Chapter 39

Chapter 39 (First Update)

"This 'again' in your sentence is unfounded." Fu Yunzhuang brushed away Yu He's hand. The circle of red marks in the palm of Yu He's hand was particularly striking. Fu Yunzhuang did not ask how it happened, but simply took out an iodophor ball and said to Yu He, "Give me your hand."

Yu He looked at the red circle in his palm, took the tweezers from Fu Yunzhuang's hand, and said, "I'll do it myself."

Fu Yunzhen placed the medicine box on the sofa, picked up the book, and continued reading from where he had left off.

As he packed up the medicine box, Yu He faintly felt that something was amiss. In the moment he turned around, realization dawned upon him. He asked Fu Yunzhen, "How did you know I hurt my hand? Were you watching my livestream?"

Fu Yunzhen looked up, calmly meeting Yu He's gaze, and confidently denied, "If you want me to watch, I can do it next time. Which platform is it?"

Yu He furrowed his brows, scrutinizing Fu Yunzhen's expression closely.

If Fu Yunzhen had any flaws that Yu He could detect, he wouldn't be the President of Fu's Group.

Fu Yunzhen was as calm as ever, identical to the expression he had thirty minutes ago when he asked Pan Anni to send gifts during the livestream. Pan Anni, thinking his account had been hacked, had called him to confirm via video.

"I met a big sister with twenty million followers in the livestream today. Her fans are really generous with gifts," Yu He diverted his gaze and lay back on the sofa. "At first, we were losing, but then a wealthy viewer gave me over two million in gifts. I thought it was you at first, but when I checked the profile, it was a young lady."

"There are quite a lot of wealthy people these days," Fu Yunzhen commented nonchalantly, flipping a page of his book and casually asking, "Is a two million gift considered a lot?"

Yu He looked up and said, "Of course it's a lot. My room admin, Qi Ge, said this might be the first time the Douya platform has seen a single round PK break a million. They even want to apply for a spot on the 'Top Patron's Support' list for me."

"That much?" Fu Yunzhen muttered, "I'm not quite clear on this; I've never sent gifts."

Yu He closed his eyes, feeling a bit sleepy, "It’s just as well you've never sent gifts. Two million for a single round, and the platform takes half. It would be better if you just gave the money directly to me, cutting out the middleman."

"Makes sense," Fu Yunzhen agreed, "How much longer do you plan on streaming?"

"Hmm..." Yu He pondered for a moment, answering just before he fell asleep, "I actually quite enjoy streaming; I might keep doing it."

When Yu He’s breathing finally deepened, indicating he had fallen asleep, Fu Yunzhen gently put down his book and opened his laptop.

He sent a message to his executive assistant via DingTalk.

[Fu Yunzhen: Get in touch with Jing City’s Micro Leap Technology Co., Ltd. I want to acquire their Douya Live Streaming.]

Upon receiving this message, the executive assistant was puzzled. He opened the newly downloaded Douya Live Streaming app, unsure what was so special about this new platform that it had captured the president’s attention.

So, Fu Yunzhen's earlier request for Fu's Group employees to download Douya Live Streaming… Was it an early market due diligence and a collection of user experience?

As expected of President Fu, always thinking ahead.

If the executive assistant knew that Fu Yunzhen just didn't want the cut taken from Yu He's earnings to end up in another company's account, he might be very disappointed.

Fu Yunzheng lifted his gaze to look at Yu He, who had fallen asleep.

His little crane, Yu He, really didn’t have it easy making money.

Fu Yunzheng's eyes were indulgent and gentle, but they turned sharp and cold when they swept over the red marks on Yu He's palm.

Fu Yunzheng typed another line on the computer.

[Fu Yunzheng: Register a company under Yu He's name, layer it a couple of times, and use his company for the acquisition. Make sure it doesn’t attract attention.]

In this way, the money that Yu He worked hard to earn wouldn’t be taken away by the unscrupulous platform.

*

The last time Yu He and An Tong had a PK battle, Yu He came out victorious. Logically, this should have helped increase Yu He's popularity. However, An Tong's live-streaming company had a framework agreement with Douya Live, and since An Tong was the top streamer in the fitness section, Douya Live deliberately suppressed the popularity of Yu He's victory.

