Chapter 48

The Wang family, living room.

Father Wang, Wang Shining, Wang Chen, and Wang Chen's biological mother, Liu Mei, were all in the living room.

Reading the comments online, Father Wang was so furious that he flew into a rage.

He paced back and forth anxiously, ordering Wang Chen, who was sitting on the sofa, "Why haven't those useless people in the PR department suppressed this trending topic yet?!"

Wang Chen replied blandly, "They're working on it."

He glanced at Wang Shining, who sat silently to one side with a pale face. He had not expected Wang Shining to cause such a catastrophic disaster.

Wang Chen exchanged a look with the calm Liu Mei on the other side. Father Wang, frantic with irritation, failed to notice that the mother and son seemed to be plotting something.

Although Father Wang desperately wanted to suppress the matter, the public's outrage was difficult to contain.

On top of facing the fury of internet users, he also had to answer to the shareholders on the company's board of directors.

Father Wang was pushed to the point that his eyes turned red with anger. After hanging up on a shareholder calling to hold him accountable, he furiously kicked over a chair beside the living room.

Wang Shining shrank his shoulders in fear, terrified of making even the slightest sound and attracting Father Wang's attention. But he had been the source of this whole affair. Father Wang might forget anyone else in his rage, but he would never forget him.

The more Father Wang had favored this illegitimate youngest son in the past, the more he hated him now.

Seeing Wang Shining's cowardly appearance, he angrily grabbed a glass from beside him and hurled it at Wang Shining. "I never should have brought a disaster like you home!"

Seeing the glass flying at him, Wang Shining went pale and hurriedly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding having his head smashed open.

Liu Mei, who had been sitting silently to one side, finally spoke slowly. "Enough. Getting angry won't help now. You should think about how to deal with this."

Father Wang had wanted to scold Liu Mei as well, but he suddenly remembered that he might need help from her family this time. He had no choice but to swallow the curses already at his lips and force out a smile. "You're right, Meimei. Do you have any good ideas?"

Hearing Father Wang speak so affectionately, Liu Mei felt only disgust. If she had not wanted to tear more benefits from him, she would have divorced this disgusting man long ago.

Liu Mei said, "Suppress the trending topic first. No matter how much it costs, it has to be taken down."

Unfortunately, while they wanted to suppress the topic, the Wang family company's competitors had no intention of letting them have their way. Like hyenas and wolves that had caught the scent of meat, they began fanning the flames wildly, hoping to use this incident to severely damage the Wang family. The market pie was only so large. Once the Wang family fell, everyone else would get a bigger share.

It was not until evening that the Wang family's trending topic was finally removed from the rankings. By then, however, it had remained on the list for nearly half a day. Anyone who went online or paid even slight attention to internet news knew about it.

Early the next morning, the Sea City police department handling the case swiftly released an announcement.

The punishment was exactly as Lu Yao had told Zhang Xinyang before. Under the current regulations, Wang Shining received administrative detention that would not be enforced, along with a fine of 1,000 yuan.

Zhang Xinyang had expected that outcome. What he was truly looking forward to was the chain reaction that would follow.

Not long after the announcement was released, the stock market opened.

For the investors who had bought shares in the Wang family company, their moods had plunged to rock bottom ever since learning about the matter yesterday.

The moment the market opened, they immediately tried to sell off the shares in their hands.

As everyone expected, the Wang family company's stock plummeted the instant trading began.

Looking at the straight downward curve of the company's stock price, the shareholders sitting in the conference room all wore grim expressions.

This was all money! The people suffering the greatest losses were major shareholders like them.

"Resign and take responsibility! Give up the position of president, so people outside can see our company's attitude."

One major shareholder spoke up.

Hearing his suggestion, the other shareholders echoed him. "That's right. If Director Wang resigns as president now, we can still cut our losses in time. If the company's stock keeps falling like this, we'll be at risk of delisting!"

Seeing them pressure him like this, Father Wang gritted his teeth in fury. This company belonged to the Wang family. If he resigned as president, wouldn't the company's management fall into someone else's hands?

Seeing that Father Wang refused to step down, Wang Chen, seated behind him, quietly signaled to one of the shareholders.

The shareholder cleared his throat and said, "Old Wang, in this situation, it'll be hard for you to explain yourself even if you don't resign. Step down for now and avoid the spotlight. Once this matter dies down after a while, you can come back and take charge of the company again."

Father Wang's face stiffened, and he gave a cold snort. "You make it sound easy. Once I leave, will there still be a place for me in this company?!"

The shareholder smiled. "Look, you've forgotten about Wang Chen. Let Wang Chen manage the company for you for the time being. You can still control things from behind the scenes. Wang Chen is your son. Don't you trust him?"

Wang Chen pretended to panic. "Uncles, please don't say that. I still have a lot to learn from my father. If you suddenly make me take over as president in his place, I really won't be able to handle it."

Another shareholder said, "If you can't handle it, isn't your father still here? If your father weren't managing the company, we wouldn't feel at ease either. When the time comes, just listen to your father."

Father Wang had still been doubtful, but when he saw Wang Chen acting as though he could not shoulder such responsibility, he instead relaxed. "Fine, we'll do as you say. I'll resign and take responsibility, and Wang Chen will succeed me as president."

Liu Mei was also one of the shareholders present. Hearing Father Wang's words, she lowered her head slightly and smiled smugly.

