Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 491: Vanity Fair

Jiang Xinyi had always been a carefree rich young lady who never truly understood what love was. Even though she had dated You Changjin in the past, she never felt that emotions could disrupt her peace of mind. In fact, she had assumed that dating was simply supposed to be like that.Because of this, she could never understand why some people would go to such extremes and act as if they could not live without love.

It was not until she met Zhou Yuwen that everything changed. Thinking about it now, her tears would fall, utterly unable to control herself.

She realized just how beautiful her time with Zhou Yuwen had been. The two of them had wandered through streets and alleys together, discovering delicious foods hidden in corners she had never noticed before.

Things like duck blood vermicelli soup and traditional Sichuan hot pot.

After breaking up with Zhou Yuwen, every little detail and every small moment felt as vivid as if it had just happened yesterday.

And when Jiang Xinyi finally realized that these moments could never happen again, she could no longer hold back her tears, letting them stream down her face in heavy drops.

In the two weeks since her breakup with Zhou Yuwen, Jiang Xinyi had locked herself in her room. Whenever she thought of him, she would bury her head under her pillow. Right now, she had completely lost the appearance of a refined rich young lady and even looked somewhat unkempt.

Sometimes, Jiang Xinyi wondered if she had been a bit too stubborn back then.

If she had just been a little more generous, perhaps Zhou Yuwen would not have left her.

'Why was I so stupid?' she thought. 'If I hadn't walked away then, Zhou Yuwen wouldn't have broken up with me.'

Truthfully, there had been many times when Jiang Xinyi felt an overwhelming urge to give Zhou Yuwen a phone call, just to ask how he was doing.

But she simply could not let go of her pride.

Back in the auditorium, Jiang Xinyi had made herself perfectly clear. She had declared that as long as Zhou Yuwen dared to respond to Su Qing, she would break up with him!

Those were the words Jiang Xinyi had spoken herself. Asking her to lower her head and seek out Zhou Yuwen now was something she absolutely could not do.

People were often like this; they rarely dared to speak harshly to an outsider.

Yet, they would push all the blame onto their closest family members. Just like Jiang Xinyi right now. She felt that the only reason she and Zhou Yuwen had ended up this way was entirely because of Liu Jing.

It was Liu Jing who had constantly told her to put on airs and act aloof.

She and Zhou Yuwen were doing perfectly fine, but her mother had insisted on testing him.

Even when Zhou Yuwen needed capital investment for the Shared Bicycle Project, Liu Jing had acted reluctant and coy, claiming she wanted Zhou Yuwen to realize he could not succeed without her.

But look at the situation now!

Now Zhou Yuwen had simply broken up with her directly!

At the end of the day!

It was all Liu Jing's fault!

Every time Liu Jing came into the room to offer her persuasion, Jiang Xinyi would yell and throw a tantrum at her mother. Jiang Xinyi even felt that if it had not been for her mother, she never would have dated Zhou Yuwen in the first place.

'And if I hadn't dated Zhou Yuwen, how could I be in so much pain right now!?' she thought bitterly.

Seeing her daughter in such a state, Liu Jing actually felt her heart ache. She went over to hug her daughter, gently telling her to stop crying.

"No one is allowed to hurt my daughter!" she declared.

"I will make him kneel down and beg you for your forgiveness!" Liu Jing promised Jiang Xinyi with utmost seriousness.

Hearing these words, a sliver of hope unexpectedly bloomed in Jiang Xinyi's heart.

It was not that she wanted Zhou Yuwen to beg her.

She simply wanted Zhou Yuwen to return to her side.

So, Jiang Xinyi asked, "Really?"

Liu Jing gave a solemn, affirming nod.

Of course it was true. That brat from out of town, Zhou Yuwen, had leveraged his relationship with her daughter to utilize so much of the Jiang Family Estate's influence. Did he think he had made it big now? Just because he had clung to Baidu's thighs and opened several branch offices, did he really think the Jiang family was made of soft clay that could be molded however he pleased?

'Do you think Xinyi is just like those other girls you dumped?' Liu Jing thought furiously.

