Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 543: Building a Skyscraper

Over the past two years, anyone living in Jinling—whether they were studying or doing business in the city—felt like they would hear the name Zhou Yuwen every so often.Everyone's perception of Zhou Yuwen was different. Some students' impressions of him might have still been stuck on the idea that he was merely someone engaged in writing novels.

Yet over the past two days, the most discussed topic in the school was this:

"Hey, have you heard about that Zhou Yuwen from the neighboring college?"

"You mean the one who writes novels?"

"I heard he spent 1.3 billion to buy a plot of land over by the Olympic Sports Center."

"How much?"

"One point three billion!"

"God, where did he get that much money?"

Indeed, as fellow students, it was hard for them to imagine. When their freshman year began, he was wearing camouflage uniforms just like them. They still remembered singing songs together with Zhou Yuwen at night during military training.

In the blink of an eye, it felt like Zhou Yuwen was no longer the person they knew.

Shortly after the land transaction was finalized, Zhou Yuwen's company held a press conference announcing the upcoming construction of their office building. In Zhou Yuwen's words, Jinling was his second home. This land had witnessed his growth, and he certainly wanted to make his own contributions to it.

For the auctioned plot, he would hire renowned foreign architectural designers to create something unique, an office building that embodied their corporate culture. At the same time, his company would open bidding to the public, welcoming any capable and qualified construction companies to apply.

Their company's core principle was putting people first. They also hoped capable and talented friends in society would pay more attention to their company. Currently in its developmental phase, the company needed a large number of like-minded individuals to join them.

Zhou Yuwen appeared very modest during the interview, though he didn't forget to raise his company's profile. After all, once the office building was completed, it would undoubtedly become a representative landmark for Jinling's internet enterprises.

Following the news release, Zhou Yuwen's company indeed received calls from both familiar and unfamiliar people. Some were from construction firms, while others saw the company's potential and wanted to join Zhou Yuwen's company.

The news that Zhou Yuwen was going to build a skyscraper probably shocked the businessmen in Jinling the most. In this world, countless people started businesses every day. Yet amidst the bustling crowds, for every person who rose up, another fell down. There were simply too many to count.

However, when it came to building a skyscraper to solidify one's reputation, those cases were few and far between.

With Zhou Yuwen suddenly stepping out to announce the construction of his own office building, at least one thing was certain: he now had official backing. In the future, he would undoubtedly become an indispensable part of Jinling's commercial circle.

However, Zhou Yuwen's experiences were truly astonishing.

Some people's impression of Zhou Yuwen was still—

"Zhou Yuwen? Oh, isn't that the live-in son-in-law of the Jiang Family Estate? Isn't he only twenty? How is he already building a skyscraper? Is the Jiang family supporting him that much?"

"What? He had a falling out with the Jiang family?"

"He's building this skyscraper himself?"

"If that's the case, we should probably get in touch with him."

Many people's impression of Zhou Yuwen might still be as Jiang Xinyi's boyfriend. Truthfully, when Liu Jing first introduced Zhou Yuwen to her friends in the business circle, a portion of them had been very surprised because he was far too young, making it feel like a farce. Now, after seeing the news, these people were certainly even more shocked.

Amidst their shock, they were keen on getting to know Zhou Yuwen. After all, once the skyscraper was finished, he would no longer be just a son-in-law hiding behind others, but a genuine leading figure in Jinling's business circles. He was only twenty years old! Give him a few more years to develop, and wouldn't Jinling eventually be under his complete control?

Recently, Zhou Yuwen had been receiving endless invitations. Various television stations invited him for exclusive interviews, and even CCTV hoped to do a special feature on him. Similar to the highly successful "Scholar Jack Ma" from a few years ago, they wanted to create a "Zhou Yuwen" segment to share his entrepreneurial story with a national audience.

Aside from that, local institutions from his hometown also called Zhou Yuwen. Some were looking to attract investments, while schools wanted him to cut ribbons, including his own elementary school.

The vice principal of the elementary school happened to be Zhou Yuwen's former homeroom teacher.

To be honest, Zhou Yuwen had entirely forgotten about this person, never expecting the man to find his phone number. After a brief chat, the elementary school teacher told Zhou Yuwen that he had always felt Zhou Yuwen was different from the other classmates.

"You are the most excellent student I have ever taught."

