It would not be so worrying for Gu Chen if Zhao Feng’s cronies and his men faltered in their attitude, but when he realized that most of his men’s eyes were also lighting up, he was really startled.
If everyone left him and followed Zhao Feng, how would he gain a foothold in the future?
He wanted a free and easy life, and could accept being one of the bosses in an association, but he did not want to officially become an employee who served a boss he was not familiar with. Although the boss seemed very formidable, he did not like being restrained.
After hearing Gu Chen’s bitter laugh and seeing everyone’s expression, Zhao Feng knew what Gu Chen was thinking. Zhao Feng gave him a reassuring look, gently coughed, and then continued speaking with a sober and deep voice.
“There’re some requirements if you follow me.”
“First, if you join the company, no matter what bad habits you had before, you are not allowed to swear in front of the boss once you go off on some errand!”
“Second, since we are setting up a company, there will be a lot of rules. Those who are willing to obey rules can join. If not, talk about the worst situation at first, I’ll treat you callously!”
“Third, if you choose follow me, no matter what order I give you, you have to do it.”
“Fourth, joining the company means bidding farewell to the lazy and enjoyable life. You will experience hard training and face other situations. Simply put, don’t blame me if you are fired for fooling around.”
“Those who can adhere to the above points can come with me. Now, if you want to join the team, stand up!”
Originally, most of them had been excited, but Zhao Feng’s words brought them back to reality.
The purpose of making a living was to enjoy a better life, which contained money, fame and wealth, status, and beautiful women!
However, Elder Brother Feng’s tone allowed them to understand that joining his group was like serving in the army. They inevitably felt a little uncomfortable. So, most of them backed out!
“I’ll be the first!”
The first one was always Ah Hu, who was often impertinent but would always stand behind Zhao Feng at crucial moments.
As soon as Zhao Feng finished speaking, he stood up. He didn’t know what the rules were, but he knew that following Elder Brother Feng was the correct choice!
“I’m second. Ah Hu, this kid always moves so fast.” Elder Meng smiled and stood up.
“Don’t talk about me like that. You also don’t hesitate to act, Ah.”
Two others stood up with a chuckle.
The four of them were Zhao Feng’s followers. There were seven people present, four of whom stood up without any hesitation. As for the other three, they looked at each other and shook their heads with a smile, but decided not to stand up in the end. They had the same idea as Gu Chen. They believed the rules he spoke of would constrain them, but they were used to being at ease.
These three people looked at Gu Chen and knew full well that Elder Brother Feng’s had done this to split everyone here into two groups. From now on, he would start a company and create a formal business, while Gu Chen would lead his men to dominate the underground forces of the Southern District and become the new leader of these forces. If they followed Gu Chen and made a name for themselves, they would enjoy unlimited wealth and honor. That was why they did not choose Zhao Feng.
Upon realizing their choice, Ah Hu, Elder Meng, and the other two men did not say a thing. They had the right to choose their own future. There was a saying that something done forcibly would not end well.
Xu Yong, however, was somewhat surprised by these people.
He kept his head down and remained silent for a long time before slowly standing up with Ah Hu and his brothers. He glanced at Gu Chen, then shook his head and chuckled.
“Elder Brother Chen, I was almost killed by Lao Biao this time, and I have become tired of living such a dangerous life…”
“Brother, you don’t need to say anything else! I understand!” Gu Chen nodded with a smile and patted Xu Yong on the arm, the said, “Even if you go with him, we’ll still be brothers. You can ask me for help whenever you get into trouble. You… will not be forgotten!”
While speaking, Gu Chen clenched his right hand and pounded it several times on his left chest, expressing that he would remember those words.
“Great!” Xu Yong bellowed out a laugh, then looked at Zhao Feng and said, “Elder Brother Feng, I’ll be one of your men from now on!”
“Get lost, I’m not gay!” Zhao Feng scolded him with a smile. He looked at Ah Hu and said, “Ah Hu, record these people’s names.”
“Okay!” Ah Hu took out his mobile phone and started recording the names.
“Okay, you guys, don’t just focus on us. Are there any others who intend to join Elder Brother Feng and start a business? If there is anyone else, stand up and tell me!”
“I will!”
“I’ll follow too!”
“Count me in!”
At this point, many people began to stand up in quick succession. After he finished writing down the names, Ah Hu finally confirmed the number of people who joined.
There were 50 people in total, taken from both Zhao Feng’s and Gu Chen’s men.
Zhao Feng’s followers previously numbered more than 70, but only 30 chose to continue following him. In the meantime, over 20 of Gu Chen’s men stood up, with the rest deciding to continue following Gu Chen.
At this moment, the 50 people who had stood up did not realize that they had embarked on a different path. Those who had not stood up were also not aware of the great opportunity they had missed!
Once they found out how powerful the brothers who followed Zhao Feng would become, they would definitely spare no expenses to become one of Zhao Feng’s followers. But, by that time, they would discover that it was very difficult to be hired by this company.
