Chapter 45
Study on the third floor.
Meng Zixuan half leaned against the desk and asked Qingyu how long it would take for the first investment to be fully invested.
Li Ting sat on the sofa, his back to the window. He calculated carefully for a moment, then slowly gave an answer: "Eighteen months."
Meng Zixuan raised his eyebrows slightly, not very satisfied with this answer.
Li Ting said: "Good projects need to wait for the right window, and good food needs to be cooked slowly."
Meng Zixuan thought about it for a while and said nothing more.
Li Ting grinned. "It's just right. In a year or so, it will be time for me to retire. I'll hand over the top position to you, and I'll just be honorary chairman. You do the big talk, and I'll be the quick-paced musician."
Meng Zixian folded his hands over his chest. He found it amusing. "Investing capital is one thing, giving up your position is another." A position of real power can't be planned for a year or two. After a while, the situation will change, and the battle will have to start all over again. Li Ting must withdraw immediately.
Li Ting crossed his legs and said, "You're pushing so hard that everyone in the company is in a panic. If you don't believe me, go sit in our company's tea room for a while and see what happens."
"I don't have the time." Meng Zixuan said.
Li Ting shook his head helplessly. "You'll know when you go there. Everyone avoids you. In less than six months, you've already replaced one-third of the asset management team's senior management and laid off 20% of the staff. Everyone secretly calls you the King of Hell. It's natural for you to want to make money, but working only for capitalists won't win the hearts and minds of your subordinates."
"I have to pay back all the money you spent." Meng Zixian said.
Li Ting stared at him silently for a moment, then took a step back. "Old Meng, there's really no need for things to get to this point between us. We can slowly sort out the money. Smart manufacturing, medical care, and other such matters, if you think they're too hot to handle, I can stay out of it. Every position in the company requires your approval before I can appoint anyone."
Meng Zixian remained unmoved. Four years ago, Li Ting had also made a polite promise, then reversed course and plotted against Qingyu's 100,000 yuan bill, throwing Chen Huan into a trap and waiting for Meng Zixian to jump in.
Li Ting smiled and continued, "You should give the position of general manager to Old Lou. Lou and Tairen are good people and work hard, but he can only be an assistant and has no ability to steer the ship. You have to keep an eye on every detail and clean up his mess every now and then. But you can rest assured if you leave the company to me. If there's really an urgent matter, you have so many shares in your hands that a single vote will make the final decision. Just be a hands-off manager and I'll work hard for you."
Meng Zixuan didn't hear a word. "You should arrange the resignation notice for the shareholders' meeting as soon as possible, next month at the latest, otherwise I will come."
This sentence brought a hush to the room. Li Ting's right arm, which had been gesturing in the air, returned to the armrest of the sofa. No matter how he tried to persuade her, the smile on Li Ting's face faded. One of them leaned slackly against the desk, the other slumped angrily into the sofa, the air thick with tension.
Li Ting chuckled dryly twice and stared at Meng Zixuan for a long time, as if he was sizing up a stubborn horse. After a while, he tilted his head and said, "You say you're calm as hell, and this is just a man-to-man arrangement. But I know you. You're really angry, right?" As he spoke, he supported himself on the sofa and stood up, his movements slow and provocative.
Li Ting's gait was still unsteady, and he would occasionally hold the edge of the table with his right hand. He walked slowly around the table, step by step, until he came to Meng Zixuan. "What are you angry about? If you ask me, it's not about Qingyu, right? It's going to go back to that."
Leaning closer, he wasn't as tall as Meng Zixuan, so she had to look up to see him, but there was a sharpness in his eyes that couldn't be hidden. "Business in this world depends on fate, and the same goes for love. You forced her to come to me back then, and now seven years have passed, and there's no going back. You should have told me earlier, why are you holding on to this? Just ask me nicely, and I'll give it to you."
Meng Zixuan's jaw was slightly tense, his lips were pale, and the blood seemed to be driven out by his emotions.
