The story of Rose starts with being a brother

Chapter 369: Prelude to Fire
In the evening, Sheshan Manor, Gong family villa.

The lights that had just come on seeped through the French arched windows, giving the night a golden edge. The newly green leaves of the sycamore trees rubbed lightly against the glass, making a rustling sound, adding a touch of peace and tranquility to the quiet night.

In contrast to the quietness outside the window, a room on the third floor seemed extremely noisy at this moment.

The swampland of Velen made a sticky sound when being trampled, the witch suddenly laughed a sharp laugh, and then Geralt swung his heavy sword and chopped...

The monitor cast a dark green light on the man's face in the room, making his already expressionless face look like a murderous evil spirit.

Even when the five channels of the surround sound system exploded simultaneously when the heavy sword was chopped, and the low-frequency vibration made the paper towels on the table tremble slightly, the man's expression did not change at all. He just stared at the monitor and frantically pressed the handle in his hand.

There was no light in the room, and the man just sat cross-legged on the sofa. Occasionally, when the screen suddenly lit up, you could see that the floor around the man was littered with clothes, socks, paper towels, beverage cans, and snack bags...

It was so densely packed that it covered the entire floor, making it almost impossible to find a place to step. The word "sloppy" was not enough to describe it, the whole room was completely dirty and messy!
But the man didn't mind at all, and even... enjoyed it very much.

Including the undiminished game sound effects and the crazy controller button clicking sounds mixed in the house, which is out of tune with the quiet scene outside the window. If it were in the city, I guarantee that neighbors would come over to complain.

Unfortunately, this happened in a manor villa, and the only people he tortured were the bodyguards at the door—bodyguards in name only, but actually… guards.

"Bah!"

At this moment, there was a sudden noise at the door, and then the door of the room was pushed open.

I don’t know if it was because of the complex and unpleasant smell in the room, but the person who opened the door took two and a half seconds before turning on the light switch.

Suddenly, the bright white light covered the entire room, and even Zhou Chongguang, who had always had an expressionless face, was dazzled.

But fortunately, the game was not over yet, so he continued to stare at the screen on the monitor.

Then the door of the room closed, and the sound of high heels stepping cautiously on the floor was heard, getting closer and closer to him.

It was not until a birthday cake appeared in front of Zhou Chongguang and completely blocked his view that he frowned and retracted his attention.

"Birthday cake? Kitty, what does this mean?" Zhou Chongguang, who has yellow hair, asked in confusion, "Is it your birthday today?"

"The birthday cake is not for me." Kitty, who was wearing a simple and elegant suit, 10cm high heels, and a jet-black princess-cut hairstyle with delicate smoky makeup, looked around first. After finding that there was really no other place to put the cake, she manually removed the man-made garbage on the coffee table and put the cake on it. "The cake is for you."

"For me?" Zhou Chongguang, who had been silently watching Kitty's series of actions, was stunned. He then threw the controller aside casually. Anyway, he had already finished the game. "Today is not my birthday."

Kitty didn't rush to answer him. Instead, she took out two candles from her pocket and stuck them on the cake. Then she took out an ST Dupont lighter that glowed with a cold silver light. There was no doubt that this lighter was made of pure silver and was a limited edition collector's edition worth tens of thousands of dollars.

"Ding!"

The crisp sound of opening the lid was heard, which was much more pleasant than the game sound effects from the speaker just now.

When the candles were lit, Kitty turned to Zhou Chongguang and whispered, "Mr. Gong was unable to celebrate your birthday for the past two years, and he asked me to make it up to you."

Hearing this, Zhou Chongguang's face instantly turned cold: "Which Mr. Gong?"

"Mr. Gong Ming."

"..."

Looking at the slowly burning candle flame, Zhou Chongguang was a little absent-minded for a moment. After a long time, his Adam's apple moved slightly, and he slowly said: "Brother..."

"Blow out the candles quickly."

Zhou Chongguang didn't move, just stared at the cake and asked, "Why doesn't brother come over by himself?"

Kitty fell silent. When Zhou Chongguang turned to look at her, she hesitated before replying, "Mr. Gong Ming... he's in jail."

"jail?!"

