Copycat - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
◎The Plan is Exposed◎
Thought Island, a high-end restaurant in the suburbs, top floor private room.
A waiter in a white shirt and black vest carried a tray of refreshments and gently knocked on the door of the private room. Moments later, a woman’s slightly hoarse voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
The waiter pushed open the half-closed door of the private room. The distinguished guest on the top floor was sitting by the window, her gaze focused on the computer in front of her, her fingers never stopping.
Most of the guests who came here were wealthy second-generation heirs with plenty of time, so it was rare to see such a busy guest. The waiter silently poured out the cold flower tea by her hand and replaced it with a fresh, steaming cup, decorating the rim with white jasmine petals.
“Miss Wen, here is your pre-dinner dessert.”
In the brief pause from her typing, the waiter seized the opportunity to serve the refreshments, placing them within her easy reach.
“Thank you.”
Wen Jiao glanced at the refreshments on the table from the corner of her eye and nodded slightly.
The waiter asked with a smile: “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Your reservation will be over in half an hour.”
Wen Jiao looked down at the time. It had been an hour and a half since the time she and Zhou Ziyan had agreed to meet.
This had never happened before. Wen Jiao’s lowered eyelashes trembled slightly.
As the waiter silently urged her, she pursed her lips and simply said: “You can serve the food now.”
The moonlight grew stronger.
Wen Jiao finished her work and looked at the dishes in front of her, a bitter taste inexplicably in her throat. She watched as the meticulously prepared dishes, under the cold air of the air conditioner, went from steaming hot to gradually turning cold.
It seemed that her relationship with Zhou Ziyan was the same.
Had their long relationship entered a period of fatigue? Or…
Wen Jiao involuntarily thought of what Mu Siyu had said when she unilaterally broke off their friendship.
An hour later, Wen Jiao asked the waiter to clear the table of the cold dishes.
Downstairs from the restaurant, a black McLaren was parked on the side of the road.
A woman in a black trench coat and elegant attire rushed out of the car in high heels.
Restaurant first floor.
The high heels squeaked against the floor. The front desk staff quickly looked up, and after seeing the person who had rushed in, greeted her with a professional smile: “Respected lady, is there anything I can help you with?”
“I’m here to find someone.” Zhou Ziyan was breathless from running, her voice urgent.
She asked the front desk staff with some anxiety if the lady who reserved the top-floor private room was still there. After receiving a positive answer, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness.”
“Wen Jiao hasn’t left yet.”
On the way to the restaurant, she had received a call from Zhou Shancheng. He had specifically arranged for a company specialist to take her and Cheng Junfeng to see the land in the suburbs, so the two of them had to pretend to inspect it for several hours to keep up the lie.
The land in the suburbs was still under construction, with dust everywhere. Zhou Ziyan’s carefully applied makeup from earlier was a mess, and she was a complete mess. Luckily, Wen Jiao was still waiting for her, so the day wasn’t a total loss.
She jogged into the VIP elevator and, after reaching the top floor, pushed open the door to the private room.
“Wen Jiao!”
The private room was spacious. There was a sofa on the right for resting, and a white round wooden table by the window with steaming hot food and tea on it.
There was a rectangular window on the wall facing the door, from which one could see the distant blue sea during the day.
If they had met at the agreed-upon time, they would have seen the beautiful sparkling waves of the sea at the transition from day to night, but now…
Wen Jiao was facing the glass window. After hearing the door open, she turned to look, her expression calm and normal, with nothing special about it.
“You’re here.”
But her voice was neither warm nor cold. Zhou Ziyan was taken aback, and her fingers, clutching her bag, suddenly tightened. She put on an almost ingratiating smile: “I’m sorry, darling, I’m late because of a traffic jam.”
Wen Jiao didn’t say anything, but her gaze fell on the limited-edition luxury item in her hand. After a quick look at the pearl necklace around her neck, she looked away, her tone returning to normal: “What would you like to eat?”
Tonight’s conversation was more pleasant than Zhou Ziyan had imagined—
Because Wen Jiao was planning to go abroad.
“I’ve discussed it with my team members. The acceptance of AI technology in our country isn’t very high. It would be best for the company to first go public in M Country and then slowly shift the industry chain back here.”
Wen Jiao put a piece of shrimp into Zhou Ziyan’s bowl while silently observing Zhou Ziyan’s expression. After hearing the news that she was going abroad, Zhou Ziyan’s eyes visibly lit up.
“Really?!”
Zhou Ziyan was dressed in a sophisticated and mature style today, but upon hearing the news that Wen Jiao was going abroad, she became as excited as a child, her joy completely unconcealed.
