Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 497 - 400: Dean Zhang’s Eldest Son

She didn’t know when Cheng Zhu had arrived, nor had she expected him to show up here and deliver New Year’s greetings in person.

She leaned over the balcony, her body tilting slightly forward, so that a certain heavy part of it was just propped up by the railing.

Little Lu waved vigorously downstairs at Cheng Zhu with her left hand while holding her phone with the right, shouting,

"Cheng Zhu, Happy New Year!"

Indeed, today, due to "family rules," I really couldn’t leave the house.

But he sneaked over to see me.

So happy, so happy~

Just moments ago, Lin Lu, who had said that this year’s New Year’s Eve was incredibly boring, suddenly felt her mood change completely.

After a few minutes on the phone, Little Lu felt sorry for Cheng Zhu, thinking it was too cold outside. Although she was reluctant to let him go, she took the initiative to hang up the call and urged him to hurry back to his car.

By the time she returned to the living room, her mother Meng Yue was a bit puzzled.

"What’s up? Why are you so happy?"

The joy on Lu Lu’s face was visibly radiant, her steps lighter than usual, her arms swinging in wider arcs—she was nearly skipping.

Lin Lu didn’t bother explaining, just warmly exclaimed, "Mom, Happy New Year!!!"

Meng Yue was amused by her enthusiasm.

...

The New Year was rather leisurely for Cheng Zhu, too.

He visited Chen Jieyu at the Rose Garden from time to time and took Lin Lu to see new movies during the Spring Festival season.

In 2015, the top-grossing films of the Spring Festival season were "Casino Tycoon 2," followed by "Sky Lion" and "Wolf Totem."

Cheng Zhu wasn’t particularly fond of any of them.

But since Lin Lu wanted to watch them, he had to accompany her.

During the New Year period, Youu Tea insisted on staying open.

Even though many people from Hang City had returned home, Youu Tea’s business remained booming.

In these days, daily sales volume consistently stayed within the range of 2500-3000 cups.

Which is to say, the daily sales were an impressive figure, given that the average price of a milk tea was around 30 yuan.

Cheng Zhu wasn’t surprised by this daily sales volume.

Because in his memory, Hey Tea had similar sales figures of around two to three thousand cups in those years.

This was also due to the fact that the production process for this high-end internet-famous milk tea was complicated and labor-intensive, with a longer production time compared to regular milk tea.

"Once the other 18 stores are all up and running, just these 19 stores will bring in a frightening profit each month," Cheng Zhu thought to himself.

His goal for 2015 was to hit over a hundred million in monthly sales as the number of stores kept increasing.

This was something Hey Tea achieved only after completing its second round of financing in his previous life.

Cheng Zhu hoped to reach this goal before the second round of financing.

Time flew by, and soon the Lantern Festival was over.

The students’ vacations were counting down, but many workers had already gone back to work even before the Lantern Festival.

The construction of the 18 Youu Tea stores was progressing at full speed, including the initial staff training.

Wang Wei had been promoted and given a raise by Cheng Zhu and was in charge of staff training.

Another staff member, Lin Yue, who was very talented in product development, had become the head of the R&D team.

Before the New Year, Cheng Zhu had rented an entire floor of an office building, which was quite a show of strength.

As Youu Tea’s staff grew larger and more formalized, work started to be divided into specialized roles.

In fact, just for the internet marketing and advertising team, there were already 14 people.

Whether it was Weibo or public accounts, they needed someone to operate and maintain them.

There were many things Cheng Zhu no longer did himself; he simply couldn’t manage them all.

And, as winter break was about to end, Cheng Zhu finally received a WeChat message from Dean Zhang.

"Judging by the date, poor Brother Zhang should have been released for a few days now," Cheng Zhu thought.

He was well aware that Zhang couldn’t possibly contact him right after being released and immediately hand his son over to work under him.

Someone who had made a mistake surely needed to endure a period of criticism and undergo some ideological education.

But Cheng Zhu wondered whether this man named Zhang Sixing, who was named after "think thrice before acting," had really learned his lesson, or had he simply found enlightenment on the spot?

Cheng Zhu had always been interested in this computer guy.

"Today I finally have the chance to meet him," he mused.

...

Outside Technology University.

Zhang Sixing sat in his car, somewhat dazed.

Having just turned over thirty, he already seemed a bit weathered, an air of an older man about him.

There was no helping it, past experiences can take their toll!

was a year he’d rather not remember.

His seemingly perfect family came crashing down.

