klisemfg Chapter 621: Warming Feet
Chapter 621: Warming Feet
After Zhou Yuwen left, Zhu Hong sat at the bar counter for a good while.The lights in the small bar on the first floor of the hotel flickered dimly, much like Zhu Hong's current mood.
The company's management clearly wanted to burn bridges after crossing the river.
If Zhu Hong wanted to survive in this industry, she needed to find a strong backer.
Of course, there was a second path. She could rely on the strong woman persona she had carefully cultivated over the years and find an honest man to marry.
But that was not what Zhu Hong wanted.
After a long moment of hesitation, Zhu Hong finally finished the glass of strong liquor in front of her.
She turned around and followed Zhou Yuwen upstairs.
Sleeping with Zhu Hong was truly nothing more than a momentary surge of Zhou Yuwen's desire for conquest. Even though they had become intimate, her place in his heart was destined to be lower than the other girls before her.
However, there was no denying Zhu Hong's capability.
After Zhu Hong willingly bowed her proud head, Zhou Yuwen did not let her stay at Meituan. Instead, he brought her into his own investment company to primarily manage their domestic investment operations.
It was worth noting that Zhou Yuwen was also an investor in Meituan. By joining his investment firm, Zhu Hong had effectively jumped straight from being the contractor to the client.
Zhu Hong was not the first woman to maintain this kind of relationship with Zhou Yuwen, and she certainly would not be the last. As Zhou Yuwen's career grew larger and larger, the number of women he encountered naturally increased as well.
They came from all walks of life—from internet celebrities he had cultivated himself, to actual movie stars.
After 2015, alongside the explosive growth of the internet economy, the entertainment industry also experienced a massive boom. The film industry, which people previously paid little attention to, later started pulling in box office revenues of billions or even tens of billions. Zhou Yuwen could not possibly pass up a slice of that pie. Not only did he establish his own film company, but he also entered the real estate market and built his own theater chains.
The entertainment circle could hardly be considered a clean place, but there were still a few pure rising stars. These were the talents Zhou Yuwen had personally groomed, and naturally, he would not let anyone else take advantage of them.
Time seemed to fly by after graduating from the university. Due to his expanding career, Zhou Yuwen frequently had to travel all over the world. As for his women, aside from a few ambitious ones like Jiang Xinyi and Tao Tian whom he kept by his side, the rest lived in his overseas estates.
As a result, whenever Zhou Yuwen was back in the country, he had very few close confidantes to talk to.
During the two years since graduation, the person Zhou Yuwen interacted with the most was probably Su Qing's mother, Pan Min. For one, Pan Min now managed the planning company and had also helped him plan a tea plantation.
More importantly, no matter how powerful Zhou Yuwen was, he still needed someone close to take care of his daily life. He could hire a full-time butler, but that would never offer the same relaxed comfort as being around family.
Therefore, when Zhou Yuwen was in the country, if he was not staying with Tao Tian and the others, he would head to Pan Min's tea house. Pan Min had professional chefs and waitstaff there, allowing Zhou Yuwen to essentially live like an emperor at the tea house.
One day, Zhou Yuwen was relaxing in the antique and quaint pavilion of a private garden, sitting in a rocking chair to enjoy the cool breeze. The chair rocked back and forth, and before long...
Zhou Yuwen actually fell asleep.
At that moment, he felt someone drape a blanket over him.
Zhou Yuwen opened his eyes, only to find Chen Wan standing there, wearing a red qipao.
When he saw Chen Wan, he thought he was still dreaming.
He could not even remember how many years it had been since he last saw her. Compared to the past, Chen Wan had matured considerably, gaining an alluring charm she previously lacked.
What puzzled Zhou Yuwen more, however, was why he would run into Chen Wan here.
Seeing that Zhou Yuwen was awake, Chen Wan looked slightly flustered. She stepped to the side, appearing hesitant, before finally speaking up. "You are awake?"
Zhou Yuwen gazed at the Chen Wan before him.
Her red qipao was a uniform specially issued to the tea house staff. The hem was notably short, only covering half of her thighs, leaving her pair of snow-white, beautiful legs completely exposed to his view.
As Zhou Yuwen stared at her, Chen Wan lowered her head.
"Why are you here?" Zhou Yuwen asked.
"I... I thought you knew,"
Chen Wan said.
"Knew?"
Chen Wan answered truthfully, explaining that she knew the tea house was hiring waitstaff beforehand, so she took a chance and submitted her resume.
To her surprise, she was hired.
"I always thought that you had forgiven me and were willing to give me another chance!"
Throughout her interaction with Zhou Yuwen, Chen Wan consistently used highly formal and respectful language.
Toward the end, she likely became overwhelmed with emotion and suddenly knelt right in front of Zhou Yuwen.
Her bare knees rested against the hard bluestone slabs, yet it was clear that she was genuinely terrified Zhou Yuwen would fire her upon discovering she was working at the tea house.
Unable to hold back her tears, Chen Wan wiped her eyes and told Zhou Yuwen how deeply she regretted everything that happened in the past.
"Only after graduation did I realize that I truly lack any real capability. It was always just you willing to give me opportunities, President Zhou. I worked in Shanghai for over a year and racked up more than seventy thousand in credit loans. I still have over fifty thousand left to pay off. I absolutely cannot lose this job. I am begging you, please do not chase me away!"
When people try to teach you a lesson, it never seems to stick.
But when life itself teaches you a lesson, you learn it instantly.
Zhou Yuwen sat in his rocking chair, gazing down at the girl kneeling before him with a face full of sincere repentance.
To be honest, Zhou Yuwen felt a bit emotional. He still clearly remembered the arrogant and overbearing Student Union president who used to stand before him.
At that thought, Zhou Yuwen said, "Senior Sister, get up first before we talk."
