Scum Gong Walks the Career Line in the Crematorium

TL: Moonlit

Ever since Father Wan introduced Lin Hanchuan to Lou Weicai and others, Lin Hanchuan had been completely submerged in various books and knowledge.

These diligent scholars loved intelligent and hardworking juniors, especially someone like Lin Hanchuan, who was not only smart and diligent but also calm and steadfast, never overestimating himself despite his high talent.

Such a child was naturally likable, and Lou Weicai took the initiative to bring him under his wing, making sure others had no chance.

While Lin Hanchuan was busy working hard, Wan Li Shuang refused to fall behind and started learning about business matters with Mother Wan. The project that Mother Wan used as an example was the one originally set up by the Zhou family.

In Mother Wan’s study, Wan Li Shuang carefully read through the contract, word by word. After more than three hours, he couldn’t find any issues with it. Every word in the contract was precise, leaving no room for misunderstandings. Especially the clauses involving interests had gone through countless revisions to achieve this level of accuracy.

Mother Wan finished a call and dealt with her affairs before walking over to Wan Li Shuang. “The contract itself doesn’t have major issues, but this project involves a lot of things behind the scenes.”

The scheme laid out by the eldest son of the Zhou family, Zhou Gao Dan, definitely wouldn’t be easy to decipher.

Although there seemed to be no problems with the project on the surface, the cooperating company secretly sold information to an enemy country. Once the contract was signed, the Wan family and the cooperating company would be linked by the same chain of interests. If this matter was exposed, they would not only face public resistance but also government crackdowns.

In the unpredictable business world, when faced with such situations, companies of any size would have to reevaluate their actions. Especially with the Zhou family watching from the sidelines, ready to take a bite out of the Wan family at any time.

After hearing Mother Wan’s detailed analysis, Wan Li Shuang gasped, “Mom, did you sign this contract?”

“I did,” Mother Wan replied with cold indifference, a hint of excitement and bloodlust in her eyes. “How could I not sign the project that Zhou Gao Dan worked so hard to deliver?”

“Signed?!” Wan Li Shuang widened his eyes and exclaimed.

“When you step into the business world, the first thing you need to learn is that there are no permanent enemies. As long as the interests are sufficient, even the biggest enemies can reconcile,” Mother Wan patted Wan Li Shuang’s head, took the contract from his hands, and handed him another one. “When someone gives you sugar-coated bullets, eat the sugar and return the bullet intact.”

Mother Wan took over this project, but she secretly negotiated with the successor of the cooperating company to eliminate any internal corruption. In return, they helped her deceive Zhou Gao Dan.

During their collaboration, Mother Wan returned the favor to Zhou Gao Dan.

After dissecting the ins and outs of this back-and-forth, Mother Wan looked at Wan Li Shuang with a faint sense of satisfaction. She teased, “You used to talk about relying on dividends and your parents to support you for a lifetime, never wanting to study this aspect of knowledge. If you knew earlier, would you still be so lazy?”

“The past is the past, the present is the present,” Wan Li Shuang playfully pouted, throwing the contract away. Recently, he had to prepare for the college entrance exam and study with Mother Wan, making him exhausted. He suddenly had a thought, “Mom, how about letting Jiang Tian take over Dad’s company? He’s interested in this area. What do you think?”

Mother Wan shook his head.

“Mom, you wouldn’t be reluctant, right? He’s my best friend…” Wan Li Shuang suddenly became unhappy. He fussed and hesitated. He had initially said it casually, but now he seriously considered the idea, “He’s so smart; he will definitely learn the business quickly. Then I won’t have to handle two companies all by myself.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, but that child…” Mother Wan thought for a moment and said, “He’s not the type to stay in any company.”

Having lived with Father Wan for so many years, Mother Wan also understood that top talents could only achieve their full potential in a laboratory, and the best laboratories were controlled by the country.

During their time together, Mother Wan noticed that although Lin Hanchuan didn’t have a favorable environment for growth, he wasn’t materialistic. People like him wouldn’t work for just any company; they had noble and glorious ideals and would dedicate their lives to more significant causes.

Wan Li Shuang was speechless.

Mother Wan observed the lost expression on her child’s face, and her brows furrowed. She had faintly predicted something like this before and now it surfaced again, “No matter how good the relationship between friends is, they won’t easily hand over a company worth billions in market value.”

“We’re different; we’re special friends,” Wan Li Shuang straightened his back and defended himself.

Mother Wan still had some doubts but didn’t delve deeper. She skipped this topic and continued to educate her son.

