Chapter 1 Qiaoqiao, Long Time No See
Lanchuan City enters the plum rain season in May.
A light drizzle had been falling on and off for more than half a month, the air was heavy and sticky, filled with an unsettling restlessness.
The car window slowly rolled up, and Qin Qiao picked up the shorthand notebook from the passenger seat. The Lamy pen stuck on the cover fell in mid-air, and she reflexively reached out her other hand to catch it, her palm gently pressing against the pen surface engraved with the words "Qin Qiao".
This fountain pen had been with her for fourteen years. The inscription, worn smooth by her fingertips over the years, now felt like sand grinding into her heart, each drop a sharp, persistent pain. She felt as if she had been burned. She threw the pen down, but the uneven leather chair caused it to roll into a crevice and come to rest there quietly.
The ringing of a phone broke the silence.
Qin Qiao blinked her damp eyelashes, placed the shorthand notebook on her lap, and picked up her phone from the middle of the notebook.
"Director, we've arrived at the 'Qiaoshu Group' lounge." The sweet female voice on the other end of the phone belonged to Chu Yiyi, the intern she was supervising.
Qin Qiao said, "I'll be there soon," and hung up the phone.
In the lounge, three financial reporters from the provincial TV station each held a cup of coffee and chatted idly in a corner, avoiding other media reporters.
Reporter A asked in a low voice, "Director, you just got off the plane and went straight to work with your bag?"
Reporter B clicked his tongue twice and asked curiously, "The director even postponed the Cocore smart healthcare launch event last month, so why is she personally attending this shareholders' meeting in the secondary market today?"
The two men's questioning gazes simultaneously fell on Chu Yiyi's face.
As the first intern Qin Qiao mentored after returning to China, Chu Yiyi didn't actually have many opportunities to learn from her teacher. Although Qin Qiao had been back in China for half a year, the two of them had spent less than a month together in total.
Chu Yiyi took a sip of coffee and decided to reveal a little something to the two of them: "I heard that Qiaoshu Group's overseas cash flow is very similar to the Sigma scandal..."
Financial journalists, as the only "outsiders" allowed to observe senior management meetings of listed companies, bear the responsibility of supervising information disclosure and public opinion. However, most of the time they are merely silent "recorders."
Reports written too bluntly are prone to offending people. Nobody wants to be targeted, so everyone tacitly agrees that reports should be mild and conservative. Only seasoned media professionals like Director Qin dare to use sharp questions to reveal the unknown side behind the iceberg.
The brown-red door was pushed open from the outside. Qin Qiao entered, carrying a laptop bag in one hand and a notebook under her arm. More than twenty pairs of eyes in the room turned to look at her simultaneously.
Qin Qiao wore a beige business suit with a single-button cinched waist that accentuated her slender figure. Her collarbone-length hair was illuminated by the light, giving it a silky sheen.
There were four other senior reporters in the lounge, just like Qin Qiao. They came from several cities in the surrounding areas of the province, three men and one woman. Although they may not have met each other before, they were all in the same circle and had heard of each other to some extent. When Qin Qiao saw these colleagues, the corners of her lips curled up slightly, revealing a very friendly smile.
The potted fiddle-leaf fig was nearly two meters tall, lush and green, with leaves shaped like violins. Qin Qiao raised her eyes and looked through the gaps in the leaves to see her group members, who were also staring at her.
*
Financial reporters were seated in the audience section against the wall, in two rows. Qin Qiao and her team members sat in the first row, with their laptops on the long table.
It was almost time, and the directors in suits filed in. During the meeting, they were only allowed to listen in and not make any noise. The interviews were scheduled after the meeting ended.
The white cane tapped the tiled floor, producing a crisp sound mixed with steady footsteps, which could be heard even through a wall.
As the figure drew nearer, a tall, slender figure in black soon appeared at the conference room door.
This man is Mr. Chen Jiashu, the founder and chairman of the Qiaoshu Group. The refined gentleman with black-rimmed glasses accompanying him is Zhu Ao, the group's vice president.
The nearly 20-meter-long reddish-brown solid wood table has a black gooseneck microphone in front of each person seated.
Everyone in the room stared at them, following their movements until they took their seats.
Qin Qiao buried her head in her notebook and wrote a few strokes. Then she looked up, leaning back in her chair. When she looked up, her eyes met those of Chen Jiashu, who was in the main seat.
