Chapter 47
Hu Zhenzhen couldn't believe it, but there was a group of people who were even more incredulous than she was.
In country F, it's currently working hours.
A group of elegant white-collar workers, holding coffee, had just opened today's news, and Braun was one of them.
He opened the newspaper, glanced at it, and almost choked on his coffee.
"Hey! What's the French newspaper up to now? Are they reporting anything now, regardless of its veracity?"
A colleague who was having breakfast nearby looked over curiously.
"What happened?"
"The French newspaper actually said that Mr. Ji has changed hands and been sold to a wealthy businessman from China. What a joke! Do they even know who Mr. Ji is?"
My colleague was immediately amused. “Yeah, how could our top luxury brand in F country be sold? I might believe it if they sold just a small share.”
The two exchanged a few more words, their conversation filled with sarcasm about the unreliability of the newspaper.
The atmosphere in the office relaxed again.
"Tracy, have you finished the report we discussed last week?"
Lamb put down his newspaper and started chatting with his female colleague at the next desk about work.
My colleague on the other side hadn't finished breakfast yet, so he casually turned on his computer to check the news on the website.
"Wow!"
A gasp broke the harmony in the office.
Before anyone could look over, the colleague shouted, "No way, Mr. Ji really sold it to someone from country Z?"
A single newspaper report may be false, but if every newspaper mentions the same thing, then it must be true.
The office was buzzing with excitement; everyone spontaneously turned on their computers and started browsing related information.
Mr. Ji is not just a brand; for Country F, it is also their pride, something they can proudly talk about with others.
There was not a single rumor about Mr. Ji's bankruptcy; he sold the company to a foreign businessman so quietly, which was unbelievable to every F country person.
"No way? Has Mr. Ji gone mad?"
All the F country people who saw the news asked the same question.
Mr. Ji's official website was besieged by angry netizens within an hour, with misunderstanding and insults filling the comments.
Like netizens in France, netizens in China were also shocked.
Since neither Hu Zhenzhen nor Mr. Ji made any official announcements, the news spread slowly in China. It was only after students studying abroad broke the news online that public opinion began to ferment.
Just a few hours later, when office workers were taking their lunch break, the hashtag "[Hu Zhenzhen bought Mr. Ji]" had already topped the trending search list.
Who will buy whom?
Most people had the same reaction upon seeing this trending topic.
Mr. Ji, is it the luxury brand or a Mr. Ji?
After all, it was impossible for Mr. Ji to sell, so even if the other guess was outrageous, people were still wavering between the two options.
Is it really that luxury brand?
[They wouldn't have bought that counterfeit product and then hyped it up, would they?]
[Within one minute, I need to know every male celebrity with the surname Ji; it's because at least one of them has been dated by a rich woman!]
How could that be? Would Country F agree to that?
Country F does disagree, but the key point is that they cannot interfere in the business of private companies, nor can they directly interfere with their decisions.
Especially now that Mr. Ji's sale is a done deal, it's too late to do anything at this point.
Even if the authorities are angry, they can't just snatch Mr. Ji away; they can only try to find another way.
Woshan Villa.
Gao Chen was resting at home when he saw the news. His holiday laziness immediately vanished, and he quickly opened the board meeting group on his phone.
Have you seen the news?
These board members are all over thirty years old, some even over fifty, and they don't spend much time online.
There were only two or three young people who usually paid more attention to online news.
Chairman Feng is one of them.
He was the first to know the news, and when Gao Chen mentioned it, he immediately rushed out excitedly, wanting to discuss the situation.
[Mr. Gao, you should be quite familiar with Ms. Hu, right? How did she manage to acquire Mr. Ji's property?]
Chairman Feng was genuinely curious.
After all, owning even a few percent of the shares in such a famous international brand is enough to make one a member of the world's richest people.
I don't know either. I recently heard that Ms. Hu bought a piece of land in the east and is developing it, so I didn't bother her too much.
After sending out this message, Gao Chen couldn't help but ponder it in his heart.
Just a couple of days ago, he was secretly wondering to himself, "Why did President Hu buy that piece of land in the east? It's such a bad piece of land."
