Strike Back, Proud Goddess! Chapter 146 - Prudence

Chapter 146: Prudence

He Wanning took one look at Qiao Liang and another at Tang Xi, and narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten that on that night before, Qiao Liang had rushed into the private room of that bar and taken Xiao Rou away. Later on he had come back saying that he came here to ask Xiao Rou if she would become his girlfriend.

Had Rourou replied yes?

Noticing He Wanning’s look, Xiao Jing covered his mouth with a fist and coughed, saying, “President He, don’t you know that President Qiao is the new shareholder who recently joined the board of OLS? He’s one of the major shareholders of OLS, holding 20% of the shares of OLS Group.”

He Wanning sent a look of surprise at Qiao Liang and said, “No wonder President Qiao came in person. Is President Qiao going to the hot spring to check the shooting site?”

Ignoring the stylist, Qiao Liang said flatly, “Let’s go with the model.”

He Wanning: “…” He must have come with Xiao Rou!

He didn’t expect that a person like Qiao Liang would chase a girl to such a place… It turned out that even Qiao Liang could fall for a girl.

As long as they didn’t disturb his work, He Wanning didn’t mind what they did. Thus, he didn’t say anything but asked the stylist to take Tang Xi to change clothes and do some modeling. Seeing the stylist follow Tang Xi into the dressing room, Qiao Liang frowned as he asked, “Will the stylist be changing clothes for the model?”

There was a hint of discontent in his tone. Although the stylist was a woman, she couldn’t be allowed to change Xixi’s clothes for her!

He Wanning also frowned and asked, “If the stylist can’t change clothes for the model, will President Qiao do it?”

“Okay.”

“Nonsense!”

A certain group of three men shouted at the same time. Qiao Liang turned to look at the Xiao brothers, who were glaring at He Wanning. “President He, what are you talking about?! Don’t you know what kind of person President Qiao is?! How dare you speak to him like that!”

“Was there anything wrong with me saying that?” He Wanning was confused. He looked at Qiao Liang and the Xiao brothers in turn and then pointed at Qiao Liang, asking, “Isn’t he seeing Xiao Rou?”

“Shut up!” Xiao Jing yelled. “How could you say such words casually? My sister is still a high school student!”

Xiao Sa nodded vigorously at the side, agreeing, “Yes, yes, yes! You can’t spread this rumor. My sister is still a student.” As he spoke, he shot looks at Qiao Liang from time to time.

Qiao Liang coldly stared at them, thinking: You don’t have to remind me, okay? He knew Xixi well. She was feeling guilty about him right now, so she would tolerate anything he did, but if he went too far, she would settle accounts with him later. Therefore, even though Qiao Liang was eager to say that “Yes, we are in love,” he didn’t speak it out.

He cast a haughty glance at Xiao Jing and said with a frown, “Xiao Jing, go to the hot spring to check the security measures.”

Xiao Jing paused as he looked at Qiao Liang and asked with doubt, “Security measures?”

Qiao Liang stared at him while He Wanning said, “We’ve checked the hot spring and talked to the owner. Today, apart from our staffs, no one is allowed in. So President Qiao, don’t worry about the security measures.”

After quite a while, Tang Xi finally finished changing and came out. Everyone was stunned by her beauty and even Qiao Liang, who rarely paid attention to women, gazed at her with sparkling eyes. Not paying attention to the others, Tang Xi only looked at Qiao Liang. When she saw his eyes turning increasingly brighter, she smiled shyly and asked him, “Am I beautiful?”

“Yes.” This simple and flat answer greatly pleased Tang Xi.

Tang Xi smiled. She didn’t expect that He Wanning had prepared her a “Flower Fairy” dress designed by Fred Carrie. This dress was suitable for girls with good figures—or to be exact, for slim girls so that it would give people a fairy tale-esque impression—and she was slim… so this dress was perfect for her without the need for alterations.

He Wanning looked at Tang Xi with satisfaction and said excitedly, “I knew you wouldn’t let me down, but I didn’t know that you’d be even better than I expected. Xiao Rou, you must be the most beautiful heroine of all TV commercials.” With that, he asked his a.s.sistant to hand him a box, which he opened to take out a very special-looking silver half mask. It would add a trace of mystery to Tang Xi.

He Wanning walked up to put on the mask for Tang Xi under Qiao Liang’s vigilant stare and with a smile, said, “If you shoot the TV commercial wearing this mask, even the staff won’t know who you are.”

Tang Xi returned the smile as she replied, “You’re so thoughtful.”

Afterwards, He Wanning turned to ask the people to look at her and everyone shook their heads in disbelief. Qiao Liang merely stared at Tang Xi and said nothing, while Xiao Jing marveled and remarked, “Rourou, you’re like a perfect combination of both a knight and princess! Or are they blended in you?” Then he looked at He Wanning as he continued, “I think we should raise the price. If this TV commercial is released, people will go crazy for the b.u.t.terfly series.”

He Wanning replied with a smile, “If the sales are good, we will promote it to the whole world. By then Xiao Rou will have become our global endorser, and the endors.e.m.e.nt fee will surely increase.”

Tang Xi smiled and didn’t speak. She had accepted this offer only because she hated Xiao Jinning, so she took her job to avenge Xiao Rou. But now that Xiao Jinning’s tricks had been exposed, she didn’t have to go after her anymore.

Seeing that Tang Xi didn’t speak nor continue this topic, He Wanning asked her to go to the studio to shoot one test take. If there was no problem, they would go to the hot spring for the shoot.

In the studio, Qiao Liang stood behind the camera and looked at Tang Xi, who was in the middle of shooting. She had read the script only once and yet was able to well present the feeling the director wanted. Standing behind the camera, he could imagine what the TV commercial would be like. He asked He Wanning, “Why don’t you just shoot it in the studio and add special effects afterwards?”

For some reason, he felt deeply resistant towards the natural hot spring and didn’t want Tang Xi to go anywhere near it.

He Wanning took a look at Qiao Liang with a frown, replying, “Only on the scene can the model be immersed. Only when we respect the TV commercial will the effect be better.” He paused and then added, “I think Xiao Rou thinks the same as I do.”

Qiao Liang looked at He Wanning with pursed lips and then at Xiao Jing, following which he turned to go outside. Xiao Jing turned puzzled eyes at him and followed him out. He asked, “What’s up?”

“Check around the hot spring again, as well as the inside.” Qiao Liang appeared solemn as he spoke. “Check carefully. Don’t miss any places. And don’t forget check the depth of the spring.”