Chapter 64 (Chapter 064) Take it Down

Ever since becoming a billionaire, Ye Baoling has always felt that it's all too unreal.

She took out a million and started spending money on all sorts of things, trying to find a sense of reality in real life.

As a result, she found that spending money was harder than making money!

The main reason is that she has money and is unwilling to spend money to buy a status or send money to foreign luxury brands.

Therefore, if you don't buy a car, a house, or luxury goods, it's quite difficult to spend the money.

I spent a whole morning shopping at the mall and only spent a little over 100,000 yuan!

She spent the money not only on herself but also on her family, and she felt quite pleased with the abundance of her spoils.

That day, after getting out of the car, Sister Ping directed the Filipino maid and children to carry all the food, daily necessities, clothes, shoes, socks, and other items they had swept back into the house.

Aunt Shen Yue'e came out of the kitchen, and surprisingly, she was wearing an apron.

"Ping-jie! It's so good to have you back. The old lady wants to eat fish, but she doesn't like the way the Filipino maid makes it, and she doesn't like the way I make it either. I was really worried about it..."

Seeing them bring in so many things, Shen Yue'e exclaimed with delight, "Baoling, you've struck it rich! How did you buy so much stuff!"

Because Gu Man'er had recently made a fortune investing in stocks with Ye Baoling, Shen Yue'e couldn't help but whisper to Ye Baoling, "How much did you make?"

Ye Baoling said softly, "I earn one zero more than Man'er."

"So much?" Shen Yue'e gently nudged her. "Why didn't you invite me? I also had a few thousand yuan of savings saved up. I should have bought it all."

Ye Baoling dared not easily invite others to play, especially since her aunt loved to gamble and show off; who knew if it would have other consequences.

She laughed and said, "What if you lose money? Look at how badly the stock market has been these past few days. Auntie, you should save your money for playing mahjong!"

"Hmph!" Shen Yue'e frowned. "Playing mahjong is about making money, not losing money. I've said it again!"

Ye Baoling obediently repeated, "Auntie, you should save your money to make a fortune! Uncle hasn't come back yet?"

"They can't come back. They're busy recruiting and training people."

Gu Zhen'er opened a box of new shoes. "Cousin, who are these shoes for?"

Ye Baoling replied, "The mall is having a sale, I bought two pairs, you and your third cousin can choose yourselves."

"Thank you, cousin!"

My little cousin asked pitifully, "Cousin, what about me?"

Ye Baoling smiled and said, "I bought you a pretty dress and a hat. Find it yourself."

As she spoke, she took the things for her grandmother and went upstairs.

A while ago, Ye Baoling took her grandmother to get dentures. The old lady's appetite is much better than before, and she has become a bit plumper.

Looking at the new clothes her granddaughter bought for her, Grandma Gu said, "What a waste of money. I don't even go downstairs anymore. Who am I going to wear these nice clothes to?"

"I'm wearing this for myself. My own happiness is the most important thing." Ye Baoling helped her grandmother change into the new clothes, and the old lady looked much more energetic.

Grandma Gu looked in the mirror and sighed, "When I was young, everyone said I looked like that movie star Zhang Xuan. Matchmakers practically wore out our door trying to arrange a marriage. I don't know why I ended up marrying your grandfather. Your grandfather was a good man in every way, except he spoiled his children too much. If he had been like me and lived to this day, our Gu family wouldn't have fallen on hard times. Your uncle took over the family business too early and lacked experience, which is why he got cheated. If he could take over now, that would be so much better."

Unfortunately, fate doesn't offer "what ifs".

Ye Baoling quickly changed the subject: "Man'er and I have discussed it. We'll hire a housekeeper who can cook and a maid to keep you company. We'll split the money equally."

Grandma Gu objected: "It's fine to hire a housekeeper who can cook, but there's no need to hire a maid to keep me company. I've gotten used to it over the years."

Ye Baoling insisted, "Just follow our arrangements. We have the money. When you were young, you had servants to take care of you. Now that you're older, how can you not have one?"

Before, we couldn't be too ostentatious, but now, taking advantage of the opportunity to contribute money together with Gu Man'er, we've made all the necessary arrangements.