Wan Li Shuang secretly let out a sigh of relief. After Mother Wan’s reminder, he suddenly realized that he and Lin Hanchuan’s relationship seemed to have crossed a certain boundary.

He merely wanted to give the best things to his best friend. Was that wrong?

But the best friends… Shouldn’t they stick together all the time, not wanting anyone else to steal their attention? They would lay everything out for each other to choose from, feeling more upset about their friend’s hardships than the person going through them…

Wan Li Shuang had never had a close friend before, so he didn’t know. But looking at the relationships between his classmates, even if they were close, they wouldn’t be this clingy, except for the girls.

For the first time, Wan Li Shuang felt an uneasy feeling, as if something had gone off track, but he was powerless to stop it. He could only let his heart beat frantically in his chest.

Zhou Yuntang also felt inexplicably panicked. Everything in front of him seemed like a derailed train, hurtling towards an unknown destination, and there was no way to stop it.

He, who had never sought divine intervention, bought a pair of jade Buddha pendants. He intended to keep one for himself and give the other to his elder brother.

As he approached the study’s door, he faintly heard his usually composed elder brother thundering with anger, “How could there be a problem with this project after it went through all the audits? What is the legal department doing…”

Subconsciously, he stopped his steps, standing still so as not to disturb his furious elder brother.

“Terminate the contract! Find a way to terminate it! The penalty… I will figure out a solution for the penalty. The most important thing for you now is to untangle from that company…” Zhou Gao Dan forcibly suppressed his anger and gave instructions.

After hanging up the phone, he clutched the phone tightly and was about to leave. When he opened the study door, he saw Zhou Yuntang, who looked startled like a frightened little rabbit.

His movement slightly paused, but Zhou Gao Dan didn’t stop his steps. He hurriedly passed Zhou Yuntang, leaving only a few words, “Brother is busy, let’s talk later tonight.”

Holding a red box in his hands and touching the jade Buddha pendant around his neck, Zhou Yuntang’s ominous premonition grew stronger. He murmured in prayer, “I hope nothing happens to the company and big brother…”

Too much had happened recently, and it was only today that the busy Zhou Gao Dan realized that his meticulously planned scheme had been exposed. Not only did the Wan family avoid trouble, but they also obtained an excellent project.

His heart skipped a beat. Zhou Gao Dan knew Mother Wan well and didn’t dare to underestimate that formidable woman. He immediately checked all the projects of the company and found some irregularities, mostly minor cases of corruption and embezzlement.

Being cautious by nature, Zhou Gao Dan didn’t relax; instead, he conducted a more rigorous investigation and discovered the real problem.

The project that Zhou Family had spent over half a year developing turned out to be a bottomless pit. At the same time, Zhou Gao Dan found that some of the Zhou Family’s shares had been secretly acquired by some mysterious force.

Zhou Gao Dan was about to take action, but the Wan family had laid a trap for him. Once he got involved, it wouldn’t be easy to break free. He had no choice but to cut off some assets, so that Zhou Family wouldn’t be seriously harmed.

Most importantly, Zhou Gao Dan had to find a way to retain the highest stake in the company in his hands.

Driving to the hospital, he looked at his second younger brother, Zhou Zhengqing, lying on the hospital bed. He felt a tinge of heartache, but it quickly disappeared. He then turned his attention to his fourth younger brother, Zhou Ziming.

Although there were dedicated caregivers for his second brother at the hospital, Mother Zhou was still worried and came to check on him every day. Zhou Ziming, being equally concerned, accompanied Mother Zhou.

When Zhou Ziming saw Zhou Gao Dan, he paused for a moment, then asked, “Are you here to see Second Brother?”

“I have something to discuss with you,” Zhou Gao Dan said directly.

Zhou Ziming was puzzled. Among all his brothers, the eldest brother held the most authority, and their relationship was the most distant. Now that Second Brother was still lying in the hospital bed, Zhou Ziming didn’t understand why the eldest brother wasn’t visiting him. What was going on?

“Transfer ten percent of your company shares to me,” Zhou Gao Dan employed some tactics with Zhou Zhengqing, who was independent-minded, and with Zhou Yushu, who was clever. However, he didn’t want to waste time on Zhou Ziming, so he gave a direct order.

“Have you gone mad?” Zhou Ziming widened his eyes, looking incredulously at his elder brother. “When our parents gave each of us ten percent of the company shares, why are you eyeing mine?”

Zhou Gao Dan furrowed his brows and explained nonchalantly, “Now someone outside is buying up the company’s shares. If the other party holds more shares than I do, they will take control of the company. If you don’t give me your shares, the company will be lost.”