He wore a crisp, pure black suit with his white shirt buttoned up perfectly. For the important meeting today, he also wore a dark blue tie, and his slightly protruding Adam's apple was faintly visible on his long neck.
With sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and a calm expression, his gaze had become even more sharp and piercing after being shaped by the world. The only thing that remained unchanged was his upright and honest nature.
In that instant, my heart felt like it had been squeezed tightly.
It was beating very fast.
Her old friend Zhu Ao also saw her and nodded to her. Qin Qiao returned the smile.
The shareholders' meeting is the highest authority of the group, composed of all shareholders. Chen Jiashu is today's presenter and host. Chen Jiashu adjusted the microphone with his slender fingers, and the entire venue fell silent as the leader presented his report to his shareholders on the past year.
The old director was about to get up when Chen Jiashu gently pressed him down.
“Director Sun, you are my 'angel investor' and the person who supported and appreciated me in the earliest days. Without you, there would be no Chen Jiashu today.”
Chairman Sun turned and looked up at him, hesitatingly saying, "Chairman Chen, you..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the forced smile on Director Sun's face froze. A murmur of whispers arose among the board members, and the reporters in the gallery were also intrigued.
"They bribed my assistant to painstakingly 'tailor-make' reports specifically for me," Chen Jiashu said, his tone almost gentle. "You might as well think about it: if I really 'misread' this report today and signed that merger agreement, who would suffer the losses when the stock price crashes tomorrow?"
He tightened his grip on Director Sun's shoulder slightly, his face still calm and smiling: "Is it you, Director Sun, whose 12% stake will be the first to be liquidated? Or is it Director Ma, how much 'Qiaoshu' bonds does your son's trust fund hold? Do I need to read it out in public?"
The nominated Director Ma lowered his eyes, nervously flipping through the documents in his hand. A brief murmur rippled through the conference room. Chu Yiyi lowered her head and typed rapidly, jotting down what she saw and heard.
Suddenly, she heard a "thump," followed by something bumping her toes. She looked under the table and saw a black pen.
Picking up the pen, Chu Yiyi placed it beside Qin Qiao and whispered, "Director, this is your pen."
There was no response.
Chu Yiyi glanced over out of the corner of her eye and saw that Qin Qiao looked serious, with dark and unfathomable eyes, as if he was thinking about some thorny problem.
Over the next half hour, Chen Jiashu used a combination of politeness and subtle tactics to persuade the director to step down. Initially, Director Sun was still unwilling to give up, relying on his status as a veteran and believing that Qiaoshu Group's success today was entirely due to his 30 million investment back then.
Chen Jiashu, however, still spared him some face, only casually mentioning a few offshore companies and some unspeakable, ingenious operations. Director Sun, like a chicken with its throat choked, turned deathly pale, his lips trembling, unable to utter another word.
Before leaving, he abandoned all pretense of decorum and launched a personal attack, seemingly trying to regain some ground before departing: "Chen Jiashu, don't forget! A blind person walking at night is most likely to stumble and fall!"
Chen Jiashu simply smiled faintly, returned to the main seat, and scanned everyone's faces before speaking: "Now it's your turn to choose. Will you continue to accompany a blind man on a dark road, or will you pursue those 'bright futures' that you can see?"
It turns out the final act of this shareholders' meeting was to expose the biggest mole. What haven't these financial reporters seen? But none of them are as exciting as today.
Chen Jiashu's move was brilliant: a gentle opening that transformed an individual attack into a crisis of collective interest, maximizing deterrence while leaving room for maneuver, and finally giving everyone a chance to prove their loyalty.
The reporters listening in exchanged admiring glances.
After the meeting ended, everyone left one by one, leaving only five senior reporters. The subsequent interview session was arranged to take place in the senior management lounge inside the conference room.
As you push open the door, the first thing you see is a landscape painting that is nearly ten meters long on the wall. Turn around and you will see a set of simple, solid-colored fabric sofas. At the far end is a giant floor-to-ceiling window.
The rain had stopped outside the window, and the sun peeked through the clouds, its golden light pouring into the room and turning most of the white walls yellow.
The male assistant who greeted them asked them to sit down, inquired about their tea preferences, and then had someone prepare tea.
