Chapter 75 Financial and Entertainment Go Hand in Hand, Remember to check the news later. ...
The job of cleaning up the mess is definitely Lu Yao's responsibility, so she can completely let herself go and just stir things up.
I don't know what others think, but Lu Yao just couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't for any other reason than that her voice was just too awful.
He suppressed the rising nausea, pressed down on the top of her head, and forcefully pushed her in the opposite direction.
With a grin, Zhu Qingzhi added one last sentence, "Looking forward to tomorrow's front page headline," before grabbing Wen Qi and running off without looking back.
Lu Yao watched her retreating figure, closed his eyes briefly, and then returned to normal when he turned around.
Zhao Shiyan didn't even glance at the Liu family. His gaze first briefly met Lu Yao's, and he nodded slightly as a greeting. Then his gaze swept over everyone and landed on the mess inside the house.
He didn't speak immediately, but his silence carried an oppressive sense of control. Chairman Liu felt a wave of dizziness, his body swayed, and he almost couldn't stand up.
The Lu family, the Wen family, and now the Zhao family! Liu Xiaoning's foolish act is practically driving the Liu family to their doom!
Liu's mother also realized the seriousness of the problem. Her hands, which were supporting her daughter, were trembling, and her eyes were filled with despair and incomprehension as she looked at Liu Xiaoning.
The moment Zhao Zhixun saw him appear, his pupils contracted sharply, and all the color drained from his face. He looked even worse than when Liu Xiaoning had tricked him earlier, with a complex expression that was a mixture of fear, resentment, and submission.
He instinctively took half a step back.
The "scheme" that ruined his reputation and caused him to completely lose his father's trust two years ago was rooted in this man who was nominally his older brother!
From then on, not only did his status in the family plummet, but he also developed an almost pathological fear and stress response to being "tricked".
And the person who started all of this was looking at him with that same indifferent gaze as always.
Zhao Zhixun's throat tightened; he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Faced with absolute calculation and overwhelming power, all his dissatisfaction and anger seemed pale and powerless.
He hated Zhao Shiyan, but he feared him even more, fearing that Zhao might reach out his invisible hand again and push him into an even deeper abyss.
Zhao Shiyan's gaze lingered on Zhao Zhixun's pale face for only a moment, as if he were merely checking the condition of a tool. His nominal "younger brother" was always so useless, easily manipulated like a pawn.
His gaze shifted to Chairman Liu, his voice steady yet tinged with coldness: "Chairman Liu, do you think the people of my Zhao family are so easily manipulated?"
There was no raising of his voice, nor even an obvious questioning tone, but the weight of those words made Chairman Liu's legs go weak, and he almost knelt down on the spot.
"President Zhao! My daughter was ignorant and was used! She had absolutely no intention of targeting the Zhao family!" Chairman Liu's voice was filled with a desperate restraint, as if she was making a last-ditch effort.
“Use?” Zhao Shiyan’s thin lips curled slightly, devoid of warmth. His gaze shifted to Xiao Tang in the room, then swept over Liu Xiaoning indifferently. “One is self-righteous, the other harbors ulterior motives. They are a perfect match.”
With just one sentence, he completely tore away the fig leaf between Liu Xiaoning and Xiao Tang, nailing them to the pillar of shame for their "conspiracy."
Liu Xiaoning trembled. Under Zhao Shiyan's all-knowing gaze, she felt as if she had been stripped naked, with nowhere to hide. This fear and shame were even greater than facing Lu Yao's cold rebuke and her father's slap.
She hadn't expected Zhao Shiyan to help her out of kindness, but she thought that at least on the matter of plotting against Zhao Zhixun, he and she were on the same page. Who knew he would actually...
Her blood was rushing backward, and the surging solar plexus made her dizzy. She felt like she was floating on clouds, and that she would fall to the ground at any moment and die a gruesome death.
Zhao Shiyan stopped looking at the Liu family members, as if even a glance would be considered dirty.
He turned to Lu Yao, his tone softening slightly: "Mr. Lu, I apologize for disturbing Ling Mei's plans due to family matters. The Zhao family will handle the follow-up matters."
Lu Yao's expression softened slightly, and he nodded: "Mr. Zhao, you're too kind."
The simple conversation had already completely excluded the Liu family, defining tonight's events as the Liu family offending the Lu, Wen, and Zhao families simultaneously.
Seeing this scene, Liu Xiaoning's legs went weak, and she collapsed completely into her mother's arms, unable to even cry out.
Chairman Liu opened his mouth as if to say something, even if it was for the sake of the family's last bit of face, but all the words got stuck in his throat, and in the end, they turned into a powerless sigh.
He knew that saying even one more word could lead to even more cruel consequences.
“However, Mr. Zhao, there’s something I need to confirm.” Lu Yao touched his nose, his gaze suddenly falling on Xiao Tang, who was curled up in a small ball, and added, “I wonder if Miss Xiao is considered a member of the Zhao family?”
Xiao Tang had been keeping quiet and hiding in the shadows, trying to minimize her presence. But when she suddenly heard Lu Yao call her name, her heart, which had just calmed down a little, jumped up again.
Zhao Shiyan's appearance was like the last straw, but now that Lu Yao has suddenly brought her up, it seems he doesn't intend to let her go.
She never expected Zhu Qingzhi to have such a powerful backer; otherwise, she wouldn't have suffered such a severe setback.
It's all her fault for being so stupid. How could she so easily believe Liu Xiaoning's nonsense and actually think that Zhao Shiyan was behind it? It's also her fault for not thinking twice when she saw so many familiar men at Zhu Qingzhi's table.
