Let you be a great man, not a scumbag

Chapter 1745 Short of Money?

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng touched his nose, but quickly regained his usual nonchalance. His fingertips slid down the curve of her back to her waist and pinched it lightly: "I'm busy being your 'backup', aren't I?"

"Backup? You have the nerve to talk about it only once every three months..." Big Secret snorted.

Looking out the window at the gray sky, he said helplessly, "...Only mountains of gold and silver can save me now."

"Need money??" Jiang Cheng asked.

"...The performance-based agreement we signed last year is crucial this year. The pressure to meet the targets is like a mountain. The success or failure of 'Legend of Fuyao' is of paramount importance... You have no idea how difficult it is for me. With such a large investment company under your umbrella, how come you haven't sponsored this project at all?"

Hearing her mention this, Jiang Cheng realized just how difficult this year's big secret had been.

The divorce rumors, coupled with her taking on a series of terrible films in order to fulfill a performance-based agreement, have led to a great deal of controversy surrounding her reputation.

Jiang Cheng yawned and replied, "How could I not help you? Didn't I introduce Baba to quite a few jobs? Isn't she someone from your company?"

Upon hearing this, Big Secret was momentarily speechless, completely taken aback by Jiang Cheng's words.

"She is her, and I am me. We're not the same, are we?"

Without the warmth of last night, Jiang Cheng stood up and casually asked, "What's different?"

Big Secret felt a sudden pang of sadness at those words.

He immediately cursed himself for looking for something for no reason.

Upon hearing this pang of sorrow, her brows furrowed instantly.

After her divorce, her obsession with romance was cured.

With her clear mind, she naturally understood and was also willing to have a one-night stand with Jiang Cheng.

Logically speaking, there's no reason for this mutually agreeable situation to cause heartache.

It's said that rich people are the most ruthless.

Before, seeing how good Jiang Cheng was to Baba and Su Wan, she thought Jiang Cheng was different.

But this merciless appearance instantly...

After suppressing the bitterness in her heart, she stubbornly replied to keep her big secret to herself, "I thought Baba would be a little different from me."

Seeing the big secret, he misunderstood his meaning.

Jiang Cheng turned to look directly at her, his gaze calm to the point of cruelty: "That's true, she is still a little different from you."

These words made Big Secret freeze, and the feeling of humiliation instantly overwhelmed his reason.

Without thinking, she pressed on, "How are they different? Because she's a virgin and I'm not? So you think she's cleaner and more worthy of cherishing, right?"

Jiang Cheng was taken aback by her directness and paused for a moment, but did not back down.

Jiang Cheng never intended to hire the big secret long-term.

Isn't it a matter of mutual consent?

Although they were physically compatible, Jiang Cheng also admired Da Mi's character.

But while we can appreciate it, we still need to be realistic.

Jiang Cheng isn't interested in becoming a father unexpectedly for the time being.

After all, she's not An Xin. Yes, Jiang Cheng is just that hypocritical.

Jiang Cheng looked at her honestly, his tone almost coldly serious: "If that's how you interpret it, then that's roughly what I mean. Good girls will always deserve to be valued in my eyes, I don't care."

These words were like a slap in the face, making the big secret ring in his ears.

Her face was deathly pale, and her nails dug deeply into her palms.

But after all, I've been working in this industry for so long.

After learning Jiang Cheng's true feelings for her, she stopped having any unrealistic fantasies.

Then he thought of his own interests.

After all, there's a powerful figure right in front of them to rely on.

She can't just stop hugging him because Jiang Cheng doesn't like her.

She's not some innocent little girl; she won't just walk away and give me a hard time because of a few words.

After a brief silence, she suppressed her surging emotions, took a deep breath, and tried to steer the conversation back to the topic of interests.

"Okay, let's not talk about whether we're dating or not. I'm just asking you, in your eyes, am I really that worthless? In terms of commercial value, I'm definitely higher than Baba and Su Wan, right? I've heard that you've been giving Su Wan a lot of resources and preferential treatment lately."

When she brought this up, Jiang Cheng also adopted a businesslike demeanor.

“If it were ‘Support the Waist,’ I might consider investing a little. But your next movie and that workplace drama?” He shook his head, his tone resolute, “Forget it, they’re bound to flop.”

Upon hearing the word "flop," Big Secret frowned: "The show hasn't even been filmed yet, and you're already saying it'll flop??"

Jiang Cheng was right. In his impression, although the reputation of Big Secret's back support was mixed, it was quite popular.