Wearing a cold face, Liu Jing genuinely planned to make Zhou Yuwen pay the price at any cost.

In reality, the Jiang family's assistance to Zhou Yuwen had been limited, but it was undeniable that they had offered some help. For instance, when he sold his food delivery company, the Jiang family had indeed stood by him to boost his credibility.

After the sale of the food delivery company, Liu Jing had also been highly active in acting as a bridge, helping Zhou Yuwen network with many successful businessmen in Jinling. More recently, with the Shared Bicycle Project that Zhou Yuwen was running, if not for Liu Jing's connections, there was no way he could have smoothly distributed those bicycles across the entire city.

But now, Liu Jing intended to unite all of her connections to completely blackball Zhou Yuwen.

Truthfully, Zhou Yuwen was already considered to have a small amount of capital in Jinling. Everyone could see that with his abilities, given time, he would certainly grow into a major financial titan. Any normal person would choose to befriend him rather than make him an enemy.

Even if Liu Jing wanted to rally others to blacklist Zhou Yuwen, she would have to sacrifice a significant amount of her own interests to do so.

However, the current situation was that Zhou Yuwen had slapped her family's face.

If she did not make Zhou Yuwen feel the pain, everyone would treat her as a laughingstock.

Thus, she set aside some time and hosted a special dinner gathering for the businessmen and capitalists she had previously introduced to Zhou Yuwen, as well as those who had some ongoing dealings with him. This included several leaders from the chamber of commerce, along with executives from Ele.me and Meituan.

Naturally, Zhu Hong was also on the guest list.

Actually, Zhu Hong herself felt quite perplexed after receiving the invitation.

These local powers in Jinling had always been at odds with outside forces.

Why would they do something so unprecedented as to invite her to dinner today?

She wondered what kind of scheme they were playing at.

'Regardless, I might as well go and see,' she decided.

And so, Zhu Hong picked out a reasonably thoughtful gift and headed to the private estate where Liu Jing was hosting the dinner.

By the time Zhu Hong arrived, everyone else was already there. She noticed that CEO Wang, the head of Ele.me, had also attended.

She offered him a polite smile.

The head of Ele.me responded in kind, returning a smiling nod.

At this moment, the dinner gathering had not officially begun, but Liu Jing was already casually chatting with several people nearby.

Liu Jing was over ten years older than Zhu Hong, but wealth had a way of preserving youth. Liu Jing only looked about five or six years older than her. She had maintained her figure exceptionally well. Dressed in a black qipao with her hair elegantly pinned up, she possessed a truly captivating charm.

Listening to the crowd chatting, Zhu Hong heard someone ask Liu Jing a question.

"Hey, President Liu, why the sudden dinner invitation out of nowhere? You're not showing undue courtesy for no reason just to support that future son-in-law of yours again, are you?"

"Exactly! With such an outstanding son-in-law, President Liu definitely needs to bring him out to show off!"

Someone chimed in with a teasing joke, and the crowd burst into laughter.

However, Liu Jing could not bring herself to laugh at those words. She stated indifferently, "Zhou Yuwen certainly has the ability, but his ego is far too high. Truth be told, I was a bit too hasty back then."

As soon as everyone heard the tone of her voice, they immediately sensed that something was amiss.

"President Liu, what do you mean by that? Did that young man do something wrong?" "Is he trying to flip the heavens? Without you, does he really think anyone else would acknowledge him?"

Very quickly, someone managed to figure out what was on Liu Jing's mind and took the lead in steering the conversation.

Immediately after, the group began to act filled with righteous indignation.

The general consensus was that this Zhou Yuwen might have a little bit of talent, but what era were they living in? Did he forget who he was just because he had a shred of capability?

"If it weren't for his status as President Liu's son-in-law, does he really think we would pay him any attention?"

These local businessmen were exactly what people in ancient times would call the local gentry and nouveau riche. Relying on their years of operations and the wealth accumulated by their predecessors, they possessed a certain sense of superiority, completely turning a deaf ear to matters outside their own bubble. Zhu Hong listened for a while, feeling nothing but profound speechlessness.