It all started when he accidentally discovered that the wife he thought to be incredibly virtuous... belonged to another man.

Yes, there was another man who assigned her tasks every now and then.

No matter how outrageous the tasks were, she carried them out obediently.

There’s a saying online: "It’s just a master’s task."

But for Zhang Sixing, it was a grim slice of reality.

The shameful chat records between them were something Zhang Sixing dared not to recall.

It made him feel like his life was an utter joke!

Zhang Sixing’s world was shattered, and it wasn’t just about being cuckolded.

He couldn’t understand how the woman he cherished and spoiled rotten, could be someone else’s dog, someone else’s servant.

He couldn’t imagine why such people existed in the world.

What was he in her eyes, and in that man’s eyes?

A clown?

Or just part of their play?

Given that there were already a son and a daughter, with no suspicions arising during the pregnancies, it meant there was someone swapping the "baton" with him.

Chances are, it was the other man on the first leg, and Zhang Sixing on the second.

The collapse of his worldview left Zhang Sixing unable to continue working.

He used to work for a well-known internet company, young and entrusted with important tasks, with a promising future.

His annual salary and bonus reached seven figures; he was family-oriented.

With a normal woman, he could have had a good life.

After resigning and divorcing, Zhang Sixing chose to travel around the world.

He thought to escape his place of sorrow, to forget everything, and find solace in travel.

But it was in vain.

When he returned before the New Year, he flew in through Xiao Shan Airport, picked up by a friend.

This buddy didn’t know the details of his divorce, only suggesting they go out and have a good time!

"Come on! Let’s get a foot massage!"

"I’m telling you, you’re about to discover a whole new world!"

"Once a man has had a foot massage, his outlook on life will definitely change!"

"Believe me, it’s a transformation at the soul level!"

Such is the purity of male friendship.

Otherwise, that saying among the "Four Bro Irons" wouldn’t exist.

As a result, the pair ended up caught together.

Not bad, their revolutionary friendship elevated a notch!

But as for the buddy, he was accustomed to living on the edge.

Zhang Sixing was just unluckily caught in his first offense.

He did feel a release at first.

It was nothing like his travels this year.

Unfortunately, the final experience wasn’t pleasant.

"I want to die, but I’m too scared," that’s been Zhang Sixing’s feeling for the past year.

After his release, he felt too ashamed to face his parents.

For over thirty years of his life, he had always been their pride.

A good student since childhood, obedient and well-behaved, he even got into Tsinghua University.

After graduation, he joined one of the top companies in the country and flourished there.

How could his life collapse within just one year?

During the holiday season, my parents also had to endure my torture.

These days, Zhang Sixing was constantly undergoing ideological education.

But truth be told, he didn’t take much of it to heart.

Dean Zhang and his wife painstakingly told him that having one failed marriage wasn’t the end of the world, in these times, many people remarried twice or even thrice and eventually found happiness.

A person shouldn’t lose themselves over one failed marriage!

They even contemplated setting up some blind dates for him.

Perhaps a new love could help him move on, stop wallowing in self-pity?

But they didn’t know the extent of what Zhang Sixing had gone through; he was now terrified of marriage.

In the end, Dean Zhang’s bottom line for his wayward son was: You’re going to work this year!

Zhang Sixing could see the pain and torture he was causing his parents, so he agreed to their demand.

But what he never anticipated was that his own father had already found him a job!

"Ah, this..."

He had thought about changing his pace of life, trying out a new kind of work he was interested in and willing to try, nothing to do with computers.

Money was no object.

He had made a lot before, didn’t that still lead to a mess?

But how had his parents already arranged everything...

Zhang Sixing had thought it would be some big company or that he would be studying under some business mogul.

But he never imagined that the boss his father found for him was a student at Technology University, and just a freshman at that!

"This kid is over ten years younger than me."

At this moment, Zhang Sixing was driving to meet Cheng Zhu at the agreed-upon spot.

Honestly, he was still baffled about the whole situation.

Last night, after researching this young boss, he was even more puzzled.

According to Dean Zhang, this was Cheng Zhu’s story:

"He made his first bucket of gold doing e-commerce during high school summer break."

"After starting college, he opened a claw machine shop outside the school and sold it for several million."

"Then he started making mobile games and opened milk tea shops."

"Now his new milk tea store has secured a hundred million in financing."

But what does any of this have to do with me, a man of computers?

Perhaps the only connection was that he had dabbled in games.

Zhang Sixing tried playing it on his phone.

A few minutes later.

"What kind of trash is this..."

...

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