Chapter 19 Part 1

Shen Yu had anticipated that Shen Corporation would face suppression.

But what was going on now?

Shen Yu sat expressionlessly on the sofa, staring at a pile of documents his assistant had sent over on the computer. His assistant’s report came through the phone: the regulatory department was pulling the company’s accounts and recent transactions. Behind this sudden turn of events lurked one crucial piece of information—

Shen Corporation had been targeted.

Shouldn’t this suppression plot happen in the mid-story, after he withdrew funding from the movie?

If things kept going like this, where would he get the money to invest in films? The character setup arc from earlier simply couldn’t proceed.

【Task: Rescue Protagonist Gong He Qian’s Movie Crisis, Completion: 0%.】

Zhou Jinsheng, fuck you—

Shen Yu immediately unleashed a string of curses.

007 reminded him: 【If the character line gets disrupted, the World Will will detect the intruder faster and carry out expulsion.】

After hanging up the phone, his assistant’s anxious voice cut off. Shen Yu quickened his pace, intending to head straight to the company.

On the way, He Qian called.

“Little Shen CEO, let me tell you something.” He Qian’s voice sounded cheerful.

In stark contrast to He Qian’s good mood, Shen Yu sat in the back seat of the car, his face heavy as he opened his laptop and continued browsing the data his assistant had sent, replying to He Qian, “What’s up?”

At that moment, He Qian had no idea his movie was on the verge of collapse. He was lost in fantasies of the film exploding in popularity and bringing fame and fortune, beaming as he said, “Good news, good news. Yu Qi has taken the script. I think we’ve got a shot.”

Shen Yu’s scrolling finger paused. He asked suspiciously, “That doesn’t make sense. With Yu Qi’s status, why would he wade into this mess? Can you even afford him? Would his agent agree?”

As he spoke, Shen Yu finally pieced together something off. “Wait, no way. You didn’t go straight to Yu Qi behind his agent’s back, did you?”

He Qian chuckled and nodded repeatedly. “I did contact Yu Qi directly, but honestly, at first I thought it was a long shot too. After I sent the script, the man himself didn’t respond at all. I figured, what the hell—dead horse as a live one. Old grudges from our youth? That’s not a grudge. We’re men; we let bygones be bygones. For a successful guy like Yu Qi who wants for nothing, doesn’t he love reminiscing about the old days? Boyhood bonds are the most precious.”

Shen Yu’s heart sank, a bad premonition suddenly gripping him.

“The moment I mentioned President Shen, he replied right away, saying he’d consider it. Heh heh, see? President Shen’s face really carries weight.”

Shen Yu’s fingers froze on the keyboard. He stared at the headache-inducing wall of text on his screen and fell silent. Eighteen different murder methods flashed through his mind in an instant.

No wonder Zhou Corporation had suddenly made its move. He’d returned to the country so low-key it was practically silent. Turns out he had a pig teammate on his side.

Zhou Jinsheng probably wouldn’t have remembered him for a while, but someone mentioned him, and the name sounded familiar. Then it clicked—this wasn’t that idiot from high school who’d gotten close to him and toyed with his innocent teenage heart?

For Zhou Corporation, suppressing Shen Corporation now was like lending a casual hand eight years ago—just a flick of the fingers, no skin off their back.

Thus, Shen Yu’s plan to slowly approach Zhou Jinsheng, gradually clear up the misunderstanding, and bide his time was completely thrown into chaos.

He’d even planned to take the passive route of “panicked by homophobia, ran into Old Master Zhou’s threats, and had no choice but to leave.” But now? He probably had to go throw himself at Zhou Jinsheng.

Throwing himself at the man? That lacked all credibility!

Shen Yu: “…”

“He Qian, go check the news right now. I guarantee you won’t be laughing in a bit.” Shen Yu forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, then hung up without listening to He Qian’s frantic yelling on the other end. He dove back into handling business.

In the first loop, Shen Yu had only a superficial understanding of business and had been forced to wing it, cramming knowledge nonstop just to avoid slipping up.

Before binding the System, Shen Yu had been tormented by poverty, illness, and hunger. Even the Federal University he’d barely gotten into, he’d had to put on hold due to lack of money.

In the end, he hadn’t even gotten to properly experience the world before he was ahead of his peers, lying on the operating table first, facing life’s greatest ordeal—death. So many things and skills were things he’d only started learning after arriving in this world.

To fit the original character’s persona, to get close to Zhou Jinsheng or for whatever other convoluted reasons, Shen Yu had absorbed knowledge like wild grass in the wilderness: finance, etiquette, instruments, horsemanship… These were the sources of his freakishly rapid, borderline insane growth.

Though the first loop had failed, Shen Yu had learned a ton. He’d also deeply felt the evils of capitalists—these rich folks were truly loaded and knew how to play dirty.

With experience from one loop, handling the company’s current crisis was a piece of cake for Shen Yu. Call it turning misfortune into fortune.

With the company facing upheaval, it was leaderless for a time, everyone in a panic.

As soon as Shen Yu arrived, he immediately instructed his executive assistant to call an emergency meeting. Orders and documents flew out one after another, finally steadying the troops and restoring a semblance of the usual order—at least on the surface.

After the meeting, He Qian called again, practically wailing like a banshee. Sobbing, he said the entire crew was at Shen Yu’s command and begged him not to pull funding. That tone, that sincerity—it was like he was ready to beg for forgiveness on his knees.

“I wasn’t planning to pull funding. Keep shooting your movie as planned. Don’t worry about the money.” Shen Yu took a file from his secretary. Hearing He Qian’s ghostly howls, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

His female secretary heard the laugh and subtly glanced up.

