Chapter 13
Gu Jing's voice was like an ice-hardened steel needle, accurately piercing Zhou Liguang's shaky nerves.
"Uncle Zhou, it seems... your bailout funds aren't enough?"
Zhou Liguang's head shot up, the last trace of color draining from his face. His eyes trembled violently with terror as he stared at the figure at the door. It was no longer the pale, fragile, dependent heir, but a cold, all-seeing stranger who had come to collect a debt...
"You...you..." He made a strange hoarse sound in his throat, and pointed his trembling fingers at Gu Jing, and then suddenly pointed at the glaring and still madly soaring red line on the screen, "It's...it's you?! Impossible! Where did you come from..."
"Where would I get the funds?" Gu Jing walked slowly into the office. Security and lawyers followed him silently, creating an invisible sense of oppression. "How could I have known that your so-called 'saving the market' was actually an impatience to put yourself in a dead end?"
His eyes swept over Zhou Liguang's face, which was distorted with fear and disbelief, as if he was looking at a pile of disgusting garbage.
"Zhou Liguang," Gu Jing called him by his first name, no longer using any honorifics. "The policy 'accident' with the Southeast Asian project three years ago, the unusual supplier payment a year ago, and Consultant Li's 'car accident' six months ago...do I need to go on?"
Every word was like a hammer, hammering down on Zhou Liguang's heart. His whole body went limp, and he collapsed completely into the executive chair behind him. The chair's wheels slid back and hit the bookcase with a dull thud. Cold sweat instantly soaked his high-end shirt.
It was over. It was all over. He didn't just lose; he was seen clearly from beginning to end, manipulated at will!
"Those orders... those ghost accounts..." His eyes were vacant as he muttered to himself. Suddenly, as if grasping the last straw, he looked at Gu Jing fiercely, "It's Qin Yu! Right?! It's that madman?! How could he... Where did he get so much money?! Qin Zhengfeng wouldn't..."
"Why does he have money? How did he get it?" Gu Jing interrupted him, his tone calm but with a deadly chill. "You will know soon. As for Qin Zhengfeng..."
Gu Jing paused, and the corners of his lips curled up in an extremely cold and shallow arc.
"...He might soon be in danger himself."
Zhou Liguang's pupils suddenly shrank, and he was overwhelmed by a huge sense of fear and absurdity.
At that moment, the internal phone on his desk rang sharply, breaking the dead silence. Immediately afterwards, his personal cell phone began vibrating frantically, with countless missed call alerts from directors, shareholders, partners, and even loan sharks jumping across the screen.
Like a death warrant.
The stock price on the screen was still soaring, and with every point it rose, his debt hole grew even bigger! The alarm of a margin call was no longer a warning, but a death knell!
"No...no..." Zhou Liguang tried to pick up the phone in a panic, but his fingers trembled violently and the receiver fell to the ground, emitting a harsh busy tone.
He rushed to his computer again, attempting a final, futile attempt to close his position, only to discover his permissions had been frozen! The system prompted a cold and merciless message: [Account abnormality, transaction aborted]!
"Ah——!!!" He let out a desperate howl, his hands frantically grabbing his hair, his eyes bloodshot, and he fell into complete madness.
Ten years of planning! Millions of wealth! Unparalleled power! All gone in the blink of an eye! And a massive debt that would leave him dead without a burial place!
Gu Jing coldly watched him weep and act like a madman, his heart devoid of emotion, only a cold disgust. He tilted his head slightly and gestured to the lawyer behind him.
The lawyer stepped forward and placed a document on the messy desk in front of Zhou Liguang.
"Mr. Zhou, this is the lawsuit filed against you by Mr. Gu Jing, the largest shareholder of Gu Group, in accordance with the company's articles of association and relevant laws and regulations. The content includes but is not limited to seventeen charges, including commercial fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, malicious short selling, and causing the company to suffer huge losses."
The lawyer's voice was steady and clear, and each word was like the nail in the coffin.
"Police and Economic Crime Investigation Bureau personnel are on their way."
"No! You can't!" Zhou Liguang suddenly raised his head, his face covered with snot and tears, his eyes full of madness and despair, "I didn't do it! It's a false accusation! Gu Jing! You are so ungrateful! I have worked like a slave for your family for so many years! You are as stupid as your father! You deserve to be..."
