Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ye Mingzhao stayed true to his word and went to the company early the next morning to handle the work handover.

Chairman Ye and Elder Brother Ye couldn’t do anything about Ye Mingzhao. Although he appeared gentle and pliable ever since he was young, once he made a decision, not even nine bulls could drag him back.

All Chairman Ye and Elder Brother Ye could do was to help Ye Mingzhao complete the handover of his current projects as smoothly as possible, to avoid disrupting the normal operations of the group. Privately, they told Ye Mingzhao, "When you're ready to come back, the doors of the Ye family business will always be open for you."

In response, Ye Mingzhao simply smiled.

The handover of Ye Mingzhao's work was taken over by three senior secretaries from the secretary department. Due to Ye Mingzhao’s special status and his strong professional capabilities, ever since he joined the group for an internship three years ago, Chairman Ye and Elder Brother Ye had entrusted him with important responsibilities, personally guiding him through various affairs of the group. Therefore, for the past three years, Ye Mingzhao had been in charge of the core parts of the most important projects within the group.

Now that Ye Mingzhao was suddenly resigning to go into acting, the work he was handling had to be distributed among three people.

Each senior secretary was only responsible for a part, and even so, the three secretaries still found it quite challenging. This made them realize how Ye Mingzhao, by himself, had been managing such a large volume of work without any omissions. On the other hand, everyone was also surprised that Ye Mingzhao, who had been doing so well, was suddenly resigning.

Even disregarding Ye Mingzhao’s status as an adopted son of the Ye family, with his solid theoretical knowledge and expertise in operations, such an elite backbone resigning should have prompted the senior management to strongly retain him.

Considering the incidents that had been occurring in the Ye family recently, everyone understood the situation without needing to discuss it openly.

In less than a morning, the news of Ye Mingzhao’s resignation spread rapidly throughout the group.

People who once envied Ye Mingzhao’s good luck now felt sorry for him.

"It just goes to show that no matter how good an adopted child is, they can never compare to a biological one. Ye Assistant has worked here for years, and while he may not have gone above and beyond, he was always diligent. And now he’s resigned out of the blue, for no apparent reason? Everyone knows what’s really going on."

"Ye Assistant was such a nice person! A genius from a young age, highly educated, handsome, and with a great personality. I’ve never seen him lose his temper in all the years we’ve worked together."

"Exactly! And he was responsible. He never pushed responsibilities onto the people below him. Last time, when Old Liu made a careless mistake with the data and submitted it without checking, it was Ye Assistant who caught it during the review and called him in to fix it. Otherwise, it would have been a huge problem."

"And Ye Assistant was especially attentive. At the end of last year, when my father was hospitalized, I was distracted and couldn’t focus on my work. Ye Assistant noticed right away. He not only approved my annual leave in advance but also helped me finish the reports. He did such a great job on the reports that I even received a bonus that month! I wanted to give the bonus to Ye Assistant, but he refused. Instead, he told me to buy some nutritional supplements for my father to help him recover."

"So, Ye Assistant really was a great person. I didn’t expect him to resign from the group. He seemed to really like the Ye family business."

"How much does liking it matter? How much does being a good person matter? How much does being capable matter? In the end, it can’t compare to blood relations!"

"What do you mean by that? Do you think the real young master can replace Ye Assistant’s work?"

"No way? I heard he didn’t continue schooling after junior high. Ye Assistant graduated from the finance department of Xinhai University. If he doesn’t know operations, he can learn."

"True. Besides, he has the Ye family name. The entire Ye family business belongs to their family. As long as Chairman Ye is happy, an assistant is nothing. Even a department manager can be parachuted in. At worst, they’ll put him on a pedestal and make us do all the dirty work!"

When the discussion reached this point, the employees gossiping fell silent and could only look at each other. Many hadn’t even seen the real young master yet and were already feeling resistant.

It wasn’t their fault. Initially, the discussions about the real and fake young masters were just out of curiosity for the drama of wealthy families, like chatting about TV dramas after a meal. Everyone could stand on a moral high ground, judging and commenting without hesitation on Ye Mingzhao’s luck and burden as a foster son of a wealthy family.

But now, with the real young master’s appearance potentially affecting their own interests, they could no longer view the situation as mere bystanders.

However, these thoughts had nothing to do with Ye Mingzhao.

After leaving the Ye family business, Ye Mingzhao dragged his suitcase and hurried to Hengzhou Film and Television City. On the way to the airport, Ye Mingzhao took the script handed to him by his friend Yu Mingze.

"Are you really decided to leave the Ye family business to act?" Yu Mingze, unable to hold back any longer, asked hesitantly.

