The room was well soundproofed, and Zhou Zhou slept well that night. He stretched and woke up to find himself alone in the bedroom. After changing his clothes and washing up, he went downstairs and smelled the aroma of food.
Duan Yun sat elegantly at the dining table, sipping her porridge. In the kitchen, another figure was busy at work; it was probably the Fu family's cook, since a wealthy woman like Duan Yun couldn't possibly cook every meal.
Seeing Zhou Zhou come downstairs, Duan Yun put down her bowl and spoon and called out, "Xiao Zhou, come sit next to Mom, Mom will serve you some porridge."
After Zhou Zhou sat down, he glanced around the restaurant but couldn't find Fu Hengzhi.
Duan Yun saw the whole scene and said with a smile, "Xiao Heng went to the company. He just left. Your dad went with him. There's a board meeting this afternoon."
Although Fu Hongjiang handed over most of the Fu family's businesses to Fu Hengzhi, he himself remained the company's chairman, only stepping down to the second line, leaving all affairs to Fu Hengzhi, the vice chairman and president.
"Oh, oh." Zhou Zhou lowered his head and drank his porridge. He had accidentally fallen asleep when the other party called yesterday to talk about terminating the contract. He had planned to ask how things were arranged, but now it seemed he could only call the other party later to ask.
Duan Yun looked at his obedient appearance as he ate his porridge with his head down, smiled, leaned closer and whispered, "Were you exhausted last night? Xiao Heng told us not to wake you when we came down, to let you wake up naturally."
"Cough cough!"
Zhou Zhou choked on a mouthful of porridge and quickly pulled out a tissue from the drawer to cover her mouth. After the choking subsided, her eyes were full of tears, and her face was flushed red. She looked at Duan Yun and let out an uncertain "Ah".
What is that?
Zhou Zhou has fair skin and a cute, youthful appearance. Her flushed face made her seem shy.
"Hehe~" Duan Yun, a mother whose son is almost thirty, smiled playfully at Zhou Zhou, "Mom knows, Mom knows, Mom won't say anything more."
No, Auntie, what do you know? Nothing happened between your son and me. We went to bed before midnight, or rather, to rest.
Zhou Zhou lowered her head, her eyes wide open, blinking rapidly, conveying only two words.
Holy crap.
Zhou Zhou ate quickly, wanting nothing more than to leave this place of trouble.
After finishing his meal, Zhou Zhou walked in the courtyard outside the old house, tugging at the low bushes and touching the wildflower buds, before making a phone call to Fu Hengzhi.
The call was answered quickly, and a woman's voice came from the other end.
"Hello, Mr. Zhou." As Secretary He, who had handled all of Zhou Zhou's messes, she naturally knew the other party's identity and spoke respectfully without any prejudice. "President Fu is in a meeting."
Zhou Zhou was stunned for a moment, wondering why it was a woman, before realizing that this might be Fu Hengzhi's secretary.
As we all know, in the world of novels, CEOs always have a secretary who is either extremely efficient or naive and lucky. The one in front of us clearly belongs to the former.
In the original novel, Fu Hengzhi's secretary appears frequently. Fu Hengzhi usually entrusts her with handling both big and small matters; she is a typical tool.
“Mr. Zhou, if it’s about terminating your contract with Starway, feel free to ask me.” Secretary He was very reliable. Before the meeting, Fu Hengzhi had reminded her that Zhou Zhou might call to ask about signing the termination contract. “The termination contract needs to be signed by the person in person with the company. Mr. Zhou, you can go to Starway when you have time.”
"Okay." Zhou Zhou thought to himself that his secretary had guessed very accurately, knowing exactly what he wanted to ask. "Then may I ask how much the penalty for breach of contract is?"
Is it still like the one described in the book...?
"Ten million."
"..." Sure enough, it was exactly the same.
Zhou Zhou was on the verge of tears. Although this amount of money was just a drop in the ocean for the Fu family, it was a huge sum for an ordinary person like him. He had just arrived in the body of the original owner and had already spent such a large sum of money. He felt bad and wanted to repay the money, but how could he possibly repay such a large sum?
