blueteamnovel Chapter 77 Don't Give Up on the Whole Forest
Chapter 77 Don't Give Up on the Whole Forest
Following the funeral, CJ Group held a three-hour closed-door meeting.
The meeting room door was closed tighter than a safe, all attendees' cell phones were confiscated, and even the tea was brought in by a designated person.
The expressions on the faces of those who came out were all quite interesting, but none of them would say a word to outsiders.
The results came out the next day.
CJ Group released an extremely cautiously worded statement.
The gist is: Mr. Lee Woo-bin, who went missing unexpectedly, has now returned safely. All rumors regarding family matters are untrue. Thank you for your concern.
The statement made no mention of Lee Sung-ho's disappearance at the funeral or being live-streamed at Lee Woo-bin's house.
But the less you mention it, the faster it spreads.
In less than a week, the entire Seoul business district knew that the dignified and composed eldest son of the CJ Group had secretly sneaked into his younger brother's house to destroy evidence during his brother's funeral, only to have it broadcast live to his entire family.
Under pressure, Li Chenghao voluntarily resigned from his position as executive director within the group and all publicly held positions, and was demoted to a lower-level post.
His public explanation for this was: "I was anxious at the time, afraid that the things Woo-bin left behind would be taken by someone with malicious intent, so I wanted to protect them first. I wanted to clear my third brother's name."
The logic behind this explanation is roughly equivalent to "I broke into your house and ransacked your safe to help you keep your valuables safe from being stolen."
But he spoke with genuine emotion, his eyes slightly red, and bowed deeply in front of his family elders and company executives, saying, "I have a clear conscience."
In addition, the old man remained silent throughout the entire process.
Without pursuing the matter further or clarifying it, the matter was simply dropped.
From that day on, people within the group would avoid Li Chenghao whenever they saw him, and his personal office went from being bustling with visitors to being deserted.
Lee Woo-bin's gains are real and tangible.
He was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Business at CJ Entertainment, rising from a marginal figure to the core management of the subsidiary.
From a spoiled young master whom his family considered a waste to a powerful director of CJ Entertainment, the only thing in between was a resurrected funeral.
The day the personnel order was issued, the group's internal email system exploded.
But everyone's reply to the emails was remarkably consistent in wording.
"Congratulations, Vice Minister Lee." "Please take good care of Director Yu Bin in the future."
It's as if they've had faith in him from the very beginning.
Lee Woo-bin took a screenshot of the personnel order email and sent it to Lee Jung-il, with only four words in the caption.
"I've finally made it this far."
Li Zhengyi replied with three words.
"Please treat me to dinner."
Lee Woo-bin did not treat everyone to a meal.
He hosted a whole party.
The location was his large, single-level apartment on the banks of the Han River, over 300 square meters, with the living room serving as a private nightclub.
The moment Li Zhengyi pushed open the door, he was almost pushed out by the sound waves inside.
The entire wall of liquor cabinets is filled with a row of spirits: whiskey, tequila, vodka, the bottles reflecting different colors under the spotlights.
Two women in sequined miniskirts were lounging on the marble bar counter, having a drinking contest with straws over the same cocktail.
The speakers around the room were playing some kind of electronic dance music, the drumbeats were so dense they sounded like machine gun fire.
A small dance floor had been temporarily set up in the center of the living room, where several girls with incredibly good figures were dancing.
They were completely absorbed in the dance.
To what extent should we invest?
One of them had already slipped halfway down her shoulder, but she clearly didn't care.
Various wine bottles, fruit plates, and several empty champagne glasses were scattered on the coffee table.
Someone was playing cards in the corner of the sofa, with chips piled up higher than a coffee cup.
The whole scene can be described in one sentence.
This is the biggest spectacle a wealthy young master who has been holding back for a month can pull off.
Lee Woo-bin was sitting on a leather sofa next to the bar, his suit jacket nowhere to be seen, and several buttons undone at the collar of his shirt.
He held a glass of whiskey in his hand, the ice cubes clinking against the glass.
Upon seeing Li Zheng enter, he raised his wine glass, sprang up from the sofa, and shouted in a voice that drowned out the speakers.
"Zhengyi! My dear brother! Come! Let's drink!"
Li Zhengyi walked around several empty wine bottles and a high heel that belonged to someone else, and stood in front of him.
He was wearing a simple, inexpensive cotton coat, which seemed out of place in this setting.
But he seemed completely unconcerned, picked up the only untouched glass of wine on the table, smelled it, and put it down.
"Your taste is terrible."
He looked around the living room.
"Nightclub vibes mixed with nouveau riche tacky partying. Where did you get that neon sign on the wall? What does it say? 'BIN's WORLD'. Did you open your own theme park?"
Lee Woo-bin was not ashamed but rather proud.
"That was custom-made. Look, this light sign has three colors that can be switched: red is for nightclub mode, blue is for date mode, and green is..."
Li Zhengyi interrupted him.
"I don't want to hear you introduce your light sign."
He leaned against the bar and glanced at the swaying figures on the dance floor.
"How many people did you invite?"
"Not many, about thirty."
Lee Woo-bin took a swig of whiskey, leaned back on the sofa, and crossed his legs.
"When my old friends heard that I had come back to life, they all came to celebrate. You wouldn't believe the looks on their faces when they walked in. Some of them thought they had seen a ghost and stood at the door, too scared to come in."
"You seem quite happy."
"Of course."
Lee Woo-bin put down his wine glass, his face beaming with joy.
"Today was the best day of my life. Even better than the day I got the Ferrari keys. I'll never forget the look on my brother's face. He was standing in front of my safe, facing the camera, his mouth agape so wide you could fit a golf ball in it."
He became more and more excited as he spoke, and stood up to imitate Li Chenghao's behavior at the time.
"He froze for a moment, then his phone fell to the ground, and then..."
He laughed so hard he bent over halfway through his sentence.
"I didn't believe you before when you said you'd embarrass him. Now I do. You're a god."
Li Zhengyi didn't respond to that.
He leaned against the bar, watching Lee Woo-bin, who was as excited as a primary school student who had just gotten first place in his class.
Then he suddenly spoke.
"Didn't you say you were going to pursue Bae Joo-hyun sincerely, without spending money or using your status?"
Lee Woo-bin's smile paused for a moment, then he laughed even louder than before.
He opened his arms and looked around.
"Zhengyi, Zhengyi, you still don't understand."
"What is my current status?"
"CJ Entertainment Director. Deputy Minister of Commerce. Do you know what this means?"
He leaned closer to Li Zhengyi and began to impart his life experience in the tone of someone who had been through it all.
"You need skills to pursue women, but in the entertainment industry, my status speaks for itself, you don't even need to say a word."
He pointed to a long-haired woman pouring drinks at the bar.
"See that? Kim Ga-young from Stellar, isn't she beautiful? I've only said three things to her since I walked in: 'Hello,' 'The drinks are over there,' and 'Help me.' And then she asked me if I was free tonight."
Li Zhengyi did not respond.
Lee Woo-bin clearly took this silence as admiration and continued to deliver his insightful remarks.
"Now that I'm a director at CJ Entertainment, all sorts of female celebrities will be eager to get close to me. Would I be stupid enough to give up the whole forest for one tree?"
As soon as he finished speaking, two scantily clad women emerged from the crowd and leaned against him on either side.