The Cannon Fodder Alpha Who Made the Heroine Pregnant - Chapter 9

9:

“Rebirth”

The past has become a memory, the future will be rewritten.

This line from her newly composed song “Rebirth” encapsulated Zhou Lan’s current state of mind. Working through the night, she had completed both lyrics and melody, her first original piece in this world.

In the past, her life was very simple, and she would produce works in every period. The works of different periods were a true reflection of her life experiences at that time.

Each composition had been a timestamp of her journey. If possible, she would recreate those works here, provided that she found suitable voices to carry them.

“Rebirth” would be her debut. A self-performed piece, though the villa lacked proper instruments. Moreover, its opulent interiors were too recognizable, she needed anonymity for her “Ming Xiao Zhou” persona.

Establishing a Base

The first thing she has to do is to have her own secret base.

Her solution: relocate to the megacity namely Dadu, a tier-1 metropolis that dwarfed Jiangning’s provincial stature. The Zhou family is quite powerful in Jiangning, but outside of it, they’re nothing. In smaller cities, they might be able to use their wealth to get things done, but in super-first-tier cities, wealthy people abound.

The original host had numerous cards in her name, mostly credit cards, all with suspended limits. She only had one regular card, which received a monthly allowance of one million yuan from the Zhou family for living expenses while she was abroad.

One million yuan a month was over ten million yuan a year. The original host had lived abroad since childhood, and after turning fourteen, began managing her own finances. Eleven years later, only twenty thousand yuan remained in her account.

She checked her spending history and found that most of it went to places like nightclubs.

Twenty thousand yuan would rent a decent small apartment in Dadu for two months at most.

The high-speed rail from Jiangning to Dadu takes forty minutes, which is fine for the journey, but rent is a huge expense.

As for recording her songs, she no longer had high expectations. Testing her vocals via recording apps would be the lesser cost, and Zhou Lan made an unexpected discovery: the original host’s alcohol-roughened voice held a smoky, storytelling quality, a magnetic mid-range equally suited for jazz and pop, miraculously free of vocal damage. Such natural talent was wasted on a spoiled heiress.

Funding the Escape

Zhou Lan straightened up and stretched, turning to look out the window. Daybreak had already arrived. She couldn’t rush the trip to Dadu. With little money, she could only do so much.

She sorted through her electronics and listed them on a second-hand platform. These alone could easily fetch over a hundred thousand yuan, not to mention the action figures in her study.

Who wouldn’t be tempted by the Zhou family’s tens of billions in assets? Those weren’t just a few hundred or tens of thousands of yuan; they were tens of billions.

The villa itself, with its luxury cars and designer furnishings, could fetch hundreds of millions if sold, but Zhou Lan wanted clean separation, without having to touch the Zhou family’s tainted wealth.

In the novel, the Zhou family’s business was shady, their illicit income nearly ten times greater than their legitimate income.

Ten years after Zhou Lan’s father took over, he began to clean up his act, but once you’re hooked, it’s hard to escape.

The Zhou family was a den of wolves and tigers. It wasn’t just Chu Zhao who truly brought down the family; it was also the actions of the Zhou family over the years that had plunged the family into an abyss.

So even if the Zhou family offered help to her, she wouldn’t want it.

Zhou Lan rubbed her head, which ached slightly from staying up all night. Thinking of the Zhou family’s troubles made her feel sick.

It was better to leave before the collapse.

The Summons

After taking care of all this, it was already noon. Zhou Lan covered her hungry stomach and was about to find a place to eat when a call came in.

Her phone interrupted, the word “Mother” flashing onscreen.

Zhou Lan hesitated for a moment before answering the call. Ling Hena’s sarcastic voice came from the phone: “Come home, your father wants to see you.”

A pause. “I’ve already warned you long ago, listen to me. Everything in the Zhou empire will be yours. But you didn’t listen and insisted on going back to school. You’re already waiting to get your diploma now, so why would you go back?”

“And even if you don’t listen to me, you should listen to your father.”

“Your father has arranged a company position. What level depends on your performance today.”

Without giving Zhou Lan a chance to interrupt, she continued, “Don’t think I don’t know. Your card is empty. If you still want some pocket money, do as I say.”

Zhou Lan had initially been reluctant to answer the call, but Ling Hena’s next words made her give up.

The threat came sweetened: “Come with Chu Zhao…”

“Forget it, I’ll let her know.”

Zhou Lan’s fingers tightened around the phone.

The Zhou family has offended too many people. In the novel, Chu Zhao has a partner, and this partner is the main force that brought down the Zhou family.

According to the direction of the novel, the best ending for the Zhou family is bankruptcy. There are worse endings, such as the core members of the Zhou family going to jail or dying. The original host’s fate was death.

Zhou Lan didn’t want to end up like this. She must draw a clear line with the Zhou family while it’s still not too late.