Chapter 359 - 359: Set Off! Lanai Island
After having lunch, Zhou Chao arranged a room for Guo Yan, while she wandered around the villa with her phone in hand.
As Zhou Chao descended the stairs, he noticed Guo Yan busy with a selfie stick, muttering something under her breath.
“Xiao Yan, what are you doing?”
“I’m livestreaming!” Guo Yan replied and prepared to turn the camera toward him, but Zhou Chao quickly stepped in front of it.
“You can livestream, but you’re not allowed to film me. Do you understand?” Zhou Chao looked sternly at Guo Yan, who hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded mechanically.
Zhou Chao then released his grip on the phone he had been holding, and Guo Yan turned the camera towards the outside.
After a while, Guo Yan finally snapped out of it and looked at the livestream chat. It was filled with enthusiastic comments.
“Where’s your brother? Let me see your brother!”
“Your brother must be really wealthy!”
“This house is in Huaxia’s Modu, and anyone who can afford it in China is pretty impressive!”
“Is this for real? The streamer is just from a small city, and her brother is this amazing?!”
“Of course it’s real! I’ve even seen videos the streamer made at The Palms Residence in the past!”
“It looks like the streamer is also from a wealthy family!”
Looking at the barrage of comments in the livestream chat, Guo Yan smiled and said, “Alright, my friends, everyone has seen the house enough. I’m ending the stream now!”
“Don’t! Take us for a walk around the neighborhood, or just chat with us!”
“Yeah, even if it’s just a conversation!”
“Exactly!”
Guo Yan thought for a moment but then shook her head.
“Friends, maybe next time. 1’11 take you to see the scenery in Hawaii next time!”
After saying that, Guo Yan ended the livestream and walked briskly over to where Zhou Chao was sitting on the nearby sofa.
“Brother…” Guo Yan had just intended to sit down when Zhou Chao stopped her.
“Stand up! Tell me, when did you start livestreaming? Don’t tell me it was right after the college entrance exam. It’s only been a few days since your exam!”
Guo Yan hadn’t expected Zhou Chao to react so strongly. Hearing his question, she stammered, “I started before the college entrance exam, one of my classmates taught me. But 1 only livestream on weekends, and 1 haven’t done it during regular school days.”
“Bang!” Zhou Chao angrily slammed his hand on the table.
“You’re livestreaming occasionally now? Are you short of money or something? What are you lacking? Instead of focusing on your studies, you’re doing this. What’s the purpose?” Zhou Chao was clearly quite upset, as his third aunt had high hopes for Guo Yan. He never expected her to start livestreaming just before the college entrance exam!
Guo Yan was startled by Zhou Chao’s reaction, and Lin Wu, who was resting in the yard, hurriedly came inside.
Lin Wu saw Zhou Chao’s angry expression as he looked at Guo Yan, who was now crying with her head down.
Carefully, Lin Wu asked, “Boss, what’s going on?”
“You ask her. She isn’t focused on her studies and even started livestreaming. I can’t believe she’s behaving like this!” Zhou Chao was getting angrier the more he thought about it, wondering if his influence had a negative impact on Guo Yan.
“Brother, I haven’t fallen behind in my studies at all. You have to believe me!”
Guo Yan pleaded, looking pitiful, and Zhou Chao’s heart softened.
“If your high school exam results aren’t satisfactory in a few days, you’ll have to return to Fuzhou!”
“Brother, don’t worry. I’ll definitely get good grades!”
“Remember what you just said. Go to your room and freshen up. Crying like this won’t help!”
Guo Yan wiped her tears and headed upstairs.
Once Guo Yan’s figure was out of sight, Lin Wu sat down and said, “Boss, is this too harsh?”
“Harsh? Well, if 1 don’t set some boundaries now, who knows what could happen down the road. Nowadays, with the easy access to information online, young minds are exposed to all sorts of influences every day. This is a crucial time for them to shape their values, and if I don’t intervene, she might take the wrong direction. 1 don’t want her to believe that everything comes effortlessly just because of my support. If she picks up unhealthy habits later on, it’ll be on me. So, it’s wiser to address these issues early on and prevent any potential problems.”
“Boss, completely stifling her might not necessarily be a good thing.”
“I understand. It’s just that I’m frustrated because she was doing live streams right before her high school exams. Once she’s finished with the exams, she can pursue whatever interests her. I mean, live streaming can actually help develop one’s character. But the timing was crucial, so when 1 found out she was doing it right before the exams, it really got to me!”
“She probably has confidence in herself and is sure she can get into a good university!”
“I hope so!” Zhou Chao pinched his brow.
“You should go pack your bags too. Let’s meet at the airport tomorrow morning!”
“Boss, how about I come over early?”
“It’s okay. I’ll drive to the airport myself!”
Lin Wu nodded and left.
Zhou Chao looked upstairs, hesitated for a moment, and then sat back down.
Well, I’ll have Jiang Li return to provide some comfort. We’ll play the roles of the tough and the gentle ones. 1’11 take on the challenging task!” He then took out his phone and sent a message to Jiang Li, sharing the situation and requesting her to return promptly.