But in Zhao Shiyan's heart, does she hold any weight at all?
She slowly raised her eyes, her watery eyes fixed on Zhao Shiyan, filled with fear and dread, yet also hiding a glimmer of hope.
But Zhao Shiyan was so stingy that he didn't even spare her a glance, his tone casual, as if she were just an insignificant person: "It's up to President Lu to decide what to do with me."
Lu Yao nodded, though it was unclear whether there was any sarcasm in his words: "That's true, there's no reason for family members to scheme against each other."
But none of that mattered to Xiao Tang.
Because the words "Leave it to President Lu to do as he sees fit" came out of Zhao Shiyan's mouth so casually, it was as if he had completely pushed her out. The last glimmer of hope in her eyes was extinguished, replaced by an unfathomable despair.
She murmured to herself, "How can I not be considered a member of the Zhao family? I am your... I am Chairman Zhao's..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Zhixun viciously kicked her: "Damn it, I've never seen anyone as shameless as you!"
His kick carried pent-up resentment and humiliation, as if he wanted to vent all the frustration he had suffered at Zhao Shiyan's hands on her.
The intense pain stimulated Xiao Tang's taut nerves, and when her last hope was shattered, she actually laughed through her tears.
Zhao Zhixun's eyes turned red with anger. He suddenly squatted down, grabbed her hair, and pressed her hard against the wall. "A worthless piece of trash like you dares to pat yourself on the back? You dare to scheme against me? Who gave you the guts!"
"I have no shame? Haha... Zhao Zhixun, what are you anyway? You're just a piece of trash who's been manipulated by your own brother! What else can you do besides bully women?!" she retorted shrilly. Since it was all over, what did she have to be afraid of?
These words struck Zhao Zhixun's sore spot precisely. His face turned ashen instantly, and he raised his hand to slap him.
"Enough." A cold voice rang out, not loud, but like an invisible shackle, instantly freezing Zhao Zhixun's movements.
"Isn't it embarrassing enough?" Zhao Shiyan's tone carried a hint of impatience. He didn't even turn around, but paused slightly and turned half of his face to the side, casting a small shadow on his well-defined jawline.
Xiao Tang stared at him intently, and she finally understood that in this man's eyes, she was not even a pawn from beginning to end.
Lu Yao remained aloof and did not intervene until Zhao Shiyan and Zhao Zhixun had walked away. Only then did he raise his hand to signal the manager: "Arrange a room for Miss Xiao. As for tonight's events, I don't want to hear any rumors that shouldn't be circulating."
"Understood, Mr. Lu."
Lu Yao then gave Chairman Liu a kind smile: "Time is running out for Chairman Liu."
Chairman Liu knew that Lu Yao wasn't waiting for him to give a perfect explanation, but rather giving him a final choice: whether to handle things decently on his own, or to have the Lu, Zhao, and Wen families join forces to make the Liu family disappear completely.
His voice was dry and hoarse, each word seeming to be squeezed out of his throat: "Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Lu."
*
The birthday banquet for Chairman Liu ended in discord, and Liu Xiaoning's reputation plummeted.
The next morning, nothing major happened in the entertainment news, but the financial news presented a completely different picture.
[Liu's Group's stock price plummeted at the opening, hitting a three-year low!]
[Suspected of being targeted by multiple capital groups, the future of the Liu family is worrying!]
[Insider reveals: Liu's company's cash flow may face a severe test!]
Zhu Qingzhi was woken up by Gu Qiao's barrage of calls: "Last night was so exciting, and you didn't wake me up again?!"
Zhu Qingzhi was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, and her voice was weak and feeble: "Is it too late for me to relay this to you now?"
"No need, I've already found out." Gu Qiao snorted. "Let me tell you, I'm going to hold Wen Qi accountable for this!"
Zhu Qingzhi put her phone on speakerphone and tossed it beside her pillow. She mumbled an "Mmm" in her sleep to indicate that she was listening.
"Ji Cen confessed everything! It's all because I mentioned Brother Chen that Wen Qi got jealous, and that's why he turned around and started messing with me!" A harsh clatter of knives and forks came from the other end of the phone. Gu Qiao grumbled again, annoyed. "How can he be so petty? I feel like going to his company and singing 'What Kind of Man'!"
Yes, she had already experienced Wen Qi's pettiness last night.
She closed her eyes, lazily rolled over, buried her face in the soft pillow, and muffled her voice: "Okay, I'll support you in spirit. Do you need me to provide a megaphone?"
"Get lost!" Gu Qiao laughed and cursed, her anger seemingly subsiding a little. She then turned her attention to another matter, "By the way, the Liu family's stock price has plummeted like it's about to crash, and there's no entertainment news at all. What are you planning to do about it?"
Zhu Qingzhi then slowly turned over, picked up her phone, and looked at the news about Liu's stock plummeting on the financial app. A smile with no sympathy curled at the corner of her mouth.
"It's the Lunar New Year..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qiao on the other end of the phone visibly slammed down her knife and fork: "She's already here, and she's still a child. Giving her a big gift package during the New Year isn't out of the question!"
Zhu Qingzhi chuckled at Gu Qiao's creative use of the phrase "three traditional virtues of the Chinese nation," and rubbed her sore back: "Okay, then remember to watch the news later."
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Author's note: Qingzhi [starry-eyed]: It's the Lunar New Year.
Lu Yao [transformed]: I've been working myself to death all night.
Wen Qi [doge emoji]: I'm exhausted after working all night.
Gu Qiao [starry-eyed]: Looking forward to it!
Ah-me [starry eyes]: Fully recharged! Now on the high-speed train heading to Wanyu's destination [starry eyes]
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