The film crew was shooting in the deep mountains and forests, where mobile phone signals were sporadic at best. After seeing the news a day later, Xie Guan tried calling Huo Mingjun again, but no one answered on the other end.
He anxiously watched the news and Weibo, where various speculations and criticisms were swirling. Public sentiment was furious, and the blame was squarely placed on Hengrui Group. In response to the major accident, a special investigation team was formed. Within a few days, many victims and their families chose not to reach a compensation agreement but instead decided to file a joint lawsuit, directly taking Hengrui Group to court.
The reputations of Hengrui Group and the Huo family plummeted, stock prices fell, and customers shopping in Yihe Yipin department stores across the country sharply declined. Some extremists even initiated boycott activities, staging demonstrations outside the company’s headquarters with banners.
Despite the severe situation, Hengrui Group only released one announcement four hours after the incident, promising an immediate investigation, compensation, and apologies to the victims. After that, there was no further communication.
Countless reporters rushed to the scene, trying to interview the leaders of Hengrui Group or learn about the progress of the investigation, but all efforts were in vain.
Xie Guan was filled with anxiety but couldn’t get in touch with Huo Mingjun. Rumors and gossip online were rampant, with some even falsely claiming that the police already arrested several key individuals. Although he knew it was false, Xie Guan couldn’t help imagining the worst-case scenario. Balancing the high-pressure filming schedule while worrying about the situation at Hengrui Group caused his negative state of mind to continue to escalate. It reached a point where even the director couldn’t tolerate it.
“Cut!”
“Xie Guan, your lines are wrong.”
“Positioning! Stand at the designated spot! I just emphasized it in the previous scene! Are you a goldfish?!”
“Pay attention to your gaze. You two are not just arch-enemies, you are also formidable opponents. When you hear about his defeat, there should be emotional ups and downs inside you, not a face full of gloominess. Let’s do it again.”
“Cut, the expression is wrong, let’s do it again.”
“… Take a ten-minute break, Xie Guan, come with me.”
Knowing that his state wasn’t good, Xie Guan quickly apologized to Ji Feng, his scene partner, and the on-set crew before turning to find Bai Luzhou.
“What’s going on with you?” Bai Luzhou asked straightforwardly.
Feeling exhausted, Xie Guan wiped his face and said, “Sorry, Director Bai…”
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.
“Don’t apologize to me,” Bai Luzhou impatiently interrupted, “if there’s a problem, speak up and solve it. Otherwise, a bunch of people will waste time here with you, and apologizing alone won’t help.”
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Xie Guan was taken aback, not expecting her to guess it right, and nodded silently.
Bai Luzhou asked, “So what do you plan to do? Take leave and go find him?”
Since Bai Luzhou was already aware of the situation, Xie Guan, who deliberately concealed his troubled expression in recent days, dared to let the distress show on his face. He forced a bitter smile and said, “To be honest, I don’t know what to do. Even if I rush over now, I won’t be able to help him much as an outsider.”
The recent incident involving Hengrui was extremely perilous. Any mishandling of the situation could immediately trigger a series of adverse reactions. At this critical moment, Xie Guan’s best choice was to stay out of it and not get involved. Once a celebrity became associated with such matters, it was sure to attract a lot of criticism.
However, the person currently trapped in this predicament was Huo Mingjun. Xie Guan had the instinct to avoid harm and seek advantages but couldn’t remain rational and indifferent at a time like this.
“It’s good to be loyal,” Bai Luzhou said lightly, “but you’re twenty-six now, not sixteen. Don’t act recklessly like a teenager. Since you know you can’t be of any help, just quietly wait for news, and focus on handling your own affairs. Don’t mess things up here while others are dealing with their own issues.”
“I understand, Director Bai,” Xie Guan took a deep breath, rallying his spirits. “I’ll quickly adjust my state, but there’s one thing I need to ask for your help in advance.”
“Speak.”
Xie Guan said, “If there’s a need for assistance from that side in the future, I hope Director Bai can be accommodating.”
Bai Luzhou stared at him for a moment, then said thoughtfully, “I didn’t notice it before, but your temper is unexpectedly stubborn.”
“Alright, I won’t stop you. Adjust yourself, and we’ll reshoot the last scene later.”
G Province’s Pingcheng City.
On the day of the incident, Huo Mingjun rushed over from B City overnight to personally oversee the situation. After the news broke, numerous people called to inquire about the situation. Even his uncle Yue Lin, who held a high position in another province, was alarmed and discreetly reminded him to control the impact. Huo Mingjun cooperated with the police investigation while conducting an internal investigation within the group. He needed to manage the overall situation, find ways to salvage the company’s reputation, stem the stock price decline, and deal with inquiries from the board of directors and his grandfather. He wished he could split himself into eight parts, giving him 36 hours in a day.
When Huo Mingjun heard about the location of the incident, he felt uneasy, and upon arrival, his suspicions were confirmed. The Yihe Yipin shopping center was built five years ago and the product of an internal power struggle within the Huo family.
The Huo family started in real estate, later establishing the Hengrui Investment Group, which included business segments such as commercial real estate, chain department stores, and hospitality. Under Huo Mingjun’s leadership, the group gradually expanded into new fields like film investment and the healthcare industry. With recent changes in domestic policies, Hengrui continued to explore new business ventures, but real estate and department stores remained as the main industries.
Huo Mingjun began to be involved in the core power of Hengrui Group about seven years ago when his grandfather was still the chairman. At that time, his father Huo Zhongchen and his two uncles held high positions in the company. Originally, the position of chairman was supposed to pass from his grandfather to Huo Zhongchen and then to Huo Mingjun. However, due to a kidnapping case, Huo’s grandfather became dissatisfied with his eldest son, and the eldest grandson was directly brought into the core of power, sitting on an equal footing with his father and uncles.
