Page 28

"I think we should do this instead. Stay here today and, in front of everyone, drink three penalty glasses to apologize to President Zhou. I'm sure President Zhou is magnanimous enough to forgive you!"

As he spoke, he actually reached out to touch Ye Mingzhao's face, only for Yu Mingze to slap his hand away.

The investor let out a drunken burp and withdrew his hand dismissively. "What are you standing around for? You've already fallen this far—what's there to be embarrassed about? Since ancient times, a plucked phoenix has been worse than a chicken. You've even come out to act, so what are you still acting so proud for? Don't you know how to play along?"

"Relax. As long as you sweet-talk a little, know how to behave, and make President Zhou and the rest of us happy, what resources could you possibly lack?"

"I guarantee you'll still live in style and become a big star! You'll have money if you want money, fame if you want fame. Us big brothers won't treat you badly!"

"What bullshit are you spouting?" Before Ye Mingzhao could react, Yu Mingze immediately exploded. "Who the hell do you think you are? Does our Mingzhao need you to promote him? Let alone the fact that he came to act because I invited him—he's just here to have some fun. Even if he really wanted to be an actor, he's got me! The peanuts you earn aren't even as much as the profit our Mingzhao makes from handling a single acquisition project. Keep it for yourself and buy a coffin!"

The investor burst out laughing at Yu Mingze's words, laughing so hard he clutched his stomach. "Oh, come on, Producer Yu. Save that story for those naïve little girls who love idol dramas. What kind of people are we? Who do you think you can fool with that?"

That was right. Many people had heard that the child the Ye family adopted from an orphanage was a financial genius, but not everyone believed it. Some outsiders heard Ye Mingzhao's age and immediately concluded that there was no way a twenty-year-old could head Ye Group's finance department based on his own ability. The Ye family had to be taking the achievements of their subordinates and putting them in Ye Mingzhao's name to make him look good. They had seen plenty of things like that.

If Ye Mingzhao really had that kind of ability, would the Ye family have let him leave Ye Group? Or, taking a step back, after leaving Ye Group, would Ye Mingzhao have nowhere else to go and end up becoming an actor? Who would turn against money?

The investor snorted with contempt. He was convinced Yu Mingze was deliberately saying those things to keep up appearances.

Most of the people present thought the same. They were mostly nouveau riche investors who could not reach the Ye family's level, along with rich second-generation heirs who never paid attention to the financial world. They all hoped to curry favor with Zhou Yueze and Zhou Group in exchange for benefits. Some were so poorly informed that they did not even know the Ye family had made a grand visit to the set after Beggar Prince started filming. They knew even less that shortly after Ye Mingzhao left the Ye family, he had made three hundred million from the stock market and international futures.

They merely circled the seemingly destitute Ye Mingzhao like hyenas, humiliating and suppressing him without restraint, as if doing so made them nobler and superior to him.

Their filthy thoughts were written all over their faces, making Yu Mingze so angry he nearly grabbed a wine bottle.

Ye Mingzhao stopped him in time.

He looked calmly at Zhou Yueze, as though he could see through everything. "Is this your method?"

Zhou Yueze had felt somewhat guilty at first, but when Ye Mingzhao questioned him before everyone, he immediately became self-righteous.

He sneered, his gaze and tone filled with the satisfaction of avenging a great wrong. "They're right. You forced me into this. If you hadn't disregarded our brotherhood and insisted on forcing me to withdraw my investment, I wouldn't have had to start over on my own. Yu Mingze, if your new drama flops, remember to put that on Ye Mingzhao's tab."

At that point, Zhou Yueze paused very deliberately. His gaze settled on Ye Mingzhao's face as he pressed him aggressively. "And I haven't even gotten to you yet! Ye Mingzhao, you're quite underhanded! You deliberately had that reporter approach me, then used me to introduce him to Qingyi. That reporter asking those questions at the press conference was part of your plan too, wasn't it? You staged this whole show yourself just to force me to pull out, didn't you?"

