Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 395: School Starts

Zhou Yuwen was initially on top of Tao Tian, but then he shifted their positions, having her lie on her side while he moved behind her. With one hand resting beside her and the other lifting her long leg, he continued his diligent efforts.Tao Tian had waited for over a month, and it certainly had not been in vain. That night, she seemed to sweat out everything she had held back over the past four weeks. Her cries echoed continuously as fragrant beads of sweat clung to her neck while she lay there.

Zhou Yuwen leaned over for a kiss, and Tao Tian closed her eyes, ready to meet his lips.

.

Regardless, Tao Tian ended up incredibly happy. She nestled completely into Zhou Yuwen's embrace, her front pressed tightly against his body, and shyly called him a scoundrel.

Zhou Yuwen felt completely innocent, thinking to himself, 'How am I a scoundrel now?'

"Before we met, you talked about it online every single day. Now that I've granted your wish, how did I suddenly become the bad guy?"

Pouting her small lips, Tao Tian muttered, "You are so annoying, stop talking!"

Zhou Yuwen hugged her close and yielded, saying alright, he would not say another word.

"Then it is time to go to sleep, right?"

Saying that, Zhou Yuwen gently patted Tao Tian's shoulder.

Tao Tian let out a soft murmur, and just like that, the night ended in blissful happiness.

With Zhou Yuwen's return to Jinling, work for the new year officially got back on track. The part-time factory work had concluded, but those factories had reaped tangible benefits during their collaboration with Zhou Yuwen. They all established solid connections with him, even cheerfully offering to treat him to drinks while asking if there was any chance he could introduce long-term workers to them.

Money was never an issue to discuss.

Zhou Yuwen explained that his company had not yet expanded into that specific area of business, but he would contact them if the need arose.

"Of course, President Zhou! Let us collaborate again when the opportunity presents itself!"

Every time the labor departments from various factories called Zhou Yuwen, they were practically beaming with joy through the phone.

The winter break jobs had ended, but with the February back-to-school season, the part-time job market across Jinling began bustling once more. Having successfully organized the winter break jobs, the position of Zhou Yuwen's group among Jinling's university students became entirely unshakeable. Now, Zhou Yuwen had thoroughly conquered the three university towns of Xianlin, Jiangning, and Pukou, organizing seventy percent of all part-time student jobs in the city.

Even without him taking any direct commissions, the profits from other various channels reached hundreds of thousands of yuan within a single week. Additionally, Su Qing's planning division and Qu Jing's part-time exhibition branch had fully rolled out their operations. These companies complemented each other perfectly—they had the manpower when needed and the planning expertise when required. Any single one of them could easily stand alone as a successful startup venture.

Of course, Zhou Yuwen's main focus was currently still on the food delivery sector. Over the past month, the two rival food delivery companies had taken advantage of his absence to aggressively expand in Jinling, even going so far as to poach riders in his university towns.

Judging by the results, they were quite successful. The Meituan boss in the Jinling district had even started popping champagne early, scoffing at the idea that a few university towns genuinely cared about something as trivial as brotherhood and loyalty.

They actually thought they could extort tens of millions from us?

All I have to do is raise the commission, and then let us see who those university students choose!

"And that Zhu Hong, claiming to be some high-end talent who studied abroad. Looking at her now, she is nothing special! Watch me handle this with just a few million!"

"Our real existential threat is still Ele.me coming over from the other side!"

These top executives did not even bother hiding their champagne celebrations from Zhu Hong. She had also attended this banquet, and it was unclear whether the company leaders were doing it deliberately or if they were just drunk.

They blurted out the matter right in front of Zhu Hong's face.

In response, Zhu Hong merely kept her head down, quietly sipping her wine by herself without saying a single word.

However, these company executives only enjoyed a few days of celebration before sudden news arrived.

"This is bad! President Wang! The other side has also raised their commissions, bringing them right up to our level!" a subordinate reported anxiously.

"What? Where did they get that much money?"

President Wang's face instantly turned ashen, and he quickly reviewed the document comparing the data.

He discovered that ever since Zhou Yuwen raised his commissions, the riders had defected en masse. Over in the university town, Meituan delivery was completely paralyzed, with absolutely no one left to deliver orders.

Stunned, President Wang furrowed his brows and muttered, "Just what is this Zhou Yuwen's background? How does he hold so much influence among the university students?"

In truth, it was not exactly a matter of influence. After all, the commissions were identical; the university students simply felt that Zhou Yuwen was more trustworthy.

"President Wang! What do we do now!"

A group of subordinates panicked.

They had worked so hard to poach those people, only for them to suddenly switch sides. Did that not mean all their initial investments were completely wasted?

