“We can’t just let this go.”
Tao An sat on the hospital bed, his eyes dark and brooding.
His agent, Li Lin, suppressed his growing impatience: “Let it go? What else do you want to do? Yuan Meng presented solid evidence! You framing Yin Zheng was a fact, so how do you plan to clear that up? I warned you back then not to go too far…”
“And now you’re here to criticize me after the fact?” Tao An sneered coldly.
Li Lin’s expression changed slightly.
After all, he was a veteran agent. Given Tao An’s skills and experience, if it weren’t for Zhou Ziyan and the higher-ups in the company putting in a good word, he wouldn’t have taken him on.
Usually, he could tolerate Tao An’s petty schemes and decisions made without consulting him, but now, with such a major issue at hand, Tao An couldn’t even handle a few complaints?
The backup plan to send Tao An abroad, which Li Lin had arranged, was temporarily shelved.
His expression calmed down: “You think I’m just criticizing after the fact? Do you have any ideas?”
Tao An had never liked this agent’s meddling, but he still maintained appearances. Having spent many years in the entertainment industry before his current situation, he understood the importance of an agent. But now, being rejected by Chu Yunsheng and with the Zhou Group under investigation, he was panicking and couldn’t care about these things anymore.
Little did he know, he had unknowingly cut off his last escape route.
Perhaps even if Tao An knew about the option to go abroad, he wouldn’t have the courage to leave Zhou Ziyan’s protection and everything he had in the country to start over in a foreign land.
There were many restrictions on Chinese artists abroad.
“Ziyan has already suppressed most of the news. For the rest, don’t worry about it. Find me a makeup artist to make me look more haggard, and I’ll record a video.”
With the evidence irrefutable, there was no way to clear his name, so Tao An decided to admit it and play the victim.
Li Lin responded casually.
The apology statement had actually been issued when Chu Yunsheng’s press conference was held, but it was clear that Tao An intended to continue leveraging this situation.
“Too much is as bad as too little. You can let the news cool down and then find another opportunity to rise again. Which celebrity in the entertainment industry doesn’t have some black marks…”
Li Lin hesitated but still tried to offer some advice.
However, before he could finish, Tao An interrupted him again: “After I release my apology video, go to those internet troll companies and spread rumors about Yin Zheng and Chu Yunsheng being in a homosexual relationship.”
Li Lin was taken aback and frowned: “Do you have any evidence? There are many celebrities in the entertainment industry who are close and get rumored to be couples, but it doesn’t make much of a splash.”
“No, but if a lie is repeated enough, it becomes the truth.”
Tao An was somewhat displeased with Li Lin’s discouraging remarks. “Besides, Ziyan told me that Chu Yunsheng is not indifferent to Yin Zheng. When he heard something happened to him in Paris, he rushed over immediately…”
“Yin Zheng should be a straight man. He even held hands with the school beauty before. When he came to me wanting to hold a press conference to clarify, although he appeared restrained, it was clear he was in a bad mood, likely because he is quite averse to homosexuality. Yin Zheng is straightforward but not stupid. If he sees the news, he’ll definitely overthink it. With his temper, if he really finds out that Chu Yunsheng has feelings for him, he’ll definitely explode… Wouldn’t that be a case of ‘dog-eat-dog’ and internal strife?”
The more Tao An spoke, the more pleased he became, laying out his plan in detail.
However, at this moment, he was clearly unaware that his foundational assumption—”Yin Zheng is a straight man”—was entirely incorrect.
Li Lin found it almost unbelievable.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Tao An’s plan was overly idealistic. While there was a certain possibility, it was more likely that they wouldn’t even pay attention to him.
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After a brief listen, she scoffed coldly into the phone: “A disgraceful thing.”
“Madam, should we…”
Mother Zhou: “Ignore him. Let him dig his own grave. As long as he doesn’t involve Ziyan, why should we care about the life and death of irrelevant people? The tax issue was caused by Yunsheng Technology, so it seems reconciliation with Yunsheng is unlikely. However, as long as our Zhou Group remains stable, no one can disrupt us. Everyone, stay calm.”
Mother Zhou smiled faintly.
That evening, Tao An’s apology video was successfully released.
In the video, he looked extremely haggard, his complexion pale, as if he had truly been seriously ill. He apologized to Yin Zheng and his fans, and when he spoke emotionally, his eyes reddened slightly, and he shed a few restrained, pitiful tears.
