From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"Mr. Su, you’re walking too fast!"

Just then, Zhang Yiming came running in, panting heavily. He’d barely slept over the past few days because of everything that had been going on, so his stamina had taken a major hit. Even a short jog left him feeling winded.

It was unclear whether it was the sound of Zhang Yiming’s voice or the respectful address, but the young man sitting at the head of the table finally put down his phone and turned his gaze toward Su Chen and his companion.

Su Chen met the stare head-on, his expression perfectly calm.

After several seconds of silent appraisal, the young man couldn’t hold back any longer and was the first to speak. "President Zhang, and this is...?"

"Su Chen. Mr. Su. The largest shareholder of our Byte Company," Zhang Yiming announced loudly.

Su Chen walked directly to the conference table, pulled a plain white box of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one for himself. After exhaling a cloud of white smoke, he looked placidly at the young man in the head seat and asked, "Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?"

"Who the hell do you think you are, asking Young Master Wei to introduce himself?" Before the young man in the head seat could speak, a man standing beside him—a rather thin, bespectacled man who looked deceptively scholarly—shouted at Su Chen.

"SLAP!" A crisp sound rang out. Everyone present, aside from Su Chen, stared in shock as the so-called Young Master Wei viciously backhanded his own stooge.

The bespectacled man clutched his swelling, painful left cheek, looking at Young Master Wei in utter astonishment. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why Young Master Wei had hit him.

"Get him the hell out of here!" Young Master Wei roared at the bespectacled man, pointing to the door.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Two men who looked like bodyguards immediately dragged the bespectacled man away.

"BAM!" Once the conference room door closed again, Young Master Wei seemed to regain his composure and sat back down. This time, however, his arrogance had vanished. He put his legs down and sat up much straighter.

His eyes flickered between the cigarette in Su Chen’s hand and the box on the table for a few moments before he looked at Su Chen and introduced himself. "Wei Ziyang of the Wei family. You’re a new face, pal. How come I’ve never seen you around the Imperial Capital?"

Su Chen, of course, knew exactly why Wei Ziyang’s attitude had changed so quickly. The cigarettes he was holding weren’t something an ordinary person could possess, and a third-generation scion like Wei Ziyang naturally understood what they signified.

If an ordinary person was just smoking a few, it would at most be to show off and hint at their connections. But to brandish entire boxes at a time—well, that carried a much heavier implication.

"It’s only natural that you don’t recognize me." Su Chen flicked the ash from his cigarette, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked at Wei Ziyang. "To be honest, I’m curious as to why you’re so bold. There’s hardly anyone in the circle who would pull a stunt like this anymore."

"And even if they did, they’d do it sneakily, behind the scenes. No one is as brazen as you. Can you tell me what gives you the courage?"

How could Wei Ziyang not understand the subtext in those words? His expression was a complex mix of emotions. He snorted lightly and said, "If I hadn’t been so brazen, who knows how many other people would be coming after President Zhang right now."

"It’s just that what nobody expected... was for Byte Company’s majority shareholder to be such a titan. If those other people knew, they’d probably be breathing a sigh of relief," Wei Ziyang said with a self-deprecating smile.

Hearing this, Su Chen’s earlier confusion instantly cleared up. He finally understood why this Wei Ziyang had been so bold. ’So he was staking his claim.’

Su Chen had initially thought they were only being targeted by one family, but it turned out they were already surrounded by a pack of wolves. He was secretly relieved. If that pack had attacked all at once, things would have gotten truly troublesome.

Although Wei Ziyang also had designs on Byte, he had inadvertently helped Byte Company by fending off the other predators.

It was only logical, really. Byte Company was developing so rapidly. In just half a year, its valuation had multiplied more than ten times to reach six billion USD. Who wouldn’t be green with envy? Moreover, as Douyin’s market share continued to grow, the company’s value would only increase.

Just taking a single bite out of Byte now could make them fabulously wealthy in less than half a year. Who wouldn’t be tempted by such a golden opportunity?

But this was a good thing. As long as he dealt with this Wei Ziyang, the other jackals watching from the sidelines would naturally retreat.

Just as Su Chen was considering how to resolve the matter, the phone in his pocket started ringing.

A glance at the caller ID was all it took for Su Chen to answer without the slightest hesitation.

"Brother Cheen." The caller was none other than Xiao Chen.

Meanwhile, Wei Ziyang, who was sitting in the head seat, froze for a moment. ’This guy is clearly powerful, but the person on the phone calls him ’Brother’...’ Wei Ziyang couldn’t help but shudder.

His mind raced as he tried to think of anyone in the Imperial Capital’s circles with "Chen" in their name. After a moment of frantic searching, a name suddenly leaped into his mind.

’No way... How is that possible? Absolutely impossible!’ Wei Ziyang muttered to himself.

The bodyguards and lawyers standing behind him were completely baffled. Though they were curious about what was wrong with their young master, they didn’t dare ask. The memory of the recent slap was still fresh in their minds.

"So you heard what’s happening?"

"That kid Yin Zheng called Jiangyang. Was he afraid I couldn’t handle it? Next time I see him, I’ll make his life difficult."