House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 404: The Deal With Teacher Kou

A moment later, Niu Meiling and Jian Chuo looked at the photos “Teacher Kou” had attached to the email. The images showed Mo Fei holding hands with a tall man as they walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau. The two women exchanged silent glances.

After a long pause, Niu Meiling frowned and pointed at Yang Yi’s face in the photo, asking, “Who is this man?”

Jian Chuo shook her head and said, “I don’t know, but that little girl he’s holding should be Mo Fei’s daughter, Xixi.”

“You think I need you to tell me that?” Niu Meiling rolled her eyes.

“Sister Ling, could this man be Mo Fei’s partner? He seems really close to Xixi. But wasn’t it said that the child’s father had already passed away?” Jian Chuo asked, puzzled.

“I made that up… I asked Mo Fei before, but she absolutely refused to say who the father was. It’s like she was deceived and completely gave up on that man. If I didn’t make up a reason, what would happen if you all started guessing and spreading it as gossip?” Sister Ling said casually, fixing her gaze on Yang Yi in the photo.

In the photo, the man and Mo Fei were holding hands, gazing at each other with such sweetness in their eyes. There was no way this could be explained away as just a driver.

Moreover, when Mo Fei was with that man, she showed a somewhat dependent demeanor, which made Niu Meiling feel a pang of jealousy, as if her own daughter was being taken away.

At that moment, Jian Chuo asked, “Hey, Sister Ling, what do you think they were doing at the Civil Affairs Bureau? Were they…”

Jian Chuo stopped mid-sentence, and as she and Niu Meiling exchanged glances, they both silently revealed a flash of understanding.

Was there even a need to ask? What else would a couple in love do at the Civil Affairs Bureau?

Niu Meiling remained relatively calm. She instructed Jian Chao, “Send a reply using my name. Ask him what exactly he means by this.”

Lu Yue, also known as “Teacher Kou”, replied almost instantly, as if he had been waiting at his computer.

“Sister Ling, he said to name our price,” Jian Chuo said with a sigh as she turned around.

Actually, when sending the email, Jian Chuo already knew how the other party would respond… it was exactly like what happened after Zhen Muqian’s incident. If they were worried about the photos being leaked, they’d have to pay to buy them back.

Of course, they had also inquired with industry peers before. This “blackmailing” Teacher Kou was somewhat well-known in the industry and had a decent reputation. Generally, once paid, the photos wouldn’t be leaked, and Teacher Kou was known to keep his word.

Niu Meiling didn’t respond to Jian Chuo. She frowned at her computer screen, staring at a newly attached photo in the email. Compared to the previous video screenshots, this photo was blurrier, as if taken by a low-quality phone camera.

It was a red-background photo, with Mo Fei and the man’s smiling faces clearly visible.

It was obvious now.

“This careless girl, getting married in secret and getting caught on camera! Even the wedding photo got dug up! Didn’t she sign a confidentiality agreement with the Civil Affairs Bureau?” Niu Meiling couldn’t help but grumble in her heart.

Little did she know, Mo Fei had indeed signed a confidentiality agreement with the Civil Affairs Bureau. None of the photos taken with the officials inside had leaked. This particular marriage photo was obtained through the cunning efforts of the resourceful Lu Yue.

“What should we do? Should we ask Mo Fei?” Jian Chao asked softly.

Niu Meiling shook her head slightly and said, “Asking her won’t change the outcome. We’ll still have to clean up her mess. Let’s not say anything for now so as not to affect her concert. You negotiate with Teacher Kou and buy the photos… Mo Fei’s career is on the rise right now. We can’t let news of her marriage or having a child leak out. The impact would be too big.”

Of course, that wasn’t Niu Meiling’s true thoughts. She didn’t want to tell Mo Fei about this now mainly because she didn’t want to affect their contract renewal negotiations. Moreover, Niu Meiling planned to settle this debt with Mo Fei after she signed the renewal contract. The money spent cleaning up this mess would be deducted from Mo Fei’s share!

If they told her now, wouldn’t the company have to shoulder the cost of buying the photos just to appear generous and supportive?

Niu Meiling had even considered another possibility – simply not paying and letting Teacher Kou leak the photos, suppressing Mo Fei’s popularity, then they wouldn’t have to renew her top-tier contract. After all, with so many classic songs under her belt, once the initial turmoil passed, the company’s PR efforts could eventually restore her image. She was a powerhouse vocalist, not an idol singer whose career would be destroyed by marriage.

