Financial freedom starts from graduation

Chapter 612 Internet Turmoil
Magic City.

It was already dusk, but inside the towering IFC office building, people were still coming and going, and the bright lights stretched from the ground floor to the top floor.

For the elites of Shanghai, working overtime is already commonplace and no one needs to force them. In the high-pressure environment of survival of the fittest, those who are willing to be lazy are unlikely to become a member of the IFC.

The second phase office building has 55 floors.

The floor is paved with polished marble, and the five-meter-long reception desk facing the elevator is made of a single piece of natural stone, polished into a beautiful arc. The four large characters "Wangzhou Group" are like crystal, shimmering under the warm light.

Wearing a professional OL suit, Chen Lin sat behind the front desk. Her face, which should still have some youthful innocence, appeared bright and elegant with the help of makeup. The highly fitted suit also made her figure more voluptuous, making her look mature and charming at first glance.

Although the uniforms of Wangzhou Group did not have a logo, Chen Lin, who had helped pick up the clothes, knew very well that... this seemingly ordinary suit was actually from Hermès.

Yes, it's the brand she's always dreamed of.

Chen Lin never expected that her first Hermès bag would come from the work uniform issued by her first real job...

The uniform was issued after she was officially hired, and according to the labor contract, as long as Chen Lin worked for the company for a full year, the uniform would become her personal property as a benefit.

Of course, if she leaves before a year has passed, she'll have to buy the outfit at cost price...

But Chen Lin had secretly done the math.

She specifically consulted a wealthy second-generation friend in Shanghai to learn more. A set of custom Hermès workwear typically costs anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, depending on the fabric, craftsmanship, and complexity.

Even the cheapest one won't be less than 70,000 or 80,000.

Let's calculate it as 80,000.

Considering that if calculated at cost price, the company's internal purchase price would be about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan cheaper.

So even if you leave the company early and have to buy the uniform yourself, you're still essentially making a net profit of at least tens of thousands.

After all, this kind of clothing can be worn for a long time, and it won't make you lose face no matter where you take it; in fact, you could say it makes you look good.

Back then, on the streets of Shanghai, Chen Lin was just trying to chat up a handsome guy driving a supercar. She never expected to have such an encounter today.

Zhou Wang gave her a business card, and it just so happened that Chen Lin, a senior who was about to do an internship, made the call with the intention of just getting to know her.

Chen Lin had no expectations for the "Wangzhou Group" that she had never heard of before, but she never expected that the group's office would be located in the famous IFC Mall in Shanghai!
How could a company that can be located here be a "small company"?
Arriving amidst doubt and uncertainty, Chen Lin was utterly shocked when she saw that the Wang Zhou Group occupied two floors of the 56th floor of the IFC.

She quickly checked again and found that Wangzhou Group was indeed a recently established company. It wasn't that she was ignorant, but judging from the numerous related news reports, the company's background was clearly beyond her imagination.

She also figured out the identity of the young man sitting in the Porsche 918 Spyder.

Zhou Wang, Wang Zhou... It all seems so obvious.

Not to mention that Zhou Wang has millions of fans on platforms such as Douyin and Weibo, and many versions of his life story have already been unearthed.

Although there are many conflicting opinions, and much of the information is unclear and may be just marketing hype, there is still a considerable amount of information that has been verified.

For example, he started from scratch, and just a year ago, he was a naive and foolish college student, just like me.

For example, he is definitely not an internet celebrity who relies on marketing to gain traffic, because so far, the only advertisement Zhou Wang has ever run on his own account is to promote the "mini-games" made by his own company.

According to many netizens, the mini-game called "Financial Freedom Begins After Graduation" is quite generous; even without spending money, players can gradually complete the game by simply playing for a short time. It also features hidden storylines and has high replayability.

In addition, Zhou Wang sent out many benefits through his social media accounts.

This includes, but is not limited to, giving away mobile phones, headphones, gaming peripherals, co-branded figurines, cash prizes, and more...

