Chapter 145: The Gala

Zeng Xiaoxian had booked a grand suite one tier below the presidential suite, which was spacious enough to accommodate quite a few people. In every aspect, it was exceptionally nice—except for lacking a top-floor terrace.

Earlier events had left Feng Chenchen still feeling somewhat depressed, yet she had been somewhat tamed; although the start was unfavorable, she could always figure out a way to handle things later on.

Once she got over it, she began to enjoy the perks provided by Zeng Xiaoxian. Otherwise, in the past, Feng Chenchen would never have booked such a four-thousand-pound suite on business trips.

She wanted to go out and see the street views of London, but this damned drizzly weather severely dampened her mood. Consequently, she chose to stay cooped up in the room for the time being.

From time to time, Zeng Xiaoxian’s assistant would walk in and say with some concern, "Someone is keeping an eye on our hallway. It seems to be people from the Li family."

At this, Little Ma felt as if three juvenile alpacas were trotting through his mind; they even paused to look at Brother Ma, lowered their heads to graze for a bit, and then trotted away.

After giving it some thought, Little Ma felt somewhat deflated.

Those scoundrels were merely lingering in a public place. This was a theory Little Ma had just spouted off the cuff, so there was no way he could overturn it now.

Hence, he continued to be carefree. Given that he had been on a long flight and was feeling a bit drowsy, he intended to return to his room to catch up on sleep.

Feng Chenchen still had many important issues she hadn't discussed with him. That morning in the airplane lavatory, they had almost gone all the way, but it had fizzled out without a sequel.

Therefore, Feng Chenchen decisively threw caution to the wind and followed him into his room.

"?"

Zeng Xiaoxian was just pondering what excuse she could use to follow him into his room for a chat, only to find out that being thick-skinned in society nowadays was the way to win favor, as Feng Chenchen had actually beaten her to it.

Zeng Xiaoxian could only sigh in resignation, sit down, and open her laptop to entertain herself...

Little Ma wasn't really asleep yet. Sensing someone coming in, he poked his head out from under the blanket and looked at Feng Chenchen.

She was deliberately projecting a woman's aesthetic charm once again. She was truly skilled at conveying such things; in these aspects, through a combination of innate talent and rigorous cultivation, she was indeed a notch above Zeng Xiaoxian.

Feng Chenchen wasn't in a hurry either. She sat down at the edge of the bed and said, "Why are you going to sleep already? Just hold on for a bit now, or your jet lag will get all messed up."

"If I don't sleep, what else is there to do?" Little Ma asked with a peculiar expression.

Feng Chenchen gave him a mildly ambiguous sideways glance. "As you like. Whatever you want to do is fine."

Little Ma thought about it and felt rather discouraged, having basically lost confidence. With some mysterious cosmic force at play, almost every perk he got would be interrupted.

He simply sat up to have a normal chat with her. Who knows, perhaps by understanding some of her merits, the Big Boss's body might eventually stop acting so high and mighty? Any goal had to be approached from small steps, gradually winning the other person over.

It didn't necessarily mean something had to happen. Feng Chenchen also felt that chatting like this was quite nice. She tidied up his hair, then asked out of curiosity, "Why do you always wear this same outfit? Don't you ever change?"

"This is my battle armor, alright? You couldn't buy it even if you wanted to, and I only have one set," Little Ma replied.

"Then take it off, and I’ll have the hotel send it to be washed and tumble-dried." Feng Chenchen simply began getting hands-on.

This perk hadn't even truly begun when Zeng Xiaoxian happened to walk past the doorway and gave a few deliberate "Ahem, ahem" coughs.

Little Ma had no choice but to change the subject and ask, "How did you ever think of inviting Knightley to join?"

Feng Chenchen looked as though she had grievances hard to voice. "On my own, naturally, my imagination wouldn't be wild enough to collaborate with someone like that as a rookie. Unfortunately, this was Mike Travis's idea. Knightley will be playing the second major villain in the film: the British Home Secretary."

Puff—

Little Ma, who was in the midst of drinking water, spat it right out.

Feng Chenchen continued, "Old Mike has enough clout to get her on board, but it's a bit of a pity. This could clearly have been a righteous role that would win a lot of popularity; I have no idea what's going on in his head. He asked me to rewrite the script and turn this character into a major villain—probably the kind of iron-fisted authoritarian who opposes human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. I wonder if anyone would even want to watch something like that."

"So that's why they always say you know nothing about power, is it?" Little Ma said with a feigned air of mystery.

Feng Chenchen leaned in with a captivating smile. "Why don't you tell me, what are they trying to do?"

Little Ma didn't know for sure either. But generally speaking, he was carefree—forget it, as long as there was good food, good drink, and perks, he was happy. He waved his hand and said, "I don't care. As a big shot, I generally don't concern myself with the affairs of nobodies. Mike Travis is a nobody, and Knightley and Theron are nobodies too. I don't want to get involved."

Feng Chenchen finally felt like fainting. While he could be interesting, he was sometimes erratic, making normal conversation with him quite difficult.

Little Ma thought about it again. Considering he had been intimate with Julia eight times over—since sharing a pillow for a night makes you close—his lower body dictated his upper body, and he decisively waved his hand. "Don't listen to Mike Travis. Stick to your own script and portray her as a righteous character."

"Really?" Feng Chenchen wasn't sure if old Mike would compromise.

"I have the final say. Although I don't have the money to back your career, what I say goes. I'll back you, witch, with my luck. Luck is one of resources, and a very important one at that," Little Ma declared.

"I’ve changed my mind. If my jet lag gets messed up, so be it. I'll keep you company and rest for a bit."

Delighted, Feng Chenchen hopped onto the bed and pulled the blanket over the both of them.

