Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 448: Lu Hui Regrets

As Yang Lijuan muttered to herself, calculating how to spend the money, she occasionally blurted out, "My son earned this money! Don't even think about letting those poor relatives of yours borrow a single cent!"Zhou Guobin was not nearly as optimistic. He had his eyes closed and was just about to fall asleep, only to be roused by his wife's clamor. He could not help but frown. "We don't even know if it's true yet. Why are you taking it so seriously? Just call our son tomorrow morning and ask him. You'll know then."

Yang Lijuan finally realized he had a point. It was true; she had actually taken Zhou Dagu's few brief words completely to heart.

However, the news was truly unfathomable. In all the years since Yang Lijuan married Zhou Guobin, while they had never exactly scraped the bottom of the barrel, they were far from wealthy. Hearing out of the blue that their son had made sixty million made a sleepless night inevitable.

It was not until five or six in the morning, when the sky began to lighten with the pale grey of dawn, that Yang Lijuan finally managed to drift off.

By seven o'clock, Zhou Guobin got up for work. Seeing his wife sleeping soundly, he decided not to disturb her. Zhou Guobin took a much calmer view of such matters. If he could not withstand this level of temptation, he would never have maintained his position for so long. After so many years of working in the procuratorate, he certainly possessed that much self-control.

He changed into his black suit for work, grabbed his briefcase, and headed out just like any other day.

Upon arriving at his workplace, everyone from the security guard at the gate to the newly hired young people respectfully greeted him as Prosecutor Zhou.

Zhou Guobin gave a slight nod and then entered his office.

Soon after, several of the young people gathered together, looking at the newly published news on a website. It featured headlines about an internet newly-rich, a business prodigy, and Xianlin Delivery being acquired by Baidu for sixty million.

A photograph of Zhou Yuwen wearing a suit leaped off the page.

"Hey, is that really Prosecutor Zhou's son? Why does it seem like Prosecutor Zhou has no reaction to this at all?"

"What do you know? Look at the kind of man Prosecutor Zhou is. He long ago mastered the art of remaining completely unfazed even if a mountain were to collapse in front of him."

"I wouldn't have known if you guys hadn't pointed it out, but Prosecutor Zhou's son is so handsome!"

"Heh, is your heart stirred? Too bad you don't stand a chance. Just look at your age!"

"What do you mean by that? Only older men are allowed to date young women, but older women can't date younger men?"

"Give it a rest, Lin Huahua. You're pushing thirty!"

Later that morning, a subordinate came to Zhou Guobin's office for a signature. While he was signing the documents, the person carefully observed Zhou Guobin's expression, only to find that he truly showed no extraordinary emotion whatsoever.

That was, until an older colleague from the department strode into the room boisterously.

"Hey! Old Zhou! You absolutely have to treat us to dinner tonight!"

"Good on you, Old Zhou! You hid it so well. To think you raised such an outstanding son!"

These older men might not have held higher positions than Zhou Guobin at work, but they were long-time colleagues with a close relationship. Furthermore, since some of them had spent their careers fighting on the front lines, they tended to speak more bluntly and boisterously.

In contrast, someone like Zhou Guobin, who constantly sat in an office, put on a bit of a front. He asked with a confused expression, "What is going on? Why do I suddenly need to treat you to dinner?"

"Hey, are you still playing dumb with us?"

"Exactly! Your son made the news! Aren't you going to show some generosity? Are you really going to be this stingy?"

To be honest, if they had not brought up Zhou Yuwen, Zhou Guobin would have completely forgotten about last night. Only after their reminder did it dawn on him—was what his older sister said last night actually true?

"What news?"

"He's really putting on an act."

An older front-line colleague simply pulled out his smartphone and forwarded the article to Zhou Guobin, letting him see it for himself.

Now Zhou Guobin believed it. His son truly looked completely different wearing a suit.

However, he was still recognizable.

Zhou Guobin could also clearly see the bolded, black close-up of the words "sixty million."

'This boy...'

'He actually...'

It was only at this point that a faint smile finally appeared at the corner of the mouth of Zhou Guobin.

The group immediately crowded around Zhou Guobin, lightly hammering his chest with their fists, telling him he must be laughing in his sleep.

"Raising such an incredible son!"

"Hurry up and tell us where we're eating tonight!"

Everyone chimed in one after another.

Regardless of anything else, an event like this absolutely had to be celebrated properly.

Zhou Guobin snapped back to reality and gestured for everyone to quiet down. "That's easily arranged," he stated.

