Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 490: Some Are Happy, Some Are Sad

Liu Dongqiang was right; the name Zhou Yuwen was currently blazing hot in domestic circles. Previously, Zhou Yuwen had created a food delivery app and sold it to Baidu for sixty million.This event had earned Zhou Yuwen a bit of fame in Jinling. However, in this era, there were far too many young people looking to start their own businesses, and quite a few who had amassed tens of millions through their entrepreneurial endeavors.

To the older generation of seasoned entrepreneurs, these youths were merely carps crossing the river. They might casually hear a name, only to quickly forget it.

What set Zhou Yuwen apart was that just as these successful figures were about to forget him, he suddenly reemerged with an even more formidable status, shocking everyone.

According to Vipshop's latest public disclosure, Zhou Yuwen currently held a two percent stake in the company. With Vipshop's latest market valuation sitting at eighteen billion dollars, this meant Zhou Yuwen's personal net worth had reached 320 million dollars. Based on the exchange rate, his personal net worth had broken past the one billion mark!

And this was earned purely through stocks.

For a time, the elites in these capital circles couldn't help but fixate on this young man who wasn't even twenty years old yet. He appeared to come from a perfectly ordinary family, with his father being nothing more than a grassroots division-level cadre.

How did he suddenly appear, like a prophesied star descending from the heavens?

Though, to say it was sudden wasn't entirely accurate. Looking at Zhou Yuwen's resume, he had walked step-by-step to where he was today. There seemed to be a traceable path: it was entirely plausible that he had met Vipshop's Shen Ya during his entrepreneurial journey and had been given a helping hand along the way.

What they simply couldn't fathom was why, the moment this nineteen-year-old bought Vipshop shares, the company's stock skyrocketed.

The first to catch wind of the news was inevitably the elite crowd of the financial circle. They had played the finance game their entire lives, yet they couldn't grasp it as well as a nineteen-year-old boy?

Then, the media got hold of the story.

Wall Street in 2014.

A nineteen-year-old youth had traveled across the ocean to arrive here.

Various media outlets caught the scent of viral news. This was simply too heaven-defying! It felt as exhilarating as reading a wish-fulfillment web novel. Consequently, editors of all stripes immediately put their brains to work, letting their imaginations run wild as they began fabricating wild tales.

They even drew up illustrations.

It depicted a tall, straight-backed youth bravely storming Wall Street all by himself!

Once the news broke, the entire internet exploded, with countless people leaving comments.

"When this guy was nineteen, he dominated Wall Street. When I was nineteen, I was still asking my mom if I could open the milk our relatives gifted us."

"Hahaha, the commenter above is so right! When property management came knocking to collect fees, I told them the adults weren't home!"

"Wait, doesn't Zhou Yuwen write novels?"

"So his novels are just autobiographies?"

"Zhou Yuwen opened Qidian Web Novel Portal, scrolled for half a day, and muttered, 'Even this isn't satisfying enough!'"

"Ah! Zhou Yuwen is too handsome, I want to have his babies!"

Such comments were ubiquitous online.

Of course, the most shocked of all was Jinling.

Fortunately, it was July, and the university students had already returned home for the holidays. Otherwise, one could easily imagine that in every single classroom, there would be no shortage of students discussing Zhou Yuwen. Even the teachers would inevitably mention him.

Having already returned to Jingcheng, Zheng Yanyan was bored out of her mind at home every day. July in Jingcheng was exceptionally hot, so she spent her days holed up in her room with the air conditioner blasting, dangling her long legs while playing games with Lu Lin.

Unable to stand seeing her daughter like this, Mother Zheng scolded her a bit. "Are you just going to stay home and grow mold every day?

"Other people's children know to go out and stroll around, but look at you! All you know is sleeping after eating and eating after sleeping. Even raising a pig isn't done like this.

"You're already nineteen. Isn't it about time you found a boyfriend?"

Mother Zheng nagged incessantly. Through all her rambling, she expressed her dissatisfaction with Zheng Yanyan going to Jinling for her studies. According to her logic, if her daughter had studied in Jingcheng, she could have at least met some boys from good families.

"Now that you've gone to another city so far away, it's beyond the reach of us parents."

To her mother's words.

Zheng Yanyan simply let them go in one ear and out the other. She just continued to lounge with her long legs crossed, gaming with Lu Lin.

Seeing her like this, Mother Zheng could only sigh heavily.

The next day, a friend of Mother Zheng suddenly came over to visit, bringing her son along.

This friend of Mother Zheng had gone abroad early and had already obtained a Green Card. The purpose of her return this time was to sell her property in Jingcheng, as their family was officially immigrating to America.

Her friend's son was also quite excellent. At twenty-four years old, he was already a postgraduate student in America. If it weren't for handling family matters, he wouldn't have even come back.

Observing that the young man was quite outstanding, Mother Zheng thought to call Zheng Yanyan over to get acquainted.

