Chapter 16: Your Husband Is an Absolute Joke
1789 Words
In the budget hotel room, Lin Tao was still buzzing with excitement.
He cradled the brand-new Alienware laptop, his fingers clattering on the keyboard like a tireless perpetual motion machine. He was diligently following Zhang Tianyou's orders, gathering all the information he could find on Chen Mo, the founder of "Flash Delivery."
Zhang Tianyou, meanwhile, leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. His mind was already churning, plotting the next steps of his plan.
He had no idea.
His grand vision, that magnificent blueprint concerning "Flash Delivery" and three hundred million US dollars, had detonated like a precision-guided bomb. It hadn't just utterly shattered the worldview of the tech genius Lin Tao; from dozens of kilometers away, it had also blasted another woman's pride into smithereens.
The black Bentley, like a silent, colossal beast, pulled to a noiseless stop in the underground garage of the Wang Group headquarters.
Wang Wanru didn't get out.
She just sat quietly in the driver's seat, her usually icy, sculpted face now a canvas of struggle and turmoil.
**[Three million RMB, leveraged into a sixty-million-dollar return.]**
**[In six months, a return of several hundred times.]**
**[This... this is the first salvo for 'Vision Capital' to make its name known!]**
Zhang Tianyou's voice, filled with contempt and domineering ambition, was still echoing in her mind, over and over, like a curse etched into her brain.
She couldn't help herself. Unconsciously, she began to compare Zhang Tianyou's plan with her own father's business empire.
Her father, Wang Jianguo, was the epitome of the older generation of entrepreneurs in Haicheng.
Stable. Conservative. A firm believer in the tangible economy. He viewed all those intangible internet projects with a natural wariness and disdain.
The Wang Group's core business was real estate and traditional manufacturing. Their most successful investment was acquiring a plot of land on the eastern edge of the city five years ago. They had held onto it, enduring five long years, finally reaping less than a twenty percent return when the policy dividends arrived.
Back then, that deal was hailed as a textbook classic case.
But now...
Compared to Zhang Tianyou's terrifying projected return of several hundredfold in six months, her father's proudest "achievements" seemed like child's play—laughable, and pitiful.
For the first time, Wang Wanru felt a deep, fundamental ** (dòngyáo) – a wavering – in her reverence for her father, the man she had idolized since childhood, and for the seemingly unshakeable business empire he had built.
**[Lei Xiao, CEO of 'Hungry Tribe'... to counter their arch-rival 'Meigou'...]**
**[The lazy economy... instant delivery... the next big windfall...]**
These phrases were like keys, unlocking brand new doors in her mind, one after another.
She was also a top-tier business school graduate; of course, she understood the implications behind these concepts.
But before, she had merely treated them as cold, academic terms in reports.
Zhang Tianyou, however, had strung these terms together into a bloody, golden highway leading to future wealth!
This gap wasn't about vision or strategy anymore.
This was a dimensional ** (niǎnyā) – a crushing superiority.
No!
She couldn't just sit back and do nothing any longer!
Wang Wanru's gaze gradually shifted from confusion to resolve.
She pushed open the car door, and the sharp "click-clack" of her high heels echoed, unusually urgent, in the vast, empty garage.
She had to find her father!
She didn't expect to convince him to invest in "Flash Delivery," a company he'd dismiss as "trash."
But she had to, she absolutely had to make him realize: the times have changed!
The Wang Group, this seemingly massive ** (hángmǔ) – this aircraft carrier – if it didn't change course now, would eventually be smashed to pieces by the tide of the era.
And more importantly, Zhou Minghao!
[The Star ** (Xiàngmù – Project Star)... funding chain...]
Zhang Tianyou's prophecy, echoing like a curse, was a poisoned thorn embedded deep in her heart.
She had to warn her father!
...
Wang Group Headquarters, Top Floor, Chairman's Office.
Wang Jianguo was standing proudly before a massive sand table** (móxíng – model), passionately outlining his vision to several core company executives.
The sand table displayed a miniature model of the "Star" real estate project, a grand ** (guīhuà – planned) landscape of towering buildings and magnificent ** (bùjú – layout).
This was the project Wang Jianguo had staked everything on, the crowning achievement meant to ** (huàshàng – to draw) a perfect full stop to his career.
"Once the Star project is completed, it will become Haicheng's new commercial landmark! Our Wang Group's stock price can at least double!" Wang Jianguo spoke with such fervor he was practically spitting, his face full of anticipation.
The surrounding executives nodded in agreement, their flattery flowing freely.
Just as the atmosphere reached its peak, the office door was "banged" open from the outside.
Wang Wanru entered, her face as cold as ice.
"You may leave first," she said curtly to the executives, her tone brooking no argument.
They exchanged glances but ultimately, catching Wang Jianguo's displeased look, quietly filed out.
"Wanru! What is the meaning of this! Have you no manners at all!" Wang Jianguo suppressed his anger, deeply dissatisfied with his daughter's rude behavior.
