Ruan Bei carefully placed the newly made red cloak coat into Niu Niu's wardrobe. The weather was getting colder day by day. Even though ghosts couldn't sense hot or cold, Ruan Bei still felt cold for the little girl when she saw that she was still wearing a dress.
After hanging up the baby clothes and putting away his tools, Ruan Bei looked at Bai Miaomiao, who had been circling around him several times: "Is there something you need?"
Bai Miaomiao stood still and nodded stiffly.
"Speak, what is it?" Ruan Bei turned around and leaned against the back of the chair to look at him.
Bai Miaomiao pulled over her chair and sat down in the same position as Ruan Bei, propping her chin up with her hand, and hesitated before asking, "Um, have you seen the recent news?"
"In what aspect?" Ruan Bei asked.
I followed Lu Sibai's scandal for several days a while. At first, I found it very interesting, but it became more and more boring later on.
Ruan Bei also saw some people saying that Lu Sibai's ability to juggle multiple relationships was his skill, and that all of those relationships seemed quite good, which made people even more envious.
This isn't just paid trolls; there are genuine people who think this way.
Given Ruan Bei's values, it's truly difficult to understand why he would have such an idea.
Later, the situation became increasingly chaotic. Sometimes, the arguments would veer off-topic and the insults would become quite vulgar, so Ruan Bei stopped caring about it.
Anyway, having achieved his goal of teaching Lu Sibai a lesson, Ruan Bei breathed a sigh of relief and kicked out his henchmen ahead of time. He was already very satisfied with the result.
“Lu Minghai… he suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was hospitalized.” Bai Miaomiao said while secretly observing Ruan Bei’s expression.
Ruan Bei was taken aback: "A cerebral hemorrhage? Is he dead?"
"No, no, it doesn't seem to be very serious. They were taken to the hospital in time and have been rescued. They are currently recuperating in the hospital."
Xiao Bei indeed had connections with the Lu family. When he mentioned Lu Minghai's name, he didn't even ask who it was; he immediately recognized him, clearly very familiar with him.
"Oh." Ruan Bei felt nothing after hearing that the person was not dead.
After all, Lu Minghai is his biological father. If he dies from anger caused by Lu Sibai, he can burn a stack of paper money for him as a way of sending him off.
But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that Lu Minghai was not the kind of person who was easily angered. To be honest, he was quite patient. When he was young, he was not valued at home and lay low for many years. When he suddenly rose to power, even his parents did not expect it.
Lu Sibai's actions are shameful, but they shouldn't have angered Lu Minghai to this extent, right?
Curious, Ruan Bei asked.
Bai Miaomiao explained, "Oh, you haven't been watching the news lately, have you? Haiming Group is in trouble."
With its stock price falling and customers who had signed sales contracts wanting to cancel their purchases, Haiming Group was in dire straits and had come under the scrutiny of the authorities.
That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Lu Minghai collapsed at this time, suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and being rushed to the hospital, leaving the Haiming Group in a precarious and crisis-ridden state.
Although Lu Siyuan was confused about his love life, his work ability was not bad. He stepped up at this time and tried to save Haiming Group.
This situation is quite similar to the predicament that the Bai family faced more than ten years ago. Both times, the head of the family had an accident, the group faced difficulties, the heir was young, and the situation was critical.
However, the two are different. Bosen had just come of age at that time and had not even finished his first year of college.
Lu Siyuan was about to graduate from university and had interned at his family's company for several years. He was at least familiar with all kinds of business, if not familiar with them.
Bai Sen was merely an adopted son of the Bai family, with a biological son named Bai Miaomiao, making his status illegitimate.
Lu Siyuan was Lu Minghai's eldest son, whom he had been grooming as his successor since childhood. He was the rightful heir of the Haiming Group.
Therefore, from an internal perspective, Lu Siyuan has an advantage over Bai Sen. Bai Sen was able to turn the tide and save the Bai family from dire straits. Logically speaking, even if Lu Siyuan can't be as good as Bai Sen, he should at least be able to hold on until Lu Minghai wakes up and can take charge, since he's still alive.
The problem is that Lu Minghai didn't die, and all the shares of Haiming Group are in Lu Minghai's hands. Lu Siyuan only has the five percent of shares that Lu Minghai gave him when he came of age.
