Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Zhou Heting sat alone in his study all night. The next morning, he made a phone call to Chairman Ye.

At that time, Chairman Ye and the two Ye brothers were presiding over the Monday meeting at the company. When the department managers were halfway through their work reports, Chairman Ye's phone rang.

Looking at the caller ID displayed on his phone, Chairman Ye thought for a moment and then paused the meeting to answer the call.

Watching Chairman Ye's back as he walked out while answering the phone, the second brother, Ye Mingxi, had a sudden inspiration. He immediately took out his phone to send a message, tipping off Ye Mingzhao.

"Is Zhou Heting, that sly old fox, planning to make peace with our Ye family?" Ye Mingxi asked curiously.

Ye Mingzhao, who was in the middle of touching up his makeup on set, looked at the message from his second brother and remained silent.

Chu Hengyi slightly tilted his head, catching a glimpse of the message on Ye Mingzhao's phone, and sneered, "That old fox is indeed flexible and adaptable." Knowing he couldn't win, he immediately decided to surrender without a moment's hesitation.

But the more Zhou Heting acted like a hero cutting off his own arm to save the body, the more uneasy Ye Mingzhao felt.

Zhou Heting was well aware of this. So, in the phone call, he directly stated that he would leave Xinhai with his wife and settle abroad. He only hoped that the Ye family would spare him for the sake of their past twenty years of friendship.

Perhaps Zhou Heting sounded too pitiful on the phone, even the usually deep and calculating Chairman Ye couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Unfortunately, more than twenty years ago, Chairman Ye had shown a moment of soft-heartedness and let Hua Rui go, only to have his youngest son kidnapped at the age of three, leading to the Ye family being separated for over twenty years, and Chu Hengyi suffering eighteen years of abuse in the Chu family.

The bitter fruit of not killing the snake and instead being harmed by it was something the Ye family had already tasted once. Even if Chairman Ye were to develop dementia, he wouldn't be tripped by the same stone twice.

"Mr. Zhou, you worry too much. We live in a society ruled by law, and whatever we do, we must abide by the law and regulations. So, Mr. Zhou, you need not worry. We, the Ye family, are not some ruthless outlaws. How could we possibly threaten the safety of you and your wife?" Chairman Ye's words were laced with barbs, leaving Zhou Heting neither here nor there and left speechless. "If Mr. Zhou truly believes that the moon is rounder abroad and wishes to settle there, that is a matter for you and your wife. There's no need to discuss it with me."

"I am a law-abiding businessman," Chairman Ye declared righteously. He had never used any means outside the rules to deal with Zhou Heting.

On the contrary, Zhou Heting had used many underhanded methods over the years to eliminate his rivals. If it weren't for his shady tactics being exposed, he wouldn't have come to this point.

Now, it wasn't just the Ye family who wanted to see Zhou Heting fall. The Ye family, of course, would also take the opportunity to beat the drowning dog, and they certainly wouldn't give Zhou Heting, this old venomous snake, a chance to catch his breath and bite again.

Zhou Heting probably guessed the Ye family's thoughts, but he had no choice but to make this call. Besides showing weakness to the enemy and trying to numb the Ye family, Zhou Heting's main goal with this call was to garner sympathy.

The online public opinion had been preempted by Ye Mingzhao. Although Zhou Heting had also hired a PR company to whitewash his image, the results were minimal. His previous actions of silencing, banning accounts, and suing netizens had only provoked more backlash.

Zhou Heting, being older, wasn't quite adapting to the younger generation's methods of public opinion manipulation and had inadvertently suffered a hidden loss. However, having interacted with the Ye family for many years, the connections he had established were mostly within the same social circle.

As the saying goes, "Even if you don't respect the monk, respect the Buddha." Zhou Heting now wanted to adopt a posture of sorrow to win the sympathy of others.

Sure enough, many people who saw Zhou Heting's downfall quietly felt a sense of shared sorrow in their hearts.

These people subsequently received calls from Zhou Heting and reluctantly accepted the benefits he offered them, with the condition that they would call Chairman Ye in their own names to mediate between the Zhou and Ye families.

Even many of the Ye family's elders came forward to plead for Zhou Heting. These people, relying on their status as relatives of the Ye family, believed they could have a say in front of Chairman Ye and his wife. They accepted Zhou Heting's benefits while presuming on their seniority, scolding the Ye family for pushing old friendships to the brink for the sake of interests.