In the end, the matter was left unresolved, and even the recommendation slot for top spenders that should have belonged to Yu He was lost due to the platform's restructuring.

Yu He didn’t care much about it, but his channel moderator, Qi Ge, was furious.

[Qi Ge: I checked, and it seems like An Tong is the mistress of some manager in our company. Damn it, she's the one being kept, and yet she’s spreading rumors in her live-stream about you being maintained by a rich woman!]

[Yu He: Uh... let her say whatever she wants.]

Although An Tong was making baseless accusations, quite a number of people believed her. Yu He didn’t bother to explain; after all, An Tong was half right.

Yu He didn’t care about others’ opinions. Since he was using his real identity online, he wouldn’t have minded admitting he was being kept if it weren't for the fear of dragging Fu Yunzheng into the public eye.

[Qi Ge: She won’t be able to act so arrogant for long. The restructuring isn’t targeted at you; it’s because our company is getting a new boss.]

[Yu He: It doesn’t matter. Changes at the top don’t affect us small fries. I'm just a small streamer in a less popular category; it has nothing to do with me. The restructuring won’t reach me.]

Yu He wasn’t a professional fitness blogger, and his followers didn’t come for the fitness content. They were there to see his handsome face and abs. Qi Ge suggested that Yu He make more good-looking short videos, like cosplaying game characters.

[Qi Ge: More than 80% of the platform’s users are into esports. Look at the streamers in other channels, all of them are riding on the popularity of games. There’s a female streamer in the beauty section. She wasn’t popular at all and her channel got banned several times. But after she started cosplaying Daji and Diaochan, she gained hundreds of thousands of followers just like that. That’s so much traffic, and traffic means money!]

Yu He played online games himself, but he hadn’t thought about cosplaying game characters before. He didn’t reject Qi Ge’s suggestion and said he would give it a try.

Qi Ge was extremely enthusiastic. He worked at the live-streaming company and asked Yu He for his address, saying he would mail over clothes and props from big internet celebrities that were not needed after their shoots.

After sending his address to Qi Ge, Yu He didn’t receive a reply for a long time.

When Yu He checked his phone again, he noticed a string of ellipses at the top of the message box, followed by a sentence:

[Qi Ge: Do you live inside a scenic area?]

Yu He glanced at the Guan Yun Mountain outside the window and then at Fu Yunzheng, who was in a video conference. Feeling a bit guilty, he replied:

[Yu He: I'm working here.]

Qi Ge quickly replied with a string of laughter and said he was scared to death, thinking that Yu He was some rich second generation out for fun.

[Qi Ge: What kind of work are you doing in the scenic area?]

[Yu He: I'm doing some manual labor.]

[Qi Ge: Wow! No wonder you have such a great body. Labor is the most glorious! You don't know, but previously a rich second generation broke our platform's super admin’s heart.]

Filled with righteous indignation, Qi Ge actually sent a 40-second voice message: "He is a big shot in women’s clothing, calling for gifts in the live stream every day. The super admin thought he was from a poor family and wrote a two-thousand-word report to the company, arguing for his potential and requesting special training for him. The company spent a lot of money, and the super admin even sent him clothes and skincare products, giving him the best recommendation spots. Later, at the Web Celebrity Festival, he came in a red Maserati, wearing a diamond watch worth millions on his wrist. The money he made from live streaming wasn’t even enough to buy a single diamond from his watch."

After listening, Yu He took a long time to type out a line of text, not knowing what to say, and could only send a string of laughter.

Qi Ge shared the live stream page of that cross-dressing big shot with Yu He. The streamer’s ID was [Mo Mo, What Shall We Eat Tonight], boasting over thirty million fans.

My goodness, dressing as a woman really does attract fans.

Leaning back slightly, Yu He took a look at his reflection through the glass door of the bookshelf, and after scrutinizing himself, sincerely felt that he probably wouldn’t pass as a woman.

He opened the homepage of [Mo Mo, What Shall We Eat Tonight] and watched the top dancing video ten times, yet still couldn’t tell that this was a man.

Just like a stunning beauty, extremely glamorous.

Lying on the sofa, Yu He scrolled through one video after another, staring hard at the person’s neck trying to find the Adam's apple. Finally, after much effort, he found a cross-dressing video that revealed some clues.

