Zhao Chenlin’s greatest mistake was not secretly damaging Yazhi or creating trouble for Wang Cheng. It was accusing Zhou Shichang of neglecting him all these years. Many people had one particular failing: they would never admit to favoring one child over another, even when they truly did.
In the end, Zhou Shichang was an ordinary man in that respect. He knew he had indeed been partial in his treatment of his two daughters and their children, but he did not believe he favored one side entirely. Zhao Chenlin wanted a chance to prove himself, and Yazhi had been his test. Unfortunately, he had failed to value the opportunity.
Zhou Shichang had known all along that Zhou Lin had handed Yazhi over to her son.
He had also known about Zhao Chenlin’s actions that had tarnished Yazhi’s reputation. He had remained silent because he wanted to give the boy another chance. Instead, Zhao Chenlin had used Yazhi as a source of money for eating, drinking, and having fun, never attending to any real work. When he first joined the company, reports of his outrageous behavior had regularly been delivered to Zhou Shichang. Even after receiving a warning, he had barely improved.
In Zhao Chenlin’s mind, he was the Zhou family’s sole heir. Zhou Group would eventually be his. Why did he need to learn anything? No matter how many times he was reprimanded, he went on behaving however he pleased.
He blamed Zhou Shichang for having eyes only for Wang Cheng, but he had brought that outcome on himself. He had never demonstrated the ability his grandfather was looking for, so Zhou Shichang had chosen to give up on him. Zhou Group did not need a spoiled wastrel; it needed a genuine successor.
In Zhou Shichang’s heart, Zhou Group, into which he had poured countless years of effort, always came first. He could not bear to see the business empire he had built ruined by his descendants.
Before Wang Cheng returned to the Zhou family, this question had troubled Zhou Shichang constantly, even though nobody else could tell. He had even considered handing the company to his eldest daughter if Wang Cheng could not be found in the end. Fortunately, Wang Cheng had been brought back, and even more fortunately, this grandson had not disappointed him.
Zhou Shichang ordered Zhao Chenlin to reflect seriously on his behavior and told him not to return to the Zhou residence for the time being.
Zhao Chenlin was terrified, thinking his grandfather intended to abandon him entirely. If Zhou Lin had not persuaded him to leave, he might have caused another scene.
Mother and son soon left the Zhou residence. Zhou Lin looked at her still resentful son, her chest tightening with exasperation. “It’s bad enough you made plans without telling your mother. Couldn’t you at least have been a little smarter? How could you handle something like that yourself?”
Zhao Chenlin slammed his fist against the steering wheel, accidentally hitting the horn. The loud blast startled someone walking ahead of the car. The person turned, cursed him for being crazy, and walked away.
“No matter how angry you are now, it won’t help. You’ve already made a bad impression on your grandfather. Keep your head down for a while and leave the rest to me. I’ll let you know when he has calmed down. He may be biased, but he isn’t heartless enough to keep you away from the Zhou residence forever,” Zhou Lin said calmly.
“But Grandpa likes me even less now. I’m sure he won’t even consider me anymore.” This was what worried Zhao Chenlin most, and the thought filled him with regret.
Zhou Lin’s face hardened. “If that road is closed to us, we’ll have to use another method.”
“What method?”
Zhou Lin did not tell him. After they arrived at the company, she sent Zhao Chenlin upstairs first. Only when his figure was out of sight did she take out her phone and call someone. It rang several times before the other person answered. She got straight to the point. “I need your help.”
“How do you want me to help you?”
“Unless something unexpected happens, the old man won’t hand Zhou Group over to my son. Wang Cheng is the successor he truly intends to cultivate. Chenlin has no chance of winning anymore.”
The person on the other end mocked her. “I told you from the beginning that your son was a hopeless good-for-nothing. Zhou Shichang might be old, but he hasn’t gone blind with senility. Why would he hand Zhou Group over to a useless second-generation rich kid who doesn’t know how to do anything? Don’t get angry. It’s the truth.”
Zhou Lin disliked hearing anyone speak about her son that way. But she was in no position to challenge this person, and she needed a favor, so she could only lower herself.
“There’s no point discussing that. The company had a major purge last time, and some of the senior executives I recruited were caught up in it. That old fox Feng Yifan seized the opportunity to put his trusted subordinates in those positions. The internal situation is turning more and more unfavorable for me, and my husband’s hands are tied as well. That’s why I need your help.”
“Feng Yifan certainly is capable. I heard Zhou Group intends to expand into international markets. Is Zhao Jiansheng involved in that plan?”
