Chapter 85

Li Xu didn’t have the ability to read minds, but he knew what Zhao Ya was thinking. Bringing her here to fly over and stay at the top of Victoria Peak wasn’t just for showing off and intimidating, was it?

Of course, this villa was indeed a good purchase. The original owner was a senior executive of the Swire Group, who was transferred back to London and was in a hurry to sell it. Thus, through the introduction of the Morgan Stanley office, it was sold to Li Xu.

However, he wouldn’t be staying here for a long time, so he left the servants behind. Not having a butler was a bit troublesome, but these servants were well-trained and discreet, so it wasn’t a concern.

After exchanging a few playful words with Deng Lijun, Li Xu noticed Zhao Ya’s distracted appearance and suddenly slapped his head. "Oh, right, I forgot to give you something, Ya."

Saying this, he got up and went downstairs, returning with a file in his hand.

Zhao Ya, puzzled, looked at Li Xu as she took the file. He didn’t explain, just smiled and gestured for her to open it.

The weary yet still beautiful woman opened the file, and as soon as she saw what was inside, her face turned pale. She quickly pushed it back and stared blankly at Li Xu.

Li Xu remained silent, and although Deng Lijun looked at him curiously, she didn’t ask.

Then, Zhao Ya bit her lip and finally managed a smile. "Thank you."

Despite her gratitude, her expression was clearly bitter.

"No need to thank me. I should have given it to you in Taiwan, but I forgot. I only remembered today after discussing recent goals with the company. I hope you don’t mind," Li Xu said in a gentle tone, as if it were true.

"No, no, I don’t mind. I’m very grateful, Mr. Li," Zhao Ya said with a bitter smile.

"Call me Edward or Ah Xu," Li Xu said immediately.

"Okay... okay, E... Edward..." As she was about to say it, she glanced at Deng Lijun and then lowered her eyes. "Ah... Ah Xu."

Deng Lijun, who had been staring at Zhao Ya, showed a hint of joy in her eyes. Li Xu, noticing this, chuckled inwardly.

He had always called Deng Lijun by her English name. At first, it was nothing, but after adding Feng Jiao and Qing Xia, Li Xu felt it was a bit off to use their English names, so he switched to Feng Jiao and Qing Xia. However, he didn’t change Deng Lijun’s name to Teresa, as he had been calling her that for over a year, and Deng Lijun hadn’t changed Edward to Ah Xu. Over time, using English names became the default between them.

Now, Zhao Ya’s sudden change in how she addressed him—under Deng Lijun’s watch—was, in a sense, acknowledging that the English names were exclusive to her and him. No wonder Deng Lijun was happy.

Although this was an unintended result, since she thought this way, it didn’t matter.

Not bad, not bad. After starting to vie for his favor, she was also strengthening her position. A good change.

And for Zhao Ya to be aware of this and react appropriately, to call her a virtuous wife and mother... well, well.

Of course, Li Xu didn’t care. The item he gave her was a signed confession—well, not exactly a confession, but an investigation report. However, it was easy for the people in Taiwan to manipulate it, and if needed, it could easily be turned into a confession.

Before leaving Taiwan, Wang Chuanpu had given this to him to show their sincerity, though whether they had a backup was unknown.

But Li Xu didn’t give it to Zhao Ya immediately; he waited until now, and the meaning was clear. Zhao Ya clearly understood.

"By the way, Edward," Deng Lijun said, thinking of something, "Did... Wei Hua tell you?"

"What?" Li Xu turned his head, but then remembered. "Oh, you mean the Hong Kong PolyGram executives wanting to meet me?"

"More accurately, they just want to meet the creator of those two songs," Deng Lijun said softly.

"So, they’re satisfied with those two songs?" Li Xu asked with a smile.

"Yes, they plan to use 'A Thousand Miles of Parting' as the lead single and 'Where in Life Can We Not Meet Again' as the second lead," Deng Lijun nodded.

"Alright, I’ll pass it on to Masahiro, but whether he comes or not is up to him," Li Xu shrugged.

As soon as he said this, he saw Deng Lijun pout.

"What’s wrong?" Li Xu pretended to be confused, then showed a look of realization. "The author hasn’t been found yet."

Deng Lijun’s pout deepened.

"Alright," Li Xu laughed. "What do you think, Teresa? Should I agree or not?"

Meeting the song author was just an excuse; PolyGram truly wanted to meet the man behind Deng Lijun.

