The sudden appearance of eight adult film superstars at a Western-style restaurant off-campus instantly sent the entire medical university campus into an uproar.
If it had been Girls' Generation, or AB-Cup, or even Rooney and Van Persie, such celebrities wouldn't have caused such a massive commotion. Jiangzhou was, after all, one of Asia's financial and cultural hubs, accustomed to seeing all sorts of major stars; the students wouldn't have found it particularly novel.
But the fame of these eight was on another level entirely. You might not know the hit song of an idol group, might not have seen an Oscar-winning film by an acclaimed actress, or might not know who the bad boy Rooney is, but there was absolutely no way you hadn't seen an adult film!
Occasionally, major figures like Sister Aoi, Sister Ozawa, or Sister Akane would visit China for commercial activities, promotions, and to make a quick buck. But never before had eight of them arrived at once, and each one was a heavyweight comparable to Sister Aoi's stature. Such a thing had never happened.
“They’re out! They’re out!”
“Wow, it’s really them! I see Xiao Cang! She’s even prettier in person than on screen!”
“One, two, three… I recognize four. How many can you guys spot?”
“How can you recognize them when they’re wearing clothes? I only recognize them when they’re not wearing any.”
“Which company has the pulling power to hire so many big names? Is it for a car show or an online game promotion?”
“Yui-chan’s outfit is so revealing. Seeing her in person, she looks so pure and adorable.”
“Hey, guess what? The big boss in Jiangzhou who hired them, will he get to enjoy them too? Man, I’m so jealous I could die.”
“Do you even need to ask? Which guy here wouldn’t want to get with them? It’s just wishful thinking. You think those fan meet-and-greets in the films are real? You think the people pulled on stage to interact with them are actual fans?”
“I want to interact with them…”
“Go back to being a master of the ‘masturbation arts,’ then.”
The two-lane road was completely gridlocked, with people even perched in the trees across the street. Nearly everyone held up a cell phone, capturing the intensely explosive scene.
The motorcade finally moved away at a snail's pace. Those left behind, still wanting more, tried to rush into the Western restaurant to find out what was going on, only to discover the doors were locked and a small ‘Closed for Business’ sign was hanging up.
“What are you guys doing?”
After seeing their Japanese friends off, Wang Zhuo noticed that everyone in the group, including Rong Xue-sha, was engrossed in their cell phones, operating them nimbly.
Rong Xue-sha replied without looking up, “Posting on Weibo, showing off the pictures we just took.”
“Uh…” Zheng Peng chuckled sheepishly, “Head, are we overstepping our bounds a bit by doing this?”
Asking me now that you’ve already done it! Wang Zhuo shot him a look, annoyed, and said, “You all need to seriously consider that if these photos get circulated, every single one of you will become famous.”
“Huh?” Rong Xue-sha’s body visibly stiffened. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I’ve already posted mine!”
Geng Bin snickered from the side, “Relax, Sister Rong, you’re already famous. A few more photos won’t make a difference.”
Liu Zhan-fu’s small, triangular eyes shone with excitement. “I don’t care, I like being famous.”
Zheng Peng’s grin held a rare glint of slyness. “I have a really good buddy who’s a die-hard fan of Sister Mami. You guys get it…”
Rong Xue-sha let out a small laugh, thinking Zheng Peng was just bragging about showing his buddy the photos they took together. She didn’t realize Zheng Peng was subtly signaling the other guys—he had already claimed Sister Mami!
Wang Zhuo shook his head, caught between laughter and tears. He glanced downstairs at the situation and said, “We should be able to leave in a little while.”
The five boys looked at him eagerly. Geng Bin asked with a fawning smile, “Head, what about that thing you promised us earlier?”
Wang Zhuo looked at each of their faces, seeing nothing but drooling, lecherous expressions. He could only shrug and say, “Geng Bin, give Fatty Long a call. Explain the situation to him, and tell him it was my decision.”
“Yes! Yes!”
Geng Bin agreed repeatedly. Zheng Peng and Liu Zhan-fu cheered, high-fived, stomped their feet, scratched their heads, acting as if they had gone into a seizure from excitement.
Rong Xue-sha was startled by the scene and quietly asked Wang Zhuo, “What did you promise them?”
Wang Zhuo spread his hands in a gesture of ‘no comment.’
Rong Xue-sha stuck out her tongue, thinking it certainly wasn't anything good. Never mind, then.
But curiosity can sometimes be deadly. When a secret is known to everyone else but deliberately hidden from one person, that person's urge to know becomes overwhelming.
Especially seeing Geng Bin and the others looking so mysterious yet unable to hide their excited, sleazy demeanor, Rong Xue-sha wanted to know the secret even more!
Her eyes darted around, and an idea struck her. Since this was her first time meeting Liu Zhan-fu and the others, she obviously couldn’t ask them. And Geng Bin was too slippery. She realized she would have to ask Wang Zhuo about it privately, as asking in front of everyone was out of the question.
A little while later, the street finally returned to normal. The crowd of onlookers had completely dispersed. Wang Zhuo and his group of seven went downstairs, exchanged brief words with the manager, and stepped out of the Western restaurant.
