Chapter 407

Inside a meeting room, Zhou Zhilei sat in the chair and stared closely at the television monitor in front of her.

The news coverage was all about the red wine competition. A famous emcee in the country was holding onto the microphone while he said, “Just as everyone is seeing right now, the red wine competition held by the Zhou Corporation has come to a perfect end. The champion of the competition this time is the most popular director in the entertainment industry right now, Director Ning Qing. It is just as everyone had expected. Now, we will interview Ning Qing. Director Ning …”

Ning Qing appeared on the screen. She had changed out her white Chinese style windbreaker dress. In the autumn day, she looked youthful and casual. She wore a loose black shirt matched together with a pair of tight jeans. She had casually placed a grey scarf on her elegant and beautiful neck, and her small face that was the size of a palm had a smile on it.

The emcee was very excited as he interviewed her. “Director Ning, you have developed quickly over these three years in the entertainment industry. It can be considered turbo speed. You are definitely the queen of the entertainment industry. Also, in this competition, you brought your own exclusive brand of red wine, Yi Fan, and successfully topped the rest. Can I ask: what do you want to say the most right now?”

Ning Qing held the big gold-colored competition trophy in her hand. She had a sweet smile on her face as she said, “The thing I want to say the most is thank you. I thank all of you who have been supporting me all this time. Also, the person that I would like the most would be Zhou Zhilei. Miss Zhou. I thank her family for holding the competition for me to gain the championship. I thank her for her support during the final competition. Miss Zhou, without you, I would not have what I have right now…”

Bang! Zhou Zhilei took the remote control by her hand and threw it directly into the television screen.

The screen cracked into pieces and turned monochrome before the sound disappeared.

The television was broken.

Zhou Zhilei’s assistant was shaking in fear. She did not dare to say a single thing, afraid that Zhou Zhilei would take it out on her instead.

This boss of hers was becoming more and more twisted. The moment she became angry, Zhou Zhilei would glare at her fiercely, and she would even pinch her nowadays. If not for the high pay of this job, she would have resigned a long time ago.

At this moment, the sound of someone knocking on the door rang out in the air. Knock knock. The door opened up. Xiao Zhou was pushed into the room by two men dressed in black.

Zhou Zhilei saw that Xiao Zhou was her enemy’s good friend, and she was extremely jealous. She looked at her assistant and said, “You get out!”

“Yes yes.” The assistant ran off in a dash.

Only Zhou Zhilei and Xiao Zhou were left in the meeting room. Zhou Zhilei stood up and glared at Xiao Zhou evilly. She grunted, “Xiao Zhou, this is the good thing you did? I asked you to switch Ning Qing’s red wine. You actually did not do so. You actually dared to cheat me?!”

Xiao Zhou was expressionless as she looked at Zhou Zhilei. She laughed without a care. “Zhou Zhilei, you want to harm Ning Qing — do you think I would agree to this? Ning Qing is the champion right now. Just watch her get all of the attention. You can hide all alone to be jealous of her and hate her now.”

“You!” Zhou Zhilei was vigorously hyperventilating. She took a deep breath of air, and she cackled evilly. “Xiao Zhou, I really didn’t expect you to be a loyal dog by Ning Qing’s side.”

“That’s right, even if I am a dog, I am also a leading dog of the pack. And you, even though you are human, you are also not human or a ghost right now. Zhou Zhilei, you cannot afford to show your face to the outside world now!”

Zhou Zhilei bit her cheek in anger. She walked to Xiao Zhou’s side slowly and lowered her voice to say, “Xiao Zhou, you are really too cruel. You don’t even want your own younger brother anymore?”

Xiao Zhou was taken aback. “Zhou Zhilei, what did you do to my younger brother?”

Xiao Zhou had one younger brother. He was overseas right now. A while ago, Zhou Zhilei made a call to her. She’d said that she had to listen to her obediently. If she failed, her younger brother would lose his life.