It now appears that Hu Zhenzhen's wealth and background are far more substantial than they imagined.
She can own an international brand like Mr. Lianji; that's not something money can buy.
There aren't many people who hold Mr. Ji's shares.
As far as Gao Chen knew, only about 30% of Mr. Ji's shares were held by others, while the rest were all in the hands of Mr. Ji's descendants, the founder himself.
It's unclear which portion of the shares Hu Zhenzhen actually acquired.
Surely it can't be 70% in the hands of the founder's descendants, right?
How much would that cost? And would they really be willing to sell?
Gao Chen couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried. His fingers hovered over Hu Zhenzhen's WeChat, unable to decide how to ask her.
Chairman Feng had no reservations and directly asked Gao Chen a question in the group chat.
After organizing the charity auction, he realized just how formidable Hu Zhenzhen was, and he no longer dared to consider her a rival.
He went home and apologized to his grandfather, finally understanding why the old guys on the board of directors all said that Xiao Feng was far inferior to Lao Feng.
His judgment wasn't quite there yet; he wasn't as sharp as his grandfather, who could see at a glance that Hu Zhenzhen was no ordinary person.
After seeing the trending topic, he immediately returned to his old family home.
"Grandpa, you were right! Luckily, I didn't offend her before!"
As soon as Chairman Feng arrived, he began to express his emotions at length.
Old Chairman Feng had no idea what was making him so excited. After listening to him say five sentences without getting to the point, he couldn't help but interrupt.
"Tell me what happened first?"
Mr. Feng then remembered that his grandfather didn't like going online, so he quickly took out his phone and found the trending topics.
"Grandpa, look! President Hu is trending on social media! She bought Mr. Ji!"
Mr. Feng took out his reading glasses, slowly took the phone, browsed a few pages, and understood the general situation.
Did you congratulate Mr. Hu?
Mr. Feng was stunned. "I'm not familiar with President Hu. Should I congratulate him at this time?"
"You've learned all the tricks of the trade and social skills, but you've completely forgotten them."
Old Feng slowly cursed him, then took Xiao Feng's phone and found Hu Zhenzhen's name.
[Mr. Hu, congratulations! I never expected you to be able to acquire Mr. Ji. This is wonderful news! Congratulations!]
He sent out the message without even thinking.
Watching from the side, Xiao Feng couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, since you've already offered your congratulations, why don't you say a little more?"
Old Chairman Feng sighed, "Your relationship with her isn't good enough. If you say too much now, she won't want to read it. It's better to keep it brief."
Xiao Feng lowered his head guiltily.
Given what he did before, it's already a miracle he didn't hold a grudge against Hu Jie.
Old Chairman Feng knew his grandson's usual character, so he took the opportunity to lecture him, "I've told you before not to be so reckless, but what did you do? President Hu is in S City and doesn't know anyone here. You just gave up such a good opportunity to get closer to her."
"I see."
Unlike his previous perfunctory responses, this time Chairman Feng truly took the lesson and obediently lowered his head in agreement.
"Grandpa, I will definitely think twice before I act next time."
After teaching him so many times, he finally listened a little this time.
Old Chairman Feng closed his eyes with satisfaction, "It's not too late now. We've already made contact with President Hu, and there's always a chance to mend our relationship."
Little Feng's eyes lit up. "Don't worry, Grandpa, I understand."
As they were talking, Chairman Feng's phone vibrated.
Hu Zhenzhen replied to the message.
Thank you.
Although it's only two short words, it's better than not going back at all.
Chairman Feng perked up, switched to the group chat, and asked Gao Chen again.
[Mr. Gao, did Mr. Hu tell you how many shares Mr. Ji bought? Why are there so many news reports saying Mr. Ji belongs to her?]
Gao Chen had just seen Mr. Ji's Weibo announcement when he was bombarded with messages from Chairman Feng.
The pop-up window was very distracting for him, so Gao Chen had no choice but to patiently forward the announcement to him first.
Only after the news quieted down did I have time to carefully read Mr. Ji's announcement.
