Chapter 17

After parting ways with Shao Guangjie, Lin Yushu didn’t go back to the office to work overtime. Instead, he went straight home. It wasn’t because he had no other work to do; he was just in a good mood and didn’t feel like working late.

On Shao Guangjie’s side, he finally agreed to compromise, and the acquisition should soon come to a conclusion. It was a good progress in their work, and there was a possibility that Lin Yushu would receive a promotion before the end of the year.

With a glass of unfinished peach red wine, Lin Yushu poured himself a full glass. He then comfortably settled on the couch, listening to financial news while waiting for Song Qiming to come and fetch his slippers.

However, leisurely moments are always short-lived.

Before long, Lin Yushu’s phone vibrated abruptly. Glancing at the caller ID, he realized it was Shao Hexu, Shao Guangjie’s rarely contacting younger brother.

“Mr. Shao,” Lin Yushu answered the call.

“Manager Lin, you better get ready as soon as possible,” Shao Hexu said. “The news about my divorce with Fang Lan is going to be reported.”

Lin Yushu didn’t understand Shao Hexu’s meaning at first. “Why would it be reported?”

“Someone leaked the information, and it’s unstoppable now.”

Immediately, Lin Yushu stood up from the couch. “What?!”

“I’m going to the company for a meeting now. You should come over as well.”

Fang Lan, Shao Hexu’s wife, was the daughter of the Fang family, a prominent real estate developer. Over the past twenty years of their marriage, Yong Xing and Fang Tian had always maintained close cooperation. They had developed several large-scale commercial real estate projects together and held cross-shareholdings. It had become difficult to completely separate their interests.

Initially, it was a business alliance where interests took precedence over emotions. Moreover, after so many years together, there was still some emotional foundation between them. So, if it weren’t for reaching their limit, they wouldn’t have reached the point of divorce.

Shao Hexu was in charge of Yong Xing’s entertainment industry and often had dealings with the entertainment circle. Fang Lan had always turned a blind eye to those flirtatious affairs. But recently, an older actress suddenly passed away. On her deathbed, she revealed to Shao Hexu that they had a son together, who was now in his twenties. Astonishingly, Shao Hexu wanted to reconcile with the son and bring him into the Shao family.

Fang Lan, who had only given birth to two daughters, knew that the family business would eventually fall into the hands of Shao Guangjie. It was no wonder Shao Hexu coveted his biological son so much.

However, Fang Lan naturally wouldn’t agree. No matter who tried to persuade her, she refused to listen and insisted on divorcing Shao Hexu. However, she also knew that the divorce would have an impact on the stock prices of both companies. Therefore, she had been cooperating with Shao Hexu, never making the divorce public.

Currently, their lawyers were still inventorying the marital assets, and it would take a long time before the divorce was finalized.

Normally, they should wait until everything was settled and there would be no more disputes before announcing the divorce to the public. That way, they could minimize the impact on the stock prices.

But if the news leaked out before anything was finalized, it would be like Shao Zhenbang getting terminally ill again—the stock prices of Yong Xing would once again experience a sharp decline.

Overtime seemed to be Lin Yushu’s destiny. Just when he had a rare day off to relax, he encountered such an incident and had to return to the company for overtime.

As Lin Yushu drove his red Civic out of the residential area, he coincidentally met Song Qiming returning in his GTR.

Song Qiming pressed the window button, obviously wanting to greet Lin Yushu. However, Lin Yushu didn’t have the patience for it. As soon as the entrance barrier lifted, he stepped on the accelerator, leaving Song Qiming in a cloud of exhaust.

“I’ve told you before, to apologize to my sister-in-law. Look at what’s happening now. Do you want to aggravate Dad to death?” Shao Hedong scolded.

“I didn’t leak the news of the divorce. Why are you blaming me?” Shao Hexu retorted.

In the meeting room, Shao Hedong and Shao Hexu, the two brothers, began arguing. After all, there was no one else present, so they didn’t bother pretending.

None of the other employees dared to speak up, and it was Lin Yushu who finally intervened. “Mr. Shao, now is not the time to argue.”

Realizing their wrongdoing, Shao Hexu willingly went along with Lin Yushu’s words. “Manager Lin, do you have any good suggestions?”

“I’ve already asked someone to suppress the news as much as possible,” Lin Yushu said. “But the news has already made headlines, and it will definitely impact the stock price tomorrow.”

Now people in the stock trading apps are already manipulating the situation. Once the market opens tomorrow, all investors will surely sell their Yong Xing stocks.

“Who leaked the news in the first place?” Shao Guangjie frowned and asked. “Is someone trying to undermine us?”

