Chapter 165: Sister Lan, Pick a Time

In the car, Zhou Yun looked at Tang Zhichu, seemingly waiting for an answer.

From Zhou Yun's perspective, it was most likely that Tencent Video itself had leaked that video, and the only major conflict of interest probably stemmed from the fact that Tang Zhichu was affiliated with Douyin.

From Tencent Video's perspective, this meant using Tencent Video's resources to promote someone from Douyin.

It was akin to doing the bride's makeup for someone else.

Tang Zhichu glanced at Wang Jun in the front before saying, "There are two possibilities. Either Tencent's Short Video Division has reached their hands into this, or Yu Hua leaked it herself."

Zhou Yun frowned, crossed her arms, and thought for a moment before realization dawned on her. "I understand now. Tencent Video has no conflict with you, but Tencent's Short Video Division definitely does. They are direct competitors with Douyin. If it's the second scenario, is Yu Hua playing a bitter-flesh game?"

Tang Zhichu nodded. "That's why Yu Hua isn't worried even though I've been taking such a long break—because someone else is footing the bill."

"Wow!" Zhou Yun finally figured it out and reached out to link her arm through Tang Zhichu's.

If Yu Hua leaked it herself, it was a coordinated effort with Tencent's Short Video Division to "suppress" Tang Zhichu.

See? For your sake, look at what a mess my show has become.

I even gave Tang Zhichu a forced break.

Would that mean Yu Hua could secure other benefits within Tencent?

Tang Zhichu didn't know for sure, but this incident revealed a clear signal.

He had already achieved enough leverage within Douyin, so much so that Tencent's Short Video Division considered him a significant competitive threat in the short-form video industry.

That was why they were interfering with his career progression.

Tang Zhichu took out his phone and, under Zhou Yun's watchful gaze, found Su Qingzhuo's WeChat contact.

"President Su, Yu Hua has put me on forced leave."

Soon, Su Qingzhuo's reply came through.

"It's fine, not a big deal."

"Why don't you squeeze out some of that unfathomable talent of yours and release a song on Douyin? Just because certain people don't appreciate you doesn't mean the masses don't. Don't you have so many conspiracy-theory fans?"

Two consecutive messages.

Tang Zhichu thought for a moment and replied, "The timing isn't right yet."

"Suit yourself. Call me if you need anything. I'm keeping an eye on Zheguang as well."

Even Zhou Yun frowned while watching Tang Zhichu text Su Qingzhuo, finding it all rather cryptic and foggy.

She understood why Su Qingzhuo wanted Tang Zhichu to release a song on Douyin—because Tang Zhichu had a loyal following of conspiracy theorists. If he was sidelined on a music variety show only to drop a song on Douyin, wouldn't that scream that he was being suppressed?

It would generate a massive wave of public attention.

Yet Tang Zhichu said the timing wasn't right, which Zhou Yun didn't quite grasp.

What else were they waiting for?

"I still think it's better to play it safe. If you really go and release a song on Douyin right now, amid all the media hype, you might genuinely offend Tencent Video," Zhou Yun voiced her concerns.

"It's fine. The world operates on the pursuit of profit. Fundamentally speaking, in business, there are neither friends nor enemies."

"Speak human."

Tang Zhichu laughed. "It's very simple. Even if I offend them, the next time I show up with a profitable proposition, they'll still greet me with a smile. Therefore, it all depends on how big the profit margin is."

"Hmph, you cunning merchant."

Up front, Wang Jun drove with utmost concentration. He was increasingly amazed by Tang Zhichu's insight and macro-perspective; the boy was improving at breakneck speed.

At the same time, he memorized the information Tang Zhichu shared, knowing he needed to keep pace with him.

Catching sight of the high-spirited Tang Zhichu in the rearview mirror, Wang Jun felt a mixture of joy and regret.

It was a pity that Brother Tang Er couldn't see Tang Zhichu looking like this now.

Wang Jun also began to understand why those women on the dating reality show were all entangled with Tang Zhichu.

Tang Zhichu in this state possessed an undeniable, potent charm.

