(Ecns.cn)--Zuo Ying is 29 years old and the would-be successor to her father's legacy at Zongshen Industrial Group, a leading private enterprise that develops, manufactures and sells products and machinery related to motorcycles. Yet over the years she has shown a distinctly "post-80s" unwillingness to accept the responsibility.
Unlike her serious-minded father Zuo Zongshen, Zuo Ying often shares sexy photos of herself online and, instead of running the family enterprise (which has more than 13,000 employees and total assets exceeding 4 billion yuan), she prefers to invest in the stock market while traveling the world with her American husband.
Born to a wealthy family, Zuo Ying went to an exclusive school in China before being sent to the U.S. for senior-high and university education. In 2007, after living in Miami for about a decade, she returned to China due to increased pressure from her father and worked as his assistant at Zongshen Group.
Zuo Zongshen's office was filled with reports, and he often shuffled back and forth between meetings, recalled Zuo Ying, which she thought was "crazy." But for Zuo Zongshen, his daughter was also hard to understand, since she spent most of the day sitting in front of her computer.
"Why stare at the computer screen all day long?" wondered Zuo Zongshen, who once severely reprimanded Zuo Ying for trimming her eyebrows at the office.
According to Zuo Ying, she regards her father with reverence and admires him for his keen business sense, but also fears him for his severe criticisms. "I was constantly given lectures for my inappropriate speech and thoughtlessness."
In 2008, Zuo Ying suddenly decided to leave Zongshen Group and go back to Miami on the excuse that "I can't endure winter in Chongqing for even one more day."
Moreover, after living in America for such a long time, Zuo Ying also complained about the complicated interpersonal relationships in China. "There is a lot of guesswork in communication. It's good if I can solve the riddles, but upsetting when I make mistakes," she said.
Her father eventually concluded that Zuo Ying should not have any dealings with the government, since her quick tongue might easily offend important officials.
In 2009, as Zongshen Group suffered from the financial crisis and witnessed a sharp fall in its export volume of motorcycles, Zuo Zongshen called Zuo Ying back and assigned her to take over at Zongshen Import & Export Corp, a subsidiary company that was hurting the most.
Under considerable pressure, Zuo Ying finally returned to work for her father a second time.
However, rather than diversify his motorcycle business, Zuo Zongshen began investing in other industries such as real estate to cater to his daughter's interests, according to the Southern Weekly. He also encouraged her to invest in projects separate from the Zongshen Group.
"It was interesting for my dad to do this," commented Zuo Ying, who invested 350 million yuan last year in a BMW 4S store.
Though outwardly spoiled and indulgent, the outspoken post-80s woman has turned out to be a talented investor. Even as a young student in Miami she pocketed enough money from real estate investments to pay her own tuition.
She began purchasing stocks in the U.S. in 2007, and dumped all of them just before the financial crisis; in 2009, she snapped up shares of large firms, including Apple Inc., at bargain prices.
Now, Zuo Ying says her biggest interest is in investment or, to be precise, "trading stocks while traveling around the world。" However, she admits that she is much more tactful than before, and feels very lucky to have her father's support.
