Eye of the Storm (Part 2)
The rain in London doesn't stop easily.
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the office building, Zhang Yuan watched Zhou Zeyu walk out of the coffee shop, carrying a bag of something in his hand, and walk along the street into the crowd, slowly disappearing from sight.
He looked away, took out a USB drive from his pocket, operated the computer with one hand, and quickly dialed a phone with the other. As usual, it rang for three seconds before being answered, but the person on the other end sounded slightly anxious.
"You've already seen her."
Such a certain tone! Zhang Yuan subconsciously looked around. "How did you know? You weren't hiding somewhere spying, were you?"
"I don't have time for that." The other person's voice was cold, with a hint of impatience, but Zhang Yuan still habitually ignored it.
"You said you didn't have time for this, but you still made a special trip to London for it, didn't you?" Zhang Yuan couldn't help but tease as she clicked the mouse to open the folder. "Actually, you didn't need to come at all. You've had a lot of things to do lately, haven't you? Have you finished taking care of everything?"
The other person's tone remained unchanged: "It's too much to handle."
Zhang Yuan gave a perfunctory reply and casually glanced at the document. "To be honest, Zhou Zeyu is quite different from back then. If you hadn't pointed her out to me, I wouldn't have recognized her at the hotel entrance."
"Your eyesight has always been poor."
He laughed heartily, "Yes, yes, not as good as you, you saw her at a glance. But why did you run so fast? Were you afraid she would see you?"
Knowing full well what had happened, Zhang Yuan was still only vaguely aware of the specific reasons. He wanted to ask directly, but the person on the other end of the phone was sure to keep quiet; that guy was incredibly tight-lipped.
"How's the checkup going?"
The moment the words left her lips, Zhang Yuan belatedly snapped out of her reverie. She had been lost in thought and hadn't even noticed when the laptop screen went dark.
But to be honest, although he got the document, he wasn't very interested in its contents. His job was simply to glance at it and then pass it on to his subordinates, and this time was no different.
His gaze finally focused slowly, landing on the lines of text. He scanned through them quickly, but the next second, when he realized what he had seen, his brows furrowed involuntarily. He even reached for his glasses, straightened up, and scrolled the mouse back to the top to read it carefully again.
He spent a good half hour reading the document, which contained several thousand words. The more he read, the more obvious the smile on his lips became. When he reached the end, he even wanted to burst out laughing. Fortunately, the other party had not hung up the phone yet, so he continued to speak freely.
"Great! I thought that little girl was just trying to trick me, but it turns out her scoop really is huge. This is great! The old man's long-awaited second spring has arrived. I can already picture the Sports Daily topping the charts for months to come. This is an exclusive!"
The person on the phone gave a cold laugh. "I told you long ago, the potential gains far outweigh the risks."
"Thanks to you, otherwise I wouldn't have planned to see her today." Zhang Yuan was still overjoyed. She quickly saved multiple copies of the file and immediately sent them to her most capable subordinate, typing away furiously on the keyboard.
However, after a brief moment of contemplation, he slowed down his typing and hesitated before speaking: "I'm not afraid of anything, but is it alright for you to get involved in this?"
"It's nothing," the other person said without hesitation, then let out a hasty laugh that seemed to be self-deprecating. "Even if something were to happen, it wouldn't be a problem."
Still so arrogant, Zhang Yuan raised an eyebrow. He didn't have that kind of magnanimous nature, nor would he worry about things that others didn't care about. Since the other party had said it was fine, he would only continue to interfere if he had nothing better to do.
Under the bright light of the computer screen, he continued to scrutinize the document with focused attention. After his initial elation, as he read on carefully again, he found it absurd and laughable.
Over several decades, countless events, including text and images, have accumulated into this 350k document, each of which is enough to cause a huge uproar.
Interestingly, he knew some of these things himself, and was sure the person on the other end of the phone knew them too. After all, how many people don't know about things like taking kickbacks, favoritism, deceiving superiors, or vanity projects? In fact, many years ago, someone had already reported it to their newspaper, but at that time Coach Huang was at the height of his power, so no one dared to do it.
Now, Coach Huang himself is in deep trouble, his career is declining, and he's overwhelmed with a host of problems. He has no time to deal with this newspaper in London.
Zhang Yuan had long sensed that something was about to happen in the team, but he didn't know exactly when or who was behind it. Interestingly, the person who came was someone he would never have expected: Zhou Zeyu.
When we met at the coffee shop earlier, he jokingly called her a "benefactor" of the newspaper. This title seemed to carry a certain sarcasm, and it was indeed true. Who would have thought that the little girl who was used so badly by Coach Huang would now be thinking of getting revenge?
They're still using the same methods Coach Huang was most adept at back then: manipulating public opinion.
Looking back now, it's really interesting. People always seem to grow. The first time she was on the front page, she was terrified by the countless negative comments, but soon she was able to calmly hold the magazine and comment that her photo wasn't pretty enough, and even asked them to Photoshop it for her. Now she's even more impressive, actually going to London alone to try to negotiate with him.
When Zhang Yuan first received that person's call, she thought she was hallucinating. She was even more surprised after hearing the other party's request. After all, who would have thought that the two people who hadn't contacted each other for a long time would contact each other again for Zhou Zeyu's sake?
She still has the same arrogant temper as before.
“You should be glad that Zhou Zeyu’s attitude was much better than yours,” Zhang Yuan said. “If she had been like you, I probably wouldn’t have agreed.”
"You're not that stupid," the other person said casually, "right?"
Zhang Yuan sensed the subtle sarcasm in the other person's tone, but he didn't rush to argue. After all, given their current status, arguing seemed too beneath them. He was too lazy to continue refuting, so he sighed and spoke again with a touch of helplessness.