At that time, Bai Sen had about the same number of shares as him, but Mrs. Bai had all the Bai family shares that President Bai had given him, so she took a strong position and pushed Bai Sen to take over.
What does Lu Siyuan have? What can he do with these few shares? Lu Minghai has always been domineering, making the other shareholders feel suffocated.
He used to be able to help everyone make money, and the shareholders would just accept it without complaint. But now, because of the scandal his son caused, the company's stock price has plummeted.
For the shareholders, the falling stock price meant they were losing money. One by one, the shareholders almost hated Lu Sibai to death and often scolded Lu Minghai at home for not knowing how to raise children.
Under these circumstances, Lu Siyuan's attempt to take control of Haiming Group with a mere five percent of the shares is nothing short of a pipe dream.
Feng Zhihui did express her support for her eldest son, but she held very few shares. When her husband fell ill, she almost fainted, let alone help her eldest son.
If the major project that Lu Siyuan was in charge of in the first half of the year hadn't failed, he would already be in the company's management team by now, and perhaps he wouldn't be so constrained and unable to move forward.
Unfortunately, he is now a nobody, holding the title of heir but without any real power.
There is a lack of consensus within the group, shareholders are vying for power, the company's external operations are experiencing major turmoil, and the official inspection team is still working.
Beset by internal and external troubles, Lu Siyuan was tied up and could only watch helplessly as the Haiming Group fell into internal strife at this critical moment, failing to resolve any of the real problems that needed to be addressed.
Haiming Group's stock price has hit the daily limit down for several consecutive days because the inspection team's random inspection results were unsatisfactory, and several projects under development were ordered to stop work and undergo quality inspection again.
If a project is only half-finished and is stopped for even one more day, the amount of money wasted will be in the hundreds of thousands. If it is stopped for several more days, the Haiming Group's cash flow will be cut off.
Lu Minghai suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, and if he hears these news again, he may collapse and never get up again.
Lu Siyuan was frantic; no one cared about Lu Sibai at that moment.
It would be a lie to say that Lu Siyuan harbored no resentment at all. Ultimately, the whole thing started because Lu Sibai inexplicably seduced Chu Tianze, which gave others leverage against him.
He used to think his father was going too far by relentlessly interrogating his younger brother, but now it seems he was too young and didn't think things through.
If they had known about these things sooner and taken action earlier, they wouldn't be in this predicament now.
Even Feng Zhihui, who always doted on Lu Sibai, began to harbor resentment towards him.
My husband has collapsed and is still in the hospital. My eldest son is so busy every day that he doesn't even have time to sleep, and he's being bullied by those senior employees at his company.
No matter how naive and innocent Feng Zhihui is, and no matter how much she feels sorry for Lu Sibai, compared to her husband and eldest son who have been mistreated, she can no longer maintain a normal attitude towards Lu Sibai.
However, Lu Sibai was quite shrewd. After the incident at home, he saw it as an opportunity and, with the slap mark on his face still not fully healed, went to Qin Shen for help, apologizing and begging.
He knew he couldn't clear his name by retracting the recording, so he simply stopped trying, apologized to Qin Shen, and cried so hard he almost fainted.
He said he knew he had wronged Qin Shen, that he had done something wrong, and that he understood Qin Shen's unwillingness to forgive him. However, he couldn't let the long-standing relationship between their two families be severed because of him.
My mother and Aunt Luo have been best friends for decades. He made a mistake, but it shouldn't affect their relationship.
These words were so sincere that Feng Zhihui was moved to tears and hugged him. She thought to herself, "My youngest son is still young. Why can't I forgive him for making a mistake? He is so thoughtful and considerate."
When Qin Shen first heard the recording, he wanted nothing more than to sever all ties with Lu Sibai, but as time went on, he watched as the Lu family fell into trouble.
Lu Sibai came to find him, his face still bearing injuries. From childhood to adulthood, he had never been beaten, and even when he fell down, everyone would comfort and pamper him.
The child he had protected since childhood looked pitiful. Qin Shen's face remained cold, but his heart began to soften.
The nickname "Prince of Green Hats" is still circulating online, making it impossible for him to reconcile with Lu Sibai immediately. However, that doesn't stop him from speaking well of his parents in private, hoping they will help the Lu family.