With such a massive milestone, a proper celebration was indeed in order.

"Tonight, I'll have your sister-in-law cook up a few extra dishes. Come over to our place, and we won't stop drinking until we're all drunk."

Zhou Guobin was genuinely overjoyed at this point, but his words left everyone speechless. They couldn't help but call him out for being hopelessly stingy.

His son just made sixty million, and he was suggesting they go to his house for a few home-cooked dishes?

Was that even a reasonable thing to say?

Yet, Zhou Guobin defended himself with sound logic, arguing that it was his son's money, not his own.

"I wouldn't want to make a disciplinary mistake, would I?"

"Hey! Since when is spending your own son's money a mistake?"

The group joked around for a while. In truth, Zhou Guobin was usually a very stern man at work, and such a relaxed atmosphere was a rare sight in his office.

Especially in this situation, the few young people in the department Zhou Guobin managed took the opportunity to tease him a bit, and Zhou Guobin, in a rare display of leniency, didn't reprimand them.

With the older colleagues leading the charge and the younger ones cheering them on.

Zhou Guobin found himself with nowhere to flee. He could only concede, "Alright then, let's book a table at Wangyue Pavilion today."

"One table? How is one table enough? We need at least seven or eight! Invite all the brothers in the department!"

Hearing this, Zhou Guobin instantly furrowed his brow.

"Hey, we're just joking with you!"

Having finally confirmed the news was real, Zhou Guobin called his wife as soon as his colleagues left, wanting to discuss the matter.

As for Yang Lijuan, she had naturally already called Zhou Yuwen to ask him about it.

At the time, Zhou Yuwen was fast asleep, holding Qu Jing in his arms. He couldn't play favorites, after all, and Qu Jing was very obedient. The slit black stockings she had worn last night were still wrapped tightly around her thighs.

Although this little lass Qu Jing did not stand out much among Zhou Yuwen's many women, she was genuinely submissive and eager to please, both in bed and out.

The same went for his career. Calling Qu Jing the company's "Iron Lady" might be an exaggeration, but she was certainly a strict enforcer. Having her suppress the flock of pretty girls who came in for part-time work saved Zhou Yuwen a great deal of trouble.

For that reason, Zhou Yuwen would occasionally bless her with his affection.

In return, Qu Jing would be obedient and share some gossip about Tao Tian and Minmin with Zhou Yuwen.

It was impossible for their dormitory to ever be as close as sisters; they basically just gossiped about each other constantly. Qu Jing's main talking point was Minmin, claiming the girl had impure motives and was always trying to seduce her master.

Zhou Yuwen simply listened without voicing any opinions.

Mainly because there was nothing worth commenting on.

To Zhou Yuwen, Minmin was nothing more than an averagely pretty female.

And women were the one thing Zhou Yuwen lacked the least right now.

Receiving a phone call from his mother so early in the morning, Zhou Yuwen had not even fully woken up yet; it was Qu Jing who answered it.

The moment Yang Lijuan heard a female voice, she frowned and demanded, "Who are you?"

Zhou Yuwen, now fully awake, took the phone and asked Qu Jing, "Who told you to answer my phone?"

Feeling wronged, Qu Jing murmured, "I saw it was an unknown number."

Zhou Yuwen had no intention of arguing with her. He put the phone to his ear and called out, "Mom."

Yang Lijuan asked who had just answered the phone.

Zhou Yuwen replied that it was a senior sister.

"I'm at the Student Union," Zhou Yuwen lied, holding Qu Jing. He wasn't actually angry that she had picked up his phone.

Yang Lijuan asked why he was at the Student Union so early.

Zhou Yuwen replied that he was just busy.

"Does that mean what your Aunt said is true? Did you really make sixty million?" Yang Lijuan asked with a trace of hopefulness.

Zhou Yuwen asked, "Why did Zhou Dagu bring that up?"

Yang Lijuan recounted the whole story to him. Zhou Yuwen let out a soft "Oh" and admitted that it was basically true.

"Liu Shuo and I did run a small company, and it sold for sixty million. But the amount that actually reached my hands isn't that much, and I have other uses for it. The news definitely exaggerated things."

Yang Lijuan scolded him for not notifying her immediately when such a massive thing happened.

Zhou Yuwen reasoned, "I just haven't had the time yet, have I?"

"I didn't expect your news network to be so well-informed. Did Aunt run to our house in the middle of the night to tell you?"

"How did you know?" "Wait, she actually did?"