According to some netizens' statistics, Zhou Wang has spent at least tens of millions of yuan. If it was to create a persona and gain traffic, he has never been seen to monetize it, which is obviously different from other internet celebrities who take the "super rich" route.

After successfully joining Wangzhou Group as a receptionist, Chen Lin gets up very early every day and spends at least an hour doing her makeup. Her hair may seem like a simple updo, but it contains a lot of subtle tricks...

Unfortunately, it has been quite a few days, and she still hasn't seen President Zhou come to the company. The person in charge of various affairs on a daily basis is President Jiang Qingkui, who has a powerful aura and is breathtakingly beautiful.

"Chen Lin, it's almost seven o'clock, aren't you leaving yet!"

A middle-aged woman carrying a bag walked out of the company and saw Chen Lin still sitting at the front desk. She couldn't help but smile and ask a question.

"Aren't you leaving yet, Sister Lin? I see quite a few senior colleagues are still working overtime in the company. I'm worried that if they need anything, I might be able to help out by running errands or something..."

Chen Lin stood up and said with a sweet smile.

"Young people are so energetic, that's great. It's a pity I have to pick up my child, otherwise, with such good company benefits, I might have stayed and worked overtime."

The middle-aged woman said something approving, then shook her head regretfully before clocking out and leaving.

Chen Lin sat back down, picked up the large cup of milk tea next to her and took a sip, then continued to scroll through short videos on her phone, feeling quite relaxed.

Even in a city like Shanghai, there aren't many companies that openly pay overtime. But Wangzhou Group not only pays overtime, but also provides free dinner, tea, and reimbursement for transportation expenses after work hours...

Anyway, going back would just mean lying in her rented room playing on her phone, so she might as well sit here in the air conditioning and save money on a meal. Chen Lin knew exactly what to choose.

Swipe up on the phone screen again, and a banner suddenly appears in the notification bar:
"BlackPink's performance in China is suspected of being subject to unspoken rules; there's video evidence!"

Chen Lin's attention was immediately drawn to it.

The notification came from Weibo, posted by a gossip blogger she followed. Although this blogger wasn't a big influencer, they had a large following on Weibo due to their objective narratives and methodical exposés of many niche secrets within the entertainment industry. Chen Lin was one of them.

Even if she wasn't a fan of this blogger, just seeing the words "BlackPink" was enough to catch her eye.

After all, this is one of the most popular girl groups in the world. Chen Lin doesn't consider herself a fan, but she really likes their songs. For a while, she even copied Jisoo's style of dressing.

Chen Lin quickly clicked on the push notification and began browsing the article posted by the blogger.

The article is not long, but it succinctly and quickly recounts the entire story, roughly meaning—

BlackPink is currently on a world tour and arrived in Australia, China two days ago. However, after the tour, when they met and interacted with die-hard fans, two members, Lisa and Jisoo, were suspected of being sexually harassed.

The blogger did not express any opinion or reveal the identity of the harasser. Instead, they posted a video of several tens of seconds below, indicating that it was taken from an external website. They also included screenshots of comments from South Korean websites and thoughtfully provided translations.

Chen Lin glanced at the screenshots. Needless to say, those from South Korean fans were all indignant, filled with all sorts of offensive language, and strongly demanding that the harasser be identified and forced to kneel down and apologize. Some even went so far as to demand an explanation from the Chinese government...

Chen Lin was utterly astonished. To be honest, the moment she saw the post title, she thought that this gossip blogger might be exaggerating a bit this time.

Given BlackPink's status and reputation, even if they were to face sexual harassment, it's unlikely that anyone would dare to act openly.

But after seeing these screenshots, Chen Lin realized that the matter was probably not false.

She quickly clicked on the video.

The slightly shaky video clearly shows three figures. Lisa and Jisoo are easily recognizable on the left and right, while a man in the center is not visible. But his face doesn't matter at this moment. The man's hands are on either side of the two girls' backs, and...

In today's world of advanced internet technology, such images, which are hardly restricted, would not make a female college student blush. But the key issue is that it's BlackPink!
Lisa and Jisoo are still the most popular among them, with their individual fan base ranking among the top!