That fleeting smile from Little Shen CEO bloomed in her heart like a spring flower in an instant.

Her heart raced. She thought to herself that the company absolutely couldn’t collapse—she couldn’t imagine how dull life would be without the perk of getting paid to ogle a handsome guy.

After getting Shen Yu’s assurance, He Qian obviously froze. He went silent for a long while, then suddenly spoke in an especially solemn, emotional, and sweet tone: “President Shen, I, He Qian, will remember this favor.”

Chicken skin erupted on Shen Yu’s arms. He hung up immediately and rubbed his temples.

At this critical juncture, to outsiders, he seemed utterly righteous. Those who didn’t know better might think he had deep feelings for He Qian, that they had something going on privately.

Fine. The homophobe persona was even harder to maintain now.

Over the next few days, Shen Yu was swamped handling company affairs. Zhou Corporation truly lived up to its dominance. Though Shen Family wasn’t massive, it had some foundation, with many funding chains from overseas. Yet in just a few short days, they were backed into a corner.

No one else knew what Shen Yu had done to piss off Zhou Jinsheng, so no one dared help. Shen Corporation’s doors were deserted, utterly ignored.

Still, there was a slight turnaround. Midway, Shen Yu had reached out to Chen Miaomiao. She agreed to his invitation, and they set a time to meet at a coffee shop on the street corner.

That day, at the appointed time, the clock on the wall ticked another full circle. Shen Yu sat by the window.

Outside, the world was raining, a misty haze blurring heaven and earth.

Shen Yu and Chen Miaomiao had agreed to meet at four in the afternoon. He’d arrived half an hour early. Soon after settling into the coffee shop, the city started pouring. Shen Yu checked the time—it had been raining for an hour now.

The aroma of coffee beans mingled with the patter of rain. The shop’s servers clearly noticed this exceptionally handsome customer, sneaking probing glances his way now and then.

At five, Chen Miaomiao called. Her voice was as captivating as ever, laced with just the right touch of apology: “Shen Yu, sorry, but there’s suddenly an emergency meeting at the company. I can’t get away. Let’s reschedule.”

Shen Yu replied understandingly, “No problem. Handle your work. How about tomorrow?”

Chen Miaomiao clearly hesitated. “No time tomorrow either.”

Shen Yu laughed. “Then the day after?”

Silence stretched on the line. Shen Yu persisted shamelessly: “If not the day after, then the one after that works too. You know me—I’m a total idler right now, free anytime.”

Shen Yu heard a very faint sigh.

It was like dew that had teetered on a petal for ages finally dripping off, carrying a hint of helpless amusement. Chen Miaomiao stepped away from the crowd in her slender high heels, her feet on a pebble path. Each step sent pain from her soles straight to her heart.

Rain fell outside the verdant corridor, flowers and grasses drooping. Clearly not at the company, Chen Miaomiao held the phone in one hand. A red dress clung to her graceful figure like a crimson rose amid green foliage. She lowered her thick, curled lashes, staring at her toes as memories crashed over her like waves.

Fear clung to her bones. Once thoughts pried open the gates to the past, the children of recollection sprouted limbs and crawled out from every pore.

She had watched with her own eyes as Zhou Mingli was driven to desperation and jumped to his death.

The body hit with a splat. The fountain goddess’s spear pierced soft chest tissue. Blood dripped from the statue’s ankles, turning the entire fountain shimmering silver-red.

Chen Miaomiao parted her scarlet lips, which trembled like a butterfly: “This world isn’t one where I say I’m free and it happens, or say I’m not and it’s true. If I’d known the one suppressing you was Zhou Jinsheng, I never would’ve agreed to meet in the first place. Even with him, I can only tuck my tail and act subservient—not to mention he’s my boss now.”

Chen Miaomiao steadied herself with one hand on her arm, paused, then continued: “Shen Yu, I don’t know what happened back then, but in the end, you left without a word. Back then… Zhou Jinsheng’s critical condition notices came one after another. The entire Shang Capital City nearly flipped. He did it to save you. Now he’s coming after you—you just have to take it for now.”

When she said “critical condition notices,” Chen Miaomiao’s voice actually trembled slightly.

Listening to Chen Miaomiao, Shen Yu sighed: 【Zhou Jinsheng, what grudge, what resentment.】

007 replied: 【Think back—it’s pretty big.】

At the moment of the car crash, heavy steel slammed into his spine, compressing from the lumbar to the thoracic vertebrae. The breastbone shattered into seven pieces. Immense pressure crushed the curved spine downward, vertebrae collapsing and fracturing one by one, inch by inch.

Dark clouds hung like thick fog over the hospital. Top doctors from around the world gathered, proposing scheme after scheme, only for them to be rejected time and again. Any mishap meant death. Red lights flashed repeatedly, consciousness yanked back over and over.

Zhou Jinsheng had never felt death so clearly.

The world’s welcome-back gift was cold steel pins, excruciating pain, and the heavy shadow of potential paralysis looming at any moment.

Though his body had recovered, his mind seemed trapped in inescapable death, leaving him dazed and listless for a time.

Worse still, Shen Yu’s reappearance made Old Master Zhou begin to doubt the wisdom of naming an heir too soon. He finally turned his gaze to other relatives.

Zhou Corporation had roots in Shangjing for a century, rising and falling through generations, all dependent on each leader’s choices. One misstep meant decline from prosperity. Old Master Zhou’s pride wouldn’t allow Zhou Mansion to slide under his watch, much less permit the Zhou heir… to like a man.