Chapter 63, however ingenious its layout, ultimately still built a ladder to heaven specifically for a certain little girl.
At 5:40 p.m., Shang Qiuzhu closed the documents and prepared to go home, but Du Yunchuan suddenly stepped in front of the door and blocked her way by bracing his arm on the door frame.
"Get out of the way."
"Don't be so heartless~" Du Yunchuan waved his phone, "Old Zhou and the others are waiting at the club, saying they're determined to get you drunk tonight."
"I'm busy." Shangqiu Zhu raised his hand and glanced at his watch.
Du Yunchuan keenly caught this subtle expression and suddenly revealed a mischievous smile: "Oh~ I understand."
He deliberately dragged out his words, "Is our CEO going to pick up Xiaoshuang from school?"
Shangqiu Zhu paused in adjusting his tie, a strange glint in his eyes.
This suggestion... he really hadn't thought of it; the image of Yan Shuang running out of the teaching building flashed through his mind...
Seeing that Shangqiu Zhu didn't object, Du Yunchuan's eyes widened: "No way? You really want to go?"
He gestured exaggeratedly, "Imagine that scene! If you stood on a university campus in this custom-made suit, wouldn't all the college students think that Xiaoshuang is being kept by some big shot?"
Shangqiu Zhu's face instantly darkened.
"Besides," Du Yunchuan continued, fearlessly adding fuel to the fire, "with that 'keep away' face of yours, your classmates might think you're there to collect a debt!"
The temperature in the office seemed to drop ten degrees.
"Du Yunchuan."
"exist!"
“Last month at MGM Macau,” he looked up, his sharp gaze sweeping over like a dagger, “two million eight hundred thousand US dollars.”
Du Yunchuan's smile froze on his face: "Old Shang! President Shang! I was wrong, okay?!"
Shangqiu Zhu ignored him and turned to walk towards the elevator.
Du Yunchuan chased after him, howling in pain, but there was no fear on his face.
He knew Shangqiu Zhu too well. Over the years, Du Yunchuan's gambling debts had amounted to at least eight or nine figures, and each time the money was transferred to Shangqiu Zhu's account.
Shangqiu bamboo has always been all talk and no action.
"Hey, don't go!" Du Yunchuan caught up with him in three steps and hooked his arm around his shoulder. "Don't rush off! Zhou Dongxun and Thomas are waiting at the club."
Shangqiu Zhu paused almost imperceptibly. "Thomas went too?"
He asked suddenly, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Yes, we've been waiting for a while."
"Let's go then." Shangqiu Zhu suddenly changed her mind and walked towards the elevator.
Du Yunchuan stood there stunned, then complained, "Why? I've been talking to you for ages and you ignore me, but you go as soon as I mention Thomas?"
They went down to the lobby on the first floor. Du Yunchuan followed Shang Qiuzhu to the black Lincoln sedan parked under the porch and found an unfamiliar face in the driver's seat.
"Huh? We changed drivers?" Du Yunchuan bent down and climbed into the car. "Where's Lao Zhan? Did he retire?"
He remembered that Shangqiu Zhu never changed people easily. The maids, nannies and drivers in the house were all long-term employees who had been with the family for more than ten years, especially the American old James, who was such a steady driver that he could balance a coin on the highway.
“Mr. Zhan is now solely responsible for picking up and dropping off Ms. Yan Shuang,” the new driver replied in fluent English as he smoothly started the car.
Du Yunchuan suddenly turned to look at Shang Qiuzhu, who was looking down at her phone, her expression normal.
"Oh!" Du Yunchuan drawled, a mischievous smile spreading across his face, his eyes brimming with barely concealed amusement.
Old James was a retired special forces soldier. Not only was he an excellent driver, but he was also incredibly skilled in combat. Back then, he tried to persuade Zhu from Shangqiu to lend him his services as a bodyguard for a few days, but was flatly refused.
Is it a waste of talent to have such a top soldier pick up and drop off young girls at school every day?
The car slowly drove into the main entrance of Elysium, a top-tier club in Los Angeles. Four waiters in custom-made tuxedos stood in front of the door. They recognized Shang Qiuzhu's car and immediately bowed.
Good evening, Mr. Shang. Mr. Du.
In front of the lobby bar, several socialites were whispering together.
Qu Yating, the heiress of the Qu family, suddenly tugged at her best friend's arm, her eyes fixed on the tall, imposing figure who had just entered the room: "My God, who is that? I've never seen him before!"
