The high-level meeting was at 9:30 in the morning. With Wang Cheng’s status as an assistant, he was not eligible to participate, but he was definitely eligible to change his status.
At half past nine, the senior executives entered the meeting room one after another. The last meeting was nearly one-fifth short of executives. This time, it was refilled. Besides the transfers from other branches, most were holding a high-level meeting for the first time, had good performances during work, were well-promoted, and behaved more cautiously.
Wang Cheng followed Xie Wenzhi into the meeting room. The two sat in the first and second positions on the right hand side of President Feng. Opposite him was the secretary who recorded the contents of the meeting.
As soon as he sat down, he felt multiple eyes focus on him. When he looked up, those people instantly looked away. There was only one person who did not hide; that person was Zhou Lin. Zhao Jiansheng was supposed to be sitting next to her, but starting today, he was on a business trip, and would not be back for three days.
Wang Cheng glanced at her and then plainly withdrew his gaze.
This meeting was the monthly summary of the past month, and the work schedule for the coming month.
In his first time attending this kind of high-level meeting, Wang Cheng saw some high-level executives become red-faced because of President Feng, but not able to refute him. Even Zhou Lin could not escape. The business she was responsible for seemed to be the most money-hungry industry, but she couldn’t change her prodigal son.
Zhou Lin was different from other senior executives. Because of her Zhou surname, she always had a sense of superiority in her heart. When President Feng accused her of work problems, she retorted with a few words. Her attitude was as if she didn’t feel that she had made a mistake in her decision. The atmosphere was a bit depressing and people were afraid to speak.
Feng Yifan squeezed the pen in his hand and said lightly: "I remember that, shown in the information, the person in charge was Zhao Chenlin, right? Since Manager Zhou had given him the responsibility of the company, then his fault is your responsibility."
Zhou Lin's face sank. Strictly, she was still in charge of Yazhi, but because Zhao Chenlin was her son, and the Zhou Group belonged to their Zhou family, it was normal for her to give Yazhi Media to her son to manage. However, when something went wrong, the responsibility would be hers. If this were before yesterday, she would really have to suffer this loss.
"President Feng shouldn't forget: Yazhi is no longer my responsibility." Zhou Lin looked at Feng Yifan with a bit of contempt in her eyes.
Feng Yifan smiled and said: "I don’t want to pursue this matter, but I’ll announce one thing. Starting today, Yazhi will be separated from Manager Zhou and will be fully managed by Zhou Cheng. Everyone needs to cooperate with Zhou Cheng for whatever work needs he may have in the future, this is by the order of the chairman." Everyone suddenly began to talk.
The most surprised was Zhou Lin. She didn't expect her father to give Yazhi Media to Zhou Cheng. Her father must have known of Chenlin’s deeds with Yazhi, and must want to give Zhou Cheng a chance to practice. Her face turned pale, for if this was the case, her father might want to train Zhou Cheng to be his successor.
"President Feng, by Zhou Cheng, do you mean Assistant Zhou?" A high-level executive glanced at Wang Cheng secretly. He was Xie Wenzhi's assistant, so everyone else called him Assistant Zhou.
"Besides Assistant Zhou, does our company have a second person called Zhou Cheng?" Feng Yifan turned to Zhou Lin and said, "Manager Zhou, there is one more thing. You are responsible for the entertainment business, so you especially must cooperate well with Zhou Cheng - which is also a key order of the chairman."
"I see." Zhou Lin had already worn down her teeth. Was this because he was afraid that she would secretly impede Zhou Cheng?
Concluding this topic, everyone made some arrangements for this month's work. The meeting was almost finished.
Wang Cheng followed Feng Yifan and Xie Wenzhi out. Zhou Lin wanted to say something to him, but left disappointedly when she found she had no chance. As soon as she returned to her office, Zhao Chenlin came.
"Mother, you finally finished the meeting. How did it go?"
