Chapter 99

By the time the Gu family extended the invitation, Gu Jiangkuo already had an inexplicable sense of confidence that "my family is rich and has a backer, so I'm not afraid of Gu Zhonghong."

Of course, this "home" refers specifically to Jiang Nuo.

Meeting with the biology professor required extra mental preparation and a negotiating mindset, which was a bit funny to say.

Although the invitation was sent in the name of Mr. Gu, it was Gu Xin who actually met Gu Jiangkuo, and the appointment was made in the hotel.

In the magnificent hall, a waiter just arrived with a five-tiered birdcage-shaped Western-style refreshments. The tall, handsome young man politely stood up, but with a condescending attitude, he nodded slightly. "Hello, Gu Jiangkuo? I should call you Big Brother. Let me introduce myself. My name is Gu Xin, and I'm the eldest grandson of the Gu family's eldest branch."

This is a very clever statement. He calls him "big brother" and emphasizes that he is the eldest grandson of the eldest son. Isn't this a contradiction?

However, Gu Jiangkuo didn't bother to argue with him. He nodded slightly and, without waiting for him to give way, he chose a sofa across from him and sat down with his arms folded before saying, "Your housekeeper told me about this a few weeks ago."

Gu Xin was stunned. He hadn't expected this big brother, whom he had never met before, to be so arrogant. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and said, "I thought you would be very nervous, but you are much more relaxed than I thought."

Gu Jiangkuo: "Your Gu family is a wealthy merchant, but when doing business, you don't need to look at status, you only look at price."

Gu Xin frowned and corrected: "It's our Gu family."

However, he did not deny the matter of "negotiating business". Thinking about it carefully, the conditions given by his grandfather were similar to those of negotiating business, and it did not seem like a recognition of relatives.

"Tell me, what exactly do you want me to do?" Gu Jiangkuo asked directly.

Gu Xin's frown deepened. He intuitively disliked this elder brother. Gu Jiangkuo's aura was too strong, which made him very passive. Gu Xin said reluctantly, "I don't have any other requests. Grandpa just wants to take you back to Southeast Asia to make up for the suffering you have endured in China for so many years."

Gu Jiangkuo: "Is it really that simple just to let me go back to Nanyang?"

Gu Xin: “Yes.”

Gu Jiangkuo: "No other requests?"

Gu Xin: “No.”

This surprised Gu Jiangkuo, but seeing Gu Xin's resoluteness, he didn't think he was lying, so he turned around and asked, "What are your conditions? I mean, how are you going to compensate me?"

Hearing this, Gu Xin showed a bit of contempt, as if he was back at home. He took a sip of black tea and said, "Grandpa arranged a position for you in Nanyang. I heard that you have a company in China. Grandpa means that you don't want to develop in China anymore. Come back to him, and he will give you a listed company to manage. The market value is dozens of times that of Shengchen."

I thought Gu Jiangkuo would be grateful upon hearing such good news, but he just said calmly, "Shengchen's market value has now fallen to the bottom. It's not worth much."

Gu Xin: “…”

Gu Xin: "Think carefully. The Gu family's businesses are all backed by a strong family background. They are not comparable to small companies. Shengchen can't do that, and even Jiang's can't do that."

Gu Jiangkuo raised his eyes when he heard this, his eyes were quite sharp, which made Gu Xin subconsciously shut his mouth and tense up nervously.

Gu Jiangkuo curled his lips and smiled very lightly. That smile made Gu Xin feel even more uncomfortable, as if he looked down on him. Gu Jiangkuo said, "The Gu family is a top-tier wealthy family, one of the richest in Asia. I know, and you don't need to emphasize it over and over again. But the Gu family is so wealthy, and they only give me the management of a small listed company with a low market value - and it's just management, without even any equity. Isn't this too petty?"

“Equity can have…”

"It's still not enough."

Gu Xin: “…”

Gu Xin: "What do you want?"

Gu Jiangkuo: "What I want, do you have the final say?"

"..." Gu Xin really didn't want to continue chatting with this big brother. He was being crushed everywhere. He felt extremely aggrieved and a little scared. This big brother spoke and acted with a market-like ruffian's spirit. His aura was strong and his logic was rigorous. To be honest, he could hardly cope with it.

