Chapter 17 Chapter 17 "It's just a family marriage." ...

From the host's opening speech to the long and meaningless speech by the guest speaker on stage, after a long hour and a half, the Chamber of Commerce's main event finally ended. After a polite applause, Cheng Shuze stood up.

After the main event, there was a dinner in a more relaxed atmosphere, accompanied by questions from the media.

The red carpet after the official event was much more casual. Reporters basically interviewed whoever they could find. If you were a step late and were surrounded, you couldn't escape without saying a few words.

Cheng Shuze wanted to leave early, but as soon as he stood up, he was surrounded by familiar partners and started chatting with them. There were also some little celebrities who brought their own media cameras and rushed to show their faces and gain popularity.

There was no way around it, since the heat Cheng Shuze generated in just a few seconds under the big camera was higher than the topics they bought.

By the time his assistant He Yue came all the way from the other end of the venue to save the situation, Cheng Shuze had already missed the best opportunity to leave the backstage red carpet early.

Moreover, based on the recent rumors in the circle, it is impossible for the media friends who are worried about not having explosive press releases to let him get away with it.

As soon as Cheng Shuze stepped onto the red carpet, he was surrounded by people. Even the person who was interviewing a top-tier celebrity about a scandal with a business tycoon came rushing over with his guns and cannons.

But after all, he was a rising star in the business world, the eldest son of the Cheng family, and he was in a different league from the entertainers in the entertainment industry. They still wanted to make a living in this industry. Even if they were eager to grab the news, no one dared to actually shove the microphone directly under Young Master Cheng's nose. At most, they would form a semi-circle around him.

Anyway, the road was blocked, so Cheng Shuze had no choice but to stop and indicate to be interviewed.

As soon as he stopped, a reporter from a more official business media immediately asked questions about the recent developments of the Cheng Group.

They were all business interviews. Cheng Shuze didn't even pick up the microphone. He casually revealed some already disclosed corporate information. After a few meaningless questions, when he was asked about the project of the land in the western suburbs that Cheng's company had bid for earlier, Cheng Shuze mentioned that the construction of the western suburbs resort had been put on the agenda and he believed that significant results would be seen within a few years.

The reporter who asked the question finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the eldest son of the Cheng family was young, his response was flawless. Compared with other business tycoons who had been immersed in the industry for a long time, he was not inferior at all. No new information could be dug out. It was far from the rumors heard through the grapevine that he was a rich second-generation playboy and a wealthy man chasing after his daughter.

"Hmm?" The reporters exchanged glances.

Today wasn't a formal company interview, so it was customary to ask personal questions. In the past, there had been plenty of instances where people would simply ask a few questions and then announce their relationships. But after receiving a cold glance from Young Master Cheng, no one dared to speak first.

He Yue, who had finally escaped the entanglement of all parties, arrived from the rear. He politely squeezed out of the encirclement and stopped the stares from all parties on behalf of Cheng Shao.

"Dear media friends, today's interview ends here. For follow-up information..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," someone squeezed forward from behind the many news media, and looking at the logo hanging on the microphone, it was not a big news agency. He Yue took a look and remembered that it was a niche gossip newspaper that specialized in digging out explosive points. Because of its tricky angles and its ability to cut off the beginning and end of the title, it was very good at stirring up hype.

This news agency has too many dark histories, and they must not be given the opportunity to act freely, so He Yue reached out to stop them.

"Reporter, today's interview is over! Don't!"

However, he was still a step too late. The tabloid reporter tried his best to get the headlines. He pulled his colleagues around him with both hands and jumped forward. He was in front of Cheng Shuze. He couldn't stop in time and used too much force. He was about to kneel down on his knees.

The person was about to rush towards his face. Cheng Shuze subconsciously reached out to hold the person steady, but was caught off guard and grabbed the microphone he was holding up.

Before he could even care about his knee hitting the ground, the reporter saw Cheng Shuze took the microphone and immediately let go, leaving the microphone in his hand.

Cheng Shuze: “……?”

The reporter then asked in his loudest, clearest voice that could be heard within a five-kilometer radius, "Mr. Cheng, there were rumors that you and Ms. Jiang Yiyun had divorced. Is this true? What was the reason for the divorce?"

Colleagues all looked at him with admiration. Betting their own future on news is a courage that is truly a role model for us.

The venue fell silent, and people around unconsciously turned their attention to the interview here.

The official live broadcast of the Chamber of Commerce event on television had concluded. After the official event, those who wanted to see interviews or dinner arrangements had to search online for media outlets that might follow up and cover the event. Few outlets had authorization to film the event afterward, and even fewer could livestream the red carpet exit. Jiang Yiyun, familiar with her approach, easily found the official account of a news agency she'd collaborated with and pulled up the live footage. She'd initially planned to just watch it, but she was pleasantly surprised.

