From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"Whoa, a wild VIP has appeared!"

He had just sent the message in the group chat when, a second later, someone replied.

Su Chen was taken aback. He’d figured no one would be online and was just about to put his phone down for a break.

He looked closer at his phone. Seeing the avatar and nickname of the sender, a smile touched Su Chen’s lips. ’And they say people in showbiz are busy. Looks like they have plenty of free time, replying instantly like this.’

The sender was none other than Chen He, the very person he’d just been thinking about.

"Yo, Chen He, got the day off? Not filming your show?" Su Chen replied teasingly.

In response, Chen He sent a string of crying emojis. Just as Su Chen was wondering what was wrong, Chen He sent a video.

He played the video. Chen He was sitting on a sofa in what looked like a break room, a miserable look on his face. On the table in front of him, a monitor displayed a live feed of the variety show set.

Su Chen recognized it at once: it was the waiting area for contestants who’d been eliminated from a game segment. It looked like Chen He had been knocked out right away.

Chen He then enthusiastically narrated his tragic tale for Su Chen, sounding utterly pitiful and looking like he wanted to cry but couldn’t even muster the tears.

Su Chen burst out laughing after watching. As expected of a comedian, Chen He’s every word was a punchline; it was impossible not to laugh.

They had been chatting for less than a few minutes when Deng Chao popped up in the group to say hello to Su Chen.

A second later, Chen He sent another short video. This one featured Deng Chao, who looked absolutely wretched. His white tracksuit had been reduced to a beggar’s rags, torn so badly you could even see his abs.

You could also clearly see that his exposed arms were bright red, marked with the distinct imprint of a few fingers, as if he’d been through a fierce struggle.

No wonder *Running Man* is so popular. With the cast going at it for real, how could it not be a hit?

"Tsk, tsk. These guys are ruthless. Looks like there’s some personal beef involved." This was an eye-opener for Su Chen. ’So it’s true what they say about there not being many real friends in showbiz.’

Seeing the pained look on Deng Chao’s face, Su Chen couldn’t have been more delighted.

They say your happiness is built on the suffering of your friends. That saying was spot-on.

Perhaps because the chat between Su Chen, Chen He, and Deng Chao was so lively, Sicong, Qin Fen, and Hou Ting also started popping up one after another. Even Chen Feiyu, the group’s biggest lurker, made a rare appearance to say hello.

There were only seven people in their group, and now everyone was present. Seeing this, Su Chen immediately started a group video call.

At first, no one reacted. But then they remembered Su Chen’s first message and realized he had something serious to discuss. One by one, they dropped what they were doing and joined the call.

Even Chen He and Deng Chao quickly informed the production crew and found a quiet, camera-free room. After all, even though they were in the break room, there were still cameras pointed at them.

"Old Su, is something important up?" Sicong asked directly. He knew that anything that got Su Chen’s attention was bound to be a big deal.

Qin Fen, looking just as puzzled, asked, "Brother Cheen, it’s not a problem with the northwest, is it?"

"How could there be a problem with the northwest? Haven’t you seen how much the Sheep Village has been expanding?!" Chen Feiyu immediately shot down Qin Fen’s question.

He knew that since the start of the year, the production of Wuzhumuqin sheep had surged. The supply of both adult sheep and lambs had skyrocketed.

Chen Feiyu had even called Zong Xinyao specifically to ask for more Wuzhumuqin sheep. His Sheep Village franchise had already expanded into Southeast Asia, and the reception had been fantastic.

That was why he had the confidence to rebut Qin Fen.

As for the others, though they were just as curious, they knew they weren’t in a position to question Su Chen and could only wait for him to reveal the answer.

Everyone started talking at once, and Su Chen could barely make out what anyone was saying.

"Alright, that’s enough!" The moment Su Chen spoke, everyone immediately fell silent.

"Actually, it’s nothing major. A movie Sicong and I invested in is having its premiere at the end of the month. I wanted to see if you all were free to attend."

The words were barely out of Su Chen’s mouth when Sicong jumped in. "Old Su, are you saying Wu Jing’s *Wolf Warrior 2* is premiering? How is it so soon? Why didn’t he call me?"

The only movie the two of them had invested in was Wu Jing’s, so Sicong put it together as soon as Su Chen mentioned it.

At that, Su Chen gave Sicong a deadpan look. "He just called me at lunch today. As for why it’s so fast... I guess it’s because everyone’s pulling together."

Su Chen had asked Wu Jing the same question. According to Wu Jing, it was a case of "many hands make light work." Raymond had called in every single person from the entire IPS South Africa branch.

A thousand people can blot out the sky; ten thousand become a shoreless ocean. The South Africa branch alone had over twenty thousand people, not to mention all sorts of advanced weaponry.

The mobilization caused such a stir in South Africa that people thought some kind of chaos had broken out. When an investigation revealed it was just for a movie shoot, Wu Jing was given the green light for everything to avoid any further trouble.