Xiao Zhou was afraid. That was her biological younger brother. Zhou Zhilei wanted her to switch Ning Qing’s red wine she submitted for the competition, and she struggled every day before the competition.

But she could not. She could not betray Ning Qing!

Zhou Zhilei laughed. “Xiao Zhou, isn’t it too late for you to worry about your younger brother?” As she spoke, she took out her phone and said, “Xiao Zhou, since you did not listen to my instructions, don’t blame me for being cruel now. Remember, your younger brother died because of you!”

Zhou Zhilei was about to make the call.

At this moment, the large doors of the meeting room were pushed open. The clear sound of someone applauding rang out in the air. “Miss Zhou, just to act against me, you really can do anything unimaginable.”

Zhou Zhilei saw someone come in, and she froze — it was Ning Qing.

Zhou Zhilei felt there was a mouthful of blood stuck in her throat, and she held her phone temporarily. She looked at Ning Qing cunningly and said, “Ning Qing, you knew all of this from the start, right? You were laying out a trap for me to enter!”

Ning Qing curled up her beautiful maroon lips up into a smile. She looked Zhou Zhilei in the eye. “Yes, Miss Zhou, I’ve known for quite a while. Did you know where you made a mistake? You should have never ever ever touched Xiao Zhou. Do you understand the longstanding relationship between me and Xiao Zhou? We are just like biological sisters. You thought that she could be used by you?

“Xiao Zhou’s face betrays her thoughts. Once she has something in her

heart, she won’t be able to hide it from me. I asked her, and she told me what happened. So I decided to take this threat and turn it into a trap instead. Miss Zhou, you have contributed to my victory today.”

“Great, all of you are so great!” Zhou Zhilei turned extremely sinister, and she took her phone up and said, “Then let her younger brother die for your relationship as sisters then.”

Zhou Zhilei wanted to press a button on her phone.

“Wait a second!” At this moment, Ning Qing stopped her quickly.

Zhou Zhilei’s hand froze, and she had a delighted expression on her face, “Why, Ning Qing, you want to beg me to let go of Xiao Zhou’s younger brother? Sure, kneel down to beg me, and see if I am in the mood for it!”

Xiao Zhou looked at Zhou Zhilei’s crazy behaviour. She wanted to puke. She chided, “Crazy person!”

Ning Qing lifted the corners of her lips. She lifted her exquisite eyebrows up as she looked at Zhou Zhilei. “Miss Zhou, are you sure that I have to beg you?”

“What do you mean by that?” Zhou Zhilei immediately had a bad feeling. This Ning Qing was way too cunning.

Bang! The large doors of the meeting room were kicked open. Zhou Heng walked in with the butler.

Zhou Zhilei looked at Zhou Heng. Her expression changed completely, and she went forward to support Zhou Heng’s elbow. “Grandpa, it is not what you think. Hear me out…”

Zhou Heng shook Zhou Zhilei off. Slap! Zhou Heng gave her a tight slap before chiding her sternly. “Bastard!”

Zhou Heng started to pant, and his face turned pale.

“Old Master.” The butler quickly came forward.

Ning Qing was also shocked, and she anxiously stretched her small hand out to support Zhou Heng’s elbow. “Old Master Zhou, you have to take care of your health.”

Zhou Heng closed his eyes and slowly opened them back up, he stretched his hand out to pat Ning Qing’s small hand. With a sigh and a serious voice, he said, “Young lady, you don’t have to worry. Your friend’s younger brother will be fine. I will guarantee you that. Only, Zhilei, she…”

Zhou Heng hesitated to say what he wanted to say.

Ning Qing understood, Zhou Heng was pleading with her and begged her not to expose this matter.

If this matter were exposed, Zhou Zhilei’s reputation in the industry would be ruined, and this would also affect the reputation of the entire Zhou Corporation.

No matter what Zhou Zhilei did, she was Zhou Heng’s granddaughter after all.

This identify of hers would be her protection for life.

Ning Qing normally liked to punish wrongdoers. Once a person did something wrong, they would have to pay the price, but after she had a look at Zhou Heng’s frail look, she decided to cover this matter up.

