Start with push-ups to gain experience

Seeing Zhou Xiumei looking as anxious as a little rabbit, Fang Cheng leaned back in his chair and looked up at her:
"What's the problem? Do you think there's something wrong with the company's conditions, or is there something wrong with the competition?"

Zhou Xiumei pursed her lips, took half a step forward, and deliberately lowered her voice:
"I think Sister Zhang Hui and that Professor Cheng... are a little too enthusiastic towards me."

"Giving such a generous contract to complete strangers makes me wonder if they have ulterior motives. As the saying goes, there's never anything good about someone offering unsolicited favors..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Cheng couldn't help but chuckle and shook his head.

"Xiu Mei, it's true that you're wary of people and things."

"But you can rest assured about that. Cheng Jiashu is definitely not the kind of person you think he is, and he would never have any improper thoughts about you."

"But……"

Zhou Xiumei still felt uneasy, her fingers nervously picking at the edge of the plastic file folder:

"Many of the contestants are either classically trained or established artists already signed with a company. As someone who hasn't even had many professional vocal lessons, suddenly getting such great resources feels like a dream..."

Before Fang Cheng could even speak, He Huiqin, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. She draped the towel she was using to dry her hands over the back of the chair and came over to scold him:

"You stubborn brat! The big boss is interested in you because he thinks you can make money for them! Ah Cheng has already checked the contract for you, there are no problems, what are you afraid of? Do you want to go back to serving dishes and selling milk tea?"

Fang Cheng waved his hand, interrupting He Huiqin's rambling.

His gaze remained calm as he looked at the insecure girl before him.

"Talent is something that doesn't follow any logic. The fact that Cheng Jiashu is willing to sign you means that your voice and potential are worthy of this contract."

He paused briefly, his tone becoming more serious:
"The entertainment industry is a big melting pot. There will be no shortage of temptations and suppression in the future. If anyone tries to trip me up behind my back or makes any unreasonable demands, please tell me immediately."

"Although I don't know how to sing, I can still help you solve some minor problems."

"Even if it's a big star like Cheng Jiashu, if he dares to bully you, I can still beat him up."

Meanwhile, at the Xinghai Entertainment Building, on the other side of the city.

Someone who was sitting on a leather sofa reading a script suddenly sneezed loudly.

He rubbed his sore nose, turned his head with a puzzled look to the closed window, and muttered:

"Who is this heartless person who is talking about me behind my back?"

Inside the tenement building, in the Zhou family's living room.

Zhou Xiumei raised her head and met Fang Cheng's sincere gaze.

The initial trepidation and unease in those eyes, as black as gemstones, gradually faded, replaced by a deep sense of peace.

She smiled, like a gardenia blooming in early summer, and nodded vigorously:
"I understand, Cheng-ge. I will do my best to prove myself in the upcoming top 100 qualifying rounds."

Seeing that she had resolved her inner conflict, Fang Cheng smiled and casually asked:

"Have you chosen the songs for the next round of the competition?"

Zhou Xiumei's cheeks flushed slightly as she sat down next to Fang Cheng, holding her water glass.

"I've chosen the song for the semi-finals. The teachers at Xinghai Entertainment have been helping me rehearse these past few days, and they're saying I'll go to the recording studio for a sound check tomorrow."

"Prepare well, don't be nervous, you're capable enough."

Fang Cheng picked up a spoon, took a sip of soup, and turned to tease the bewildered Zhou Peng beside him:

"Pengpeng, look, your sister is going to be a big star. What do you want to do in the future?"

Zhou Peng held up the plastic figurine in his hand, made a flying motion in the air, and shouted:
"I want to be like Brother Fang Cheng and join the Special Investigation Team in the future, become an investigator, and fight off the big bad guys!"

The people in the room were stunned for a moment, then they all burst into laughter.

Even Zhou Yongnian, who usually has a serious expression, couldn't help but smile slightly.

Grandma Zhou, who was dozing in her rocking chair, didn't hear what the others were saying, but seeing everyone laughing, she grinned happily along with them.

After staying at the Zhou family's house for more than half an hour, Fang Cheng finished the soup in his bowl, stood up, and said goodbye.

"Auntie, Uncle Zhou, I have to go back now. My mom is coming back from Grandpa's later, and I need to go to the market to buy groceries and cook."

He Huiqin followed him to the door, looking at him with loving eyes:
"You are such a filial, successful, and family-oriented child. Any girl who marries you in the future will be incredibly lucky."

As she spoke, she glanced at her daughter standing beside her, seemingly unintentionally.

Zhou Xiumei's cheeks flushed bright red instantly, all the way to her ears. She lowered her head and reached for the doorknob, her voice barely audible.
"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about..."

