Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Two months ago, it was revealed that the male lead of *Prince Transformation* was involved in a scandal due to his family's ties to human traffickers. As a result, Zhou's Film Company, the production company, suffered a sharp decline in its stock price because of the scandal.

In order to bail out Zhou's Film Company, Zhou Heting directly invested one billion yuan into the company on behalf of the Zhou Family Group. With the additional news of Zhou's Film Company investing a huge amount of money into a *Journey to the West* movie, they not only pushed Zhou's Film Company's stock price to an all-time high but also forced Chu Hengyi into a corner, trapping him as he attempted to short the company.

After the crisis was averted, Zhou Yueze, with the help of Chu Qingyi, flaunted in front of Chu Hengyi. Under the guise of concern for Chu Hengyi's illegal short-selling (selling borrowed shares in hopes of buying them back at a lower price) and his inability to cover his position, Zhou Yueze offered to lend Chu Hengyi shares at 50% of the market price to help him cover his position, preventing him from going to jail for failing to cover. In reality, however, he was mocking Chu Hengyi for being a middle school graduate who couldn't handle stock market manipulation and had been trapped by the market makers.

"A loser will always be a loser. Just because you have the Ye family's surname doesn't make you an elite. You have no idea how powerful the real market makers are!"

"You're too young and cocky. Losing money is a small matter; I'm really worried that you might end up in jail if you can't cover your position. By then, even the Ye family would lose face."

The incident caused quite a stir, and the entire upper class of Xinhai City was watching the joke unfold. Even the Ye family believed that Chu Hengyi had fallen into a trap and was ready to raise funds to buy high-priced stocks to bail him out.

However, no one expected that Chu Hengyi would strike back with such force after two months of biding his time, hitting Zhou Yueze at his most triumphant moment.

It was only at this moment that everyone suddenly realized that Chu Hengyi had deliberately shorted Zhou's Film Company, and the fact that he had been caught by the Zhou family was probably all part of the plan.

By putting himself in the game, Chu Hengyi likely intended to use his own failed stock market manipulation to lull the Zhou family into a false sense of security, making them overconfident and careless before delivering a fatal blow at the critical moment.

While some had considered this possibility, the strategy was incredibly risky. A small misstep would result in a complete loss, and even Chu Hengyi might be ruined.

Who would have thought that Chu Hengyi, who had just graduated from middle school, had not attended university, had no prior experience in stock market manipulation, and might not even know which way the door to the stock exchange opened, could quietly set up such a scheme.

Precise, ruthless, vicious, willing to sacrifice himself, his money, and even his life...

Like a silent and experienced hunter, he patiently dug a trap and then lay on top of it, covered with branches and leaves, using himself as bait, waiting silently for the prey to fall in.

Chu Hengyi was indeed a man driven by madness.

As Zhou's film company flailed and struggled, onlookers couldn't help but imagine a barbarian lurking at the door, ready to strike.

It’s worth noting that this kind of calculated move does resemble Ye Mingzhao's style, but Chu Hengyi's approach was even more ruthless, leaving no room for mercy.

In just a few days, Zhou's film company's stock price plummeted from its peak of 27.6 yuan to below 5 yuan, thanks to a series of scandals: the cancellation of *Prince Transformation*, massive breach-of-contract penalties, multiple artists being caught using drugs, widespread blacklisting, brands terminating endorsement deals, and several ongoing projects being halted.

The entire Zhou's film company was in turmoil, and the planned *Westward Journey* movie was also scrapped due to the director's drug arrest and a broken capital chain. Rumors of Zhou's film company's impending bankruptcy quickly spread throughout the entertainment industry.

With the stock falling so sharply, the ten billion yuan the Zhou family had poured into supporting the company was now wasted.

Chu Hengyi, moving methodically, snapped up enough shares to cover his position when Zhou's film company's stock fell below 3 yuan. He then began shorting Zhou family stocks, further capitalizing on their downfall.

*

At the top-floor conference room of the Zhou family headquarters, the mood was tense. The group's second-largest shareholder turned to Zhou Heting, speaking bluntly, "We've been friends for years, so I'll be straightforward."

"You insisted on investing one billion yuan of the Zhou family's funds to prop up Zhou's film company, despite our concerns at the time."

"Now, with Zhou's film company embroiled in scandal after scandal, and the stock price crashing, that one billion yuan has been completely lost. Who will take responsibility for this loss?"

Before Zhou Heting could respond, Zhou Yueze, sitting beside him, couldn't contain his frustration. "Zhou's film company is a key subsidiary of the Zhou family. Over the years, it has made significant contributions to the group's growth. I believe everyone here understands that. My father was concerned that the attacks on Zhou's film company would damage the group's reputation and business, which is why he took action to support it—"

Another shareholder cut him off, "Is the problem with Zhou's film company just external attacks? Right now, all the trending topics on social media are about your artists being caught using drugs. Many of these artists are brand ambassadors for our subsidiaries. Do you realize how much damage this is causing to the group?"

"I opposed your decision to invest in *Prince Transformation* from the start. If not for that show, Zhou's film company wouldn't be in this mess today."