"Dad," Wang Wanru ignored his reproach, walking straight to his desk. "I just came across a company. They do on-demand local delivery, called Flash Delivery. I think their model has huge potential. The Wang Group should get into this space as soon as possible."
She tried this approach to gauge her father's reaction.
Wang Jianguo was stunned for a moment, then as if hearing the world's funniest joke, he snorted derisively.
"Flash Delivery? Some nonsense delivery service?"
He walked over to his executive chair, sat down, picked up his Yixing teapot, took a sip of tea, and began lecturing in a patronizing tone:
"Wanru, how many times have I told you? In business, you must keep your feet on the ground. Don't touch those**** (xū tóu bā nǎo – insubstantial, tricky) internet things. They're all bubbles, burst at a touch!"
"Our Wang Group relies on real estate, on tangible industry! That's our foundation!"
"But Dad, times are changing! The online economy is the future!" Wanru was getting anxious.
"The future? The future is right here, under my feet—this 'Star' project!" Wang Jianguo slammed his cup heavily on the table, pointing at the massive sand table, his voice filled with unshakeable authority. "This is real gold and silver! You can see it, you can touch it!"
Seeing she couldn't persuade him directly, Wang Wanru steeled herself and decided to take a risk.
She took a deep breath, lowering her voice.
"Dad, about the Star project, I looked at the financial preliminary plan. The initial investment is too heavy. I'm worried... is there a risk to our funding chain?"
"And..." she paused, struggling to continue, "This entire project has been orchestrated by Zhou Minghao from start to finish. Shouldn't we... be more cautious? Maybe he... isn't as reliable as we think."
At that moment, the air itself seemed to freeze.
The expression on Wang Jianguo's face slowly shifted from displeasure, to shock, and finally, to towering rage!
He slammed his hand on the desk and shot to his feet!
"Wang Wanru! Do you have any idea what nonsense you're spouting!!!"
His roar made the entire office hum.
"Funding chain risk? I've done business my whole life, and I need you to teach me how to manage money now?!"
"Suspect Minghao?! Have you lost your mind! Who is Minghao? His father was my lifesaver! All these years, he's run himself ragged for our Wang family, giving it his all! Without his help pulling strings, we wouldn't even have been able to get the land for 'Star'!"
"And now, you're suspecting him?!"
Wang Jianguo trembled with rage. He pointed a finger at Wang Wanru's nose, his eyes full of disappointment and fury.
"Tell me! Was it Zhang Tianyou, that good-for-nothing! Was it that good-for-nothing whispering in your ear?!"
"To think you'd let a sponger wash your brain, and then turn around and suspect our family's benefactor! You... you disappoint me so much!"
His father's roar, each word like a sharp slap across Wang Wanru's face.
She wanted to explain, to argue, but found herself speechless.
She couldn't very well say, "This is all from Zhang Tianyou's inner thoughts, prophecies from the future," could she?
In her father's eyes, that would only make her seem crazier, more unreasonable.
Looking at his daughter's pale, stubborn face, Wang Jianguo's anger burned even brighter.
He walked around the desk, stopping right in front of her, and said, word by word, with extreme contempt:
"Wanru, let me warn you."
"Put away those unrealistic fantasies of yours. And stay far away from that good-for-nothing, Zhang Tianyou!"
"Instead of wasting your time on things you clearly don't understand, you'd be better off figuring out how to manage that useless husband of yours!"
"A newly formed company with a registered capital of just two million dares to call itself 'Vision Capital'? Absolutely ridiculous!"
"Who does he think he is? The Wolf of Wall Street?!"
"Tell him to stop showing his face in public. It's embarrassing!"
"Your husband, right now, is the biggest joke in Haicheng's entire business community!"
Having said that, Wang Jianguo couldn't be bothered to look at her again. He stormed out, leaving only a cold remark behind.
"Minghao will be here in person for the bidding conference next week. You pay attention and learn something. See how a real business elite operates!"
The office door slammed shut.
The whole world fell silent.
Wang Wanru stood alone in the vast, empty office, like a statue drained of all life.
Her father's words, full of contempt and disdain, still echoed in her ears.
"Good-for-nothing..."
"Joke..."
Her mind went blank.
An unprecedented feeling of powerlessness and heart-chilling coldness, like icy seawater, completely engulfed her.
She had thought, by mustering her courage, she could change something.
The result? More complete humiliation and denial.
In their eyes, Zhang Tianyou, the only person who knew the truth, was merely a joke.
And she, the one trying to convey that truth, was an even bigger joke, brainwashed by a clown.
How pathetic.
How ironic.
Wang Wanru slowly walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the bustling city beneath her feet, feeling utterly lonely and despairing for the first time.
She felt as if she could see an invisible net slowly tightening.
And her family, her father, were laughing, joking, step by step, walking right into the center of that net.
And she... was powerless to stop it.
- Writer
