Harbor
When Zhong Yunxi heard Lu Xin mention that he was being introduced to a blind date, he only gave him a "get lost" look.
He simply assumed that Lu Xin was deliberately gloating because his mother was about to return to Yuegang.
His mother, Ms. Shi Lin, spent the spring, summer, and autumn in Beijing, and only stayed in Yuegang for three or four months in winter. During this time, he was forced to go on blind dates no less than thirty times.
For those three or four months, he spent half his time working in his car in the parking lot, and stayed in hotels at night. This was because Ms. Shi Lin would bring girls to his office, apartment, or villa to wait for him.
Until a few nights ago, at the dinner table, Lu Xin suddenly told him that his junior sister was in trouble and might need to find someone to marry.
He glanced at Lu Xin but didn't say anything.
Lu Xin nudged him: "I'm talking to you."
"I'm listening." He deleted the messages his mother sent him with a blank expression. They were all photos of eligible women his mother knew in Beijing, and she also sent him some girls' WeChat contact cards.
Lu Xin: "Don't you also need to find someone to marry?"
Only then did he look up, staring at Lu Xin as if he were mentally challenged.
Lu Xin analyzed it to him: "Aunt Shi will be back soon, are you still planning to work in the parking lot?"
Zhong Yunxi: ...
Lu Xin continued his analysis: "Or do you think the person Aunt Shi found for you from her circle of relatives and friends is more reliable? My junior sister is as beautiful as an angel, you're already lucky enough, and you still picked her. She's just finding someone to ward off bad suitors, she might not even like you. Forget it, you're not good enough for her."
Zhong Yunxi laughed at his clumsy attempt to provoke him and cursed, "Get lost."
That afternoon, he had just finished a meeting when he received a call from Lu Xin, who said he was having coffee on the 88th floor of the East Tower on Hong Kong Island and asked him to come down and meet him.
He was signing documents in his hand: "You drink, I'll have my assistant call their boss and I'll pay the bill."
Lu Xin: "I have important business to attend to, so you'd better get ready and come downstairs quickly."
He glanced at the time; he had half an hour before his next client meeting. He closed his file, stood up, and said, "Give me an iced Americano."
When Zhong Yunxi sat opposite Lu Xin, he noticed a minimalist women's handbag next to Lu Xin and roughly guessed what it was.
He only looked up slightly when he heard someone call him "Senior Brother," his eyes sweeping over the girl standing next to Lu Xin as she lifted her skirt and sat down.
Zhong Yunxi's first impression was of a pristine white long dress, sleeveless and halter-neck in a Chinese style, which accentuated her incredibly beautiful shoulders and neck, like a wisp of light silk hanging on a jade ruyi. A green sandalwood beaded belt wrapped twice around her waist added to the overall effect. Her entire demeanor exuded a quiet and cool aura.
After Lu Xin introduced her, Zhong Yunxi got closer to her when they shook hands, and he could see her features clearly. Her gentle almond-shaped eyes made her face look exceptionally beautiful, but Zhong Yunxi inexplicably felt that she must be very good at deceiving people.
Sure enough, as he got up to get a glass of warm water, he overheard her coldly complaining that he was too old.
Adding her friend, he jokingly asked her age, to which she retorted, "Seven years younger."
He guessed that Lu Xin must have mentioned him to Bai Yi, otherwise he wouldn't have been so precise as to be seven years old.
Zhong Yunxi was used to hearing people say he was cold and aloof, and he knew it was mostly because of his high position. But Bai Yi had a gentle and refined appearance, yet his eyes were clearly full of arrogance and coldness.
Zhong Yunxi roughly understood why Lu Xin kept calling her "junior sister" all day long, and even her unwanted romantic advances were on his mind. It was secondary that he was afraid of his mentor; with such a junior sister by his side, no man could bear to see her suffer.
Zhong Yunxi watched as she put away her phone and chatted casually with Lu Xin about a pharmaceutical company.
Lu Xin asked him, "Hey, Mr. Zhong, are you familiar with Runhe Pharmaceuticals?"