In the direction she pointed, Shang Qiuzhu was walking through the crowd, his black suit outlining his perfect proportions of broad shoulders and narrow waist, every step exuding an innate air of nobility.
"You don't even recognize him?" Lin Zixin, the heiress of Lin's Jewelry, gasped dramatically. "Shang Qiuzhu! The heir of the Shang Group!"
Several socialites immediately gathered around. Bai Yuwei, the second young lady of the Bai family, lowered her voice and said, "You don't even know that guy? I heard that he ruined two hedge funds when he was studying at an American high school. Back then, those old foxes on Wall Street were shocked."
“More than that,” Lin Zixin said, recounting the story with great familiarity. “In his junior year of college, he single-handedly took on Morgan’s entire team and snatched the West Coast port project from them.”
Qu Yating's eyes lit up: "That amazing? Then he..."
"Don't even think about it," Bai Yuwei interrupted with a laugh. "The line of people chasing him could stretch from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica Beach. Do you know Miss Zhou? She transferred to Harvard Business School specifically to pursue him, but she barely even exchanged a few words with him."
Lin Zixin lowered her voice: "I heard that he has a childhood sweetheart fiancée in China. For her sake, he has remained celibate for many years and has never even had a scandal."
Several socialites sighed in regret at the same time, and Qu Yating glanced again at Shangqiu Bamboo in the distance, unwilling to give up.
Shangqiu Zhu seemed oblivious to the intense gazes directed at him from all around, and walked straight through the bustling hall filled with clinking glasses.
The door to the VIP room was respectfully pushed open by a waiter. Several young men were lounging lazily in leather sofas. Upon seeing Shangqiu Zhuren, they immediately burst into a commotion.
Richard was leaning against the French windows making a phone call when he saw them come in and immediately hung up: "Shang! If you hadn't come, I was going to call the police!"
"Shang! You've finally done me the honor!" Thomas Wilson, the young master of Goldman Sachs, greeted him with a glass of champagne.
Zhou Dongxun, the heir of the Zhou Group, laughed and said, "If we didn't know that President Shang has been living a simple and abstinent life all these years, we would all suspect that you are keeping a mistress in Beverly Hills."
Upon hearing this, Du Yunchuan laughed so hard his shoulders shook: "That's right!" He added with a wink, "Our CEO Shang has indeed been... very busy lately."
These Wall Street scions were all close friends of Shang Qiuzhu, having hung out with him since their Ivy League days.
They knew that Shangqiu Zhu and Yan You's marriage was purely a political alliance, and that Shangqiu Zhu didn't even bother to give his arrogant fiancée a second glance.
Shangqiu Zhu gave Du Yunchuan a cold look, and the latter immediately made a zipping motion on his mouth.
He calmly accepted the single malt bar from the waiter, saying, "The project is nearing completion, and I really can't leave."
"Come on!" Zhou Dongxun put his arm around his shoulder. "At the last Asia-Pacific Summit, you worked 72 hours straight without complaining." He lowered his voice. "Seriously, have you finally figured it out? My cousin was asking about you last month..."
Du Yunchuan suddenly interjected, "He likes younger women."
The private room fell silent instantly, and several pairs of eyes turned to Shangqiu Zhu.
Shangqiu Zhu slowly loosened his tie, causing Du Yunchuan to reflexively hide behind Zhou Dongxun.
Zhou Dongxun keenly sensed something, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Shang Qiuzhu and Du Yunchuan. "Could something really be going on?"
Shangqiu Zhu picked up his wine glass and took a sip. "Boring."
He walked straight to the circular sofa area by the window and sat down next to Thomas. "I heard that Goldman Sachs' new financial incubator is about to launch?"
Thomas said, "That's right, the 'Future Finance Initiative,' held every four years. This time, we are focusing on three major areas: cross-border payments, blockchain settlement, and digital banking, aiming to create a brand-new financial ecosystem."
After saying that, he smiled and tentatively asked, "What, Mr. Shang, are you interested?"
"The Shang family wants to participate." Shangqiu Zhu got straight to the point, his voice so calm that it betrayed no emotion.
Thomas raised his light golden eyebrows and looked at Shang Qiuzhu thoughtfully: "How come I remember you said that the Shang family's strategic focus in recent years has been on the fields of technology and energy?"
He couldn't help but laugh out loud. "The last time I wanted to collaborate with you, you said..." He deliberately mimicked Shang Qiuzhu's indifferent tone, "I was already tired of the Wall Street rules back in my sophomore year."