“It could be Fang Lan,” Shao Hexu tapped the conference table with his index finger. “She wants to bring me down with her.”

Lin Yushu didn’t entirely agree and said, “Fang Lan still holds a significant amount of Yong Xing’s stocks, so a drop in stock price wouldn’t benefit her either.”

“That’s why I said,” Shao Hexu said, “She wants to drag me down with her. She wants me to suffer.”

“If you hadn’t accumulated so many debts from your affairs, my sister-in-law wouldn’t be so unhappy,” Shao Hedong seized the opportunity to scold Shao Hexu. “And now you want to recognize your illegitimate child. Do you think Dad will agree?”

“Why can’t I acknowledge my own son? Dad hasn’t expressed his opinion yet. You’re the one with too many objections.”

Seeing the two of them about to start arguing again, Lin Yushu quickly interjected, “The stock price will drop significantly tomorrow. You both should be mentally prepared.”

When it came to concrete interests, Shao Hedong finally diverted his attention from Shao Hexu and asked Lin Yushu, “How much do you think it will drop?”

“It’s possible that it will hit the limit down,” Lin Yushu looked at his tablet, “The group doesn’t have spare funds to stabilize the stock price right now. After suffering a severe blow tomorrow, the stock price is likely to remain low for a while.”

“I’ve already issued a statement saying that the divorce news is false,” Shao Hexu said.

“It may not have much effect,” Lin Yushu said in a gentle tone. “Uncertainty will lead people to sell their stocks. Even if some people believe that the divorce news is false, once they see others selling, they will sell as well.”

“So the market capitalization of the group will take another big hit,” Shao Hedong said discontentedly.

From last year to this year, it started with Shao Zhenbang’s terminal illness, then Shao Guangjie’s failed electric vehicle project, and now the news of Shao Hexu’s divorce. These were consecutive blows to Yong Xing’s stock price.

“But there is a way to boost the stock price,” Lin Yushu suddenly said.

The other three immediately looked at him.

“When we complete the acquisition of S-power, the stock price will rebound.”

“Will Song Qiming just stand by and watch?” Shao Guangjie’s forehead creased with concern. “He surely knows that we’re facing difficulties now. What if he suddenly demands something new?”

“Don’t worry about that for now,” Shao Hedong said and turned to Lin Yushu. “Manager Lin, I’m entrusting the negotiations for the acquisition to you. Whatever conditions Song Qiming brings up, try to fulfill them as much as possible. The main thing is to resolve the acquisition quickly.”

“But Dad, what if he asks for an exorbitant price?”

“Trust in Manager Lin’s abilities,” Shao Hedong said. “Manager Lin, do you have confidence?”

The acquisition was almost finalized, but now this unexpected event had occurred. Lin Yushu wasn’t sure if Song Qiming would suddenly change his mind.

After all, Song Qiming was not an easy person to deal with. Knowing that he had the upper hand, how could he give up such a lucrative opportunity?

But Lin Yushu couldn’t possibly say that he had “no confidence.” He could only grit his teeth and say, “I’ll do my best.”

Returning to the residential area once again, Lin Yushu didn’t even go home. He went straight to Song Qiming’s house and rang the doorbell.

Song Qiming must have already known about Shao Hexu’s divorce. If he could cooperate and quickly sign the acquisition contract, Lin Yushu would be very grateful to him.

But if he took advantage of the situation…

It was certainly possible.

If it were Lin Yushu in his place, with such a great opportunity right in front of him, he would definitely try to raise the acquisition price.

If Song Qiming magnanimously offered to help Yong Xing through this difficult time, Lin Yushu would instead suspect that he had ulterior motives.

Lin Yushu’s brain rapidly imagined the possible scenarios that could unfold next. Given his shallow relationship with Song Qiming, there was no question of giving face. Most likely, he would have to argue based on reason.

In other words, it would be a tough battle ahead.

He could only hope that Song Qiming wouldn’t ask for an exorbitant price.

Lin Yushu believed he had prepared for all eventualities. However, when the door opened, he was taken aback by the situation—

He saw Song Qiming wrapped in a loose bath towel from head to toe, with wisps of mist still clinging to his damp hair. It seemed he had just come out of the shower. He stood behind the door, looking at Lin Yushu and asked, “Do you have something important to discuss this late?”

His rapidly spinning brain suddenly faltered, and Lin Yushu’s gaze involuntarily fell on the prominent chest and abdominal muscles, his Adam’s apple sliding up and down uncontrollably.

What a beautiful chest.

… What was the reason he came to see Song Qiming again?

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