Chapter 229: Whispers of Revenge

Xie Bingran stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.

She sensed something odd in Xu Chen’s gaze, like he was about to devour her.

Xu Chen narrowed his eyes, thinking about that casual flick of her tongue just now…

She was just too tempting…

He wasn’t sure if Xie Bingran was playing innocent or knew exactly what she was doing, but she dodged away, grabbed a grape from the fruit plate, and popped it into Xu Chen’s mouth.

“I’m going to change clothes!”

With that, Xie Bingran stood up and grabbed her backpack.

Changing clothes meant swapping into the national team’s uniform, of course.

For the afternoon event, wearing the national team’s outfit would make a bigger impression—it was all part of Xu Chen’s deliberate plan.

Xu Chen chewed the grape in big bites, looking far from happy.

“I want to come watch!”

“…”

Xie Bingran shot him a frosty glare:

“Watch it, or I’ll break your leg!”

She snatched her bag and stormed out.

Left alone on the sofa, Xu Chen glanced at his leg and thought, even if one got broken, it probably wouldn’t mess up his life too much.

…

As Xu Chen sat there feeling restless, the sound of someone punching in the passcode echoed from outside.

Curious, he got up and headed out.

Peering from the reception room doorway, he saw Fang Jun walking in with his briefcase.

Fang Jun spotted Xu Chen and paused, then noticed Xie Bingran heading to the inner lounge.

He narrowed his single-lidded eyes with a cold edge and said sharply:

“What are you two up to in here, sneaking around?”

Xu Chen looked exasperated:

“Sneaking? We’re right out in the open!”

…

…

Fang Jun was here on business—the seedling company had two projects needing payment processing, so he squeezed it in during lunch.

As he fired up his computer, he asked:

“How are you handling the Li Fengfeng situation?”

Xu Chen: “Obviously, we’re exposing it.”

Fang Jun thought for a moment:

“Proving job misconduct might be tough—it depends on how ‘Aikela Cultural Communications’ actually operated.”

Xu Chen nodded:

“He’s splitting the project to funnel money back to himself. Even if it doesn’t count as misconduct, he’ll lose his job for sure.”

He chuckled:

“And I’m making sure he can’t get work in the ad industry anymore.”

Fang Jun settled in front of the computer and got to work:

“Once you sort it out, let me know how it goes—I’m curious about the final outcome.”

Xu Chen smiled and nodded.

Fang Jun: “Don’t be late this afternoon—Yue Jie pulled an all-nighter until 2 a.m. setting things up, and she’s been at it since early morning.”

Xu Chen: “Don’t worry, I’ll make it in time.”

…

Back in the reception room, Xu Chen sat at the computer.

He decided against any direct confrontation with Li Fengfeng in the group chat and instead created a small three-person group.

The group included Gu Xinxi and Zhao Nan, Renhe’s marketing director.

Xu Chen had considered talking to Gu Xinxi first and letting her decide who to report to, but he hesitated and went straight to Zhao Nan.

One reason was that Li Fengfeng’s shady moves on the project made it unclear if anyone at Renhe Pharmaceuticals had taken bribes to look the other way.

If so, it might even involve Gu Xinxi.

Though Gu Xinxi was Guo Liang’s apprentice and Guo Liang spoke highly of her character, Xu Chen hadn’t interacted with her enough to be sure.

Zhao Nan, as Renhe’s top marketing exec and the overall lead on this ad project, was the best person to contact.

And Zhao Nan definitely wouldn’t be in cahoots with Li Fengfeng.

A mid-level leader at a major domestic pharmaceutical company wouldn’t risk their career for petty gains from a small supplier…

Once the group was set up, Xu Chen messaged:

[@Zhao Nan @Gu Xinxi There’s an issue with Black Duke’s quote:

When we reviewed the quote in Yangcheng, East Morning Star photographed it for records.

Comparing my records to the quote Black Duke just sent, there are clear discrepancies in the items.

It involves around three hundred thousand in costs…]

Xu Chen organized the record photos, the email quote details, and sent them to the group.

He then highlighted the specific discrepancies, items, and amounts.

Soon, Gu Xinxi replied in the group.

[Xu Chen, let me confirm:

The quote Black Duke submitted for your approval doesn’t match the one in today’s email? Did they modify it after you signed off?

But that’s a scanned signed document—how could they change it?]

Xu Chen replied:

[Scans are just images; software can alter them. If needed, we can get a pro to verify—it’s not hard to spot.]

Gu Xinxi: [I checked—the total project amount hasn’t changed; it’s still within the contract budget. So what’s the point of Black Duke modifying it?]

Xu Chen: [The changed items all relate to that third-party company, ‘Aikela Cultural Communications’.

I just had our finance team check through business registration—they found the owner is named Li Fufen.

And from unconfirmed info I got, Li Fengfeng’s real name is Li Fufen. You’ll need to verify that on your end.]

Xu Chen delayed his response a bit to make the ‘verification’ seem natural.

Otherwise, pointing out the issues right after the email would look too suspicious and raise questions about his motives.

…

At this point, he’d said all he needed to.

Anyone could see what Li Fengfeng was up to.

He was clearly sneaking in his own registered third-party company to siphon off benefits from the project behind both Renhe and Black Duke’s backs.

Any client would take this seriously.

Xu Chen waited a few minutes, and then Gu Xinxi called him directly.

He grabbed his phone, stepped to the reception room door, and saw Xie Bingran in her red-and-white national team uniform chatting with Fang Jun.