Truth be told, Zheng Yanyan was so terribly spoiled by Zhou Yuwen now that she didn't want to listen to anyone. Originally, she had no intention of coming out, but she ultimately gave in after her mother nagged her a few more times.

Zheng Yanyan felt instantly irritated, thinking, 'If I had known, I wouldn't have come back!'

Despite thinking that, she still reluctantly walked out of her room.

She could hear her mother and her friend talking and laughing cheerfully. Then, she heard that four-eyed boy showing off, bragging about how things were abroad.

Zheng Yanyan thought to herself, 'What's so great about being abroad? Who hasn't been there?'

'My boyfriend is abroad right now.'

"Auntie, have you watched the news lately?" the four-eyed boy asked.

Mother Zheng smiled. "Which news are you referring to?"

"The one that's been extremely popular recently. There's a boy from our country, only about eighteen or nineteen years old, who has been absolutely dominating Wall Street in New York over the past two months. He single-handedly made a billion dollars!" Boys always loved to exaggerate the facts a bit.

"That's incredible!" Mother Zheng played along very cooperatively.

Zheng Yanyan, however, scoffed in disdain. She thought, 'What does how much money someone else makes have to do with you? Why are you even bringing it up?'

The boy continued, explaining that this was proof that there were more opportunities abroad than domestically.

"If you're in the country, you could play the A-shares for ten years and still not necessarily achieve financial freedom.

"But abroad, it's completely different."

He was spewing utter nonsense.

Zheng Yanyan was someone who had seen the world. Hearing this, she felt a strong sense of disdain. She thought, 'If you can't make money in A-shares, that's a problem with A-shares. But are US stocks really that much better?'

'And earning a billion dollars in half a month?!'

'One look and it's obvious you've never seen big money. Do you even know what a billion dollars represents?'

'Earned in just half a month?'

Unable to stand this guy's pretentious posturing, Zheng Yanyan couldn't help but sneer. "Oh? Making a billion in half a month? That's amazing. Then he must be really famous domestically, right? How come I've never heard his name?"

Now, Zheng Yanyan was undeniably beautiful. Ordinarily, when elders were chatting, a junior wouldn't interject, let alone speak so arrogantly to boast about their own worldliness.

But wasn't there a girl of a similar age present?

And an exceptionally gorgeous one at that.

Any guy would want to show off a little.

Especially after Zheng Yanyan appeared to show intense interest, the boy sat up even straighter. "You haven't heard of him?"

"Oh, well, that boy is from Jinling. I guess it's too far from here, so it's normal that you haven't heard of him."

Hearing this, Zheng Yanyan let out a direct, mocking laugh. "Oh my, what an unfortunate coincidence. I actually study in Jinling. I've already finished my freshman year, yet I've never heard of such a legendary figure in Jinling. I wonder, what is the name of this legend?"

Zheng Yanyan thought, 'In Jinling, the most badass person is my hubby!'

'Who are you trying to show off to!?'

'Watch how I expose you!'

The four-eyed boy listened to Zheng Yanyan's tone and felt it was rather odd, as if she were dripping with sarcasm.

However, the boy didn't pay it much mind; he genuinely worshipped Zhou Yuwen.

Are you kidding? A billion in half a month!

Anyone would worship that.

Certain online forums were practically deifying Zhou Yuwen right now!

They considered Zhou Yuwen a one-in-a-million genius. Thus, the boy pushed up his glasses and calmly stated the name of his idol.

"His name is Zhou Yuwen."

"Thud!"

Zheng Yanyan's face instantly went pale.

The family was hosting their guests at a tidy ivory-white dining table. Zheng Yanyan and her mother sat on one side, while the boy and his mother sat on the other.

Before the boy had spoken the name, Zheng Yanyan's demeanor had been completely nonchalant. She was entirely prepared to ridicule him and say, "Ah, what kind of name is that? I haven't even heard of it."

Yet, when she heard the boy utter the name Zhou Yuwen...

Zheng Yanyan lost all her composure. She abruptly shot up from the table.

"You! What did you say his name was!?"

Standing before the dining table, Zheng Yanyan stared at the boy in utter disbelief.

For a moment, the boy was a bit frightened and even stuttered, "His name is Zhou... Zhou Yuwen!"

"Smack!"

Zheng Yanyan slammed her hand onto the table! With her head lowered, her reaction startled everyone. Even her mother was wondering, 'What kind of crazy fit is this wretched girl having now?!'

"Yanyan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If you're unwell, hurry back to your room." Mother Zheng was now somewhat regretting bringing her daughter out. Wasn't this just pure embarrassment?

However, it was too late. At this moment, Zheng Yanyan was already in a state of extreme excitement.

She sharply raised her head, looking at her mother with sheer thrill.

This gave Mother Zheng a genuine fright.

Before she could process anything, Zheng Yanyan gripped her arm fiercely. Weeping tears of joy, her daughter cried out, "He's my boyfriend!"

"?"

Mother Zheng froze. The four-eyed boy and his elderly mother also exchanged bewildered glances, failing to grasp the meaning for a moment.