Zhou Yueze's face turned pale as he gritted his teeth, forced to listen to the shareholders dredging up old grievances.

"I really don’t understand what you were thinking. Knowing that Chu Qingyi is connected to human traffickers, you still promoted him as the male lead? Have you considered how you’ll explain this to the Ye family?"

"If you hadn't forcefully promoted Chu Qingyi, Chu Hengyi wouldn't have taken revenge on Zhou's film company. If Chairman Zhou hadn't doted on you, his son, and spent a billion to stabilize the company, that billion wouldn't have ensnared Chu Hengyi. And if he hadn't been trapped, he likely wouldn't have escalated things so dramatically."

"Now, not only has the share price of Zhou's film company plummeted, but even the Zhou family has been affected. What if the Ye family business attacks the Zhou family at this moment? What will we do?"

Hearing this, Zhou Heting, who had been silent until now, finally spoke: "Now that both Zhou's film company and the Zhou family are under attack from all sides, as the chairman of the group, I do bear an unshirkable responsibility. Everyone, rest assured, as long as I am here, I will protect the interests of everyone—"

Before he could finish, Zhou Heting's assistant hurried into the meeting room and whispered into Zhou Heting's ear. After a brief moment, Zhou Heting's expression clearly changed.

All the shareholders and senior executives looked curiously at Zhou Heting.

Zhou Heting didn't say anything, but gave Zhou Yueze a dark glance.

For some reason, Zhou Yueze felt a sudden pang of unease. He instinctively looked at the chairman's assistant who had rushed into the meeting room.

The chairman's assistant had already walked over to the projector, searching for Weibo on the computer. The hashtag "#Liu Rumei reveals she was forced, Zhou's film company implicated in a sexual coercion scandal#" had topped the trending list.

The moment he saw the trending topic, Zhou Yueze felt like the world had just turned black. A thought popped into his mind—

It's over!

At the same time, Ye Mingzhao, looking at the explosive revelations suddenly appearing on various platforms, smiled faintly and placed a black piece on the board: "Four pieces in a row, I win."

Chu Hengyi, disinterested, tossed away the white piece in his hand: "With your hyperthymesia and math skills, wouldn't you always win no matter what?"

Ye Mingzhao, picking up the pieces, laughed: "If you knew it was a game you were bound to lose, would you still play?"

"That's why, when I play, I always let the certain loser win a few rounds first." Chu Hengyi tossed the white piece into the piece box: "Nobody wants to play with someone who only wins and never loses."

"There's always someone who thinks they'll be the final winner." Ye Mingzhao said with a smile, looking at Chu Hengyi: "Some in chess, some in gambling. The allure of the game is that until the very last moment, who dares to say they'll definitely win?"

"So, do you like gambling, or do you prefer strategy?" Chu Hengyi countered: "Have you ever considered the possibility of losing?"

Ye Mingzhao leaned back slightly, his gaze directly meeting Chu Hengyi's eyes: "There are always those who hope to see me fall. Are you one of them?"

Chu Hengyi stared directly back at Ye Mingzhao.

Ye Mingzhao had a pair of beautifully shaped, almond-like eyes. When he looked at someone, his eyes always carried a hint of watery tenderness, seemingly full of deep affection, but Chu Hengyi knew that the owner of those eyes had not a shred of genuine feeling. All his gentleness and compliance were a facade to lull others into complacency. His extreme malice was carefully wrapped in the sweet coating of kindness, like a hibernating venomous snake. Even if someone warmed it with their own body heat, it would strike the moment it awoke.

He would use the venom he was born with to kill anyone within his line of sight—if he felt threatened.

"We could decide the loser before starting the next game." Although Chu Hengyi had vaguely sensed that Ye Mingzhao had detected his hostility, at this moment, he couldn't quite explain why.

He didn't want to directly confront Ye Mingzhao's question.

Ye Mingzhao's back slowly rested against the sofa—a deliberately relaxed posture meant to convey comfort.

"Actually, before today's trending topic, I did ask Liu Rumei if she wanted to reveal this in a different way. But Liu Rumei was very firm."

Ye Mingzhao slowly spoke, recalling the sparse words from the original story: "Compared to her reputation and stardom, it seemed she cared more about justice."

All Liu Rumei ever wanted was to see justice done. But in her previous life, she had cried out for help in vain, filed complaints with no result, and finally, in the most desperate act, swallowed sleeping pills to declare her anger and innocence to the world.

After her death, her agent, undeterred by the consequences, released the details of Liu Rumei's suicide online. Due to public outrage and solid evidence, the investor who drugged and took nude photos of Liu Rumei was finally brought to justice.

But the darker, more deserving targets—Zhou's film company and the broader Zhou family—remained unscathed. In the end, they even successfully brought down the Ye family, stepping on the corpses of the Ye family members to become the new business titans of Xinhai City.

All this absurdity unfolded simply because they were on the protagonist's side.

"If it were you, what reason would you use to continue working with the Zhou family?"

Chu Hengyi stared intently at Ye Mingzhao for a long moment, then placed a white piece at the center of the board: "If a piece is destined to be a sacrificial piece, I wouldn’t care when or how it falls."

"It only needs to serve its purpose before it’s taken off the board."