Just then, Zeng Xiaoxian pushed the door open and walked right in, saying, "Room service is here. I ordered a bottle of red wine. Come see if you like it."

She was clearly doing this on purpose.

Yet, after all, she was the one providing the perks and the private jet. Feng Chenchen didn't want to offend someone of her stature, so she had no choice but to crawl out from under the covers and go inspect the red wine...

While the food wasn't entirely to their usual taste, the conversational atmosphere and the legendary vintage wine were quite superb.

The three of them gathered around and continued using Feng Chenchen's film as a topic of discussion, delving deeper into it.

Only then did Zeng Xiaoxian basically figure out what was going on. At the same time, she was utterly speechless regarding these two schemers. This film was truly bizarre: the two supporting actors were pulling in nearly thirty million dollars in pay, yet they had found a total newcomer locally in Haizhou to act as the protagonist of a massive blockbuster, paying her a mere one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Good grief, yet that was simply how the world worked sometimes. When Robert Downey Jr. filmed Iron Man, his salary was less than one tenth of the major supporting stars in the movie. When Brother Ma was featured on a cover, his author's fee was only one-fortieth of Sisi's, who wasn't even on the cover.

Within Zeng Xiaoxian's own team, there were "veterans" who did nothing yet drew an annual salary of three million, alongside immensely talented newcomers who did everything and only received an annual salary of one hundred and fifty thousand. That was just how things went under the sun...

The rain kept falling.

By the dusk of the following day, right at the main building of The Ritz Hotel, the champagne gala commenced.

Whatever the nominal cause was didn't matter; occasions like this were always networking grounds for socialites and elites. They used charity and donations as a gimmick to gather people from all walks of life onto a single platform to mingle and socialize.

Some attendees were simply bored and filthy rich, so they dropped by to see if they ran into acquaintances or forged new connections. Others genuinely had business to attend to and came to meet specific individuals. And some came just to scan the room, looking to see if anyone's wife was feeling restless so they could strike up an opportunistic flirtation—their motives varied entirely.

Zeng Xiaoxian had contributed fifteen thousand pounds to the event's designated charity fund, successfully securing an invitation to the cocktail party. The invitation took the form of a QR code, which granted entry upon scanning.

Zeng Xiaoxian fell into the category of being filthy rich yet bored, dropping by to see if she would run into people she knew or establish contacts on a new roster. Her business in the UK wasn't vast, but she did indeed have some operations there.

Little Ma fell into the category of someone who didn't quite understand what made it so prestigious, but came carefreely just to eat the buffet.

As for Feng Chenchen, knowing that Knightley would be attending, she came here specifically to cross paths with her.

Following yesterday's incident, Feng Chenchen didn't have the audacity to lower her stance and contact Knightley's assistant again. Instead, she boldly leveraged Little Ma's so-called "luck" and directly called Mike Travis, vaguely stating that "the trip to Britain isn't going very smoothly," mentioning that the script might be revised, and that Knightley might not be cast after all. She also dropped the hint that this was the will of a certain major figure.

She had no idea how things would play out afterwards; in any case, Mike Travis had hung up the phone last night without saying a word.

This left Feng Chenchen somewhat nervous, unsure whether her career transition would fall through because of this.

Things had reached this point, and nothing more could be done. It wasn't as if she had to grovel before anyone anyway; at the very least, Little Ma could bluff Fat Jiang, so getting Jiang Yaowen to invest in a "mid-scale" production back home was entirely possible.

For a newcomer to want to reach the stars in a single bound and break directly into Hollywood was, after all, somewhat unrealistic.

Attending the champagne gala this trip, Feng Chenchen had changed into an expensive backless evening gown, linking arms with Little Ma to enter as his date.

Having "learned her lesson through pain" the previous night, Zeng Xiaoxian appeared somewhat more direct today, linking her right arm through Little Ma's as well, likewise playing the role of a date.

Feng Chenchen thought Zeng Xiaoxian was truly shameless, yet it wasn't very convenient to voice her criticism. Having promised to help Little Ma pick up women, Feng Chenchen's primary concern right now was her career transition and professional future.

Unlike Feng Chenchen, Zeng Xiaoxian's gown featured a plunging neckline. It was only at this moment that one could truly appreciate her mature charm and voluptuous figure.

Entering the main hall required scanning the QR codes sequentially.

The security personnel wore a trace of guarded wariness and a mild undertone of discrimination. Much like going through customs at an airport, after scanning the code, they didn't wave people through immediately, instead looking left and right to cross-reference their faces.

While this delay was happening, a convoy consisting of Rolls-Royces pulled up outside.

With five vehicles and nearly a dozen attendants, amidst the eager attention of the crowd, Lee Hyori and Knightley arrived.

Who knew what these two sirens had been up to today that they ended up arriving together at this hour.

They walked right over without bothering with QR codes or scanning, chatting casually as they walked straight inside, guided specifically by security personnel.

As they passed by Little Ma's group, who were still undergoing verification, Lee Hyori almost burst out laughing, muttering audibly, "It's these guys again. They're just so annoying."

Starting an argument wasn't an option either, as they had already gone inside, whereas Little Ma's group was subjected to another thirty seconds of scrutiny before finally being let through.

Once inside, everyone dispersed to do as they pleased. Little Ma headed straight for the buffet table; Feng Chenchen and Zeng Xiaoxian naturally loathed eating, as all beauties across the world seemed afflicted with this trait. Thus, they each picked up a glass of champagne and wandered about.

The main hall was styled with a European court aesthetic. There was no glaringly dazzling flashiness, with oil paintings and sculptures serving as tasteful embellishments.

In a corner, several exquisitely dressed noblewomen conversed in hushed tones, occasionally casting whispered glances toward Little Ma's direction. This proved that the popular internet rumor claiming Westerners saw all Asians as having the exact same face was utterly false.