Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Ye family's adopted son, Ye Mingzhao, had many quirks that others couldn't understand. This was something Chu Hengyi had secretly observed when he was first welcomed into the Ye family.

For example, on nights of blizzard, Ye Mingzhao liked to ice fish on the surface of a frozen lake. He would pitch a tent on the lake, its surface covered in snow, and hang a lantern for fishing, which swayed in the wind.

But he preferred not to stay inside the tent. Instead, he would take his sleeping bag to the ice and lie down.

The bitter wind howled around him, and snow and ice stretched endlessly before his eyes. The dark sky was reflected on the frozen lake, making it impossible to distinguish where the sky ended and the lake began. A single blue sleeping bag lay amidst the snowstorm, soon to be buried under thick snow.

Chu Hengyi once believed Ye Mingzhao genuinely enjoyed these moments because Ye Mingzhao had said that the view from inside the sleeping bag was more open.

He disliked the confined space of the tent and hated the feeling of the tent top just within reach when he raised his hand. It made him feel suffocated.

Years later, Chu Hengyi recalled that scene again and suddenly realized that it wasn’t the small tent that had trapped Ye Mingzhao, but a nightmare from over twenty years ago.

Chu Hengyi had once been extremely puzzled. He couldn’t understand Ye Mingzhao's actions. Why would Ye Mingzhao show concern and care for him while also scheming to undermine and sabotage him, making it impossible for him to stay in the Ye family? After all, he had never considered Ye Mingzhao an enemy, nor did he feel that Ye Mingzhao's presence in the family had encroached on his own position.

—He knew the entire story of how Ye Mingzhao had been adopted by the Ye family and understood the feelings Ye Linyuan and his wife had when they took in Ye Mingzhao.

In the first few years after returning to the Ye family, Chu Hengyi had even considered Ye Mingzhao a confidant to whom he could entrust secrets. He viewed Ye Mingzhao as a brother, sharing all his secrets with him, only to be betrayed by Ye Mingzhao in the end.

Until the very last second of his life, Chu Hengyi never understood why Ye Mingzhao had treated him that way.

But he swore that if there was an afterlife, he would not spare Ye Mingzhao.

He would make this hypocrite pay the price. He would destroy everything Ye Mingzhao cared about. He would make Ye Mingzhao estranged from everyone, left with nothing, just as Ye Mingzhao had once done to him.

And then he was indeed reborn.

"Do you really like blue?"

Seeing the message from Chu Hengyi, Ye Mingzhao fell silent for a moment.

"Hua Rui should have evidence of the Chu family hiding the truth and deliberately mistreating you."

*

The next morning, just after finishing his makeup, Ye Mingzhao arrived at the set and heard Yu Mingze's agitated voice.

"Who did it?"

"Which good Samaritan stayed up all night to graffiti the walls?! This is just causing trouble!"

Ye Mingzhao pushed through the crowded crowd and immediately saw a section of the wall painted sky-blue. In the corner of the wall, there was a resting chair that looked very familiar—

The originally blue-and-white chair had been completely repainted in blue, with large sunflowers blooming from the back of the chair, competing to flourish in a vibrant display. Green leaves and vines stretched toward the armrests and seat.

From afar, it looked as if the golden sunflowers were thriving under the bright blue sky, striving to bloom towards the heavens.

The sunflowers, which should have stolen the show, instead accentuated the background of blue, making it appear even more clear and bright.

From not far away, Yu Mingze's furious voice could be heard: "Get me the surveillance footage. I want to see who did this. The paint isn't even dry yet. Are we shooting today or not?!"

Ye Mingzhao slowly walked towards the wall, then suddenly turned around. In his line of sight was the main villa, standing farther away.

A cold wind blew, and a third-floor bedroom window was wide open. The white gauze curtains fluttered fiercely under the harsh winter wind.

That was the room where Ye Mingzhao had rested the night before.

If he had walked to the window the next morning, he would have seen an even broader view of the graffiti.

"Achoo!"

Dagger looked at the constantly sneezing Chu Hengyi and asked with concern, "Brother Chu, did you catch a cold?"

"I'm fine." Chu Hengyi handed an address to Dagger. "Earlier, I asked you to investigate Hua Rui, right? Continue the investigation and report directly to me."

Dagger took the notepaper and noticed the blue paint on Chu Hengyi's finger, asking curiously, "Brother Chu, where did you get that?"