Seeing Zhou Yun leaning against Tang Zhichu, Wang Jun felt as though he was almost getting used to it.

He finally understood why Tang Zhichu had chosen him as a driver; this kind of job wasn't something just anyone could handle.

The car stopped at a residential complex behind Zhou Yun's gym.

In the underground parking garage, although the original plan was just to drop Zhou Yun off, she pulled Tang Zhichu out of the car along with her.

She turned back and said, "Brother Jun, he's had too much to drink, so he won't be heading back tonight. Sorry to trouble you, Brother Jun!"

Wang Jun smiled and nodded. "Alright."

Watching the two of them enter the elevator, Wang Jun finally beamed, chuckled as he muttered a curse about "this kid," and then pulled out his phone to search for nearby hotels.

Wang Jun knew better than to pinch pennies on expenses like this; the most important thing was not to mess things up.

If the car was needed, being able to arrive within minutes was the priority.

It was Tang Zhichu's first time at Zhou Yun's place.

It wasn't a sprawling single-floor flat, but a duplex with an interior staircase.

There was no open-air balcony; it had been enclosed, featuring a massive floor-to-ceiling window.

Standing by the window, one could overlook the bustling commercial street where the gym was located.

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Zhou Yun stood beside Tang Zhichu, looking rather dainty and charming.

"A wealthy woman!"

"I bought it early, before I even graduated from college. If I sold it now, its value would definitely have doubled."

"Impressive."

"Of course. Back in college, I designed clothes, and people still ask me to source items for them sometimes—though I don't do it anymore."

Tang Zhichu rested his hand against the glass and breathed on it. If it were winter, would that leave a handprint?

Truth be told, Tang Zhichu really didn't want to go upstairs.

But refusing Zhou Yun right in front of Wang Jun would send an entirely different signal.

Zhou Yun walked up behind Tang Zhichu and gently wrapped her arms around his waist.

By now, Zhou Yun finally understood one thing.

That was the awkwardness of lacking a proper title.

The two of them had shared a bed several times, yet nothing had ever happened.

When it truly came down to it, never mind Chen Siyang, even Jiang Lan would lack the confidence to press the issue.

Holding Tang Zhichu like this, Zhou Yun sighed softly and said, "Maybe you're right. When you calculate and scheme about everything, the one you're actually delaying is yourself."

Tang Zhichu reached out and grasped the hands encircling his waist, feeling how delicate and soft they were.

Tang Zhichu sighed as well and asked, "Do you have cards?"

"Cards?"

"Yeah, let's play a game. Truth or dare, up for it?"

Zhou Yun's eyes lit up. "I don't have cards, but there's another way to play!"

With that, Zhou Yun pulled away and walked over to a potted green plant near the curtains.

With a *snap*, she broke off a twig.

Then she turned around, hiding it from Tang Zhichu's view.

"Come on, we'll pick the long and the short ones. Whoever picks the long one gets to ask the other a question, and no lying allowed!"

"Deal!"

The two of them sat on the sofa, and Zhou Yun tucked her legs underneath her.

Because she was wearing a dress, a flash of fair skin tinged with pink was inadvertently revealed.

Tang Zhichu grabbed a blanket from the back of the sofa and draped it over her lap.

Zhou Yun chuckled, put her hands behind her back, and a moment later extended them forward again.

"Left or right?"

"Right!"

Zhou Yun didn't even know which hand held the long one and which held the short one. When she opened her hands, her smile blossomed like a flower.

"Haha! I won!"

"Alright, go ahead and ask."

Zhou Yun furrowed her pretty brow. When it came down to actually asking, she found herself hesitating. Did she really want to know the answer to certain things?

Zhou Yun looked at Tang Zhichu, pouting slightly with a hint of stubbornness.

"Do you like me?"

Tang Zhichu met Zhou Yun's eyes and nodded. "I do."

"What kind of liking?"

"The liking where you're my favorite."

"When did you start liking me?"

"On our second date, when you helped me plan a fitness routine suited for me. Even back then, I thought that with someone like you, we would get along wonderfully in both life and career."

"Then Chen... Then what are you hesitating for?"