President Wang was also panicking at this moment, but he insisted they should not worry.

"Add another third to the commission!" President Wang declared, gritting his teeth.

"Huh?"

This decision left everyone stunned. Doubling it previously was already a massive increase, but adding another third now meant these delivery riders would be making an absolute fortune!

But the problem was that there were no other options left. He had already thrown several million into this. If he backed out now, those millions would be lost for nothing.

Even as the head of the Jinling district, he could not justify squandering millions for nothing. He had no choice but to keep pouring money in!

Zhu Hong strongly opposed this move, stating that it would only drastically increase the project's costs!

President Wang glared at her and retorted, "If we do not do this, then you tell me what we should do!"

Zhu Hong argued that they should cut their losses immediately, re-evaluate Zhou Yuwen's Xianlin Delivery, and stabilize the situation. Based on the data, the users in the university zones clearly depended much more heavily on Zhou Yuwen's food delivery company. This was a reality they had to admit.

"Hmph, what do you mean they depend on Zhou Yuwen? Users just chase benefits and avoid losses. We have already sunk massive costs into this. If we try to negotiate peace with Zhou Yuwen now, wouldn't all our previous investments go down the drain?"

"Besides, Meituan is a soon-to-be publicly listed company with a valuation nearing ten billion. Why would we be afraid of some student's startup? If it's a price war they want, we will fight it to the bitter end! Let's see who flinches first!"

The price war raged on furiously. Zhu Hong had originally intended to invite Zhou Yuwen for a round of golf, but due to the sudden hostility between the two sides, he never showed up.

Zhu Hong specifically called Zhou Yuwen and asked, "Since when is President Zhou someone who breaks his promises?"

Zhou Yuwen explained that he wasn't breaking a promise, but merely avoiding suspicion.

"Sister Zhu, we are in our respective positions, so we can only act in the interests of our own companies." Over the past few days, Zhou Yuwen's life had been extremely unpretentious—he was either in Tao Tian's bed or in Qu Jing's bed.

In any case, Zhou Yuwen was ensuring an equal distribution of favor.

When he was with Tao Tian, she would lie prone over him at an angle, her head resting near his lower abdomen while using her "big thunder" to give him a massage.

Occasionally, she would also use her small mouth.

Meanwhile, when he was with Qu Jing...

One could only say that Qu Jing was getting increasingly adventurous; she even brought out a small leather whip.

Naturally, it was all just roleplay, not actual beatings.

This time, as Zhu Hong was speaking with him on the phone, the one positioned beneath Zhou Yuwen was Tao Tian.

Hearing this, Zhu Hong couldn't help but chuckle softly. "President Zhou, that doesn't sound quite right. I act for my company, but you act for yourself. I am just an employee, whereas you are the boss."

Zhou Yuwen replied that he was barely a boss at all, estimating that his entire net worth combined wouldn't equal hers.

Dragging her freshly painted red manicured nails against the glass, Zhu Hong remained noncommittal to his claim. "If it is just a simple gathering between friends, surely you can still come out?"

"Oh? What does Sister Zhu mean by that?" Zhou Yuwen asked curiously.

Zhu Hong said it would just be siblings getting together. "Since you returned to Jinling, I haven't even had the chance to welcome you back properly. Why don't we set a time and meet up?"

On the other end of the line, Zhou Yuwen pondered for a moment before saying, "Hmm, I really need to think about this."

Without waiting for Zhu Hong to finish, he added, "I have to stop talking now, Sister Zhu. I have other things to attend to, so I'll hang up first!"

With those words spoken.

Zhou Yuwen promptly hung up the phone.

At the very last moment before the call disconnected, Zhu Hong vaguely thought she heard a girl's voice.

She was left utterly speechless, thinking to herself about what a bad guy he was. 'Young men certainly are full of energy!'

The several food delivery companies were fiercely battling it out. Previously, it had only been Meituan and Ele.me, but now an obscure competitor named Xianlin Delivery had suddenly joined the fray. Because of the frantic turf war over the food delivery market, this small company had unexpectedly drawn significant attention.

By late February, the major universities had gradually resumed classes. In the season of warm spring breezes and blooming flowers, cherry blossoms at some campuses had even opened prematurely. Meanwhile, unable to endure the dreariness of winter any longer, some female university students had already donned short skirts and tight shorts well before March arrived, showing off their beautiful legs as they swaggered across campus.

If nothing else, Zheng Yanyan, who was now acting as the vice head of the Arts Department, was the most striking. She wore a red short-sleeved top paired with a white pleated skirt, and her long legs were adorned with white cotton socks.

She looked incredibly eye-catching while organizing the back-to-school events.