He seemed to think for a few seconds before not answering directly, but instead mentioned, "The development of new traditional Chinese medicines for diabetes and stroke has been quite good in recent years thanks to policy support, but scientific research is a bit weak."
Lu Xin couldn't help but ask, "You people in finance, when you pay attention to pharmaceutical companies, do you only care about whether they make money or not?"
In front of the two researchers of traditional Chinese medicine, Zhong Yunxi found it difficult to say "yes". After a moment of hesitation, he said tactfully, "No, not exactly either."
Lu Xin spoke with a disdainful expression: "A heartless capitalist."
Bai Yi also asked, "Mr. Zhong, have you paid any attention to Tiansheng Shipbuilding?"
She didn't know how to address him, but fortunately Lu Xin set an example, so she called him Boss Zhong, just like Lu Xin.
Although she was seven years older than him, Zhong Yunxi looked at her as if she were invisible. Her tone was soft, but it also carried an air of nonchalance.
Zhong Yunxi was rather curious about how she developed such a seemingly gentle yet subtly arrogant and aloof demeanor.
The Tiansheng Shipbuilding project was a sensitive issue for Leading Capital, and Zhong Yunxi should have been wary. But at that moment, being stared at by her, he instinctively wanted to answer her.
Zhong Yunxi finished his iced Americano before finally speaking: "The company that has been designated as ST by the CSRC [Note], given Tiansheng's size, bankruptcy and delisting are unlikely; it will most likely be restructured."
Bai Yi lowered his eyes and said "Oh," as if he had no patience to listen any further.
Suddenly looking up, he asked again, "Will the restructuring involve personnel adjustments?"
Zhong Yunxi was taken aback. It turned out she wasn't particularly concerned about the financial market or corporate operations, but rather about personnel matters. Perhaps she had relatives or friends working at Tiansheng. He hummed in agreement, then added, "It's not just adjustments..."
Before he could finish speaking, his assistant called. He glanced at the time and realized he had to go back to see a client.
His gaze swept past Lu Xin and landed on Bai Yi: "Excuse me, I have to go back and take care of some work. My coffee is on me today. I hope I'll have the chance to treat Miss Bai to coffee again in the future."
Leaving early at a blind date is considered impolite and is generally a sign that you are not interested in the other person.
However, Lu Xin did not make an appointment in advance for today's meeting, and he was indeed busy, so he could only leave the sincerity of making an appointment for another time.
Based on Lu Xin's understanding of Zhong Yunxi, it's impossible for him to extend such an ambiguous invitation to "later" to the women at the blind date.
Bai Yi simply nodded slightly, "Thank you for the coffee, Mr. Zhong."
She seemed to quite like calling him Boss Zhong, and Zhong Yunxi left with a smile.
As soon as he left, Lu Xin sent him a message: You bastard.
He glanced at her from the elevator and said frankly, "She wants a whirlwind marriage. I'm definitely more reliable than others. You decide what to do."
Lu Xin: ...
He turned to Bai Yi and asked, "Junior Sister, what exactly is this marriage alliance you mentioned?"
Bai Yi didn't try to hide it anymore: "He's the son of my dad's boss. It's been dragging on for several years."
Lu Xin, a researcher at a research institute, had never seen such a transaction before and was stunned for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Bai Yi remembered that Zhong Yunxi had said "more than just adjustments" and it seemed like he hadn't finished speaking, so she couldn't help but send him a message asking: "Boss Zhong just said that Tiansheng is more than just adjustments, what does that mean?"
After sending it, I felt it was too abrupt. He would probably be busy when he got back to his office, so I added: "No rush, reply when you're done. Thank you for your help."
Seeing his senior brother frown, Bai Yi took a sip of coffee and smiled mockingly: "After living a peaceful life in Xiangcheng for more than two years, I've forgotten all about the troubles in Yuegang."
Lu Xin felt a pang of guilt when he recalled how Bai Yi had lavishly praised Yuegang over Xiangcheng.
"Junior Sister..."
Bai Yi's tone remained nonchalant: "A marriage alliance isn't a death sentence. At worst, we'll just form an alliance."