As mentioned before, PolyGram Japan and Hong Kong PolyGram were the same company, so they had communicated. The PolyGram executives knew who he was—at least partially.

However, this was limited to a few top executives, and Li Xu had personally called PolyGram Japan, asking them to keep a low profile and not make a big fuss.

Just that would have been fine, but he could not only spend a lot of money to buy songs for Deng Lijun but also get good ones, which made PolyGram interested.

Often, a classic good song could make an album a hit, and having two was a surefire win. If half were outstanding, they could leave a mark in music history.

Moreover, the man behind Deng Lijun was Japanese—at least they thought so—and Japanese pop music was the benchmark in Asia, a fact that couldn’t be denied. So, the smart ones knew what to do.

As for the Japanese, well, let’s make money first.

"You decide," Deng Lijun replied softly, seemingly unconcerned.

Wow, such a big change. She’s vying for his favor and trying to secure her position. Now she doesn’t mind being exposed?

Li Xu was a bit surprised. Whether the PolyGram people came to him, he went to them, or they met elsewhere, some information about him and Deng Lijun would leak out.

"I’m not interested in meeting them face-to-face right now. Let’s pass on it," he said after some thought.

Although he hadn’t extended his reach to Hong Kong yet, if everything went according to plan, it wouldn’t be long. At that time, there might be conflicts, so it was better to wait.

Then he saw a hint of relief and joy flash across Deng Lijun’s face... well, forget what she said about not minding.

"Let’s go down," Li Xu said, standing up. As the two women also stood, he put his arms around their waists.

When Zhao Ya was embraced, her body tensed, but she only lowered her head, showing no resistance. Li Xu chuckled and slid his hand down to the edge of her waist.

This time, Zhao Ya trembled slightly but still showed no resistance. Li Xu shook his head inwardly, somewhat disappointed.

But he didn’t make any further moves and didn’t go to Zhao Ya’s room that night. Instead, he continued to be intimate with Deng Lijun.

After two more days, observing how Chen Bo Ran handled company affairs, Li Xu took Deng Lijun and Zhao Ya back to California.

There was at least three months before the new album’s release, and he was only gone for a week, so PolyGram had no reason to refuse. As for Li Xu’s refusal to meet, that was no big deal.

As for Zhao Ya, although he only stayed in Hong Kong for three days, he had Chen Bo Ran gather some information and re-examine the situation.

Most of the infidelity incident was similar to the other timeline. Zhao Ya developed feelings for Huang Yuan Shen while filming a movie, and Huang Yuan Shen wrote her several love letters, which were seen by Huang Han Wei and revealed to a magazine friend, who published them, causing a scandal.

The differences were: first, Zhao Ya had replied to Huang Yuan Shen twice, and according to magazine and newspaper reports, the letters were quite melancholic and ambiguous; second, it was unclear whether Huang Han Wei’s leak was intentional or not, as the initial magazine reports were vague; third, Huang Han Wei was very determined to divorce, or rather, the Huang family was very determined, with his mother even publicly criticizing Zhao Ya’s lack of propriety.

The scandal broke in early July, when the influence of "The Bund" hadn’t completely faded. The public couldn’t accept the pure and kind "Feng Cheng Cheng" being involved in such a scandal, leading to widespread criticism and condemnation. Even after being forced to divorce, she received little sympathy, and TVB had to put the popular actress on ice.

Moreover, other film companies were hesitant to use her, and the boycott eventually led her to be lured to Taiwan, where she was caught and used as leverage to be sent to Li Xu.

On the surface, it seemed fine, but compared to the other timeline, it was strange. Huang Han Wei had been married to her for five years and tolerated her until 1982 in the other timeline. There was no reason for him to be so intense now.

Even with the miscarriage, it was unlikely he would be so heartless. Was there some hidden reason?

Of course, it was possible that the information from his previous life was second-hand and might have been altered. But regardless, this was all Li Xu’s fault. If not for the car accident, she would have at least two children and wouldn’t have been manipulated by the people in Taiwan.

No matter how ruthless those people were, they wouldn’t bring a pregnant woman to Li Xu, right? That would be a huge embarrassment.

But they might have used someone else, which would be a pity. Cough, cough...

While Li Xu was curious about some gossip, he wasn’t interested in digging into these private matters, especially those that were likely to be painful. It would only backfire.

Anyway, Zhao Ya was in his hands. When she was ready to talk, she would.