Page 39

A barely audible snicker came from the other end of the line, followed by Ye Mingzhao's clear, gentle voice. "President Zhou, you should think carefully before you speak. If you want to accuse me of manipulating the stock market and illegally short-selling, you need evidence. Otherwise, familiar as we may be, I'll still sue you for defamation if you keep talking nonsense like this." [Note]

Hearing Ye Mingzhao deliberately say that last sentence in Cantonese, Zhou Yueze's face turned livid with rage.

Just as he was about to hang up, Ye Mingzhao's light, drifting voice reached him. "Do you really want to know who's shorting Zhou Film and Television Company? It's Chu Hengyi."

"Weren't you two supposed to be close? It seems he thinks rather poorly of you as an ally."

"But then again, allies are meant to betray one another. You should have been prepared for that when you formed your alliance. I'm just curious how you'll deal with Chu Hengyi now that he's betrayed you."

Ye Mingzhao paused slightly, then teased with a smile, "First, you get tangled up with the family of the trafficker who abducted Chu Hengyi, and then you dare form an alliance with Chu Hengyi. Should I call you naïve or stupid?"

"You called me at a time like this... don't tell me you were foolishly hoping to record the call?"

"Zhou Yueze, you're not that young anymore. Shouldn't you be a little more mature when you do things? Don't make me look down on you."

Hearing that all-too-familiar boomerang of a line, Zhou Yueze's face went completely black.

With a sharp crack, a brand-new phone was hurled viciously against the wall, shattering into pieces.

The flying fragments of the phone scattered across the carpet, and one piece even bounced onto Chu Qingyi's foot. His face went pale with fright.

The PR department employees and production crew members standing in the office all fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Zhou Yueze's chest heaved violently. After taking several deep breaths, he barely managed to swallow down the rage lodged in his throat.

Ye Mingzhao's words automatically resurfaced in his mind. Zhou Yueze clenched his back teeth, his knife-sharp gaze fixed on the K-line chart continuing to plummet across the computer screen. He enunciated each word: "Chu. Heng. Yi."

Zhou Yueze's eyes were bloodshot, veined with red. An overwhelming sense of frustration swept through him. He had never imagined that the mastermind behind the opportunistic shorting of Zhou Film and Television Company would be Chu Hengyi—the useless man he had regarded as a pawn.

"Sure enough, dogs that bite don't bark!" Zhou Yueze laughed in fury. He shot Chu Qingyi a razor-sharp look, his voice cold enough to freeze ice. "Why are you still standing there?"

Startled, Chu Qingyi did not react at first and only stared blankly at Zhou Yueze.

The moment Zhou Yueze saw Chu Qingyi's pathetic face, always looking aggrieved and on the verge of tears, his temples began to throb.

He had thought he had carefully unearthed a piece of unpolished jade, only to find a fool who liked to act clever.

If the person before him had possessed even half of Ye Mingzhao's caution during that phone call, Zhou Film and Television Company and the production team of The Prince's Transformation would not have suffered this undeserved disaster.

The more Zhou Yueze thought about it, the worse he felt. He could not help wondering whether he had been blind to think Chu Qingyi resembled Ye Mingzhao at all.

"You're actually a finance student at New Sea University," Zhou Yueze sneered, muttering to himself, "New Sea University's student quality has really gotten worse with every passing year."

Mocked to his face by Zhou Yueze, Chu Qingyi's pale little face instantly flushed bright red.

Like every student admitted to New Sea University, Chu Qingyi had always been proud of his education. Yet the thing he cherished most, valued most, and took the greatest pride in had now been belittled by Zhou Yueze as worthless. Chu Qingyi trembled with anger all over, but because he was in the wrong, he did not dare argue even a single word.

He felt terrible. Tears fell like pearls, but he did not dare cry aloud. He could only bite down on his lower lip and sob softly.

Everyone in the office was watching Chu Qingyi cry, which made him feel even more humiliated. So he cried even harder.

In the end, the director of The Prince's Transformation could not bear to watch any longer and awkwardly tried to smooth things over. "Stop crying. What's done is done, and crying won't help. The most urgent matter now is to obtain Mr. Ye Mingyi's forgiveness as soon as possible. As long as he's willing to step forward and say a few words for you, this storm will pass. As for the losses caused to the company and production team... if we handle things well, we might even bring a wave of publicity to the show."

