Chapter 88 Dilemma
"What?" Gu Ningwei was puzzled.
He decided to give Han Que an explanation, and this explanation was no longer as simple as just giving him a bank card.
At first, he was attracted by her beauty and her special stubbornness, but after getting along with her, her position in his heart has become irreplaceable.
"What do you like about her?" Tang Zifeng teased, "You, Gu Ningwei, have never been short of women. Just based on those alluring peach blossom eyes of yours, countless women would fall for your suit pants."
"Let's not talk about this now. What other women think has nothing to do with me." Gu Ningwei muttered dissatisfiedly: "I'm not a breeding pig in heat. As long as it's a female, I can have sex with her."
Tang Zifeng smiled and kicked his toes with his leather shoes: "Are you serious?"
"Nonsense." Gu Ningwei took back his leather shoes. "If I wasn't sincere, would I talk to you about these things? Would I ask you, a great god, to guide her?"
"That's right." Tang Zifeng looked smug. "You know how popular I am right now. Companies and schools that want to make money in the biotechnology field are all eyeing me. They're looking for industry-university-research integration projects. My mailbox is overflowing with proposals."
"Alright, Professor Tang, you're amazing. I, Gu Ningwei, admit defeat. Okay?" Gu Ningwei waved his hand, frowning impatiently. "I'm not kidding. I want to talk business."
He said it with sincerity and anticipation.
"Do you think it's feasible? Can they take your shares?" Tang Zifeng squinted at him and shook his head. "Although I've only just met her, I can tell that this girl is not an ordinary person. She has her own ideas and won't be easily manipulated by others. If you give her your shares in the company, and she helps you manage the company and make money, and then sees you and He Lian become a couple and have a happy marriage, do you think she will accept it? Who do you think she is?"
Tang Zifeng said this and looked at Gu Ningwei again, laughing in his heart. The old saying is indeed right, those who are involved in the matter are often confused, while those who are on the sidelines can see clearly. Even someone as smart as Gu Ningwei couldn't figure this out.
Gu Ningwei sighed deeply and leaned back on the sofa, his anxiety and worry evident in his expression.
"This is so fucking annoying," he muttered to himself. "Am I really going to give up on her like this? Can't I have the best of both worlds?"
"You can't have your cake and eat it too." Tang Zifeng patted his shoulder. "Buddy, I have to go back to school. You stay here and take your time to weigh the pros and cons."
As he spoke, he picked up the coffee on the table, took a sip, pursed his lips and praised: "The coffee is good."
Gu Ningwei raised his eyes and glanced at him, still lost in thought.
Tang Zifeng looked at him and felt a little amused. He stood up and said, "I really have to leave. You should think about it carefully." Then he pretended to leave.
Gu Ningwei grabbed his arm and said, "Hey, you haven't answered my question yet?"
"What's the problem?"
"Han Que, can she support the R&D department? I mean in terms of technology?"
"If she needs any technical support, I'm here." Tang Zifeng looked down at him condescendingly, "Even if she didn't study this major, I can still help her. Besides, she has a good foundation."
"That's all." Gu Ningwei let out a long sigh and looked at Tang Zifeng again: "Why are you leaving? Let's have dinner together tonight."
Tang Zifeng asked with a smile: "Is Han Que going too?"
"Of course." Gu Ningwei said affirmatively. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to stare at him for a long time: "What do you mean?"
Tang Zifeng touched his nose and smiled, "Nothing interesting, I just thought Han Quezai could chat for a while longer."
"Want to chat for a while?" Gu Ningwei looked suspicious, not knowing what he was thinking. His tone was a little cold: "I'm warning you, that's mine. You'd better not have any other thoughts."
"Tsk, your people?" Tang Zifeng said disdainfully, "That depends on whether you have the ability to protect your people for a long time. If you marry He Lian, will Han Que still be yours?"
Gu Ningwei was so angry that he laughed. He warned in a dangerous tone: "Tang Zifeng, you can't bully your friend's wife."