Wen Jiao looked at her, her gaze a little hard to decipher.
“Really,” she said.
After canceling the plan to go public abroad, Wen Jiao’s company had tried to go public domestically more than once, and the process had been exceptionally difficult.
The monopolistic conglomerates in A City had a lot of power. Her company was not only besieged by established wealthy families but also coveted by numerous tech companies. It was almost impossible to get a share of the already-monopolized market in A City, the center of technology.
“I was too rushed,” Wen Jiao’s voice trembled slightly.
Wen Jiao’s fingers, holding the teacup, were a little stiff. She drank several cups in a row, and even the way she refilled the tea was different from usual. However, Zhou Ziyan was so lost in her happiness about Wen Jiao’s plans to develop her career abroad that she didn’t notice a thing.
Wen Jiao looked at her, her words a little subtle: “You need to take good care of yourself in our country alone.”
Zhou Ziyan didn’t catch the strangeness in her tone and nodded in agreement repeatedly.
In the early morning.
“I’ll take you home.”
“There’s no need.”
“It’s not safe for you to go back alone.” Wen Jiao frowned slightly.
Zhou Ziyan’s expression was a little awkward: “Uh, actually, a driver is coming to pick me up.”
Wen Jiao was taken aback. It was then that she noticed a black McLaren parked on the side of the road. Because it was parked illegally, a passing traffic police officer had put a ticket on the windshield.
Zhou Ziyan walked towards the car door, with Wen Jiao following behind her, wanting to open the door for her. Just as she reached out, her hand was caught by her lover’s. Wen Jiao’s gaze fell on their clasped hands.
Zhou Ziyan smiled a little unnaturally and politely declined: “I can do it myself.”
Wen Jiao was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered and nodded slightly, taking a half-step back. Zhou Ziyan opened the car door just a crack and squeezed inside.
“You…” Wen Jiao was about to say something but stopped.
As if she was afraid Wen Jiao would say more about taking her home, the car tires started moving very quickly, so quickly that before Wen Jiao could even react, Zhou Ziyan had already closed the door.
On the empty road, the black luxury car sped forward. The night was as dark as ink, the moonlight was thin, and it was so quiet that you could only hear the sound of the summer insects in the grass struggling and dying in the late autumn.
Looking at the license plate that had appeared in her memory before, Wen Jiao stood in place in silence for a long time.
…
Zhou Ziyan had been in a very good mood for the past month. She could even manage a very sincere-looking smile when she saw the most annoying members of the Zhou family.
The level of her joy was so great that even Cheng Junfeng, who was busy with the engagement banquet planning, was a little stunned when he saw her.
“Little Zhou, have there been any developments in your investigation?” he asked.
Zhou Ziyan smiled and shook her head: “No.”
“Oh.” Cheng Junfeng gave her a strange look and went back to his own business.
There was a 16-hour time difference between M Country and here. Zhou Ziyan received a [Goodnight] from Wen Jiao at 12 p.m. and her expression was gentle.
Wen Jiao going abroad was very significant for her.
Because she didn’t want to break up with Wen Jiao.
After getting engaged to Cheng Junfeng, Zhou Shancheng gave her power, and she had access to many of the Zhou family’s secrets. Once she had taken care of everything and had her mother’s grave moved out of the cemetery in a grand manner, even if Wen Jiao found out she had been engaged to someone else, their love would surely allow them to reconcile.
A luxury cruise ship sailed on the sea 10 kilometers from the coast. This was a private sea, and every large ship passing through the port had to pay a toll to the Li family.
At night, the sounds of people clinking glasses, laughing, and having fun came from the cruise ship on the secluded sea.
It was the beginning of winter today.
The cruise ship was surrounded by water on all sides, and the cold sea breeze blew, occasionally splashing some seawater onto people’s skin, causing a shiver.
Zhou Ziyan leaned against the side of the cruise ship’s deck, with the sea behind her. When the weak waves splashed a few drops of water onto her exposed shoulder, she shivered from the cold.
Because she was in such a good mood, she had a few extra drinks tonight. Zhou Ziyan leaned against the ship, her face a little flushed.
The information her informant in the Zhou family’s underground casino had brought her was even more explosive than she had imagined. Several pieces of it were enough for Zhou Shancheng, the company’s legal representative, to spend the rest of his life in prison.
The central heating from inside the cruise ship was constantly blowing outside. In the cold and hot air, Zhou Ziyan vigorously rubbed her frozen arms.
To look like she fit in, she had specifically worn a custom-made black halter-neck gown from Italy tonight.