Li Ting leaned in and smiled, his mouth wide open, a crumb of food stuck in one of his back teeth. His breath smelled of stomach acid after a heavy meal. "You know you can't blame anyone else for this. On the contrary, you should be thanking me. If I hadn't let her go, would she have come looking for you?"
Meng Zixuan stood there without saying a word. He moved his right hand fingers a little, and the blue veins stretched from his wrist to his forearm, but he quickly regained his composure.
Li Ting didn't notice. He took out an envelope from his suit pocket and placed it on the table, smiling nonchalantly, "Birthday present."
Meng Zixuan frowned suspiciously, but still reached out to pick it up and pulled out a thin piece of paper, which was Shen Huan's blood test report.
Li Ting smiled and said, "Look, not only do I understand you, I also understand Chen Huan better than you do. She's timid and always nervous when encountering problems. What about you? You've been running all over the world to put out fires, and she can't find you at all. I knew about this, so I advanced some money to her. I'm worried that if she can't figure it out and makes a wrong move, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Meng Zixuan's back was straight and his shoulders were stiff.
"Now that she's returned all the money to me today, I understand why she hasn't told you yet. Otherwise, with your explosive temper, you'd have thrown a sack of cash in my face." Li Ting rubbed his hands together. "Tsk tsk, after all, I'm just being honest with you, no formalities."
Meng Zixuan lowered his head and stared at the paper.
"I'm not even going to put on a brave face here with you. When Wangnan was little, I also passed by our house three times without entering. Isn't this retribution? I was lying in bed for two months, and that brat only came once, and he dragged me in by force.
"For the next year and a half, if you want to keep Xuan Tao in your hands and fight me to the death, I will definitely accompany you, but you can't escape running back and forth between Hancheng and New York. I think you should also listen to Chen Huan's thoughts. It's not easy for women to get pregnant and give birth, and she likes to act out. Wasn't your breakup back then also due to the long-distance separation?"
Downstairs in the garden, Xiao Jun took a long sip of orange juice. He told Chen Huan how Meng Zixian had persuaded Atlas Capital to join Qingyu last week. A Middle Eastern prince, upon hearing the news, visited New York under the guise of a sovereign wealth fund.
Atlas's partner, Mandel, personally flew Prince Rashid to his private estate in Connecticut by helicopter. The attendants were as solemn as if they were welcoming the Pope. The kitchen, using gilded soufflés, a lobster tart as delicate as a cathedral relief, and mayonnaise whipped to a silky smoothness, created a cake emblazoned with the prince's family crest. Mandel served it as the finale of the dinner.
Before the cake was even carried to the front hall, Meng Zixian had already grabbed a thick tissue and scribbled a few lines on it with a ballpoint pen, sketching out Qingyu's current plans. Prince Rashid immediately offered to test the waters with $40 million. Meng Zixian simply waved his hand and said, "I'll talk to your brother." Their royal family had thousands of princes and princesses, but only one crown prince.
Rashid's face turned pale as he boarded the helicopter with his entourage. The family crest, which shone with a creamy luster, melted in the air-conditioned air in the lobby.
Shen Huan asked what happened next.
Xiao Jun raised his chin toward the garden fountain. Shen Huan followed his gaze and saw a middle-aged man wearing an ordinary black suit and plate glasses. Xiao Jun said, "Look, the Crown Prince is here."
Xiao Jun asked Shen Huan if he wanted to introduce them, but Shen Huan shook his head. Xiao Jun went over and spoke to the Crown Prince in English, Arabic, or French, both of them gesticulating.
Chen Huan sat back down in the iron chair in the corner of the courtyard, then looked up at the arched windows of the third-floor study. After a moment, she lowered her head, opened her phone again, and checked the Hancheng First Hospital app. Customer service told her there had been some issues with the account linking, but the test results had now been synced.
Chen Huan's fingers scrolled down bit by bit, sliding over personal information, testing doctors, review doctors, and collection methods, her heart pounding with nervousness. When she saw the "no growth" under the culture results, the tension she had been holding for the past week finally relaxed a little.
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