In the video, the beauty was wearing a white bathrobe, sipping from a wine glass. As she tilted her head back, the scene suddenly changed to an ancient beauty drinking wine, and as the camera zoomed in, the protruding Adam's apple on her delicate neck moved up and down. The clear wine from the jade wine jar slid down her lips and neck slowly.

Pure yet seductive.

Yu He was thoroughly shocked, thinking to himself, so it really is a man.

"Damn," he couldn't help but exclaim.

Fu Yunzheng, who was in the middle of a video conference, looked up at Yu He, pressed the mute button on his microphone, and said, not in a blaming tone, but rather stating a fact, "I'm in a meeting, please refrain from using foul language right now."

Yu He immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I was just watching this."

He then showed Fu Yunzheng the screen of his phone.

Coincidentally, the video showing a throat's Adam's apple had just finished playing, and as Yu He turned his phone around, the next video automatically started playing.

It was a historical costume video shot in water. Fu Yunzheng saw on Yu He’s phone screen a slender figure in a plain white Hanfu, with a majestic waterfall in the background.

The beauty in the video had slightly damp hair and clothes, standing in the river with water reaching her waist. As she suddenly turned her head back in rhythm with the music, her indifferent profile appeared stunning yet aloof, resembling an enchanting demoness captivating hearts in the wilderness.

Fu Yunzheng: "......"

Fu Yunzheng looked away, "It’s nice, go ahead and watch."

Yu He, leaning eagerly on the back of the sofa, couldn’t wait to share his thoughts with Fu Yunzheng, "Isn’t it scary?"

Fu Yunzheng: "???"

Fu Yunzheng stayed silent for a moment, then responded truthfully, "It’s pretty good."

Yu He: "???"

What???

He never expected Fu Yunzheng’s first comment to be that it was pretty good!

Could it be that Fu Yunzheng also likes men dressing as women?

Yu He leaned back further and took another careful look at himself through the glass door.

No, no, he definitely wouldn’t look as good in a dress as that guy Mo Mo who was wondering what to have for dinner tonight. Besides, he’s a top; since when do tops wear dresses?

Is this a trend now?

Yu He imagined himself wearing Hanfu, with even bigger robes than Fu Yunzheng, and then… Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, his brain must be malfunctioning; he actually thought it felt pretty cool.

Yu He turned over, bending his legs to hide himself.

Fu Yunzheng caught a glimpse of Yu He suddenly changing his position from the corner of his eye, and thought that Yu He had reacted to the video of the female blogger, his sharp and elegant eyebrows faintly furrowing.

As expected, Yu He seems to prefer girls. If it weren't for him leading Yu He down this unconventional path...

Fu Yunzheng calmed his mind and refocused his attention on the video conference.

As one of the executives droned on and repeated himself, Fu Yunzheng couldn’t help but get distracted, thinking: I need to earn more money. Having wealth is the way to support Yu He, to provide him with a basketball court, and buy him motorcycles.

From a physiological perspective, possessing these luxurious items can also stimulate the secretion of dopamine.

Money, power, social status... these have always been unavoidable bonus points in the pursuit of a mate.

Without money, how could Yu He develop any affection for him?

Due to the misunderstanding caused by the short video, Fu Yunzheng became even less inclined to believe Yu He's declaration of affection.

He attributed Yu He's feelings to material and physical satisfaction, as all signs indicated that Yu He's primary sexual orientation was most likely heterosexual.

Three years, just three years.

After three years, regardless of whether the surgery is successful or not, he can't hold Yu He back any longer.

Fu Yunzheng understood from a young age that life’s journey is long, and for the most part, one has to walk alone. Having a brief time to walk side by side with someone is already not easy to come by.

It’s easy to pick up but hard to put down. Fu Yunzheng knew he couldn’t let go, so he chose not to pick it up.

Yu He couldn’t tell whether the video conference had gone poorly or not, but after the meeting, Fu Yunzheng seemed to be in low spirits. Although his expression wasn’t noticeably different from usual, Yu He still sensed a touch of melancholy.

During lunch, Fu Yunzheng didn’t eat much.

Yu He asked, "Why are you eating so little?"

Fu Yunzheng paused, his hand putting down his chopsticks, and gestured for Zhang Shan to bring over a contract.

