Chapter 97

"Mr... Mr. Li..." Zhao Yazhi, somewhat dazed, forced a smile as Li Xu's gaze fell upon her, her fingers twisting together.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized her mistake and hurriedly tried to correct it, but Li Xu didn't give her the chance to regret. He immediately laughed out loud, "Wrong again!"

"No... I just..." Zhao Yazhi tried to explain, but Li Xu wouldn't listen. He just patted his thigh.

Zhao Yazhi bit her lip but ultimately walked over, her body trembling as she climbed onto his lap.

Then, Li Xu's hand rose and landed heavily on her round buttocks, making a loud "slap."

"Ah..." Zhao Yazhi let out a soft cry but quickly closed her mouth and eyes, allowing him to continue hitting her.

Although it was only ten slaps, her face was already red to the roots of her ears, and her breathing was quite disordered.

"After this, if I hear that name again, it won't be so simple," Li Xu said after he finished, flipping her over and holding her in his arms.

"I... I know, Ah Xu..." Zhao Yazhi buried her head in his chest, feeling even more conflicted and wronged.

She had hoped Deng Lijun would say a word for her, but when she glanced over, the other woman not only didn't speak up but also looked resentful, as if she regretted that it wasn't her lying there.

"Alright, your TVB contract issue is resolved. From now on, you'll be filming dramas for me," Li Xu said, pinching her chin, then turned to Deng Lijun, "I promised to promote you through a radio station. In a few days, I plan to launch a music channel dedicated to your songs."

Then he lowered his voice, "Not only will we play your songs, but also your music videos."

"Music videos? What are those?" Deng Lijun asked, puzzled.

But Li Xu didn't explain. Instead, he stood up, still holding Zhao Yazhi, and carried her over his shoulder, laughing as he walked upstairs.

Once they entered the bedroom, he threw her onto the bed and, standing above her, rubbed his hands together with a lecherous grin.

"Li... Li... Ah Xu, please... don't... don't do this..." Zhao Yazhi, lying on the bed, didn't resist much, just curled up slightly, looking pitiful.

Over the past half year, everything except the final step had been done. She had been kissed and touched many times, even in front of Shuang Lin and Deng Lijun, and had often been unable to resist his touch.

Li Xu had always felt that Shuang Lin had acted too quickly, not savoring the experience, so he had been slowly teasing Zhao Yazhi, using various provocations and temptations, but always stopping just short of the final step. She couldn't escape him anyway.

So, at this moment, even though her mind was still resisting, her body had already been tamed. When he pressed down on her, she pushed him away half-heartedly, but it was a typical act of reluctant submission.

And when he entered her, she arched her back and moaned, eagerly cooperating, as if finally achieving the long-desired satisfaction.

As Li Xu fully enjoyed Zhao Yazhi's body, conversations about him were also taking place in other corners of the city.

"At least for now, we can be relieved that he's not here to cause trouble."

"Yes, but we can't let our guard down."

"From his attitude towards the north, it seems he's on our side."

"Regardless of what you think, I don't like this guy, and I don't like his father, Edward Li."

"Alright, everyone, shouldn't you focus on more important matters? The north has already made its stance clear, but Whitehall hasn't responded yet!"

---

"He's quite the playboy, isn't he? Not only Zhao Yazhi, but also Deng Lijun. I wonder if he has other women in America."

"Being young and promiscuous is normal. You have someone by your side too."

"Cough, cough, Third Brother, what do you think of his attitude?"

"Hard to say, but my intuition tells me that he's here to make friends."

"Third Brother, stop talking about intuition. Do you know that I've received information that this guy has close ties with Taiwan?"

"Oh?"

"Didn't Zhao Yazhi cause a big scandal before? She went to Taiwan to hide and then disappeared. Later, she appeared in America. It's said that this guy specifically asked for Zhao Yazhi, so Taiwan found a way to control her and sent her to him."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't know. There's very little information, but it's certain that he's investing in a semiconductor factory in Taiwan and is involved in joint aircraft development."

"Alright, since he invited us to invest in a movie, let's try it. $100,000 isn't much."

---

"Master, do you think that Li... Edward Li, has any interest in our Ah Qiong?"

"What, do you think he's a good match?"

"I just noticed that she's been unhappy since you forbade her from dating Danny Chen. If a more outstanding young man pursued her, it would help her forget that pretty boy. You said he's the son of a major conglomerate, young and already an entrepreneur, much better than that pretty boy."

