“Should we still release the video?”
Dai Chenglan asked Zhao Dong.
Before Zhao Dong could respond, Zhuo Chen’s attitude was exceptionally firm. “Of course we must release it. Without controversy, public opinion will swing entirely one way, which goes against our original intent!”
Dai Chenglan was not opposed to releasing the video.
She was simply thinking that Wen Ying had already posted on Weibo to seize the narrative first. If they now released the edited video, Wen Ying’s readers would tear Zhao Qian to shreds.
Dai Chenglan could not be bothered to feel sorry for the Zhao family’s child, so she only asked Zhao Dong out of politeness. In reality, she neither approved nor disapproved, maintaining a neutral stance.
Zhuo Chen’s firm insistence on releasing the video stemmed from the same reason.
If it were Zhuo Yue in Zhao Qian’s place, Zhuo Chen would never willingly push his own sister out to be abused, but with Zhao Qian… what did that have to do with Zhuo Chen?
Zhao Qian had lived with the Zhuo family for a time, and nothing about her speech or behaviour was endearing.
Back then, on Zhao Dong’s orders, Zhao Qian had forced herself to try cultivating a relationship with Zhuo Chen, yet deep down she felt no attraction to his type. She often compared Zhuo Chen to Xie Qian, thinking she hid her little thoughts well, but she could not even fool Zhuo Yue, let alone Zhuo Chen.
In Zhuo Chen’s eyes, Zhao Qian was nothing but an empty-headed fool!
No feelings had been cultivated, only plenty of disdain.
Neither Dai Chenglan nor Zhuo Chen had any reason to consider Zhao Qian’s feelings. Unexpectedly, Zhao Dong showed not the slightest pity for his own sister.
“Being scolded is a form of growth. I hope Qianqian can gain some sense.”
Even a pig was smarter than his sister. What could Zhao Dong do?
You could slaughter a pig for meat, but you could not slaughter a sister. Having spent so much of the Zhao family’s money on her, she had to do something useful.
The only thing Zhao Qian seemed capable of was taking abuse.
Zhao Dong was remarkably open-minded. He read Wen Ying’s Weibo post word for word, then had someone re-edit the video point by point to match its content.
Once edited, Zhao Dong did not post the video online himself. Instead, he approached Oriental TV!
‘Si Lan’ had advertising dealings with Oriental TV, and over time Zhao Dong had made connections there.
Wen Ying’s recent popularity was considerable, so Zhao Dong wanted his contact to air the video in an entertainment news segment.
“Absolute exclusive.”
It truly was exclusive.
Unfortunately, Zhao Qian was female. If a man had gone to Zhendan to block “Countercurrent Fish”, airing it in entertainment news would have had explosive impact. Without the station saying anything special, viewers would invent all sorts of romantic entanglements themselves!
What a pity!
Zhao Dong was sorely tempted. For a moment he even considered grabbing a new script and blocking Wen Ying himself.
In the end he decided against it.
Wen Ying was, after all, Xie Qian’s girlfriend. Others could have romantic scandals with her, but Zhao Dong could not.
One day after Wen Ying’s Weibo post, Oriental TV broadcast the video of Zhao Qian blocking Wen Ying’s path.
Oriental TV claimed it was a “first-hand scoop” from a source, with no editing or processing by the programme team.
In the video, Zhao Qian appeared pitiful, while Wen Ying came across as overbearing.
Combined with Wen Ying’s previous negative reports, from suing a magazine company early in her career, to suing Blue Whale later, and now betting with Zhao Qian.
A novelist should just quietly create. Why could she never stay still?
Too domineering.
Not a trace of the softness expected in a young woman.
Far too attention-seeking.
Utterly lacking the humility and restraint a writer should have!
Readers found Wen Ying cool, casual viewers thought her somewhat domineering and high-profile, while haters revelled in glee. This was Wen Ying’s true face!
Miss Ran was delighted after watching the news. This was not something Ran Keqing had paid water armies to do. It was purely Wen Ying meddling and deserving what she got.
