Futile Devices Scans

The next day, Wang Cheng arrived at the Zhou Corporation headquarters as agreed.

His appearance left the company employees utterly astonished. Ever since that incident, they had not seen this approachable Young Master Zhou for quite some time. Compared to Zhao Chenlin’s obviously fake friendliness, everyone preferred Wang Cheng, who had given them a good impression from the very beginning.

During the period Zhao Chenlin had returned to the company, his attitude had changed significantly. Contrary to what others had expected, he had not given up halfway. Especially after Zhou Lin was demoted, he seemed to realize even more deeply that he absolutely had to mature. Thus, by relying on his identity, he had managed to gather a group of people within the company who stood on his side.

Not long after Wang Cheng returned to the company, someone informed Zhao Chenlin of the news. Zhao Chenlin was greatly surprised. After dismissing the people around him, he immediately called Zhou Lin.

“Mom, Grandpa isn’t planning to value Zhou Cheng again, is he? Didn’t Grandpa already abandon him?”

Now demoted to merely a team leader, Zhou Lin was no longer the Department Manager Zhou who could command authority within her department as before. The disparity already left her deeply frustrated, and now hearing this troubling news made her mood even worse.

“His return to the company doesn’t necessarily mean your grandfather asked him back. Don’t overthink things yet. Find an opportunity to investigate why Zhou Cheng came to the company.”

“Alright, I’ll go right now.”

Zhao Chenlin put away his phone and walked back. The moment he spotted Feng Yifan’s new assistant, he immediately greeted her with a smile. This Assistant Xu had been transferred up from below after Zhang Wu left. Unlike Xie Wenzhi and Zhang Wu, she was a woman. Naturally, her abilities were not especially outstanding compared to theirs, but she was meticulous, eloquent, and highly skilled socially. Those qualities were exactly why Feng Yifan had made an exception and allowed a woman to become his assistant.

However, in Zhao Chenlin’s eyes, Assistant Xu was merely a woman—someone easier to deal with than a man. As long as he crooked a finger and promised her a few benefits, surely a woman like her would obediently listen to him. What he did not know was that Assistant Xu had actually been recommended by Zhang Wu.

“Assistant Xu,” Zhao Chenlin greeted. Seeing the woman look over, he immediately raised the bag in his hand with a smile. “These are desserts specially made by the Zhou family chef. I brought them over so everyone could have a taste. Don’t be polite with me.”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony with Young Master Zhao. On behalf of everyone, thank you, Young Master Zhao,” Xu Chan replied smilingly as she accepted the bag of desserts and called everyone over to share them.

This was not the first time Zhao Chenlin had brought snacks for them. Everyone could tell that Young Master Zhao was trying to build good relationships with them. But free food was free food. No matter what his intentions were, as long as he didn’t say anything outright, they could simply pretend not to know.

Zhao Chenlin’s true target was Xu Chan. He believed he could get some information out of her, but this woman’s mouth was unexpectedly tight. No matter what he asked, she only claimed ignorance, saying merely that President Feng had instructed her to do certain things but never explained the reason. Zhao Chenlin could not tell whether she was lying or not. Just as he was planning to try another approach, Wang Cheng suddenly emerged from Feng Yifan’s office.

The moment Zhao Chenlin saw him, his expression stiffened. In the next second, however, he remembered he was maintaining an act, so the smile returned to his face. Only after Wang Cheng walked up to him did he speak.

“So it’s Cousin. Long time no see. Why did you suddenly come to the company today? What did President Feng want with you?”

The directness of the question immediately told Wang Cheng that Zhao Chenlin had failed to get any answers from Assistant Xu. So he replied, “The company isn’t yours, so whether I come or not has nothing to do with you. And why should I tell you what President Feng wanted with me? If you want to know, you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Cousin, I know we had misunderstandings before, but now I’ve truly turned over a new leaf. Can’t we stop opposing each other? Grandpa only has the two of us as grandsons. He’s always hoped we could get along peacefully. So let’s stop disappointing him, alright?” Zhao Chenlin said while looking at him expectantly.

Wang Cheng ignored him entirely and instead turned to Xu Chan. “Assistant Xu, President Feng told me to collect some documents from you.”

Xu Chan had already prepared everything. Of course, she had been lying when she claimed not to know why Feng Yifan had summoned Wang Cheng. Feng Yifan had instructed her long ago to hand over the materials as soon as Young Master Zhou came out.

Only after accepting the documents did Wang Cheng address Zhao Chenlin again. “Didn’t you want to know why I came to the company? I’m about to go do exactly that right now. You can follow along and take a look if you want. Then you’ll know.” After saying that, he walked away.

Naturally, Zhao Chenlin was not stupid enough to trail after him openly. However, when he saw Wang Cheng heading toward the sixty-ninth floor, he immediately called his mother.

