Chapter 59. Is that all?
"No, I won't go back on my word," Tang Ran stammered.
Song Zhixu chuckled and asked, "Are you nervous?"
As she spoke, she tugged at a stray hair near Tang Ran's ear.
Soft fingertips glide across the cheek and behind the ear with a light touch, like a feather gently brushing against the skin.
Tang Ran's heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her head to avoid Song Zhixu's gaze.
"without……"
Can I kiss you?
The voices overlapped.
Tang Ran was stunned for a moment, and by the time she realized what Song Zhixu had said, her chin had already been grabbed by her.
With a gentle touch of warm fingertips, Tang Ran met Song Zhixu's gaze once more.
But before she could see Song Zhixu's eyes clearly, everything suddenly went dark.
The light was blocked by the approaching body, and warm breath brushed against Tang Ran's cheek.
Tang Ran's breathing became slightly labored, and her fingers gripped Song Zhixu's clothes tightly at the waist.
The soft touch on her lips made Tang Ran's heart race.
Song Zhixu's kiss was gentle and brief, lightly touching Tang Ran's lips before leaving.
Tang Ran paused slightly, staring blankly at Song Zhixu.
No, it's not.
Is that all?
Tang Ran's face was flushed from nervousness, and her slightly dazed eyes made her look particularly innocent and adorable.
Song Zhixu chuckled softly, then kissed her forehead again, her voice gentle, "Good girl."
Tang Ran: ...Does Song Zhixu have some misunderstanding about her expression right now?
She was so nervous her heart was practically pounding out of her chest.
That's it?!
Is that all? Just a light touch and that's it?
...
Was she overthinking things, or was Song Zhixu just too naive?
Tang Ran's earlobe was gently pinched, bringing her back to reality as she saw Song Zhixu's face approaching again.
"What are you thinking about?" Song Zhixu asked, looking her over.
"N-nothing," Tang Ran shook her head.
"Nothing?" Song Zhixu raised an eyebrow slightly, his fingers tracing Tang Ran's earlobe. "Why do I feel like Ranran isn't quite satisfied?"
"No way!" Tang Ran denied it outright.
"No complaints?"
"Of course not," Tang Ran emphasized, raising her voice.
"Can I kiss you again?"
"Hmm." Tang Ran nodded subconsciously, then froze.
Song Zhixu lowered his head and kissed him.
This time, it wasn't a kiss that ended in a flash.
Song Zhixu pressed his lips to hers, gently touching them before opening his own lips and taking Tang Ran's lips into his mouth.
Tang Ran's nerves suddenly tightened, and she even forgot to breathe.
Noticing her nervousness, Song Zhixu slowed down and gently caressed her lips.
Her kiss was so gentle that Tang Ran was involuntarily moved by it.
She opened her lips to kiss Song Zhixu back, but she was too nervous and accidentally brushed her teeth against Song Zhixu's lips.
"Ugh." Song Zhixu let out a muffled groan.
Tang Ran immediately stopped what she was doing.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She nervously cupped Song Zhixu's face and checked her lips. "Let me see where you're hurt."
Because of the kiss, Song Zhixu's lips were unusually red, and Tang Ran couldn't see where he was injured.
Song Zhixu pulled her hand down and said, "It's nothing, it was just a light touch."
"Really?" Tang Ran looked at her lips again.
"Ranran, would you like to have another check-up?" Song Zhixu asked with a slight smile.
It's called an inspection, but the words just don't quite carry a clear meaning.
Tang Ran blushed, gave Song Zhixu a reproachful look, and her belated shyness surfaced. "I'm going to get my sister's clothes!"
Before the words were even finished, the person had already entered the dressing room.
Song Zhixu smiled faintly, but did not immediately follow her inside.
Not hearing Song Zhixu's voice following, Tang Ran pressed her hand against her still-pounding heart and let out a heavy breath.
The next second, her fingers unconsciously touched her lips again.
Tang Ran pursed her lips, and there was a faint minty taste on the tip of her tongue.
It smells like Song Ji-hsu lip balm.
Tang Ran's face burned even hotter.