Zhou Lin threw the information in her hand onto her desk, and sat on the boss chair with her arms folded. Her expression was stern, full of displeasure.
Zhao Chenlin's voice grew much quieter when he saw her. At a glance, he knew she was angry about the meeting. "Mother, did something happen? Why are you so angry? What did Feng Yifan say to make you angry? Do you want me to find someone to help you teach him a lesson?"
Zhou Lin grew even more annoyed when she heard this, "Then we’ll just wait for your grandfather to kick our family of three out of the Zhou family, right? Give a little more thought. Your mother is not joking, your grandpa already gave Yazhi Media to Zhou Cheng, and intends to train Zhou Cheng to be his successor. Your grandfather must have learned of your outside matters, and you won’t have any money to spend in the future. Just wait for the Zhou Group to fall into the hands of Zhou Cheng. Those friends you usually associate with will look down on you and won’t want to deal with you anymore, because you will no longer be qualified.” This was not a threat. Zhou Lin knew that her son was usually lavish and had long been used to having a lot of money; without the backing of the Zhou Group, he was nothing.
"Mother, is what you said true?" Zhao Chenlin was flustered when he heard her words.
"Why should I lie to you?"
Zhao Chenlin pulled his tie and said irritably: "I have tried hard, but I am just not meant to do business. Every time I see a document, I get a headache."
Zhou Lin held his shoulders and said firmly, “No, you must learn. Zhou Cheng only has a high school degree, your starting point is higher than his. Unless you want to lose to Zhou Cheng, who has lived in the countryside since childhood. Your mother now has an idea: starting tomorrow, you will be your mother’s assistant, I’ll teach you. When your father comes back from his business trip, I’ll let him teach you at night.”
"Okay, I will try my best." Now there was no other way except this method. Zhao Chenlin had a sense of crisis. If he didn’t get serious, he might really lose to Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Lin grabbed his hand, "You can't only try your best, you must go all out."
"I know."
Wang Cheng didn’t accompany his grandfather to lunch, instead, he went to the cafeteria with Xie Wenzhi after work. After eating hurriedly, he returned to work under everyone’s surprised gazes. The others had not yet come back, and the seats around him were empty. Wang Cheng had promised to call Chu Yifeng, and he connected after two rings. He seemed to hear a faint noise, as if the call came from a public place, but that sound soon disappeared.
"Have you finished eating?"
Chu Yifeng's voice rang in his ears. Wang Cheng said: "I have eaten, have you just finished eating?"
Chu Yifeng's laughter came over.
Wang Cheng suddenly patted his head, "I forgot that because of the time difference, your time is different from mine."
"It seems that since I am not by your side, your mind has become dull."
"Just as a horse stumbles, people occasionally stumble. I am also a bit busy lately, maybe busier than you. My grandfather moved the responsibility of the entertainment media company from Zhao Chenlin to me. Its reputation is not very good. He also said that I need to bring this company back to life within three months. My aunt and her son now hate me to death, and maybe they will still cause trouble."
"Which entertainment company?"
"Yazhi. The Zhou Group is not very involved in entertainment companies, so currently, there is only this company. However, its reputation is too bad, and it is now going downhill.
"Its word-of-mouth evaluation is really bad. This problem must be solved fundamentally. With the reputation of the Zhou Group, there is no need to worry about resources. If the internal worms are not eliminated, even small stars won’t be willing to sign to the company."
Why did celebrities sign contracts with economic companies? Because they wanted to be famous. However, if they signed to an economic company that wouldn’t give them a chance to become famous, they might as well go to a small company. At least they would still have a chance.
"You are right. I checked a bunch of news about Yazhi on the Internet, it is too bad. Some starlets would rather breach their contract than stay at Yazhi.
"No matter how bad Yazhi is, since it could gain a foothold in the entertainment industry, it means it can still be saved."