Zhou Chongguang, who was looking at the cake and reminiscing about the past, suddenly stood up in shock. He looked at Kitty in disbelief and asked, "Why? How could I be in jail?!"

Kitty was silent again and just looked at Zhou Chongguang with calm eyes.

Zhou Chongguang, who was looking at her, was emotional at first, but slowly calmed down, until he sat back on the sofa dejectedly and covered his face.

"It's...it's because of me, right?"

"For the sake of the overall situation, this is a voluntary decision made by Mr. Gong." It was unclear whether Kitty was stating a fact or trying to comfort the other party.

Obviously, these words did not comfort him at all. Zhou Chongguang raised his head, and two lines of horse urine were already flowing freely on his face. However, he did not care about these things and just shouted angrily: "Bullshit overall situation, just for that person's overall situation, I was locked up in the house and my brother was sent to prison!"

"Please be respectful to Mr. Gong Xun." Kitty reminded, "Your father doesn't want to do this, but the situation the Gong family is facing now requires someone to make sacrifices."

"Then why is it my brother? I am willing to go to jail for my brother! Why shouldn't he make the sacrifice?!" Zhou Chongguang, who had lost his composure, stood up again, pushed Kitty aside and walked out the door.

Kitty didn't stop him, but after hearing what he just said, a strange gleam appeared in her eyes.

As expected, Zhou Chongguang was stopped by two bodyguards in suits as soon as he walked angrily to the door to open it.

"Let me go! I want to see him, I want to see my father, I want to see Gong Xun!"

Zhou Chongguang's roar echoed throughout the third floor of the villa, but it was in vain. As the door closed again, he could only punch and kick the door.

Behind him, Kitty watched silently for a while, and finally spoke when the other party was lying on the door crying: "Zhou Chongguang, no one wants to see things develop like this. If you had stayed in the United States honestly, none of this would have happened. Now Mr. Gong Ming has made a sacrifice. If you mess around again, it will only make his sacrifice in vain and make the situation worse!"

I don’t know if it was because of Kitty’s words that moved him, or because his crying and making a fuss just now had exhausted all his energy, but Zhou Chongguang finally stopped, lay against the door and sobbed for a long time before turning around and walking back, and he almost stepped on a banana peel on the ground and fell.

Sitting back on the sofa dejectedly again, Zhou Chongguang stared at the cake in front of him absentmindedly. The flickering flames on the tops of the two candles seemed to suddenly turn into all-consuming flames in his eyes. He was so frightened that he blew them out in one breath without Kitty urging him again.

Seeing this, Kitty used the long plastic serrated knife she had taken out earlier to cut a piece of cake and placed it on a foam plate, and placed a plastic spoon next to it.

"Happy birthday to you~"

In the huge manor villa, in this room with only two people, Kitty sang the birthday song. There was no accompaniment, no cheers, and no one laughed.

It looks shabby and desolate, yet also a little creepy.

The birthday boy, whose birthday had not yet come, also looked at the scene expressionlessly. After Kitty finished singing, he slowly said, "Brother...how long will he be sentenced?"

"I'm not sure. We are still in the investigation stage and it's not time to sentence."

"Can't the family help him?"

"..."

Zhou Chongguang turned his head and glanced at her. He understood what was going on. He smiled bitterly and said, "So now, is the Gong family okay?"

"It's not certain yet." Kitty shook her head, but quickly added, "ME has been thrown away by the Gong family, and Mr. Gong Xun is handling the follow-up. After it is completely divested, Constanly should not be affected too much."

"Haha, it shouldn't be..." Zhou Chongguang pulled the golden hair on his head and said in a muffled voice, "It was clearly agreed that I could come back directly after staying abroad for a few months, but it turned out to be a mess. I'm alive now but I'm considered dead. My brother is also in prison. How long do I have to sacrifice for this overall situation?!" Being locked up at home without contact with the outside world for this period of time has almost driven him crazy. He can only play the game he once liked over and over again. After returning to China, he still missed playing games when he was hiding in that bar, but now he has played so much that he wants to vomit. Only when the sound effects of the game sound every day can he feel that he is still alive. Or, he doesn't know whether he, who should have been dead, is living in reality or in virtuality.