She rubbed it with her hands.
When will I be able to control my tendency to blush so easily?
Tang Ran opened the drawer, looking for a loose-fitting set of loungewear.
Song Zhixu is taller than her and usually wears clothes a size larger.
She scrolled down and saw a suit.
A white oversized T-shirt with a large Pikachu in the middle and a small tail printed on the back, paired with yellow shorts.
The clothes were bought before she came back, but Tang Ran felt they were a bit childish, so she never wore them again.
She glanced at it, wanting to find another outfit, but stopped halfway through bending over.
A sly glint flashed in his eyes.
Tang Ran deliberately folded the T-shirt pattern back inside, creating a walk-in closet.
"Here you go." Tang Ran handed the clothes to Song Zhixu.
His tone was casual and nonchalant, revealing not a trace of suppressed malice.
Song Zhixu didn't notice anything amiss and took the clothes into the dressing room.
Tang Ran waited for her to come out at the door with great interest.
In the dressing room, Song Zhixu spread out her clothes and paused when she saw the cartoon pattern.
Needless to say, it must have been done on purpose by someone.
With a helpless smile, Song Zhixu changed her clothes in a generous manner.
Two minutes later.
When Tang Ran saw Song Zhixu come out, her eyes lit up, and the look of watching a show turned into amazement.
Song Zhixu took a hair tie from the dressing room and tied her hair up.
She takes very good care of herself; her skin looks like that of a twenty-something at thirty years old, and this outfit suits her perfectly.
If she toned down her mature aura, no one would doubt that she was a grown woman.
"I must say, once he puts on these clothes, Old Song looks like Little Song," Tang Ran teased playfully.
Song Zhixu smiled and tapped her forehead. "Satisfied?"
"hey-hey."
The matter escalated for another two days, and netizens' focus shifted from the cheating scandal to the cooperation between the Tang and Song families.
Rumors circulating online.
For example, the Tang and Song families originally intended to use marriage to solidify their cooperative relationship.
Now that Miss Song has cheated on her boyfriend and the engagement ceremony has been canceled, the cooperation between the two families is also very likely to be affected.
The news circulated online for a day, and the next day someone else revealed that Tang's family was facing a loan crisis.
According to sources, the Tang family had already borrowed money from the Song family, but now that the marriage between the two families has been cancelled, the Song family has stopped the process of borrowing money from the Tang family.
This news only reinforced the belief among those unaware of the situation that the relationship between the two companies had broken down, and that their collaborative central kitchen project would certainly be affected.
There are also rumors that the Song family is preparing to terminate all cooperation with the Tang family, and the Tang family is also preparing to withdraw from the central kitchen cooperation project.
The online discussion continues.
Before the news of the breakdown in cooperation was confirmed, the market reacted first, with Song's stock plummeting on the day the news broke.
Both the Song and Tang families subsequently issued statements.
The reason why Song stopped providing loans to Tang was because Tang had already raised funds through other channels, not because there were problems with the cooperation as rumored online.
The cooperation between the two companies is still ongoing, so please don't be influenced by false information online.
The statement was based on facts, but the market did not buy it, and Song's stock did not stop falling.
Besides the stock market investors who followed the trend, there were also several unidentified funds maliciously selling off large amounts of stock.
After three consecutive days of decline, panic emerged in the market, and small investors rushed to sell their Song family shares.
The Song Family Building.
Song Zhixu is holding a board meeting. The stock price has fallen by more than 20%, and some shareholders are already dissatisfied and have begun to challenge Song Zhixu.
"Chairman Song, Song's is a listed company, not a company owned by the Song family. It's not fair to drag us into the Song family's affairs."
The one who spoke was Xiong Fangnian, the largest shareholder of the Song family besides the Song family members. He was the one who stirred up trouble when Old Master Song fell ill.
The company's shareholders were all long-time employees who had followed Mr. Song in the early years. Mr. Song valued old relationships, so he simply let bygones be bygones and did not take any action against these people.
Over the years, Song's Group has been doing well, and most of the old shareholders have quieted down. However, there are always a few who are unwilling to give up and continue to make small moves. Xiong Fangnian is the most active one.