Tang Zhichu thought for a moment before answering, "It's not hesitation. It's the fear of hurting you."

"Why?"

Zhou Yun leaned in closer. Just as Tang Zhichu was about to speak, Zhou Yun interrupted, "Forget it, I broke the rules. We can only ask one question at a time, so this one doesn't count."

Seeing Zhou Yun react this way, Tang Zhichu actually felt a sense of relief.

Was this a confession session?

Clearly, it wasn't. It was a testing session.

If this were the old Zhou Yun, her first question definitely wouldn't have been "Do you like me?" Even if she didn't dare ask "Do you like Chen Siyang?", she would have at least asked about Jiang Lan.

After spending time together, she had grown timid.

Why?

Because every time Tang Zhichu stopped right at the crucial moment, Zhou Yun had gradually developed a faint self-doubt and lost her footing.

Why did she forcefully drag him upstairs today?

From a fundamental logical standpoint, she probably wanted to regain her rhythm.

Driven to no other choice, Tang Zhichu had taken the initiative to push things further.

Yet Zhou Yun herself had lost her nerve.

Tang Zhichu picked up the slightly longer green plant twig, which had fallen onto the sofa at some point.

He handed the twig back to Zhou Yun and said softly, "It's not breaking the rules. I'll answer you: there really is someone I still can't let go of."

At this, Tang Zhichu looked at Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun stared back at Tang Zhichu, taking it surprisingly well, and signaled for him to continue.

This answer was within Zhou Yun's expectations. On the reality show, he had taken such good care of Chen Siyang and even written two songs for her—especially the second one, written in Chen Siyang's dialect.

How much must you like someone to go out of your way to explore those things and prepare such surprises for her?

Zhou Yun discovered that she was surprisingly okay with this answer; her tolerance for Chen Siyang was higher than she had imagined.

"It's probably a combination of fate and coincidence, and things were never completely cut off. It's like a knot that's just stuck there. You ask me what I'm hesitating about? My answer is that I'm not hesitating, but the fear of hurting you is real. Yet, since I also like you, what am I supposed to do?"

"Yeah, so what *are* you going to do?" Zhou Yun leaned in even closer.

"That's why I'm bringing you along to build a career, distributing equity through your influencer accounts and pushing for an IPO. I won't restrict you from cashing out; as long as I don't leave, it won't trigger stock volatility. If things eventually get out of hand and something really happens between us, at least you have a career. By building up our business while you're most willing to accept my help, even if you decide you don't want me one day, you'll be materially secure..."

Before Tang Zhichu could finish, Zhou Yun pouted and threw herself forward, collapsing into his arms.

Some words are meant to flatter, but others are rooted in reality.

What Tang Zhichu said was precisely what he was doing.

Huang Zejun had forked over ten million for a ten-percent stake—that was hard cash, to the point where he even sold his house.

Zhou Yun hadn't put up a single cent, yet eleven accounts gave her an eleven-percent stake.

That was a company heading toward an IPO, not a child's game.

The weight of that was far greater than mere words.

"I'm very optimistic about Zheguang. Its valuation for the first internal financing round is already one hundred million. Once we develop the influencers under your wing, have at least one break into the ten-million-follower tier, and then tie their operations to Sister Lan's food company, binding Sister Lan's brand value to Zheguang—the capital market eats that up."

"Then I'll hand online movies over to Douyin, letting the influencers under your command act as online ticket sellers, creating a completely new profit point that breaks traditional MCN companies' reliance on physical brands. Once that breakthrough is made, we pull Douyin in. Not to mention a hundred-billion scale, getting a market value of five billion wouldn't be too much of a stretch, right?"

The latter part of Tang Zhichu's words went in one of Zhou Yun's ears and out the other. Her mind was still echoing with his opening remarks:

*That's why I'm bringing you along to build a career first... in case you don't want me one day, you'll at least be materially secure.*

When those words were spoken, Zhou Yun's defenses completely crumbled.

She was a career-oriented woman; when a man considered things for her to this extent, honestly, there was no defending against it!

Why bother playing mind games anymore?

"Stop talking..." Zhou Yun interrupted Tang Zhichu.