However, every drama she starred in after that flopped.

Especially the movie, which was to the point that Jiang Cheng wanted to get a refund after watching it.

However, Jiang Cheng did not say it explicitly.

"You yourself said that with your reputation, you shouldn't lack investment from Starry Sky, right?"

It's true that she has no shortage of investments.

However, Star Capital is currently showing tremendous momentum, and with Star Capital's support, the funding for filming will definitely be more secure.

"Yes, of course we need it!" She pulled her hand back, her tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible grievance and anxiety. "You have no idea how much pressure I'm under to meet performance targets. Last year, the company signed an 'agreement' with them, requiring us to raise over 300 million yuan in net profit over three years. We barely made it in the first two years, and if we fall short this year, I'll probably lose most of my shares. Right now, I really wish I could stretch every penny in half and use every resource I have."

She deliberately referred to the "betting agreement" as an "agreement," and her tone was casual and joking, as if she were talking about someone else's business.

But her hands, hanging by her sides, secretly clenched the hem of her clothes.

Last year, in order to boost her sales performance, she didn't get a good night's sleep for five months in a row. She filmed commercials until her voice was hoarse, and she even fainted at the airport while rushing to film sets. She never mentioned these things to anyone.

Jiang Cheng looked at her. At this moment, she was no longer the charming and alluring wild rose from last night, but more like a general who was on edge, making a desperate gamble on the battlefield.

His nonchalant expression softened slightly, and after a moment's thought, he said, "Weren't you just touting your commercial value?"

Big Secret blushed at these words: "Oh, are you going to help me or not?"

"I've made myself very clear. If you miss out on the back support role, you can forget about all your other dramas..."

His repeated denials of the big secret began to crumble again.

Given her current fame and commercial value, countless people would beg her to lend her their names or bring their own funding to the production, yet he simply dismissed it with a casual "Never mind."

“Even if Mi is a complete flop, it shouldn’t be to the point where people are saying ‘forget it,’ right? So many people are begging to invest in me!” She glared at him angrily, her cheeks flushed with rage.

"What makes you so certain?!"

"On what grounds?" Jiang Cheng sat up straighter, his gaze sharp. "I'm asking you, in your opinion, who has more fame, you or Su Wan?"

"Is that even a question? Of course it's me!" Big Secret said without hesitation; that was her confidence.

"And what about potential?" Jiang Cheng pressed.

"Potential?" Da Mi frowned, vaguely sensing an underlying meaning in his words. "You think Su Wan has more potential than me?"

Even knowing the big secret makes the predicament difficult.

However, Jiang Cheng had no intention of saying anything against his conscience just because of this difficulty.

She's not a little kid anymore; these nice words have no effect on her right now.

"You may be famous, but what about potential? Su Wan can focus on honing her acting skills, she doesn't have an idol image to maintain, and she's willing to sacrifice her image for a role. What about you? Besides staring and making cold faces, what else can you do in your acting? Do you think what you've produced is worthy of the audience?"

"So you think that just because someone is famous, they can make money from anything; that as long as they're famous, they can just slack off and do whatever they want; that as long as they're famous, people will always pay for their films—that's just your opinion. To me, no matter how famous you are, if your acting is bad, I won't invest a single penny..."

The questions, one after another, pierced her heart like knives. She wanted to refute them, but found herself powerless in the face of the facts he presented.

“You…” She was trembling with anger, but she couldn’t refute him as confidently as before.

"The truth is always hard to hear. With your fame, fulfilling the betting agreement shouldn't be difficult. But if you want to preserve the reputation you've built up over the years, I advise you to either turn down those two projects or calm down and polish them properly. Don't narrow your path."

The big secret fell silent. She had to admit that although Jiang Cheng's words were harsh, they hit the nail on the head.

She was powerless to refute him, and did not want to show any more embarrassment in front of him.

Seeing how devastated she looked, Jiang Cheng finally sighed, softened his tone, and patted her on the shoulder.

"To be honest, if we didn't already have a very 'strong' relationship, I wouldn't be saying these things to you. Think about it carefully. If you can change, we can talk again later..."

Seeing Jiang Cheng suddenly acting strangely, Da Mimi glanced at him with a secret look.

If I hadn't been hurt by Jiang Cheng's question about his lack of virginity earlier...

She had already rushed over to experience it for herself.

But now, this invisible pressure has left her with no time to think.

She lowered her eyelashes, concealing all her emotions, and her voice returned to calm, "I understand, I'll be going now."