Chu Qingyi said nothing. The reason he was crying was not because his slip of the tongue had caused massive losses to Zhou Film and Television Company and The Prince's Transformation, but because he could clearly feel the change in Zhou Yueze.

Before today, Zhou Yueze had been so gentle and patient with him. Yet because of one recording, Zhou Yueze's attitude had changed completely. Chu Qingyi felt lost, as though something was wrong. Zhou Yueze should not have spoken to him like that!

As for Chu Hengyi...

Chu Qingyi blinked and deliberately said, "Didn't Ye Mingzhao just say on the phone that Chu Hengyi was the mastermind behind the shorting of Zhou Film and Television Company? He made so much money shorting the company. Why would he help Zhou Film and Television Company through this crisis for my sake?"

If Chu Hengyi did not know about the Chu family's connection to the trafficker who had abducted him back then, there might still have been room to turn things around. But Chu Hengyi already knew the truth about that year. Why would he give up tens of millions just to help clear Chu Qingyi's name?

Hearing Chu Qingyi still trying to shirk responsibility at a time like this, Zhou Yueze was so angry he nearly laughed. He thought again of Ye Mingzhao, who had mocked him so brazenly over the phone.

Zhou Yueze had initially believed that the negative news about Zhou Film and Television Company and the subsequent shorting of its stock had been Ye Mingzhao's doing, which was why he had made that call. He had wanted to provoke Ye Mingzhao with words while he was riding high, perhaps catch evidence of Ye Mingzhao manipulating the stock market and illegally short-selling.

Then Zhou Yueze could naturally threaten Ye Mingzhao into stepping forward to settle the recording incident. He could even play the victim and make the public believe that the entire scandal was false information deliberately released by Ye Mingzhao so he could short Zhou Film and Television Company.

Yet Ye Mingzhao had not taken the bait. Instead, he revealed that the true mastermind behind the shorting of Zhou Film and Television Company was Chu Hengyi. He even stated outright that Chu Hengyi had shorted the company because Zhou Yueze wanted to promote the family member of the trafficker who had abducted him as the male lead.

Even if that recording were truly released, people online would probably only say Zhou Film and Television Company had brought this upon itself. No one would sympathize with someone who had been the first to stab an ally in the back!

Zhou Yueze could not play the victim, nor did he want to further anger the Ye family at such a critical moment. He could only force himself to swallow this grievance.

But even after swallowing it, Zhou Yueze knew he had still fallen into Ye Mingzhao's trap. After all, Ye Mingzhao had revealed that Chu Hengyi was the mastermind behind the shorting of Zhou Film and Television Company precisely because he wanted to drive a wedge between Zhou Yueze and Chu Hengyi.

"You spent eighteen years with Chu Hengyi. How much do you know about him?" Zhou Yueze asked Chu Qingyi.

Chu Qingyi froze. "Huh?"

"I asked how much you know about Chu Hengyi." Zhou Yueze impatiently repeated himself. "Tell me everything you know."

At this point, Zhou Yueze had no choice but to admit that he had indeed underestimated that country bumpkin who had barely received any education.

Whether it was Ye Mingzhao or Chu Hengyi, both were far more calculating and difficult to deal with than he had expected.

Yet the more that was the case, the more it stirred Zhou Yueze's fighting spirit.

It was one thing to lose to Ye Mingzhao. After all, Ye Mingzhao was someone even his father feared. But a country bumpkin who had dropped out after middle school to work...

Zhou Yueze gave a cold laugh. A trace of savagery showed through his refined face. Picking up the office phone on the desk, he called Chairman Zhou directly. "Father, Zhou Film and Television Company's stock price is being deliberately shorted. I hope the Zhou Group can step in and support Zhou Film and Television Company's stock."

Didn't Chu Hengyi want to short Zhou Film and Television Company? This time, Zhou Yueze would make that country bumpkin die without a burial place!

* * *

"...It looks like the buzz over The Prince's Transformation having a male lead who's related to a trafficker has died down!"