But Niu Meiling couldn’t do that, because if the news were to be exposed, there would be no way to cover up the fact that she knew about it but did nothing. If Teacher Kou exposed this as well, it would damage her reputation and harm her relationship with Mo Fei, causing significant trouble for the contract renewal!

The risk was too great!

……

Two days later, Jian Chuo and Teacher Kou reached a deal. Tianmei paid 500,000 yuan to buy all the materials related to Mo Fei’s situation—videos and photos.

Lu Yue was a smart man. He knew that if he pushed too hard, Tianmei and Mo Fei might just go public. So he didn’t demand an exorbitant price, settling on a figure that both parties could accept, and sold the materials to Mo Fei’s management company.

“Sister Ling is indeed loyal, it was a pleasure doing business with you. Rest assured, after sending you the materials, I’ll clear my hard drive, leaving no traces. Until we meet again.” After Lu Yue confirmed receiving the money, he sent the prepared email.

Jian Chao received the email and opened it for Niu Meiling to see.

“Sister Ling, what do we do next?” Jian Chuo stood to the side, looking at Niu Meiling as she asked.

Niu Meiling took out a USB drive, copied the email and all the files onto it, and then used a tool to permanently delete the original files from Jian Chao’s computer.

“Forget about this matter! Just pretend it never happened.” Niu Meiling stood up and gave Jian Chuo a calm look.

Jian Chuo was momentarily stunned, then she nodded smartly.

Niu Meiling returned to her office with the USB drive, sat in her executive chair, and played with it for a while. However, her gaze wasn’t on the USB drive. Instead, she frowned slightly, staring into space, deep in thought.

Suddenly, she muttered, “You got married and didn’t even tell your Sister Ling. Mo Fei, you’ve changed.”

For some reason, a hint of melancholy flashed in Niu Meiling’s eyes.

But this emotion passed quickly, and she soon regained her usual resolute demeanor. She opened her safe and placed the USB drive inside.

“I hope you haven’t really changed…”

The safe door closed with a thud.

……

That night, Mo Fei’s recorded episode of Zhi Xin Interview aired on Shanghai TV. On-screen, when Luo Xin said, “Mu Li’ang is the man who understands you the most,” Mo Fei didn’t deny it. Moreover, the smile at the corner of her mouth was noticed by many viewers.

At that time, under the broadcast announcement posted by Mo Xiaojuan on Mo Fei’s Weibo, netizens flooded the comments with shock and speculation.

“Whoa, was that a hint?”

“Is this just for hype? Didn’t she say there was no possibility with Mu Li’ang before?”

“Lies! I remember on ‘Music Fast Fast Fast,’ she firmly stated that Mu Li’ang only gave her songs because he admired her singing. How did it suddenly become that ‘he understands her’?”

“It’s probably not hype. Her career is already soaring. Does she even need to do this? Use your brain!”

“I ship Mo Fei and Mu Li’ang! One is the best singer, the other the best songwriter. Together, they’d make such a perfect pair!”

“Haha, I ship Chen Yijie and Mu Li’ang! He’s an amazing singer too!”

“Stop being sour. I don’t care who Mo Fei ends up with. I just love her songs!”

“Same here! But I do like the idea of Mo Fei and Mu Li’ang together. They’re such a great match! If they get together, they could give us more songs like ‘Listen to the Sea’!”

While Weibo was in an uproar, an international flight slowly landed at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai.

Ju Jie, wearing a neck pillow with a big-eyed frog design and dressed casually but stylishly, appeared at the exit, pushing his luggage with excitement.

“Mu Li’ang actually asked me for help? Haha! Here comes my chance to become super popular again!” He had slept well on the plane, so even though it was late at night, he was full of energy. Excited, he couldn’t help but perform a little dance around his luggage—a move he had practiced specifically for variety shows.

However, in his excitement, he forgot he was in public. His bizarre dancing immediately drew a lot of attention.

“Wow! Isn’t that Ju Jie? Ju Jie, can I get an autograph?” Several professional fans who specifically waited for celebrities at Hongqiao rushed over excitedly.

Ju Jie was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure, putting on a cool expression. “You’re my fans? Want an autograph? Sure!”

“Ju Jie! You’re so handsome!”

“Ju Jie! I love your songs!”

One sentence of flattery after another, nearly lifting Ju Jie to the heaven.