Chu Hengyi quietly rubbed his finger. "It's nothing."

"Just repaying a favor."

*

"The set is closed to the public during filming, please stop trying to break in..."

"If you continue to obstruct the filming like this, we'll have to call the police..."

"These paparazzi, really are relentless!" During a break in filming, Yu Mingze plopped down next to Ye Mingzhao with his tablet, looking frustrated. "This is the fourth batch of paparazzi we've caught today, right?"

"The internet is also buzzing with related topics. Your birth mother is really something else. In front of reporters, she played the victim, never mentioning why she abandoned you all those years ago. Instead, she complained that the Ye family was preventing you two from reuniting. What’s her real agenda? She even wants to do an interview on television. What’s her endgame?"

Watching coldly, Yu Mingze felt that Ruan Cuimei seemed quite strange. "When she came last night, Jiang Shangyun went out to receive her. I thought she was there to visit Jiang Shangyun on set, but—who knew she'd come in and say she was your mother, asking where you were. You should have seen how chaotic it got. Everyone on set was stunned. When your parents heard the commotion, they came out of the dressing room. The moment she saw them, she dropped to her knees and begged, saying she was wrong back then and hoped the Ye family would return their child to her. I was shocked..."

After realizing what had happened, Yu Mingze immediately went to find Ye Mingzhao. "You have to admit, it's strange! You two have never met, nor have you done a paternity test. How could she be so sure you're her son? What if she's wrong?"

"There's no mistake," Ye Mingzhao said with a smile. "Zhou Yueze may be impulsive, but he wouldn't risk making a mistake with something this important."

Yu Mingze, who had been chattering nonstop, was taken aback. "Ah?"

After a moment, Yu Mingze realized, "Wait, are you saying Zhou Yueze is behind this again?"

"Tell me, what kind of grudge or resentment have you two settled behind my back?"

Yu Mingze was almost at his wits' end: "To actually bring out your own mother, he has really gone too far!"

This was clearly forcing Ye Mingzhao to leave the Ye family! Yu Mingze couldn't understand why Zhou Yueze would do this. Who Ye Mingzhao recognized as her parents had nothing to do with him, a member of the Zhou family.

"Father, don't you think the Zhou family's malice towards Zhaozhao is a bit excessive?"

In the Ye family business, after the group meeting, the father and son were chatting idly in the Chairman Ye's office.

Ye Mingchen also noticed something odd about the Zhou family. He placed the recent investigation materials in front of Chairman Ye: "Previously, Zhou Yueze insisted on making Chu Qingyi the male lead. Uncle Zhou said Zhou Yueze was young and impetuous, captivated by a minor celebrity, which is why he kept targeting Zhaozhao."

"This time it's even worse." On one hand, he was sowing discord between Zhaozhao and Mingyi, and on the other, he went through great lengths to find Zhaozhao's biological parents.

There is no such thing as an impenetrable wall. When Ruan Cuimei suddenly appeared, extensively giving media interviews and planning to appear on TV shows, the various machinations behind the scenes could be traced with just a little digging by the Ye family business.

The first to surface were the media and social platforms closely associated with Zhou's film company. Ye Mingchen was unsure if there was someone else pulling the strings behind Zhou Yueze.

If it was just a conflict between the younger generation, there was no need to go to such extremes.

He just couldn't figure out what benefit this would bring to the Zhou family.

The Ye and Zhou families were old acquaintances; couldn't they just talk things out face-to-face?

They wouldn't possibly think that by bringing Zhaozhao's biological parents to the door, the Ye family would willingly give up a child they had raised for eighteen years, would they?

At this point, Chairman Ye suddenly smiled: "Back then, Huari, to get revenge on the Ye family, hired human traffickers to kidnap your brother. Your mother and I were so distressed over this matter that we had no heart for managing the affairs of the group. At that time, your Uncle Zhou helped us manage everything inside and out, providing a lot of assistance to our family."

Ye Linyuan was grateful for Zhou Heting's efforts and introduced many projects to him. It was from that time that the Zhou family gradually rose to prominence.

Zhou Hetin was a man who knew how to repay kindness. Once he had secured his position, every time he embarked on a major project, he would invite the Ye family business to collaborate.

Over time, the outside world saw the Zhou and Ye families as one entity. The Zhou family gradually developed into a leading giant in Xinhai City, second only to the Ye family business.