Because of the angle, Lisa's expression wasn't clear, but Jisoo's profile was clearly visible on the other side; she was still smiling, although the smile looked somewhat stiff...

Chen Lin was stunned, never expecting to stumble upon such a juicy scoop. She quickly browsed related topics and discovered that in just a short while, the topic of "BlackPink's unspoken rules" had already topped the Weibo hot search list.

In addition, the official statement issued by BlackPink, as well as the posts on the four members' personal Instagram accounts, were also widely reposted in China.

In BlackPink's official statement, Lisa and Jisoo were clearly the victims. Although it wasn't explicitly stated, the implication was that BlackPink encountered some kind of strong "resistance" during their performances in China.

If they don't make certain compromises, they won't even be able to perform normally.

Therefore, out of a sense of responsibility to their fans, Lisa and Jisoo had no choice but to give in. Although they were taken advantage of by Mr. Z, they could only endure the humiliation and temporarily submit, all for the sake of completing the performance.

Subsequently, other members added their own perspectives on the matter in their personal social media posts.

Jenny said, "I couldn't let my fans down, but I was also afraid of Mr. Z's powerful influence, so I just finished the performance and didn't attend the fan meeting, for fear of being further harassed by Mr. Z."

Rose said, "It was because Mr. Z made other, even more outrageous demands that we chose to return to our country overnight and were unable to complete the second performance as promised. I feel very sorry for our fans..."

Lisa's post was relatively subtle, only saying that she didn't expect the other party to go so far as to take advantage of her in public, and that she could forgive the other party if they were willing to apologize.

Jisoo's post was the simplest, mainly expressing her apology to the fans, without mentioning much else.

Regardless, when these things were exposed together, they quickly caused a huge uproar on Weibo.

The most prevalent sentiment was naturally one of condemnation and criticism, especially among BlackPink's fans, who almost unanimously supported BlackPink.

"Now you know why BP doesn't like coming to China, right? It's because some of us are really disgusting."

"I can feel BlackPink's concern for their fans. I'm ashamed for this lousy Mr. Z. This kind of person should be expelled from the country..."

"I knew the unspoken rules in China were serious, but I never imagined they'd become so brazen that they'd even prey on international superstars."

There were also countless onlookers and lurkers who, even if they weren't BlackPink fans, unsurprisingly sided with BlackPink after seeing what happened.

Only a very small number of people are curious about just one thing...

How do Lisa and Jisoo's moons feel to the touch?

However, such comments that violated public order and good morals were quickly drowned out by the flood of popular comments.

Chen Lin was also indignant, and subconsciously clicked on another topic that had quickly climbed into the top ten trending searches—

"Mr. Z's identity".

Yes, whether they are cursing, watching the spectacle, or even the very few who question the truth, they will all focus on this most important question first.

Who exactly is this person codenamed "Mr. Z," whom BlackPink describes as a powerful force operating under the unspoken rules?
Clicking into the relevant topic, all sorts of random posts appeared. Chen Lin picked out a few of the more popular articles, and was quickly drawn to one of them.

"Judging from the code name, Z most likely represents a surname, which eliminates most people. Let's look at the video. Although we can't see the face clearly, judging from the upright posture and the condition of the skin on the back of the exposed hand, the person's age is no more than thirty years old... The sophisticated attire and the high-end JOHN LOBB handmade leather shoes indicate that the person belongs to the wealthy class."

"Considering all the above conditions, the scope is already very narrow: young wealthy individuals in China with the surname Z who have considerable influence in Macau or Hong Kong."

"Although there are still a few who meet the criteria, everyone should take a closer look at the watch on his wrist... a Rolex Rainbow Daytona with diamonds."

“I happen to have a clue provided by a kind anonymous netizen. A few days ago in Harbour City on Hong Kong Island, a young tycoon bought this watch and he also meets all the above conditions.”

"Yes, I am 90% certain that... this mysterious figure is Zhou Wang, the young billionaire who has mysteriously risen to prominence in China this year!"

(End of this chapter)