Zhu Hong noticed that some people among them were actually aware of what Zhou Yuwen was doing in New York. CEO Wang of Ele.me, for instance, was merely sneering coldly as he listened to these people talk.

There were other smart individuals whose expressions clearly showed they knew about Zhou Yuwen's exploits abroad. Yet, they deliberately chose to stay silent. After all, who didn't enjoy watching a good show?

The ones making the biggest fuss were actually just a specific few. These people had likely harbored a grudge against Zhou Yuwen for a long time and wanted to seize this opportunity to blow things out of proportion.

A few of them put their heads together and declared that they would blacklist Zhou Yuwen, making it impossible for him to secure a foothold in Jinling!

Hearing this, Zhu Hong couldn't help but feel speechless. 'Where do you even get the confidence to blacklist Zhou Yuwen?' she thought.

'He has already made over a billion yuan in New York in just half a month. Who knows what he'll achieve in the future? And you think you can stop him with just your measly influence?'

Watching the scene, it was obvious that Liu Jing intended to use their mouths to add fuel to the fire.

In the end, they even started plotting to drag Meituan and Ele.me into their scheme.

The implication was simple: back when Zhou Yuwen sold Xianlin Delivery, he had essentially played both of their companies like monkeys, forcing them into a bidding war. In the end, he turned around and sold it to Baidu, thereby bringing a powerful new competitor into their market.

Who could swallow such an insult?

"Why don't you cooperate with us this time?"

"We will give you our full support to drive Baidu Delivery out of Jinling. What do you say!?"

Hearing this, CEO Wang of Ele.me simply laughed it off. He replied, "Isn't doing business always like this? You take the stage, then I take my turn. There's no such thing as an overnight grudge. We in the internet industry are different from you folks in brick-and-mortar businesses. We focus on integration—you are in me, and I am in you. Who knows, maybe we'll have opportunities to collaborate with President Zhou in the future."

CEO Wang was smart, after all. He knew that although the two percent of shares Zhou Yuwen currently held wasn't a massive amount, he was still a minor shareholder of Vipshop. They were bound to cross paths in the future, so why would he bother mixing with this group of shortsighted fools?

These people might have had poor foresight, but they were certainly full of petty schemes. The moment they heard Ele.me signaling an intention to back out, they immediately sensed that something was off.

Liu Jing shifted her gaze toward Zhu Hong, only to find her holding a wine glass, seemingly lost in thought.

Thus, Liu Jing took the initiative to strike up a conversation. "President Zhu, you haven't said a word since you walked in. Are you perhaps unaccustomed to the atmosphere here in Jinling?"

"Ah?" Zhu Hong voiced her surprise.

She quickly followed up with a smile, indicating that was not the case.

She chuckled and said, "Just as CEO Wang mentioned earlier, our thinking in the internet sector might be a bit different from those of you in physical industries. Personally, I think it's perfectly normal for young people to have a little friction when dating. It's best if we adults avoid interfering in their affairs."

"President Zhou's abilities are truly outstanding. I just received news last night that he's been doing some stock trading on Wall Street recently and has already raked in over a billion. I actually assumed that it was you, President Liu, backing him behind the scenes. But judging from what you just said, it seems this matter has absolutely nothing to do with you?"

After finishing her sentence, Zhu Hong looked over at Liu Jing with a cheerful, squinting smile.

Liu Jing's expression couldn't help but change drastically.

It wasn't just Liu Jing; the faces of everyone present shifted dramatically.

"What? Earned how much!? Over a billion!?"

Hearing that astronomical figure, everyone's hearts trembled. For these local tycoons, even those with the smallest net worths had at least a billion or two, while the larger players boasted fortunes of seven or eight billion.

However, all of that money was tied up in physical assets; they couldn't just casually pull out that kind of cash.

But Zhou Yuwen had made a billion in one fell swoop!?

'Are you kidding me?'

'What kind of stock trading brings in over a billion?'

The crowd immediately swarmed around Zhu Hong, bombarding her with rapid-fire questions all at once.