That was until Zheng Yanyan excitedly repeated, "Zhou Yuwen! He is my boyfriend!"

"My boyfriend made a billion trading stocks!"

"US dollars!"

At this point, Zheng Yanyan had genuinely lost her composure, but who wouldn't in her shoes?!

That was a billion US dollars!

Eight billion yuan!

Zheng Yanyan thought to herself, 'Even if I'm just a secondary wife, surely Zhou Yuwen could spare a hundred million to pamper me, right?'

Right now, Zheng Yanyan truly felt that being the main wife or a secondary wife was no longer important.

Previously, she had been jealous, thinking that just because Su Qing threw a little tantrum, Zhou Yuwen had rushed overseas to accompany her.

'If I had known, I should have thrown a tantrum too!'

But now, Zheng Yanyan didn't think that way anymore.

What Zheng Yanyan was thinking now was that if Su Qing got pregnant, she would even be willing to serve Su Qing during her postpartum confinement.

Her mood at this moment was like a warm spring day with blooming flowers. She completely ignored the dumbfounded expressions of the people around her and turned right around, heading straight back to her room to call Lu Lin.

She needed to tell Lu Lin: "Linlin! We're rich!"

However, her behavior left her mother deeply embarrassed. Mother Zheng could only force a dry laugh and say, "This girl has always been a bit careless. Please don't mind her."

In response, her friends could only laugh dryly as well.

Only the four-eyed boy brought by the friend was feeling a sense of worrying about gains and losses. Finally, when they were leaving, he couldn't hold it back any longer and asked, "Auntie, is Zhou Yuwen really Yanyan's boyfriend?"

"Uh." Mother Zheng thought to herself, 'How should I know?'

Looking at the boy's expectant gaze, Mother Zheng said, "This child has never told me about her dating life. Xiao Fang, don't overthink it."

"No, no, no, Auntie, I'm not overthinking it. I just wanted to ask, if Yanyan's boyfriend really is Zhou Yuwen, could she..."

"...introduce me to Zhou Yuwen?"

"..."

For a moment, Mother Zheng truly didn't know what to say.

Meanwhile, Zheng Yanyan had shut her room door tight. She was making calls one by one to share the joyous news. It wasn't just Lu Lin; she also called Tao Tian, Qu Jing, and a few others.

She even made sure to call Shen Yu.

"Hello, Shen Yu? Did you know Zhou Yuwen is in New York?

"Do you know how much money Zhou Yuwen has made?"

Before she could even finish her calls, her mother started knocking on the door. She needed to ask clearly—when did her daughter start dating?

And also, what was the deal with this Zhou Yuwen?!

The news of Zhou Yuwen slaughtering Wall Street quickly spread across the internet. As for Zhou Yuwen's own class group chat, various promotional articles were constantly being shared. Even the university's freshman group was discussing it.

"Zhou Yuwen is an upperclassman at our school!"

"Ah, I happen to be in New York right now. Maybe I'll bump into him! (Doge)"

Aside from the jubilant crowd, there were, of course, unhappy people as well.

Such as the Jiang Family Estate, where the atmosphere was currently rather bizarre...

Half a month ago, Jiang Xinyi had her heart broken.

At that gala.

Su Qing had asked that question with tears in her eyes.

Jiang Xinyi had been standing right behind Zhou Yuwen at the time. Tears had also been swimming in her eyes as she grabbed Zhou Yuwen's hand. She had even threatened him, forbidding him from answering.

But Zhou Yuwen had ultimately answered.

Jiang Xinyi's tears had slid down her cheeks.

Jiang Xinyi had left.

Liu Jing had spoken to Zhou Yuwen with intense resentment, "You will regret this!"

And so, for the past fifteen days, Jiang Xinyi had locked herself in her room, washing her face with tears every single day.

Meanwhile, Liu Jing was exasperated and furious every day. She declared that she never expected Zhou Yuwen to be such a person!

"If I had known, I wouldn't have let you be with Zhou Yuwen even if you beat me to death!

"Don't worry, Xinyi. Mother will definitely find someone much better than that brat for you in the future!"

If Liu Jing had stayed quiet, it would have been fine, but her speaking only made Jiang Xinyi feel worse.

She pinned all her resentment onto her mother. Angrily, she yelled at Liu Jing, "You decide everything! I told you back then that it wasn't suitable! But you insisted that we be together! And then after we got together, you said it wasn't suitable again! Didn't you say Zhou Yuwen was a good match for me?! Didn't you say I would be happy being with him!?"

"Well, look what happened now! Are you satisfied!?"

When Jiang Xinyi yelled these words, her neck flushed red. She screamed herself hoarse, crying the entire time.

Seeing her daughter like this truly broke Liu Jing's heart.

She embraced her daughter, letting the girl cry against her chest. Her expression turned freezing cold as she said, "Xinyi, don't worry. I won't just let him off the hook like this! He actually dared to bully my daughter! Does he think I, Liu Jing, am made of mud!?"

However, before she could even finish her sentence.

The news from Wall Street arrived.