"Let’s hope, I can only do my best. By the way, remember last time when I asked you to talk to Old Man Chu and Old Lady Chu about practicing boxing? I can go to the Chu house anytime now, anyway, I’ll just need to go early."
"I forgot to tell you, they went to the countryside for a holiday last Saturday. They won't be back until mid-March." Chu Yifeng stood in a skybridge connecting the two buildings that was transparent on all sides; looking down was a very spectacular feeling. Because it was so empty, when someone came, there would be echoes when they walked - especially a woman wearing high heels. Just after he had finished speaking, a woman passing by him suddenly exclaimed and fell, as if she had stubbed her toe. Chu Yifeng took a couple steps away. The woman's head slammed on the glass, it looked really bad.
Wang Cheng's ear twitched, "I just heard a loud sound, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, a woman fell." Chu Yifeng glanced at the woman, not meaning to help her up.
Wang Cheng understood as soon as he heard him. If they fell so hard that he could hear the sound, how close must the two be? He immediately taught: "Boss Chu, you must remember that you are a person with a family. Not only must you control your lower body, but you must also control your upper body, understand?"
Chu Yifeng smiled, "I can understand the lower body, but what's the matter with the upper body?"
"Your hands will be dirtied. So, when you are not working, try to avoid contact with female acquaintances except for your mother."
"Don't worry, my hands are only for you. I guarantee to make you want to erase those words."
"Take some skin off your face, how can it be thicker than mine."
The woman who hadn't yet gotten up from the ground was already stunned. In the beginning, she was a little embarrassed because of her own intentions, but then she saw the man ignore her presence, flirting with the person on his phone. Wasn’t her boss a cold and self-controlling person? Was the smiling man in front of her really the boss she knew?
Putting away his phone, Chu Yifeng turned to look at the woman on the ground. After hitting the glass with her forehead, a small patch of it was already swollen. Seeing that the boss finally noticed her, the woman had slight expectation in her eyes.
"Resign."
Abandoning this sentence, Chu Yifeng left.
***
Back
The high-level meeting was at 9:30 in the morning. With Wang Cheng’s status as an assistant, he was not eligible to participate, but he was definitely eligible to change his status.
At half past nine, the senior executives entered the meeting room one after another. The last meeting was nearly one-fifth short of executives. This time, it was refilled. Besides the transfers from other branches, most were holding a high-level meeting for the first time, had good performances during work, were well-promoted, and behaved more cautiously.
Wang Cheng followed Xie Wenzhi into the meeting room. The two sat in the first and second positions on the right hand side of President Feng. Opposite him was the secretary who recorded the contents of the meeting.
As soon as he sat down, he felt multiple eyes focus on him. When he looked up, those people instantly looked away. There was only one person who did not hide; that person was Zhou Lin. Zhao Jiansheng was supposed to be sitting next to her, but starting today, he was on a business trip, and would not be back for three days.
Wang Cheng glanced at her and then plainly withdrew his gaze.
This meeting was the monthly summary of the past month, and the work schedule for the coming month.
In his first time attending this kind of high-level meeting, Wang Cheng saw some high-level executives become red-faced because of President Feng, but not able to refute him. Even Zhou Lin could not escape. The business she was responsible for seemed to be the most money-hungry industry, but she couldn’t change her prodigal son.
Zhou Lin was different from other senior executives. Because of her Zhou surname, she always had a sense of superiority in her heart. When President Feng accused her of work problems, she retorted with a few words. Her attitude was as if she didn’t feel that she had made a mistake in her decision. The atmosphere was a bit depressing and people were afraid to speak.
Feng Yifan squeezed the pen in his hand and said lightly: "I remember that, shown in the information, the person in charge was Zhao Chenlin, right? Since Manager Zhou had given him the responsibility of the company, then his fault is your responsibility."
Zhou Lin's face sank. Strictly, she was still in charge of Yazhi, but because Zhao Chenlin was her son, and the Zhou Group belonged to their Zhou family, it was normal for her to give Yazhi Media to her son to manage. However, when something went wrong, the responsibility would be hers. If this were before yesterday, she would really have to suffer this loss.
