My Villain

Chapter Fourteen

Wang He Di is used to taking gambles.

Some cost millions. Some cost a few broken egos. And some cost his own reputation.

One of the things his father taught him was how to be shrewd in business and how to go with your gutfeel.

It helped build their telecoms empire.

It also helped him in the stickiest of situations – like the one he was in with Shen Yue.

With so many things going downhill, it seems he still has an angel out there looking out for him.

That video call with Yue's best friend would have been nothing really important if he hadn't caught on with their jokes.

Li Jia Qi's playful jab at finding Shen Yue's phone in the possession of another guy and the way she had commented "Oh my God! He is so much more handsome than you, Zhi Ting! Way to go Yue!" even though everyone involved could hear it raised his curiosity.

He looked Gao Zhi Ting up on the internet and found him a restaurateur.

He owned 5/6/7/8 – a chain of Mediterranean restaurants that DiDi and his friends actually liked eating in. He went to the same school Shen Yue was in and graduated the same year she did.

He was the Student Council president based from his public posts on weibo and seemed engaged in a lot of charity work.

In short, the man had the looks and a good heart – possibly the "perfect" guy Yue described during her drunken outburst.

And possibly the reason why she got herself drunk in the first place.

It somehow fit in his mind. Yue seems to have feelings for the guy (based on how her friend reacted) and HE was having an engagement party on Saturday.

The last time he had seen her, she didn't seem to even be down in spirits. She was even raising hell against him.

And the next thing you know she was in Draft trying to drown in Margaritas.

He tested the merit of his conjecture last night and her reaction was a dead give-away.

Poor little Ms. Shen.

In love with her best friend's fiancé.

"Sir, Mr. Wang Ke is here", Hao knocked on his door.

"Show him in."

A short stocky man entered and DiDi immediately walked towards his door to shake his hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you Sir. I'm Wang He Di."

The older man smiled. "Thank you for inviting me over Mr. Wang."

DiDi sent a proposal to him last week and got to talking to him two days after.

Mr. Wang Ke owned Mantra Publishings.

It was his publishing company that printed Shen Yue's "Two Wrongs Make A Right".

"I was happy you wanted to hear my proposal out" DiDi led him towards the mini meeting room adjacent to his office that had an amazing view of the Beijing skyline. Hao had prepared coffee and biscuits beforehand.

"I must admit, I was curious and wanted to hear more of it in detail."

They sat opposite each other as Hao handed both of them coffee. "Well Mr. Wang –"

"Wang Ke, Mr. Wang. You can drop the honorific", the older man cut him.

He smiled, "You can call me DiDi, Sir."

"Go ahead DiDi."

"As I was saying, I've been wanting to expand beyond the telecoms business we have now. Your company is one amongst a list that we have been looking in to coz next year, we want to launch an arm in publishing, air lines, and potentially phone application based start-ups. I am not proposing a buy out though but rather, a partnership with you."

"I will be very honest in saying that my company is really small compared to the scale of yours DiDi. I'm surprised we are even in your radar."

He nodded earnestly. "Your team published five big hits from Q4 of last year to Q2 of this year. I know your revenue is on the rise but you are having difficulty partnering with big publishing companies in the US so that you can carry international titles too. I have connections with Penguin and Scholastic. We can work on making you their sole distributor in the country. I know they are frustrated with their publisher here in China."

"I heard the same. I sent a proposal over to them last month."

"If you are willing to explore a partnership with us, we can work on ensuring that your proposal is on the top of their mind. I'll send one hell of a sales team to pitch that proposal."

"Wow. You really thought of this thoroughly."

He nodded. "Of course, Wang Ke. I have to bring out everything to let you know how serious we are in this."

"Well, what's in it for you?"

"Wider reach, of course. We're starting to see a resurgence of reading as a habit for many Chinese, I am sure there is so much we can do with that opportunity."

"People would say that with the internet out there, publishing is outdated" Wang Ke challenged.

"Your revenue says otherwise", DiDi countered, "So I think you are heading into the right direction by marketing reading as a lifestyle, not just a habit. Your branding makes reading look both hip and intellectual. Our countrymen, especially those in the Metropolis, really like looking like they are intellectuals so they buy in to that. I say I can take that further."

The Mantra CEO looked impressed. "I will talk this over with my partners. What do you say about presenting how you can indeed take marketing our books further and I will have the partners present that day so we can decide on a merger?"

"I say that would be great! We'll prepare for that."

"I have no doubt you would. I am overwhelmed with the potentials of the partnership as it is."

That was all DiDi needed. "Just give me a date and we could schedule the presentation outside the office. We can meet in The Peninsula."

"I'd like that."

DiDi's smile widened as he finally relaxed in his chair. Wang Ke made a few more comments on how he liked what he was hearing so far and how beautiful DiDi's mini meeting room was.

He controlled himself from smiling as widely as he wanted.

Everything was going well for him so far.

If there was one thing that Wang He Di was, a "genius" was it.

He didn't thrive with just one plan.

And when he decided to do all means possible to stop Shen Yue and his sister from publishing that second book, it wasn't just attacking Yue at her weakest that he planned on.

He looked at her portfolio to see how else he could make his goal possible and sure enough, coursing it through her publishing company will seal the deal.

If he became part-owner of Mantra, he can work on ensuring her second book about their family never gets published.

She can search for other publishers, of course, but he'll make sure she gets binded to them by a contract that would make lawyers shit on themselves thinking of a way out.

"You'll never see the end of me Ms. Shen", he whispered to himself in satisfaction and then headed for his next meeting.

This was a jampacked day and he just had a boost of energy at the thought of him winning against her in the end.