It was not until he heard the news that his brother, the only person in the family who cared about him, was imprisoned that he realized that this way of living, which was more like an escape, would ultimately force him into a situation where he had no way out.

But even so, what can I do?

Hearing Zhou Chongguang's painful words, Kitty had no way of answering. She just cut herself another piece of cake and started eating first.

"Eat the cake. Mr. Gong Ming specifically told me to add more cream. You like sweets just like him."

At the end of Gong Ming’s birthday party, she brought out the cake that Zhou Chongguang had prepared for his brother, which also had a lot of cream on it.

At this moment, just like at that time, the person who delivered the cake was not present, and she was the only one who ate two pieces of cake with her.

After she finished eating the piece of cake, Zhou Chongguang raised his head and picked up the cake and started eating with trembling hands.

Kitty wiped her mouth and sat quietly for a while before she stood up and said, "I'm leaving first. Don't play games too late."

Zhou Chongguang stuffed the cake into his mouth in silence, seemingly unaware of Kitty's departure. It was not until Kitty carefully avoided the garbage on the ground and approached the door that he spoke again:
"Kitty!"

"Anything else?" Kitty turned around and asked.

Zhou Chongguang didn't look over. With his mouth full of cream, he suddenly asked, "Have you always been arranged by my father to monitor my brother?"

"..."

The room was very large. Although it was called a room, it was more like a small apartment. The bedroom, bathroom, and living room were all included in it. It seemed to be designed to take care of him, an autistic person who had been weak and sickly since childhood. Even the game facilities were arranged with all kinds of equipment. But at this moment, only his voice was echoing in this large room.

Kitty's body stiffened slightly. She also couldn't answer this question, but not answering it was already an answer.

"I see."

Zhou Chongguang's voice came again, and his words were mixed with sadness, anger, or indifference.

The sound of high heels sounded again, and Kitty didn't speak until the door opened: "It used to be, but now..."

She didn't say anything else, just opened the door and walked out.

Until the door closed, Zhou Chongguang was left alone in the room again.

He looked at the cake in front of him, thinking about the words Kitty had just left.

Since I've already been in, does that mean it's not the case now? Or... is there something else?
Zhou Chongguang thought about it, but couldn’t think of the answer. Besides, would this answer make any sense?

Now that things have come to this, nothing is meaningful anymore.

The house was still in a mess, with garbage scattered all over the place under the light, and if things went as expected, there was even more garbage.

Zhou Chongguang sat quietly, as if all his energy had been drained away. On the coffee table in front of him were a half-eaten cake, two candles with a small part burnt out, two foam plates, a long plastic serrated knife and two plastic spoons.

And...the sterling silver lighter with a faint cold glow, worth tens of thousands of dollars, that Kitty had just taken out and used but didn't know if she had forgotten to take it with her.

……

"False financial reports, misappropriation of funds, breach of trust, damaging the interests of listed companies, tsk, this old guy Gong Xun is really cruel enough, pushing the blame like this, and letting his son bear almost all the blame."

In a private room of a high-end teahouse in MH District, Ye Chuanping said with a sneer.

Opposite her, Jian Xi was slowly pouring tea into a glass vessel. He stopped only after the amber-colored aged tea had filled most of the cup. He then placed the tea in front of Ye Chuanping and said with a smile, "Aunt Ye, please."

The entire teahouse is dominated by Gan-style architecture, exuding an ancient atmosphere everywhere. It is said that this teahouse building was completely moved from Gan Province. The original owner was an official of the second rank or above. Before it was converted into a teahouse, the cost of moving it here alone was over 100 million yuan.

Ye Chuanping picked up the teacup and took a sip. Then she heard Jian Xi chuckle and say, "Isn't it the same as not reciting it cleanly?"

On the wooden table with intricate patterns, Jian Xi poured himself a cup of tea. He first smelled the overflowing tea fragrance, then took a sip and said, "After all, Gong Xun is the root of the problem. It's not that easy for the Constanly Group to clear itself of the problem."

After a pause, he smiled and said, "The company that was mainly involved before was ME. Although Constanly was also affected, it was still under his control. But more news will be revealed soon... Multinational listed companies look tough, but in fact, their risk resistance is not much higher than that of ME. After all, its stock price changes in real time."