Zhu Hong replied, "Why would I joke about something like this? You guys probably don't follow the internet industry much, but don't any of you read Vipshop's public announcements?"

"President Zhou is currently a shareholder of Vipshop."

"I initially thought that President Liu was the one who pulled the strings and made the connections. But from the looks of it now, it seems President Liu had no idea." After explaining, Zhu Hong turned her gaze back to Liu Jing, still wearing that same cheerful smile.

Vipshop was affiliated with the Zhejiang business consortium. While they did have some dealings with the Jiangsu province conglomerates, it wasn't much, and the two factions were even somewhat at odds with each other.

'What on earth is going on here?'

"He's just an inexperienced youth! How did he inexplicably hook up with the Zhejiang businessmen? Sister, are you really not the one brokering this connection?"

Someone was already questioning Liu Jing.

A few even began to wonder if they had completely misunderstood Liu Jing's intentions earlier.

'You woman, you sit here badmouthing your son-in-law on one hand, while secretly helping him rake in massive fortunes on the other?'

'Are you trying to set up some kind of entrapment scheme against us?'

"President Liu, your son-in-law is so capable. What exactly did you mean by those words you said earlier?"

"Ah! Our President Liu just wanted to lightly discipline her son-in-law, but deep down, she still clearly dotes on the younger generation. Look at us, our good intentions made us say the wrong things!"

"Exactly, exactly! He's just an inexperienced youth; how could he possibly have that kind of ability on his own? Without our President Liu, he'd probably have trouble even leaving the country!"

"Sister, why haven't we seen Xinyi around? Did Xinyi travel to New York with him?"

"For sure. That's got to be it."

"Sister, I had no idea your son-in-law was so incredible, making over a billion in stock trading! Did you invite us out this time to play the classic 'criticize first to praise later' trick, and then take us all along for the ride to make some money together?"

"Of course she is! Sister Jing, you've really picked up a treasure! You can't forget about us. Take us with you to conquer the international markets! Just say the word—whether you need capital or connections, I'm fully on board!"

In an instant, the atmosphere underwent a bizarre 180-degree turn. Aside from those who rushed to offer eager flattery, the rest were frantically pulling out their phones to search for the news after hearing the revelation.

Meanwhile, Liu Jing's face had gone deathly pale, completely drained of color.

The whole reason she had organized this dinner gathering was to blacklist Zhou Yuwen.

But only now did she discover that Zhou Yuwen had unknowingly raked in over a billion?

And he had done it all the way across the ocean?

At that distance, her reach was entirely too short to affect him. More importantly, the people standing right in front of her actually thought Zhou Yuwen was still her son-in-law, and they wanted her to lead them in making money?

What kind of sick joke was this?

Right as Liu Jing found herself completely at a loss for words.

On the other side of the ocean, Zhou Yuwen was merrily sharing drinks and conversation with the newly minted tycoon, Liu Dongqiang.

Liu Dongqiang had specifically sought out Zhou Yuwen this time, and it certainly wasn't an instance of showing undue courtesy for no reason.

He genuinely believed that Zhou Yuwen was a legendary figure. How on earth could someone be so incredibly skilled at stock trading?

His core intention boiled down to: 'Little brother, look, you're so amazing at the stock market. Could you possibly...?'

'Could you possibly take your older brother along for the ride?'

"Come on, let's skip the extra talk. Your older brother will take the first drink!"

After three rounds of drinks and tasting a variety of dishes.

Some words were much easier to say under the guise of alcohol.

"I actually do have the intention of starting a private equity fund. Brother Dong, if you're willing, you can invest a little capital into it. I won't promise anything outrageous, but a fifteen percent return in a year shouldn't be a problem."

When Liu Dongqiang used his mild intoxication to voice his true intentions, Zhou Yuwen calmly laid out his own thoughts.

The world bustles with activity, all driven by the flow of mutual interests and profits.

His battle with Vipshop had successfully established his reputation.

So, shouldn't Zhou Yuwen leverage that momentum, organize external funds, and build up a massive multi-billion-yuan pool of capital?