Just after Zhou Lin hung up the call, she saw two men hurrying past her anxiously. Both of them were now her superiors. One was Deputy Manager Liu, who had always been suppressed beneath her authority before, and the other was Manager Li from the advertising department. Before she could figure out what was happening, she saw the two men escorting Wang Cheng toward her.

As they passed by, Wang Cheng smiled at her. In her eyes, however, it looked like deliberate provocation. Anger immediately surged within Zhou Lin, but along with it came an ominous premonition. She grabbed Manager Li.

“What are you doing?”

Manager Li discovered it was Zhou Lin. A trace of impatience flashed covertly through his eyes, though nothing showed on his face. Smiling amiably, he said, “Team Leader Zhou doesn’t know? We just received orders from upper management. Starting today, Young Master Zhou will be the manager of my department. He’ll be taking over the position you previously held.”

“What?” Zhou Lin’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

A barely noticeable hint of mockery flashed through Manager Li’s eyes. “Team Leader Zhou, you’ve already been demoted. You no longer qualify to attend high-level meetings, so naturally you wouldn’t know. Besides, Deputy Manager Liu and I only just learned about it ourselves. Apparently President Feng only made the decision this morning.”

The moment she heard it was an order from Feng Yifan, Zhou Lin immediately asked, “Does the Chairman know about this?”

“I wouldn’t know about that. If Team Leader Zhou has no other questions, I’ll be leaving first.” Manager Li pulled his arm free from her grasp and left.

News of Wang Cheng returning to work at the company quickly spread throughout the building. His position was several levels higher than the minor assistant role he had before. Truly, he either stayed silent completely or astonished everyone in one move.

Ever since Wang Cheng’s situation had become public within the company, everyone originally assumed it was only temporary. Then Zhao Chenlin returned, causing people to suspect once again whether the Chairman truly intended to abandon Young Master Zhou. But before long, another dramatic reversal occurred: Manager Zhou was demoted, Manager Zhao was punished, and then Young Master Zhou made a dazzling return, even taking over Manager Zhou’s former position. The twists and turns of the story had everyone emotionally swept along with the drama.

Although Wang Cheng had not met his grandfather, judging from President Feng’s tone, just as Chu Yifeng had said, things were developing in a positive direction. He did not know whether his grandfather had finally changed his mind or if he had other intentions, but regardless, it was good news for him. On his very first day back at work, he instructed Deputy Manager Liu to notify everyone that a meeting would be held the next morning.

That evening, Zhou Lin knocked on the study door. From inside came Zhou Shichang’s voice telling her to enter.

Pushing open the door, Zhou Lin saw Zhou Shichang seated behind the desk with a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose. A pile of documents lay spread across the desk. She walked up to him.

“Something wrong?” Zhou Shichang asked without even lifting his head.

After hesitating briefly, Zhou Lin finally asked, “Dad, I heard you had President Feng call Zhou Cheng back to the company and let him take over my previous position. Why?”

Zhou Shichang removed his glasses, his deep gaze settling on her face. “Why what?”

Zhou Lin grew somewhat nervous, but she still wanted an answer. “Zhou Cheng is homosexual [同性恋]. Don’t you dislike him? Why would you let him return to the company? And the moment he came back, he was given such a high position. How could the employees below possibly accept that?”

“When did I ever say I disliked Cheng Cheng?”

Zhou Shichang’s counterquestion stunned Zhou Lin.

That was right. Her father had indeed never directly said such a thing in front of them. Everything had merely been their own assumptions. However, her father truly had been dissatisfied with Zhou Cheng liking men, which was why they had all interpreted things that way. But now what exactly did this mean?

Zhou Shichang said, “No one will object to Cheng Cheng replacing you. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your husband. The reason Zhou Corporation’s overseas branch was able to develop so rapidly was primarily because of Cheng Cheng’s contributions. With his capabilities, replacing you is more than justified.”

Zhou Lin’s face turned pale.

She already understood what her father meant. Originally, she had still clung to a trace of hope, but his words had completely destroyed it. So from the very beginning, her father had never intended to give up on Zhou Cheng. He no longer even cared that Zhou Cheng liked men. He would rather hand the company over to Zhou Cheng, who was destined never to have descendants, than give it to them!

That very night, before Zhou Lin could call that person, the other party called her first.

Apparently, he had already heard the news about Wang Cheng returning to work at headquarters, so he deliberately called to mock her. Back when Zhou Lin and her husband had first begun gaining power, he had already told them that it was the perfect opportunity to strike. Yet for the sake of their son, Zhou Lin and her husband had decided to wait a little longer. In the end, this was the result they received.

“So? The person you hate most has become your superior. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” the man’s mocking voice drifted from the phone.

Zhou Lin’s expression darkened, but she had no choice except admit that he had struck her weak point.

“If you only called to say that, then I’m hanging up.”

“My previous proposal is still valid.”

“Fine. I agree.”

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