Luo Youqi and Feng Zhihui have a really good relationship. After all, in her socialite circle when she was young, it was almost impossible to find another person as innocent and naive as Feng Zhihui who would fawn over her and never stab her in the back.
When she married into the Qin family, she was envied by countless people. Only Feng Zhihui foolishly believed that she, like herself, had chosen true love.
Although Luo Youqi sometimes thought Feng Zhihui was ridiculously stupid, their decades-long friendship was genuine.
Besides, Qin Zhengping sounds good because he carries the Qin family name, but in reality he has no power and no money... what can he do with the money earned from those few small companies in his family?
In a real comparison, Qin Zhengping's branch of the family is far less wealthy than the Lu family. Over the years, she has received many benefits from Feng Zhihui, so she is unwilling to watch Feng Zhihui's husband's family decline like this.
However, the mother and son could not persuade Qin Zhengping.
What Qin Zhengping least wanted to be mentioned by others was his dishonorable birth, not his paternal line, but his maternal line.
He had always been proud of his identity as a member of the Qin family, but the words "illegitimate child" were a wound that Qin Zhengping could not bear to touch.
Unlike Qin Shen, who grew up with his mother far from the main branch of the Qin family, Qin Zhengping was secretly born by his mother and was sent to the Qin family when he was seven or eight years old and could remember things.
That woman had big ambitions. She was born into a humble family, but she was beautiful. Especially after witnessing the lives of the wealthy who treated money like dirt in those private sanatoriums, she developed some unrealistic expectations.
She dreamed of marrying into a wealthy family, but after careful observation and research, she found that it would be difficult to directly charm a rich man into marrying her.
In the end, she chose the Qin family. She knew the Qin family was wealthy, and everyone, whether they knew them or not, including the sanatorium leaders and other patients, treated the young couple from the Qin family with utmost care and respect.
Then she realized that this was the group of people at the very top. Back then, the young Mr. Qin was noble and handsome, with outstanding temperament. In terms of appearance alone, he had already surpassed many wealthy people of the same class.
Madam Qin was frail and sickly, reportedly due to a congenital weakness. She was not destined to die, but required careful nurturing and spent seven or eight months of the year in a sanatorium.
With her physical condition, conceiving was difficult, and the couple had been married for several years without having children.
Therefore, Qin Zhengping's birth mother felt that if she could give birth to the Qin family's heir, she would have the opportunity to replace Madam Qin and become the matriarch of the Qin family, thus transcending social classes and living the life she had always dreamed of.
No one knows exactly how it happened afterward, but she ended up in bed with Mr. Qin. The nurse didn't expect to succeed on the first try; she was thinking of doing it a few more times. At worst, she could become Mr. Qin's mistress, which would be better than serving him here.
However, once Mr. Qin got out of bed, he didn't recognize her and tried to get rid of her by giving her a sum of money.
While in bed he was driven by desire, once out of bed, the man was very clear-headed. Even if he wanted to cheat, there was no need for him to get entangled with his wife's caregiver. Even a rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its burrow.
The nurse was naturally unwilling to accept this, but at this moment, the gentle and easy-going Mr. Qin slightly revealed his methods as a person in a superior position, and made this woman, who had nothing but her face, suffer a lot.
So she took the money and left obediently.
However, she was incredibly lucky and hit the jackpot that time, becoming pregnant with Mr. Qin's child.
She hesitated for a long time between going directly to the Qin family and giving birth to the child first, but in the end she decided to give birth to the child first.
After all, Mr. Qin is so cold-hearted. What if he makes her have an abortion? What if she gives birth to a worthless daughter?
She had money, so she found a place to bring her parents to take care of her during her pregnancy. When it was almost time, she bribed someone to check the baby's gender. After finding out it was a boy, she took even better care of him.
Then Qin Zhengping was born. The woman, holding the eldest son of the Qin family, dreamed of marrying into a wealthy family and fell asleep peacefully.
After resting for a while, she thought she could finally bring her child to the Qin family's door. Her son was the eldest son of the Qin family, and she would be the future Mrs. Qin.
But her mother told her that the child was so young that he didn't even remember his mother. If she sent the child back now, what if Mr. Qin only wanted to keep the child and raise him under Mrs. Qin's name? How would he know that he had a biological mother? He would not recognize her.
These words startled Qin Zhengping's biological mother. She felt that her mother was right; Mr. Qin was capable of doing such a thing.
