Page 38

Inside a hotel room at Hengzhou Film and Television City—

Chu Qingyi flipped through the trending searches with a deathly pale face, feeling waves of darkness cloud his vision. He had never imagined that a careless slip of the tongue in his panic would lead to such serious consequences.

He had clearly managed to bluff his way through it at the time. Why had this recording still been posted online?

"How could this happen?" Chu Qingyi pressed his lips together tightly. His bloodless lips formed a rigid line, while endless remorse and regret surfaced on his delicate face. If he had known this would happen, he never would have said those words!

The shrill ringtone suddenly pierced the silent room, making Chu Qingyi shudder from head to toe. Without thinking, he declined the call and tossed his phone far away onto the sofa.

The silenced phone paused for only a moment before vibrating again with even greater frenzy and a more piercing frequency.

Chu Qingyi stared fearfully at the constantly vibrating phone in the distance and clutched his head in agony. His fingers sank deep into his thick black hair as he gripped it hard, sitting on the bed and trembling.

A moment later, someone pounded heavily on the hotel door. Director Fragrant City's heavily accented Mandarin sounded from outside. "You little brat, open the door! President Zhou wants you to call him back!"

The day after the recording spread across the internet, the stock market opened.

As expected, Zhou Film and Television Company's stock price plunged to rock bottom.

Zhou Yueze sat behind his desk, staring at the plunging K-line chart on his computer screen as he expressionlessly ground his back teeth.

He slowly rose to his feet, removed the Vacheron Constantin from his wrist, walked over to Chu Qingyi, and slapped him across the face. "You idiot!"

With a crisp slap, half of Chu Qingyi's face immediately swelled up.

"You dared to hide something this important from me. Do you know how much damage your concealment has caused Zhou Film and Television?" Zhou Yueze grabbed Chu Qingyi by the throat, his face livid. "Eighty million! In one morning alone, Zhou Film and Television Company lost eighty million in market value. Can you afford that loss?"

Chu Qingyi's small face turned bluish purple from suffocation. He clutched Zhou Yueze's wrist with both hands and desperately tried to pull it away. "Let... cough, cough... let go..."

Seeing Chu Qingyi beginning to roll his eyes, Zhou Yueze released him and gave him a hard shove. Thrown off balance by the force, Chu Qingyi staggered backward before finally collapsing onto the expensive carpet, clutching his bruised neck as he coughed and retched violently.

Zhou Yueze stood where he was, looking down at the disheveled Chu Qingyi, whose tears and snot were running together. For some reason, he suddenly laughed. "I really overestimated you."

His gaze fell on Chu Qingyi's face like two blades. Yet his usually sharp, lively eyes were somewhat unfocused, as though he were looking through Chu Qingyi's face at someone else. "...With a face like that, how can you be this stupid? It's truly nauseating!"

Chu Qingyi clutched his throat and coughed violently, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

Hearing Zhou Yueze's words, Chu Qingyi's already bluish-purple face flushed even more. "President Zhou, please don't be angry. I never thought they would—"

"You never thought?" Zhou Yueze cut him off, his gaze at Chu Qingyi growing increasingly strange. "You knew someone had recorded what you said, yet you still dared to hope that recording wouldn't be used against you?"

"Chu Qingyi, should I say you're naive or stupid?"

Chu Qingyi's face alternated between green and white. He sat miserably on the carpet, looking up at Zhou Yueze at a loss. It was an obvious gesture of submission. Naturally, Zhou Yueze understood it. He gave an unreadable sneer, and a hint of disgust suddenly appeared in his eyes.

How blind had he been to think Chu Qingyi bore even the slightest resemblance to that person?

"Tell me everything you know!" Zhou Yueze's expression abruptly hardened, his tone gaining an impatient, businesslike edge.

He dialed the internal line and told the public relations department to come upstairs immediately.

The damage had already been done. No matter how much he regretted misjudging Chu Qingyi, it was useless now. Their top priority was to implement crisis management as soon as possible. They absolutely could not allow Chu Qingyi alone to affect Zhou Film and Television Company's stock price and the normal filming of The Prince's Transformation.