"That has to be a friend's wife." Tang Zifeng raised his eyebrows and said with a mischievous smile, "She's yours now, so I won't have any thoughts. But if you marry someone else someday, I can't guarantee that I won't have any thoughts."
"Aren't you going back to school? Why aren't you leaving?" Gu Ningwei glared at him coldly and ordered him to leave in a chilling tone.
Tang Zifeng tried hard to hold back his laughter for a long time before he finally said, "Do you think there will be no chance now that I'm gone? A gentleman loves a beautiful lady. Loving beauty is human nature."
"Okay, okay, go back to your work, my great professor." Gu Ningwei stood up and pushed and pulled Tang Zifeng out the door.
"Professor Tang has gone back?" Han Que came in to clean up the office and asked Gu Ningwei softly.
"Yeah." Gu Ningwei sat in front of the window in a daze, his tone indifferent.
"Oh, he went back so soon." Han's face was full of disappointment. He asked again, "When will he come again?"
"Do you want him to come over often?" Gu Ningwei looked up at her, wanting to smile.
"Of course." Han nodded. "Our R&D department has just been established, so of course we hope he can come and give us guidance."
"Can't you just work harder? It's better to rely on yourself than on others." Gu Ningwei raised his eyebrows and said.
"Huh?" Han looked at him and finally noticed that he was in a bad mood. "What's wrong with you?"
"I don't know." Gu Ningwei answered stiffly.
"Don't know?" Han glanced at him in surprise. Seeing that he looked depressed and seemed to be troubled by something, she stopped asking. She picked up the water cup and replaced it with a cup of tea. She returned to the office and put it next to Gu Ningwei.
Gu Ningwei grabbed her wrist, staring at her with his dark eyes, and suddenly asked, "Han Que, you won't run away from me, will you?"
"I..." Han was shocked. She remained silent and avoided Gu Ningwei's direct questioning gaze in a panic.
"Speak." Gu Ningwei pulled her wrist.
"What do you want me to say?" Han smiled helplessly and pulled his wrist away. "Can we not talk about these issues now?"
"Why not talk about it?" Gu Ningwei frowned.
"It's not time to talk about it yet." Han said softly, avoiding his gaze and taking a few steps back, away from him. "I heard that your engagement party has been postponed?"
Gu Ningwei was stunned.
This was the first time that Han Que took the initiative to mention his engagement with He Lian. Before this, they had always avoided this topic.
Gu Ningwei nodded and explained, "He Lian took too many sleeping pills that night and is not feeling well. The doctor recommended that she rest for a while, and her family doesn't want anything to go wrong at this time."
Han said "Oh" and nodded: "Then our three-month deadline will be extended for a while."
Gu Ningwei was stunned. To be honest, he had forgotten that there was a three-month deadline. At that time, he felt that he had everything under control, but now he was in a dilemma.
Seeing that he didn't answer, Han didn't say anything. He smiled at him and nodded: "Yes, then it's not the time to discuss this matter yet. When the time comes, there will naturally be an answer."
After she finished speaking, she turned back and prepared to leave. Gu Ningwei leaned over, grabbed her, and asked impatiently, "You mean if I were to be with He Lian... you would still leave me?"
"What else?" Han stared at him with his dark eyes, "Do you really want me to be your mistress?"
After saying that, she shook off his hand, turned around and walked out of the office.
Gu Ningwei was alone, dazed and dejected.
The setting sun outside the window, like a huge runny duck egg yolk, is slowly sinking between the gaps between reinforced concrete buildings.
The afterglow falls on the gray-blue glass curtain wall, which is flowing and gorgeous.
Somehow, a line from a poem he had learned in elementary school popped into his mind: "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk."
Has Chengguang’s twilight arrived?
When it was almost time to get off work, Gu Ningwei received a call from Gu Zhiguang asking about He Lian's situation.
He only then learned that a few days ago, Gu Zhiguang had actually visited He Lian at the He family on behalf of the "Chengguang Group" in an official capacity, but did not see He Lian herself.
