Chapter 28

Chapter 28

At eight o'clock on Sunday evening, a recording, with the help of interested parties, quietly climbed to the top of the trending charts on various social media platforms, spreading across the entire internet in a matter of moments.

"…The Ye family already knows about the second uncle's affair. I've called you dozens of times, why didn't you answer..."

The short recording clearly indicated that Chu Qingyi wasn't as innocent as he had claimed in his clarification video. Unless Chu Qingyi could explain why he knew that his "second uncle, who had been out of contact with the Chu family for over twenty years," was the human trafficker who had abducted the youngest son of the Ye family.

Coupled with the fact that the Chu family had raised Chu Hengyi for eighteen years, treated him poorly, forced him to drop out of school after junior high to work and support the family, and the fact that the Chu family knew the true identity of their adopted son but never revealed a word, even when offered a huge reward by the Ye family, the internet sleuths quickly pieced together a lengthy tale of family feuds and revenge spanning tens of thousands of words.

In a hotel room in Hengzhou Film and Television City—

Chu Qingyi's face turned pale as he scrolled through the trending topics, feeling the world spin around him. He never imagined that a slip of the tongue in his panic would lead to such severe consequences.

He had managed to cover it up at the time, so how could this recording have been leaked online?

"How could this happen?" Chu Qingyi pressed his colorless lips into a tight line, regret and frustration written all over his once handsome face. If only he had known, he would never have said that!

The shrill ring of his phone suddenly broke the silence in the room, causing Chu Qingyi to flinch violently. Without thinking, he rejected the call and threw his phone onto the sofa.

The phone paused for a moment before resuming its frantic, ear-piercing vibration.

Chu Qingyi stared at the vibrating phone in horror, clutching his head in his hands. His fingers dug deep into his thick black hair as he sat trembling on the bed.

A few moments later, the hotel door was knocked on heavily. The director from Xiangcheng with a strong accent called out from outside the door, "Open up, kid! Mr. Zhou wants you to return his call!"

*

The day after the recording spread across the internet, the stock market opened.

The stock price of Zhou's film company plummeted to rock bottom.

Sitting at his desk, Zhou Yueze stared at the plummeting K-line graph on his computer screen, biting his back teeth with a stoic expression.

He slowly stood up, removed the Vacheron Constantin from his wrist, walked up to Chu Qingyi, and slapped him across the face. "You idiot!"

The crisp sound of the slap echoed, and half of Chu Qingyi's face swelled instantly.

"How dare you hide such important information from me? Do you have any idea how much damage you've caused to the Zhou family because of your secrecy?" Zhou Yueze grabbed Chu Qingyi's neck, his face turning ashen. "Eighty million! In just one morning, the market value of Zhou's film company lost eighty million. Can you afford this loss?"

Chu Qingyi's small face turned a purplish hue as he gripped Zhou Yueze's wrist with both hands, trying to pry it off. "L-let... cough... go..."

Seeing Chu Qingyi starting to lose consciousness, Zhou Yueze let go and pushed him away. Staggering backward, Chu Qingyi fell onto the expensive carpet, clutching his bruised neck as he retched violently.

Standing over him, Zhou Yueze looked down at the disheveled Chu Qingyi with a sudden laugh. "I really overestimated you."

His gaze, like two sharp blades, fell on Chu Qingyi's face, his usually bright eyes now slightly unfocused, as if he was looking through Chu Qingyi at someone else. "…With a face like this, how can you be so stupid? You're really disappointing!"

Chu Qingyi coughed violently, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

Hearing Zhou Yueze's words, Chu Qingyi's already purplish face flushed an even deeper red. "Mr. Zhou, please don't be angry. I didn't expect them to—"

"Didn't expect?" Zhou Yueze cut him off, his gaze growing increasingly strange. "You knew your words were being recorded, yet you dared to think that the recording wouldn't be used against you?"

"Chu Qingyi, should I call you naive or just plain stupid?"

Chu Qingyi's face turned pale and flushed in turns as he sat miserably on the carpet, unsure of what to do. His posture was clearly one of appealing for mercy, and Zhou Yueze understood it all too well. He let out a meaningless chuckle, his gaze suddenly filled with disgust.

How blind had he been to think Chu Qingyi bore any resemblance to that person?

"Tell me everything you know!" Zhou Yueze's expression turned cold and businesslike, his tone impatient, as if conducting business.

He dialed the internal phone and instructed the PR department to come upstairs immediately.

The situation had already occurred, and regretting his misjudgment wouldn't undo the damage. The priority was to implement crisis PR as soon as possible to prevent Chu Qingyi's actions from affecting Zhou's Film Company's stock price and the normal filming of *Prince Transformation*.