"I'll buy it from Mr. Ji's heir!"
They purchased 70% of Mr. Ji's shares, which is clearly stated in the announcement.
Gao Chen wasn't the only one surprised; the entire wealthy community in Z country was paying attention to this matter.
Unlike the dog castle that went viral before, even if this self-created item is outstanding, it won't immediately attract the attention of the nation's wealthy.
Mr. Ji is a well-established luxury brand.
Its new major clients, added every quarter, include wealthy individuals from all over the country.
Every wealthy person has thought, more or less, about getting involved in the luxury goods industry and learning about Mr. Ji.
That's why Hu Zhenzhen's acquisition of 70% of the shares has sparked such a huge discussion.
In F City, it's not just the wealthy who are discussing it; even the official government is talking about it.
The mayor even held a meeting to discuss whether Hu Zhenzhen could return to F City.
"Has there been any progress in the investigation into why Ms. Hu Zhenzhen moved away from F City?"
That was the first sentence of the meeting, and everyone present looked around, but no one dared to answer.
Seeing that no one spoke, the mayor simply called on someone to answer.
The township head, whom he had singled out, secretly thought he was in trouble and could only offer some polite words.
"This Ms. Hu Zhenzhen has never appeared in my jurisdiction, Mayor. I really have no clue about this issue."
Several people were called upon, and they all gave similar answers.
The mayor frowned, a question swirling in his mind: "Nobody has ever seen her, so whose jurisdiction does she live in?"
Nobody really knows that.
After all, they learned that Hu Zhenzhen was from F City from trending topics.
Someone cautiously suggested, "Mayor, could it be a misinterpretation? What if this Ms. Hu's ancestral home isn't actually in F City?"
"impossible."
If she really wasn't from F City, F City wouldn't have had any chance to win her over.
The mayor preferred to believe that Hu Zhenzhen had been living deep in the mountains of F City rather than believe that she was not from F City.
He casually brushed off the topic.
"The key now is how to get this heir of the Hu family back to F City."
Those below only dared to complain in their hearts, their heads hanging low, and no one spoke.
"Why are you silent now?"
Clearly, remaining silent was pointless; under the mayor's authority, the issue still needed to be discussed.
"Why not start online? Didn't Xiao Zhang, who was in charge of online marketing last time, manage to strike up a conversation with this Mr. Hu?"
He was referring to the time when Hu Zhenzhen trended on social media.
F City capitalized on her popularity at the time and also trended on social media.
"That's one way to continue contact."
Since he couldn't think of any other solution, the mayor simply handed the matter over to the young man newly recruited by the online publicity department.
"We need to come up with a plan, interact with her more on Weibo, try to get to know her better, and make her feel more favorably toward F City."
When the head of the online publicity department went back and handed the instructions to the person in charge, he gave them special instructions.
"Make sure you don't have any conflict with her. The mayor said that even if we can't get people back to F City, it would be good to attract investment."
"Yes, boss."
The young man had only been with the company for two months and was a little nervous as it was the first time his supervisor had singled him out for a talk.
"I'll start implementing it today!"
Plans can't keep up with changes.
He had just made his promise to his superior and returned to his seat when he realized that he couldn't carry it out today.
The reason is simple: the other protagonist in this incident is no longer in the country.
Hu Zhenzhen's account was updated just half an hour ago.
[Off on vacation!]
This Weibo post contains only four characters, but the accompanying picture reveals a lot.
Hu Zhenzhen, along with Jiang Chen and several other parents and children, were also in the photo.
These people may not be famous, but those who follow financial channels will certainly recognize their faces.
Any one of them individually could be a remarkable person capable of producing a whole episode.
Now that all these people are gathered together, traveling abroad on a private jet bearing Mr. Ji's logo, it's hard not to have some suspicions.
The comments below have exceeded 10,000, which shows how much netizens are concerned about Mr. Ji's sale.
The young man in charge clicked on the comments and almost burst out laughing in his office.
[Sister, my only sister, can Mr. Ji give me a discount?]
I always thought Z country would have its own top luxury brands, but I never imagined it would be in this way.