Grandma Gu couldn't help but smile and said, "My two children have caused me a lifetime of worry. I never thought that in my old age, I could enjoy the blessings of my granddaughter."

"This is just the beginning. It will definitely get better and better in the future."

After all, she's a billionaire. We can't let Grandma down.

After lunch, with no other plans for the afternoon, Gu Man'er went on a date, prioritizing her boyfriend over her friends. Ye Baoling had no choice but to drag Gu Zhen'er and Chen Yulan to continue shopping.

When you arrive at a nearby shopping mall, you can't help but go on a shopping spree.

This time, the main purchase is for Chen Yulan.

Chen Yulan is used to being simple and plain, and she feels awkward and uncomfortable when things are a little flashy.

"It doesn't look good! My face is too big."

Ye Baoling looked her face and hairstyle up and suggested, "You shouldn't wear such a big braid anymore."

She directly untied Chen Yulan's braid, which was slightly wavy from being tied up in a braid for a long time.

After Ye Baoling fluffed up her hair, she said, "It looks pretty good, very fashionable, because it covers up a bit of your face shape. I'll take you to get your hair done later."

Is it pretty?

"Beautiful!" Ye Baoling gently pinched her cheek.

Not far away, a private investigator was snapping photos of Ye Baoling and Chen Yulan's intimate actions.

The photos were delivered to Zheng Junni very quickly.

In some photos, perhaps due to the angle, Ye Baoling appears to be almost kissing Chen Yulan's nose.

Zheng Junni turned back to Ah Jin with great surprise and said, "I don't believe it if you say that the two of them don't have a secret relationship. It would be even more interesting if we could take some sexy photos like those with Ye Baoshun."

Ever since Ah Hong overheard her last time, Zheng Junni now confirms things with Ah Jin repeatedly and speaks behind closed doors when discussing important matters with him.

Ah Jin said softly, "Ah Feng has already made arrangements with the private investigator to continue following them."

“Okay.” Zheng Junni locked the photos away.

Before leaving, Ah Jin said again, "Ah Feng said she wants to call you later."

"What's up?"

"She didn't tell me."

Zheng Junni thought for a moment, and only after Ah Jin left did she call Ah Feng.

Ah Feng told her that her biological youngest son was gone.

"The treatment conditions in mainland China are not good, there's nothing we can do."

Zheng Junni swallowed hard, feeling a sharp pain in her heart, yet also a sense of relief.

"Buy him a nice grave and bury him. I hope he can be reborn into a better family."

Ah Feng agreed to all of them, saying, "I'll take care of it myself."

"I'll have Ah Jin bring you the money later."

"Madam, there is one more thing I would like to ask of you."

"What's up?"

"My boyfriend, Afa, recently lost his job. Could he work for you at the Ye family's place?"

Zheng Junni didn't want anyone to come into the Ye family home casually. "What's so good about working here? If word gets out, he'll just be a servant or a helper. I'll see if I can find him another job outside, wouldn't that be better?"

Ah Feng was clearly unhappy; who knew where she would be assigned to work?

She said, "I was taking my child to the hospital in Shenzhen. It was very chaotic at the time, and I couldn't find a car. I had to ask Ah Fa for help, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to get to the hospital."

This is to tell Zheng Junni that Afa knows about their affair, and it would be inappropriate not to involve him.

Zheng Junni's temper flared up instantly. "How could you let him get involved?"

Ah Feng: "There was no other way. You've never been to Shenzhen, so you don't know how chaotic it is there. I couldn't get a taxi at the time, and Ah Fa happened to be taking me to Shenzhen, so I had no choice but to ask him to come along. He's very sensible."

Zheng Junni paused for a moment: "Let me think about it first."

After hanging up the phone, she sat on the sofa, feeling incredibly distressed. She had only seen her youngest son once before he was gone.

Ah Feng is so cunning. She asks her relatives for help, thinking they are more reliable, but in reality, she is not as good as Ah Jin, who is not related to her at all.

But it's too late to regret it now. There are many things I can only ask Ah Feng to handle.

