Chapter 501: Just a Chat

Chapter 501: Just a Chat

In fact, Wu Yurong had only mentioned it casually over breakfast with Wu Chen. Once they’d started talking about her cooperation with Gu Ruibo and Lei Cheng, it was only natural to bring up the small difficulty she’d encountered.

Even if she hadn’t discussed it with Wu Chen and had no idea what he thought, it wouldn’t have been a serious problem. She simply wouldn’t tell her father, Wu Weidong, the true situation.

What she had never imagined was that Wu Chen would so easily suggest going to talk to him—and even getting the old man to transfer his shares to her?!

“C-can that really work…?” Wu Yurong’s lovely eyes widened as she stared at Wu Chen, her voice full of uncertainty.

“It shouldn’t be much of a problem.” Wu Chen smiled at her. “He was going to give them to you anyway. It would just be a little earlier.”

“That’s true, but…” Wu Yurong trailed off. From her tone, it was hard to tell whether she doubted him or was simply uncertain about something.

“If you don’t think it’s necessary, we can forget it,” Wu Chen said with a smile. “Keeping it from him isn’t a problem either.”

“I… That’s not what I mean, darling,” Wu Yurong said in her extraordinarily gentle, sweet voice. “I just think it can’t be that easy, can it?”

In truth, Wu Yurong had never been in a hurry to obtain the shares.

She currently held five percent of Senlan Group, while her father, Wu Weidong, still owned twenty-nine percent and was its largest shareholder.

Together, father and daughter held thirty-four percent. Strictly speaking, that wasn’t a controlling stake in Senlan Group, but it was above the critical threshold. More than one-third of the shares gave them veto power over major decisions.

And for decades, the Wu family had been the actual controlling force behind Senlan Group.

That person had originally been Wu Weidong.

Now, though, it would be more accurate to say it was Wu Yurong!

Both the board of directors and the shareholders’ meeting were under Wu Yurong’s control. The vast majority of shareholders supported her, and her contribution to Senlan Group had surpassed her father’s!

That was why she’d never rushed to get the shares from him. Wu Weidong had already authorized her to exercise all the voting rights attached to his shares, and had done so for many years. There had simply been no reason for her to want the ownership transferred ahead of time.

But!

If she could obtain those shares early and formally become chairwoman of Senlan Group, that would naturally be even better!

Wu Yurong was tempted.

“It won’t be particularly easy, but I wouldn’t call it difficult either,” Wu Chen said, smiling.

“But…” Wu Yurong seemed about to say something else, then stopped. She pressed her lips together before giving Wu Chen a sweet smile. “I’ll do as you say.”

“Then we’ll go over after breakfast,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

“All right.” Wu Yurong nodded.

The two continued eating and chatting, though Wu Yurong suddenly became much quieter, looking rather preoccupied.

Ring, ring…

A phone suddenly began ringing.

It was Wu Chen’s.

He took out his phone, glanced at the screen, and answered. “What’s up?”

“Mr. Wu, Hezhong Media is going to investigate you.” Peng Wei’s voice came over the line. As China’s number-one paparazzo, his sources really were extraordinarily good. He had informants everywhere.

“Investigate me, or investigate Morning Mist?” Wu Chen asked casually.

It was an odd question. The two were the same person, but Peng Wei understood what he meant.

“Morning Mist,” Peng Wei clarified immediately. “From what I’ve heard so far, they want to expose your identity and dig up dirt on you…”

“Hmm… Not surprising,” Wu Chen replied.

It wasn’t surprising in the slightest!

After Zhou Shenglong’s reputation had been ruined, Hezhong Media was bound to retaliate. The company couldn’t possibly know that Wu Chen had supplied Peng Wei with the damaging information about Zhou Shenglong. But it could plainly guess that Peng Wei’s sudden break with Hezhong—and his decision to turn around and stab it in the back—had something to do with An Menglan!

After all, when Peng Wei had cryptically announced on Weibo that he would reveal a major scandal on August 2, the implication had been that the target was An Menglan!

Yet when August 2 came, the person exposed wasn’t An Menglan but Zhou Shenglong, Hezhong’s leading superstar!

Without some new and powerful backer, Peng Wei would never have dared to fall out with Hezhong.

As for An Menglan, first her new album had been leaked, and then rumors online had cast her as the other woman in a relationship. The trail behind both incidents led to Hezhong Media.

Exposing Zhou Shenglong could easily be seen as An Menglan’s counterattack.

Now Hezhong Media would certainly launch attacks on An Menglan from every direction, and even against the entire faction associated with Huaxing Entertainment. Investigating “Morning Mist” was only to be expected.

As far as they were concerned, striking at Morning Mist meant striking at An Menglan!

“Mr. Wu, I think they may send paparazzi to Donghai,” Peng Wei continued hurriedly. “They’ll probably start with Miss Song…”

Peng Wei knew about Song Xuan.

Just as An Menglan had been able to call Song Xuan directly in the past, Song Xuan had used a phone number registered in her own name when she posted her music online. If An Menglan could find it, so could Hezhong. Naturally, Peng Wei could too.

In fact, ever since Morning Mist’s new album had been released, countless people had wanted to discover his real identity. It was difficult: Wu Chen had left no information online that could be traced directly back to him.

But Song Xuan’s only song to become a massive online hit had been written, composed, and arranged entirely by Morning Mist. Everyone understood that the two must be closely connected.

As a result, Song Xuan was currently the only promising lead—or at least the easiest person to investigate!

“None of that is a problem,” Wu Chen replied, glancing across the breakfast table at Wu Yurong as he spoke.