So they kept the child, planning to raise him until he was old enough to understand, and then send him back.
As for whether sending the child back late will affect the development of the father-son relationship, if the child doesn't even remember her, then what was the point of her having the child?
So, from the time Qin Zhengping was old enough to understand, he was brainwashed by his elders, who told him that he was the young master of a large family and that he would have to go back and inherit his father's billions of assets sooner or later.
He must also be filial to his mother and maternal grandparents, for they are his only true family. If another woman asks him to call her "Mom," she is lying, she is a bad person, and she wants to harm him.
Qin Zhengping was an illegitimate child with no father. On the one hand, his family boasted about his extraordinary birth, while on the other hand, he suffered discrimination from outside.
In that era, the social atmosphere was relatively conservative, and there was a great deal of discrimination against women who gave birth out of wedlock and children whose fathers were unknown. Qin Zhengping's mentality was thus distorted, and he became extremely self-conscious and extremely arrogant.
Whenever he was bullied and insulted by other children, he would think, "When I go back to my father's house and become a young master, I'll see how I deal with you all."
His mother waited until he was seven or eight years old before finally sending him back to the Qin family.
But what he saw was not his father, who was welcoming him with joy. His father was holding a boy a few years younger than him, who was as beautiful as a little prince. His father looked at him with disgust and contempt, as if he were looking at something dirty.
A beautiful and elegant aunt took the little boy from his father's arms and left without looking back.
His father didn't even give him and his mother a second glance before hurrying after them.
Thanks to his birth mother, Qin Zhengping was already old enough to remember things at that time, so he remembered everything that happened that year. Even if he didn't understand it, he understood it when he looked back on it later in life.
Because of his appearance, Mrs. Qin discovered that her husband had been having an affair, and she demanded a divorce.
However, due to various reasons, they did not get a divorce, so she chose to separate and live with her son.
Qin Zhengping was also kept on, but his mother's wish was not fulfilled. Although he was the eldest son of the Qin family, everyone knew that he was an unrecognized and neglected illegitimate child.
It wouldn't be considered abuse; Madam Qin was proud and had extremely high standards for herself, and she wouldn't stoop to doing anything to a child.
But it's impossible to treat him like your own child, so just pretend he doesn't exist.
Poor Qin Zhengping, he was brainwashed by his mother into believing that he could inherit billions of dollars in assets upon his return, but he was constantly outshone by his half-brother.
He was clearly several years older than Qin Zhengze, but Qin Zhengze's mind was particularly abnormal.
Qin Zhengping was at most an ordinary person who was slightly smart, but Qin Zhengze was aiming straight for genius. Whether it was appearance or IQ, he was miles ahead of him.
Moreover, Qin Zhengze's personality was also very abnormal. Qin Zhengping grew up being crushed all the way, and in the end, all his pride was destroyed. Seeing that he had no competitiveness compared to his outstanding younger brother, he simply stayed in Jincheng after graduating from university. At least here, with the identity of a member of the Qin family, everyone fawned over him.
After being praised for so many years, Qin Zhengping became arrogant. In addition, Qin Zhengze had no son, and it was possible that the Qin family's future business would belong to his son, so he became even more conceited.
However, who could have imagined that this would happen? His son was dating a younger boyfriend, which he was already unhappy about. If his wife hadn't persuaded him, saying that if all else failed, they could have a child through surrogacy, he would have broken them up long ago.
As it turns out, that seemingly well-behaved little boy actually dared to cheat on his son!
The incident escalated to such a large extent that his entire family was implicated. His younger brother, Qin Zhengze, whom he considered his rival, didn't even show up. He simply posted an announcement online, which completely exposed Qin Zhengze's shamelessness and left him to be trampled on.
Qin Zhengping was furious.
His most painful secret about his past was exposed to the public, and he wished he could kill Lu Sibai.
So his wife and son actually wanted him to help the Lu family? Dream on!
Qin Zhengping resolutely refused the Lu family's request for help. No matter how much Qin Shen was valued, he had no money or power, so he could only sigh in vain.
Lu Sibai was rebuffed by him, but she still gently said it was okay and thanked him.
He knew he couldn't help the company's management, and given his current reputation, he didn't dare to go out and about, so he stayed at the hospital to take care of Lu Minghai.