This video indeed swayed many people.
Just as Chu Yunsheng had sarcastically predicted, feeling detached from the situation, the netizens began to sympathize with Tao An, forgiving him on behalf of Yin Zheng. After all, it wasn’t a heinous crime, and no irreparable damage was done, so why not forgive him?
Some people pressured Yin Zheng to forgive, while others took a different approach, criticizing Chu Yunsheng for being aggressive and ugly at the press conference, labeling him as the epitome of the stench of wealth.
However, just a few days after this apology video had managed to garner some sympathy for Tao An, a new revelation surged to the top of the trending topics.
“Chu Yunsheng and Yin Zheng are too close, suspected to be a homosexual couple?”
“Emmmmm…”
“The timing of this revelation is really subtle. If it weren’t for this leak, I might have thought Tao was going to clear his name.”
“Tao An, didn’t your agent teach you the correct way to clean up a mess? Truly a white lotus that doesn’t wilt!”
If this news had solid evidence, it would be one thing, but unfortunately, there was no concrete proof exposing anything between Chu Yunsheng and Yin Zheng. Even the incidents mentioned in the leak had been seen during the crew’s live broadcasts, where both of them behaved very naturally, with no signs of acting.
When Chu Yunsheng saw these messages, he remained completely unperturbed.
He just found the comments accusing him and Yin Zheng of having an improper relationship, being malicious, and wishing death upon them to be too unpleasant.
After some thought, he decided that the automatic trolling program Yin Zheng had previously requested was indeed very necessary.
So, he quickly created a small program and posted it on a secondary account lurking in Yin Zheng’s fan group on Weibo, along with a brief product description, noting that it was a limited-time trial version and would expire soon.
This Weibo post was quickly taken down.
However, the automatic trolling program deeply impressed Yin Zheng’s fans, the Little Cherries.
They were astonished to discover that the major fan account they followed had access to such advanced technology!
The Little Cherries were the first to download and use the program, and they selflessly shared it with Chu Yunsheng’s fans, known as the Repeaters.
Yes, Chu Yunsheng’s fans were called Repeaters.
The Little Cherries and the Repeaters teamed up and quickly engaged in a heated battle with the internet trolls.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ziyan, who received news of Tao An’s series of actions, finally had a moment of clarity and emotional intelligence after a long period of not seeing Tao An.
His thinking aligned with Li Lin’s: the audience is forgetful, and the Zhou Group has businesses abroad. He could easily send Tao An overseas to lay low and then return.
The Zhou Group had already decided to suppress Yunsheng Technology, and the company was tense recently. Zhou Ziyan couldn’t focus more on Tao An, so developing abroad was the best option.
Chu Yunsheng was clearly intent on crushing Tao An in the domestic entertainment industry, but abroad, where Chu Yunsheng had little influence, with the Zhou Group’s support and protection, Tao An’s development would certainly be better than his current situation in the country.
However, Tao An rejected Zhou Ziyan’s proposal.
Zhou Ziyan wanted to persuade him further, but soon he had no time or energy to deal with this matter.
The Zhou Group’s main product line, mobile phones, was exposed to have serious technical issues. Less than a month after the launch, tens of thousands of phones experienced system crashes and complete shutdowns.
The technical department held emergency meetings overnight but couldn’t resolve the issue.
The Zhou Group had to suspend the sale of new products and start recalling the sold phones. Without Yunsheng Technology, this incident might have blown over with some complaints from users, and they could have launched a new model once the storm passed.
But unfortunately, Yunsheng Technology, like a wolf eyeing a piece of fat meat, was always watching.
Yunsheng Technology unveiled new technology, with comprehensive system upgrades for various electronic products.
The emergence of the new generation of chips also signaled the arrival of a new era in the electronics industry.
Zhou Ziyan watched the news featuring Chu Yunsheng, his face clouded with gloom.
Mother Zhou sat in a chair, her once dignified and graceful demeanor now showing signs of weary age for the first time.
“Accept it. The Zhou Group has forgotten its original intentions.”
Mother Zhou, her eyes filled with sorrow, sighed and said, “When your father and I first started the business, we had such grand ambitions. Back then, we watched as foreign products overshadowed ours, and we were indignant. Your father, being a tech person, sought out a small, underdeveloped research institute. He sold our car and house to invest in it, working day and night, buried in research with his team.”