Xu Chen gestured to them that he was taking a call, closed the door, and answered.

“Xu Chen, Zhao Nan is here with me!”

From the other end, Zhao Nan’s voice came through:

“Hello, Xu Chen. We’re calling to discuss the sensitive content you sent.”

Xu Chen: “Hi, Zhao. I’ve laid out all the facts in the group—the photos are verifiable…

But honestly, those don’t matter much now. The fact that ‘Aikela Cultural Communications’ is owned by Li Fengfeng speaks volumes.

Of course, that’s based on our check; you’ll want to confirm it…

If it’s true, splitting and subcontracting projects like this in the ad industry isn’t kosher.

I bet Black Duke Marketing forbids this kind of personal side-dealing…

Plus, looking at the three hundred thousand tied to ‘Aikela’, the details and outputs will clarify everything fast.”

There was a pause on the line before Zhao Nan said:

“Xu Chen, is the endorser footage for the ad all set?”

Xu Chen quickly grasped her concern.

For Renhe Pharmaceuticals, the priority was ensuring the ad shoot wasn’t affected and wouldn’t delay release or airing.

They might also worry if pursuing this would disrupt the work.

Xu Chen paused and replied:

“The ad footage is solid—every shot matches the script.

Aikela’s role is mostly in post-production…

Even if Li Fengfeng steps out, it won’t impact the ad’s completion.

Black Duke, as the producer, has to provide another team to finish the post-work.

And I haven’t breathed a word of this to Li Fengfeng or Black Duke—I’m just looping you two in first.

This is for the project’s safety; the call on how to handle it is yours…”

He was basically stepping back verbally: fixing Li Fengfeng won’t hurt the project, but it’s your call.

In front of the client, he couldn’t come on too strong.

Zhao Nan: “As the client, we’ll investigate fully!

I’ll brief our boss Lu right away—given his temper, this will blow up to Black Duke’s owner fast.

We trusted Black Duke with this key project, and it’s shocking to find a rat in the team…”

Xu Chen had done his part, so he didn’t push further.

His goal was simple: take down Li Fengfeng.

In his past life, working under Li Fengfeng as a newbie, he’d endured workplace bullying firsthand.

And there was that time Li Fengfeng stole his ad ideas.

In his previous life, Xu Chen never got the chance to strike back, but now, reborn, he was wiping Li Fengfeng out of the ad world—for the greater good.

…

Zhao Nan added:

“We’ll verify if ‘Aikela’ is indeed Li Fengfeng’s.

Once confirmed, I’ll report to Lu and start the process.

Xu Chen, if we need your help, we might have to impose on you.”

“No problem! As the delegated supervisor for Renhe’s ad, it’s all part of the job. Just let me know what you need, Zhao.”

He hesitated, then added a touch of reluctance:

“Of course, we’re all in the ad circle, and I don’t want to make enemies…”

Zhao Nan replied:

“Don’t worry, Xu Chen—we’ll keep you out of it as much as possible.

We’ll avoid any direct or indirect clashes between you, Li Fengfeng, and Black Duke.”

Xu Chen: “Great, thanks for understanding!”

This was to keep him under the radar.

Ruining someone’s livelihood was serious business—best to stay a shadow player and dodge unnecessary trouble.

Zhao Nan continued:

“We really appreciate this, Xu Chen!

Without your thorough check, we might’ve missed Li Fengfeng’s tricks.

It’s embarrassing, but as clients, we’re not experts in ad production details—we don’t scrutinize every quote line by line.

That might be why someone dared to pull this…

Anyway, thanks to you and East Morning Star Advertising.

You’ve saved us potential losses and ensured the ad’s quality…”

Zhao Nan’s thanks sounded genuine.

Xu Chen thought for a second and casually asked:

“Does Renhe have a specific colleague handling quote reviews for this project?”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Both Zhao Nan and Gu Xinxi caught his drift.

Yeah—was Li Fengfeng bold enough because someone at Renhe was in on it?

Zhao Nan paused before responding:

“We have a team member, Liu Huachun, who’s in charge of reviews…

Thanks for the heads-up, Xu Chen—we’ll check for more risks internally.”

Xu Chen recalled Liu Huachun from the Shanghai pitch—he was the young guy who came with Gu Xinxi.

He’d done what he could, so he left it at that.

…

Hanging up, Xu Chen reflected on it all.

Li Fengfeng losing his job was a done deal.

And not just at Black Duke—Xu Chen would ensure he couldn’t work in ads anywhere.

It was just a matter of letting things play out.

If they proved the misconduct, his career would be toast…

…

…

Xu Chen packed up his computer, feeling satisfied.

With one move, he’d settled an old score and cleaned up the ad industry a bit.

Glancing at the time, it was nearly time for the event.

He walked to the reception room door and saw Xie Bingran sitting next to Fang Jun, staring off blankly.

Xu Chen said seriously:

“Bing Ge, come here—we need to go over your speech one more time!”

Xie Bingran replied with an “Oh” and got up, walking over.

Once she was in the reception room, Xu Chen casually shut and locked the door.

Xie Bingran looked puzzled:

“I already read the speech—do we need changes?”

Xu Chen wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close:

“No changes needed—I just wanted an excuse to get you back here…

For a little fun.”

Xie Bingran nestled into his arms, biting her lip with a hint of grievance:

“The coach just messaged—ton’s taking me away tonight.”

As she spoke, she hugged him tighter.