Tang Zhichu wrapped his arm around Zhou Yun's back. Her dress was form-fitting, and he could feel the warmth of her body.

"I definitely won't let you make mistakes. If you really do make a mistake, don't tell me—I'll just pretend I don't know. I'll still want you, I promise. At worst, we can sleep in separate beds until I miss you enough to forgive you. And don't deliberately offend the Tencent side just for the sake of Zheguang's development. In the short term, Douyin is indeed the big brother in short-form videos, but Tencent's social ecosystem is far too comprehensive. Douyin might be the big brother for five or ten years, but can it always be the big brother?"

"The defining feature of MCN companies is fighting people. It's fine during the growth phase, but what happens when their followers exceed ten million and they aren't satisfied with the revenue split? Therefore, Zheguang's foundation rests on you; never sacrifice your own interests to feed the company. The losses will outweigh the gains."

Zhou Yun spoke in a soft, gentle voice, while Tang Zhichu occasionally murmured in agreement, his right hand gently stroking her silky hair.

"As for Sister Lan, you pick the time. I haven't seen Sister Lan in a long time anyway, so we can meet up together."

Zhou Yun hadn't originally intended to say this, because she had grown timid; she didn't even want to bring up Chen Siyang, so why torture herself with Jiang Lan?

But now that everything was laid out in the open, Zhou Yun felt she could actually accept the fact that Tang Zhichu still had Chen Siyang in his heart.

From Zhou Yun's subjective view, Chen Siyang had been with Tang Zhichu first, so there was room for tolerance.

Since it was all out in the open, there was no need to hold back.

No matter what, she and Sister Lan were good friends; without those underlying tensions, she could actually meet up with her in a relaxed, playful mood.

However, upon hearing this sentence, Tang Zhichu's expression froze.

*Why are we looping right back to this?!*

"That's fine too, you two haven't seen each other in a while anyway."

Zhou Yun propped herself up from Tang Zhichu's arms, her hands braced against his stomach.

"Why don't you call Chen Siyang over too so we can all meet?" Zhou Yun looked into Tang Zhichu's face and smiled playfully.

Tang Zhichu offered an awkward laugh. "You guys can meet if you want, why drag me into it?"

Of course, what Zhou Yun said was just a joke to show off her magnanimity. Was she stupid? Of course she wouldn't want to see Chen Siyang.

With the atmosphere finally improving, Zhou Yun certainly didn't want to ruin it with Chen Siyang.

This wasn't cowardice; Zhou Yun believed she couldn't handle Chen Siyang?

During the reality show, Tang Zhichu had only helped her out; otherwise, Chen Siyang would have just been a stepping stone.

She refused to believe Chen Siyang was willing to compromise more than she had.

Besides, ever since leaving the reality show, Chen Siyang had been absent from so many events—what right did she have to sit back and reap the rewards?

"Go take a shower, I'll find you some clothes."

Zhou Yun's mood improved instantly. She hopped off the sofa, didn't even bother putting on shoes, and ran upstairs.

"What kind of men's clothes do you have at home?"

"What are you thinking? I bought them for you."

A short while later, Zhou Yun trotted back downstairs. This time, her pajamas were normal—white and featuring a little hood.

While taking a shower, Tang Zhichu rubbed his temples.

Why had he gone through so much trouble today? Wasn't the primary goal to keep Zhou Yun away from Sister Lan?

*Attack the far, befriend the near.*

Use Chen Siyang as a buffer for a while.

Besides, Zhou Yun was already compromising; that was a good sign. With a bit more cultivation, the future looked promising.

If she ran into Sister Lan right now, the moment the two of them crossed paths, wouldn't it instantly revert everything back to square one?

Damn it!

He still needed to figure out a way around this.

Brothers, a quick announcement: tomorrow I'm heading back to my hometown. Driving will take at least five or six hours. I haven't been back since the pandemic started, and my grandparents' health hasn't been great—they were even hospitalized last year. Please understand, I'll be taking a few days off.

Once this period passes, I guarantee a daily output of ten thousand words for ten days straight!

(End of Chapter)