Chapter 18

Rongcheng Provincial First Hospital's vascular embolization skills are among the best in the country. When Li Ting was wheeled out, the doctor said the surgery was successful, but the patient's condition was not stable yet, and his recovery over the next few days would depend on it.

The next afternoon, Li Ting opened his eyes. Shen Huan called him softly, but he didn't respond, his vision unfocused. The doctor said he had hydrocephalus, causing high intracranial pressure, and he might be deaf and blind.

For the next few days, Shen Huan stayed at the hospital every day. She didn't understand most of the company's affairs and couldn't participate in them. Fortunately, Xuan Tao was still in good order at the moment, and Li Ting didn't need to worry about the daily execution. Gao Yufei, the executive chairman of the head office, was in charge of things in Hancheng.

For the past few months, Li Ting had focused on raising funds to settle Ronghui's maturing debts. Now, as he lay in his hospital bed, Lou Hetai said that the rest of the company lacked Li Ting's expertise, leaving them with only two options, which he had already largely laid out. One option was for Meng Zixian to approach overseas investors to negotiate an extension. Over the past two weeks, Meng Zixian had become familiar with Ronghui's debt situation and had visited several creditors. His initial words were, "I'm not very optimistic."

Another option is to ask Chenyue to inject capital into the holding company to alleviate some of the debt. Wu Ruifeng said the project has been advanced to the Investment Committee, and while action from above is slow, "the overall environment is tightening, but it will definitely pass. There's no need to worry!"

No matter which path is taken, Ronghui Trading Company will be split into two parts: a good Ronghui and a bad Ronghui.

Good Ronghui will take away most of the healthy assets and discard the burden of bad debts, allowing it to continue financing and resume growth with a better credit rating. Bad Ronghui will take on the bad and overdue debts and deploy a team to collect the debts, or even sell the non-performing assets in a package. Continuing with the current situation will only lead to rotting in the mud.

Chen Huan was talking to Lou Hetai outside the ward. Clutching her foam water cup, she thought for a moment and said, "It looks like it's split in half." Meng Zixian was conservative; he wasn't optimistic, but that meant there was still a possibility. Wu Ruifeng loved boasting; he said there was no need to worry, but there were still difficulties to overcome. Ronghui was in a critical situation right now. Even if Li Ting were awake, he probably wouldn't be able to pick and choose, just seeing which path would work.

Lou Hetai nodded, muttering that a major shakeup was inevitable. During the week Li Ting had been in a coma, two dark streaks had formed under Lou Hetai's eyes. When Lou Hetai sat down on a plastic chair in the hospital corridor, he slumped backward, like a prisoner of war who had lost his gun.

Chen Huan frowned at this. She had heard about the harsh bets from Wu Ruifeng of Chenyue. With Chenyue International acquiring shares, they would definitely be placing many of their own people there. Li Ting and Wu Ruifeng had been playing Tai Chi for two months, figuring out exactly which positions to assign them.

But Shen Huan thought Meng Zixian advocated for as few new appointments as possible. Why would there be a major shakeup?

Lou Hetai smiled helplessly. He explained that Meng Zixian and Li Ting had disagreed on the main direction of their business years ago. Li Ting had built his fortune through territorial expansion, profiting from the rapid growth of new markets. When investing, he looked down on the meager profits in mature sectors, always aiming for mergers and acquisitions to expand into healthcare, intelligent manufacturing, and cultural tourism. Nuoyan Technology was a prime example; he had simply misjudged the situation.

Meng Zixuan may have held a similar vision earlier, but as more and more investors and creditors stood behind him, he could no longer stand on the side based on his own vision, but had to speak for the interest groups he represented.

Three years ago, Meng Zixian was opposed to medical technology. His overseas investors were cautious about most industries in the East Asian market, requiring them to conduct thorough industry research and invest only after identifying the right opportunities.

Nuoyan's collapse and Ronghui's cash flow difficulties have all but confirmed the risk assessments they'd repeatedly emphasized. If Meng Zixian wants to convince them to keep their money, or even bring in new capital, he must guarantee investors that the company will maintain a more stable path over the next five to ten years. While this may sound appealing, the phrase "stable" implies the cancellation of many new R&D projects, and the significant reduction in departments and funding required. This will undoubtedly create significant resistance.

So Meng Zixian wanted to take the entire financial sector with him. At this critical juncture, if he brought in hundreds of millions more, Ronghui would become Meng Zixian's own son, guaranteed by his life. The unfortunate child had previously strayed from the right path, and now that he's been bailed out of jail, he definitely won't let anyone teach him anymore. At this point, Lou Hetai raised his hand and touched the back of his head, his movements a little stiff. He smiled and said, "Look, the example I gave is quite relevant."

