Join a Dating Reality Show with the Aloof, Fishing-Style Richest Man - Chapter 42.2

Following this, Lu Zhao’s schedule was packed. The “More Than Lovers” production team followed her constantly—whether she was shooting commercials, doing commercial performances, or acting on set, the team was there to film.

This “full-time following” mode attracted many viewers. After all, in the past, they could only see the glamorous side of stars in front of the camera; they rarely saw what went on behind the scenes or what the processes were like.

With this opportunity, the show’s popularity didn’t drop but actually rose. Coupled with the fact that Ji Zhaoxi really fulfilled her promise of a daily one-million-yuan lucky draw, several trending topics about the show popped up spontaneously every day.

Lu Zhao and Xu Miaomiao were filming their daily lives in the entertainment industry, while on Ji Zhaoxi and Zhou Jiayan’s side, they were filming their professional lives—though there were times when filming wasn’t allowed, especially when their conversations involved company development.

However, the audience found it worthwhile. Since Ji Zhaoxi was abroad, the camera crew allowed them to see her conversing fluently in various languages, and her composed demeanor made many people scream with excitement. Even though she was an outsider to the industry, her online popularity rivaled that of a top young star.

On Zhou Jiayan’s side at the conglomerate, she would offer guidance to others during her spare time and took on several interns. The goal was to use the show to help students and newcomers understand the workplace.

As a result, Zhou Jiayan’s live stream was mostly filled with university students or newcomers to the workforce who found her advice and teachings very practical.

Each person had their own live stream room, and the popularity of each was high. Seeing this, some companies wanted to emulate this model and try out several variety shows.

As the show’s popularity grew, Lu Zhao became more and more famous, especially after she successfully landed the female lead in Director Li’s film. Lu Zhao’s status gradually shifted from just having “hollow traffic” to being a highly anticipated actress.

After all, Director Li, as a legendary director, always prioritized talent. If you didn’t have the skills, he wouldn’t use you regardless of how famous or well-funded you were.

After Lu Zhao was cast as the lead, the crew began looking for a male lead. Given Lu Zhao’s physical stature and conditions, while the male lead in the movie wasn’t as strong as the female lead, his appearance couldn’t be too mismatched.

During this time, Lu Zhao and Xu Miaomiao joined the film set.

This movie, starring Xu Miaomiao as the lead, told the story of a woman kidnapped and sold to a mountain village who, along with the family’s daughter, breaks through feudal shackles to welcome a new life.

Xu Miaomiao played the daughter, and the story unfolded from her perspective—watching her break through previously indoctrinated concepts and lead her sister-in-law (who was bought by her brother) to escape the “man-eating” mountain village.

Xu Miaomiao was the daughter, and Lu Zhao was the kidnapped sister-in-law. She brought new ideas to her sister-in-law, telling her that the world outside was vast and that a woman’s role was never meant to be confined to a room as a man’s appendage, but to be an independent person capable of realizing her own value in the wide world.

When Lu Zhao first saw this script, she loved it. Sometimes she felt this was the meaning of film—to present a phenomenon and output a meaningful viewpoint; that is part of a film’s success.

During filming, Xu Miaomiao would frequently talk to Lu Zhao, trying all sorts of ways to fish for information about her situation with Ji Zhaoxi.

Sometimes Xu Miaomiao was so frustrated—if, as Zhou Jiayan said, Lu Zhao didn’t like Ji Zhaoxi, then just how high were Lu Zhao’s standards? What kind of person did she like!

To every one of her indirect inquiries, Lu Zhao would vaguely brush her off with jokes, telling her to worry about her own affairs.

The relationship between Xu Miaomiao and Zhou Jiayan had eased somewhat—only slightly. Zhou Jiayan hadn’t agreed to be her girlfriend yet, but at least she wasn’t avoiding her like before.

Every time Lu Zhao brought this up, Xu Miaomiao felt particularly melancholy. Furthermore, she had argued with her family many times, but they still refused to believe she truly liked Zhou Jiayan.

Since she had been clingy with Zhou Jiayan since childhood, they feared Xu Miaomiao was mistaking her possessiveness for romantic feelings.

This angered Xu Miaomiao so much she wished Zhou Jiayan would just sleep with her already, to show them: would your sister want to be slept with by an “older sister” figure?

Lu Zhao’s work became increasingly busy. Sometimes she flew all over the country, and her only rest was on the plane, let alone having time to go home and see Tangyuan.

During the broadcast, viewers seeing Lu Zhao’s flight schedule joked that they felt dizzy just watching; how did she manage to fly around like that without getting disoriented?

The show’s popularity remained high, and even after it ended, the heat wouldn’t die down for a while. Of course, this was partly due to the effect of Ji Zhaoxi throwing money at it; during that month, some lucky people won several times, totaling over a hundred thousand yuan.