“I’m a business major, and as long as I have shares, no matter who controls the company, they will have to give me dividends honestly,” Zhou Ziming said with a laugh. He knew that his elder brother didn’t like him very much, but he didn’t expect him to be unwilling to even appease him.

“If you’re my younger brother, even if you don’t have any shares, I will still share the dividends with you.” Zhou Gao Dan patiently persuaded, “I won’t harm you.”

“…Your other brother has been lying in a hospital bed for so long, and you haven’t even come to see him once,” Zhou Ziming said with a mix of tears and laughter. He wiped his face, “This is the first time you’ve come to the hospital room, and you’re calculating my shares right in front of him.”

Zhou Ziming suddenly realized that he had not only failed to see Zhou Yuntang clearly but had never truly understood any of his older brothers.

Was his eldest brother really such a cold and heartless person? How could he have previously thought that his brother was outwardly cold but inwardly warm, and a good elder brother? Zhou Ziming pondered for a moment, probably because Zhou Gao Dan was too gentle towards Zhou Yuntang, which gave him such an illusion.

In reality, Zhou Gao Dan was indeed cold on the surface but warm inside; he was a good elder brother, but only to Zhou Yuntang.

Zhou Ziming was about to ask Zhou Gao Dan to leave when the hospital room door opened, and Mother Zhou walked in slowly, her face expressionless. “Gao Dan, you actually want to scheme against your younger brother’s shares.”

Zhou Gao Dan frowned slightly. “How can you call it scheming? I am not denying him money.”

Mother Zhou was mentally and physically exhausted. She shook her head and said, “In the past, you subtly suppressed your brothers. You encouraged the second to enter the entertainment industry and guided the third to focus on research. Only the fourth… only the fourth, you finally let him study management. I know that you have a strong sense of vigilance and suspicion, and the second and third truly enjoy their work, so I never exposed you.”

“Who would have thought you would become more and more excessive. Now you’re even eyeing your fourth brother’s shares.”

Zhou Ziming was shocked. He had never noticed these things. In his impression, it was because the second and third brothers had no interest in the family business, so they pursued their own hobbies, leading to their career choices. He never expected that his eldest brother had been pushing them behind the scenes.

And as for why he was able to study management… Zhou Ziming was in a daze for a few seconds, suddenly suspecting if it was because his intelligence wasn’t enough, and his eldest brother didn’t even regard him as important?

An unprecedented self-awareness.

Having these things exposed all of a sudden, Zhou Gao Dan’s face also showed some embarrassment. “Mom, I encountered some problems, and I had to ask him for help. After we get through this difficult time, I will return the shares to him.”

Mother Zhou looked at him coldly. “Your father saw your business talent, so he entrusted the family business to you and gave you twenty percent of the shares, twice as much as your brothers. Although you seem to have only twenty percent of the shares, all of your brothers unconditionally support you. You have fifty percent of the shares firmly in your hands. Despite that, you still managed to jeopardize the company…”

“It only goes to show that you are incompetent and don’t deserve to own the company.”

Her words were harsh, causing Zhou Gao Dan’s face to change drastically. “Mom, what do you mean? We are a family, why do we need to keep track so precisely?”

“Even brothers must settle accounts clearly,” Mother Zhou pulled Zhou Ziming behind her, put one hand on the hospital bed, and tidied up the blanket for the unconscious Zhou Zhengqing. “You’re welcome to come and see your second brother in the future, but for other matters, there’s no need to come looking for me.”

Zhou Gao Dan left the room in a state of anger and determination.

Zhou Ziming watched his back and sighed, “Mom, if he’s really in trouble, are we really going to ignore him?”

Mother Zhou smiled, “I’m getting old, and I can’t handle so much anymore. They don’t even care about their own brothers and are only focused on protecting their fake younger brother. You don’t need to feel sorry for him either.”

After all these events, Mother Zhou’s heart also turned cold. Regardless of what happens to Zhou Gao Dan and Zhou Yushu, she’s too tired to bother anymore. She only wants to take care of Zhou Zhengqing and protect her youngest son, Zhou Ziming. As for everything else, she cares but has no strength left.

After Zhou Gao Dan left, realizing that there was no hope with Zhou Ziming and Zhou Yushu, he could only look for other shareholders. While busy securing his position as the controlling shareholder and having no time to spare, various partner companies of the Zhou family began to request termination of their contracts one after another.

In the midst of this crisis, the final blow came down. The biggest partner company stepped over the legal line. Although Zhou Gao Dan had only recently signed a contract with them, he was used as an example and sanctioned by the country.