"As the saying goes, 'When you can spare someone, spare them.' You've already acquired the Zhou family business, and you haven't spared the other listed companies Zhou Heting invested in. Now he's almost sixty years old. How many sixty-year lifespans does one have? Even if he still has ambitions, he doesn't have the time. Just consider it a good deed daily to let him live out his twilight years in peace."

"One shouldn't be too ruthless in business. We businessmen should still seek harmony to prosper. Now that Mingyi has returned, your family is reunited. Let the past grievances be bygones."

Some even heard rumors about Chu Hengyi and Ye Mingzhao and, in front of Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye, sternly scolded the two children: "...They say where there's smoke, there's fire. As parents, you should discipline your children properly. Our Ye family cannot afford such scandals."

Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye listened quietly to the nagging of their various uncles and elders, initially not planning to argue with these confused elders who presumed on their seniority. But when these people pushed further and dared to point fingers at Ye Mingzhao and Chu Hengyi—

"The Ye family business has been thriving these past two years. You've been enjoying your dividends quite comfortably, haven't you?" Mrs. Ye said with a smile. "Has the money made you forget your place?"

These words were too harsh, and the faces of the uncles and elders immediately changed.

"What do you mean by that—"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Mrs. Ye didn't even wait for them to finish, smiling as she spoke up. "I know you've taken benefits from Zhou Heting, which is why you're speaking up for him. After all, we're all part of the Ye family, and blood runs thicker than water. I wasn't planning to hold it against you for siding with outsiders, you know, knowing full well what that old scoundrel Zhou Heting has done, yet pretending not to know and shamelessly asking us to show mercy."

"You—"

"I won't bother with these messy accounts. After all, it's pointless to argue with you money-hungry fools. But even if we don't make a fuss, you should still have some sense in your hearts, shouldn't you?"

Mrs. Ye's expression darkened as she sneered at the group. "You can bully us old folks all you want, but my sons are off-limits, got it?"

Mrs. Ye scoffed, utterly dismissive. "Even if those two kids just have eyes for each other and want to start dating, or if they decide to get married today, as their parents, we would only support them."

"What do you mean by 'scandal'? Huh? Back when you couldn't even feed yourselves or take care of your own children, dragging your families to us, crying and begging for help to support your old and young, weren't you ashamed then?"

"All these years, clinging to us, demanding dividends and stock options, asking us to arrange jobs for your children, and even encouraging them to exploit their positions for side income—weren't you ashamed then?"

"Taking money from our enemies and then coming to us to act all high and mighty—weren't you ashamed then?"

"I don't think you even know what the word 'shame' means!"

Mrs. Ye's scathing tirade left the old fools fuming, and one even had a heart attack on the spot and was rushed to the hospital.

When the families got the news, they stormed into the hospital, pointing fingers at Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye, hurling insults left and right.

But this time, Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye were no longer willing to put up with their nonsense. Mrs. Ye personally decided to hand over all the evidence of their relatives embezzling company funds during their tenure to the relevant authorities. She also instructed the Ye family business's legal team to get ready for lawsuits.

Seeing that Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye were no longer held back by familial ties and were even planning to sue them, these people finally realized they were in trouble. One by one, they came crawling to Chairman Ye and Mrs. Ye, begging for forgiveness and hoping they would let them off the hook.

But this time, Mrs. Ye was dead set on teaching them a lesson and seizing the opportunity to rid the company of these parasites once and for all—she had long been fed up with these relatives using their family ties to undermine her and her husband within the company, you know?

Every time the Ye family business made a big decision, these people would jump up to fight it, yet when the company profited from those decisions, they were the first to cash in.

Mrs. Ye didn't mind her relatives sharing in the profits, but she was utterly sick of them using the family name while stabbing her and her husband in the back, constantly opposing them.

"You all sympathize with Zhou Heting and want to stand by his side? Then let's see if Zhou Heting can help you."

What Mrs. Ye couldn't stand the most was these people shamelessly enjoying the dividends and benefits provided by the Ye family while trying to trample on them and suck them dry. Now they even dared to point fingers at her sons, and the fiercely protective Mrs. Ye exploded!

On top of that, Mrs. Ye was tired of every time the Ye family retaliated against Zhou Heting, there would always be people jumping out to defend him.

This time, by making an example of them, Mrs. Ye wanted to make it clear to everyone where the Ye family stood.

The Ye family would never tolerate wrongdoing or let Zhou Heting off the hook.

Anyone who dared to side with Zhou Heting would be going against the Ye family.