Secretary He heard Zhou Zhou's soft sigh on the other end of the phone and was about to say something when the front door of the conference room in front of her was opened from the inside.
"Mr. Fu." Secretary He handed the phone to Fu Hengzhi as he came out. "It's Mr. Zhou on the phone."
"Hmm." Fu Hengzhi took the phone and put it to his ear. The first thing he heard was Zhou Zhou's rhythmic sighs, which included words like "money" and "pay back the money."
"..." Fu Hengzhi glanced at Secretary He, who kept his head down expressionlessly, his emotions well controlled.
Hearing a clear cough on the other end of the phone, Zhou Zhou realized that the person on the other end had changed, and wondered if he had just complained.
There's a slight sense of awkwardness.
"Well, I am..."
"You don't need to pay back the money."
Fu Hengzhi interrupted Zhou Zhou and walked to the one-way glass floor-to-ceiling window in the corridor. Looking out, he saw the dozens of floors of the CDB building, and from there he could even see the old Fu family residence.
"..." This completely stumped Zhou Zhou. He thought to himself, "The domineering CEO is indeed a domineering CEO. That's ten million!"
So far, aside from the fact that he transmigrated into the book, all the soul-stirring impacts that Zhou Zhou has felt have come from money.
A powerful and domineering CEO can casually spend tens of millions.
Zhou Zhou excitedly said into the phone, "President Fu, you're such a good person! From now on, let's be husband and wife in public! In private, we'll be father and son! Daddy!"
Zhou Zhou shouted these words into the phone. Although it wasn't on speakerphone, the phone was leaking some sound. Fu Hengzhi quickly covered the receiver, almost hanging up the phone because he was so shocked by the other party's affectionate 'confession'.
“It’s not that bad, that’s an exaggeration.” Fu Hengzhi coughed lightly twice, his fist pressed to his lips, and said to Secretary He, who was still waiting expressionlessly to the side, “Go to the office and wait there. Chairman Fu is there. You can answer any questions he may have.”
"Yes, Mr. Fu."
Secretary He turned and walked towards the elevator. As she moved a little further away, a crack appeared in her expressionless facade.
"puff."
When did Mrs. Fu become so funny?
[Author's Note: Zhou Zhou: He casually mentioned tens of millions; I'm so forgetful.]
Chapter Ten: The Security Guard Doesn't Recognize Me
Zhou Zhou sat in the back seat of the Fu family's car, with Duan Yun beside her.
Duan Yun carried a six-figure bag and wore a full set of jewelry. As soon as she got into the car, she took out a small mirror and looked at herself from left to right.
Duan Yun reached out and adjusted her earring, asking, "Xiao Zhou, do you think Mom looks good in this outfit?"
"It looks good." But it's quite dangerous.
Zhou Zhou watched as the gems on Duan Yun's rings and earrings glittered before his eyes. He estimated that Duan Yun's total worth was roughly equivalent to wearing a house in a prime location. He was walking money when he went out shopping.
He guessed that when Duan Yun met other ladies, he would first take out a luxury brand handkerchief from his six-figure leather bag, gently wipe his forehead which was not sweaty, and let the pigeon egg-sized gem on his fingertip sparkle in the sunlight, and then say, "It's really hot today."
Duan Yun's daily life wasn't extravagant, but there's always competition among women, which is terrifying. When women go out together, it's definitely not just about simple shopping.
Zhou Zhou held up Duan Yun's phone so that Duan Yun could take a picture and send it to Fu Hongjiang, who was at the company.
Zhou Zhou planned to go to Xingtu Company, while Duan Yun had made an appointment to go shopping with another wealthy woman. The driver was going to take Zhou Zhou to Xingtu first, and then take Duan Yun to a large shopping mall.
Just before getting off the bus, Zhou Zhou looked at Duan Yun and couldn't help but ask with concern, "Mom... be careful."
"Okay, okay," Duan Yun said with a smile, waving his hand.
Zhou Zhou put on a disposable mask and got out of the car. He walked a few more steps before arriving at the Xingtu Company building.