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen smiled faintly and said, "Thank you, Teacher. It's because of your guidance that I am where I am today."

After exchanging pleasantries, they got down to business.

Zhou Yuwen replied, saying he would have to see, as he was too busy lately.

He promised to visit once he had some free time.

"Ah, you must contact me when you're free!"

"Sure thing."

Before that phone call even ended, another one came in.

Zhou Yuwen was already annoyed beyond belief by the constant harassment, not to mention his parents, who still lived in his hometown.

Zhou Yuwen's father had it slightly better, given that he worked in the Procuratorate, a formal government agency.

At most, his colleagues would crack a few jokes at his expense.

For example: "Hey, Old Zhou, your son is slacking! He finally made it big, so why is he building his skyscraper in Jinling? With such good things happening, why isn't he thinking about his brothers and sisters back in his hometown!"

"Exactly, Old Zhou! Have your son come home and build a skyscraper here too. We'll send all our kids to work at your son's company!"

Upon saying this, everyone roared with laughter.

Zhou Guowei knew this was just a bunch of idle old men joking around, so he paid them no mind.

Ever since Zhou Yuwen made his fortune in Jinling, the attitudes of the people around him had indeed changed significantly. For instance, Zhou Guowei was merely a deputy director. During those large assemblies, he usually just sat obediently in the back and listened, never having to give speeches. Who would have expected that before a meeting the other day, the city's top leader would suddenly stop in front of him and ask with a smile, "Still at the Procuratorate?"

The department head accompanying him naturally introduced Zhou Guowei to the top leader with great respect.

Zhou Guowei, immensely flattered, shook hands with the top leader.

Then, the top leader said with considerable envy, "Comrade Guowei, you have a good son!"

"The province needs construction, but our hometown needs it even more. Our area has outstanding people and a rich environment; we don't lack talent. What we lack is a way for that talent to truly give back to their hometown after achieving success!"

Zhou Guowei kept his head down and agreed repeatedly, but in his heart, he had never considered using his status as a father to force his son to return. Children have their own fortunes. His son had grown up and carved out his own world. Zhou Guowei knew he couldn't help his son with anything anymore, and he didn't want to hold him back in the future either. If the city put any more pressure on him, Zhou Guowei thought he might as well just slack off and retire early, using the remaining time to bask in his son's glory.

After the land transaction confirmation letter was issued, Zhou Yuwen began preparing for the construction of the office building. Although he publicly announced that he would seek renowned foreign designers...

...Zhou Yuwen undoubtedly wanted to hand the design work over to Su Qing. He had discussed this with Su Qing before, but she simply hadn't believed him, laughing it off instead.

After Zhou Yuwen successfully won the bid for the land, he brought it up to Su Qing again.

Su Qing was completely stunned. Was he joking? A skyscraper with over a dozen floors, and he wanted her to be the chief designer?

Let alone in this life, even in her previous life, after struggling and working her way up in the industry for seven or eight years, she wouldn't have dared to take on such a massive project.

While Su Qing had been considered excellent in the industry during her previous life, her excellence was only relative. Designing a residential house or a small plaza was certainly no problem, but designing a skyscraper...

Let alone the Su Qing of her previous life, even her mentor back then had never been given such an opportunity.

When they discussed design previously, Su Qing had always worn a look of superiority.

Now that he was actually offering her the role of chief designer, she panicked. Her eyes darted away evasively as she looked at Zhou Yuwen in disbelief and asked, "Are you telling the truth or just joking?"

Her question left Zhou Yuwen somewhat speechless. He replied, "Of course it's true."

"Why would I joke about this? I've already bought the land."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuwen waved the confirmation letter in front of Su Qing.

Seeing how serious Zhou Yuwen was, Su Qing suddenly grew flustered. After a long moment of hesitation, she couldn't help but say, "Zhou... Zhou Yuwen, maybe you should find someone else to try it. I can't do it."

"Why can't you? Weren't you quite capable? Didn't you use to say that I ruined your future prospects? If you design this skyscraper now and make everyone's eyes light up, you won't just be famous in Jinling—you might become world-famous!" Zhou Yuwen said with a smile.

"That might be true, but I've never designed anything like this before," Su Qing said timidly.

"There's a first time for everything. Instead of sitting here wrapped in hesitation, you should be figuring out how to design it. I'll have Wanting help you."

