After finally figuring out what was going on, Liang Qing was completely stunned.

He blankly put down the WeChat in his hand, not knowing what to do.

He was Xu Feng’s friend and in a similar situation—both had older brothers set to inherit the family business. But unlike Xu Feng, who had already resigned himself to playing music in the entertainment industry, Liang Qing hadn’t given up.

After all, his older brother was not as capable as Xu Yue, Xu Feng’s brother. On the contrary, his brother was quite ordinary and was just barely good enough for the family group, so Liang Qing was even more eager to prove his own worth. That’s why he had his eyes on Shixing Media.

As long as he managed to manipulate the shares into his own hands and proved his capabilities, the family group would surely consider him—a man holding significant assets.

To achieve this, he had even spent a large sum of money bribing the Qin family’s chef.

Not that he intended to do anything criminal—the Qin family weren’t fools, and he had no intention of taking a huge risk over some shares and ending up in jail.

The cost and benefit clearly weren’t worth it.

He just wanted the chef to leak some information.

But today’s piece of information had truly shaken Liang Qing.

Wait a minute—he had known that Chairman Qin had bought Shixing’s shares simply to give his son a space to play around, but still, this was the second-largest company in the entertainment industry. How could he just give it away so casually?

And it was given to the new wife who had just married into the family and already had an inappropriate relationship with his own younger brother?

Speaking of which, who exactly was this President Ye? Before the wedding, he had already secured tens of billions in investment, and now right after the wedding, he had received Shixing’s shares from Qin Shi?

…Was this man the human reincarnation of money or what, to make people treat him like this?

But Liang Qing was only stunned for a moment before he pulled himself together.

Since the shares had already landed in the hands of the new wife, it might actually be easier to obtain them than if they were still with Chairman Qin.

With that in mind, Liang Qing quickly contacted Xu Feng.

Xu Feng rushed back right away, but he looked rather gloomy.

Liang Qing asked calmly: “What’s wrong? As the groom, shouldn’t you be all smiles these days? What happened?”

Xu Feng waved his hand and said: “What smiles? You know I only like Yun Cheng. I didn’t even touch An Yang.”

Liang Qing narrowed his eyes slightly, silently noting that only an idiot like Xu Feng wouldn’t see through Yun Cheng’s schemes. Outwardly, however, he showed some confusion.

“Then what’s going on with you now…?”

“Yun Cheng isn’t speaking to me anymore. He said I acted too impulsively at the wedding, and that it was unfair to An Yang.”

Xu Feng said, looking dejected.

Liang Qing was surprised but quickly recognized it as one of Yun Cheng’s tricks. Obviously, he was trying to keep Xu Feng emotionally attached—backing off to make Xu Feng yearn, then reappearing to reel him in again. It was a classic push-and-pull fishing tactic.

Not exactly clever, but unfortunately, Xu Feng was the perfect foolish catch for such tricks.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on this though. Liang Qing adjusted his expression and started asking about An Yang, preparing to gradually steer the conversation toward Qin Shi.

“An Yang? An Yang… I do feel I owe him. Aside from my heart, anything else—money or shares—I’ll give him everything he deserves.”

Xu Feng sighed. Liang Qing took a sip of coffee, hiding the smirk at the corner of his lips. He figured if Yun Cheng heard this, he’d probably explode.

Yun Cheng had spent so much time scheming around Xu Feng, all for the money and shares, and now Xu Feng was ready to hand them over to someone else.

“It really is unfair to An Yang. You should at least treat him a bit better. He already silently accepted your relationship with Yun Cheng. These days, who’s willing to be a mere decoration? At the very least, protect him a bit at work. I’ve heard his treatment at the company hasn’t been great lately.”

Liang Qing casually shifted the topic to the wedding a few days ago.

“So none of the three Qin family members were angry? President Ye really had some skills.”

Liang Qing said with a touch of surprise.

“It wasn’t really about skills. I haven’t interacted with President Ye, but my mom has met his mother a few times. Apart from the late Old Master Ye, who was a bit fierce, the whole family is honest to the point of being foolish. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sold everything in the group just to pay the workers wages.”

Liang Qing thought deeply—so President Ye really was honest to the point of being naive. That meant his plans might need adjusting.

Thinking that, he started asking more about Qin Shi.

“Would Qin Shi be angry? Ha, that kid seemed like his tail was about to fly up in pride. Angry? He probably wanted to thank his dad.”

Xu Feng propped up his chin.

“I don’t get along with him much, but since we work at the same company, I can still see his social media. I was wondering why he suddenly posted something like ‘must work hard and earn money for the company.’ I thought he had gotten the shares himself. Turns out, it’s because President Ye took over.”