Song Zhixu tapped the table lightly with his fingertip and slowly said, "Is this Chairman Xiong's first day opening an account? Doesn't he know that stock price fluctuations are normal in the market?"
"What's considered normal in the market? Is the evaporation of over 10 billion in market value normal? Your Song family is so wealthy that you don't care."
Xiong Fangnian sneered, looking at the group of minority shareholders, "We minority shareholders can't afford such a huge loss."
"Yes, you need to give us an explanation for this."
"It's really unfair that we've suffered such a huge loss for no reason."
Two more shareholders chimed in.
"An explanation?" Song Zhixu repeated the two words indifferently. "How do you all intend to explain yourselves? Do you require me to resign?"
Her gaze slowly swept over the group of shareholders present, her voice soft but enough to intimidate everyone.
No one at the scene dared to take the bait. Song's stock was still falling, and nobody knew how low it would go.
Whoever takes the bait at this point is the one who will bear the brunt of the consequences.
"We can't just be made to pay for the Song family's mistakes like this," Xiong Fangnian insisted.
“If Chairman Xiong feels he has been taken advantage of, I am willing to buy back all of your shares.”
A seemingly ordinary sentence was like a thunderbolt, leaving the shareholders present looking at each other in astonishment.
The Song family's stock price has been rising year after year, and the new business segments created in the past few years are all in a period of high returns. It is clear that the Song family's development will be very promising in the next three to five years.
Only someone with a screw loose would sell their shares.
Xiong Fangnian looked utterly defeated.
He knew that Song Zhixu was not as approachable and easy to talk to as he seemed, but he didn't expect him to become more and more ruthless, not even bothering with superficial politeness.
"Does anyone here share the same thoughts as Chairman Xiong?"
Song Zhixu's gaze slowly swept around the conference room.
Those who were just shouting about wanting compensation all shut up and avoided Song Zhixu's gaze.
"Anyone who wants to withdraw their investment can contact my secretary at any time. I have other matters to attend to, so let's adjourn the meeting here." Song Zhixu glanced at his watch, got up, and left the meeting room.
Assistant Jiang walked behind her, feeling extremely worried for his boss.
She had recently worked with a lawyer to compile a list of her boss's assets.
The boss's total personal assets exceed the market value of the stocks held by minority shareholders, but most of them are equity and real estate, which cannot be cashed out at any time.
Simply put, the boss has the ability to buy back all the shareholders' shares, but he doesn't have the cash.
What her boss said in the meeting room about buying back shares was just a bluff, purely to intimidate shareholders who wanted to cause trouble.
Looking at his calm and composed boss, Assistant Jiang was filled with admiration.
Holding a pair of threes, he dared to call all in to scare his partner into folding.
If it were her, she wouldn't dare even if she had ten times the courage.
As Assistant Jiang was thinking, he caught a glimpse of his boss, who was walking ahead, answering a phone call.
"Dye".
Her voice was gentle as water, a stark contrast to the cold and aloof demeanor she exuded in the conference room; the difference was so great it was as if she were two completely different people.
"We're going back to Jingting for dinner tonight."
"Let's go back after we finish eating."
"Okay, then you..."
Song Zhixu entered the office while talking on the phone. Assistant Jiang, being very perceptive, did not follow him in and closed the door for her boss.
Half an hour later, Assistant Jiang finished organizing the documents in his hand, looked up at the president's office, and saw his boss hanging up the phone with a smile on his face.
She waited for two minutes and saw her boss start working before taking the documents, knocking on the door, and entering the room.
"Have you contacted the buyers for the shops on Chaoxi Street?" Song Zhixu asked after signing the documents.
Assistant Jiang reported: "We made contact, but the other party has no intention of taking action."
As soon as she arrived at work in the morning, her boss asked her to contact the buyer who wanted to purchase the Tang family's shop on Chaoxi Street, hoping to buy it back.
Song Zhixu looked up at Assistant Jiang.
Assistant Jiang immediately added, "We reported the highest possible rate of ten points, but the other party rejected it without even considering it."
