After Zhou Zheng finished his meeting at Xinhuang, he headed to the parking lot and saw two people standing beside his car. One was Guan Jing and the other Su Su. He played with his keys while he stared curiously at the two women. “What are the two of you doing next to my car?”
“Mr. Zhou!” Guan Jing and Su Su both recognized Zhou Zheng. After all, he was such an important person to Fu Chengyan, so they naturally would know.
Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow, “You’re looking for me?”
“Mr. Zhou, could we have a word with you please?” Guan Jing knew how to conduct herself, and after looking around her, she got right to the point. “It’s regarding Shengyuan’s annual meeting. I’d like to discuss some things with you, Mr. Zhou.”
“Shengyuan’s annual meeting? Ms. Guan sure knows a lot of things!” Zhou Zheng gave a small smile while playing with his keys. “How did you know about it?”
“I naturally have my ways. I was just hoping to hear whether the attendance list has been confirmed?” Guan Jing offered a red packet to Zhou Zheng while saying this. Zhou Zheng smiled but didn’t reach for the red packet. Instead, he looked at Su Su, who was standing beside Guan Jing. “Aren’t you the one who’s always around Ms. Shi?”
“Mr. Zhou, my name is Su Su. I’m now working as her assistant,” explained Su Su.
“Assistant?” wondered Zhou Zheng. “With such good traits, isn’t it a shame for you to be just an assistant?”
Su Su was actually quite pretty and even on the same level as Shi Wei. The only difference was Su Su kept a low profile and didn’t style herself as flashily as Shi Wei, so naturally wasn’t as eye-catching as her.
Su Su’s eyes darted when she heard what Zhou Zheng said, but quickly answered, “Mr. Zhou is exaggerating. As for Shengyuan’s annual meeting…”
“How about this. It’s nearly lunch hour, and this isn’t a great place to have a discussion.” Zhou Zheng looked at his watch and continued, “I have a two-hour break, so I’ll see what the two of you have to offer to persuade me.”
Zhou Zheng opened his car door and asked, “Will the two of you be taking my car or…?”
“That won’t be necessary, we have our own ride.” Su Su pointed to the car. Zhou Zheng looked to where she was pointing, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “Ms. Shi is here as well?”
“Yes, Mr. Zhou.”
Zhou Zheng grinned lightly. “Might as well. I know of a nice restaurant nearby. If we’re going to talk, then we should have a proper conversation,” said Zhou Zheng, before getting in his car.
Su Su and Guan Jing looked at each other, then headed towards their own car.
Shi Wei had been observing from inside the car, and upon seeing Su Su and Guan Jing, hurriedly asked, “What did Zhou Zheng say?”
“Zhou Zheng agreed to have a conversation, but let us have lunch first. Are you joining us?” Su Su asked. Though Shi Wei doesn’t always listen to Guan Jing, she listened well to Su Su. The two of them had been discussing about ways to break the news to Shi Wei while they were walking toward the car.
Shi Wei frowned, “Have lunch with him?” To be honest, Shi Wei wasn’t too willing to dine with Zhou Zheng. Even though he was Fu Chengyan’s assistant, at the end of the day, he was still just an assistant, and Shi Wei couldn’t bear to lower herself to dine with him.
Su Su and Guan Jing looked at each other before Guan Jing suggested, “If that’s the case, Su Su and I will go and check things out first and see what Zhou Zheng’s thoughts are. If he agrees then that’ll be best; and if he doesn’t, then we’ll just think of another way.”
“Guan Jing is right. We definitely have to go to this lunch today since we’re the ones asking for a favor. Wei, if you can’t go, Guan Jing and I will head there first.”
“Alright,” nodded Shi Wei. She grabbed Su Su’s hand and said, “As expected, you know me well. I still need to head to Xicheng’s office later, so I won’t join the two of you. You can just drop me off at the intersection up ahead.”
“Sure!”
Shi Wei put on sunglasses and disguised herself before getting off the car, and only then did Su Su stop smiling and quietly sat back.
Guan Jing noticed Su Su’s change in demeanor and asked, “Aren’t you good friends with Shi Wei?”
Su Su turned around, “Yes, we’re good friends! Don’t you know, we’ve always been really good friends!” But the expression on Su Su’s face didn’t match her words at all.
Guan Jing raised an eyebrow and guessed that Su Su was hiding something, but it wasn’t something of her concern. “I’m not concerned with what goes on between you and Shi Wei as long as it doesn’t affect me.”
“Don’t you worry, I won’t get into any conflicts with her. After all, I’m Wei’s good friend. All that I do is in her best interest!”
Guan Jing looked at Su Su with a mixed expression and slightly shook her head, but didn’t say anything further.
Their car tailed behind Zhou Zheng’s the whole way, and after arriving at the restaurant, both got off the car.
Zhou Zheng was leaning against his car when he noticed that only Su Su and Guan Jing were there, but he didn’t seem too surprised.
Both saw that Zhou Zheng wasn’t too concerned, so they wisely didn’t say anything regarding Shi Wei and hurried after him.
“Mr. Zhou, you’re here?”
The manager of the restaurant recognized Zhou Zheng and knew that he was someone close to Fu Chengyan. He quickly brought the three of them to a private room. “We reserved this room for you. Will it be okay?”
