"Your company? Investment?" Ling Er's eyes widened in surprise. He looked Zhou Chaoyang up and down, then asked excitedly, "Are you from that... Fifth District Research Institute?"
"Huh?" Zhou Chaoyang was stunned again, but his eyes kept darting around: Fifth District? Research Institute? Such a name...
Ling Er, that simpleton, didn't notice anything amiss in Zhou Chaoyang's expression. Thinking he'd guessed right, he enthusiastically grabbed Zhou Chaoyang's hand and tried to pull him towards Wang Sao's courtyard, saying, "Quick, quick, this way! You can't go into my sister's courtyard; we haven't even been inside yet! Let me tell you, about this investment, our family has already discussed it..."
"Hey, stop right there!" A sharp shout rang out, startling Ling Er into stopping his words and halting in his tracks.
Zhou Chaoyang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He turned his head to look in the direction from which the shout came and saw a tall and handsome man standing in front of a building with a sign that read "Earthwork Testing and Research Institute" on it, staring coldly at him.
"Who are you?" the man asked, his equally handsome eyebrows furrowed.
Zhou Chaoyang had a gut feeling that this man was probably not a civilian; he was at least a soldier, maybe even a special police officer who only carried out special missions. So, not daring to be negligent, he quickly replied, "My name is Zhou Chaoyang, and I'm Ling Nian's friend. And you are?"
Ling Er said, "Oh, his name is Liu Gang, and he's the gatekeeper for this research institute."
Zhou Chaoyang's eyelids twitched upon hearing this: If all the gatekeepers are like this, then this research institute with its strangely-sounding name is not simple at all!
He quickly put on a smile and said, "So it's Mr. Liu." As he spoke, he walked over and warmly extended his hand to shake hands with the other man.
Since he was Ling Nian's friend, Liu Gang extended his hand and shook it lightly, saying, "If you're here to see Miss Ling, then let's wait until Miss Ling arrives before discussing anything further."
“Okay…okay,” Zhou Chaoyang said. With his extensive experience, he had already discerned the deeper meaning in Liu Gang’s words. He guessed that Ling Nian and the research institute where Liu Gang worked might be doing some kind of secret work.
He turned to look at Ling Er and said, "I'll just wait for Miss Ling at the door." He changed his way of addressing her and stopped calling her by her given name.
To be honest, Ling Er may seem tough on the surface, but he's not a very useful person inside. He says Liu Gang is just a doorman, but every time he sees Liu Gang, he feels inexplicably scared: this doorman Liu usually seems alright, but when he glares and shouts, his demeanor is terrifying, like he's about to kill someone.
So when Ling Er heard Zhou Chaoyang say that, and Liu Gang had also warned him, he quickly went along with it and said, "Whatever, I'm going home now."
"Haha..." Zhou Chaoyang turned to look at Liu Gang, put on a smile, and wondered if he should say a few words to chat with this gatekeeper who looked different from ordinary people. But Liu Gang had already turned back to the research institute with a cold face.
Zhou Chaoyang was the only one left at the door.
Within minutes, Chu Nian received a notification from Liu Gang and emerged from a research lab deep within the research institute.
Upon seeing her, Zhou Chaoyang immediately flashed a huge, bright smile and said, "Oh, Miss Ling, so you're in this research institute!"
Chu Nian handed him a bank card and said, "This is the 50,000 yuan I deposited in the city last time. Here's the password. Go withdraw it and invest it in your company!"
The town isn't very prosperous yet; there are only two banks, and both are very small savings banks, making it inconvenient to get a bank card. However, to deposit and withdraw money across all banks, you need a card; a passbook won't work. Therefore, Chu Nian usually goes to the city to deposit money whenever she has time.
Zhou Chaoyang took the card and said, "Okay, I'll give you 150,000 yuan as an investment..."
Chu Nian: "What, is 50,000 too little?"
According to the original owner's memories, the economy in M City is not very developed at present, and it is incomparable to the capital. Moreover, Zhou Chaoyang's company has only been established for a short time, so an investment of 50,000 yuan should not be a small amount.
Zhou Chaoyang quickly smiled and said, "That's a lot. I've added 100,000 shares for you."
Chu Nian: "No need, fifty thousand is fifty thousand, or let's just forget about it."
Actually, she called Zhou Chaoyang to invest because she wanted to test Li Fangqi's current influence and see if Li Fangqi's words still carried weight. She didn't expect Zhou Chaoyang to be so enthusiastic, coming all the way from afar, making her feel embarrassed not to contribute her own money.
Zhou Chaoyang coughed awkwardly and said, "Well... alright!" He paused, then added, "Miss Ling, was my visit... a bit abrupt?" He hadn't expected it to turn out this way!
To be honest, Ling Nian is beautiful and well-mannered, and he had actually been interested in her for a while, so he wanted to date her. However, due to the conflict between Ling Nian and Li Fangqi, he temporarily put aside his feelings. But now that Li Fangqi's backer has been transferred, he doesn't have so many concerns anymore, which is why he rushed over as soon as he received Ling Nian's call.
But now it seems that although he has some money and some influence, he is no longer able to reach Ling Nian's level.
He has always been a shrewd businessman; otherwise, how could his business have grown so much that he eventually expanded internationally?
Chu Nianze said, "It was my abrupt phone call."
Zhou Chaoyang paused for a moment, then asked, "Ms. Ling, if I may be so bold as to ask, did you really call me to invest in my company?"
Chu Nian paused for a moment before finally humming in agreement.
Zhou Chaoyang remained silent for a while, then decided to express his feelings: Although he felt unworthy, he would still try confessing, just in case she felt the same way!
Before he could even open his mouth and utter a word, Chu Nian coldly said, "Alright, if there's nothing else, go back to the city. My investment is just a simple investment, nothing else. And this 'other things' includes many things, do you understand?"
Zhou Chaoyang paused for a moment, then nodded, a hint of dejection in his expression. This "other" included not only their relationship but also whether he should use Chu Nian's connection to expand his company.
In terms of relationships, apart from this investment relationship, there can be no other connections; and Chu Nian's status is different now than before, so it's impossible to use her name to build connections in the city or even in a wider world.
"Don't worry, I've been in the business world for so long, I have a good eye for these things," Zhou Chaoyang said solemnly.
Some people are most afraid of having unclear relationships, especially those involving money, because even a small involvement can affect their future. Take Lou Yang, for example. If Li Fangqi hadn't invested in several foreign companies, and if Lou Yang hadn't been so close to Li Fangqi, Lou Yang probably wouldn't have been transferred at all.
On Monday, when Chu Nian returned to school, she brought Lou Yang's new address and handed it to Li Fangqi.
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