Liang Qing didn’t quite understand.

“I thought you said President Ye was an upright person. He wouldn’t go after Qin Shi, would he?”

Xu Feng leaned back in the sofa chair, tapping the armrest unconsciously.

“That’s right. President Ye wouldn’t make a move on Qin Shi—he might not even interact with him at all.”

“But whether Qin Shi will make a move on his young stepmother… who knows.”

“Qin Qiu at least had some old feelings, but this guy—sometimes he looks like he’s acting out of lust, sometimes not at all. He’s like a ghost—impossible to figure out.”

Liang Qing remembered the gossip about the resting room at the banquet, and his expression turned incredulous.

…Could such a drama, straight out of Thunderstorm, really happen in real life?

But it did.

Not long after, Liang Qing heard that Chairman Qin, who had given the company to his partner to show his generosity, said nothing when he saw his son’s social media post.

But right after that, he sent his own son to a poverty-stricken rural area to work on agricultural aid projects.

Liang Qing was stunned watching the livestream where the Qin heir looked haggard and was helping sell oranges.

But this tactic from Chairman Qin felt oddly familiar.

Liang Qing thought and thought but couldn’t place it—until he went downstairs and saw his mom watching a palace drama on their 100-inch TV screen.

—In the show, the scheming empress was pretending to be generous by letting the emperor visit another woman.

Then she sent her rival a prayer bead bracelet.

With musk on it.

Liang Qing: “…”

Ah. So this was the original wife, huh?

***

The gossip surrounding the company’s change of ownership kept spreading.

Shixing Media smoothly ended up in Ye Wangxing’s hands, and even when An Yang returned to work after his wedding leave, he heard his colleagues buzzing about the ownership change.

No one noticed he had disappeared for a few days due to the wedding. Luckily, An Yang didn’t mind.

After all, Xu Feng was signed to this company—that was the only reason An Yang stayed.

Even if he was only doing odd jobs, he was already very happy.

Soon, during the company-wide meeting, he saw the new president.

Someone he had just met at the hotel a few days ago—with a complicated love story but someone many envied: President Ye.

However, An Yang still felt a bit confused.

He rubbed his chin, recalling what Xu Feng’s mother had told him yesterday about President Ye.

Wasn’t his family running a steel pipe factory?

When did they get involved in the entertainment industry?

An Yang had actually heard of the Ye family—after all, they ran into financial trouble around the same time as the An family.

But unlike the An family, whose problems were caused by bad investments from his parents, the Ye family had been in real estate. They didn’t take huge risks but simply built and sold houses. Unfortunately, policy changes led to their cash flow drying up.

That was why the Ye family suddenly sought a marriage alliance with the Qin family—their funds were all tied up in those unsold properties.

With no income from sales, they couldn’t pay the workers. And the Ye family wasn’t the type to run off with the money. Especially since the government had already started cracking down on that kind of behavior.

So Ye’s parents sold everything they could in the group. What remained on the books were just some land, a steel plant, a few steel pipe factories, and some interior design companies—originally built to support their real estate business.

Now, surprisingly, those had become the group’s lifeline, barely holding out until the Qin Group’s investment arrived.

Those properties had already been partially constructed, they just lacked the final funds to finish the buildings. The Qin Group’s investment completed them, allowing the housing projects to launch.

Even though the real estate market was sluggish and they could only barely break even, this was already a good outcome. Ye’s parents weren’t greedy.

But it was a long process, and no one knew when they’d truly recover.

So now, the Ye Group’s main businesses were interior design, steel pipes, and steel. In theory, having factories should have been an advantage.

But ironically, these industries carried heavier burdens.

—Because no other industry in China was as insanely competitive as steel!

State-owned steel companies were like giants, swallowing global orders. Their underreported production alone could rank top five in the world.

This drove down steel prices and profit margins to rock bottom—never mind the private small factories also racing to slash prices.

Even state-owned steel mills were now cutting costs and boosting efficiency. That showed how intense the competition had become.

Previously, the Ye Group’s factories and interior firms had relied on their real estate business for support, but now they were overwhelmed.

But An Yang didn’t understand how tough the steel business had become. He just thought it was strange for someone from the steel industry to suddenly become the president of an entertainment company.

But what did that have to do with him? He was just an ordinary assistant—one who was often bullied.

An Yang tossed the thought aside and focused on editing the documents that needed to be signed by the president. Technically, this wasn’t his job.

He had a good temper, worked hard without complaint, and never reported to the leadership—these three qualities made him the easiest honest person to bully in the workplace, and An Yang possessed all of them.