Ye Chuanping nodded. The Ye Group is also a listed company. She understood this principle very well. The strength of a listed company lies in its strong health. The so-called strong risk resistance means exchanging health for time, and being able to cut off what is damaged in time before it affects the entire company. However, the unlisted "ME" was not able to do so, and Gong Ming could only wait to die.

But now the problem in Constanly Group is Gong Xun, so what should be done? Will Gong Xun be cut off?

However, Ye Chuanping still frowned: "But I can't do too much to compete with Constanly later..."

Putting down the teacup, she sighed and said, "There has been too much noise recently. The higher-ups have already issued a warning and they don't want the two listed companies in Shanghai to escalate the incident."

She hadn't intended to make a bigger fuss, but after her elder son went to jail, she was forced to start making moves again without waiting for the situation to ease. Although ME was not a listed company, due to the particularity of its industry, these successive incidents had caused constant disturbances, and it was impossible not to pay attention.

We are all in Shanghai. Although there is no shortage of listed companies in Shanghai, the place is so small and they all lay golden eggs for the same owner. If you make too much noise and it’s too ugly, you’ll easily get punished.

Jian Xi's expression did not change after hearing this. He just nodded and said, "I know. It's okay. I'll be the main force this time. After all, as a local enterprise, I not only received support, but I also paid the full amount of taxes."

Although the current egg-laying value of Hongye Media is not as high as that of the Constanly Group, after all, it is still raised by our own family. Aren’t free-range eggs better than semi-fed ones? Moreover, our chickens are the leading chickens in the emerging industry.

In this land, the concept of foreigners only exists among ordinary people and in schools. When it comes to the business and political world where real money is involved, I'm sorry, the distinction between biological and adopted children is still very clear.

It’s not that Jian Xi’s paying of taxes is something he is proud of. It’s just that he has not been developing for long enough and has not yet reached a scale that requires tax avoidance. As he grows bigger in the future, he will sooner or later have to take the right path.

After all, the history of economic development of the entire world is a history of financial confrontation between enterprises and countries that has never been interrupted. Where there are regulations, there are loopholes. The spear and shield of taxation are enterprises and countries all over the world. Following regulations and bypassing regulations are the eternal propositions of large private enterprises, and this is true for every one of them.

But now it seems that Jian Xi has become the honest child in the class.

Ye Chuanping looked at him quietly, her fingers stroking the glass teacup. After a few seconds, she suddenly smiled and said, "Jian Xi, although you said you were very confident before, and I am optimistic about your Hongye Media, but now facing Constanly from the Gong family, I am still a little curious if this is all your confidence is?"

It was decided before that the Ye family would still be the main force, with Jian Xi as the assistant. After all, the Ye family gets the lion's share of the fruits of their labor. But now something unexpected has happened, and Jian Xi is needed to be the main force. We have to give Ye Chuanping a reassurance, otherwise the only fruit that can be divided up now is "ME".

Jian Xi smiled, picked up the teacup and took another sip, then said leisurely: "Aunt Ye, to be honest, I never thought of relying on Hongye Media."

"Not relying on Hongye Media?" Ye Chuanping was surprised. Her brows slightly frowned and then quickly relaxed. She didn't believe that the other party could still joke at this time. "Then what do you rely on?"

"money."

Jian Xi stretched out his hand and clenched it in the air, as if he was holding something tightly. Facing Ye Chuanping's gaze, he smiled calmly and said, "The value of Hongye Media is in the future, otherwise Aunt Ye, you wouldn't have invested in it in the first place, right? But what if I say that the value of Hongye Media at this moment is only a part of my assets?"

Ye Chuanping's eyes twitched slightly, and then he heard the young man in front of him, who was about the same age as his son, whispered: "Actually, what I am best at is not doing actual business."

Using Hongye Media as a stepping stone, he took off as early as last year when the industry exploded. Up to now, except for the initial period when he needed to be self-sufficient, the subsequent consumption was either paid by Ye Chuanping or other investment banks, and he has put the funds that can be recovered from here in the place where the real golden eggs are laid.

After being away from home for so long, it’s time for all that money to come in handy. What’s more, Constanly’s base is overseas, so it’s more convenient without a chicken coop.

What does it mean that retail investors are also crazy?
(End of this chapter)