Chapter 0138: Gifts

Wang Jinghua was no fool; she could tell that the young man before her was no kind-hearted pushover.

From start to finish, he had firmly held the reins of the negotiation. In a daze, Wang Jinghua even felt that Zhao Fusheng did not seem like a fledgling youth but rather an old hand steeped in the business world for years.

Although she was certain that Zhao Fusheng meant no harm to Fan Baobao and that she herself was not one to gossip, Wang Jinghua still had to consider the interests of the artist under her management.

"Um, I hope you can keep this a secret and not reveal your relationship with Baobao," Wang Jinghua said, looking at Zhao Fusheng with a serious expression.

"Hmm?"

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, not expecting her to make such a request of him.

Meeting Zhao Fusheng's surprised gaze, Wang Jinghua said cautiously, "This is also for Baobao's sake. After all, her current image is that of a youthful and lovely girl. If your relationship were exposed, it would be very detrimental to her future development."

Zhao Fusheng could understand her meaning and smiled: "Sister Hua, rest assured, I have no intention of exposing it either. I hope you can also keep it a secret from Baobao. I don't want her to know my identity."

Fan Baobao's self-esteem was too strong. If she knew that the opportunity she got was due to Zhao Fusheng's help behind the scenes, she would surely feel even more indebted to the Zhao family.

Wang Jinghua nodded, and the two had essentially formed an alliance.

Less than an hour later, Fan Baobao appeared in the hotel, dressed glamorously. Seeing Wang Jinghua and Zhao Fusheng chatting happily, she asked in surprise, "What are you two..."

"We've reached an agreement," Zhao Fusheng said to Fan Baobao. "I called Auntie, and she also agreed to you signing. From now on, you'll be with Sister Hua."

"Yes, we'll be working together from now on," Wang Jinghua also said to Fan Baobao with a smile.

Fan Baobao laughed heartily: "Sister Hua, please take good care of me from now on."

Next came the details of the contract. Originally, Wang Jinghua had prepared a contract for Fan Baobao with a 70-30 split, where the artist took 70% and she took 30%. That is, Wang Jinghua would help Fan Baobao find resources for filming and advertisements, and she would get 30% of the profits.

But Zhao Fusheng rejected this proposal, suggesting that the split between Fan Baobao and Wang Jinghua could be 50-50.

"Sister Hua, Baobao is still a newcomer with no resources of her own. She'll rely entirely on your help. A 50-50 split is more appropriate," Zhao Fusheng said to Wang Jinghua.

Wang Jinghua was quite surprised but ultimately agreed, since no one would turn down more money.

However, she specifically noted in the contract that if the resources were obtained through her help, the split would be 50-50; if they were Fan Baobao's own resources, she would take nothing.

After the contract was signed, Wang Jinghua took her leave. Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao saw her out, watching her ride away on her bicycle. Fan Baobao said to Zhao Fusheng with a smile, "Sister Hua is a good person, isn't she?"

"Mm, not bad," Zhao Fusheng replied casually with a faint smile.

He understood very well the significance of Wang Jinghua's actions—she was simply trying to curry favor with him.

After all, Fan Baobao was not the only artist under her management. If she ever needed his help, or if his advertising ideas required a celebrity endorsement and Fan Baobao wasn't suitable, there were always others.

...

...

"By the way, since you're out, come shopping with me," Zhao Fusheng said to Fan Baobao after a moment's thought.

Fan Baobao was startled: "Shopping?"

"Yeah, since I'm in Beijing, I need to bring something back," Zhao Fusheng said.

"Right, right, right! We need to buy gifts for Uncle and Auntie, and for my mom and Beibei too," Fan Baobao instantly broke into a smile. Being alone in Beijing, she also missed home, though she usually didn't show it.

The two took a bus from the Central Academy of Drama to the famous Wangfujing Street in Beijing.

Fan Baobao was dressed casually today. Because the weather was fairly nice, she wore only a white shirt with a white jacket over it. Having just been tired from the bus ride, a bead of sweat trickled down her cheek and into her chest.

She looked youthful and full of vitality.

But right now, Miss Fan was in a very bad mood.

"I have money; you don't need to spend," Fan Baobao said seriously, glancing at Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng sneered: "Ha, do I need to mention how little your living allowance is?"

"You!" Fan Baobao was furious but helpless. There was no way around it—Zhao Fusheng knew exactly how much money she had, even the private savings Auntie Zhao had given her.

She had originally planned to buy gifts for the family with her own money, but Zhao Fusheng had refused. Along the way, they had argued about this several times.

Seeing Fan Baobao had nothing to say, Zhao Fusheng didn't press further and began strolling around the street.

Fan Baobao followed behind Zhao Fusheng, snorted, and secretly decided to get back at him.

Soon, Zhao Fusheng understood how terrifying it was to offend a woman.

No matter what he chose, Fan Baobao shook her head and gave a negative answer, with all sorts of strange reasons, like the clothes having an ugly color or the scarf being the wrong length.

In the end, as long as Zhao Fusheng chose it, Fan Baobao opposed it.

Zhao Fusheng deeply understood the meaning of the saying: "Only women and petty people are hard to deal with."

"I was wrong; I'll listen to you, okay?"

With no other choice, Zhao Fusheng said to Fan Baobao.

Fan Baobao snorted, leaving Zhao Fusheng with a beautiful back view as she strode ahead.

In the following time, the two finally stopped arguing and picked out gifts for the family together. Zhao Fusheng no longer stopped Fan Baobao from paying, and Fan Baobao no longer nitpicked at what Zhao Fusheng chose.

And so, they shopped for over three hours and bought a large pile of things.

They didn't spend much money—about five or six hundred yuan—but Miss Fan Baobao had chosen a lot of items. Zhao Fusheng was now loaded with bags and packages, looking utterly helpless.

"What, not happy?" Fan Baobao shot Zhao Fusheng a sideways glance and asked.

"No, but you've bought so much. How will you live next month?" Zhao Fusheng asked Fan Baobao with a half-smile.

If he remembered correctly, Fan Baobao's monthly living expenses were only five hundred yuan. Her mother had given her some private savings before, but there shouldn't be much left, since she needed to buy many things in Beijing and had spent quite a bit these past few days. Just the deposit for the hotel room she was staying in—Fan Baobao had paid a five-day deposit at once—was a considerable expense.

"That's none of your concern," Fan Baobao said arrogantly, looking at Zhao Fusheng. "I have enough money to spend anyway."

Though she said that, she was thinking about whether she should do some temporary promotional work next week to earn some extra cash.

Zhao Fusheng smiled, not exposing the girl's little thoughts, and silently carried the things as he and Fan Baobao boarded the bus back to school.