After moving out of the castle, He Qianshan suddenly became extremely busy. For several consecutive days, he was nowhere to be seen.
At first, Wu Pengpeng thought he was angry. She spent several days at home, hesitating whether she should take the initiative to coax him.
After all, she really liked He Qianshan and didn't want their relationship to end like this.
However, her current situation made her hesitant. She was afraid that she would bring misfortune to him.
Before Wu Pengpeng could make up her mind, He Qianshan showed up on his own, with a whole carload of her favorite snacks.
Wu Pengpeng stared at the snacks in disbelief. "Did a supermarket go bankrupt and have a big sale?"
He Qianshan started moving the snacks into the house and ignored her teasing. "I have to go to Italy. You take good care of yourself at home. Eat on time and stay safe."
Wu Pengpeng stopped in her tracks. "...When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning." Actually, He Qianshan didn't expect to leave so soon. As soon as he got the news, he rushed over.
Recently, he had been negotiating a new energy project. If he could introduce the Italian patent, he would be able to dominate the new energy market in Yun Country. Then it would be a piece of cake for him to help her make money.
He had spent a week negotiating with the research team. Finally, they agreed to meet him the day after tomorrow.
Wu Pengpeng took out a bag of chips from the food bag, tore it open, picked up a chip and stuffed it into her mouth. She asked casually, "How long will you be gone?"
He Qianshan was silent for a moment, then said softly, "At least a month. I have some personal matters to attend to."
If the negotiation went smoothly, he would build an energy station there. He had to oversee the project personally, which might take even longer.
If the negotiation didn't go well, he would have to find a way to win over the team, which would also take a lot of time.
Although Wu Pengpeng's current situation was not ideal, the Wu family already knew that someone was trying to harm her and would surely not sit back and do nothing.
Each of her five uncles had sent two bodyguards to protect her. At least her personal safety was not a problem.
Compared with her current situation, making enough money to stay for a long time was the most important thing.
Since his presence by her side wouldn't make much of a difference, he might as well do something practical for her.
Although Wu Pengpeng was quite reluctant to be separated from He Qianshan for such a long time, with him away, she could focus on squandering money.
Moreover, with the advanced technology nowadays, she could video call him when she missed him, which was not much different from seeing him in person.
Thinking like this, Wu Pengpeng readily accepted the situation. "Okay, I'll wait for you to come back."
Without He Qianshan around to distract her, Wu Pengpeng could fully immerse herself in the great cause of squandering money.
However, the problem of how to squander money still gave her a headache.
Wu Pengpeng slumped boredly in the swivel chair, using one foot to slide the chair back and forth. Her mind was constantly thinking of ways to squander money.
Unfortunately, she had overused her brain recently and couldn't come up with any good ideas.
She had no choice but to drag Shen Qianqian into a brainstorming session. "Do you know any good projects that require a large initial investment but can make a lot of money if done well?"
This question really stumped the star - chasing girl Shen Qianqian. She frowned and thought for a long time. Finally, she came up with a good idea. "Start a boy band! Top - level boy bands can make a fortune!"
But as soon as she said it, she immediately denied it. "However, the initial investment is huge. It's like burning money. Moreover, the risk is high, and it may not succeed."
That meant it was very likely to end up losing all the money, right?
This piqued Wu Pengpeng's interest. She slid her chair in front of Shen Qianqian and asked eagerly, "How exactly does it burn money?"
Shen Qianqian thought for a while and gave a simple example. "Take the group Class - 3 for example. All seven of them had already gained some fame in their respective fields. It is said that after they formed the group, the company spent hundreds of millions of yuan to promote them!"
If they held an audition for amateurs, wouldn't it burn even more money?
Wu Pengpeng made a prompt decision. "Then let's also start a boy band. Let's hold a male version of Produce 101 and select eleven people to form a boy band."
Shen Qianqian asked in confusion, "What is Produce 101?"
Wu Pengpeng waved her hand. "That's not important. The important thing is that I've found a business opportunity to make money."
As long as the audition was well - organized, the money would flow like water.