“He is, but he only has access to a small part of the core information. Feng Yifan is quite wary of him. All we know so far is that preparations have begun. We’ll have to investigate further to obtain the full proposal.”
“You only need to find out one thing.”
“What is it?”
“I want to know which foreign company Zhou Group ultimately chooses as its business partner.”
Zhou Lin’s eyes brightened. That really was a good idea. If they could sabotage Zhou Group’s cooperation with that foreign company, its overseas expansion plans would be obstructed and the company would suffer considerable losses. Feng Yifan was responsible for the project, so he would bear the greatest responsibility if anything went wrong.
“All right. I know what to do. Wait for my good news.”
After putting away her phone, Zhou Lin seemed to shake off her gloom. Although losses to Zhou Group would also hurt her own interests, that was nothing compared to what she might lose in the future. If she sat idle now, the company would not belong to her later anyway.
Wang Cheng had become famous. Without even realizing it, he had become an internet sensation.
The Bei Size incident had not escalated as some had expected. After the wealthy heir posted photographs of Wang Cheng, Bei Size also published a message on Weibo. He stated that he had never signed a contract with Fashion Vanguard, nor had the magazine promised him anything. He thanked his fans for their support and affection, but said that no one was at fault. Fashion Vanguard had the right to select the celebrity who appeared in its magazine. He hoped his fans would stop discussing the matter, because continuing to do so would trouble him.
With their idol saying that much, his fans were not unreasonable enough to persist. Most accepted his explanation. That did not mean the affair was entirely over, however.
Leaving the complicated industry maneuvering aside, countless internet users had been captivated by Wang Cheng’s photographs. Master Paul’s skills were not for show. The comments were filled with shrieks of “He’s so handsome!”, “I’ve been blinded by his looks!”, “I can’t take it!” and “I want to lick my screen!”
Some particularly enthusiastic users even declared that they would pay an enormous sum for the photo collection. Plenty of people replied in support, but not one of them got what they wanted. The collection was limited edition and had been sold to wealthy buyers. Those buyers were hardly short of money and were not going to be tempted by a high price.
Some wealthy heirs who loved attention in the entertainment world went even further. Men and women alike did something utterly outrageous: they photographed pages from their copies of the collection and uploaded them to Weibo to show off, setting off another chorus of wails from people who could only look on.
That was how Wang Cheng ended up being thrust into the spotlight by these people. It was doubtful that any artist signed with his own company was more popular than he was at the moment. Quite a few celebrities lamented what a waste it was. If Wang Cheng were interested in joining the entertainment industry, he would undoubtedly have a brilliant career. He might even go further than Bei Size. But there was no use talking about what might have been.
When he arrived at the company, Wang Cheng noticed the employees staring at him and wondered whether he had something on his face. He only understood when Pan Zhihai came to see him. The man, normally so serious about work, actually teased Wang Cheng by asking whether he wanted to become a celebrity, adding that being a star could be quite interesting.
“If it’s that interesting, why don’t you become one yourself?”
Pan Zhihai joked, “You need the talent to back it up before you dare enter that line of work. If I had your looks and advantages, Young Master Zhou, I’d have become a star long ago.”
The entertainment industry was a great dye vat full of unspoken rules. Without powerful backing or good luck, anyone who entered it would sooner or later find themselves stained with all sorts of colors.
“Scouts have approached me before, but I turned them down. Being a star isn’t for me.” Wang Cheng shook his head. “Let’s talk business.”
Pan Zhihai immediately produced a newspaper. “Young Master Zhou, Cen Xi has recently become involved with another talent agency. He’s been making frequent, very public moves. I suspect he may already have reached an agreement with that agency.”
Jinlan Culture had ultimately turned him down, so Cen Xi had looked elsewhere. He was receiving very few scripts and endorsement offers now. Unless he increased his public exposure, his fame would keep fading until he was reduced to a third-rate celebrity. Cen Xi had initially hoped to stir up another round of entertainment gossip by publicizing his contract termination. Unfortunately for him, the Bei Size and Fashion Vanguard affair had broken at the same time. News that should have made the headlines ended up occupying only a tiny corner of the newspaper, sinking almost before it had attracted attention.
Wang Cheng glanced at the report, but before long a slightly larger story beside it caught his eye. It concerned rumors of a romance between a wealthy young woman and a major celebrity named Sun Chu. Sun Chu was another leading male star at Yaxing. As it happened, Wang Cheng knew the young woman.
She was Yu Jing.