Starway has many award-winning actors and actresses as well as popular idols, so its security is stricter than other agencies. There are two burly security guards standing at the main entrance, like guardian deities, which makes Zhou Zhou feel very safe.
Zhou Zhou looked up at the bright sun overhead and thought to himself that every industry has its difficulties. He walked to the door and greeted the two of them.
"Thank you for your hard work." He said and started to walk inside, but was stopped by the hardworking security guard.
"?"
Zhou Zhou was puzzled for a moment before realizing that he was wearing a mask, so it was normal that the security guard didn't recognize him.
Zhou Zhou took off his mask and smiled brightly at the security guard who stopped him, "I'm an artist from this company."
"..." The security guard on the left stared at him expressionlessly, his eyes slightly narrowed. He then looked at his colleague on the right with the same expression. The two security guards looked at each other, holding the same expression, and both shook their heads slightly at each other.
Looking straight ahead, the arm raised in the air showed no sign of lowering.
"I don't know you, you can't come in."
Zhou Zhou wasn't the type to be difficult to deal with. Thinking that these two security guards were probably newly hired, he said in a good-natured manner, "I really am an artist under Xingtu Entertainment. You can confirm with my agent. His name is Yan Li."
Zhou Zhou was good-looking and patiently waited at the door for the two security guards to confirm her identity. The guards exchanged glances and actually took out their work phones to contact Yan Li.
"Hello."
The security guard handed the phone to Zhou Zhou as soon as the call connected.
Holding the phone, Zhou Zhou looked at the huge "Star Journey" logo above his head and said simply, "Brother Yan, this is Zhou Zhou. I'm here at the company, but these two security guards at the entrance don't seem to recognize me."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the sounds of documents being turned over, chairs scraping against the floor, and wind whistling from rapid movement.
The other person must have heard him coming and quickly came downstairs to meet him.
Yan Li's voice was a little urgent: "I'll come down to get you. Give the phone to the security guard."
"Oh." Zhou Zhou handed the phone to the security guard on his left. The guard listened to the receiver, nodded twice, looked at Zhou Zhou with a surprised look, and stepped aside.
Zhou Zhou went inside but didn't know which way to go, so he simply stood at the front desk and waited for Yan Li to come down.
The receptionist was casually looking at her phone, barely suppressing a laugh, when she looked up and saw a handsome young man staring at her. She slammed her phone face down on the table with a 'bang'.
Zhou Zhou waved his hand with a smile, "You see, I'm not going to report you for slacking off at work."
The receptionist shook her head vigorously, "No, no."
Seeing this, Zhou Zhou laughed twice and continued to wait for others.
The receptionist, however, sat behind the counter and would occasionally glance up at him.
Zhou Zhou caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye and silently raised the corners of his mouth.
Sometimes, that's how love begins.
Yan Li got off the elevator and saw this scene as he approached the door.
Zhou Zhou stood there striking a cool pose, his mouth practically stretched to the sky in a wide grin.
"..." What's going on now?
Yan Li had just woken up in the morning when he groggily answered a phone call and was told by his boss that Zhou Zhou wanted to terminate her contract. He instantly snapped out of it.
Yesterday at noon, after Zhou Zhou finished filming her scenes, he went to discuss with the crew how to release behind-the-scenes photos of Zhou Zhou to win back fans.
Although Zhou Zhou is just a pretty face actress of unknown rank, she is still a pillar among that group of pretty face actresses, and she still has some fans who admire her looks.
Yan Li was unexpectedly amazed when he saw the scene in front of the library where Zhou Zhou was acting. The acting wasn't particularly good, but it seemed very natural compared to before, so natural that he wondered if Zhou Zhou had been possessed.
Just as he was relieved, thinking that Zhou Zhou had finally figured out how to hone her acting skills after being rejected by Ye Qisheng, his superiors told him that Zhou Zhou wanted to terminate her contract.
Yan Li walked towards Zhou Zhou without saying a word.
Zhou Zhou noticed the person who had arrived and gave him a natural smile, "Hello, Brother Yan."
Good my ass!