Du Yunchuan was chatting with Zhou Dongxun not far away when he heard this and suddenly turned his head, his face full of surprise.
He strode over, his eyes scanning back and forth between the two men: "Wait, Lao Shang, you're going to get involved in the Goldman Sachs project?"
Suddenly, something occurred to him, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up in a smile. "Could it be because..."
Shangqiu Zhu looked calmly at Du Yunchuan, his deep eyes showing no denial, only a barely perceptible warning.
Thomas keenly sensed the subtle atmosphere between the two, and he thoughtfully swirled his wine glass: "So... is there some special reason that made President Shang change his mind? Well then, I must thank you for this special reason."
Du Yunchuan thought to himself with exasperation: "The dignified heir of the Shang family, who would turn his back on countless noble ladies who would throw themselves at him, is now completely blinded by beauty."
He shook his head inwardly, but then he saw the other person tap a few times on the phone screen and bring up an encrypted file.
Thomas took the document, his expression gradually shifting from confusion to surprise.
The document details Shang's fintech strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, from digital banking licenses in Singapore to blockchain settlement systems in Hong Kong, each of which perfectly aligns with Goldman Sachs' projects.
"God, when did you set all this up?"
"It's been a while, and our blockchain settlement system in Hong Kong has just completed cross-border testing with the Central Bank of the UAE."
Thomas was utterly shocked: "My God! How much manpower and resources have we spent to open up this channel in the Middle East..."
Du Yunchuan listened in stunned silence. He had thought that Shang Qiuzhu was only suddenly interested in financial projects to pave the way for Yan Shuang, but he never expected that this person had already laid out a grand plan.
Thomas held the phone as if it were a priceless treasure, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "This isn't some traditional financial project; it's clearly the financial infrastructure of the next era!"
"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Shangqiu Zhu drank it all in one gulp.
Du Yunchuan chuckled and touched his nose, thinking to himself that this man was indeed still the same shrewd businessman who always thought ten steps ahead.
However ingenious the layout was, a ladder to heaven was still specially built for a certain little girl.
Finally, having finished discussing business, Du Yunchuan jumped up: "Come on, let's play cards!"
He pulled out an ivory deck of cards from behind the liquor cabinet, shuffled it deftly a few times, and said, "Same rules, Texas Hold'em, ante of ten thousand?"
The atmosphere in the private room immediately became lively, and Thomas was the first to respond: "Come on! But..." He glanced warily at Shang Qiuzhu, "Shang, I don't want to play against you. I lost a Porsche last time."
Zhou Dongxun waved his hands repeatedly: "I don't want to experience being crushed again. I still have nightmares about that game in Macau last year. It caused my dad to ground me for three months."
Shangqiu Zhu leaned back lazily in the leather sofa, raising an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this. "Then I'll be leaving?"
"No!" everyone exclaimed in unison.
Du Yunchuan grinned mischievously as he began dealing the cards: "What are you afraid of? At worst, you'll lose everything except your underwear."
He deliberately slid the first card in front of Shang Qiuzhu, "Anyway, our boss Shang is in a good mood lately, so he might go easy on you."
Shangqiu Zhu glanced at him coldly, then casually flipped over his cards: an Ace of Spades and a King of Hearts.
Everyone gasped in unison.
"I can't play." Zhou Dongxun folded his card, which drew a burst of laughter.
Shangqiu Zhu's slender fingers flipped over the cards, revealing yet another excellent hand.
He listlessly pushed the chips forward: "Call."
"Again?" Richard scratched his blond hair in frustration. "This is the seventh time!"
Shangqiu Zhu didn't answer. She picked up her phone with her left hand and tapped the screen lightly: [Are you home yet?]
The message had just been sent when the dialog box displayed "The other party is typing...".
Less than three seconds later, Yan Shuang's reply popped up: 【Not yet~】
Shangqiu Zhu frowned slightly: [Still at school?]
This time, the notification in the dialog box disappeared, and no new messages came in for a long time.
"Hey! It's your turn!" Zhou Dongxun tapped the table, glaring at the absent-minded Shang Qiuzhu with displeasure.
Without even looking up, Shangqiu Zhu casually tossed out several high-value chips: "Raise the bet."
"Damn it!" Zhou Dongxun folded immediately. "You raised without even looking at your cards?"
Shangqiu Zhu lazily lifted his eyelids: "Do you need to see?" He revealed his trump card, a straight flush.