[F Country: Do you think Mr. Ji is handsome? Sister Hu: Handsome, he'll be mine in the next second.]
He thought about it and realized that his boss had said he needed to build a better relationship with his superiors, and the timing wasn't bad.
Although Hu Zhenzhen might not see his comment, the fact that so many netizens saw it generated a lot of buzz and could be considered advertising for F City.
Thinking about it this way, the young man relaxed a lot.
He learned it and put it into practice immediately.
[Welcome to F City: This Mr. Hu is so handsome, he'll be mine in the next second.]
Most official accounts still haven't adapted and are still like old people, posting outdated things every day.
The official account of City F stands out among this group of official accounts.
Many netizens who love to join in the trend copied this sentence, directly pushing the official F City Weibo account to the top of the search results.
S City also benefited from the previous wave of benefits, and upon seeing F City's official WeChat account appear, they immediately rushed over.
[S City Government: Congratulations to Mr. Hu on your marriage to Mr. Ji! Please be careful while you're out and about. Little S will be waiting for you at home.]
The two sides are now competing again, making the comments section lively once more.
However, Hu Zhenzhen, who was still on the plane, was unaware of all this for the time being.
"I've never been to a ski resort in Country F before, and I've never learned to ski."
She began to speak, and the parents next to her enthusiastically started to introduce the topic.
"Then you should definitely have a good experience this time. The ski resorts at Genting Highlands are famous all over the world, and the instructors here are very friendly. I'll recommend one to you later."
The speaker was Xu Bo's mother, who held Hu Zhenzhen's hand affectionately, showing no signs of formality.
The parents had only met a few times, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the gathering.
Jiang Chen suggested bringing his friends to go skiing, so Hu Zhenzhen acted as a contact person and added the children's parents.
She had assumed that their parents were all very busy and might refuse to let her take the child out, or that they would send a reliable guardian along.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Hu Zhenzhen created a group chat to explain her purpose, Xu Bo's mother was the first to agree.
Moreover, after she agreed, the other parents all agreed as well.
Not only did they agree to let the children play together, but the parents also came out for a party.
This was Hu Zhenzhen's first time attending a gathering of the wealthy.
I never expected that I would be joining a party that she herself had organized.
People who can afford to live in the Woshan Villa all come from very powerful families.
Even if Hu Zhenzhen told Xu Bo's mother that she had never skied, Xu Bo's mother would not think that she was poor.
After all, the acquisition of Mr. Ji is still trending on social media. Now, all the wealthy people in the country know about Hu Zhenzhen, and they can't find a way to get to know her.
Despite the lively atmosphere on the plane, everyone's eyes couldn't help but fall on Hu Zhenzhen because of this incident.
The parents are all well-off and travel in first class.
But the experience of first class and private jet is different.
It felt especially special when everything in this private jet was printed with Mr. Ji's name.
Hsu Chia-yi's mother is the kind of person who can't keep a secret.
Seeing that the atmosphere had quieted down and only the children were playing in the cabin, she couldn't help but ask Hu Zhenzhen a question.
"Mr. Hu, how did you manage to acquire Mr. Ji's property? Is it possible that such a luxury brand is actually for sale?"
The Xu family is considered wealthy, but compared to the others on the plane, they are nothing.
Even if Mr. Ji were to sell his shares, the Xu family would have no way to participate in the bidding if they wanted to buy even one percent of them.
She had only seen it in the news; Ms. Chanel, who was on par with Mr. Ji, had recently transferred her shares, only five percent, for a price of over a billion.
Mr. Hu immediately offered 70% of that amount; how much money is that?
Just thinking about it made Xu Jiayi's mother feel a little dizzy with the money.
Hu Zhenzhen really couldn't answer this question.
She couldn't very well tell the parents present that she won her shares in a lottery.
If I said that, I'd probably be seen as making fun of someone, and my image would plummet in everyone's eyes.
Hu Zhenzhen could only give a vague answer: "It just so happens that I have some connections with Mr. Ji's heir, and he was short of money, so he agreed to sell these shares to me."