“She shows no particular talent, but her skill at making enemies everywhere is truly impressive.”
Take advantage of her illness to finish her off!
Ran Keqing did not hesitate. She immediately decided to ride the wave and blacken Wen Ying further, contacting several more media outlets to run some “press releases” about her.
…
Xie Jinghu had also been following the “Si Lan rights protection incident” lately.
On one hand, Xie Jinghu saw this as a perfect opportunity to deal with Zhao Dong. He was waiting for Zhao Dong to fail, then beg for help, at which point Xie Jinghu would deliver the fatal blow.
On the other, he wanted to see how his eldest son Zhuo Chen would react.
Zhao Dong had to be dealt with, no question.
Xie Jinghu had endured this long precisely to leave Zhao Dong with nothing.
As for whether ‘Si Lan’ still needed to exist, that did not depend on how hard Zhao Dong worked, but on Zhuo Chen.
People unleash potential in crises. Xie Jinghu wanted to see just how capable Zhuo Chen really was.
After falling out with Sara Zhuo, Xie Jinghu harboured lingering resentment toward Zhuo Chen. Xie Jinghu did not contact Zhuo Chen, and Zhuo Chen made no effort to reach out either, using silence as his statement. Zhuo Chen stood with his mother Sara Zhuo!
A hypocrite like Xie Jinghu needed others to flatter him. He could ignore Zhuo Chen, but how dare Zhuo Chen ignore him?
Over the years, aside from being unable to let Zhuo Chen officially acknowledge his ancestry, Xie Jinghu felt he had treated Zhuo Chen generously.
Even after breaking with Sara Zhuo and demanding back what he had given her, Xie Jinghu had never considered reclaiming the 20% of ‘Si Lan’ shares in Zhuo Chen’s hands.
Xie Jinghu still acknowledged Zhuo Chen as his son, he simply did not favour him.
Yet the more this was the case, the more Zhuo Chen should have actively sought to please him!
After all, the one who had done wrong was not Xie Jinghu, but Sara Zhuo. By choosing Sara Zhuo’s side, Zhuo Chen had preserved mother-son ties but damaged father-son ties.
This time ‘Si Lan’ faced a crisis that Zhao Dong could not resolve.
Such a ferocious assault was not the work of that young man from the He family.
“It is Xie Qian.”
Xie Jinghu spoke without avoiding Assistant Qi. Assistant Qi did his best to look shocked. “You believe it is Young Master Xie?”
“It is not belief. It definitely is him.”
Xie Jinghu’s expression remained calm, leaving Assistant Qi somewhat dazed.
When Xie Jinghu was not losing his mind, he was still quite sharp, otherwise he could not have built ‘Jinhu Group’ to its current scale.
Some said Xie Jinghu succeeded by living off women, some by relying on the Xie family background, others that he simply got lucky making money.
Undeniably, these factors contributed to his success.
But could relying on his father-in-law get him through one technical crisis, luck help him dodge the 1997 financial crisis, and repeat such feats every time?
Clearly impossible.
Assistant Qi rarely saw President Xie regain his acuity and feared he might do something foolish again, putting him in a difficult position. “If Young Master Xie wants ‘Si Lan’ to collapse, I am afraid only you have the strength to save it. I think that is what Mr Zhao means too. He has called you several times recently…”
Assistant Qi emphasised the words “Mr Zhao” heavily.
Unable to advise Xie Jinghu directly, Assistant Qi hinted obliquely, hoping Xie Jinghu would not forget the shame of being cuckolded!
Xie Jinghu’s face duly darkened.
“That Zhao…”
Assistant Qi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
With such an obvious reminder, President Xie should not do anything foolish again, right?
Assistant Qi could gauge Xie Jinghu’s temper, but he knew little of Zhuo Chen. A few hours after the video of Wen Ying and Zhao Qian’s bet was exposed, Zhuo Chen proactively contacted Xie Jinghu.
“Daddy, I need your help.”
Zhuo Chen had lowered his head.
Assistant Qi inwardly sneered. So soon he comes begging? Was he not so aloof before!