She did not know why, but this grandpa right here always made her heart soften, and her heart would ache for him.

Ning Qing nodded her head. “Okay, Old Master Zhou, I promise you, this matter comes to an end right here, but there will not be a second time. If Miss Zhou interferes again, I would never let her go off scot free.”

Zhou Heng firmly held Ning Qing’s small hand. “Young girl, you can be at ease. I can guarantee this. Zhilei will never have a next time. If there is a next time, I will not be her guarantee anymore.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Heng held Ning Qing’s small hand. “Young girl, go. Let’s go out. I have something to ask you.”

…

Ning Qing and Zhou Heng stood along the corridor, Zhou Heng said, “Young girl, what is the recipe of your Yi Fan flower series of red wine? I tasted something different in your red wine; it is very special.”

Ning Qing had a warm smile on her face. “Old Master Zhou, it is actually very simple. The grapes that I use to brew the red wine are freshly harvested. After that, the grapes are placed into boiling water to cook, so the taste would be special.”

Zhou Heng heard her words and froze for a moment. “Place the grapes into boiling water to cook? Did you think of using this method?”

He was the King of the world of the red wine, and he has never heard of such a method.

“Yeah…Both my mother and I thought of using this method. Old Master Zhou, didn’t I tell you before, my mother has done much research in regards to the methods of brewing red wine. We have exchanged opinions with each other.”

It was only then that Zhou Heng recalled that she did tell him this back in the Zhou family winery a few months back, but at that time, he still did not know that she was proficient at brewing red wine, and he did not take her to heart.

Zhou Heng was interested. “Young girl, by hearing you speak of her like this, I really want to meet your mother. When we have some time, we should make some time to meet. We are all wine brewers. We should exchange our experiences with one another.”

Ning Qing’s eyes lit up. “Sure. If my mother knows that she was invited by the king of a world class winery, she would definitely be extremely delighted.”

Zhou Heng looked at Ning Qing’s cute and cheeky behaviour. His heart was soft, and he sighed out loud before he held Ning Qing’s small hand. “Young girl, do you blame me for protecting Zhilei?”

Ning Qing did not speak, and Zhou Heng only bothered about himself as he said, “Young girl, I am not going to hide it from you. Grandpa’s family has few descendants. We have successfully passed it down two generations, and only Zhilei has had some success in the world of red wine. The wineries of the Zhou family are all spread over the entire world. There are so many employees underneath us that are dependent on us for their salaries. The wineries of the Zhou family cannot fail. Zhilei is my own descendant; I cannot let anything happen to her.”

“Grandfather….”

Ning Qing aware that she was being rude by addressing him as Grandfather. She only felt very bad as she looked at his behaviour, and she quickly said, “Old Master Zhou, I understand everything.”

The girl’s small face was beautiful and pure, Zhou Heng heard her address him as Grandfather and also felt uncomfortable. He was thinking that he must have done something wrong in his past life. In this life now, the heavens were punishing him. If his daughter were still around, how good would everything be?

His daughter had probably married someone already. If she had given birth to a granddaughter like Ning Qing, he would be very comforted.

He was without bliss.

“Young girl, you asked me if I thought of going back to my hometown. Let me give you an answer. I have gone back… That place was a sea of flowers. My wife and I were plucking the petals of flowers. My daughter was blowing a dandelion and running around… In my eyes, in my heart, it was full of the sound of her laughter…”

….

Zhou Zhilei was dragged out by the butler. She followed Zhou Heng to the luxury sedan. For the whole journey, Zhou Heng had a serious expression on his face, and he did not speak a single word. She cupped her burning hot face as she clenched her teeth with hatred in her heart.

This old thing actually dared to hit her.

After entering the Zhou home, Zhou Zhilei froze for a moment because she saw grandma who always stayed behind the tightly shut doors of her room actually come downstairs. She was seated on the wheelchair, and there was a wool blanket over her legs.