Yang Lijuan was honestly quite speechless regarding Zhou Dagu's antics. Coming over late at night to deliver good news was one thing, but her primary objective had been to borrow money.

She had casually asked for a couple of million right off the bat, acting entirely as a matter of course.

"Think about how much our family has helped them over the years. It's bad enough they aren't grateful, but now they're truly addicted to it. What kind of relatives act like this?" Since Zhou Guobin rarely chatted with her, Yang Lijuan took the opportunity to vent her bellyful of grievances to her son.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen was equally dumbfounded. "Borrow millions? I barely have millions in cash myself. Do they think I don't need to make further investments?"

Yang Lijuan assured him he had nothing to worry about.

"It's one thing if she mooches off your father, but that has nothing to do with you. Why should she take it as a matter of course to borrow the money my son worked hard to earn? Just pretend you don't know anything about this. Your old mom will block them for you. Anyway, they shouldn't even dream of getting a single cent of our family's money," Yang Lijuan declared confidently.

Zhou Yuwen replied, "I don't really care either way. I suspect this was entirely Aunt's own idea; cousin Xiaoyong actually has some backbone. Mom, I'll talk to you later. I'm still busy over here."

"Alright, you get back to work. My son is successful now, so Mom won't be disturbing you anymore!" Yang Lijuan said, grinning widely. It was obvious she was genuinely thrilled.

Following that, the news of Zhou Yuwen's net worth hitting sixty million stirred up quite a wave in their small city. In truth, there were surely a few people across the country who had made sixty million, but hardly anyone could declare it as openly and proudly as Zhou Yuwen did, let alone have it publicized.

In the blink of an eye, it was already 2014, leaving just a year before the golden age of the mobile internet truly exploded.

The following year would see the gathering of all sorts of eccentric characters. Major internet titans would become their own spokespeople—not to mention Boss Ma embarking on his nationwide roadshows.

Tom Ma would be seen dancing wildly in KTVs, while others started raising pigs or building tech ecosystems. By 2015, the "Internet Plus" craze would sweep the nation. Whether these internet ventures actually made money was another matter, but that year definitely thrust many figures into the mainstream spotlight. For instance, the young guy who created the Super Curriculum app—a mere university student—was hyping himself up everywhere, claiming girls were screaming about wanting to have his babies.

If an average-looking guy like him could amass a fanbase...

A brilliant and dashing young man like Zhou Yuwen would undeniably attract even more.

Even the high school students in his small hometown were gossiping about him.

"I heard that Zhou Yuwen guy is from around here."

"He went to our high school! He's just one year above us!"

Even the teachers who had previously taught Zhou Yuwen felt a sense of reflected glory in that moment.

In May, when the sycamore trees were in full bloom, the high school sports field was completely empty as the senior year students studied furiously, writing at their desks.

Yet, there were always a few slackers lounging lazily in the back rows.

At that moment, a teacher scolded, "Look at the state of you lot. Do you even look like students?"

"If you were truly like Zhou Yuwen, I wouldn't say a word to you."

"The problem is, do you have what it takes?"

"Take Zhou Yuwen. When I taught him, he might not have been great at studying, but he certainly had the right attitude. Now look at yourselves!"

Hearing this, the classmates who had been quietly solving problems suddenly broke into a heated discussion, marveling at how incredible Zhou Yuwen was.

Naturally, a student played devil's advocate: "Teacher, Liu Shuo definitely didn't have the right attitude, yet didn't he make millions too?"

Faced with such a student, the teacher was utterly speechless.

Anyone with eyes could see the truth of the matter; how could these students be so blind?

At the end of the day, they were simply looking for an excuse not to study.

Liu Shuo himself had openly admitted in interviews that he knew absolutely nothing.

"It was all thanks to my brother lifting me up."

However, the teacher wasn't going to educate his students that way. Annoyed by the student's rebuttal, he snapped, "I honestly don't know what makes you think you can compare yourselves to them."

"Yes, Liu Shuo was poor at studying and was just a delinquent in high school. But do you know who his father is?"

"Half the marble paving in our area is contracted by Liu Shuo's family. What exactly are you bringing to the table to compare with him?"

"Even if he hadn't started a business with Zhou Yuwen, he would still inherit a family enterprise. Now look at yourself. What does your family have?"

The moment those words were spoken, the classroom plunged into silence.

Sometimes, teachers didn't want to say things that hurt people.

But some students just couldn't keep their mouths shut.

Why only emulate their flaws and ignore their merits?

"Even if Zhou Yuwen hadn't started a business, do you have any idea what his family does?"