Hearing Zhou Yuwen call her Senior Sister, Chen Wan immediately panicked.
She hurriedly pleaded, "President Zhou, please do not call me Senior Sister. Here, you are the boss, and I am just a waitress working under you. I will do whatever you want me to do. How could you call me Senior Sister!"
Zhou Yuwen replied, "Then if I told you to take off your clothes, would you take them off?"
"?" Chen Wan froze, lifting her head to glance at Zhou Yuwen.
She saw Zhou Yuwen simply watching her with an amused expression, remaining completely silent. Without a moment of hesitation, Chen Wan immediately reached up and began unfastening the buttons of her qipao.
Just as she was undoing the second button.
Zhou Yuwen stopped her, saying, "Senior Sister, do not do this. I was just joking with you. I only wanted to tell you that even though I am the boss, I cannot just do whatever I want."
"Sigh, I still prefer the way you used to be."
Zhou Yuwen remarked with a sigh.
However, Chen Wan kept her head lowered and could not help but burst into tears once again.
Over the past few years, there was not a single moment when she did not regret her past decisions. This was especially true after she joined the tea house and learned that the planning company, under Pan Min's planning, had experienced smooth sailing and grown into the largest planning company in Jinling.
Every year, they handled hundreds of wedding planning events, large and small, raking in hundreds of millions in profit.
With such an impressive resume, Pan Min had even caught the attention of the media.
After all, Pan Min's personal journey was quite legendary—a resigned female teacher starting a successful business in Jinling!
Many of the tea house waitstaff, lacking the necessary foresight and understanding, could not see the hidden complexities behind it all. They simply felt Pan Min was incredibly capable and idolized her.
Yet, Chen Wan, who knew the truth behind the scenes, understood that everything Pan Min currently possessed was only hers because Zhou Yuwen allowed it.
And the person who was originally supposed to possess all of this should have been her.
She had even heard that Han Qian had been brought into Zhou Yuwen's harem.
She remembered that back then, Han Qian's relationship with Zhou Yuwen was not even as good as her own.
Later on, only after Zhou Yuwen had elevated Han Qian to fame did he take her under his wing.
If only she had just been honest and obedient back then, helping Zhou Yuwen run the planning company properly.
Zhou Yuwen might very well have given her a chance too.
She could only blame herself for being too young at the time.
She had understood absolutely nothing.
It was not until she had tasted the bitter hardships of society that Chen Wan realized just how precious and unforgiving an opportunity from Zhou Yuwen truly was.
Thus, no matter what Zhou Yuwen said now, Chen Wan remained submissive, bowing her head as she admitted her mistakes and confessed her ignorance, only hoping that President Zhou would give her one more chance.
Meanwhile, Zhou Yuwen was staring at her qipao, which had already had one button undone, revealing the snow-white skin around her collarbone.
Zhou Yuwen merely sighed, expressing that there was no need for his Senior Sister to go to such lengths.
"I suppose I also did not think things through back then. But since you are already working at the tea house, Senior Sister, just keep doing your best," Zhou Yuwen said.
Chen Wan nodded eagerly. After a moment of thought, she gently bit her lower lip and said, "Pre- President Zhou, could you please stop calling me Senior Sister?"
"I am your employee. If you do not mind, you can call me Xiao Wan, or even Wanwan," Chen Wan offered sincerely.
But Zhou Yuwen countered, "How could I do that? You are my Senior Sister, after all."
"President Zhou~" Hearing Zhou Yuwen say this made Chen Wan feel incredibly wronged. She was on the verge of tears, complaining that Zhou Yuwen was bullying her.
Zhou Yuwen chuckled a couple of times, patted Chen Wan's shoulder, and said, "Alright then, Xiao Wan. Straighten out your clothes and work hard."
Regarding Chen Wan's situation, Zhou Yuwen asked Pan Min about it later, inquiring why she had hired Chen Wan in the first place.
Pan Min explained that she saw Chen Wan had decent looks and possessed a certain amount of planning experience.
"She has been working at the tea house for nearly a year now, and she takes her work quite seriously. I was even planning to promote her to a management position. Why? Is there a problem?" When it came to human resources and management, Pan Min was still very attentive to Zhou Yuwen's opinions.
Zhou Yuwen shook his head, indicating there was no problem.
"Just go ahead with what you planned. I have no objections." Zhou Yuwen did not mention anything else to Pan Min.
The main reason was that a female like Chen Wan actually did have capability. After all, she had been a high-ranking executive in his previous life. Her life in this timeline had likely been completely thrown out of rhythm due to Zhou Yuwen's sudden appearance.
To begin with, Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing had elevated her to a height she should not have reached so early, which shifted her mentality. This led to her being unable to stay grounded after graduation, ultimately reducing her to her current state.
But her talent was genuine, and now she had experienced so many hardships.
He figured she had probably settled down and matured by now.
Zhou Yuwen planned to keep observing her for a while longer.
In the subsequent human resources appointments, Pan Min promoted Chen Wan to a new job role and gave her a raise.
Believing this was Zhou Yuwen's doing, Chen Wan felt an even deeper sense of gratitude toward him and became far more attentive when serving him afterward.
Judging from the previous incident where Zhou Yuwen told her to take off her clothes, it was obvious that she no longer cared about anything else, as long as she could return to his side.
However, a mistake was still a mistake.
One time, when Zhou Yuwen decided to stay overnight at the tea house, Chen Wan quietly slipped into his room.
Zhou Yuwen asked her what the matter was.
She replied, "President Zhou, the heater in the estate is not working very well today. I... I came to warm your feet for you."
"Warming feet?"
Zhou Yuwen was bewildered.
Yet he watched as Chen Wan knelt right in front of him.
And stuffed Zhou Yuwen's feet straight into her clothes.