Wu Pengpeng was a very decisive person. That same day, she asked the least experienced copywriter in the company to start making a plan.
The whole plan didn't need any fancy words or heart - wrenching sentimentality. It only needed to highlight the word "rich".
Anyone who signed up for the competition would receive a 5,000 - yuan dream fund, and there was no limit to the number of applicants.
The final members of the boy band would each receive a 10 - million - yuan dream fund, plus various other unexpected benefits.
As soon as this news was announced, 100,000 people signed up online within three days.
Wu Pengpeng was very satisfied with this result and continued to carry out the audition project vigorously.
Her criteria for selecting contestants were twofold - those with strong skills but unappealing looks, or those with good looks but no skills.
Those who were both good - looking and talented were eliminated in the first round.
One contestant was not convinced and asked her for an explanation. Why did those who couldn't do anything advance while he was eliminated?
Wu Pengpeng said sincerely, "Since I'm the one paying for this audition, of course, it's based on my preferences. I can decide who advances."
Although her words were very annoying, she said them so sincerely that the contestant was so angry that he left in a huff.
Wu Pengpeng quickly told Shen Qianqian to give each of the eliminated but talented contestants 500,000 yuan as mental compensation to soothe their hurt feelings.
After the first episode of the show was broadcast, netizens were completely shocked. Could a show be played like this?
Was this really an audition show? Why did it always seem a bit of a farce?
At first, netizens wanted to watch a serious talent competition. Later, they realized they had expected too much. They simply watched it as a joke, and surprisingly, it was quite interesting.
Zhao Bufan was dragged by Wu Pengpeng to be a judge for one day, but she quit the next day.
This was just too mind - numbing!
If people said in the future that she had been a judge for a certain audition show, she wouldn't be able to hold her head up in public.
Wu Pengpeng scoffed at her thoughts and didn't force her. "If you don't want to come, that's fine. Anyway, when people talk about me in the future, they'll surely say, 'She's the godmother of auditions, Wu Pengpeng.' Don't be jealous of me then."
Zhao Bufan was amused by her confidence. "More like the joke of auditions!"
Wu Pengpeng rolled her eyes at her, indicating that this mortal had a narrow vision and didn't understand her good intentions.
Zhao Bufan really didn't understand. "Why don't you choose contestants who are both talented and good - looking?"
Wu Pengpeng was silent for a moment and said sullenly, "Because the world has already been very kind to such people. They can succeed everywhere."
Zhao Bufan curled her lips. "So you're here to be a savior, huh?"
Wu Pengpeng said, "I like it!"
Zhao Bufan was too lazy to argue with her. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Oh right, you did a good job on the geography magazine project last time. Although you didn't spend much money, the results were quite good."
Wu Pengpeng's heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling. "What results?"
Zhao Bufan looked at her in surprise. "Haven't you read the news?"
Wu Pengpeng shook her head. She had been too busy squandering money on the boy band recently to care about other things.
"A team of explorers found a dinosaur fossil from the Ice Age and named it after our group." Zhao Bufan said happily, "Since this news came out, our group's stock price has been rising."
Wu Pengpeng nervously took out her phone and opened the stock - trading app. Sure enough, the stock price had skyrocketed.
She roughly calculated in her mind that the amount of money she had squandered recently was barely equal to the increase in the stock price.
This bad news hit Wu Pengpeng so hard that she didn't even want to go to the celebration party she had originally agreed to go to with Zhao Bufan. She made up an excuse and sent Zhao Bufan away.
Looking at the deeper orange color on her wrist, she was overwhelmed by a deep sense of powerlessness and almost burst into tears on the spot.
Damn Heavenly Dao! Was it fun to play tricks on her like this?
She spouted a lot of swear words in her consciousness space, but the Heavenly Dao didn't come out to stop her. It seemed that he had really left.
Now there was no room for negotiation. Wu Pengpeng was both angry and powerless. She wanted to be angry but didn't know who to vent her anger on.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. She said impatiently, "Come in."
The person outside the door seemed to be stunned for a moment before opening the door. Faint footsteps approached.
Wu Pengpeng looked up and frowned. "What are you doing here?"