"President Feng shouldn't forget: Yazhi is no longer my responsibility." Zhou Lin looked at Feng Yifan with a bit of contempt in her eyes.
Feng Yifan smiled and said: "I don’t want to pursue this matter, but I’ll announce one thing. Starting today, Yazhi will be separated from Manager Zhou and will be fully managed by Zhou Cheng. Everyone needs to cooperate with Zhou Cheng for whatever work needs he may have in the future, this is by the order of the chairman." Everyone suddenly began to talk.
The most surprised was Zhou Lin. She didn't expect her father to give Yazhi Media to Zhou Cheng. Her father must have known of Chenlin’s deeds with Yazhi, and must want to give Zhou Cheng a chance to practice. Her face turned pale, for if this was the case, her father might want to train Zhou Cheng to be his successor.
"President Feng, by Zhou Cheng, do you mean Assistant Zhou?" A high-level executive glanced at Wang Cheng secretly. He was Xie Wenzhi's assistant, so everyone else called him Assistant Zhou.
"Besides Assistant Zhou, does our company have a second person called Zhou Cheng?" Feng Yifan turned to Zhou Lin and said, "Manager Zhou, there is one more thing. You are responsible for the entertainment business, so you especially must cooperate well with Zhou Cheng - which is also a key order of the chairman."
"I see." Zhou Lin had already worn down her teeth. Was this because he was afraid that she would secretly impede Zhou Cheng?
Concluding this topic, everyone made some arrangements for this month's work. The meeting was almost finished.
Wang Cheng followed Feng Yifan and Xie Wenzhi out. Zhou Lin wanted to say something to him, but left disappointedly when she found she had no chance. As soon as she returned to her office, Zhao Chenlin came.
"Mother, you finally finished the meeting. How did it go?"
Zhou Lin threw the information in her hand onto her desk, and sat on the boss chair with her arms folded. Her expression was stern, full of displeasure.
Zhao Chenlin's voice grew much quieter when he saw her. At a glance, he knew she was angry about the meeting. "Mother, did something happen? Why are you so angry? What did Feng Yifan say to make you angry? Do you want me to find someone to help you teach him a lesson?"
Zhou Lin grew even more annoyed when she heard this, "Then we’ll just wait for your grandfather to kick our family of three out of the Zhou family, right? Give a little more thought. Your mother is not joking, your grandpa already gave Yazhi Media to Zhou Cheng, and intends to train Zhou Cheng to be his successor. Your grandfather must have learned of your outside matters, and you won’t have any money to spend in the future. Just wait for the Zhou Group to fall into the hands of Zhou Cheng. Those friends you usually associate with will look down on you and won’t want to deal with you anymore, because you will no longer be qualified.” This was not a threat. Zhou Lin knew that her son was usually lavish and had long been used to having a lot of money; without the backing of the Zhou Group, he was nothing.
"Mother, is what you said true?" Zhao Chenlin was flustered when he heard her words.
"Why should I lie to you?"
Zhao Chenlin pulled his tie and said irritably: "I have tried hard, but I am just not meant to do business. Every time I see a document, I get a headache."
Zhou Lin held his shoulders and said firmly, “No, you must learn. Zhou Cheng only has a high school degree, your starting point is higher than his. Unless you want to lose to Zhou Cheng, who has lived in the countryside since childhood. Your mother now has an idea: starting tomorrow, you will be your mother’s assistant, I’ll teach you. When your father comes back from his business trip, I’ll let him teach you at night.”
"Okay, I will try my best." Now there was no other way except this method. Zhao Chenlin had a sense of crisis. If he didn’t get serious, he might really lose to Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Lin grabbed his hand, "You can't only try your best, you must go all out."
"I know."
