... ~

Qiao Jingjing seemed to react instinctively, and as if possessed, she blurted out those two words.

As soon as she finished calling out, Qiao Jingjing realized what she had done.

She was so embarrassed that her face turned the color of liver.

Shy and annoyed, she twisted her body, pinched Chen Cheng's waist again, and squeaked coquettishly:

"You're bullying me ~"

Hearing her long, drawn-out tone, the corners of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up.

That felt good ~

After a few seconds of pause, Chen Cheng reined in his smile, nuzzled her ear, and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Qiao Jingjing pouted and said lightly, "It's all your fault. You messed things up so I didn't even get to eat dinner, and now I'm hungry ~"

Chen Cheng's mouth hooked into a wicked smile, "Are you sure it was me who messed things up so you didn't eat dinner?"

Qiao Jingjing widened her eyes immediately, only then realizing that this guy was making suggestive remarks again.

"You're going to die, can't you be serious for once?"

Scum Cheng carried on with his shameless, excellent tradition, "I'm very serious, oh ~"

"Hiss ~"

Qiao Jingjing had to hand it to him; she couldn't win against him in a verbal sparring match.

She would just get teased into a blushing mess by him in a few sentences.

Seeing that she wasn't speaking, Chen Cheng stopped teasing her.

"Hungry? Then let's go eat."

Qiao Jingjing pouted, "It's the middle of the night, where are we going to eat?"

Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow, "If you want to eat, that's simple. You just think about what you want to eat, and I'll arrange the rest."

"Hmph ~" Qiao Jingjing hummed lightly, "It's not good to trouble others in the middle of the night."

As she spoke, Qiao Jingjing's eyes rolled, "How about we go eat hot pot?"

Chen Cheng didn't care what they ate and agreed immediately.

"Alright, whatever my wife says goes."

"You're impossible ~"

Qiao Jingjing hummed with 'disdain.'

In reality, hearing Scum Cheng call her 'wife ~ wife ~' made Qiao Jingjing feel wonderful inside.

The two got up, changed their clothes, and went out.

Qiao Jingjing wrapped herself up tightly, wearing both a fisherman's hat and a mask.

One reason was the cold, the other was to avoid being recognized.

Chen Cheng also wore a mask on his face.

Qiao Jingjing drove her own car, and Chen Cheng sat in the passenger seat, playing some music.

As Qiao Jingjing drove, she started chatting with Chen Cheng.

"Speaking of which, you have so many songs, why don't you release an album or something?"

Chen Cheng shook his head, "No time ~"

"..."

Qiao Jingjing immediately rolled her eyes at him, "But you have time to chase girls, right?"

This time it was Chen Cheng's turn to go silent. He blinked, "Speaking of which, how did you find out?"

"Hmph ~ Every time you disappear, I can't see you for days at a time. Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Uh..."

Chen Cheng's mouth twitched. It seemed there were limits to being a time management master.

Once the number of concurrent relationships exceeded a certain threshold, it would be noticed.

That was how things were exposed with Han Su as well.

Not replying to messages for hours at a time.

Not answering video calls for days at a time—only a top-tier lovesick fool wouldn't overthink it.

In that instant, Chen Cheng actually thought He Minhong was pretty good too.

Ah, pfft, Qin Qin is pretty good.

Actually, Qiao Jingjing accepting this strange relationship without a ripple made Chen Cheng feel a bit dazed.

But he quickly figured it out. He sighed internally; 100 points of favorability is truly powerful.

Seeing him go quiet, Qiao Jingjing laughed in annoyance, blinked, and changed the subject.

"Leaders at the TV station sent word to Sister Ling, wanting to invite 'Chen Jianan' to sing at the Lantern Festival Gala."

"Sister Ling politely declined. We managed to brush it off this year."

"But what about next year?"

Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow. Qiao Jingjing was worried that if they kept refusing, the other party might get embarrassed and angry, and make things difficult for Starlight.

He thought for a moment and said slowly, "Just have Sister Ling make it clear that I'm just playing around and have no plans to debut. Don't worry about anything else."

Qiao Jingjing shook her head, "It's not that simple. Some leaders are extremely difficult to deal with."

"'Deal with'?" Chen Cheng frowned.