“Ziyan.”
“Ziyan, good evening.”
“Hello, Ziyan.”
On the walkway from the deck to the inner cabin, many people who passed by took the initiative to greet her.
Zhou Ziyan leaned against the ship, the sea breeze blowing her beautiful long hair. She smiled politely at these people.
“Good evening.”
Zhou Ziyan spent the second half of the banquet alone on the deck.
The sea breeze was biting cold. Zhou Ziyan looked at the dark sea in the distance, and Wen Jiao’s inky black eyes involuntarily appeared in her mind.
Wen Jiao had been gone from A City for two months.
She had been to M Country before, and the winters there were full of endless gray clouds.
Under that gloomy sky, Wen Jiao…
As she was lost in thought, a black suit jacket was placed on her shoulders. She turned to look. Cheng Junfeng, in a white shirt, was standing next to her.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Nothing.” Zhou Ziyan took the jacket and put it back in his arms.
Laughter from men and women suddenly came from behind them. Cheng Junfeng put the jacket from his arms back on her shoulders, clearly raising his voice: “Are you cold, Ziyan?”
From behind, it was clear that the two of them were in a hug. Cheng Junfeng had a pleasant smile, but Zhou Ziyan could feel the forearm he had placed on her shoulder tremble slightly.
“Oh my gosh, Young Master Cheng.”
“Look, look, the little lovebirds are showing off their affection.”
A group of people came out of the inner cabin, all of them wealthy second-generation heirs whose names Zhou Ziyan could recognize. The leader of the group was named Li Qing, the eldest daughter of the Li family, a traditional tech giant.
She was the one who hosted this banquet.
The cruise ship’s route went around the coast of the Li family’s private sea.
Li Qing walked up to the two of them, completely ignoring the tall figure standing beside her. She smiled at Zhou Ziyan and said: “Why are you hiding here? I had such a hard time finding you.”
Cheng Junfeng instinctively replied.
“It’s all your fault for disturbing us. Otherwise, we could have chatted a little longer.”
The crowd immediately started to jeer: “You two are getting married and you’re still so clingy.”
A man came over, hooked his arm over Cheng Junfeng’s shoulder, and pulled him into the inner cabin to continue drinking while teasing him.
Cheng Junfeng took a quick look at the deck before he left, but he quickly disappeared through the door.
The door to the inner cabin closed. The sudden disappearance of the heating made the already cold deck even more desolate.
“That dress is nice.” Li Qing looked Zhou Ziyan up and down and praised her: “It really suits your figure.”
“Thank you.”
“Want to have a drink?” Li Qing asked again.
Zhou Ziyan politely declined, simply saying: “I’ve already had a round.”
The conversation came to a halt, and silence filled the air, with only the sound of the wind rustling.
“I heard you and Cheng Junfeng are getting engaged at the end of the year?”
Li Qing suddenly asked this question out of the blue.
Zhou Ziyan had heard Zhou Na and her stepmother gossip about the Li family at family gatherings.
Back then, to take over the family business, Li Qing had married into the Fang family. The younger boyfriend who was forced to break up with her was Cheng Junfeng.
Zhou Ziyan stared at her with a smile.
“For people like us, who we get engaged to is entirely up to the family’s decision.”
Zhou Ziyan’s smile held a hint of helplessness. She took off the black suit jacket that Cheng Junfeng had placed on her shoulders and threw it onto the deck without a care, as if she were just throwing away a piece of trash.
Li Qing was stunned for a moment.
Zhou Ziyan’s tone was a little sad: “I think you probably understand that better than I do.”
Li Qing’s tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed. She took a black cape from a server’s hand and draped it over Zhou Ziyan’s shoulders, which were exposed to the sea breeze: “I’m sorry.”
The two of them stood facing the sea, one in front of the other, in silence for a long time.
“What was that girl’s name?” Li Qing asked.
“Wen Jiao.”
“Her name is Wen Jiao.”
“That’s a very nice name.”
The eve of the engagement banquet.
A reporter exposed Zhou Na’s food processing factory for using chemical additives that were harmful to the human body. The real estate business managed by Zhou Cheng was exposed by an undercover reporter for using shoddy materials. Many customers who had paid a deposit demanded full refunds.
The consecutive failures of the subsidiary companies led to a drop in the Zhou Group’s stock price.
At the family dinner, Zhou Shancheng unceremoniously berated the siblings Zhou Na and Zhou Cheng.
“I raised you two to be heirs since you were little. And now you’ve made such a mess of things. How can you have the audacity to call yourselves the Zhou family heirs?!”