The inner door opened from the inside, and the man who came out was also Chen Jiashu's assistant. He stood in the center of the lounge, holding a document in his hands, and looked at the male reporter. He said respectfully, "Please come with me, reporter Zhou Song."
Each person only had one question, and in less than ten minutes, all four had left. Qin Qiao was placed last, and she knew it was Chen Jiashu's idea. Their list had been sent to him a week ago, and Chen Jiashu knew she was coming.
This time, instead of inviting her in, Chen Jiashu came out, waved his white cane, and walked towards her.
The man had a straight back and bright, intelligent eyes. If it weren't for the white cane in his hand, you wouldn't know that his eye condition had progressed to the point where he needed to use it.
The door closed gently, and the assistant left.
"Chairman Chen," Qin Qiao called out to him.
"Qiaoqiao, it's been a long time."
Chen Jiashu's lips curved into a slight smile. Despite being thirty-eight years old, Qin Qiao could still see a youthful air about him unintentionally.
That year, she went to England shortly after divorcing Chen Jiashu, where she stayed for more than five years. It's not that she never came back; she would only return briefly during holidays. She and Chen Jiashu met twice, but it was just polite small talk.
"He probably meant 'a year' when he said 'a long time'," Qin Qiao thought to herself.
Chen Jiashu walked to the single sofa, bent down, drew two lines in the air with his fingertips, grasped the sofa armrest, and slowly sat down, then placed his white cane aside.
A sudden tightness rose in her chest. Qin Qiao exhaled, momentarily forgetting that Chen Jiashu was right beside her.
She glanced over out of the corner of her eye and saw the man's eyelashes tremble at the sudden sigh, whether from concern or just a normal physiological reaction, she couldn't tell.
He is a sensitive and thoughtful person.
Qin Qiao turned slightly to the side, knees together, facing Chen Jiashu, and softly replied, "Long time no see."
Chen Jiashu could see Qin Qiao, although it was a very blurry silhouette, but he seemed to see the curve of her lips.
Six years have passed since they separated. During these years, he has been watching international news on his tablet every day. Last year, his eyesight deteriorated, so he started wearing custom-made vision glasses that magnified his vision by two, three, or even five times, just so he could see her face clearly.
In the news, she had her hair neatly styled in a bun, her makeup exquisite, and she appeared professional and capable. Her words were clear and melodious, like pearls falling on a jade plate.
The assistant brought two cups of tea as requested by Chen Jiashu, put them down, and then left.
The rich aroma of tea filled the air. Qin Qiao picked up the white porcelain cup and took a small sip. The warm tea soup slid down her throat, leaving a slightly bitter aftertaste lingering on her teeth and cheeks.
She speculated: "Is the 'customized report' an opportunity that you deliberately gave us, Chairman Chen, just to expose Chairman Sun and his ilk?"
Chen Jiashu nodded slightly. Qin Qiao pondered for a moment, her fingertips lightly tracing the warm rim of the cup: "However... if we only find out Chairman Sun, aren't we afraid the other 'monkeys' will destroy the evidence overnight?"
"Does Reporter Qin think I should read out the pledge details of all the directors on the list?" His expression softened slightly, and he smiled easily. "Then Qiaoshu Group should be on the front page of your 'Financial Frontier' tomorrow."
That's right. The essence of making an example of someone isn't about killing them, but about letting the other monkeys see the situation clearly and take the initiative to choose sides.
"Chairman Chen, brilliant."
This half-hearted business compliment made Chen Jiashu burst out laughing. He laughed for a moment before saying, "I had dinner with Qin Zhendong of Zhong Shen the other day. His bonds had fallen below their issue price. I praised him for his unique vision, forward-thinking strategy, and ruthless tactics, even more so than those on Wall Street. Chairman Qin was so happy that he insisted on getting me to invest with him."
Chen Jiashu used to be taciturn and not good at the insincerity of the business world. He would turn red in the face after a couple of drinks, and Zhang Shuang often complained that he was "hard to utter a word" when asked to flatter.
This man could lie so convincingly that it sounded more real than gold. She didn't know whether to admire his current ease or lament that the once unyielding young man had ultimately been tamed by capital into the most shrewd of men.
"So..." Qin Qiao smiled, "Is Chairman Chen reminding me that his earlier comment of 'brilliant' was also just an act?"
“Playing along…” He paused for a moment, then raised his cold, dark eyes, “It also depends on who you’re playing opposite.”
A note from the author:
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