"Okay, okay, I promised you."
The other party readily agreed, saying, "I don't remember you promising me that; you only promised Zhou Zeyu."
Unfortunately, the other party wasn't easily angered by his laughter; in fact, that guy never reacted much.
To be honest, Zhang Yuan couldn't understand what this guy was up to. He had secretly asked him to help Zhou Zeyu and owed him a favor, but he wouldn't let him tell Zhou Zeyu. It was as if he was deliberately distancing himself from the situation. Even now, it was like this. What was the point of making such a clear distinction?
Zhang Yuan couldn't understand the intricacies of the situation, and of course, he was too lazy to figure it out. He couldn't understand it back then, so it was even less likely that he would understand it now.
Fortunately, the love-hate relationship between the two people was unimportant to him. What he cared about from the beginning was these revelations. Now that he had this real internal evidence, coupled with the added support of Zhou Zeyu's identity, the uproar caused would only intensify.
As for the possible consequences, the worst that could happen is a complete break with Coach Huang. However, given the current situation, he doesn't have much value anymore, and his downfall is only a matter of time. In this light, even the last concern is better than nothing, and he can make a fortune again.
Did she pack some pasta?
"What?" Zhang Yuan thought she had misheard and asked again.
"nothing."
Zhang Yuan thought for a moment, recalling that when Zhou Zeyu pushed open the glass door of the coffee shop, he seemed to be carrying a plastic bag with a logo on it. However, his eyesight was limited, and he was not a fortune teller, so he really didn't know what was inside. He could only honestly answer, "Maybe."
The other person remained silent, then seemed to sigh, followed by a loud thud, as if they had put the phone down on the table; the sound faded into the distance.
"Why won't you go see her? I really don't understand."
There are many things you don't understand.
Zhang Yuan was almost laughing with anger, but thinking of the major event that was about to be reported and the sales figures that had soared to the top, he managed to hold back and try to keep his tone calm.
"Don't put her name in the reports, remember to remain anonymous."
As expected, it was still that habitual commanding tone. Zhang Yuan raised an eyebrow, her sarcastic tone undisguised, "Unfortunately, I can't agree to your request. You know, the revelations from well-known insiders are more credible."
"no."
“That’s not up to you,” he chuckled mischievously, feeling a genuine sense of satisfaction at the thought of the other person’s face turning ashen with anger. “After all, Zhou Zeyu himself didn’t refuse this condition.”
"She didn't refuse?" The other person seemed a little surprised, but the surprise in their voice quickly disappeared, and they said decisively, "No, it's not up to her."
"You're as domineering as ever. Why is it that what she says doesn't count, but what you say does?"
“Zhang Yuan,” the guy suddenly spoke, his tone icy, as if he had truly reached his limit, “aren’t you meddling too much?”
Zhang Yuan subconsciously shrank his neck, but quickly realized that things were different now, and he no longer had to live at that guy's mercy. He straightened his back and cleared his throat, but realizing that he might have really angered that guy, he couldn't help but soften his tone.
"Then sign it with my name."
"What?"
“I say,” the other person laughed emotionlessly, sounding more like a silent threat than laughter, “aren’t you afraid of losing credibility? Then you might as well put my name on it.”
Zhang Yuan was initially stunned and couldn't understand what had gotten into this guy. He was willing to take the blame for Zhou Zeyi. Since ancient times, "insiders" have always been the ones who have to put in the most effort but get no reward. He didn't believe that guy was just looking for trouble.
Zhang Yuan shuddered genuinely, feeling as if she were about to be confronted with a cataclysmic event that would destroy the world. She didn't dare dwell on the possibility and reflexively and decisively refused, "No way, are you crazy?"
The person accused of being crazy remained calm, seemingly unaffected by the label, saying, "Then don't put her name on it."
After all that, she's still threatening him! Zhang Yuan gritted her teeth, calmed herself for a moment, and finally spoke: "Have you really gone mad lately? After going through all that trouble, it's still all for Zhou Zeyi. Just how much money do you owe her?"
The other party remained unmoved: "It's none of your business."
Zhang Yuan shifted slightly in her chair, looking at the night view outside the floor-to-ceiling window, her tone carrying a deliberately affected sigh: "You're really not gentle at all now. What, you've gotten older and you're not even willing to pretend anymore?"
While this may sound exaggerated, it's not entirely untrue. After all, when they worked together back then, the other person's arrogance wasn't as obvious, but now it's more like they've given up entirely. Not only are they no longer putting on an act, but their temper is even worse than before.
However, it seemed that these words had hit a nerve with the other party. Zhang Yuan, who had originally hoped to awaken some conscience in this guy, was completely stunned. Listening to the undisguised, grating laughter on the phone, she felt that she had completely lost face.
"How interesting, Zhang Yuan. Why should I pretend in front of you?"
Zhang Yuan took a deep breath and retorted, "Oh? Then in front of whom are you putting on an act, Zhou Zeyi?"
Clearly, his seemingly nonsensical remark hit the nail on the head. The other person didn't respond, remaining silent without even a hint of sarcasm.
Zhang Yuan hadn't expected this either. She cleared her throat, trying to cover up the truth, and asked, "What exactly is going on between you and her?"
"It's none of your business." That was the same reply the other party gave, and Zhang Yuan felt like her ears were about to fall off.
"She's stupid."
The voice on the phone suddenly grew louder. The guy seemed to have finally picked up the phone that was lying aside and started talking to Zhang Yuan seriously, "She went with the intention of taking everyone down with her, but that's too stupid, isn't it?"
Zhang Yuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but the other party didn't give him a chance. The phone went dead. He paused, clicked his tongue, threw the phone on the table, and continued typing furiously on the keyboard, busy giving instructions on this important matter.
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