As for Su Qing, who was already widely recognized as the vice president of the Student Union, her style of dressing up was slightly more mature this semester. The transition from winter to spring was always the most chaotic time for fashion.

While Zheng Yanyan was sporting short sleeves, Su Qing still wore a pastel yellow sweater. Her oval face showed no emotion, projecting a rather authoritative aura.

Shen Yu, on the other hand, exuded a tranquil, scholarly elegance. She wore a brown sweater vest over a white shirt, quietly holding a book in her hands.

Lu Lin riding her motorcycle through the campus was undoubtedly a stunning sight as well. Dressed in black trousers and a green windbreaker, she drew a crowd of onlookers no matter where she parked her bike.

Zhou Yuwen soon attended his class meeting as well.

After a semester apart, the students had matured quite a bit.

Some had changed their hairstyles, while a few girls had even dyed their hair.

When Zhou Yuwen first walked into the classroom, the first person he noticed was Liu Yue.

It was not that Zhou Yuwen was paying special attention to her.

Rather, it was because Liu Yue immediately took the initiative to greet him. "Ah! Boss! You are here!?"

Zhou Yuwen did not recognize her at first. When he finally realized it was Liu Yue, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Not bad, Liu Yue, you even dyed your hair?"

"Hehe! Is it pretty?"

Not only had she dyed it, but she had also gotten a perm. Liu Yue previously had shoulder-length hair, but now she sported a curly, short haircut. To be honest, it didn't really align with the typical straight guy aesthetic.

But young girls simply liked this kind of style.

The reason Liu Yue was so enthusiastic toward Zhou Yuwen was that she had directly benefited from the ongoing food delivery price war. In the very beginning, delivery commissions were only one or two yuan.

But over the past few days, thanks to the chaotic battle between the companies, the commission for a single order had shot up to almost five yuan!

This was all thanks to Boss Zhou.

Liu Yue was naturally thrilled. Acting as if claiming credit, she boasted, "Zhou Yuwen, when Meituan came to recruit people, several friends around me left, but I stayed! I stayed because I knew you were definitely better than them!"

The truth was, Liu Yue had also experienced hesitation about leaving.

After all, the other side was offering double what Zhou Yuwen paid.

Fortunately, she had only debated it for a day before Zhou Yuwen's commission rates were also raised.

Seeing Liu Yue's silly expression, Zhou Yuwen smiled and said, "On behalf of the company, I thank you."

Liu Yue giggled, but then quickly asked, "But why is your rate one cent lower than the other food delivery companies? You aren't lacking money for that one cent, right?"

During the first doubling of rates, Zhou Yuwen had matched it exactly.

But the second time, the opposing side suddenly increased it by a third.

At that point, both sides had reached the point of no return.

Jiang Xinyi had even taken the initiative to ask Zhou Yuwen if they should match the increase.

Jiang Xinyi was truly fierce; her family was certainly not lacking money, and she even told Zhou Yuwen to just ask her if he needed funds!

Hearing this left Zhou Yuwen deeply moved, but he immediately smiled and declined the offer.

"I have enough cash on hand. However, we won't match their one-third increase. We will make our rate exactly one cent lower than theirs."

"One cent lower?" Jiang Xinyi couldn't understand.

Zhou Yuwen explained that these guys thought they were fighting a price war.

"And the reason I stay one cent lower is to prove that as long as my rates aren't drastically different from theirs, the students will still choose me. If you don't believe it, just tell them to wait and see."

Jiang Xinyi didn't really grasp the logic behind this, but since Zhou Yuwen said so...

She could only follow his instructions.

The results were obvious. With a difference of a mere single cent, everyone still chose Zhou Yuwen.

Of course, there were a few who felt that every cent mattered and would add up over time. But within the student community, this specific group of people would soon find themselves pulled aside for a stern talk by the fiercely protective Liu Shuo.

'Damn it! Have you forgotten how well we treated you before?'

'Where would you have gotten a job without us?'

'What exactly are you trying to pull now?'

'Fine, I won't use violence against you, but the rest of us will isolate you. Traitor!'

This tactic successfully rallied a solid chunk of the workforce. Granted, there were always a few stubborn contrarians who refused to change, but of course, Zhou Yuwen never intended to force them to.

And now, Liu Yue was asking Zhou Yuwen why he paid one cent less than the competition.

Zhou Yuwen smiled and countered, "Even though I pay one cent less than the others, would you still choose me?"

Under Zhou Yuwen's earnest gaze, this seemingly bold girl actually found herself feeling shy. Not daring to meet his eyes, she answered, "I would definitely choose you! You are my friend after all!"

Zhou Yuwen smiled softly. "Thank you for your trust."