Shen Huan pressed herself against the closed ward door, her back not leaning against it, her body tense. The foam cup in her hand was already empty. Lou Hetai's words made her mouth dry with nervousness, and she couldn't smile, so she forced a smile.

"Sister-in-law, did you understand? The joke I just made."

"Ah." Shen Huan responded.

"The joke about the guy who just got out of jail." Lou Hetai thought she didn't understand, so he broke it down and explained, "My joke was about Lao Meng's son. Actually, it was Lao Meng himself who just got out of jail. Haha. Haha."

"I understand." Shen Huan said quickly.

After finishing this long paragraph, Lou Hetai took a breath and continued, "Meng Zixian's decision not to replace management for now is probably just out of courtesy. If Li Ting really no longer manages finance, a few people will follow him and a small number of redundant departments will be laid off. The rest will mostly depend on whether they share the same ideals. Those who don't fit in will leave on their own, without Meng Zixian asking."

"Sister-in-law, if Lao Li was awake today, it wouldn't be my turn to talk about this. My words may not be nice, but you know Lao Li's current situation better than I do." He paused, then added: "Plus, his life was saved by Meng Zixuan this time. It's hard to say who will give in between the two of them and how the company will develop in the future. You should prepare early. What if?"

Shen Huan lowered her head, her foam cup deformed by her squeezing. Li Ting had been in a coma for a week. While the initial acute complications were nerve-wracking, the doctors and nurses' constant back-and-forth with medication and IV drips offered hope. By the fifth day, his condition had stabilized, but he still hadn't woken up. The doctor said he was in recovery and would only appear during ward rounds.

The company's managers kept it a secret, saying that Li Ting had a family emergency and was returning to his hometown in Fengchuan for a few days, and that the meeting was postponed. Since Li Ting still hadn't woken up, the news would inevitably be exposed.

Lou Hetai said his biggest concern wasn't the public outcry, "It's not a listed company, who cares?" But shareholders, both large and small, would undoubtedly be furious, with some suggesting that Li Ting, fearing he couldn't repay his debts, had fled the country with the money. He'd just ignore the rumors and not take them to heart.

After Lou Hetai finished speaking, he said he would take his leave first, stood up and walked away slowly.

All decisions, big or small, about Ronghui now fell on Lou Hetai's shoulders, and he probably hadn't even had time to sleep. Shen Huan understood that he had come all the way to Rongcheng today, supposedly to check on Li Ting, but in reality, to give her a heads-up. She was deeply grateful to him.

After Lou Hetai left, Shen Huan returned to the room and sat down beside the bed, resting his head on his arms. Li Ting's eyes were closed, his brow relaxed, and his face rosier than when he was awake and running around. Shen Huan stayed here these days, not daring to stare at his face for too long.

Li Ting had been transferred from critical care to the inpatient ward, and the number of people outside had decreased. A few days ago, some company people had come over, but gradually, everyone went their own way. Occasionally, a nurse or caregiver would come by to tend to the patient, but Chen Huan felt more at ease. Whenever they were alone in the ward, she felt the silence was so quiet that only the whirring of the equipment could be heard.

Her head first rested on his shoulder, then moved away a little.

She was terrified, afraid that Li Ting would pass out. What would she do if he remained unconscious for the rest of his life? Sell his company and live like a widow with his money? Or find another man, a complete stranger, and adapt to a new temper, a new past, and a new, untold secret? She felt she no longer had the courage to do that.

Aside from her father, whom she hadn't spoken to in years, Li Ting was her only family in the world. Even though he smoked, drank, and slept with other women, Chen Huan still loved him and wanted to live a good life with him. She was such a spineless person. Before, when he was safe and sound, Chen Huan could still lie to herself that her love was only because of Li Ting's money, because that was enough to cover up her lack of self-respect and compromise.

But now that he was on the brink of life and death, Shen Huan had to admit that this love was more than that. If giving up money, status, power, and fame could bring him back to life, she wouldn't hesitate. It wasn't because her love was noble, but simply because she was timid. She didn't want to live alone.

Li Ting was not completely unaware. Sometimes when she leaned close to his ear and called him, Li Ting's hand would tighten a little.

She squeezed his hand, her mouth open but she didn't dare call him. She was afraid he'd actually wake up. She knew that the Li Ting she knew would wake up would no longer be the same person she remembered. After receiving Meng Zixuan's ultimatum, Li Ting had changed. The gnashing of his teeth that night at Mulin Resort had terrified her.