“Back then, many people said I was foolish, marrying a man who became penniless right after our wedding. But I never cared. I was also holding onto that determination…”
She saw the puzzled and gloomy look in Zhou Ziyan’s eyes, paused, and sighed with a bitter smile: “You didn’t grow up in that era, so it’s normal that you don’t understand.”
“Ziyan, the Zhou Group can indeed still hold on and could rise again. But in reality, it has already fallen. Years of deep-seated issues have now caused a chain reaction. I’m old, I can’t keep up with the current trends, and I no longer have the fighting spirit. You… are still too young.”
“We’ve been defeated in technology, and the future trends are not in our favor. You need to learn to let go of this cumbersome giant. The Zhou Group has always prided itself on being a technology-driven company, but looking at this news now, I can’t help but laugh.”
Zhou’s mother slowly stood up, supporting herself on the chair. Her once upright and dignified posture had now hunched over.
In just a few days, she had aged significantly.
She no longer wanted to say much to Zhou Ziyan.
Although Tao An was the catalyst, it also proved that the Zhou Group, which had been complacent and self-satisfied, had indeed changed.
Mother Zhou gave Zhou Ziyan one last look, smoothed her graying hair at the temples, and slowly walked out of the office.
In the dimly lit room, Zhou Ziyan sat in the large office chair and angrily kicked the desk with a loud bang.
At the end of July, Yunsheng Technology suddenly announced a forced acquisition of two major companies under the Zhou Group through equity purchase.
On that day, Zhou Ziyan stepped down as the president of the Zhou Group and forcibly took Tao An abroad.
Meanwhile, Chu Yunsheng, the film emperor, appeared for the first time in the news as the owner of Yunsheng Technology.
During the live interview at the press conference, the media were all very excited.
Not long ago, they had looked down on Yunsheng Technology for trying to compete with the Zhou Group. However, the Zhou Group had since faced continuous product issues and irreparable technical defects, plunging it into a downturn, while Yunsheng Technology had risen rapidly, bringing new technology and substantial capital, soaring to new heights.
“Mr. Chu! Can you tell us where the substantial funds for acquiring the two companies under the Zhou Group came from? Based on the equity ratio, have you been planning to acquire the Zhou Group for some time?”
Chu Yunsheng, dressed in a suit and tie, with his refined gold-rimmed glasses slightly slipping down, revealed his deep black eyes from behind the lenses and gave the reporter a faint glance.
“Funds?”
He answered without hesitation: “From acting earnings, and I sold some small programs and games. Put it all together, and it was enough.”
Reporter: “…”
What kind of small programs and games are worth that much!
This sounded like something out of a boastful novel, but the reporters didn’t know the details and didn’t have time to dig deeper. The interview time was limited, and it was clear that the guest didn’t want to elaborate. They also didn’t want to offend Chu Yunsheng, so there was no need to press further.
“Mr. Chu, I’ve always been curious. You started as an actor, so what made you suddenly decide to go into research? And to do it so well? I remember your undergraduate and graduate studies were both in drama…”
Chu Yunsheng replied honestly: “Self-taught.”
Reporter: “…”
I suspect you’re showing off, but I have no evidence
The reporter, who had seen his fair share of big events, was momentarily stunned but quickly wiped away any traces of disbelief and calmly asked a few more questions.
Finally, urged by Chu Yunsheng’s secretary, he wrapped up quickly: “Mr. Chu, our interview is live, and the audience in the live stream has now reached six million. Do you have anything you’d like to say to the viewers?”
Chu Yunsheng decisively shook his head: “No. There’s no need for everyone to pay too much attention to my private life. I just want to be a pure researcher.”
Reporter: “…”
Live stream audience: “…”
Wait a minute… Aren’t you an actor, and a film emperor at that? Your movie is premiering the day after tomorrow, do you even remember that!?
Of course, Chu Yunsheng remembered.
Not only did he remember, but he also bought a pair of sweet midnight show tickets for himself and Yin Zheng, complete with a couple’s seat.
As soon as Yin Zheng heard the full name of the movie ticket, he had some colorful associations.
So, on the day of the premiere, he specifically stuffed a large roll of toilet paper into his bag.
Chu Yunsheng looked at the bag, puzzled: “Are you going to cry?”
Yin Zheng mumbled: “…If that counts as crying, then yes, probably.”
That surnamed Tao has a very narrow world-view, and no self-awareness…
Thank you for the chapter.
That end… is it what I think is it?