“Yes, that’s fine. You can hand the menu to the two ladies.” Zhou Zheng pulled the chairs for both women and waited for them to be seated like the perfect gentleman, before indicating for them to place their orders.
While Guan Jing and Su Su still felt reserved around Zhou Zheng, he was feeling pretty relaxed. After seeing that they had finished placing their orders, Zhou Zheng stated, “Actually, even if the two of you hadn’t come to find me, I would have also made my decision.”
Su Su and Guan Jing both raised their heads, anticipating Zhou Zheng’s further elaboration.
Zhou Zheng grinned, “Shi Wei has good traits, and her image is good. Seeing that she’s also highly valued by Xinhuang, having her attend Shengyuan’s annual meeting would naturally be a good fit.”
Guan Jing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. “You’re a visionary, Mr. Zhou!”
Zhou Zheng raised an eyebrow, “Oh really?”
Guan Jing suddenly panicked, “Is… Shi Wei not shortlisted?”
“It’s not that. But Ms. Guan should understand that I’m just an assistant. So while I can submit a list for consideration, the person who makes the final decision is still Mr. Fu.”
“But hasn’t Mr. Fu delegated this to Mr. Zhou?” Guan Jing had also just found this out, and it was why she had wanted to have a conversation with Zhou Zheng in the first place.
The silly Shi Wei might not know the true capabilities of Zhou Zheng, but Guan Jing had spent time learning about the higher-ups in Xinhuang. That was how Guan Jing found out that Fu Chengyan barely tended to matters at Xinhuang and the decision-making all fell on Zhou Zheng.
So basically, whatever resources were planned for the artists at Xinhuang had to get approval from Zhou Zheng, while Fu Chengyan would not necessarily even be aware. So Zhou Zheng’s identity was far more than just that of Fu Chengyan’s assistant.
Zhou Zheng smiled, “It seems like Ms. Guan is quite familiar with Xinhuang’s human resources.”
While Zhou Zheng’s words seemed normal on the surface, Guan Jing could read between the lines. She quickly explained, “Mr. Zhou, I didn’t mean anything by that. Shi Wei is my artist, so naturally, I wish for her to do well.”
Zhou Zheng nodded. “Go back and wait for good news then, Ms. Guan.”
Guan Jing’s eyes shone when she heard that. “Thank you, Mr. Zhou!”
“No need to thank me.” After all, this was a direct order from Fu Chengyan. He had made it clear that Shi Wei was to attend the annual meeting. But as to the reason behind it, Zhou Zheng could only guess it had something to do with Shi Nuan.
Guan Jing and Su Su were both meticulous, so not much else was said during lunch. Guan Jing left right after to tend to some urgent business, while Su Su stayed on. She looked at Zhou Zheng hesitantly.
Zhou Zheng put down the napkin he was using and asked, “Ms. Su has something to say?”
“Mr. Zhou, why are you giving Shi Wei such an opportunity? If she goes, she’ll become a hot commodity in the entertainment industry. She’ll…”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Zhou Zheng asked Su Su in return. “She’s your best friend, don’t you want her to become more popular?”
Su Su bit her lips and clenched her fists, not even realizing her nails were biting into her palm.
Of course, not! Why would I want Shi Wei to become more popular? All I wanted was for Shi Wei to fall into a deep abyss and never find a way out. Otherwise, why would I sacrifice working in my family’s business and choose to work for Shi Wei as a lowly assistant? I had to endure all this just so I can personally witness Shi Wei’s destruction, step-by-step.
Shi Wei didn’t deserve a life of smooth-sailing. Especially not when she used me and Anna as stepping stones to reach her success.
Zhou Zheng could see the fiery hatred in Su Su’s eyes. He grinned and passed a napkin to her. Su Su looked up in surprise, only to realize that she had been crying.
Su Su reached for the napkin and quickly wiped her tears. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have let Mr. Zhou seen that.”
“Ms. Su, a person should look ahead. After all, there is such a thing as karma.”
“But I can’t wait any longer!” Su Su was being truthful. She was in much pain, seeing how Shi Wei was enjoying more and more success each day.
“There are some things that are worth waiting for. Would you rather see her fail now or have her stand at the peak of success before suddenly crashing down? Which scenario do you think would cause her more pain?”
Su Su looked up in disbelief. “Mr. Zhou, do you have a grudge against Shi Wei?” Why is Zhou Zheng being so cruel towards her?
Zhou Zheng didn’t say anything and just tapped his fingers on the table. “I’ll contact Ms. Su when the chance arises, and you too should let me know if anything happens. You should know, you are the one who willingly initiated this partnership. I didn’t force you.”
“I understand. I will report all of Shi Wei’s matters to you, but you too mustn’t forget what you promised me.” Seeing that Zhou Zheng wasn’t willing to share anything more on the matter, Su Su decided to not press him further. As long as they had the same goal, then it was good enough. She would find out the reason behind their animosity sooner or later.
“Don’t worry. Since I made a promise to you, I’ll naturally uphold it. You can be sure to expect some good news!” Zhou Zheng got up to leave but quickly turned back around. “Oh! Ms. Su has some great traits too. Don’t you want to give the entertainment industry a try yourself?”