The restaurant manager was grinning so widely his mouth nearly unhinged. He had just had the good fortune to take a solo picture with each of the eight female stars, and three of them had even looped their arms through his. Such treatment was beyond his wildest dreams; he felt incredibly lucky!
Even luckier than him were the five guys: Geng Bin and the others. They had originally just intended to suck up to Instructor Wang and see if Liu Zhan-fu and the other two could get lucky enough to score a set of ‘Big Man’ Enhancers. They never expected that not only would they get the items, but a massive, heavenly pie would suddenly land right in their laps! Instructor Wang had generously waved his hand and gifted them the local specialties that Fatty Long had brought back from Japan specifically to honor him!
Five men for eight women—even the person who lost the rock-paper-scissors game could choose one out of four! Looking at the explosive scene just witnessed—the town emptying out to watch—and seeing their classmates ecstatic after posing with the ‘special gifts,’ Geng Bin and the others felt an overwhelming sense of superiority. Instructor Wang was simply too awesome!
“I’m not seeing you off. You guys hurry up and scram,” Wang Zhuo said with a smile, shaking his car keys.
“You take care, Head.”
“Thanks a lot, Head!”
“The Republic will remember this day in history, and so will we!”
Rong Xue-sha pivoted and hurried after Wang Zhuo. She called back to Geng Bin, “You guys go ahead; I need to talk to Wang Zhuo about something.”
Geng Bin paused for a beat, then gave an ambiguous smile. He clapped a hand on the shoulder of one of the guys who was about to speak up, gave everyone a quick look, and they headed back toward the school.
“Big Bin, do you think Sister Rong and Instructor Wang are really a thing?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to say.”
“Our class monitor is so generous, giving away the Enhancers just like that, and arranging such a great thing for us.”
“Hey, why don’t you guys think about it? Why didn’t Monitor Wang keep those things for himself? Those are Xiao Cang and Morikawa, the dream girls of countless men. If he had just nodded, he could have had all eight at once. Do you think he wasn't tempted?”
“Don’t compare us to Instructor Wang’s level, okay? Instructor Wang is so capable, he wouldn’t even look at girls of that caliber anymore! He can snag someone on the level of Irene Top; what level of woman can’t he have?”
“And Sister Rong…”
“That’s called an upright girl, don’t you get it? That’s called pure love! At Instructor Wang’s level, a mere beckoning finger means swarms of the most beautiful women throw themselves at him. What he’s playing with now isn’t just chicks; he’s playing with atmosphere!”
What Liu Zhan-fu said was true. Given Wang Zhuo’s current status, position, and wealth, the number of beautiful women eager to throw themselves at him was immeasurable. Even Fatty Long, who worked under him, had become incredibly sought-after by many women.
According to the latest assessment by American Fortune Magazine, “The King of China” now commanded an asset base of two hundred billion US dollars, making him the undisputed world's wealthiest man. Not long ago, Time Magazine used a distinctively styled silhouette for its cover: the outline of a young man’s head in the center with a large question mark drawn over it, surrounded by silhouettes of multiple women, with the headline China's Wealth King.
The King of Wealth—that was Time Magazine's assessment of Wang Zhuo. The silhouette style subtly implied his elusiveness from the media spotlight, while the surrounding women represented the many females supporting his empire of wealth.
Two hundred billion dollars was not Wang Zhuo's actual liquid asset; it was derived from a complex algorithm that included brand effect and product potential value. In other words, Time Magazine estimated that if Wang Zhuo were to suddenly step away now, the value of his wealth converted to US dollars would be two hundred billion.
What kind of concept was that? Last year, the world's richest man on the Forbes list was the Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim, with a fortune of one hundred billion dollars. Although Slim's assets had seen a slight increase this year, he had been utterly eclipsed by the suddenly soaring Wang Zhuo.
Forbes usually published its global rich list around March 10th. Time Magazine released its cover featuring Wang Zhuo’s silhouette a few days later, but only a quarter had passed since that time. People were realizing that Wang Zhuo's power had been underestimated, as he had just suddenly launched this new venture: the ‘Big Man’ Enhancer!
No institution dared to attempt an accurate valuation of Wang Zhuo's business empire anymore, because it was growing too fast, changing too drastically, and its financial potential was too astonishing. What made many people intensely envious was that such a colossal business empire had only a few peripheral, minor companies listed publicly. Its largest profit-generating projects were all run internally as shareholding ventures—there was no way to profit by buying shares in them!
Conversely, despite being highly recognized and hyped by the media in developed countries, Wang Zhuo had only briefly stirred up controversy in China due to the scandal photos. Regarding his immense wealth, the media had collectively fallen silent.
Official media outlets were naturally managed by individuals who wouldn't sensationalize such matters, lest they incite a strong public reaction. Furthermore, a significant number of independent media outlets had benefited from the patronage of Shengshi Dynasty; Wang Zhuo was extremely generous in investing money in this area, so few media outlets would risk incurring his wrath.
Although controlling the media was not like sealing a barrel of iron—it was impossible to achieve absolute watertightness—keeping the dissenting noise confined to a small circle had already achieved Wang Zhuo’s goal. Even Western media had to admit with a sense of awe that in this aspect, no one in the world could do better than Wang Zhuo.