Time flies, and before they knew it, twenty years had passed.

Ye Mingchen was taken aback upon hearing this, unable to understand why his father would suddenly bring up something from so long ago.

Chairman Ye slowly said, "The Zhou and Ye families have maintained a good relationship for many years because our interests align. If one day we have differences, it wouldn't be strange for us to part ways."

Chairman Ye paused here, looking at Ye Mingchen with deep meaning. "In this regard, you are not as adaptable as Mingzhao."

Ye Mingchen felt somewhat ashamed. He knew he wasn't as astute or decisive as Zhaozhao.

Chairman Ye smiled slightly. "This is the crux of the matter."

Zhou Hetin had seen this early on. Unfortunately, Zhou Hetin overestimated human nature and underestimated human hearts.

Chairman Ye waved his hand. "These surface-level skirmishes aren't worth paying too much attention to. Since Ms. Ruan Cuimei wants to claim kinship, arrange for her to go to the hospital for a paternity test. If it confirms her mother-son relationship with Mingzhao, send a lawyer to file a lawsuit directly."

Ye Mingchen was startled. "Isn't that a bit too..."

Ye Mingchen didn't finish his sentence. Chairman Ye sneered, "If we don't act decisively, how can we keep those scoundrels in line?"

All of Zhou Hetin's actions were merely an attempt to sow discord between Ye Mingzhao and the Ye family. Unfortunately, Mingzhao wasn't foolish, and neither were the Ye family members. How could they possibly do something that would please their enemies and pain their loved ones?

Ye Mingchen thought for a moment and then added, "There's also the matter of Mingyi shorting Zhou's film company. Because the Zhou family stepped in to support the stock, Zhou's film company's share price soared. I'm worried about Mingyi, so I asked if he needed help, but he told me not to worry about him."

Thinking of the youngest son who had just returned home, Chairman Ye felt a headache coming on.

After a long silence, Chairman Ye slowly said, "Since he doesn't want you to get involved, just observe for now."

Chairman Ye thought of Ye Mingyi's various stock market operations. "Given his skills, I think he has a plan."

*

"What’s going through that third son’s head?" Yu Mingze thought about the footage he reviewed that morning and felt a sense of oddness. "He was up late at night, not sleeping, but instead doing graffiti on the walls. He even drew all over your recliner. Does he think this will delay our production?"

Director Li Zhengzheng, sitting nearby, hesitated to speak up, glancing at Yu Mingze a few times.

Ye Mingzhao subtly shifted the conversation. "What about Jiang Shangyun? Why haven't I seen him?"

"Oh, him? He—" Yu Mingze instantly forgot what he was about to ask due to the interruption. His eyes drifted, and he disdainfully curled his lip. "He went out last night and didn't come back all night. Probably too embarrassed to show his face!"

Yu Mingze wasn't interested in Jiang Shangyun's affairs. "If Ruan Cuimei is really your mom, what are you going to do? Are you going to recognize her as your mom?"

Ye Mingzhao smiled at Yu Mingze.

Yu Mingze inexplicably felt a chill down his spine and leaned closer to Ye Mingzhao, asking mysteriously, "By the way, with all this chaos, why hasn’t the Ye family business done any damage control?"

Just letting her cause a scene in front of the press?

Ye Mingzhao smiled slightly. "If we don’t let her stir things up, how will we know what she and her backers are after?"

Yu Mingze was stunned upon hearing this.

The tablet "dinged," and an entertainment news notification popped up on the screen—

Yu Mingze casually glanced at it and his expression suddenly changed. "*Prince Transformation* has wrapped!"

Yu Mingze clicked on it and seeing the dozens of new topics that had suddenly appeared, almost lost his temper. "They’re already dominating thirty trending topics right after wrapping! Zhou Yueze must have spent a fortune!"

Ye Mingzhao also took a look out of curiosity and thought of the move Chu Hengyi had set up in the *Prince Transformation* production team. Chuckling softly, he said, "Time to wrap things up!"

He had been worried Chu Hengyi might not be able to keep it going much longer financially.

Just then, Ye Mingzhao's phone buzzed.

Yu Mingze, who had sharp eyes, was sitting close and caught a glimpse of the sender. He blurted out in surprise, "What’s Liu Rumei doing sending you a message?"

"Isn't she playing the lead role in *Prince Transformation*?"