“…”
As one of the few male descendants of the Zhou family, Zhou Cheng had been doted on by nannies and butlers since he was a child. He was used to living in luxury and had never been scolded like this before.
He couldn’t help but retort: “My real estate companies have always been managed well. This failure was very sudden, and public opinion has been completely one-sided. I’m certain someone is deliberately targeting our Zhou family.”
“And the real estate industry isn’t doing well right now. The only way to make a profit is to cut costs on materials. I had no choice…”
“Slap—”
The sound of a slap echoed throughout the old house. The only sound in the hall was the gasps of the shocked onlookers. Zhou Cheng covered the bright red handprint on his left cheek, looking incredulous.
Zhou Shancheng, in his fury, had slapped Zhou Cheng.
This had never happened before.
Zhou Cheng’s biological mother stood on the side, her face filled with distress, but in the end, she didn’t dare to step forward and plead for him, afraid of further angering the person who truly held power in the Zhou family.
Zhou Shancheng’s hands trembled with anger, and the cane he was leaning on also shook.
The Zhou family’s assets allowed him to enjoy the best medical care, but no matter how good the doctors were, they couldn’t stop the natural process of aging.
Zhou Shancheng stood in place, his legs trembling with anger. In the end, he had to be helped back to his seat.
He took a moment to calm down. When he came to, he realized who was being so attentive.
—Zhou Ziyan.
The younger relative who was silent and taciturn as a child, always had her head down, and was the one he liked the least.
The child of the woman who didn’t forget to curse her before she died.
Zhou Ziyan handed the freshly brewed tea to his hand. Zhou Shancheng’s expression was complex. After a long silence, he nodded slightly and took the hot tea.
After Zhou Shancheng calmed down, he pointed his cane at Zhou Na and Zhou Cheng’s noses: “Look at Ziyan. She’s younger than you, and more capable. How can you two not be ashamed of yourselves?!”
Zhou Ziyan put down the steaming teapot, stood up straight, and stared expressionlessly at Zhou Na and Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng glared at her with malice, and Zhou Na’s expression was complicated.
Ever since she showed her ambition to compete for the family assets, she had already fallen out with her two older half-siblings.
This time, three companies failed at the same time, but only Zhou Ziyan’s company reacted the fastest. She recalled the exploding charging products, proactively compensated the victims for their losses, and formally fired three senior executives, minimizing the negative public opinion.
In terms of both her ability to respond to a crisis and her speed in handling it, she was undoubtedly a step above the siblings Zhou Cheng and Zhou Na.
Zhou Shancheng had noticed the change in Zhou Ziyan. Zhou Cheng and Zhou Na had naturally also noticed the change in their previously quiet and unnoticed younger sister.
Zhou Cheng pursed his lips in humiliation, seeming as if he still wanted to make an excuse. Zhou Na quickly pulled at his sleeve, getting him to lower his head and apologize with her.
Zhou Na’s attitude was humble: “It’s indeed due to our poor management. This incident was so sudden, and so many things happened in a row that we didn’t handle it in time. We didn’t expect it to have such a big impact on the company. I’ve already informed the public relations department to handle it. We’ll minimize the negative impact within a week.”
After Zhou Na admitted her mistake, she tugged at Zhou Cheng’s clothes.
Zhou Cheng reluctantly lowered his head: “I was too eager to expand and didn’t expect a competitor to use such a dirty trick to mess with me. I’m inexperienced and didn’t handle it in time, which caused such a big loss to the company.”
Zhou Cheng couldn’t help but complain: “The competitor is so ruthless, to use such a despicable tactic.”
“Ruthless?” Zhou Shancheng snorted: “This is nothing.”
“Alright, you can all go back.”
“Find out who it is. The person who dares to go against my Zhou family…”
Zhou Shancheng’s eyes were filled with malice. Although he didn’t finish his sentence, everyone understood the meaning. The Zhou family started with shady business, so they naturally had unconventional methods.
“After you find out who it is, go find Chen Xing. He will take care of it for you.”
The two of them nodded.
Hearing the name Chen Xing, Zhou Ziyan’s hand, which was refilling the tea, trembled, and the hot tea spilled onto the tabletop.
After Zhou Cheng and Zhou Na left, the people gathered in the old house also dispersed. Only Zhou Shancheng and Zhou Ziyan remained in the main hall of the old house, with a tacit understanding.
Zhou Ziyan put down the steaming teapot and knelt down directly: “Grandpa, I…”
Before she could finish, a buzzing sound rang in her ears, and her head hit the floor to the side.
“Using such a despicable tactic on your own family members, do you really think I don’t know your little scheme?!”