"Zhou Yuwen and Liu Shuo, your two senior male students—one has a father in a high government position, and the other's family runs a factory. What about you lot? Tell me, what do your families do?"

With that, the student who had spoken up fell completely silent.

The teacher sighed again and advised, "If you don't have a family background that can support you, and you lack the entrepreneurial drive of Zhou Yuwen and Liu Shuo, then just study honestly."

"Stop living in a fantasy world every day!"

That being said, these students who had yet to step off campus still held ambitions higher than the sky. Zhou Yuwen's success was like a shot of adrenaline straight to their veins. If Zhou Yuwen could do it, why couldn't they?

The news of a nineteen-year-old making sixty million through his start-up had long since spread beyond Jiangsu Province. While he might not be a household name nationwide, various developed cities were running reports on the story to some extent.

Even Jingcheng TV reached out to Zhou Yuwen, hoping to produce a special feature on him.

Next to Zhou Yuwen's blinding success, Liu Shuo's one point two million paled into insignificance.

However, for the people in his own circle, the news was met with pure disbelief.

Take Liu Shuo's father, for example. His family ran a marble paving factory. While the facility didn't look like much, it had been genuinely making money over the past few years, riding the wave of the booming real estate market.

But no matter how much he raked in, it could not compare to the sheer joy of seeing his son earn one million!

The moment he heard the news, Liu Shuo's father excitedly called his son, aggressively demanding to know if it was true.

Yet, Liu Shuo replied with immense impatience, "What the hell does it have to do with you!?"

Father Liu immediately flared up. "Is that how you speak to your old man?"

"Who are you calling 'old man'? Which of your actions even qualifies you as a father? Am I wrong? Does my making money have anything to do with you? I made this money because my brother dragged me along. What the hell does it have to do with you?"

Liu Shuo had always resented his father, and now that he had struck it rich, his disdain naturally grew stronger.

Father Liu frowned deeper and snapped, "You make a little bit of money, and suddenly you think you're untouchable!?"

Such matters could never be sorted out with a few words over a phone call. Father Liu simply declared he was coming to Jinling.

"Bring your classmate along while you're at it. I'll treat you both to dinner."

"No time."

Liu Shuo directly hung up the phone, complaining inwardly. 'Such a country bumpkin. Why would we need you to treat us to dinner?'

'The line of people wanting to buy my brother dinner stretches around the block. Who do you think you are?'

However, Liu Shuo's status had indeed been rising steadily lately. The infrastructure for Baidu Delivery hadn't been fully established yet; in the Jiangsu region, it essentially amounted to Xianlin Delivery just changing its signage.

As the nominal person in charge, Liu Shuo was understandably swamped with work.

When Baidu dispatched representatives to coordinate with local officials over dinner, Liu Shuo naturally had to attend. But while Liu Shuo was the face of the operation, the true mastermind was Zhou Yuwen.

Because of that, Liu Shuo mostly just trailed after Zhou Yuwen, acting as his driver.

Outsiders, however, didn't see it that way. The leaders of Liu Shuo's school, for instance, constantly summoned him to the office for chats, striving to groom him into their institution's premier entrepreneurial star.

To be honest, over the past few days, several rather pretty little lasses had been batting their eyelashes at Liu Shuo. Yet, for some reason, he just couldn't feel a spark with any of these females.

Whenever he had free time, and the more these women threw themselves at him, the more his thoughts drifted back to Lu Hui. He despised her in his heart, cursing her as a filthy bitch, yet he still found himself sending her a message: "Bitch, what are you doing?"

Seeing the message, Lu Hui inevitably frowned, initially intending to ignore him completely.

But during dinner that day, she noticed Li Qiang looking utterly distracted.

Lu Hui asked Li Qiang what was wrong with him today.

"Huh?"

Li Qiang blinked, momentarily stunned. "N-nothing."

He picked at his food for a few bites but ultimately couldn't hold it back any longer. He asked, "Did you really not know?"

"Know what?"

Li Qiang said, "Old Zhou sold Xianlin Delivery for sixty million, and Liu Shuo..."

Pausing, Li Qiang observed Lu Hui's expression carefully before finally finishing, "Liu Shuo received a share of one point two million."

"?" Lu Hui froze, a look of unmistakable shock flashing through her eyes.

It was accompanied by a visceral feeling that a portion of that money rightfully belonged to her.

Immediately after, a flash of deep regret washed over her.

Yes, if she hadn't left Liu Shuo, he absolutely would have given her a cut.

But...