The total value of the shops in Chaoxi is around 100 million yuan, and ten of them would be 10 million yuan.
Within a week of the transaction, the other party rejected the offer of tens of millions of yuan, either because they thought they had found a sucker and wanted to raise the price, or because they had never considered selling.
Both of these situations are quite tricky.
Song Zhixu also thought of this and frowned slightly.
Assistant Jiang continued, "There's one more thing. The agency that contacted Ms. Tang to purchase the shop is a real estate company under the Jiachuang Group."
A hint of surprise flashed in Song Zhixu's eyes, "Jiachuang from Gangcheng?"
"Yes." Assistant Jiang nodded solemnly.
The main reason why Song Wuqi messed up the acquisition of Daning was not only because he was arrogant, but also because Jiachuang interfered and led Daning to cooperate with Golbol supermarket in Gangcheng.
After learning that Tang Ran had told Song Wuqi about Ning Hao's situation, Song Zhixu suspected that Tang Ran was involved and even sent someone to investigate.
However, Song Zhixu failed to find any connection between Tang Ran and Daning, Jiachuang, and Golbol Supermarket, so he dismissed the speculation.
Unexpectedly, the company that bought the Tang family's shops is now a real estate company under the Jiachuang Group.
Song Zhixu couldn't help but suspect that Tang Ran and Jia Chuang must have some kind of connection.
There was one thing that Song Zhixu couldn't understand.
Jiacheng is a globally renowned integrated financial services group with businesses spanning investment banking and commercial banking.
With Jiachuang's strength, let alone just the first phase loan from Tang's, they could come up with the funds to buy ten Tang's.
If Tang Ran had any connection with Jia Chuang, there would have been no need for her to agree to be with him on Turtle Island.
Jingting.
After dinner, Old Master Song invited Song Zhixu and Song Wuqi to the teahouse.
The scandal of her infidelity hasn't died down yet, and Song Wuqi hasn't gone to the company these past few days, staying at Jingting to be a dutiful granddaughter.
Upon entering the tea room, before Old Master Song could even speak, Song Wuqi took the initiative to boil water and brew tea for the two elders.
Old Master Song also heard about today's board meeting.
He approved of Song Zhixu's actions.
"Well done," praised Old Master Song.
"A temporary measure," Song Zhixu replied calmly.
Remain calm in the face of honor and disgrace, and always in control of the situation.
Having managed the Song family business for so many years, Mr. Song already knew that his daughter was an outstanding business leader.
He was even more outstanding than his son, whom he had carefully nurtured for many years.
As for the granddaughter, there's no need to compare.
He originally had the idea of raising his granddaughter.
Unfortunately, his granddaughter is really not up to the task.
Noticing his grandfather's gaze, Song Wuqi paused in pouring water.
She didn't even need to look up to feel the disappointment in his eyes.
Old Master Song withdrew his gaze and sighed inwardly.
He looked at his daughter and asked in a deep voice, "Have you found out who was behind this?"
The reason why Song's stock fell so much is that speculative funds took the opportunity to suppress the stock price and maliciously short sell.
Song Wuqi placed the brewed tea in front of Old Master Song and Song Zhixu.
Song Zhixu glanced at the teacup indifferently, "We found out that it's a private equity fund behind it, and the partner is a relative of Xiong Fangnian's wife."
Old Master Song picked up his teacup, his voice cold and stern, "It's time to close the net."
He had already shown leniency ten years ago, but people are never satisfied.
Song Wuqi's fingers trembled slightly, causing the water in the teacup to slosh gently, but he quickly regained his composure.
"Um."
Song Zhixu gave a faint reply but did not drink the tea.
Old Master Song took a sip of tea, his brow furrowing slightly. "Have you thought of a solution?"
“We can give it a try.” Song Zhixu frowned slightly.
"What do you want to do?" Old Master Song asked.
My daughter is always steady in her actions. She only said that we could give it a try, which means that the plan is not foolproof.
"We will launch a share buyback program," Song Zhixu said.
The company's share buyback is a positive development and will help stabilize the stock price.
