Let's Squander A Billion First!-Chapter 1590: Black Anti Wu Di (21)

Chuzheng emerged from the bathroom, An Ji was sitting on the sofa holding a book, looking quiet and somewhat well-behaved.

"It’s getting late, I should head back now."

Hearing the voice, An Ji seemed to snap out of his reverie. He stood up, dropping the book onto the sofa, looking a bit absent-minded, and said, "I’ll see you out."

"No need, get some rest early." Chuzheng picked up the phone from the table and headed straight for the door: "Goodnight."

An Ji stood in place and softly replied, "Goodnight..."

The door gradually closed, and the room grew quiet.

An Ji sat back down, picked up his phone, and opened the Weibo he rarely logged into except to make announcements.

The post he made earlier had already been commented on and shared by many people.

An Ji didn’t look at those contents but instead searched for a name—68150216.

This string of numbers might be just numbers to others, but to him, it was all too familiar—his high school student ID.

An Ji read through all the content on that Weibo account.

There were only a little over three hundred posts, but from the first post to the most recent one, they were all related to him.

Although...

It seemed like they were a hater.

Most of the content posted was quite lengthy, and the criticism was well-founded rather than just thoughtless insults.

An Ji rarely paid attention to online matters.

Usually, he would log off right after posting and not check back until he had something new to post.

But how did she know his high school ID?

He had never revealed any of his personal details online, and in interviews, he always avoided such questions.

An Ji switched to WeChat and opened the chat interface with Chuzheng.

He typed two words but quickly deleted them.

What should he ask?

Should he ask why her Weibo handle was his student ID?

Or ask why she was targeting him?

In the end, An Ji asked nothing, pretending he hadn’t seen any of it.

No matter what she might have done before, An Ji didn’t want to disrupt the situation now.

Unable to sleep and not knowing what to do, he sat in the living room all night.

At exactly seven in the morning.

The doorbell rang.

An Ji was initially startled, then quickly went to the bathroom, washed his face as fast as he could, ran his fingers through his hair, and then went to open the door.

When he opened the door, his expression became stiff, and there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes.

"Why are you here?"

Outside stood a relatively young woman, dressed entirely in luxury brands, wearing large sunglasses and bold red lipstick, exuding the allure and charm of a mature woman.

The woman chuckled, "Not welcome?"

An Ji’s tone was cold, "Miss Ren, what do you need?"

The woman removed her sunglasses: "Aren’t you going to invite me in to sit?"

An Ji had no intention of inviting her in: "Miss Ren, we’re not that familiar, there’s no need."

The woman wasn’t angry, "Alright then, let’s speak here. You signed your new book with Jiangnan Publishing House?"

"Yes."

The woman smirked, her demeanor sultry, "That publishing house is almost bankrupt. Do you think your book can be published by them?"

An Ji frowned but didn’t respond.

He really didn’t have a choice right now.

"An Ji, I’ve made quite a good offer; why don’t you give it some thought?"

An Ji replied, "We’re not suitable..."

The woman shrugged indifferently, "I don’t need suitable, I just fancy you." She reached out, trying to touch An Ji’s face: "We can both get what we need..."

An Ji avoided her touch, "Miss Ren, I don’t need it."

The woman’s fingers missed their target, yet she wasn’t embarrassed. She casually pulled back, flicked her hair, and said with a smile, "I’m quite looking forward to the day you come begging for me."

The woman blew a kiss, put on her sunglasses, and left.

An Ji watched her leave, the sound of high heels on the stairs gradually fading.

He leaned back against the doorframe, feeling a chill spreading throughout his body.

This woman’s name was Ren Qi; she wasn’t with a publishing house, but seemed to have considerable influence. She encountered him once when he was at the publishing house for a meeting and had been pestering him ever since.

An Ji had been avoiding her, and now no publisher dared to sign him, all because of her.

-

Ren Qi went downstairs, got into the car, her face no longer carrying the previous smile.

Ren Qi took off her sunglasses, tossed them carelessly inside the car, and pulled out her phone to make a call.

"Why did An Ji sign with Jiangnan Publishing House? You don’t know? What are you doing? Didn’t I tell you to inform those people not to sign him? They’ve already obtained the book number? How did they get it?"

Whatever was said on the other end of the line, Ren Qi’s face looked very displeased.

"I don’t care what method you use, you must make them give up on An Ji!"

Ren Qi hung up the phone and glanced in the direction of the apartment building.

Ren Qi initially intended to suppress An Ji’s career through publishing, but somehow the publishing house started thriving unexpectedly.

The people she contacted to cause trouble for them couldn’t even halt their progress.

Ren Qi approached An Ji twice more.

"An Ji, what kind of backer did you find?" Ren Qi teased with a smile, "What difference does it make between them and me?"

An Ji’s eyes were filled with weariness, "Miss Ren, what nonsense are you saying?"

"Nonsense?" Ren Qi scoffed, "Xiangyue hasn’t even agreed, how is it that the nearly bankrupt publishing house has made such progress? An Ji, you’ve already done it, so why are you being so secretive?"

She also had people constantly causing trouble for them.

Yet now, everything was almost prepared on their side, and they were about to proceed with printing.

But An Ji wasn’t aware of any of this.

The publishing house hadn’t informed him of any issues.

He hadn’t sought any backer...

Yet given that no publishers dared to sign him before, Ren Qi must have interfered a lot behind the scenes, so why hadn’t that affected this publisher at all?

"I don’t know." An Ji suppressed the suspicion in his heart, "Miss Ren, please stop harassing me."

"Harassment?"

Ren Qi was somewhat amused by the word.

"An Ji, what’s wrong with me? I have everything. You stay with me for a while; I don’t even need you to like me. I promise to make you even more famous. Under such good conditions, what do you find unsatisfactory?"

An Ji: "I don’t need that."

If he wanted to rely on his looks for success, he’d just enter the entertainment industry instead of writing books.

Moreover...

He didn’t like Ren Qi.

Such a transaction, he’d rather stop writing altogether than partake in it.

Ren Qi: "Don’t test my patience, I can still ensure that your book won’t get published."

"Then so be it, Miss Ren, goodbye."

An Ji shut the door, blocking Ren Qi’s angry and shocked gaze.

Outside, Ren Qi’s chest heaved with anger.

Fuming, Ren Qi turned to leave and bumped into Chuzheng on the stairs. Before Chuzheng could say a word, she angrily rebuked, "Watch where you’re going! Are you blind?"

Ren Qi just needed to vent and had no intention of arguing further.

After bellowing, Ren Qi headed straight downstairs.