As a result, all sorts of miscellaneous tasks landed on his desk. Logically speaking, the eldest son of the An family shouldn’t have had to do menial work, especially since their family’s financial problems were just a temporary cash flow issue, not bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, he had never revealed his identity, so his colleagues thought he was just an ordinary worker. In this situation, if An Yang didn’t do the grunt work, who would?

However, An Yang enjoyed the feeling of being needed. After he finished organizing the documents, he received a few compliments from others and immediately felt delighted, as if he had received the most delicious candy in the world, smiling brilliantly.

Then he agreed to a colleague’s request and took the documents to the CEO’s office to wait for the signature.

He was about to knock when he suddenly heard a voice erupt from inside.

“Qin Yi! You didn’t say that what you gave me wasn’t just nominal, but that you actually expected me to work! You actually made a steel-industry CEO manage an entertainment company? Such a large company—you’re not afraid I’ll drive it to bankruptcy?”

The voice was full of anger, and An Yang even heard CEO Ye grinding his teeth. Whatever Director Qin said in response, An Yang couldn’t hear, he only heard Ye’s voice rise an octave.

“What do you mean by directly letting me play with it?! Don’t forget your son’s work is still tied up here. Aren’t you afraid I’ll ruin his career?”

Director Qin said something to pacify Ye, and Ye’s voice became noticeably quieter.

“…I’ll assign the work to the two vice presidents. Don’t do this again. Even if you give me a profitable company for free, I wouldn’t be happy. After all, so many people rely on this company to live.”

Listening to CEO Ye’s voice, An Yang suddenly felt that Ye wasn’t like the seniors said—he wasn’t confused by Director Qin. At least Ye understood not to have outsiders interfere with experts and knew employees depended on the company.

Moreover…

An Yang recalled Ye’s helpless tone and felt that Ye didn’t seem willing to marry Director Qin.

‘Although Director Qin seems to love Ye, Ye doesn’t seem able to accept it’ An Yang thought.

Like Xu Feng.

A trace of sympathy for Ye rose in An Yang’s heart, tiny as it was, making him knock more gently.

When he entered, An Yang saw CEO Ye sitting in a chair, tired, but it didn’t hide his radiance—it added a subtle, languid charm.

After explaining the purpose, CEO Ye said: “…Place these documents here. Wait for the vice presidents to arrive. Qin Yi is really too willful.”

CEO Ye lowered his voice on the last part, but An Yang still heard it.

Although Ye had just been angry, he addressed An Yang in a normal subordinate tone, not harsh, even somewhat gentle.

An Yang nodded. His sympathy for Ye quickly turned into admiration. But as he was about to leave, he noticed CEO Ye flipping through a thick stack of documents with a headache.

For some inexplicable reason, An Yang paused.

The documents were not from Shixing Media. They looked like important files from Ye Group, written in a script An Yang recognized. He had seen it before when learning Middle Eastern languages for Xu Feng’s suggestion to travel to the Middle East.

Before he could think further, he saw Ye make a phone call.

“When will the translators you mentioned arrive? The client is already in City A and doesn’t speak English. Without translators, this deal will fail.”

CEO Ye sounded exhausted, in contrast to the vigorous businessperson who had just argued with Director Qin. Now he seemed so fragile and pitiful.

The upturned corners of his eyes and the drooping gaze made An Yang feel genuine compassion.

It was this compassion that made An Yang impulsively speak.

“CEO Ye, I have a CATTI Level-2 Arabic translation certificate, both oral and written. I can help you with the translation.”

Upon hearing this, the previously weary, handsome man immediately lifted his head, looking at An Yang with curiosity, doubt, and a glimmer of hope.

Seeing that hope, An Yang stepped forward firmly, showing Ye the photo of his certificate on his phone.

After checking on the Human Resources Exam website and seeing it verified, CEO Ye’s eyes brightened. He looked at An Yang as if seeing a rare treasure, making An Yang a little flustered.

But Ye didn’t care. He stepped forward, took An Yang’s hands, and said seriously: “Please, Mr. An Yang. I’ll pay you three times the market rate for your bonus and salary!”

It was the first time An Yang had been entrusted so solemnly, and the advance payment had already been deposited into his account. His head felt dizzy.

He couldn’t find any elegant words to say, only silently vowing to give his best to help CEO Ye.

With that, An Yang took the documents Ye handed him, returned to his workstation, and began checking them line by line, translating them on the computer.

Focused on his work, he even gave up the opportunity to have dinner with Xu Feng that he had been looking forward to all evening. He just sent a message telling Xu Feng to eat something on his own and then threw himself back into work.

Xu Feng, who had originally planned to stand An Yang up, was instead stood up by An Yang: “…”

No, was An Yang crazy?