After the shareholders discussed things for a while, they decided to hold a company press conference that afternoon.

At the press conference.

Father Wang had never suffered such humiliation in his entire life. Looking at the dense crowd of reporters and cameras below the stage, he was so angry that he nearly ground his teeth to pieces, yet he still had to put on a remorseful expression.

As the person directly involved in the incident, Wang Shining was naturally required by the shareholders to make a sincere apology at the press conference. It would be best if he cried bitterly, allowing internet users to feel his remorse more directly.

The camera flashes kept going off. Seeing the curious looks in the reporters' eyes below, Wang Shining's face flushed red with shame and embarrassment. He kept his head deeply lowered, wishing he could disappear immediately.

The company's PR department had written the apology statement. Wang Shining felt as though every word in it clogged his throat and made him panic when he read it.

Suppressing his humiliation and embarrassment, he had only read halfway through the statement when he could no longer hold back. Covering his face with both hands, he began sobbing.

Everything had been ruined! Everyone was avoiding him now, terrified of having even the slightest connection with him. He had wanted to call Xia Yue, but she had directly blocked him.

As for the school, it had contacted the Wang family as early as last night and said it was expelling him.

Father Wang now looked at him with nothing but disgust, believing he was a jinx who had brought bad luck upon the Wang family. Father Wang had already ordered someone to throw all of his belongings out of the Wang family home.

Before yesterday, he had still dreamed of inheriting the Wang family company. Now, however, he was nearly left with nothing. The disparity made Wang Shining cry so hard that he could barely breathe.

Seeing this scene, the reporters below the stage aimed their cameras at him and snapped photos wildly.

Watching Wang Shining cry miserably on the livestream on his phone, Zhang Xinyang felt only calm.

"Knock, knock—"

Zhang Xinyang's mother knocked on the door and called into the room, "Xinyang, come out and help pack things."

Zhang Xinyang turned off his phone, stood up, and smiled. "Coming."

Zhang Xinyang's family planned to move from Sea City to Guang City. His adoptive father had found a new job in Guang City. Since this morning, the family had been busy packing their belongings.

After working for quite some time, Zhang Xinyang's mother handed him and his adoptive father each a cup of water. "Have some water and take a break."

When she saw Zhang Xinyang prepare to continue packing after finishing his water, she asked, "Xinyang, before we leave, how about inviting your classmate Lu Yao to dinner? He's helped you and our family a great deal."

Zhang Xinyang thought for a moment, then smiled. "Sure. Once I finish packing, I'll go ask him."

Zhang Xinyang's family now regarded Lu Yao as their benefactor. It was precisely because they had met Lu Yao that things had turned around after reaching their lowest point.

Lu Yao's trip to the police station to help make a statement was too big a matter to hide from Father Lu.

Father Lu had not thought much of it at the time. It was only after the video was exposed yesterday that he learned Lu Yao had gone to make a statement for Zhang Xinyang. Father Lu had already had an impression of Zhang Xinyang's adoptive father, believing him to be highly capable and wasted at the Wang family company.

Now that he knew the man had resigned, an idea came to him. The Lu family's branch company in Guang City happened to be short of a general manager. Father Lu contacted Zhang Xinyang directly through Lu Yao and asked Zhang Xinyang to mention it to his adoptive father.

After speaking with Father Lu for over an hour, Zhang Xinyang's adoptive father gladly agreed to become the general manager of the branch company in Guang City. This position was far better than the one he had held at the Wang family company. Their family had truly turned misfortune into a blessing because of this matter.

With the Lu family protecting them, if the Wang family wanted to make any moves against Zhang Xinyang's family in the future, they would have to consider whether it was worth the cost.

Zhang Xinyang's family believed that Father Lu did not lack talented people around him. The reason Father Lu had approached Zhang Xinyang's adoptive father was likely also because of Lu Yao. Thus, their gratitude toward Lu Yao deepened even further.

Although the Wang family had held a press conference in time, the decline in its stock price had merely slowed. After this ordeal, the Wang family had been severely weakened.

Nearly half a month after the press conference, just as internet users were about to forget the matter, another major scandal broke out in the Wang family.

When Wang Chen had first taken over as president, Father Wang had still been fairly satisfied. He believed his son was merely a puppet in his hands, and that the company remained firmly under his control.

Recently, however, Father Wang began to realize something was wrong. Wang Chen started ignoring his management orders and treating his words as though they went in one ear and out the other. Whenever something came up, Wang Chen discussed it only with his mother, Liu Mei. Father Wang began to panic. When he privately suggested to the shareholders that he return to the company and become president again, they brushed off his request.

Just as he was preparing to fight his son and wife for power, the police suddenly came to his door and took him back to the station for investigation.

It turned out that some of his remarks in the video had drawn the attention of the relevant authorities. The moment the video was exposed, they had already begun investigating him.

He was not a clean man either. When doing business, he had always liked using bribery. Once the authorities became determined to investigate him, evidence of his crimes was quickly gathered.

Because of him, the relevant departments followed the trail and uncovered many others as well. Those who had been investigated and brought down because of him practically hated him to death.

The Wang family company suffered massive losses once again as a result.

Seeing the string of events that had recently happened to the Wang family company, the prominent families and wealthy households of Sea City all tightened their grip on their descendants, afraid that one foolish act by their children or grandchildren would make their own family the next Wang family.