Lu Xin just felt that her expression had become even colder.
He casually pointed to Zhong Yunxi's seat and said, "How does your arranged marriage partner compare to Zhong Yunxi? Or you can use him to ward off unwanted suitors? He won't object."
Bai Yi was momentarily stunned. She had only met Zhong Yunxi once, and judging by their faces alone, she couldn't really tell the difference. However, this man's aura and level of sophistication were clearly far more unfathomable than Zhou Qi's.
Seeing that she was stunned and didn't speak, Lu Xin had a gut feeling that she didn't like Zhong Yunxi.
Zhong Yunxi was sitting in the conference room watching a client's financing roadshow, but after seeing the information, his eyes never left his phone.
He didn't reply to Bai Yi immediately, but asked Lu Xin: Why does Bai Yi want to get married in a flash?
Lu Xin replied: I don't know much either. It's said to be an arranged marriage, the son of her father's boss. But I don't think my junior sister is interested in you.
Zhong Yunxi rested his chin on his hand, looking down for a long while.
The clients at the roadshow were so startled that they paused a bit because he barely looked up at the PPT and was only focused on his phone.
Zhong Yunxi opened Bai Yi's chat window and replied: Before a creditor initiates a restructuring, an audit will be commissioned. The level of detail in the audit's analysis of the company is determined by the creditor.
He didn't go on to say anything more serious, such as that based on the audit results and the creditors' demands, they would investigate and implicate certain individuals.
He put away his phone, reached out and flipped through a few pages of documents, then looked up at the client's roadshow.
In the coffee shop, Bai Yi looked at the two lines of text sent by Zhong Yunxi and roughly understood her father's situation.
This confirmed her prediction.
Tiansheng Shipbuilding, once a leading enterprise in the Vietnam-Hong Kong shipbuilding industry, was designated as a special treatment (ST) stock by the Vietnam-Hong Kong Stock Exchange due to continuous losses, triggering bankruptcy. Its debt totaled 34.3 billion yuan, of which 17.8 billion yuan was financial debt. Of this 17.8 billion yuan, 5 billion yuan was owed to Leading Capital as a creditor.
Several creditors filed for bankruptcy reorganization, and after the ruling by the Intermediate Court of Vietnam and Hong Kong, they are working on a reorganization plan.
108th Floor, East Tower, Hong Kong Island. CEO's Office, Leading Capital.
After seeing the client off, Zhong Yunxi returned to his office and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window making a phone call. A few minutes later, he hung up, and his assistant Xue Meng stepped forward and handed him a document: "Boss, this is Tiansheng's restructuring plan. Please take a look."
He took it, but instead of sitting down at the desk, he walked over to the sofa, crossed his legs naturally, and leaned back against the sofa.
Xue Meng made him some tea and stood beside him waiting.
Having served as Zhong Yunxi's assistant for so many years, Xue Meng was familiar with his casual actions and indicated that he was aware of the situation and would provide feedback soon.
He skipped the two major sections on "asset divestiture" and "introduction of strategic investment" in the document and went straight to the last section, "integration of main business and personnel organizational structure".
After looking at it for almost ten minutes, the instructions given were: "Check among the middle and upper management of Tiansheng to see if there is a male surnamed Bai, around fifty years old. Inquire about his social connections and his superiors and subordinates in Tiansheng."
Xue Meng paused for a moment, then replied, "I'll contact Tiansheng's HR department now."
Zhong Yunxi raised the corner of his eye slightly, "Investigate privately."
Even after so many years by his side, Xue Meng was sometimes intimidated by his gaze. The man's phoenix eyes, when expressionless, were sharp, cold, and incredibly imposing. Xue Meng replied, "Understood."
Zhong Yunxi then raised his hand and handed over the document: "In terms of personnel organization structure, the middle management will continue to be reduced."
Xue Meng took it: "I'll have them optimize it further."
The next morning, before Zhong Yunxi arrived at his office, Xue Meng had already compiled Bai Yeliang's personal information and placed it on his desk.
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