She had no choice.

*

After the stock market crash, Hong Kong stocks continued to fall. Even after a brief period of easing, they remained flat and showed no upward trend.

Ye Qizu doesn't need to sell stocks to raise money. Although his net worth may seem to have shrunk, it actually has no impact on him at all.

Anyway, the whole market is like this, it's not just Ye Qingtang's stock price that has plummeted, so he's not in a hurry.

"Once the stock market recovers, it will eventually rebound."

That day, while having tea and discussing work on the third-floor terrace of Xihetang, Ye Qizu asked Ye Kaimin, "You and Lü Dexiang no longer have any conflicts of interest, right?"

Ye Kaimin: "There was never any conflict of interest between us. We just traded stocks together a while ago, but we've all gone our separate ways now."

Ye Qizu tapped the armrest of his chair lightly with his fingers: "Since the establishment of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, this Lu Dexiang has become its chairman. He forms cliques and engages in corruption. As long as the money is there, any lousy company can be listed. This stock market crash was dragged down by these lousy companies. They also take advantage of the listing committee's power to price new shares, skimming off every last penny. Every newly listed company, no matter how excellent its performance, gets ripped off and must be given preferred shares. What is this? It's all corruption!"

He had to take this opportunity to thoroughly defeat the Lü family because of the grudge Lü Tianyou had taken advantage of by riding on his grandson's back.

Ye Kaisi, of course, supported his father: "Find several listed companies to join forces, hire lawyers, collect evidence, and report them to the ICAC until they can't recover."

Ye Qizu nodded: "Yes, that's how we should do it. Ah Cai, you take stock of which stocks will be listed after the Stock Exchange is established. List the excellent companies separately, and the bad companies separately."

His assistant, Chen Jincai, quickly responded.

Ye Kaimin dared not speak, fearing that his father would take his anger out on him again.

After finishing their business discussion and leaving, Ye Qizu asked Ye Kaimin, "Did you give Baoling the 8 million you promised?"

Ye Kaimin feigned pitifulness: "All my money is tied up in the stock market, and I don't have any cash on hand. If I cut my losses and cash out, I'll lose a lot of money."

"Then do as I said, give Baoling two sets of shops on Huayang Street."

“Dad, if Bao Ling were a boy, I would have given her to him directly. She’s a girl, and you just bought her a top-of-the-line V7 luxury car, and you’re giving her a monthly allowance from the family fund. Now you’re giving her two such nice shops…” In the end, Ye Kaimin was unwilling to give her the money.

Ye Qizu: "If Baoling is marrying down, then whether or not you prepare a dowry is your business. But if you want her to marry into a better family, you can't afford to be less than generous with your dowry. You may not be afraid of losing face, but I am. Just consider this as a dowry prepared in advance for her, and that's settled."

tyrant!

Ye Kaimin couldn't help but ask, "Shouldn't the dowry be prepared by the family?"

"You're a father, and you don't need to prepare anything?! You just want to freeload off your family? How dare you!"

Ye Kaisi scoffed, "It's a pity I don't have a daughter. If I did, I would prepare everything for her."

These words angered the old man again: "You can't even discipline one son, and you want to have a daughter? She'll just be a troublemaker!"

Faced with an old man whose temper was even more volatile than menopause, neither of the sons dared to speak.

*

Ye Baoling had a feeling that someone was following her lately.

But she turned around quickly several times and didn't find anyone suspicious, so she could only remind herself to be more careful.

Instead of going to the Tumbleweed to find Bai Zhu, she arranged to meet him at a sauna.

When they were in the sauna, there were only the two of them in the sauna room.

"Tumbleweed" has recently become popular among various financial readers due to its accurate prediction of the stock market crash, with the latest issue's circulation exceeding 20,000.

Bai Zhu now has a stronger network of connections in the industry than before.

Ye Baoling handed the key to the storage area to Bai Zhu: "I've put the documents and reward in the storage area outside. You can go and get them yourself later."

"Okay." Bai Zhu took the keys and asked, "What kind of information is it?"