Du Yunchuan whistled: "Awesome."
He glanced at Shang Qiuzhu picking up his phone again and said with a mischievous grin, "But our CEO Shang's mind is clearly not on the card table tonight~"
"Can't you concentrate for once?" Richard wailed. "At least have some respect for those of us who've lost everything!"
Shang Qiuzhu's thin lips curled slightly as he placed his silent phone face down on the table: "You'll lose even if I'm not focused." He slowly collected the chips, "If you focus, you might even have to pawn your underwear to me."
After three rounds of betting, the river card revealed the final Ace. Shangqiu Zhu calmly pushed out a stack of chips: "All in."
Richard's face turned pale, his eyes fixed on Shang Qiuzhu's expression, but unfortunately, his handsome face always wore an inscrutable indifference.
His fingers trembled as he opened his QQ: "I...I abstain."
Du Yunchuan suddenly laughed: "Follow me!" He looked at Shang Qiuzhu provocatively, "I don't believe you really have a gourd."
Shangqiu Zhu slowly revealed his cards, and the bottom card was another Ace.
"Damn it!" Du Yunchuan slammed his cards on the table. "Are you cheating, you bastard?!"
Shangqiu Zhu slowly collected the chips, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Your mental fortitude is too poor."
Richard's phone suddenly vibrated. Without even looking at it, he silenced it. "So annoying, all these women wanting bags and watches." He took a swig of whiskey. "What else can these women do besides treat me like an ATM?"
Zhou Dongxun grinned mischievously, a cigar dangling from his lips: "That's not necessarily true. The golden rule of women is that a woman who spends your money doesn't necessarily love you, but a woman who doesn't spend your money definitely doesn't love you."
Shang Qiuzhu's fingers, which were arranging the chips, suddenly stopped. He recalled the nervous phone call from the bank manager last week: "Mr. Shang, is there a problem with that black card in your name with the last four digits 8888? The system shows zero spending since the card was opened..."
At the time, he simply replied indifferently, "Don't worry about it." Now that I think about it, he clearly gave that card to Yan Shuang a long time ago.
Yan Shuang seemed to have never spent his money. She always seemed to accept everything he gave her quietly, but never asked for anything in return.
She was like a small flower growing on the edge of a cliff, stubbornly enduring the sunshine and rain he gave her, yet always maintaining just the right distance, refusing to take another step forward.
This sensible yet almost aloof attitude inexplicably made Shangqiu Zhu feel a surge of irritation.
"Hey, it's your turn!" Du Yunchuan tapped the table with a playing card.
Shangqiu Zhu casually tossed out a few chips, and unusually made a calculation error when placing his bet.
Everyone looked at each other in disbelief; this was truly unprecedented.
When the cards were revealed, Du Yunchuan whistled exaggeratedly: "Wow, our CEO Shang has finally lost a round!"
Shangqiu Zhu then glanced at the card table; his flush was completely defeated by Zhou Dongxun's full house.
"The sun has risen in the west?" Thomas stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Shangqiu Zhu ignored the teasing from the crowd.
He picked up his phone and dialed Yan Shuang's number directly.
"Hello? President Shang?" Yan Shuang's voice came through the microphone, with the background noise of the spring fashion show music and the constant clicking of camera shutters.
"Where?" His voice was lower than usual.
"It's at a fashion week show." Yan Shuang raised her voice to drown out the background noise.
Shangqiu Zhu nodded, even though she knew the other woman couldn't see: "Buy whatever you like."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Yan Shuang's confused voice: "Huh? Oh... okay..."
Backstage at the fashion show, Yan Shuang stared blankly at her phone.
Lin's mother waved from a distance: "Shuangshuang! Come and see this haute couture outfit!"
"Here it comes..." Yan Shuang jogged over, still pondering the inexplicable phone call.
Shangqiu Zhu would never call specifically for such a trivial matter. Could it be that there's something wrong with the company?
The moment the phone call ended, the air in the private room seemed to freeze.
Shangqiu Zhu's sharp eyebrows softened at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The others looked as if they had seen a ghost; they had never seen Shang Qiuzhu with such a gentle expression when answering the phone.
Not to mention his voice, which was usually as cold as ice, but was now incredibly gentle, even if it was only for a few words.
He ignored the astonishment in the room, casually pushed the chips he had won to Du Yunchuan, and as he stood up, he simply said, "Put the bill in my name."
Then, to everyone's astonishment, he strode out of the private room.
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