"Little boy, ask your grandfather to come down and talk to me," Gu Jiangkuo said calmly, "Why is he hiding in his room when his family is here?"

Gu Xin really wanted to ask Grandpa for help, but he couldn't swallow this anger. He said calmly, "This is just a small matter, I can handle it alone. Big brother, I advise you to stop while you are ahead. What makes you think Grandpa will agree to more conditions for you?"

Gu Jiangkuo said calmly, "You two have traveled thousands of miles to come find me. As far as I know, the old man is in poor health and hasn't left Lion City in many years, right?"

Gu Xin: “…”

"It doesn't matter. It's normal that business deals fail to go through. See you again if we're lucky." Gu Jiangkuo chuckled, got up and left.

He was tall, long-legged, and had big steps. He walked briskly without a trace of hesitation and soon reached the gate. Gu Xin finally couldn't help but shout, "Wait!"

Gu Jiangkuo slowly stopped, turned sideways, and looked at him teasingly.

Gu Xin felt even more aggrieved and pursed his lips: "Wait a moment, I'll go ask Grandpa for instructions."

.

About a quarter of an hour later, Mr. Gu came downstairs with the help of Gu Xin.

Gu Jiangkuo was shocked by Gu Zhonghong's appearance. He had actually looked up Gu Zhonghong on the Internet in advance. Photos on Baidu Encyclopedia, as well as images in financial magazines and various interviews, all showed that Gu Zhonghong was a handsome old man.

The young Gu Zhonghong has deep and youthful facial features, the middle-aged Gu Zhonghong has a calm demeanor, and even the old Gu Zhonghong is energetic, with three-dimensional bones, and his superior facial features can be seen.

The materials in the photos are all bright and elegant.

The old man in front of him was wearing exquisitely crafted silk home clothes. His skin was wrinkled and pale, and he was obviously lacking in energy and blood. His already large eye sockets had dark circles that were too deep to ignore. His hair was quite thick and he was not bald. It was dyed black, but it made him look more like an old but undead zombie.

"You are Ah Kuo?" Gu Zhonghong cracked a slightly haggard smile, looking Gu Jiangkuo up and down. Seeing that he was tall and strong, he murmured, "Not bad."

Gu Jiangkuo no longer had the arrogance he had just shown when facing Gu Xin. He stood up and said respectfully, "Hello, Chairman Gu."

Gu Zhonghong's face showed no emotion, as if he was hiding his emotions. He said calmly, "You should call me Grandpa."

However, Gu Jiangkuo did not compromise. He only said respectfully, "I haven't seen my grandfather since I was a child, and I lost my father when I was very young. I'm not used to it for a while. Chairman, please forgive me."

Gu Zhonghong looked at him quietly.

In fact, Gu Zhonghong was not hiding in the suite. Every word and every action of Gu Xin and Gu Jiangkuo was monitored by the surveillance camera for him to see clearly.

He watched as the successor he had carefully groomed was no match for Gu Jiangkuo, losing the upper hand in a matter of words. Gu Zhonghong wasn't disappointed in Gu Xin—after all, he was still under 20 and had many years of growth to go—but he grew to appreciate his grandson, who had been living abroad.

This courage and spirit are similar to his style in the past.

He was just such a poor boy back then, but he was not afraid of the powerful and climbed up step by step from the bottom to become rich today.

But there was one thing that Gu Zhonghong really disliked.

A Kuo's face is so similar to his deceased wife's.

He was nothing like himself. Seeing Gu Jiangkuo reminded him of his dead wife. People who have done something wrong are most afraid of ghosts knocking on their door. Mr. Gu had his own guilty conscience, so he naturally resisted Gu Jiangkuo. After a moment, he said calmly, "Sit down. If you want any compensation, you can talk to me directly."

.

Jiang Nuo was not idle either. He held three video conferences in one go today, all about lithium mines. The three companies were companies with lithium mining rights. Two of them wanted to raise funds, and one wanted to sell it directly because of poor management.