In another place far away from this exceptionally lively celebration dinner.
As the time approached midnight, a video was quietly released on the Internet.
Generally speaking, a video might just be a flash in the pan, with only a few people actually watching it.
But there was an extremely eye-catching title at the third position of the most searched hashtags on Weibo at midnight.
Zi Yan, the formerly popular star, insulted and abused the music tutors on the program!
Such a controversial title attracted many people’s attention, especially in the dead of night, when people lying down in bed. They enjoyed playing with their mobile phones for a while, so many people who were checking Weibo noticed this message.
When they clicked in, they were able to figure out that it was a scene from the program named Floating Music. It was a program that was aired by Jiang Yuan TV Station and had high ratings.
Upon realizing that it really was from the actual website, the people who were watching the video were all shocked.
Something big must have happened.
They could not help being curious about what on earth had happened, so they did not fast-forward the video, watching it from beginning to end.
“Huh? Isn’t this beauty Zi Yan?”
Plenty of people had memories of Zi Yan. After watching for a while and hearing the host’s introduction, they remembered her.
However…
As the video began playing, the three mentors’ evaluations were not aggressive. Instead, they were full of pity and guidance. The next moment, a lady rushed onto the stage and burst out with a storm of abuse at the three tutors.
People generally like to stand on the side with the moral high ground, and it was obvious that Zi Yan had deliberately caused trouble.
Just because she was on the show, did that mean she could get angry at people for saying something slightly unpleasant? And, why did she swear at them while on stage?
Lots of people instantly become dissatisfied with Zi Yan and Zhou Fei. As public figures, stars affected many people with their words and actions, especially teenagers.
Therefore, many people were disgusted with stars who behave badly, even if they were very beautiful.
So, from the very beginning, the comments were one-sided, completely condemning Zi Yan,
“As a star, you have to be virtuous. You’re the same as a skull without virtue though you’re talented.”
“It’s high time to improve the environment of the Entertainment Circle.”
“Nowadays, entertainers are so sensitive that people are expected to only say good things about them. If you point out their flaws, they will rush on stage and cuss at you. They might even hit people who continue to say unpleasant things.”
“…”
There were tens of thousands of replies to this topic within an hour.
Meanwhile, Liang Mengqi was lying in her bed. She was also used to playing with her mobile phone for a while before falling asleep.
After playing a round of a popular game, she opened Weibo to have a look.
“Hey? Isn’t this Zi Yan?”
After seeing this popular topic, Liang Mengqi suddenly felt startled. After watching the video again, Liang Mengqi’s brows wrinkled up.
Although she had not met Zi Yan face to face, she had heard from her brother several times that Zi Yan’s disposition, temperament, and overall manners were all very elegant!
What about this video?
Liang Mengqi opened WeChat, found her brother, and sent a message, “Hey, elder brother, are you asleep? Let me show you something.”
“I’m not asleep. Just send it to me.”
Liang Mengqi sent him the video. After watching the video, Liang Chen suddenly straightened up and was lost in thought as his eyebrows furrowed. He had a vague suspicion that this incident was tricky. Generally speaking, such an accident would not happen during a program, and the mentors would not cause trouble with people since they were not fools. However, the Entertainment Circle was very complicated, containing a lot of issues that the general public did not know about. Liang Chen estimated that Zi Yan must have gotten into trouble.
It seemed like he would have to accelerate his current plans.
On the other side, at a five-star hotel in Shang Jing.
Zhou Fei and Zi Yan were sitting by the bed. The expression on Zi Yan’s face was aloof, but Zhou Fei was livid with rage.
“How shameless! They’re so shameless! Editing the video? This makes me so mad!” Zhou Fei gritted her teeth so hard that they almost cracked.
This video was obviously intentional.
This video was absolutely made on purpose. Because of the editing, public opinion had turned against Zhou Fei, and what Zi Yan said after standing up had been changed to a close-up. It was easy to see that they were trying to cause their downfalls, especially at a moment like this when Zi Yan was heading towards another program. If the negative impact continued to expand, the programme division was likely to cancel Zi Yan’s schedule.
“How can they do something like this?” Zi Yan said with her eyebrows slightly wrinkled.
She had rarely encountered this kind of trouble before. Why was she constantly getting slandered ever since she returned? Who was it that was out to get her?
“Something must be wrong! Why was the video listed in the most searched hashtags all of a sudden? I’m speechless.” Zhou Fei said angrily, “I’ll make a public announcement and tell everyone about their shameless behavior!”
“It’s no use.” Zi Yan sighed softly and said in a somewhat low tone, “I have only 5 million followers on Weibo, and most of them are zombie fans. Even if you say something, it won’t have an effect. Besides, if you do say something, people will probably think we have a guilty conscience. Let’s ignore it and wait till tomorrow.”
