said with a smile.

"No problem, pick whichever one you like," Chen Jiang said nonchalantly.

"As it happens, I know a Huaiyang restaurant nearby that is exceptionally good. Let's go to that one," Zhang Jianlong suggested.

"What's it called?" Chen Jiang took out his phone and opened the navigation app.

"Huaiyun Elegant Cuisine," Zhang Jianlong said.

...

Inside the restaurant, looking at the menu on his phone, Chen Jiang glanced at Zhang Jianlong with a smile: "This Huaiyang place is quite reasonably priced. It's not nearly as expensive as you made it sound, is it?"

He had been to other high-end Huaiyang restaurants in Shenzhen, and this one was actually quite cheap.

"Expensive or not doesn't matter; the main thing is that this place tastes good," Zhang Jianlong explained.

"Yunxue says she's almost here. Let's order once she arrives," Chen Jiang said, looking at a message sent by Yi Yunxue.

Before long, the private room door was pushed open, and a heavily disguised Yi Yunxue walked in from outside.

"How did you guys end up eating here?"

She sat down right next to Chen Jiang.

"Old Zhang said this place is delicious," Chen Jiang said.

"Alright, take a look and see what you want to eat."

After ordering, Chen Jiang submitted the menu.

Half an hour later, the waiter began serving the dishes.

Seeing the continuous stream of dishes being brought to the table, Chen Jiang couldn't help reminding them, "It seems we didn't order this many dishes."

"These were specially sent over by our head chef's instructions," the waiter explained.

"This restaurant is actually owned by my family, and the head chef is my dad's apprentice."

At this moment, Yi Yunxue spoke up.

Hearing her words, Chen Jiang finally realized that it was Yi Yunxue's influence at work.