Soon, Zhou Chao received a message from Jiang Li, saying she had returned from the company.
Zhou Chao then reclined on the sofa and started browsing a social media platform called “Mou Yin.” It didn’t take long for him to come across videos from the recent Modu Comic Convention, which reminded him of some events from the convention.
“I feel a bit restless if i don’t do something.” He checked his call history and decided to call Ling Chen.
“Hello, Boss, is there something you need?”
“Ling Chen, do we have any companies related to comics, animation, or manga under our umbrella?”
“Comics, animation, manga? Boss, we haven’t ventured into those areas!” Ling Chen’s mind started racing as he spoke.
“Arrange for our people to acquire the best animation studios in the country immediately. If one isn’t enough, get two. We need to establish an animation and manga production company as soon as possible. Additionally, check if we can acquire the rights to adapt some highly popular novels into animated series and manga on Tencent’s novel platform. If possible, secure the rights for TV and film adaptations too!”
“Boss, are you trying to create your own entertainment industry?”
“Not exactly. There are some other matters, and I can’t explain them over the phone. We’ll discuss them privately when we have the chance. For now, start the investigations and take action as quickly as possible!”
“Understood, Boss!” Ling Chen was also a decisive individual, and when Zhou Chao gave orders, he wasted no time in implementing them.
“I wonder if this will work,” Zhou Chao muttered to himself. As someone who had lived through similar experiences in his previous life, he knew that the future of Chinese animation was on the rise. However, he wasn’t sure if anyone in this world paid attention to it.
With these thoughts in mind, he quickly opened his phone and started searching online. He found that many well-known novels had yet to be adapted into comics, animations, or other forms of media. This gave him a lot of confidence.
“After this trip, I’ll have to invest some time in this,” Zhou Chao said as he began to formulate his own plans.
“Brother Chao, what are you thinking about? You’ve been sitting here lost in thought,” Jiang Li remarked as she stood nearby, holding her bag.
“You’re back. I was just thinking about some things.”
“What about your sister?”
“In the second room upstairs. You can go check on her.”
“Alright.” Jiang Li nodded and left her bag next to Zhou Chao before heading upstairs.
Not long after, cheerful laughter and chatter could be heard coming from upstairs. Listening to the laughter above, Zhou Chao couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
“It’s really an endless source of worry.” He sighed and started playing with his phone.
After about half an hour, Jiang Li and Guo Yan slowly made their way downstairs while chatting.
“Brother, I’m sorry,” Guo Yan said softly as she approached him.
“Hmm,” Zhou Chao pretended to be nonchalant and nodded.
“Xiao Yan, let’s go. We’re going shopping, and your brother can stay home alone!” With that, he took Guo Yan’s hand and headed towards the garage.
Watching the two of them happily leave him behind, Zhou Chao had a black question mark hanging over his head.
The two of them returned close to io PM, carrying bags filled with shopping items and various snacks. Seeing their joyful expressions and thinking about his own dinner of instant noodles, he grabbed his phone and walked to the bedroom.
“Being a man is tough!” He sighed as he lay on the bed.
Women were truly mysterious creatures. Despite only meeting a few times, Jiang Li and Guo Yan had bonded as if they were sisters, extremely close.
Early the next morning, Zhou Chao got up and saw Jiang Li still sound asleep beside him. He couldn’t help but tap his own head.
Last night, Jiang Li and Guo Yan had stayed up late discussing clothes and cosmetics, and Zhou Chao, who had been sleeping peacefully, was woken up several times by their chatter.
“Get up, lazy girl. We’re going out today, and if you don’t wake up now, we’ll miss our flight!”
“Hmm, I still feel like I haven’t slept enough.”
“You can sleep on the plane later!” Zhou Chao pinched Jiang Li’s nose and then headed to Guo Yan’s room.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
ii
Guo Yan, it’s time to get up!”
“I’m up, Brother!” Guo Yan’s voice sounded lazy from her room.
“Hurry up!”
After Zhou Chao packed their luggage into the car and prepared breakfast, the two of them finally came down from upstairs with sleepy eyes.
“Come on, let’s have breakfast, and after that, we’ll head out!” Zhou Chao had originally not wanted to rush, but considering the nearly nine-hour flight from Modu to Hawaii, he realized they needed to move quickly. Otherwise, they’d arrive in the evening.
Upon hearing Zhou Chao’s words, the three of them became considerably more awake and quickly finished their breakfast.
As they stepped out of the garage, they saw a sports car waiting at the front gate.
Zhou Chao realized it was Zhang Wenxuan and gestured to him before driving off, with Zhang Wenxuan following closely.
I’ve already set off. You guys head out soon, and we’ll meet at Hongqiao Airport!” Zhou Chao sent a voice message in the Modu Second Generation chat group.
“Got it!”
“Same!”
“Already on my way!”
Quickly, Li Yang, Si Cong, and others replied, indicating that they were all en route to the airport..