Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The next few days.

Zhou Tianhao kept his word, arriving at the company on time every day and serving as Xiao Tong's assistant diligently.

Serving tea and water, buying meals and carrying bags—though clumsy, their enthusiasm remained undiminished.

Xiao Tong was pestered by Zhou Tianhao to no avail, and because of Gu Ming's mention of a "probationary period," she could only avoid him.

On the other side of the company, the first phase of footage for the aerial photography project was completed.

Xu Jing, with a temporary team, began the tedious post-processing work.

Gu Ming, on the other hand, had a very leisurely life, spending his days drinking tea and reading newspapers in his office.

He would occasionally take a stroll through the post-production server room, point out a few rendering parameters, and then come back to continue drinking tea.

Everything is proceeding according to his plan, step by step.

That afternoon, Gu Ming leaned back in his boss's chair, looking at the old television hanging on the office wall.

The provincial TV station's midday news is playing on it.

The female anchor announced in a standard voice:

"According to this station, the Provincial Market Supervision Administration recently discovered during a special inspection that Longquan Winery, a well-known liquor producer in our city, has serious quality problems with some of its low-end product lines, such as Longquan Laojiao and Longquan Tequ, using non-food grade raw materials for blending..."

coming.

Gu Ming stubbed out his cigarette and squinted.

Just as he remembered, the timing was perfect.

The news footage shifts to the reporter standing at the entrance of Longquan Winery.

A large crowd of agitated consumers and dealers gathered at the entrance, holding banners that read, "Unscrupulous merchants, give me back my hard-earned money."

The company's security guards were pushing and shoving them, and the scene was chaotic.

The camera then shifts to Zhou Jianjun, the chairman of Longquan Winery and Zhou Tianhao's father.

Facing the camera, Zhou Jianjun looked haggard, with much of his hair turned white, and he kept bowing and apologizing.

"Dear consumers and distributors, the problem lies in our management, and we are willing to take full responsibility..."

This is just the beginning.

Gu Ming knew that the winery would face order cancellations, bank loan withdrawals, a broken cash flow, and eventual bankruptcy liquidation.

A great opportunity to acquire the property at a low price was presented to him.

And Zhou Tianhao, whom he planted, is probably having a headache over family matters right now.

The time is almost here.

Gu Ming was about to call Zhou Tianhao to arrange the next steps when his personal cell phone suddenly rang sharply.

The caller ID showed Xiao Tong.

It was already 11 p.m.

Gu Ming frowned and answered the phone.

There was no sound on the other end of the phone, only suppressed breathing and sobbing.

"Xiao Tong? What's wrong?"

Gu Ming's heart skipped a beat.

"Boss..."

Xiao Tong's voice came through, trembling uncontrollably, with a sob in her voice, which sounded very frightening.

"Boss... help me..."

"Wait, tell me slowly, where are you?"

Gu Ming's voice was steady, and this calmness, transmitted over the phone, calmed Xiao Tong down a bit.

"I'm...I'm in the company's dance studio...Zhou Tianhao...he just now..."

Xiao Tong spoke haltingly, then seemed to recall something frightening and burst into tears again.

Gu Ming didn't urge her, but listened quietly.

A few minutes later, Xiao Tong's mood improved.

"He...he asked me out for dinner tonight, but I didn't go. Instead, I came to the dance studio to practice. Just now...he barged in, reeking of alcohol, and locked the door...He said something happened at his house, he was in a bad mood, and insisted that I keep him company...and then...he started touching me inappropriately..."

Gu Ming's eyes turned cold.

Are you hurt?

he asks.

"I...I'm fine."

Xiao Tong said in a tearful voice, "I struggled, and he started tearing my clothes... I had no choice but to pick up the ashtray on the table and smash it on his head... He bled a lot, seemed stunned, and then... he ran away cursing..."

Ran?

Upon hearing those two words, Gu Ming fell silent.

Zhou Tianhao is an idiot.

Incompetent bungler.

He thought Zhou Tianhao was just a good-for-nothing, but he didn't expect him to be a useless person who couldn't even control himself.

He wanted to force himself on his family after drinking, even when something happened at home.

This isn't stupidity, this is courting death.

The most crucial person in Plan A is gone.

Instead of becoming an inside agent to infiltrate Longquan Winery, he became the catalyst for Plan B.

On the other end of the phone, Xiao Tong was still crying in fear.

"Boss, what should I do? I injured him. Will he call the police and have me arrested? Will he get revenge on me? I'm so scared..."

Gu Ming remained silent for three seconds.

His mind raced.

Plan A failed, Zhou Tianhao ran away, Longquan Winery ran into trouble, and Xiao Tong became a victim... All the information was reassembled in his mind, forming a new plan that was better than Plan A.

"Don't be afraid."

Gu Ming spoke, his voice not loud, but firm.

"Do as I say."

He paused, his tone clear and decisive.

"First, now, immediately, stop crying."

Xiao Tong stopped crying instinctively.

"Second, don't call the police. The police can't solve this; they'll only make things worse."

"Third, check if the dance studio door is broken, check your clothes, keep all the torn parts. Use your phone to take pictures of the scene, don't miss any details."

"Fourth, after you've done all this, lock the door and stay in the dance studio. Don't go anywhere else, and wait for my call."

"From now on, the game will be played differently."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Ming looked out at the night view.

Zhou Tianhao has run away, but that doesn't mean the matter is over.

Given his personality, he'll definitely try to get revenge and shut him up once he sobers up.

Meanwhile, Zhou Jianjun, chairman of Longquan Winery, is probably extremely anxious right now.

He dialed Wang Min's number.

"Wang Min, inform Lao Qi and Xu Jing that they need to meet at the company at 8:00 AM tomorrow to prepare for filming."

"What are you filming, boss?"

"Shoot a music video."

Gu Ming looked at the recorder on the table that contained the demo of "The Sky of Hegang" and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"A music video that... can move the entire city of Hegang."

Meanwhile, in the chairman's office of Longquan Winery.

Zhou Jianjun seemed to have aged ten years overnight.

The office phone and cell phone rang one after another.

Some media outlets wanted to conduct interviews, some dealers wanted refunds, and some banks notified them that they would withdraw their loans.

He didn't dare accept any of them.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

Zhou Jianjun swept the documents off the table and yelled at the trembling company executives in front of him.

"I've raised you all for so many years, and now that something's happened, not one of you can handle it!"

Just then, his wife called, her voice trembling with tears.

"Jianjun, something terrible has happened! Our son...our son is missing! I've been calling him but he won't answer. Just now, a friend of his said he saw him drunk at a karaoke bar last night, and it seemed...it seemed like he was in a fight with someone! Now we can't find him!"

"What?"

Zhou Jianjun felt dizzy and almost lost his balance.

The company ran into trouble, and then his only son got into trouble and went missing.

He plopped back into his chair, his face ashen.

Zhou Jianjun was unaware that a net had been quietly cast.

And his precious son had just personally pushed the entire Zhou family into this mess.