President Jiang preferred the third company, but that company's price was high. Acquiring it would mean Jiang's group would need to adjust its industrial structure and shift its focus. Furthermore, acquiring a company wasn't a simple matter. The back-and-forth negotiations had already lasted nearly two months...

After the video conference, a high-level meeting within the group was held.

Executives expressed their opinions.

Someone said, "We can offer 60% of the price, acquire 51% of its shares, and hire the former chairman as general manager. They'll think they're getting a good deal and agree without hesitation. Then, after some work, we can reform the board and kick him out. Wouldn't that save us a lot of money?"

Others said: "You are smart, but others are not stupid either. This kind of scheme will definitely be seen through, and they will not agree to it at all."

Some people say, "Jiang's financial management and real estate are already doing very well, so why is he looking to expand into new businesses? Real estate is a sure-win business, and even if he holds onto the land, he can still make a lot of money."

Others said, "The boss sets the tone, and we're responsible for executing it. Our mission is to achieve the acquisition target. Mr. Liu, there's no need to be so high-handed. Setting the policy is Mr. Jiang's job."

"Hey, don't read too much into it. I didn't mean that. It was just an immature suggestion. Of course I'll listen to Mr. Jiang."

“…”

Fortunately, these people were promoted by Jiang Nuo himself, and they wouldn't deliberately trip him up like Huang Dongliang and his ilk did back then. But the noise still gave Jiang Zong a headache, and he couldn't help but be distracted, wondering how Gu Jiangkuo was doing, how his conversation with Old Man Gu went, what the Gu family's intentions were, and whether they would cause him any harm...

.

With this mood, he waited until the end of the meeting. It was almost time to get off work. Mr. Jiang did not delay any longer. He sent a WeChat message to Gu Jiangkuo and went home directly after work.

I received a message from Gu Jiangkuo in the car: "I'm home and in the kitchen. Come try my cooking tonight."

When Mr. Jiang saw this news, he was not very happy, but his heart sank.

He had only tasted Gu Jiangkuo's cooking during the Chinese New Year. To be honest, it wasn't as good as Aunt Mei's, but it was still quite good. After being praised a few times, Gu Jiangkuo had been eager to cook for him, but unfortunately his wish had never been fulfilled.

Firstly, Young Master Jiang was reluctant to let him enter the kitchen, and secondly, Gu Jiangkuo was also very busy, with a lot of things to do at the company and school. How could he have the time to do these things?

But why did he suddenly cook today? Could it be... Jiang Nuo had an inexplicable feeling that he knew he was leaving and was rushing to make a farewell meal for him.

Thinking of this possibility, Young Master Jiang felt a little depressed.

It was clearly he who drove Gu Jiangkuo to Southeast Asia, and he kept saying that he didn't want to hinder his future. He couldn't possibly give up his family property for the sake of love, right?

But no matter how calm and rational I thought before, how painful it is now when things happen.

When the time comes, the one who is reluctant to let go is actually myself.

He had just finished talking to his grandfather, and he came back to cook for himself. Something must be fishy when things are out of the ordinary, so he should be leaving, right? Is he in such a hurry? Also, someone of Mr. Gu's status shouldn't stay in Yanlin for too long.

If he really went to Southeast Asia, how long could a long-distance relationship last? Jiang Nuo never believed in long-distance relationships - what's the point of talking about feelings when you can't see each other? It's no different from having a digital pet on your phone - let alone a relationship that lasts so long that they will develop separately in a foreign country for the rest of their lives.

Mr. Jiang leaned his head against the car window, trying to calm down. He didn't want to delve into the matter any further, and didn't want to show his fragile and hypocritical side to anyone.

He is not only Gu Jiangkuo's boyfriend, but also the president of Jiang Group and the head of the Jiang family. None of these identities allow him to be vulnerable.

It took Young Master Jiang a while to adjust his mood, and he had basically calmed down. However, another thought became stronger and stronger. He had not slept with Gu Jiangkuo yet, and he could not just let him go like this.

The author has something to say:

Thanks to everyone who left comments in the previous chapter's comments section! Thanks to your encouragement, I've successfully updated it! Here's an extra chapter!

(I wrote the first half of the chapter last night, and the second half during my lunch break with earplugs in, but it’s finally finished!)