Before long, employees from Zhou Film and Television Company's public relations department, along with the production team behind The Prince's Transformation, filed into the office.

Their gazes discreetly swept over Chu Qingyi, who had straightened up but still looked distraught and uneasy, before turning to Zhou Yueze, seated in his leather executive chair.

The PR manager spoke first. "The most urgent matter is for Mr. Chu Qingyi to speak with the Ye family's third young master—"

At that point, the PR manager paused subtly. There was no other reason for it: for all these years, whenever people in New Sea City's various circles mentioned the Ye family's third young master, they only thought of Ye Mingzhao, whom the Ye family had adopted for eighteen years.

Zhou Yueze's expression shifted. He had clearly thought of someone as well. But before he could sort out exactly what he was thinking, the PR manager smoothly continued, "It would be best for Mr. Chu Qingyi to communicate privately with Young Master Ye Mingyi and at least obtain Young Master Ye Mingyi's forgiveness."

Although this approach was merely self-deception, it would at least give them the moral high ground—if the victim himself did not pursue the matter, what could a bunch of gossip-hungry netizens accomplish by continuing to make noise?

Zhou Yueze understood immediately. He also knew the PR department's suggestion was the most cost-effective solution. His gaze landed on Chu Qingyi once again. "Did you hear that? It's such a simple matter. Do I need to teach you what to do?"

Chu Qingyi's face was pale, and the unease in his expression deepened.

Seeing this, Zhou Yueze felt a little reluctant to press him. Looking at the pitiable Chu Qingyi, he tried to persuade him. "This actually isn't difficult. The Chu family did raise Ye Mingyi for eighteen years. Let's not talk about what happened back then. The debt of gratitude for those eighteen years of upbringing isn't fake."

Even if they had raised a dog for eighteen years, there would be feelings involved. "You brothers lived together for so long. Surely there's at least some affection between you?"

Chu Qingyi took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. Looking at Zhou Yueze, whose attitude had visibly softened, he said in a low voice, "Don't worry, President Zhou. I'll definitely obtain Brother Hengyi's forgiveness."

Hearing Chu Qingyi refer to the real Ye Mingyi as "Brother Hengyi," Zhou Yueze's attitude became even gentler.

In truth, the reason he had befriended Chu Qingyi in the first place was not only because he had seen another person's shadow in Chu Qingyi, but also because he had followed his father's instructions. Through getting close to Chu Qingyi, he had hoped to win over Chu Hengyi, the Ye family's true third young master.

But events had taken too sudden a turn. They had only just begun laying the groundwork when Ye Mingzhao discovered that the Chu family was related to the trafficker who had abducted Ye Mingyi all those years ago. That devastating move caught the Zhou father and son completely off guard. One misstep led to another, until they had ended up in their current predicament.

His father had been right. No matter how gentle and harmless Ye Mingzhao pretended to be in front of the Ye family, deep down, he was still a bloodthirsty shark. Once he caught the scent of blood, he would clamp onto his prey and never let go.

When dealing with someone vicious by nature like that, one either had to befriend him and never provoke his desire to compete, or ensure a single decisive victory and never give him a chance to wake up and strike back. Otherwise, given Ye Mingzhao's tenacity and ruthlessness, once he latched onto someone, even if they did not die, they would lose half their life.

Zhou Yueze took a deep breath, somewhat regretting his carelessness in allowing Ye Mingzhao to seize an opening. It seemed he had to find Ye Mingzhao's biological parents as soon as possible and use them to divert Ye Mingzhao's attention.

At that thought, Zhou Yueze's eyes flickered. He picked up his phone and dialed Ye Mingzhao's number. "...As expected of Ye Group's youngest and most highly regarded trader. You deliberately chose to expose Chu Qingyi's recording last night because you wanted to use the time while the negative news was fermenting to shake shareholders' confidence in Zhou Film and Television Company. Then, when the market opened this morning, you took the opportunity to short Zhou Film and Television. Once Zhou Film and Television Company's stock price crashed, you could make a huge profit. Am I right?"