After saying that, in order to change the subject, Hu Zhenzhen specially said, "Sister Lili, you can just call me Zhenzhen, there's no need to be so formal."
There are so many people outside who want to get close to Hu Zhenzhen but don't have the chance.
Since she took the initiative to ask, Xu Jiayi's mother, Chen Li, naturally wouldn't refuse.
"Okay, Zhenzhen, then I won't stand on ceremony with you."
Other parents also took the opportunity to change how they addressed each other.
Since we're here to have fun, and everyone is just a parent, calling each other "General Manager Zhang" and "General Manager Hu" at this point would just be pointless.
Hu Zhenzhen also wanted to take advantage of her trip to F country to complete Mr. Ji's paperwork.
Unlike the parents who came purely for fun, she still had to set aside some time for official business these past few days.
According to Hu Zhenzhen's plan, she would first spend a day at the hotel that the parents had booked, and then contact Mr. Ji's representative the next day to complete the formalities when she had some free time.
But the world is full of change.
With Xiao Jin's unique reward system, Hu Zhenzhen was already mentally prepared for things to change.
Can--
Can someone tell her why there's a runway at the airport?!
Why are the models wearing the latest haute couture designs walking the runway in such strong winds?
"..."
The scene became extremely quiet for a moment.
Several parents stood on the stairs leading down from the plane, unsure whether they should go down.
When the models saw someone getting off the plane, they suddenly changed formation and stood on both sides of the runway.
Familiar music blared from the airport loudspeakers, and a figure appeared at the end of the runway.
"Big brother, big brother, welcome! Thank you for coming to my place! Big brother, big brother, welcome! We've been waiting for you through wind and rain..."
Standing at the front, Chen Li couldn't withstand the pressure and turned around to ask, "We didn't fly to the wrong country, did we? This should be F country, right?"
Before any answer could be heard, the music stopped abruptly.
The young man standing on the catwalk picked up the microphone, "Dear Hu, welcome to Country F!"
Although his Mandarin was broken, Chen Li still understood him and immediately realized that this was a welcome for Hu Zhenzhen.
She quickly moved a few steps to the side with her child to make way.
When others saw her doing this, they instinctively made way for her.
Hu Zhenzhen, who was originally walking at the back of the group, suddenly became the center of everyone's attention.
Perhaps sensing the awkward atmosphere, the music that had been paused started playing again.
Hu Zhenzhen's smile froze, and she was so embarrassed that she almost couldn't walk properly. She managed to squeeze through the crowd and walk up to the man.
He strode over to greet her, "Oh~ dear Hu, I've missed you so much."
He gave Hu Zhenzhen a big hug, "Welcome! Welcome!"
Hu Zhenzhen barely remembered the man's name and replied, "I miss you too, dear Thomas."
Thomas cheered after she finished speaking.
As if receiving a signal, the people on the catwalk behind them lifted the hems of their haute couture dresses and began to perform a cross-step dance to the music.
Hu Zhenzhen's eyes were stung by the scene, and she couldn't help but close them for a few seconds.
"Thomas, what are they doing?"
Thomas's voice was very warm, and he affectionately put his arm around Hu Zhenzhen's shoulder.
"Hey! Hu, this is a show I specially prepared for you. Isn't this the most popular thing in your country?"
"I see this kind of dance everywhere on social media, what's it called again?"
Hu Zhenzhen answered him listlessly, "Square dancing."
"Ah yes! La danse carrée, that's so interesting!"
The parents' polite voices came from behind, "Mr. Hu, who is this?"
Ah... It's so embarrassing that so many people saw this.
Hu Zhenzhen strained her toes inside her shoe and couldn't answer for a moment.
Fortunately, Thomas's Mandarin was quite good, and he understood the sentence, so he took the initiative to introduce himself to everyone.
"Hello, beautiful lady, my name is Thomas Gi, it's nice to meet you all."
Hu Zhenzhen gave an awkward laugh in response to his words.
You can only try to think the best of things.
Great, now her friendship with Thomas is confirmed. Even if she says she's not close to Thomas, probably no one will believe her.
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