Fang Cheng smiled and waved, stepped out of the door, and turned to walk into the stairwell.

As the iron gate behind him slammed shut with a clatter, Fang Cheng's smile gradually faded.

He walked alone through the corridor, returned to his own front door, took out his key, unlocked the door, and went inside.

The room was quiet, and sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating half of the floor.

The old red pine coffee table, the fabric sofa with faded edges, and the bulky TV cabinet are all old items that have been with me for more than ten years.

Before long, this place will be completely transformed and given a brand new look.

Fang Cheng didn't feel particularly nostalgic, but he did feel a sense of loss and regret that things had changed.

His gaze slowly swept across the mottled wall, finally settling on the TV cabinet.

There was a spotless wooden photo frame on the table.

In the photo, the young parents stand side by side with bright smiles, and the mother holds her newborn baby in her arms.

Even through a pane of glass, you can still feel the happiness and peace captured in that moment.

Fang Cheng walked over and stopped in front of the cabinet.

His gaze was fixed quietly on the photograph, then he raised his hand and gently stroked the glass surface of the frame with his fingertips.

"Dad, you can watch over us from heaven."

He spoke in a low, steady voice:

"I will take good care of Mom and make sure she doesn't suffer any injustice. As for the truth that those people concealed back then, I will find out sooner or later and give you an explanation."

After examining it for a moment, Fang Cheng let out a soft sigh of relief.

He then turned around and went into the bedroom.

There was a wallet lying on the desk. He picked it up and opened it. Inside were several bank cards and a few hundred-yuan bills.

After confirming that everything was correct, he stuffed his wallet into his usual blue canvas shoulder bag and slung it over his shoulder.

The afternoon was packed with activities.

Fang Cheng planned to first visit the car dealership where his old classmate Ning Yue worked to check out cars, and then stop by the supermarket to buy some ingredients for dinner.

My mom often travels between Wanghu Town and Jiuchang Street, and taking a taxi back and forth is really a hassle.

Fang Cheng had previously suggested that she get a driver's license and buy a car for commuting.

Li Biyun shook her head vigorously, muttering that she was too old and clumsy to drive, and that she would only cause trouble for others.

After thinking about it for a few days, Fang Cheng decided to still buy the car.

Meanwhile, the professor has recently recruited several new members with clean backgrounds.

Sending someone over to act as Mom's personal driver and bodyguard would be perfect.

After working hard for most of her life, it's time for her to settle down and enjoy being a wealthy housewife.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Fang Cheng's lips.

As he walked toward the living room, he mentally calculated the accounts.

The purchase of this tenement building, including the transfer of ownership and taxes, has already cost over 42 million yuan, with a little over 20 million yuan still sitting in the account. The subsequent renovation and painting of the entire building, plus the high-end interior decoration of the top-floor penthouse, will, to a high standard, cost at least another six or seven million yuan.

After deducting expenses for buying the car and other miscellaneous costs, I only had a little over ten million yuan left in cash.

In the blink of an eye, they went from being nouveau riche to being petit-bourgeois again.

Fang Cheng shook his head helplessly.

Fortunately, we raided the Viper Gang's hideout a few days ago and managed to loot over a dozen gold bars, which can be exchanged for more than two million.

I'm not exactly strapped for cash right now.

To be honest, Chen Fuquan is quite shrewd and efficient.

After leading the Green Wolf Gang to wipe out all the Poison Snake Gang's territories, he arranged for several of his men to turn themselves in to the police station that same day, taking all the blame for the fight and murder.

They claimed they couldn't stand Wei Qiang's heinous crimes, so they decided to act on behalf of heaven, stormed into the Blue Ice Bar, and smashed his head with an axe, leaving the police stunned.

Chen Fuquan not only gave them a generous resettlement allowance, but also hired lawyers at high salaries to defend them.

Gang fight, surrendering to the police, and a positive attitude in admitting guilt, plus the fact that the deceased were all gangsters.

Going through this process, the maximum sentence would be thirty years in prison.

Once the storm has passed, he can find an opportunity to slowly work his way down the sentence, get out quickly, and rise to a higher position.

This kind of cover-up is commonplace in gangs and is a shortcut for many low-level thugs to climb the ranks.

The Green Wolf Gang used this trick quite often when they were seizing territory in their early days.

Fang Cheng was able to find out so much about Chen Fuquan's background mainly because he obtained the information from his distant nephew.

That's right, this nephew is Chen Chen, the leader of the Red Tiger Gang.

Both men belonged to the Chen clan of Yong'an Island.

After Chen Chen made his fortune in Dongdu, Chen Fuquan seized the opportunity to curry favor with him, forming the Green Wolf Gang and becoming an external force of the Red Tiger Gang.