For counter-short-selling capital to succeed, it must be able to boost market confidence; otherwise, no matter how much capital they invest, it will be a drop in the ocean and futile.
"That's a good idea," Old Master Song nodded.
The solution is feasible, but it only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause. The reason for the sharp drop in Song's stock price is that the market believes the failed marriage between the Tang and Song families will affect their joint central kitchen project.
When the central kitchen project was approved, Song's stock had already surged, with the stock price already reflecting the project's future growth.
If a project cannot be implemented smoothly, it means it fails to meet market expectations.
The stock price surged because of optimism about the cooperative project, but it will naturally fall back down if it doesn't meet expectations.
To fundamentally stabilize the stock price, the market needs to be convinced that the central kitchen project can continue to proceed smoothly.
The joint announcement issued by the Tang and Song families was for this reason, but unfortunately it had no effect.
Seeing that they had a strategy, Song Wuqi couldn't help but interject, "Grandpa, I also have a way. We can talk to..."
Grandpa Song waved his hand to interrupt her, "No need to say anything, I know what you're thinking."
“Grandpa, it’s not just us who are affected now; the Tang family is also having a hard time,” Song Wuqi explained anxiously.
"What do you mean?" Old Master Song asked, frowning.
Song Wuqi quickly said, "I heard that we're no longer cooperating, and some suppliers have already asked Tang's to settle their payments in advance."
Song Wuqi had been keeping a close eye on the Tang family's situation. She knew that once the news of the falling out between the Tang and Song families spread, the Tang family's projects would definitely be affected.
Things did indeed turn out exactly as she had predicted.
In addition to suppliers speeding up payment requests, Tang's two clients who were originally interested in cooperating on the central kitchen project also failed to reach an agreement. One of them was the client that Lin Jixin spent more than half a month with in Beijing.
"Grandpa, it would be good for both our families to continue our engagement."
Song Wuqi obediently poured tea for Grandpa Song again, his eyes reddening. "Grandpa, I really like Ranran. I know I was wrong, and I promise I won't do it again."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Song Zhixu. She originally wanted her aunt to say a few words on her behalf, but when she saw her aunt's indifferent expression, Song Wuqi lost her courage.
"Grandpa also hopes that you can be with Ranran, but Grandpa can't force the Tang family to marry into our family." Grandpa Song hesitated for a moment, but did not agree to her request.
"Grandpa, continuing the engagement would also benefit the Tang family," Song Wuqi pleaded. "Grandpa, we can talk to the Tang family first; perhaps they also want to continue the engagement?"
Grandpa Song didn't say anything.
The whole thing was caused by his granddaughter, which implicated the Tang family, and Grandpa Song felt very bad about it.
However, since the Tang family didn't even want compensation, Old Master Song didn't think they would agree to the engagement again.
Seeing that he still couldn't persuade her, Song Wuqi gritted his teeth and said, "Or, we can hold the engagement banquet first, and those rumors will fall apart on their own."
"Once the first phase of the central kitchen is completed and the project is officially launched, if Ranran refuses to forgive me, I will not bother her. We will then dissolve our engagement."
She raised her hand in a solemn promise, her tone particularly devout, as if she were truly repentant and deeply regretful.
After thinking about it, Old Master Song realized that if the Tang family was willing, this was indeed a way to resolve the current predicament of both families.
He looked at his daughter and asked, "Zhixu, what do you think?"
Song Zhixu lightly tapped the mahogany armrest with his fingertip.
His gaze swept over Song Wuqi, then turned to Old Master Song, and he said in a calm tone, "If the two families can continue their marriage alliance, it is indeed the fastest way to restore market confidence."
Grandpa Song sighed and looked at his pleading granddaughter. "I'll try again."
"Thank you, Grandpa." Song Wuqi cried tears of joy.
After finishing their business, Song Zhixu glanced at his watch, stood up, and said to Old Master Song, "I'll head back now."
Knowing his daughter was busy, Grandpa Song nodded and didn't try to keep her.
Watching Song Zhixu's departing figure, Song Wuqi's gaze fell on the coffee table again.
She poured tea for her aunt, but her aunt didn't drink a drop.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