Because of this behavior, Ji Zhaoxi was nicknamed “The God of Wealth” by netizens.

Meanwhile, in a foreign country, Ji Zhaoxi looked at the person in front of her and felt that her efforts over the past month had not been in vain.

“Xiao Xi, do you really have to be this ruthless? I am your father!” Sun Chuan looked at his daughter with eyes full of disappointment. His hair was gray, his back was hunched, and he seemed to have aged a dozen years compared to before.

“Did you ever ask if I wanted to be your daughter?” Ji Zhaoxi’s expression was cold. Looking at the exhausted man, she sneered, “Did you think I wouldn’t know you stretched your hands out to foreign countries?”

“Have you forgotten that all of this was originally the Ji family’s property? After managing it for a few years, did you start thinking it was your own, and that everyone was at your beck and call?”

Sun Chuan’s face changed slightly, seemingly recalling memories he considered humiliating because of her words.

“Without me, could the Ji Corporation be what it is today?” Sun Chuan’s face trembled, his chest heaving violently.

“The fact that the Ji Corporation exists today is entirely due to my merit!”

Ji Zhaoxi’s expression suddenly darkened. Her eyes were full of murderous intent as she looked at Sun Chuan, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.

“Do you think that because I don’t say some things, I don’t know them?”

Ji Zhaoxi stood up and walked toward Sun Chuan step by step, her gaze chilling. “As a man who married into the Ji family, you wanted to seize the Ji family as your own!”

“Can you tell me how my grandparents died?”

Sun Chuan’s face turned pale upon hearing this, then his brow furrowed, and he said unpleasantly, “They died in a car accident. Are you trying to blame that on me?”

Ji Zhaoxi’s eyes were deep as she closed in on Sun Chuan.

“If my grandparents didn’t die, you would never have been able to touch the core of the company; you would always be restricted by them!”

“But you didn’t expect that they had prepared long ago. Even if they were gone one day, the things belonging to them could only be inherited by my mother and would not be marital property.”

“When your plan failed, what did you do?”

“You targeted my mother!”

Ji Zhaoxi’s fists were clenched, her body tense. A cold smile appeared on her lips.

“But did you really think you did it so flawlessly?”

Sun Chuan’s face changed, but he remained stubborn. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Ji Zhaoxi stopped two meters in front of Sun Chuan and said hollowly, “Do you really think that by bringing me to the film set with you, no one would discover your secret affair?”

Just recalling those past foul events made Ji Zhaoxi feel sick!

Sun Chuan used the excuse of checking on the film crew’s progress to bring her along, only to abandon her outside while he met his mistress inside. Where did that leave her? Where did that leave her mother!

“Shut up!” Sun Chuan suddenly roared, then cursed as if losing control. “What did I do wrong? Your whole family treated me like an outsider, always guarding against me. I am a man! Do you know how those people outside mocked me?”

“You don’t know! You only know how to side with your damned mother! Why did you survive back then? Why didn’t you die with her!”

Ji Zhaoxi was indifferent, as if the person being told they should be dead by their own father wasn’t her.

“Then do you remember what kind of life you lived before you met my mother?”

“When you married into the family, did anyone force you? Didn’t you volunteer to marry in?”

“If you truly could have made them feel at ease, if you were truly loyal to this family, would they have guarded against you?”

Ji Zhaoxi asked three questions in a row, making Sun Chuan back up two steps, his face twisting into a hideous expression.

“What did I do wrong? I was the only child in the Sun family, and after your mother gave birth to you, she didn’t want any more! I just wanted a son belonging to the Sun family. What did I do wrong!”

Sun Chuan’s roar echoed in the vast office. His face, though aged, still showed the handsomeness of his youth, but it was now filled with malice, looking utterly ugly.

Ji Zhaoxi looked at Sun Chuan with mockery, her gaze as if looking at a disgusting pile of filth.

“So, from the start, weren’t you planning to prey on our family’s wealth?”

“But you didn’t expect it, did you? My mother, who always listened to you, made a will early on to give all the shares to me. And you only managed my shares because you exploited the fact that I was a minor.”

“After letting you look after them for a few years, did you think the entire Ji Corporation was yours?”

Sun Chuan’s face was distorted. Looking at the person in front of him, he didn’t see a biological daughter, but an enemy. He gritted his teeth and said, “I should have killed you too back then! Without you, everything in the Ji family would be mine!”

Ji Zhaoxi was not saddened by his words. From the time he betrayed her mother and used her as a shield, this person was no longer a father in her mind, but a villain coveting her home!

Ji Zhaoxi sat down on the sofa, looked up at the man who had aged significantly, and said coolly, “Unfortunately, I survived.”