Using this connection, he managed to carve out a small niche for himself in Dongdu.

As for the Viper Gang that was wiped out, it was actually the gang that Ma Donghe used to belong to.

More than half a year ago, the Old Viper Gang was swallowed up by the Red Tiger Gang, and the gang fell apart.

Old hands like Ma Donghe had long been tired of the life of a gangster and retired to live an ordinary life.

Unfortunately, Wei Qiang was a die-hard. Using the name of the former gang leader, he recruited a large number of people and formed a new Viper Gang.

These people are just rats in the gutter; they can't cause any trouble.

But then a mysterious organization approached them, throwing money and resources at them, turning the Viper Gang into an external force that specialized in doing dirty work for the organization.

According to Chen Chen, this so-called mysterious organization is Noah.

Because Wei Qiang had an old grudge against the Red Tiger Gang, he gained Noah's favor.

The other party's purpose in doing this is as clear as day.

They simply wanted to cultivate a powerful force, support new gangs, and counterbalance the increasingly powerful Red Tiger Gang.

Due to Noah's power, Chen Chen could only swallow his anger and endure Wei Qiang's repeated provocations.

The fact that the Viper Gang was completely wiped out by the Green Wolf Gang allowed Chen Chen to vent his anger.

However, Noah will likely face considerable accountability measures in the future.

The other party will inevitably assume that Chen Chen instructed Chen Fuquan to do this, and may even suspect that Chen Chen specially recruited top experts at great expense.

To be on the safe side, Fang Cheng had previously asked Chen Chen about Chen Fuquan and the Green Wolf Gang.

Unexpectedly, these people had such a connection with me.

Chen Chen guessed that Fang Cheng was behind it, but he didn't seem too panicked. Instead, he offered a few compliments and subtly mentioned his desire to become an external force of the Illuminati.

This old fox is clearly seeking refuge.

Fang Cheng knew perfectly well what was going on, so he offered a few words of comfort and dismissed him by saying that he needed to observe his recent performance.

Although the Viper Gang has been eliminated, the threat from the Noah Organization remains.

But in Fang Cheng's eyes now, trouble of this level is no longer worth mentioning.

His strength improved by leaps and bounds, and his physical body became almost invincible, which was the basis for his unbridled behavior.

Unless the Noah board of directors directly sends the legendary level 12 or 13 executives to the scene, anyone else who comes will be sent to their death.

"Humph."

A fierce glint flashed in Fang Cheng's eyes.

I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm just waiting for you guys to come and see if my fists are hard enough.

Gathering his somewhat wandering thoughts, Fang Cheng slung his bag over his shoulder, stepped out the door, and closed the security door behind him.

He went down the stairs, out of the tenement building, and onto the narrow street.

He then took out his car keys from his pocket and pressed the unlock button.

"Dudu."

The black Land Rover SUV parked on the curb made two noises, and its headlights flashed.

Fang Cheng stepped over, opened the driver's side door, and got into the car.

Insert the key, start the engine, shift gears, and turn the steering wheel.

The heavy vehicle started smoothly, slowly leaving the old factory street and merging into the continuous flow of traffic on the main road.

The air conditioning in the carriage was on full blast, blocking out the scorching heat of the sun outside.

Fang Cheng rested one hand on the steering wheel, following the convoy ahead, stopping and starting intermittently.

While waiting for the traffic light to turn red, he recalled a figure from his youth with a ponytail.

Ningyue.

Come to think of it, it had been several months since he last saw his old classmate after picking up this Land Rover.

A while ago, Fang Cheng happened to catch a few casual remarks in a high school classmates' group chat.

It is said that Ning Yue's life has been quite difficult lately, with a lot of troubles at home.

She even had a relative who contracted a strange illness that hospitals couldn't diagnose, requiring her to stay up all night to take care of them, which made her look quite haggard.

Fang Cheng had always had a very good impression of Ning Yue.

Back then, he had just transferred to Jiangbei No. 2 Middle School as a transfer student, and he was unfamiliar with the place and the people.

Ning Yue was a kind-hearted person. She took the initiative to help him get textbooks and fill in his notes, and showed him around the environment, saving him a lot of trouble.

Now that his old classmate is in trouble, Fang Cheng doesn't intend to offer any empty words of comfort.

I'll just hand this order to Ning Yue so she can get an extra commission; as long as it helps her a little, that's fine.

Anyway, it doesn't matter which store I go to to buy a car for my mom.

The green light comes on.

Fang Cheng stepped on the gas, and the SUV emitted a deep roar as it passed through the intersection.

Twenty minutes later, the car turned onto the tree-lined road and slowly stopped in front of a rather large car dealership. (End of Chapter)