After a short while, employees from Zhou's Film Company's PR department and the behind-the-scenes team of *Prince Transformation* entered the office in succession.

Everyone's gaze subtly shifted to Chu Qingyi, who had straightened up but still appeared lost and uneasy. They then looked at Mr. Zhou, who was seated in the leather executive chair.

The PR manager spoke first, "The priority is to have Mr. Chu Qingyi speak with the third young master of the Ye family—"

The PR manager paused slightly. It was because, for many years in Xinhai's circles, when the third young master of the Ye family was mentioned, it was always about Ye Mingzhao, who had been adopted by the Ye family for eighteen years.

Mr. Zhou's expression flickered, clearly thinking of someone as well. But before he could process his thoughts, the PR manager continued seamlessly, "It would be best for Mr. Chu Qingyi to have a private conversation with Young Master Ye Mingyi and at least obtain his forgiveness."

While this might be a form of self-deception, it would at least give them the moral high ground—after all, if the person involved isn't upset, what can the public do?

Mr. Zhou understood and knew that the PR department's suggestion was the most cost-effective solution. His gaze fell on Chu Qingyi again, "You heard? This is simple enough; I don't need to teach you how to do this, right?"

Chu Qingyi's face was deathly pale, and his expression grew increasingly uneasy.

Seeing this, Mr. Zhou, feeling a bit compassionate, looked at the pitiful Chu Qingyi and advised, "This actually isn't that difficult. The Chu family did raise Ye Mingyi for eighteen years. Let's not dwell on what happened years ago; this eighteen years of nurturing can't be fake."

Even if you raised a dog for eighteen years, you'd develop some bond: "You've been brothers for so long; there must be some affection between you, right?"

Chu Qingyi took a deep breath to steady his mind. Looking at Mr. Zhou, whose attitude had noticeably softened, he replied softly, "Don't worry, Mr. Zhou. I'll do my best to get Brother Hengyi to forgive me."

When Chu Qingyi called the real Ye Mingyi 'Brother Hengyi,' Mr. Zhou's tone softened further.

In fact, the reason he had befriended Chu Qingyi in the first place was not only because he saw a resemblance to someone else in Chu Qingyi but also because his father had instructed him to befriend Chu Hengyi, the true third young master of the Ye family.

However, things had escalated too suddenly. Just as they began their plan, Ye Mingzhao discovered that the Chu family was related to the human traffickers who had kidnapped Ye Mingyi. This move, cutting off their supply lines, caught the Zhou family completely off guard, leading to a series of missteps that brought them to this current impasse.

His father was right. No matter how gentle and harmless Ye Mingzhao appeared in front of the Ye family, he was inherently a bloodthirsty shark. Once he smelled blood, he would never let go of his prey.

With such a malicious person, one either had to befriend him or not provoke his desire to compete. Once entangled with Ye Mingzhao, given his tenacity and ruthlessness, even if you didn't die, you'd lose half your life.

Mr. Zhou took a deep breath, regretting his carelessness that allowed Ye Mingzhao to catch him off guard. He needed to find Ye Mingzhao's biological parents as soon as possible to divert his attention.

With that thought in mind, Mr. Zhou picked up his phone and dialed Ye Mingzhao's number, "...You're indeed the youngest and most promising trader of the Ye family business. You deliberately chose to expose Chu Qingyi's recording last night to take advantage of the negative news, aiming to shake shareholders' confidence in Zhou's Film Company. Then, this morning, you shorted our stock to profit greatly from the plunge, right?"

A faint sneer echoed through the phone, followed by Ye Mingzhao's clear and gentle voice, "Mr. Zhou, please think carefully before speaking. If you want to accuse me of manipulating the stock market or illegal short selling, you need evidence. We may be on good terms, but I can still sue you for defamation."

Hearing Ye Mingzhao deliberately use Cantonese for the last sentence, Mr. Zhou was furious, his face turning green.

Just as he was about to hang up, Ye Mingzhao's voice floated lightly over the line, "Do you want to know who is shorting Zhou's Film Company? It's Chu Hengyi."

"You were still dealing with the family of the human traffickers who kidnapped Chu Hengyi, and yet you dared to ally with him? Are you naive or just foolish?"

"Allies are made to be betrayed. You should have been prepared for this when you formed the alliance. I'm just curious how you'll deal with Chu Hengyi, who betrayed you."

Ye Mingzhao paused slightly, his voice tinged with amused sarcasm, "Shouldn't you act more maturely? Don't make me lose respect for you."

Hearing this, Mr. Zhou's face turned completely dark.