Designing a skyscraper was definitely not something Su Qing could manage on her own. Zhou Yuwen's idea was for Su Qing to set up a studio abroad and recruit some experienced designers. Even though Su Qing hadn't handled a project like this before, she was a professional who had undoubtedly studied cutting-edge designs. She could provide the general direction, and then have the designers collaborate. He believed that designing a world-shocking skyscraper wouldn't be a problem.

Once the design issue was settled, the next step was construction.

At present, several construction companies had already approached Zhou Yuwen. Some were even poaching talent directly from Zhou Yuwen's company. In short, they were seizing every possible opportunity to participate in his construction project.

A few local construction companies, unable to establish connections with Zhou Yuwen directly, even went through their connections to reach out to Liu Jing.

Calling Liu Jing, someone smiled brightly and said, "Ah, Sister Jing, long time no see!"

Receiving a call from an old sister, Liu Jing was quite surprised. "Well, has the sun rose from the west today? You actually called me?"

"Sister Jing, how could you say that? You're treating me like a stranger. My husband has been so busy with his business in the south that we just haven't had the time to get together. In the blink of an eye, it's been almost two years," the woman on the phone immediately fawned.

Liu Jing scoffed coldly but didn't say anything. The caller was once one of Liu Jing's good friends, who later married a businessman from the south. Because their two families had a business conflict, their last dinner gathering had ended on very unpleasant terms. Back then, they even swore never to interact again. Two years had passed in a flash, and Liu Jing hadn't expected the woman to contact her on her own initiative.

Liu Jing naturally knew that if someone is showing undue courtesy for no reason, they must have an ulterior motive. But she figured she couldn't help the woman with anything anyway, so why would she seek her out?

From the sound of it, the woman seemed to be asking if she was free recently and wanted to meet up.

Now Liu Jing was even more confused.

Then the woman continued, "Speaking of which, our two families haven't seen each other in a long time. Xinyi must be a grown woman now, right? I heard, Sister Jing, that you arranged a great marriage for Xinyi. When the time comes, Sister Jing, you must let us properly meet your new son-in-law."

Hearing this, Liu Jing's face instantly turned cold. She asked frostily, "I was wondering why you had so much free time and suddenly thought of me. It turns out you just wanted to see me make a fool of myself. We have nothing to talk about. Let's just leave it at that!"

Saying that, Liu Jing prepared to hang up.

Realizing Liu Jing was about to hang up, the person on the other end panicked and hurriedly said, "Ah, Sister Jing, Sister Jing, don't rush to hang up! I really do have some business with you. Sister, Sister, please don't hang up!"

"You have business with me? Hmph, if you have business with me, why are you making such sarcastic remarks?"

The person on the phone call suddenly felt very wronged. She said, "My good sister, how would I dare make sarcastic remarks? You have such a capable son-in-law. Our family still needs to rely on you to take care of our business, so how could I ever dare to speak sarcastically?"

The caller indeed sounded full of grievances, but her constant repetition of "good son-in-law" gave Liu Jing a massive headache. Naturally, she knew Zhou Yuwen was successful, but no matter how successful Zhou Yuwen was, it had nothing to do with her anymore.

Liu Jing's knowledge of Zhou Yuwen was still stuck at the point where he had made billions in New York. Although the whole city of Jinling was in an uproar recently because of Zhou Yuwen winning the land bid, those close to Liu Jing knew she disliked Zhou Yuwen and never brought him up in front of her. As a result, she had no idea about the news.

Therefore, receiving this call today left Liu Jing completely baffled.

Her attitude at the moment, however, almost made the woman on the phone cry from anxiety. After all, the woman's husband had given her a strict order to get on good terms with Liu Jing, demanding that they absolutely must secure the contract from her son-in-law.

This left the woman feeling deeply wronged. She had never imagined that Liu Jing would have such a promising son-in-law. Seeing that Liu Jing was about to hang up, Sun Juan dropped the pleasantries and stated plainly, "Sister Jing, you absolutely must help me out!"

"Help you?" Liu Jing sneered. "I handed my business over to my Xinyi a long time ago. I can't help you with anything."

"You might not be able to help me, but your son-in-law can! Sister Jing, as long as you give your son-in-law's skyscraper construction project to our family, we guarantee we will build it beautifully for him!"

"What did you say?" Liu Jing was stunned.