He went to visit the He family with a flower basket that afternoon and was told that He Lian had been transferred to a private nursing home for closed recuperation.
He Lian's mother, tears streaming down her face, sobbed to Gu Zhiguang in the living room, "Ah, Lian'er is so strong-willed and so driven. She's always thinking about breaking through herself. I told her that a person's talent is limited and that she should just let nature take its course, but she wouldn't listen. She's been painting day and night in the studio, refusing to see anyone, neglecting to eat or sleep properly, and she's ruined her health..."
But when Gu Zhiguang asked about He Lian's condition, He Lian's mother refused to say it clearly, and was vague and evasive.
Gu Zhiguang asked Gu Ningwei: "I heard that you were the one who took He Lian to the hospital that day? What illness did she have?"
Gu Ningwei pondered for a moment and said vaguely, "I don't know either. She called me that day and said she wasn't feeling well and needed to go to the hospital. It was too late for her to go alone, so I went to accompany her. By the time I arrived, she had already seen a doctor."
Gu Zhiguang, that old fox, is scheming everywhere, so Gu Ningwei would never tell him the truth.
Gu Zhiguang said "Oh" and half-jokingly said, "We still need to find out what the disease is. If it's an infectious disease or something, I, as your uncle, will be in trouble."
Gu Ningwei chuckled: "Uncle, what does this have to do with you?"
"Hey, that's not what I meant." Gu Zhiguang: "I was the matchmaker between you and He Lian. Although our two families really think that you two are a perfect match, and you already knew each other and were friends, I was the one who proposed the marriage between our two families, so I have to be responsible for you."
Gu Ningwei expressed his gratitude with a smile. After hanging up the phone, he sat alone on the sofa and thought for a long time.
Obviously Gu Zhiguang was a little anxious.
He Lian's illness gave the He family an opportunity to delay time, and they were also waiting and watching.
"Chengguang Group" is now plagued by negative news. In addition to rumors, the stock price has been falling all the way, and at the close of each day, it will draw a long negative line.
In April, Chengguang Group announced its financial report for the previous year, showing a sharp decline in both main business revenue and main business profit, and its debt-to-asset ratio hit a record high.
Although the real estate industry as a whole is declining, it is still astonishing that "Chengguang" has declined so quickly.
Think about it, in the early 1990s, Gu Zhicheng was just a small leader of a building repair team under the Housing Authority, and Gu Zhiguang was just a budget clerk.
They contracted a construction company and later carried out a shareholding reform until they officially entered the real estate industry around 2000. Since then, they have been making rapid progress, frantically acquiring land, integrating upstream and downstream resources, and taking the company public.
Good times always pass quickly.
But with the passing of the golden age of real estate, Chengguang began to decline. As a shareholder, Gu Ningwei once proposed at the board meeting that the company should seize the time to transform and reduce the debt ratio, but was rejected.
They are greedy for the grand scale and the vanity and convenience of being treated as guests of honor. Gu Zhiguang also argued that only scale can reduce costs.
Since the end of 2020, the crackdown on real estate has been coming in full force.
At the end of 2020, relevant departments issued regulations on the concentration management of real estate loans of commercial banks, which is to block the amount of money that financial institutions can inject into the real estate industry.
Next, a guiding price for second-hand homes will be implemented in cities where housing prices are rising rapidly. This guiding price is far lower than the actual market price. Banks issuing mortgage loans based on this guiding price for second-hand homes actually significantly raise the threshold for buying a house.
This second-hand housing guidance price policy can be regarded as a powerful weapon to cool down real estate sales. After the implementation of this policy, the most popular second-hand housing transactions have dropped by 80%!
Financial institutions refused to lend, and terminal sales cooled rapidly. These two policies were like a double whammy for the highly indebted Chengguang Group, causing immediate major problems with its cash flow.
Having lost the window of opportunity for transformation, Chengguang has been on a downward spiral ever since.
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