A few days ago, Ye Baoling had someone mail a whistleblower letter to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which mainly questioned whether Ye Qingtang had fabricated its financial results.

"You should first call the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to inquire about Ye Qingtang's alleged accounting fraud, and then cite the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's statement in your report. This way, you can perfectly avoid legal risks, and Ye Qingtang will be unable to sue you even if he wants to, because you did not spread rumors."

Bai Zhu gave her a thumbs up: "That was a clever move."

But she was puzzled: "Why are you running your own company?"

Ye Baoling couldn't tell the truth, so she only said, "Internal strife."

"Infighting within wealthy families can be ruthless."

The following day, several newspapers simultaneously reported that Ye Qingtang might be facing a financial crisis, which was why it was committing financial fraud to go public and raise funds.

There were also some rather sarcastic reporters who started with: "The recent uproar about the glass-hanging incident involving the eldest son of the Kieran family..."

The stock prices of Ye Qingtang and Su Man Jewelry plummeted in response!

Even Hong Kong-listed companies were affected.

Just recently, the Xianbi advertisement, which had been airing every day, was taken down that day, further fueling investors' suspicions that the eldest branch of the Ye family was facing a financial crisis.

Moreover, the chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Lui Tak-cheung, was corrupt and solicited bribes, and listed many new stocks, including Yip Ching-tong.

Ye Baoshun, the grandson of Ye Qizu, the owner of Ye Qingtang, was recently exposed for having a homosexual relationship with Lu Tianyou, the son of Lu Dexiang. Ye Baoshun, the eldest son of the Ye family, was the one being ridden. Could there be some kind of deal involved?

Men's conspiracy theories are often more imaginative than women's.

Those who held on through the stock market crash until now are now panicking and selling off their shares as stock prices fall.

Coupled with Liu Haonan's actions, Ye Qingtang's stock price continued to fall!

The closing price that day fell to 4.2 yuan per share.

When Ye Qizu was discussing countermeasures with his team, he called Ye Baoling over and asked, "What's going on with Xianbi's advertisement? Why hasn't it been running these past few days?"

Ye Baoling explained, "I'm in the marketing department, and promotion is no longer under my jurisdiction. However, I went to inquire, and it turns out there was a problem with the advertising disc. It has been re-recorded and sent to the TV station, and it will be broadcast on time tonight."

"It's really just bad luck, what a coincidence!" Ye Qizu wasn't very angry this time.

He believed that the culprit was Lü Dexiang.

Ye Qingtang, along with many listed companies, was preparing to report Lü Dexiang to the ICAC. The other party must have gotten wind of this and deliberately retaliated.

In his imagination, it was Lu Dexiang who leaked the information to the media, causing Ye Qingtang's stock price to plummet.

After all, Ye Qingtang had not falsified its financial statements, and its financial data was very healthy. The old man believed that as long as he remained calm, the stock price would recover.

He instructed Lin Zhong: "Prepare the materials and hold a press conference. I'm going to fight Lü Dexiang to the bitter end. I refuse to believe I can't beat this country bumpkin!"

Lin Zhong replied, "We can prepare the materials overnight, and we can hold a press conference tomorrow morning."

Yeh Chi-tsu said, "Don't rush. Take a couple of days."

Ye Baoling, who hadn't finished buying at the bottom today, wondered if her grandfather also wanted to get in and buy at the bottom.

Ye Kaimin didn't understand: "Shouldn't we be holding a press conference as soon as possible at this time?"

Ye Qizu did not answer, but discussed other matters with Lin Zhong for a while. After Lin Zhong left, he said, "Ye Qingtang's financial crisis is fake, but I heard that the second branch's crisis is real."

Ye Kais had also heard something about this. "What does the second wife's family having a financial crisis have to do with us?"

“The second son’s family lost a lot of money in the stock market crash and they are in financial trouble. They want to sell their Ye Qingtang shares, so I thought, why don’t we take this opportunity to buy them?”

The two brothers understood, so the old man didn't want Ye Qingtang's stock price to rebound so quickly, so he could easily pick up the bargains from the second son's family.

No wonder he wasn't angry today and had no intention of helping the market.