Investigate Song Xuan? Trace Morning Mist’s identity through her?

Wu Chen wouldn’t even need to concern himself much with that. In Donghai, Wu Yurong would teach those people a lesson!

“Oh, right, Mr. Wu, there’s something else… I heard—and I’m not entirely sure, mind you, I’ve only heard—that Hezhong Media plans to release a major scandal online at noon today, to divert attention from the Zhou Shenglong scandal. We don’t know who they’ll expose yet, but it’ll definitely be someone connected to Huaxing…” Peng Wei added.

Wu Chen spoke with Peng Wei for several minutes, mostly listening as Peng Wei reported various matters. He even updated Wu Chen on the progress of his investigations into damaging material on several other popular Hezhong Media stars.

“…Mr. Wu, although the Wu family has enormous influence in Donghai and they wouldn’t dare harass Miss Song too much, I think that if this goes on long enough, Hezhong Media will eventually trace things back to you…” Peng Wei said at last, sounding deeply worried.

And he was right. Finding out Morning Mist’s true identity was difficult, but not impossibly so. Given enough time, it would be stranger if they failed.

Paparazzi were famously patient. Some would spend an entire year investigating, following, and keeping watch on a single celebrity.

It all came down to money.

The more famous the star, the more worthwhile the investment—and the more valuable the scandal.

And online, Wu Chen already had the makings of a superstar.

Peng Wei’s concerns made sense. But Wu Chen knew his character well enough to recognize that he wasn’t worried solely about Morning Mist’s identity being exposed, or about someone finding dirt on him.

He was worried about himself!

Right now, the person Hezhong Media most wanted to destroy was Peng Wei! What Peng Wei wanted was for Wu Chen to hit Hezhong Media harder and faster!

That way, Wu Chen’s identity would remain hidden, and Peng Wei would be safe too.

“Put your mind at ease. I was the one who told you to release that material, so naturally I won’t let anything happen to you,” Wu Chen said with a faint smile, cutting straight through Peng Wei’s thoughts. Before Peng Wei could respond, he continued, “Just do what you’re supposed to do. I’m going to Modu tomorrow. We’ll talk in person then.”

“All right, of course, Mr. Wu. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you,” Peng Wei replied.

The call ended.

Seeing Wu Chen hang up and casually set his phone on the table, Wu Yurong asked in her gentle, sweet voice, “Is there trouble?”

“Nothing serious.” Wu Chen smiled at her. “Hezhong Media is investigating Morning Mist’s identity. They’ll probably start with your daughter…”

Wu Yurong raised her eyebrows slightly, but otherwise showed little reaction.

It really was a small matter.

She didn’t know exactly how Wu Chen would deal with what came next, nor was any of that something she needed to handle. She believed he would resolve it easily. As far as she was concerned, the only thing she needed to do was protect her daughter.

And for her, that couldn’t have been simpler.

She had already placed many people around Song Xuan, including female bodyguards who followed her covertly and informants of various kinds. Even some of Song Xuan’s close girlfriends were Wu Yurong’s eyes and ears.

Wu Yurong had always taken great care to protect her daughter.

With those arrangements already in place, increasing her protection would take nothing more than a phone call.

…

Around nine thirty that morning.

After finishing breakfast, Wu Chen and Wu Yurong set out together for the southern outskirts of Donghai.

Wu Yurong sat in the passenger seat of Wu Chen’s Lamborghini. Her convoy—three cars, including a Bentley—followed behind it. All four vehicles headed out together.

Around ten o’clock.

On a national highway in the southern outskirts of Donghai.

The convoy was about to turn off the highway. Their destination was already close.

Inside the Lamborghini.

“Darling, can’t you give me a little hint? What exactly are you going to say to my father?” Wu Yurong, sitting in the passenger seat, finally couldn’t help asking.

She’d been holding back until now. She didn’t want to question Wu Chen or make him misunderstand her intentions. But this was her father, after all. She knew his temperament and was afraid Wu Chen might resort to some excessively forceful, extraordinary method.

There had been a time when Wu Yurong’s relationship with her father, Wu Weidong, was extremely bad. But after her divorce, when she returned to Donghai, Wu Weidong felt he owed his daughter something and gave her tremendous support and encouragement.

It was fair to say that Wu Yurong’s ability to use her business talents, rise swiftly to prominence, eventually take control of Senlan, and lead its expansion all owed a great deal to Wu Weidong’s support.

Father and daughter had reconciled more than ten years ago, and their relationship was now very, very good.

Wu Yurong also knew that her father had an extremely stubborn side and was deeply traditional. Bringing home a lover in his early twenties would already be quite a shock. And then she was supposed to tell him about the plan to go after the Ding family’s peripheral assets? And ask him to hand over his shares?

How could that possibly work without extraordinary measures?

But if Wu Chen did resort to them, then…

“Just have a chat, that’s all,” Wu Chen said with a smile, glancing at her from behind the wheel. There was something subtly unusual about his tone. As he spoke, he turned the steering wheel and guided the Lamborghini onto the exit road.

The Lamborghini was moving fast.

After traveling another two or three hundred meters, it slowed sharply.

This was a remote area, with lush vegetation along both sides of the road. Behind rows of trees, the wall enclosing the property was already visible. Farther ahead stood a courtyard gate wide enough for four cars to pass through abreast.

This was an enormous estate named after Senlan itself: Senlan Manor!

Wu Weidong, the third-richest man in Donghai, lived here!

The Lamborghini pulled up before the gate of Senlan Manor. Inside the car, Wu Yurong took a small remote control from her handbag and pressed it. The closed gate slowly opened on its own.

They drove in!