This move caused Huo Zhongchen to be very dissatisfied. As the grandfather gradually delegated power, most of it fell into Huo Mingjun’s hands. Although Huo Zhongchen held a high position in name, in reality, he was just a rubber stamp—a useless decoration.
In an attempt to regain control from his son, Huo Zhongchen took advantage of the opportunity to develop the Yihe Yipin project in Pingcheng City, G Province. He endeavored to win over key figures, poached several individuals highly valued by Huo Mingjun and spent a considerable amount of money to create the city’s first commercial center and the famous observation footbridge known as the “Skywalk.”
Pingcheng City was the third-largest prefecture-level city in G Province, focusing on the mining industry as its economic center. However, when selecting the location, Huo Mingjun was not optimistic about the area because many real estate developments led to a high vacancy rate. He feared that it might become a deserted city in the future. Still, Huo Zhongchen insisted that Pingcheng had wealthy residents, and with an expected influx of population, the establishment of Yihe Yipin would stimulate surrounding businesses, creating a flourishing CBD commercial district.
In collaboration with the fourth son Huo Zhonghan, Huo Zhongchen bypassed Huo Mingjun and successfully pushed through the Yihe Yipin project, which took two years to complete in Pingcheng. Unexpectedly, one year after its opening, air pollution became a hot social issue. The country introduced several environmental protection policies, severely impacting traditional high-energy-consumption and high-pollution industries. Many small mines in Pingcheng were forced to close and undergo rectification. As more people moved away, Yihe Yipin became increasingly desolate, not only failing to make a profit but consistently operating at a loss until last year.
After this incident, Huo Zhongchen’s status within the group significantly diminished, and Huo Mingjun took the opportunity to assume the position of chairman of Hengrui Group, succeeding his father.
However, Huo Mingjun did not anticipate that the money-losing venture created by his foolish and indecisive father would turn into a minefield that nearly sent the entire Huo family to ruin.
“Boss,” Fang Hui knocked on the door and hurriedly entered, holding a document, “the court has accepted their lawsuit, and now we need to submit a defense statement.”
Huo Mingjun was in the midst of reviewing a lengthy investigation report. Upon hearing this, he said, “Give it to Zhong Huguang and let the Legal Affairs Department handle it.”
“Yes,” Fang Hui responded and then cautiously added, “Just now, the housekeeper called me and said… Senior Huo and your father would like you to return to B City.”
Fang Hui chose her words delicately, but Huo Mingjun could guess the tone of the original message. He coldly said, “Busy, no time. If they think Hengrui is collapsing too slowly, they can find someone else to take over for me.”
Fang Hui shivered, refusing to admit her fear and insisting that the room’s air conditioning temperature was too low.
As she was about to leave, her mobile phone in her pocket rang again. She pulled it out and saw the caller ID. Immediately, she held it with both hands and brought it to Huo Mingjun.
It was a call from the Huo family.
Huo Mingjun glanced at Assistant Fang, who looked like she wanted to shrink into the floor. He reached out and took the phone from her, “It’s me, what’s the matter?”
He already blocked the numbers of his grandfather, Huo Zhongchen, and others on his own phone. Unable to contact him directly, they resorted to reaching out through Assistant Fang.
Bearing dark circles under her eyes, Fang Hui watched as Huo Mingjun negotiated with the other party. However, she felt no relief at all.
Every day, she received dozens of calls, all asking about Huo Mingjun—how he would handle things, urging him to make decisions, requesting money, demanding explanations. Even his closest blood relatives approached him with a strictly business-like manner, ordering him to “return to B City tomorrow; the old master and Mr. Huo want to see you.”
No one asked if Huo Mingjun was tired or if he needed help.
When there were profits to be made, these people clamored to get into Hengrui. However, once trouble arose, they all hid away like turtles, criticizing Huo Mingjun for what he did wrong and how he handled things incorrectly. They never took a step forward to share the burden with him.
“I’ll say it again, whoever caused the trouble should be the one to resolve it. If he really feels remorse, why not go and kowtow to the victims? If they forgive him, he won’t feel guilty anymore.”
“Neither he nor I have forgotten what happened ten years ago. Whether he considers me his son or not is another matter. What’s the point of talking about ‘repaying a father’s debts’?” Huo Mingjun sneered, “To put it bluntly grandfather, when he’s with you, he says ‘children are debts,’ but when he’s with me, he talks about ‘a father’s debt being repaid.’ He takes advantage of every opportunity to exploit the whole world. Why? Just because he was lucky to be born into a rich family?”
There was a loud noise on the other end of the phone, and the call was cut off.
Huo Mingjun was about to return the phone to Fang Hui, but when he looked up, he was stunned: “Why are you crying?”
The accumulated stress from days of anxiety, fatigue, and facing the onslaught of accusations and attacks finally broke through the barriers in the form of “unjust treatment,” flooding in like a torrent.
Fang Hui desperately held back her tears, shaking her head repeatedly.
Knowing Huo Mingjun’s character well, she understood that he maintained a consistent exterior of coldness. He never showed weakness himself, and he didn’t appreciate others showing it in front of him.
Huo Mingjun took two tissues from the table and handed them to her.
“You’re exhausted. Wipe your tears and go back to get some sleep.” He kept a gentlemanly distance, and his gaze lingered gently on her face for a moment. “Even if the sky falls, your boss will hold it up. Don’t worry.”
Poor assistant fang.. Huo dad is so despicable..
Thank you for the update!
,💖💖💖💖