Ye Baoling couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the cunning old man.

Ye Qizu said, "Today, Ye Qingtang's stock price is 4.2 yuan per share. It will definitely be lower tomorrow. We can find a way to acquire all 4.3% of Ye Qingtang's shares held by the second son's family. Eldest son..."

Ye Kaimin quickly looked up.

"How low do you think Ye Qingtang's stock price will drop tomorrow?"

Yeh Kai-min: "If we release some more bad news ourselves, it might drop another 30%!"

Ye Qizu nodded: "Okay. I'll leave this to you."

He then instructed Ye Kais: "Go and contact the second branch of the family and talk to them about trading at tomorrow's closing price. Let them know that we are also facing difficulties, but the transaction funds will be raised and given to them after the agreement is signed."

Ye Qizu is not short of money at all. He is just pretending to be pitiful in order to take advantage of the situation and buy up the shares of the second wife's family.

Ye Baoling stood aside feeding the goldfish, pretending to have no interest in these topics.

Her grandfather also thought she didn't understand and assumed she was just teasing the fish.

After feeding the fish, they were still chatting about other things when Ye Baoling said, "Grandpa, if there's nothing else, I'm going out."

"Go ahead. By the way, don't rush to launch Xianbi's advertisement in the next couple of days."

"Oh." Ye Baoling then came out of the study.

It was getting dark outside. After returning to her room, she called Ye Huaizhang to ask where he was.

He just got home.

Ye Baoling went directly to the old third house through the blue brick tunnel.

In Ye Huaizhang's bedroom, she seriously discussed with him: "I heard that the second son's family wants to sell Ye Qingtang's shares. Can you help me negotiate? I want to buy them."

Ye Huaizhang asked in surprise, "Do you want to buy it, or does your eldest son's branch of the family want to buy it?"

“My grandfather really wants to buy it, but now I want to intercept him and prevent him from buying it. You go and negotiate for me; you are the most suitable person.”

Ye Huaizhang gently touched her forehead with the back of his hand, trying to see if she had a fever.

"Do you know how much it will cost at least? The second son's family originally held 10% of the shares. After the listing, the shares were diluted, leaving only 4.3%. Even if Ye Qingtang's stock price plummets today, based on today's closing price, these 4.3% of shares are still worth 180 million. Moreover, they may not be willing to sell at today's closing price."

Ye Baoling: "I have money, but it's inconvenient for me to contact the second son's family right now. You just need to help me negotiate. I'll give you a reward."

She rubbed against him, almost as if to say, "I'll pay with my body."

"You have money? 180 million?" He was clearly surprised.

"I made hundreds of millions on US stocks."

She wasn't telling the whole truth.

Telling only half the truth was enough to make Ye Huaizhang's eyes pop out.

She did say before that she was shorting US stocks, but I never expected to make hundreds of millions!

His wife is indeed a genius in economics!

He asked, "What do you intend to do by buying the Ye Qingtang shares held by the second wife's family?"

Ye Baoling: "The stock price of Ye Qingtang has fallen abnormally. It's such a bargain. Rather than letting my grandfather benefit, I should benefit from it. Don't you think so?"

He was amused by her and agreed to talk to the second son's wife.

"You just told me you'd give me a reward. How will that reward be calculated?"

"I'll serve you tonight." She clung to his neck and whispered in his ear, "You lie down."

He wasn't fooled; after all, once in bed, she was incredibly lazy, and he was the one who took care of her.

He made another condition: "Tomorrow you have to treat me to a movie, dinner, and a hotel room."

Watching movies, having dinner, booking a hotel room...

As a married couple, this request wasn't unreasonable. Ye Baoling withdrew her hand. "Kill you! Deal!"

The person who was just about to pull him into bed immediately changed his tone: "Let's discuss how to talk to the second son's family."

Ye Huaizhang: "You just need to tell me your bottom line, and I'll handle the rest. You don't need to worry about it."

He was familiar with the second son's family.

She liked his style of not needing her to worry about anything; if she could keep using manipulative tactics to get him to do the work for her, that would be great.

