Chapter 133: This Time, It’s Truly Gone Viral

Liu Qingshan shook his head, lamenting how small the world was. "Holm is a complete idiot. Have you heard about the mess he's gotten himself into?"

Zhang Peinian nodded with a wry smile. "I heard a bit from my friend, and I also checked in with Xu Danni. But as far as I know, Holm is a decent person at heart; he just has this self-righteous streak due to his caste background. Truth be told, he is quite capable, which is why he dared to come to you for help."

Although Holm held advanced degrees, returning to India meant he had to work for a major firm like Treasure Pictures to maintain a wealthy lifestyle. The business environment in India is such that immense wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few private enterprises, and the commercial landscape is inextricably linked to the complex entanglements of high-caste power structures. Once Holm lost this rare, high-paying white-collar position, it would mean his future career prospects in India would become extremely bleak.

"Director Zhang, I will certainly do you this favor, but I don't think it's appropriate for you to intervene. I know Kram. He’s built such a massive business not only through management skills but also because he is terrifyingly decisive."

Liu Qingshan avoided the term "ruthless," but everyone understood—without a bit of iron-fisted resolve, one couldn't manage such a vast empire. Zhang Peinian could only listen; while he might have felt a sense of bureaucratic superiority over Liu Qingshan, he certainly dared not show any temper in front of someone like Kram.

"Therefore, it is best if I step in. After all, the whole incident started because of me, so I should be the one to end it. No matter how cunning a fox Kram is, he will never guess that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes!"

"That's true. This way, we might even be able to save Holm's original position."

"Perhaps, but honestly, I don't really want to help him. You know he left Jackie Chan sitting in a car for several hours!"

"How does Jackie feel about this?"

"He's a big brother in the entertainment industry; his experience and patience are far beyond mine. He even laughed at my temper at the time! Anyway, Director Zhang, leave it to me. I'll give you a definite answer by this time tomorrow."

This incident was merely a small interlude, and even Kim Hee-sun didn't take it to heart. Yet, unexpectedly, a month later, Zhang Peinian would reward Liu Qingshan with a massive gift because of it.

The next day, the impact of the previous night's performance became clear. Almost every major entertainment section was headlined by pictures of Liu Qingshan and Kim Hee-sun holding hands on stage. The song "Do You Know? Do You Know?" became an overnight sensation, and in its wake, the media dug up Kim Hee-sun's song "The Myth" as well.

Discussions about these songs began to dominate other media channels, especially online. Unlike the uniform praise in the newspapers, countless evaluations from so-called "experts" flooded certain music websites overnight.

Some posts disparaged the music as neither fish nor fowl, but the top-rated comments were filled with nothing but praise. One lengthy online article even dissected the lyrics line by line, analyzing and commenting on every word, which drew a large crowd of onlookers. After all, it required a solid foundation in classical literature to provide such a clear interpretation, and for fans of the song, this provided a deeper level of understanding. The author of this post was likely a die-hard fan of Liu Qingshan, even elevating the song to the level of a pioneering work in the "ancient style" genre, something unprecedented.

Upon learning this, Park Hye-jin shrewdly called many media outlets, aiming to use the print media to hype it up even further. This included Korean reporters, and eventually, the entire MCC headquarters got involved, fueling the hype back in South Korea.

Liu Qingshan, however, was completely unaware of this. It was nine in the morning, and he was still fast asleep, holding Kim Hee-sun in his arms. Two temporary guests were staying in the first-floor guest room: Che Geng and Padjay. It wasn't until Che Geng shouted from downstairs that the two realized they had visitors.

The arrivals were Park Hye-jin and Yu Yi, though Shi Hui had arrived even earlier than them—the breakfast on the table was prepared by her.

"This is just a portion; Park Hyun-hee is out collecting more newspapers!" Park Hye-jin pointed to a pile of print media on the coffee table while happily gnawing on a *jianbing guozi* (Chinese crepe).

Yu Yi shook his head and sighed bitterly, "Shanzi, you have no idea. This woman is a total madwoman. She was at my door before seven this morning, dragging me all over the city, buying every newspaper we saw! Look at me, I haven't even eaten yet." He was holding a bowl of noodles—the tomato and egg noodles that were Padjay's favorite. Padjay had a bowl in front of him too, a recipe Shi Hui had learned from Liu Qingshan; while not Michelin-star quality, it tasted pretty good.

Kim Hee-sun laughed, "Sister Hye-jin has always been like this. When I first debuted, she would often ambush me in my bed!"

Park Hye-jin cast a nonchalant side-eye at Yu Yi, "What, do you regret teaming up with me?"

"Regret, a little, mostly because you won't stay with me at night!" This was Park Hye-jin's final boundary, something the whole group was aware of.

She giggled, "I told you already, don't even think about it until I've cleared up my family troubles!"

Kim Hee-sun pinched her arm, "There's a child at the table, watch what you two are saying!"

Che Geng grinned broadly, "What’s the big deal? You two say much worse things elsewhere, and you’re always doing little 'activities,' you don't care about us kids at all!"

"You, a kid? Shanzi, don't let him fool you. This guy is nothing like a fifteen-year-old. Yesterday, he and Padjay were eavesdropping on us!"

Che Geng retorted, "Eavesdropping? Your car was in the Snow Territory parking lot. Padjay and I happened to walk by, saw the car shaking, and were just curious!"

Liu Qingshan burst into laughter. He had heard about this from Padjay; the two weren't exactly eavesdropping—they had just leaned against the car window and peeked inside.

"You have the nerve to say that? Shanzi and Mr. Kram were holding a meeting for employees, and you couldn't resist sneaking into the car to get cozy?" Kim Hee-sun teased.

Park Hye-jin wore an expression of utter shamelessness, "We’re tame compared to you two. Pfft, is living together before marriage something to be proud of?"

For a moment, breakfast turned into a scene of joy. Fortunately, Padjay's Mandarin skills were limited, so he didn't understand much of their conversation.

Park Hyun-hee arrived half an hour later, clutching a massive stack of newspapers, followed by Mao Shaochong, who was carrying a bag of food boxes.

"My master called. He wants you to get to the hotel before lunch. He says Kram wants to visit the Forbidden City!"

Mao Shaochong was the third disciple of Master Yu; legend had it he had been living with the Yu family since he was three.

"The Forbidden City? Didn't the relevant departments say they would organize those activities?" Liu Qingshan asked, puzzled.

"Mr. Kram doesn't want to disturb too many people. Otherwise, if he gets surrounded by a huge crowd, there's no point in going."

Liu Qingshan nodded and looked at Shi Hui, "Is there anything on the agenda for today?"