Whether An Yang was crazy or not, Ye Wangxing was ecstatic.

Taking advantage of the office having no surveillance, Ye Wangxing happily spoke to 19 in his mind.

【Unexpectedly, the protagonist had just studied Arabic, which solved an urgent problem and also allowed the protagonist’s “top” and “bottom” sides to be more separated.】

The next issue had arisen from the protagonist’s top and bottom being too close.

After marrying An Yang, Xu Feng actually had a period of sweetness.

Though called a “sweet period,” for An Yang personally it was just Xu Feng’s overly strong possessiveness.

For someone like him, once he had that marriage certificate, even with someone he disliked, he still had a thought: This person belongs to me.

Even if he didn’t want others to know about their relationship, he would interfere in their life.

Thus, Xu Feng began to intervene in An Yang’s life.

This included, but was not limited to, making An Yang rest in front of others, bringing him a cup of milk tea, or picking up the lunch An Yang prepared.

For those unaware, people who knew about Xu Feng and Yun Cheng’s emotional entanglement would think An Yang was a mistress seducing Xu Feng.

At the same time, Xu Feng became careless, he didn’t reveal the marriage certificate, and his behavior actually intensified.

As a result, An Yang, the official spouse who held the marriage certificate, was labeled as a mistress by the assistant department.

Xu Feng initially helped An Yang, but later, upon learning the situation, tacitly approved of it.

He believed it would help An Yang clearly recognize his own position.

But when An Yang distanced himself, Xu Feng, driven by possessiveness, would act ambiguously toward him. This back-and-forth created the necessary drama in the story.

Specifically: exclusion, slander, and taking the blame. Workplace people wouldn’t escalate to the police—they just disliked the “mistress,” but wouldn’t ruin their lives over it.

Yet it was enough to push a grown adult to mental collapse and depression. Later, when Xu Feng asked An Yang to donate organs, An Yang complied, likely influenced by these depressive feelings.

Ironically, once An Yang’s heart was thoroughly broken and he left the country, Xu Feng realized it and went mad, firing everyone who had mistreated An Yang in the company. After showing them the marriage certificate, he interrogated them about why they treated An Yang that way.

The assistant department had suffered under Xu Feng’s wrath. Even if they disliked someone and bullied them intentionally, Xu Feng was actually the main culprit.

Hearing this, Xu Feng, furious, blacklisted them in the entertainment industry so they couldn’t earn a cent and could only sell snacks with pushcarts.

At first, the location was good, so they thought selling snacks was better than being treated like dogs in the industry.

Their profit-making plan continued until Xu Feng discovered them.

He specifically called the urban management, so whenever they set up, he reported them.

This caused complaints from nearby residents who needed street vendors for breakfast.

Usually, vendors operated under “no complaints, no enforcement.” If they didn’t disturb residents, urban management wouldn’t interfere.

…But they encountered Xu Feng, a man whose resources were unfathomable.

This plot development was reasonable yet subtly comical.

【After the fate line was influenced by the rules, the world gradually shifted toward a logical outcome. Originally, these assistants, after being expelled from the entertainment industry, would have ended up impoverished and died in a rented room.】

19 explained.

Ye Wangxing understood.

【Indeed, City A isn’t South Korea. Being blacklisted by capital doesn’t mean death is the only option. Being blacklisted in entertainment, you can still set up a stall selling pancakes, become a store clerk, or sort deliveries—though the last one isn’t worth it, sorting deliveries is worse than being a dog in the industry.】

Ye Wangxing complained.

He had really done delivery sorting for one day in his sophomore summer vacation. Originally, he planned to earn money for a better-configured computer, but after one day, he simply couldn’t manage it.

—He still remembered Mr. Zheng with the five stone blocks.

He almost died on those five stones.

Ye Wangxing shivered recalling his painful sorting experience and then returned to the main topic.

He was discussing with 19 how to have the two vice presidents take over all operations.

If Ye Wangxing wanted to control the upcoming tasks, the best way was to take over the whole company, so he could handle the protagonist’s top-bottom issues in time.

But Ye Wangxing was still determined to remain a hands-off manager, for a simple reason.

—He had never been rich before.

Ye Wangxing looked at the files and told 19:【Let me pour boiling water on the rival company’s money tree, connect their printer to a shredder, replace their boss’s Guanyu statue with Ultraman, bribe the cleaning ladies to collectively resign before important clients arrive, report the rival company for illegal parking…】

He listed everything in one breath and then took a deep breath.

【I’m good at all these things, but I’ve never managed a billion-dollar company, and…】

He pointed at the starving employees in the company chat on his computer, frowning.

【Who expects a company president to personally go out and do sales?!】

 

 

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