Wang Cheng didn’t accompany his grandfather to lunch, instead, he went to the cafeteria with Xie Wenzhi after work. After eating hurriedly, he returned to work under everyone’s surprised gazes. The others had not yet come back, and the seats around him were empty. Wang Cheng had promised to call Chu Yifeng, and he connected after two rings. He seemed to hear a faint noise, as if the call came from a public place, but that sound soon disappeared.
"Have you finished eating?"
Chu Yifeng's voice rang in his ears. Wang Cheng said: "I have eaten, have you just finished eating?"
Chu Yifeng's laughter came over.
Wang Cheng suddenly patted his head, "I forgot that because of the time difference, your time is different from mine."
"It seems that since I am not by your side, your mind has become dull."
"Just as a horse stumbles, people occasionally stumble. I am also a bit busy lately, maybe busier than you. My grandfather moved the responsibility of the entertainment media company from Zhao Chenlin to me. Its reputation is not very good. He also said that I need to bring this company back to life within three months. My aunt and her son now hate me to death, and maybe they will still cause trouble."
"Which entertainment company?"
"Yazhi. The Zhou Group is not very involved in entertainment companies, so currently, there is only this company. However, its reputation is too bad, and it is now going downhill.
"Its word-of-mouth evaluation is really bad. This problem must be solved fundamentally. With the reputation of the Zhou Group, there is no need to worry about resources. If the internal worms are not eliminated, even small stars won’t be willing to sign to the company."
Why did celebrities sign contracts with economic companies? Because they wanted to be famous. However, if they signed to an economic company that wouldn’t give them a chance to become famous, they might as well go to a small company. At least they would still have a chance.
"You are right. I checked a bunch of news about Yazhi on the Internet, it is too bad. Some starlets would rather breach their contract than stay at Yazhi.
"No matter how bad Yazhi is, since it could gain a foothold in the entertainment industry, it means it can still be saved."
"Let’s hope, I can only do my best. By the way, remember last time when I asked you to talk to Old Man Chu and Old Lady Chu about practicing boxing? I can go to the Chu house anytime now, anyway, I’ll just need to go early."
"I forgot to tell you, they went to the countryside for a holiday last Saturday. They won't be back until mid-March." Chu Yifeng stood in a skybridge connecting the two buildings that was transparent on all sides; looking down was a very spectacular feeling. Because it was so empty, when someone came, there would be echoes when they walked - especially a woman wearing high heels. Just after he had finished speaking, a woman passing by him suddenly exclaimed and fell, as if she had stubbed her toe. Chu Yifeng took a couple steps away. The woman's head slammed on the glass, it looked really bad.
Wang Cheng's ear twitched, "I just heard a loud sound, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, a woman fell." Chu Yifeng glanced at the woman, not meaning to help her up.
Wang Cheng understood as soon as he heard him. If they fell so hard that he could hear the sound, how close must the two be? He immediately taught: "Boss Chu, you must remember that you are a person with a family. Not only must you control your lower body, but you must also control your upper body, understand?"
Chu Yifeng smiled, "I can understand the lower body, but what's the matter with the upper body?"
"Your hands will be dirtied. So, when you are not working, try to avoid contact with female acquaintances except for your mother."
"Don't worry, my hands are only for you. I guarantee to make you want to erase those words."
"Take some skin off your face, how can it be thicker than mine."
The woman who hadn't yet gotten up from the ground was already stunned. In the beginning, she was a little embarrassed because of her own intentions, but then she saw the man ignore her presence, flirting with the person on his phone. Wasn’t her boss a cold and self-controlling person? Was the smiling man in front of her really the boss she knew?
Putting away his phone, Chu Yifeng turned to look at the woman on the ground. After hitting the glass with her forehead, a small patch of it was already swollen. Seeing that the boss finally noticed her, the woman had slight expectation in her eyes.
"Resign."
Abandoning this sentence, Chu Yifeng left.
***
Back