"My bottom line is today's closing price, while my grandfather's bottom line is tomorrow afternoon's closing price. My dad will release the news tomorrow, and Ye Qingtang's stock price will continue to fall. Of course, even close brothers should keep clear accounts, and the less money spent, the better."

Ye Huaizhang nodded slightly: "Okay, I understand."

*

The stock price of Ye Qingtang continued to decline the following day.

Ye Baoling instructed Liu Haonan to sweep as much as he could.

After clearing out the target positions, there was still money left. She instructed Liu Haonan to buy shares of Gangtong Industrial, which had recently suffered misfortune along with Ye Qingtang.

She may not become a major shareholder of Hong Kong-Tong Holdings, but she can certainly become a minor shareholder.

She was busy at the company during the day. Lisa and her husband were coming to Hong Kong a week later to discuss cooperation, and her team had to prepare for their reception.

During the meeting, they were full of confidence, determined to win over L&D, the largest beverage sales distributor in the United States, in one fell swoop.

At 3 PM, the stock market closed, and Ye Qingtang's stock price hit a new low of 3.12 yuan!

Two hours later, Ye Huaizhang called her: "It's done, 150 million. Your colleague signed the agreement with Chen Yulan and left. I gave him the money, you can pay me back later."

Ye Baoling stood up excitedly and gave him a kiss from afar: "That's great. I really want to see my grandfather's face right now."

He must be furious!

After a series of maneuvers, she ended up getting the better deal.

Moreover, the old man doesn't know who got the bargain, and he'll probably be furious.

As agreed, she left work early and went to the movies with him.

Around 5 p.m., there were very few moviegoers. Ye Baoling, wearing a baseball cap, entered the cinema separately from him.

They were watching "Beauty and the Beast." There were only seven or eight people in the theater. It was an American film from that era, so the sense of time wasn't very strong, making it easier to get into than Hong Kong films.

It was past seven o'clock when they came out of the movie theater, and the two went to a Thai restaurant in Shangyun for dinner.

During the meal, Ye Baoling asked him, "Do you know how much my grandfather offered?"

130 million.

The offer was indeed quite aggressive.

Ye Baoling asked, "The second wife's family could have pledged their shares, so why didn't they?"

Ye Huaizhang sipped his Tom Yum soup and said, "The pledge process is slow, and we can only get half the money back. They urgently need the money, so there's no other way. They're reluctant to sell their shares in Su Man Jewelry, so they sold Ye Qingtang instead."

"Didn't they borrow money from your bank?"

"We've already borrowed from them, and mortgaged several properties; we can't borrow from them again."

Ye Baoling asked in surprise, "The second son's mansion was also mortgaged?"

"It's been mortgaged."

Seeing her slightly subtle expression, Ye Huaizhang knew she was thinking about the possible cellar under the second son's mansion, so he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Although it's mortgaged, as long as they repay the money on time, that mansion won't be ours. Don't worry about it. They should be able to get through this."

As he spoke, he patted her head.

Unfortunately, the original script didn't mention the second wife's family at all, and we don't know what happened to them in the end.

While they were eating, Dong Jian came in and whispered a few words to Ye Huaizhang.

It turns out someone was secretly filming them.

Ye Huaizhang clearly didn't mind; he simply said, "I don't care."

After Dong Jian left, Ye Baoling asked, "What is it?"

"fine."

After dinner, they went to the hotel, where rooms had already been booked in advance, so they could just check in.

On the way to the hotel, Ye Huaizhang was driving when he stopped at a traffic light and suddenly kissed Ye Huaizhang.

It wasn't a passionate kiss, just a few gentle kisses on her lips.

Ye Baoling smiled and pushed him away: "Did you take your medicine? You seem so agitated."

Inside an inconspicuous car in the adjacent lane, the private investigator excitedly pressed the shutter, finally completing this big job.

When the photos were handed to Zheng Junni, her palms were sweaty with excitement!

While having ambiguous relationships with women, he also went to the movies, ate out, kissed, and booked hotel rooms with his cousin...

This time, she's determined to teach that brat Ye Baoling a lesson.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Ye Huaizhang: Thank you.