Qi Younian’s gaze flickered as he turned away from making eye contact with Yuran. "Isn’t this just me caring about our artist under the banner?"
"Oh~~" Yuran’s response trailed off suggestively long, eliciting blush on Meng Qiuyan’s cheeks who tugged at Yuran’s sleeve, "President Yu, please spare me."
This time, Yuran was slightly disinclined to believe there was nothing fishy between the two of them.
But considering it involved her own sister and Qi Younian...
The thought felt a bit chaotic.
Yuran sat down next to Bo Yan, wrapping an arm around his, and fell into deep thought.
Meanwhile, Meng Qiuyan turned her gaze towards Qi Younian, sizing him up before looking away.
Qi Younian felt the weight of the scrutinizing gaze, burying his head, not lifting his eyes, like a turtle retreating into its shell.
Kang Zhenyu, sensing the awkward silence, hastily said, "It’s rare for the great movie star Bo and President Yu to visit. Are you here to have dinner? Supper?"
Bo Yan didn’t speak, Yuran agreed on his behalf, and since Bo Yan generally wouldn’t contradict Yuran’s decisions, what Yuran wanted was also what he wanted.
Zhizhi came over holding a robot, "Uncle Year, are we going to have supper here? Zhizhi wants to eat salt-baked shrimps."
Holding his phone, Qi Younian gazed at the dark-eyed, round-faced child across from him and smiled indulgently, "Alright, let’s order some salt-baked shrimps for our Zhizhi."
Zhizhi said, "Uncle Year, Dad likes to eat the braised pork ribs Mom makes, and Mom likes to eat the food Dad cooks."
After a few seconds of quiet, laughter erupted from the crowd. Seeing Qi Younian’s nearly petrified face made everyone’s smiles widen. Zhizhi looked puzzled, glancing at his mom and then at his dad.
Questioning, "Dad, did Zhizhi say something wrong?"
Bo Yan smiled with pursed lips and told Zhizhi, "Baby, you’re absolutely right. Dad does like the braised pork ribs Mom makes, and Mom likes Dad’s cooking too."
Satisfied, Zhizhi ran off with the robot.
Qi Younian watched Zhizhi’s retreating figure and sighed towards the child’s parents, "So, how about the two of you show off your culinary skills? I can arrange the ingredients right away."
The studio had a kitchen and dining area anyway. When they didn’t order takeout, everyone was self-sufficient; there was no question of who was the better cook. If something could be settled with takeout, no one would bother cooking themselves.
Everyone was eager and looked forward to the pair cooking.
Bo Yan and Yuran, deeply trapped by their own son, exchanged a glance and resigned themselves to the task. Bo Yan didn’t mind, though it meant cooking for a larger crowd and needing some assistants, "I can cook, but I’ll need some helping hands."
"That’s easy," Qi Younian was not the least bit concerned about finding helpers, "With so many people in our studio, don’t we have enough to assist you?"
"Is the kitchen big enough?"
Kang Zhenyu was still in shock at the thought of the famous actor Bo Yan cooking personally. It was hard for him to imagine how incredulous and amazed his fans would be, just like him, if a photo of Bo Yan cooking ever went public.
"Cough cough... Rest assured, Bo Yan, our kitchen is spacious enough."
So Qi Younian changed the order to home delivery of fresh groceries. Everyone listed their favorite foods, and when it was all tallied up, it amounted to over ten thousand yuan worth of fresh groceries.
Bo Yan’s mouth twitched, "Doing the grunt work, are you guys making it difficult for yourselves or for me?"
They had only thought about Bo Yan cooking, eager to taste their favorite dishes transformed by his hands. They never considered that they would be the ones doing most of the work. Essentially, they were digging their own graves.
Bo Yan raised an eyebrow, "The only dishes I’ll clean and prep myself are for my baby and my darling. The rest, you guys can figure out. I’m only in charge of the actual cooking."
We could do without this display of affection, thank you.
Yuran chuckled, looking at everyone’s mixed expressions, and chimed in, "Hey, don’t be downhearted. Can you get dishes made by Bo Yan elsewhere? Think about it, dishes personally prepared by Bo Yan—if auctioned off, how much money could they fetch? Just think about it, savor it. Are you really losing out?"
Qi Younian massaged his forehead, a look of indisposition on his face, "Yuran, if you went into TV shopping broadcasts, you’d definitely have a talent for it."
Yuran showed great interest, "You go ask around, how does TV shopping work with commissions? Is it per piece or something else? I might consider it."
Qi Younian: "...you’re better off quietly being your Queen."
In the time it took for the fresh groceries to be delivered, Qi Younian roughly updated Yuran on the company’s recent operations. Lu Xiao’s new series was awaiting release and had generated a lot of buzz. So far, they had not initiated any promotion, but the buzz alone was enough for promotional effect, so the company decided to save on marketing expenses and allocate it elsewhere;
Since being affiliated with Diyang, Ran Studio had access to excellent resources without affecting other Diyang talents, obtaining prime opportunities.
Huanya had also diverted some of its resources to Ran Studio, and several collaborative projects were in discussion.
At Diyang, there were a few artists who had some complaints, but everyone was clear about Diyang’s model. So aside from the occasional sour remarks when they crossed paths, there were no underhanded maneuvers behind the scenes.
Everything seemed serene yet was accumulating momentum beneath the surface.
Nobody knew just how many fields Ran Studio’s operations would cover in the next few years.
With a limited number of artists under them currently, Qi Younian asked Yuran if she was preparing to sign any new ones. Yuran refused, as the quality of newcomers in the industry was mixed. She didn’t want to sign artists she wasn’t satisfied with just because of an abundance of resources. Those can be returned to Diyang.
Yuran hadn’t expected Xi Nian to act this way. Without a firm foothold, this approach could undoubtedly count against him.
"As for Huanya, I’ll go and explain the situation personally. We will cooperate where we can, and where we can’t, there’s no need to keep holding on to them for us—this matter I’ll negotiate."
But Qi Younian was full of doubts, "We haven’t had much interaction with Huanya, so why are they releasing resources to us? The resources allocated to their own artists’ studios are not even as good as those given to us, and ours are high-quality."
Yuran naturally couldn’t explain the reason, at least not in front of so many people. Shaking her head, she said, "I’m not very clear about that either. As long as you think the contracts are fine and we can cooperate, let’s do it. It’s a win-win, and we aren’t losing out."
Qi Younian nodded, "I would handle it that way regardless, don’t worry. I’ll take care of the company’s affairs. You can continue to be hands-off, and I’ll deal with things I can handle on my own. If there’s anything that needs discussing, I’ll give you a call. It’s convenient, right?"
Yuran nodded, "Actually, you could make the decision on your own."