He didn't finish his words.
The office door was pushed open again.
This time, it was not the police who came in.
Instead, they were two expressionless men in black suits, carrying a cold, murderous aura that was completely different from that of ordinary security or law enforcement officers. Without even glancing at Gu Jing or the lawyer, they walked straight towards the frantic Zhou Liguang.
One of them took out a small syringe with swift movements.
Zhou Liguang's eyes widened in horror as he tried to struggle: "Who are you?! What are you doing?! Let me go! Help—"
The needle pierced the side of his neck with precise speed.
Zhou Liguang's roar stopped abruptly, his eyes rolled back, his body twitched violently twice, and then he fell down. The two men held him on the left and right, and dragged him out the door silently and quickly like a dead dog.
The whole process happened in a flash.
Gu Jing's pupils contracted, and he subconsciously wanted to step forward to stop them: "You!"
A man in black stopped and turned his head to reveal half of his cold face. He glanced at Gu Jing without any emotion, and just shook his head very slightly.
Then, the two men carried Zhou Liguang, who had completely lost consciousness, and quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.
As if it had never appeared.
Gu Jing froze in place, a chill running down his spine. He recognized that look, that efficiency—exactly the same as those professional "cleaners" in the factory!
Not from the police.
Is he Qin Yu's man? Or... is he trying to silence him?
The lawyer was obviously startled, but quickly regained his professionalism and whispered, "Mr. Gu, this..."
Gu Jing raised his hand to stop him, his heart pounding in his chest. He walked to the office door. The corridor was empty, with only the faint sound of commotion and discussion from the distant staff area caused by the strange stock price surge.
Zhou Liguang just... disappeared?
Just before he was about to face legal sanctions, he was wiped out by a darker force?
What exactly did Qin Yu want to do? He said that even if Zhou Liguang died a hundred times, it wouldn't be enough... Is this his way?
Gu Jing felt a cold, suffocating sensation. He thought he had glimpsed a corner of the abyss, but found himself still standing on the edge of the cliff, completely unaware of the true darkness below.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, went back into the office and closed the door.
Regardless of who took Zhou Liguang away, and for what purpose, the current crisis has not yet been completely resolved. Although Zhou Liguang has fallen, the huge mess he left behind, the market panic, and the turmoil in the company all need to be addressed immediately.
He walked over to his computer and looked at the stock price on the screen, which was still glaringly red. The violent surge continued, which was very abnormal. It was as if they were trying to wipe out all short sellers, completely disregarding the subsequent risks.
How much money did Qin Yu invest? What did he want?
Just then, the encrypted phone vibrated.
Gu Jing picked it up immediately.
Just a short message from that one number:
[Top floor conference room. Now.]
The tone was imperative and left no room for doubt.
Gu Jing stared at the message, his fingertips feeling slightly cold. He knew that the game with Zhou Liguang was over.
But with Qin Yu...it's just the beginning.
He straightened his slightly wrinkled suit, his face clear of all emotion once again, leaving only a cold calm. He glanced at the limp executive chair, still bearing traces of Zhou Liguang's struggle, then turned and walked towards the top floor conference room without hesitation.
Push open the heavy conference room door.
Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the city lights are coming on and neon lights are flashing.
A man stood in front of the window with his back to him, his figure outlined by the afterglow of the setting sun and the lights of the city, forming a slender and cold outline.
Hearing the door open, he slowly turned around.
It’s Qin Yu.
He had changed into a well-tailored black suit, the scars on his face were cleverly concealed, and his hair was meticulously styled. Aside from the lingering, bottomless darkness in his eyes, he looked like the cold and reserved business elite he once was.
It seemed as if the life-and-death struggle in the factory and the crazy paranoia in the safe house were all just a dream.
On the conference table, the projector was on, and the screen no longer showed stock price fluctuations, but a complex...draft of an equity transfer agreement.
Qin Yu's gaze fell on Gu Jing, deep and difficult to discern.
He raised his hand slightly and pointed at the agreement. His voice was steady, yet it carried a controlling, heart-pounding sense of oppression.
"Now," he said, "let's talk about my reward."
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