"Did you think your plan was flawless? You played me like a monkey, so I gave you exactly what you wanted. I took the money from withdrawing my investment, started my own venture, and I'm even going to heavily promote the person you look down on most." Zhou Yueze walked step by step toward Ye Mingzhao, his smile wild and triumphant. "If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place. How does it feel to drop a rock on your own foot?"

Yu Mingze looked at Ye Mingzhao in astonishment. This was the first time he had heard about it.

The banquet guests also began whispering among themselves. Most of those Zhou Yueze had invited were industry peers; even the less relevant ones were rich second-generation heirs with some spare cash who could invest as co-producers. They were quite sensitive to this sort of thing. Someone could not help asking, "That happened? Ye Mingzhao, is what President Zhou said true?"

"If it is, then that was really underhanded of you!"

The expression on Zhou Yueze's face grew even smugger. He looked at Ye Mingzhao mockingly, his face full of vicious arrogance that said, "Let's see how you explain your way out of this."

Chu Qingyi, who had been shrinking silently in the crowd, wore a look of satisfaction as he glared viciously at Ye Mingzhao, whose "true colors" had finally been exposed.

Ye Mingzhao smiled faintly. His eyes were dark as he met Zhou Yueze's gaze directly. "Is there something wrong with what I did?"

Zhou Yueze had not expected Ye Mingzhao to react like this, and he froze for a moment. "What?"

Ye Mingzhao's voice was low, with just the right trace of sorrow at the corners of his eyes and brows. "The Zhou family and the Ye family have been friends for generations. We were so close—why would I guard against you? Since you wanted a knife, I gave you one. I just didn't expect you to use that knife to stab me for an outsider."

Yu Mingze was the first to catch on when he heard that. "Exactly! Even if the reporter who caused trouble at the press conference was Mingzhao's man, how are you going to explain ordering that reporter to make things difficult for Mingzhao at the press conference? Don't tell me Mingzhao held a gun to your heads and forced you to target him?"

Yu Mingze spoke clearly and methodically. "If that's the case, I should be glad that reporter was Mingzhao's man. At least he knew all about your malice. He knew your questions in advance and got the situation under control in time, preventing things from escalating to the point of affecting the production's normal promotional efforts!"

"Zhou Yueze, you were still an investor in Beggar Prince at the time! You actually dug a hole for your own project just for an outsider, and you still think you're in the right?"

Yu Mingze pointed at Chu Qingyi in the crowd and continued, "And I haven't even asked you this! What exactly is your relationship with this Chu Qingyi? You clearly knew that the trafficker who abducted the Ye family's third young master back then was his second uncle, yet you still wanted to promote someone like him as the male lead?"

"Do you even still have me, your fiancé, in your eyes? Do you even still have Mingzhao, the friend you grew up with?"

The entire room erupted.

Even the other main creators from The Prince's Transformation looked at Chu Qingyi with stunned expressions.

Someone immediately questioned Zhou Yueze. "President Zhou, is what Producer Yu said true?"

They might not have taken an adopted son who had left the Ye family with nothing seriously, but that did not mean they dared offend the Ye family. If the newcomer Zhou Yueze was heavily promoting really was the Ye family's enemy, they needed to distance themselves.

Seeing everyone's reaction as they avoided him like the plague, Zhou Yueze's face darkened.

Chu Qingyi did not look good either. His delicate face flushed bright red as he hurriedly defended himself. "My family cut off contact with my second uncle a long time ago. That happened more than twenty years ago. I didn't know at all..."

So it was true!

For a moment, the gossip-hungry crowd sucked in sharp breaths and stared at Zhou Yueze in disbelief.

Everyone knew about the old incident of the Ye family's third young master being abducted by traffickers. Everyone knew the Ye family wanted nothing more than to skin those traffickers alive, yet Zhou Yueze actually dared to secretly consort with a trafficker's relative—

Come to think of it, weren't the Zhou and Ye families old family friends? Had Zhou Yueze even considered whether the Ye family could accept him doing this?

No wonder Ye Mingzhao had schemed against him. No one would be able to swallow that kind of grievance.