The contract was spread out, and a pen was placed in front of Yu He.

Fu Yunzheng said, "Xiao He, sign here."

Zhang Shan pointed to the place for the signature. Yu He, without even looking, signed his name directly. Zhang Shan wasn't surprised.

Fu Yunzheng sighed.

Yu He wiped his hands, asking, "What's the matter?"

Fu Yunzheng looked utterly perplexed, "Xiao He, you didn't even look at what you were signing."

Leaning back in his chair, Yu He took it for granted and responded, "But you asked me to sign it."

This absolute trust set ripples through Fu Yunzheng’s heart, warmth spreading from his chest to his eyes.

"You seemed a bit upset during the meeting this morning," Yu He handed the signed contract to Fu Yunzheng, "Did something happen?"

Fu Yunzheng examined the signature on the Sprout Platform acquisition contract, not wanting to admit it was because of the short video of Yu He watching a beautiful girl on a live stream. Moreover, Yu He was soon to be this beauty’s direct superior, so he made up an excuse on the fly: "A project isn’t going very smoothly."

The Longmen Real Estate Company had originally undertaken the development of plots 051 and 080 on the south side of Fengcheng, which involved contracting for the development zone office building and the construction of a public park covering more than 600 acres across the street.

The project was open for public bidding. After the contractor was selected, the work was divided into several parts and subcontracted to other more specialized construction companies. Longmen Real Estate took on the main construction, the first link in the entire project’s chain. They had already carried out preliminary work including submitting planning design conditions, reviewing design schemes with an expert panel, and commissioning geological surveys. Construction on the site had already begun.

The volume of work on the two plots of land was immense, marking them as key projects in Fengcheng for the next two years. The architectural blueprint design alone took nearly three months to finalize.

Who would have expected that after Longmen Real Estate had built half according to the blueprints, the contractor suddenly demanded a change in the design, arguing that the original design was too luxurious and not conducive to creating an open image for attracting investment to the Fengcheng development zone.

Although Longmen Real Estate was the party B in the contract and all construction was carried out according to the contract, overturning the design would mean redoing most of the preliminary work, including reprocessing various procedures. After several months of unsuccessful negotiations with party A, they filed a lawsuit against the contractor in court, citing serious breach of contract and unilateral changes to the principal contract terms, and demanded termination of the contract and compensation for breach of contract.

Due to the huge subject amount of the case, the lawsuit went from the intermediate court to the high court, from the first trial to the second trial, and the result of the second trial is still pending. However, the construction site can’t be left idle forever. Moreover, the workers' wages have yet to be settled, with the Chinese New Year just around the corner, and more than 300 workers on the construction site are waiting to settle the project funds and return home for the holiday.

"The worker representative said that if the money isn't received within a week, they will go to the capital to find the leaders."

Fu Yunzheng originally just didn’t want Yu He to know that his low spirits were related to that short video. He started talking about the most troublesome problem in the morning video meeting to fob off Yu He. However, as he spoke, he really became a bit irritated by this messy and unclear situation, and subconsciously took out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket on the side of his wheelchair, lighting one up and taking a deep drag.

Fu Yunzheng said, "The result is that the person in charge of Longmen Real Estate said they also want to go to the capital. The final version of the design drawings was confirmed and written into the contract with the contractor, legally binding. The contractor’s failure to communicate properly with their superiors is not something our contracting unit should be responsible for."

Yu He: "..."

He probably could never do business in his lifetime. What kind of situation was this?

Yu He asked, "What does this have to do with Fu’s Corporation?"

Fu Yunzheng answered, "Originally, it had nothing to do with it. But do you know why the design drawings suddenly didn’t meet the requirements?"

Yu He shook his head.

Fu Yunzheng explained, "A new official brings changes. The original leader of the Fengcheng development zone was transferred, and the new leader dislikes extravagance. The first question he asked upon hearing about the construction of the new development zone office building was, ‘Can’t we use the old office building?’ If you were one of his subordinates, how would you answer?"

Yu He: “......”

How could one possibly answer that? The old building hasn't collapsed, so it's obviously still usable. But, of course, you couldn't just say that.

Fu Yunzheng: “We now must find a powerful enterprise to take over.”