Hearing these words come out of Qiao Jingjing's mouth made him very uncomfortable.

It meant Qiao Jingjing had had unpleasant experiences in this regard.

Qiao Jingjing shook her head, "I wouldn't say that. It's just that when I first debuted a few years ago, there were some drinking parties."

"I really had to nod and bow to everyone, being very careful."

"And I had to be careful to avoid being groped."

"Now, drinking parties are banned."

"But those people who like to show off their authority are still there."

"They just like to block you, to disgust you."

"If you want to get things done, you have to serve them carefully, fearing that if you do something wrong, you'll anger them."

Chen Cheng's brow furrowed deeper. It's easier to deal with the King of Hell than the little devils.

This was also a major reason why Chen Cheng never wanted to participate in real industry.

Doing finance is simple and direct, and the money comes fast.

You only need to maintain good relationships with the Investment Bank, and once you reach a certain stage, you are the boss of the Investment Bank.

It's mainly because there are fewer stakeholders involved, so it doesn't feel troublesome.

If you really want to do real industry, even the security guard at the gate can make you furious.

But real industry has its own benefits.

Solving employment means reputation. Refer to Big Qiangzi.

Also, the manufacturing industry is the easiest place to hoard wealth.

For every product sold, there is a profit.

As long as you don't go public, outsiders have no idea how much money you've actually made.

He thought for a moment and said half-jokingly, "Wife, why don't we quit the industry."

"Moving behind the scenes is fine too."

"Hmm ~~" Qiao Jingjing shook her head like a rattle, "I won't. I finally regained my freedom, I need to earn back those 200 million first."

Chen Cheng's mouth twitched, "200 million ~ 200 million, I might as well call you Qiao 200 Million."

"..."

Qiao Jingjing rolled her eyes in anger, "Then you're Chen 10 Billion ~"

"Chen 10 Billion?" Chen Cheng paused, "The name Chen 10 Billion actually sounds pretty good."

"..."

Qiao Jingjing's mouth twitched in annoyance; this jerk could really talk nonsense.

She pondered for a moment and said seriously, "I've been in the industry for five years, and I can be considered top-tier, yet I haven't earned 200 million. Seeing you give away 200 million in real cash just like that, the more I think about it, the more my heart aches."

Chen Cheng's mouth twitched, and he said testily, "You little money-grubber ~"

Chen Cheng worked in finance and didn't think money in the entertainment industry was easy to earn.

Actually, in any industry, if you can reach a top level, your income won't be worse than the entertainment industry.

Like Qiao Jingjing, who contributed nearly 180 million in revenue to Jia Neng last year.

After a 40/60 split and paying personal income tax, Qiao Jingjing actually received about 39 million.

This income is much higher than Qu Honglei, or Zhao Hui who went to Company Name.

But compared to John, Aks, and Karen in Chen Cheng's overseas team, it's relatively inferior.

Of course, they aren't on the same dimension; the overseas team gets paid in dollars.

There are plenty of executives on Wall Street whose salaries alone are 30 or 40 million dollars.

Also, Qiao Jingjing's job is eating a youth bowl; her current income is basically the ceiling in the entertainment industry.

If this income can last for seven or eight years, she should be burning incense and praying.

After that, it's a cliff-like drop, followed by decades of going downhill.

Whereas in other industries, not to say they get better and better, but the career is definitely longer than being an idol.

To summarize, the level of everyone's income is actually determined by your position in the industry and whether the industry is capital-intensive.

So why do so many people scold the 208s?

Because some 208s have business ability, external conditions, cultural literacy, and personal quality that are ridiculously poor.

Hmm...

Virtue does not match their position, virtue does not match their wealth.

They deserve to be scolded.

Qiao Jingjing didn't care, raising her chin proudly, "Once I earn these 200 million, I'll move behind the scenes."

She knew very well that Chen Cheng wanted her to move behind the scenes to reduce her exposure.

Qiao Jingjing parked the car in the underground garage of a shopping mall.

The mall shouldn't be open at this hour, so Chen Cheng followed her to the elevator, confused.

After arriving at the floor, Chen Cheng's mouth hung open.

Well, isn't this that hot pot chain.