He resented the slap Lu Minghai had given him, but he knew that now he was the young master of the Lu family, and his fate was intertwined with the Lu family's. If the Lu family fell, he would not benefit.
So he took great care of Lu Minghai, even neglecting his own classes. However, their school wasn't very strict about this, so no teacher bothered him even if he didn't attend classes; they just knew he was alright.
Despite Lu Siyuan's best efforts, he was still unable to save his company. By the time Lu Minghai woke up and was able to speak and manage affairs, Haiming Group's stock had already plummeted to an unsustainable level.
Moreover, with the project halted, the completed houses could not be sold, the cash flow was disrupted, and shareholders sold off their shares and jumped ship.
If they don't come up with a solution soon, Haiming Group will have to declare bankruptcy.
Outsiders only know the general outline of these news reports, such as the fact that the Haiming Group is facing problems.
Ke Baimiao knew a lot of inside information, all of which she heard from her brother.
"And now?" Ruan Bei pressed.
Bai Miaomiao said, "The situation has stabilized now."
Lu Minghai is indeed capable. If the official quality inspection fails and rectification is ordered, then he will rectify it.
When houses couldn't be sold, the public relations department issued an apology letter to customers, admitting their mistakes, clarifying rumors, and increasing discounts on home purchases.
"This...this must cost a lot of money," Ruan Bei asked doubtfully. "Didn't they say the cash flow was cut off?"
Bai Miaomiao coughed lightly and said awkwardly, "A company has invested in Haiming Group."
Ruan Bei: "???"
Even if he didn't understand business, he knew that at this time, taking advantage of the situation to acquire shares of Haiming Group was the most appropriate way to maximize profits. Who would be idle enough to inject capital into them?
Although Bai Miaomiao didn't say it, he knew that Bai Sen would definitely not let this opportunity pass by, and who knows how many shares of Haiming Group he might hold.
“Selling his son,” Bai Miaomiao said dismissively. “It’s not like Lu Minghai hasn’t sold his son before.”
Ruan Bei: "...With Lu Sibai's reputation, is there anyone still willing to hire him?"
How can they still make so much money? Are wealthy gay men these days so uncouth?
“It’s not Lu Sibai, it’s Lu Siyuan,” Bai Miaomiao explained. “There’s a coal mine owner who made his fortune in coal mining, and later he invested in the entertainment industry and made a lot of money. He’s extremely rich. He only has one daughter, and she’s not very pretty. This young lady has always had a crush on Lu Siyuan…”
Ruan Bei: "..."
Although Bai Miaomiao didn't say it explicitly, he could tell that she said "not very good-looking" with some difficulty.
Regardless of what the young lady looks like, Lu Siyuan is gay. Marrying her under false pretenses is incredibly degrading.
Ruan Bei frowned, somewhat unsure of what to do.
Bai Miaomiao continued her rambling: "Although this Miss Shui's appearance is... just average, Lu Siyuan is really getting a good deal. His father-in-law only has this one daughter, so won't all the family fortune go to Miss Shui in the future? That's exactly what Lu Minghai is planning..."
"Wait, what did you just say was that lady's last name?" Ruan Bei pressed.
"My surname is Shui," Bai Miaomiao said. "Don't you also think this surname is rare?"
"Yeah, haha." Ruan Bei laughed twice. Indeed, it's such a rare surname; he's hardly ever encountered it before.
I did know one in my past life; coincidentally, she was also the only daughter of a big boss.
However, this Miss Shui is the complete opposite of her surname.
In her past life, after she married a young master from a certain family, her husband was having affairs outside. Then this ruthless woman brought a group of bodyguards and cornered her husband in a private room at a club.
Her husband was terrified. As a result, Miss Shui directly ordered ten prostitutes for him. He had to sleep with them, even if he had to take medication. She played with this poor man until he was half-crippled and had to be rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.
Later, her husband almost lost his erectile function and dared not go out and fool around anymore, but Miss Shui didn't want him anymore.
Anyway, that's how men are. She was too lazy to get a divorce, so she kept a handsome young man as a mistress and lived a carefree and happy life.
If it's this young lady, then he really doesn't need to worry about her.
He had to worry about Lu Siyuan. What if his sexuality was exposed? Would Miss Shui call ten men for him?
Ruan Beiguang couldn't help but shudder at the thought of that scene.
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