Chapter 1809: Contempt from the Heart

Kong Xingzhong had a lean build, fair skin, and wore exquisite glasses. Dressed in a light-colored suit, he looked quite dashing.

He knew Zhou Andong had been selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Youth, and after arriving at the venue, he began to look for Zhou Andong's figure, whether intentionally or not.

When Zhou Andong entered the venue, he was chatting with someone nearby, so he didn't notice. It wasn't until the high-ranking leaders arrived and everyone stood up to welcome them that he saw Zhou Andong.

When Zhou Andong pointed his middle finger at him and revealed a provocative smile, his clapping paused for a moment. A cold light flashed in his eyes, followed immediately by a look of contempt.

He looked down on Zhou Andong from the bottom of his heart. In his view, Zhou Andong's success today was entirely due to him being a kept man.

A bumpkin from the countryside—even if he had been to university, at best he was just a bumpkin with a little bit of cleverness.

If not for the support of the Jian family behind him, how could a bumpkin with only a little bit of cleverness have achieved what he had today?

Of course, his luck was also incredibly good; he had actually managed to marry the eldest daughter of the Jian family, and he was truly jealous.

If he could have married the eldest daughter of the Jian family and gained the Jian family's assistance, his current achievements would be absolutely unimaginable. How could a bumpkin like Zhou Andong even hope to catch up?

At first, when he learned that his younger brother, Kong Xinghua, wanted to swallow up Future Culture, he hadn't cared; they hadn't done such things just once or twice.

But when he heard that Zhou Andong was the major shareholder of Future Culture, he was indeed startled. He truly looked down on Zhou Andong, but he wouldn't dare offend the Jian family behind that bumpkin, even if he were given ten times the courage.

He immediately called a halt to Kong Xinghua's actions, but his younger brother had acted so ostentatiously that it was already known to everyone. To just let it go with such a whimper would make him lose face.

So, he had people investigate whether Future Culture really had any connection to Zhou Andong. This investigation was not in vain; he actually made an unexpected discovery.

The major shareholder of Future Culture was indeed Zhou Andong, but Future Culture's attempt to cooperate with investors from Wanwan had been blocked by the Ministry of Commerce.

At this, he smelled something unusual. Zhou Andong was the boss of Future Culture, and the target of the cooperation was Wanwan investors, yet it had been blocked.

This guy started looking for people to probe the situation, and then he learned that Vice Minister Chen of the Ministry of Commerce was also a son-in-law of the Jian family, yet this business cooperation for Future Culture had still been blocked.

This guy was immediately excited. There must be an issue here that he didn't understand, so he took gifts to see an old leader.

Through that old leader, he probed Vice Minister Chen's stance. The answer he received was that he didn't know about the business cooperation between Future Culture and the Wanwan investors.

But since it hadn't passed, there must be a problem, a conflict with policies and regulations. Moreover, Zhou Andong was Zhou Andong, and the Jian family was the Jian family; they should not be lumped together.

The Jian family never asked about Zhou Andong's business matters, nor would they casually interfere with normal commercial operations, much less violate policy to give him the green light just because he was their son-in-law.

He understood: Zhou Andong must have had some unpleasantness with the Jian family and had been abandoned by them.

This made Kong Xingzhong incredibly excited. Without the Jian family supporting him from behind, Zhou Andong was just a dog without teeth.

If he broke his legs, he could only kneel there and bark impotently.

But he was a very cautious person; otherwise, he wouldn't have gained the trust of so many people and become an executive director of Zhongbao.

Regardless of what happened between Zhou Andong and the Jian family, it was already impossible for the two brothers to swallow Future Culture alone.

It is necessary to pull in the entire Zhongbao to make it work. It just so happens that the Group has plans to enter the cultural sector, and taking over Future Culture is creating development for the Group.

In this way, no matter what happens, for the sake of the Group's interests, those big shots cannot just turn a blind eye.

Then he convened a Group meeting, and in three days, he had the cultural department set up.

Then he raised his big blade and slashed at Future Culture, and those people behind Zhongbao did not stop him either.

At the beginning, Kong Xingzhong was still on guard, but so much time had passed.

Only the Ma family had jumped around a bit, but Zhou Andong hadn't made a single move, which immediately put his mind at ease.

He also looked down on Zhou Andong even more; without the help of the Jian family, Zhou Andong was nothing.

Facing such a hunt, he didn't even have the strength to struggle, which made him feel like there was no sense of accomplishment.

"He really is a clown."

Kong Xingzhong shook his head slightly, muttered a sentence, and the mockery in his eyes was not hidden in the slightest.

"If it weren't for the Jian family, what qualifications would you have to be my opponent, or even be in the same venue as me?"

This guy muttered to himself, stopped looking at Zhou Andong, and then sat down.

He felt that even taking one more look at Zhou Andong, this country bumpkin, was beneath his status.

Zhou Andong also sat down; with his current status and position, sitting in the first row was not a problem at all.

But the other Top Ten Outstanding Youth selectees were arranged in the second row, yet he was arranged in the first row; it was truly inappropriate.

As for why Kong Xingzhong could appear here, Zhou Andong could also guess; just looking at the scale of this year's awards ceremony, one knew the expenses were not small.

Where did the money come from? It must have been begged for; the organizing unit couldn't possibly let go of a big spender like Zhongbao.

As the executive director of the sponsoring unit, Kong Xingzhong was definitely a VIP.

At this time, Jian Qiu leaned behind him and whispered in his ear: "That guy seems to look down on you a lot."

Zhou Andong chuckled, remembering that famous quote from Brother Xiaobao in his previous life.

"There are plenty of people who look down on me; who does he think he is?"

Although his voice wasn't loud, Liu Shijuan beside him still heard it and pursed her lips in a smile.

On the other side was a middle-aged man who looked like he should be a leader; just as he was about to greet Zhou Andong, the ceremony began, so he could only shut his mouth.

Sister Xiaoqing held the microphone: "Respected leaders, distinguished guests, young friends, and students of Peking University, good evening everyone."

Cheng Qian continued: "Today, at the century-old prestigious Peking University, we are holding a grand awards ceremony to commend ten outstanding youths for their outstanding performance and exceptional talent.

It contains their love for the motherland and their sense of responsibility to the people, and also demonstrates the vitality and creativity of the new generation of youth..."

After the opening remarks, it was time for the leaders to speak. First was Jiang Minghua; he didn't have much nonsense and only used less than three minutes.

Then came the other leaders; their time spent wasn't too long, but there were many of them, so it totaled half an hour.

After the leaders finished speaking, the awards ceremony officially began. The first person to go on stage to receive an award was the middle-aged man beside Zhou Andong.

Unexpectedly, he was actually from Liaoning Province. As the saying goes, once you pass Shanhai Pass, everyone from the three northern provinces is a fellow townsman, let alone from the same province.