The camera stand was positioned far from the exit passage, and originally one could only see from afar the people leaving the venue being interviewed by groups of media in small groups. Suddenly, the camera moved, shifting the angle of view and pulling someone right in the center of a circle surrounded by the media into the frame. The question asked by the reporter in the middle, with only the back of his head visible, seemed particularly lingering even amidst the background noise.

A good assistant always does the right thing at the right time. For example, when the boss is asked a tricky, non-work-related romantic question, he should defend his boss against the harsh media, never giving them any opportunity to smear his glorious image. As long as the boss hands him the microphone, he can refuse to respond by claiming it's personal and non-work-related. Please don't fall for such a simple excuse as rumors.

If only the boss would give him the microphone instead of holding it in his hand, if only...

Um……

The boss didn’t give him the microphone!

Cheng Shuze held the microphone with an extremely calm expression. He did not speak, nor did he refuse to answer the questions. He just fell into silence.

He Yue even stretched out his hand, waiting to take the microphone handed to him by his boss. After a long stalemate, seeing that his boss did not seem to refuse to answer the question, under the illumination of the surrounding media flash lights, in order to avoid appearing too stupid in the leaked photos, he silently put down his raised hand.

It lasted so long that everyone began to feel doubtful and puzzled, and Cheng Shao finally spoke.

"What did you just ask?"

His voice was calm and gentle, without any sign of anger, but instead hinted at his intention to answer questions from the media.

Seeing the exclusive news right in front of him, the reporter was excited and quickly repeated the question he had just asked, emphasizing "whether the divorce was due to a breakdown in the relationship between the two parties."

Cheng Shuze held the microphone low in one hand, revealing a bare left ring finger. Even the faint white mark from wearing a wedding ring had faded. Whenever he and Jiang Yiyun attended events together, he always wore the ring they had married, and the media loved taking photos of them holding hands with the rings on, hyping up their romantic saga.

This time, Jiang Yiyu was not present and Cheng Shuze was not wearing a ring, which became particularly obvious. The media, who were very attentive, took pictures of the details and were thinking about how to add more details to the report.

Cheng Shuze, who had previously answered business interviews meticulously and without any personal emotion, suddenly smiled nonchalantly, a hint of mockery between his eyebrows: "It's just a family marriage."

There was an uproar, and two years after the marriage, the eldest son of the Cheng family publicly announced his divorce, pointing out that it was actually a family marriage.

Business marriages are normal. Even if you hype up the perfect childhood sweetheart romance, marriages in large families are more or less a form of marriage, and everyone understands that. The key is the divorce, and it was so sudden, Cheng Shuze publicly announced the divorce on his own.

The young reporter who had staked his own future and bonus never dreamed that his casual question without any hope would actually lead him to digging up some big news. The end of the marriage between the Cheng and Jiang families would definitely affect the cooperation between the companies. Even if it did not, everyone would be happy to find out the gossip about the wealthy family's divorce.

Just as the reporter was about to ask further questions, Cheng Shao, who answered the question in six words, became obviously impatient. He threw the microphone to the reporter who was standing in front of him and walked out with a cold face.

Assistant He Yue, who had been pretending to be dead since Cheng Shao revealed his divorce and acted nonchalant, immediately followed and professionally separated himself from the reporters.

"Sorry, excuse me, please move aside. I won't be accepting interviews anymore."

However, this time it was completely useless. The media professionals' obsession with big news was comparable to that of hungry sharks that finally smelled a hint of blood from thousands of miles away. Relying on their numbers, they stuck to the news and couldn't get rid of it.

He Yue couldn't hold it all together on his own, and the security personnel, sensing the situation was bad and fearing the wealthy young man would be surrounded on the ground, immediately stepped in to form a human wall to block the attack. However, this couldn't stop the flashes trying to take pictures from every angle, the microphones trying to penetrate every corner, and the screams of questions.

Crowds of people, layer upon layer, surrounded the cold and calm man in the middle, rumbling past like a bulldozer. The momentum was so shocking that other people on the red carpet avoided them one after another.

Even if you sit in the GLS with double-layer privacy glass, the outsiders cannot see the expressions of the people inside the car, and the frequency of the flash lights for follow-up photography does not decrease.

As soon as He Yue got into the driver's seat, he fastened his seat belt and drove out. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the car drove out of the venue and left the media behind.

"Mr. Cheng, I will contact the public relations department immediately to suppress the news." He Yue's expression became serious.

Cheng Shuze, who was sitting in the back seat, weighed his phone twice, as if waiting for some news. The screen dimmed and then brightened again, and after a while he said, "No need."

He Yue looked up at the rearview mirror and saw his boss closing his eyes tiredly. When he opened his eyes again, all the joy and anger on his face had disappeared.

“Let them send it.”