Without looking up, Ye Mingzhao smiled warmly, as if the conversation was as light as a spring breeze, "Didn’t you invite me to act in your drama? What, do you want to take it back?"

"Of course not!" Yu Mingze stiffened his neck and said loudly, "To be honest, the male lead of my drama was written with you in mind. You’re my muse. If you hadn’t always turned down acting roles, this drama would have started much sooner."

"I just feel that you loved finance so much and were so eager to help your father and elder brother grow the Ye family business. But now you've suddenly resigned and are even leaving the finance industry to become an actor..." Yu Mingze took a deep breath and stared intently into Ye Mingzhao's dark, clear eyes, asking bluntly, "Is it because Ye Mingyi, the third son, can't tolerate you?"

"Why would you think that?" Ye Mingzhao said with a surprised chuckle, casually responding, "It has nothing to do with others. I just suddenly wanted to change the way I live."

"Come on!" Yu Mingze didn't believe him at all. "Not even a child would buy that excuse. If you wanted to act, you would have done it a long time ago. Why, of all times, are you suddenly interested in acting at this critical moment? Isn't it because the third son of the Ye family can't stand you?"

"I'm really puzzled. Why would Ye Mingyi target you? When he was kidnapped by human traffickers, what did that have to do with you? It wasn't you who instructed the traffickers! But now that he's back, he's forcing you out of the Ye family!"

"All these years, we've seen how much effort you've put into mastering finance. You didn't even sleep more than six hours at a stretch during your four years at university. We all believed that you would become the strongest trader in the country! And that you would help Chairman Ye and your elder brother grow the Ye family business! Isn't this the ideal and ambition you've always pursued? So why, just because he's back, do you have to leave the Ye family and even give up the finance industry you love the most?"

"Even if you don't say it, I know that the reason you're leaving the Ye family now is because Ye Mingyi can't tolerate you. You're pretending to be happy about becoming an actor, aren't you worried that staying in finance would cause trouble for the Ye family?" Yu Mingze felt increasingly wronged on Ye Mingzhao's behalf. "You're always thinking about everyone else, but who's looking out for you?"

"That Ye Mingyi is the real son of the Ye family, sure, but you're just adopted! It's not your fault that his fate was bad, so why should he take out all his resentment on you? If he had the guts to confront you directly, I would respect him. But what is this behavior now?"

"What kind of man does he think he is?!"

Ye Mingzhao listened quietly to his friend's complaints and patiently explained, "You all misunderstand Ye Mingyi. He's not targeting me. I just don't want to work in the Ye family business anymore."

Ye Mingzhao spoke sincerely. After learning the original plot, he had indeed decided not to stay with the Ye family. But it wasn't because of Yu Mingze's or his friends' assumption that he was afraid Chu Hengyi would target him or that the Ye family would make things difficult for him. Instead, he wanted to step back to gain more maneuvering space.

He knew that in the original storyline, Chu Hengyi, relying on the knowledge and experience he gained from his past life, achieved many successes after entering the Ye family business. This successfully reversed the prejudices of all the employees, including Chairman Ye, the board of directors, and major shareholders against him. Meanwhile, Ye Mingzhao became the contrast that highlighted Chu Hengyi's success, serving as a stepping stone for him.

Chu Hengyi used the knowledge he gained from Ye Mingzhao in his past life to outmaneuver him in this one, successfully gaining the trust of the Ye family. But behind the scenes, Chu Hengyi kept leaking the Ye family business's trade secrets, causing their competitors to frequently attack the Ye family. He waited for the conflict to play out, reaping the benefits when both sides were weakened.

This was exactly what Ye Mingzhao couldn't tolerate. He saw the Ye family as his strongest support system and considered all the Ye family members his blood relatives. He viewed growing the Ye family business as his lifelong mission and wouldn't allow anyone to destroy his plans, including the so-called 'destined male lead' Chu Hengyi.

So this time, Ye Mingzhao's departure from the Ye family business was ostensibly to avoid confrontation with Chu Hengyi and to spare the Ye family any difficulty. But secretly, he left behind his own informants to closely monitor Chu Hengyi and gather concrete evidence of his betrayal. As for winning people over and sowing discord, those were just side tasks.

He wouldn't badmouth Chu Hengyi, but he wouldn't cover for him, either. Everyone thought that Chu Hengyi harbored deep hostility towards him, and there was nothing Ye Mingzhao could do to change their minds.

Ye Mingzhao blinked, and a deeper smile appeared on his face. His slender fingers tapped the script's cover, and he said with a smile, "Let's not talk about unpleasant things. Let's get serious. I'm actually more interested in the role of the second lead."

"Ah?" Yu Mingze was instantly stunned. "You want to play the villain?"