This project is quite profitable. If it weren’t for the previous troubles, everyone would want to grab this pie fallen from the sky. However, given the precedent set by Longmen Real Estate, this pie has turned into a hot potato. It looks tempting, but it’s too hot to handle.

For such a massive project, finding a company to take over entirely at short notice is extremely challenging.

Smaller companies don’t have the capacity to take this on, while bigger companies would conduct risk assessments. Holding shareholder meetings time after time also requires time. Moreover, taking on this project basically means making enemies with both the original contractor and Longmen Real Estate immediately.

Thus, some suggested bringing in funds from other enterprises, establishing a new contractor, while still having Longmen Real Estate be responsible for the construction. The financial losses caused by the reconstruction and change of plans would be borne partially by Longmen Real Estate and partially by the new contractor, providing a perfect resolution to the issue.

This is a solution that could be deemed satisfactory for all parties involved. To outsiders, the loss of the new contractor is nothing more than earning a bit less money.

The higher-ups personally reached out to several powerful enterprises, including Fu’s Group.

After hearing all of this, Yu He couldn’t help but frown: “This doesn’t seem to be just about money. If they had properly gone through the bidding process again, it would have been fine. But this kind of substitution feels more like cutting in line, which could harm the business image. Plus, there are flaws in the process. If no one questions it, then it's fine. But if someone with a grudge decides to make a case, they would certainly have grounds to do so.”

Fu Yunzheng glanced at Yu He: “Exactly, that's the issue, which is why it’s so troublesome. Going through the regular process would take too long, just the public notice period is fifteen working days. By the time that’s done, it’ll already be the little New Year.”

Fu’s Group brought this issue to a meeting for discussion. First, because Fu's Group had prior cooperation with Longmen Real Estate, there were some private connections. Second, out of humanitarian considerations, as the workers' wages needed to be settled. Third, both the development zone office building and the People’s Park are landmark buildings. If built beautifully, they would serve as a live advertisement right in the middle of the city.

Yu He raised an eyebrow: “There are pros and cons; it’s indeed a tough choice.”

Fu Yunzheng loved seeing Yu He’s confident and triumphant demeanor: “Young Master Yu seems to have a plan in mind; do you have any good suggestions?”

Encouraged by Fu Yunzheng’s words, Yu He was inspired and leaned forward to strategize: “What about directly negotiating with the original contractor? Take over the project from them. That way, we wouldn’t need to go through the bidding process, we wouldn’t offend the contractor, and the workers’ wages could be settled in time.”

A trace of an almost imperceptible smile flashed in Fu Yunzheng’s eyes, as he praised: “Little Crane, you’re indeed very suitable for business.”

“Since there is a solution, why the frustration?” Yu He propped his head, pondering for a moment: “Hmm, who is the original contractor?”

Fu Yunzheng answered: “Jingchuan Construction Group.”

Hearing that it was Jingchuan Group, Yu He immediately understood Fu Yunzheng’s concerns.

The general manager of Jingchuan Group, Chen Sijian, is a notorious ‘shark’ in the business world. His style is utterly ruthless in any collaboration, ensuring he gets a bite of any project that passes through his hands. No wonder everyone is not surprised that Longmen Real Estate suffered such a huge setback under the management of Chen Sijian.

Chen Si Jian comes from a wealthy family, making a fortune in coal mining twenty years ago. Later, he seized the opportunity to venture into real estate, rapidly climbing the ranks and establishing the Jingchuan Construction Group.

He carries a strong air of brashness, displaying a highly subjective demeanor. He is open to discussions with people he takes a liking to, but if he disapproves of someone, he would rather lose out on money than let the other party have it easy.

He is most infamous for insisting on drinking during business negotiations, always using his high alcohol tolerance to get the other party drunk and extract information.

It’s no wonder Fu Yun Zheng feels annoyed about having to do business with Chen Si Jian. It is said that Chen dropped out of school after junior high and started hustling. He particularly dislikes highly educated elites.

Yu He asked, “When are you meeting with Chen Si Jian?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Let me join you,” Yu He said. “I can drink him under the table.”

Fu Yun Zheng chuckled, “He wouldn’t dare to challenge me to a drinking contest.”

Yu He collapsed onto the dining table, “But I want to go.”

Fu Yun Zheng had no choice but to concede, “Alright then.”