“I imagine you’re not having a good time right now, are you? The company’s business is damaged, the capital chain is broken, and the only ‘seed’ of your Sun family is facing the risk of ending the lineage. I really want to know—how are you going to handle it?”

Sun Chuan looked down at his daughter. She had grown too fast, far exceeding his expectations. He had thought her previous dull and gloomy self posed no threat, but he hadn’t realized she had grown so stunningly in places he didn’t know.

Sometimes he hated it—hated why she was a daughter, and hated that as a daughter, she was so much more excellent than his only son.

If she were a son, if her surname were Sun, why would he have reached this point!

Sun Chuan suddenly seemed to age several more years, his voice full of helplessness.

“Just consider it a plea from your father… save your brother, okay?”

“He is my only son and your biological younger brother who shares half your blood. How can you have the heart to watch him be ruined like this!”

Ji Zhaoxi mocked, “Do you really think you’re important to me? I don’t even care about you, so why would I care about him?”

“And isn’t it you who doesn’t want to save him right now? Why blame me?”

“Without your repeated indulgence, would he have dared to gamble so much?”

Sun Chuan was so angry his body shook.

“You’ve pushed me to this point just because you want to take back the few Ji Corporation shares I hold?”

Ji Zhaoxi nodded frankly. “I am just taking back what belongs to our family. I don’t want you to have any connection with the Ji Corporation anymore.”

Sun Chuan was so angered by her blunt words that his finger shook violently, and he couldn’t speak for a moment.

Ji Zhaoxi unhurriedly toyed with her phone. When she clicked it open, her screensaver was Tangyuan, and on Tangyuan’s head was a fair, slender hand stroking it.

Ji Zhaoxi’s gaze softened. Over the past month, the number of times they had contacted each other was very few. Once this matter was resolved, Ji Zhaoxi couldn’t wait to return home to see her.

“Fine, the shares can be sold to you, but you must promise me to save your son!” Sun Chuan said through gritted teeth.

Sun Ze cannot have anything happen to him. He is at such an age and only has this one son; nothing must happen to him!

Ji Zhaoxi watched coldly as he handed over the things he had held so tightly for his son’s sake. She really didn’t know whether to praise them for their “deep father-son bond.”

Ji Zhaoxi sent a message on her phone. Soon there was a knock on the office door, and the person who entered was someone Sun Chuan never expected.

“You, you…” Sun Chuan stared at Xu Er with wide eyes, looking incredulous.

He couldn’t understand why the Xu family, who had clearly always been on his side, would appear here this time!

Xu Er didn’t care about his reaction. He spread out the documents he brought on the coffee table and thoughtfully provided a pen. He said to Sun Chuan with a smile, “Uncle, sign it. The sooner you sign, the sooner it’s over.”

“You partnered up to set me up!” Sun Chuan’s face was terrifyingly dark. He wondered how Ji Zhaoxi had mastered all his hidden industries and understood his every move so quickly. So this was where the problem was!

“Uncle, those are harsh words. Everyone in the world comes for profit. As a businessman, I am just doing my duty as a businessman.”

Sun Chuan was so angry he almost spat blood.

“Sign it quickly; your precious son is waiting for you to get the money to rescue him,” Xu Er kindly reminded.

Sun Chuan gave them both a sinister look but finally gritted his teeth and signed the agreement. “I want to see the money in my account this afternoon!”

There was no other way. This time the hole his son dug was too big—he actually dared to gamble for a sky-high price. Now the company’s capital chain was broken because of Ji Zhaoxi; otherwise, he would never have given up these shares!

“No problem,” Xu Er replied in a good mood after seeing him sign.

Sun Chuan left in a rage!

Even after winning such a round, Ji Zhaoxi didn’t show the slightest hint of joy. She just casually spun her phone and said, “Is all the evidence ready?”

“It’s all ready, don’t worry. When the time comes, he will lose everything!”

Only then did Ji Zhaoxi finally show a hint of pleasure.

“Then whatever you do next is your business,” Ji Zhaoxi said.

They had made an agreement beforehand: Ji Zhaoxi would only take back the Ji Corporation shares. As for everything else, it depended on how much Xu Er could swallow.

No matter how destitute Sun Chuan became, a “starved camel is still bigger than a horse.”

“Of course, I’ve been prepared for a long time.” Xu Er’s eyes were full of the excitement of a hungry wolf seeing meat.

Ji Zhaoxi was noncommittal. She took the agreement and flipped through it, smiling faintly at Sun Chuan’s signature, while her eyes showed a hint of a trance.

Mother, will you be happy for me? I protected the Ji family.

However, before she could think further, her phone suddenly rang, and it was a domestic number.

A bad premonition suddenly surged in Ji Zhaoxi’s heart.

Sure enough, after answering and hearing the voice on the other end, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

“This is bad, President Ji. Miss Lu’s mother is in critical condition!”

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