"Don't get your hopes up. He's currently dating the sister of the British princess."

"Ah? Really?"

"That's what the governor said... But if he... never mind, let's wait and see. Keep an eye on Ah Qiong. I don't care if she acts in TV dramas, but don't let her get involved with unsavory people."

---

Five days passed quickly. Li Xu, who had thoroughly "consumed" Zhao Yazhi, spent every night in her room, making Deng Lijun even more resentful. Even after "satisfying" Zhao Yazhi, he still had the energy to make her experience multiple climaxes.

Zhao Yazhi, finally receiving attention, looked radiant these days. Although she mostly stayed in the villa and still had a worried look when facing Li Xu, she occasionally hummed a tune in private.

Regardless, when the deadline arrived, Shen Zhiming and Huang Weiguo delivered the completed script to Li Xu's office at Jardine House, not at the TV station.

With them was a young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a round face, glasses, and a height of at least 170 cm, looking clean and tidy. He was likely an external collaborator they had found.

"Very good, excellent," Li Xu said after quickly flipping through the script.

The script for the TV drama "Hu Yuanjia" was not much different from the one he remembered, and in some places, it even had more comedic elements. If he guessed correctly, this was likely due to the young man's contribution.

Of course, even if the script was close to the original, it didn't mean the final product would be the same, so—

"Please take the script back to General Manager Huang. I'll call him to assess it. If he approves, we can start the project," Li Xu said.

"Thank you, boss," Shen Zhiming sighed in relief.

Although they had shown Li Xu every five episodes and made adjustments based on his feedback, if the boss had said it wasn't good enough, they would have been in trouble.

"I'm pleased that you completed the task within the deadline and met my requirements. As a reward, the payment for this script will be calculated per person and per episode," Li Xu added.

"You mean..." Shen Zhiming's eyes widened.

"Yes, all three of you will receive the same payment per episode. And this is a one-time offer," Li Xu said.

The three screenwriters were stunned for seven or eight seconds before bursting into excited chatter.

In this era, a script could fetch anywhere from 500 to 1,000 yuan per episode, which was quite cheap. Four times the price seemed high, but if divided among three people, it was just a small bonus.

But if each person was paid individually, even at the lowest price, it would be 20,000 yuan, a significant income for a screenwriter. If they could get the general manager to raise the standard a bit, even to 700 or 800 yuan per episode, their income would increase by a third.

Faced with this situation, how could the screenwriters not be happy? It was like buying a horse with a thousand pieces of gold.

Li Xu watched them calm down from their excitement and then handed the script to Shen Zhiming, "Here you go."

Then he turned to the young man, "You're Wang Jing, right?"

"Yes, boss," the young man nodded, his round face the only recognizable feature from his future self.

"Mr. Wong Tianlin of TVB, how should I address you?" Li Xu continued.

The young man's smile froze, turning into an awkward expression, "That... that..."

"Mr. Wong Tianlin" lingered for a while, but Shen Zhiming and Huang Weiguo didn't help, also looking embarrassed. Finally, he admitted, "That's my father."

Wang Jing was currently working as a screenwriter for Shaw Brothers and TVB. Although he had gained recognition with "Ghostly Frenzy" in 1977, screenwriters' status was low in this era—indeed, even 30 years later, it was the same.

So, he was trying to become a director, recently pestering his father to help him secure investments. Hearing that there was money to be made here—Hong Kong being so small, the members of the two TV stations often moved between them, and the screenwriters had some connections—he saw no reason not to participate, especially since the boss was American and might not be familiar with Hong Kong affairs. He not only joined the writing but also came today.

But being exposed like this was awkward. The two TV stations were rivals, and taking private jobs was one thing, but taking jobs from the competition was another. If this news got out, especially to Ms. Fang or Mr. Shaw, it would be disastrous. Even if the drama flopped, it would be better than if it became a hit, in which case Wang Jing would be out of a job at both Shaw Brothers and TVB.

"Boss... boss..." Wang Jing tried to say something, but Li Xu waved him off.

"Mr. Shen, you can go now. I need to talk to Mr. Wang," Li Xu said.

Shen Zhiming and Huang Weiguo quickly left, leaving Wang Jing to curse them for being ungrateful.

Then he heard Li Xu ask, "Are you interested in studying in the United States, Mr. Wang?"