Chapter 39
Chang Yueqing smiled and said, "Jianguo is a broker, known as 'oil in his left hand, gold in his right hand'. Wherever he goes, there's light." Unlike our Lao Li, who has been in disgrace for half his life, he's already living a glorious life in his twenties. He looks... he looks a bit like Lao Meng, with a high nose bridge, arched eyebrows, and eyes that are slightly raised, but with white spots on the lower part of his eyes, like a vixen. The girls in the company can't resist him and are all bewildered by him.
"Every time he arrives in a city, he buys a house and picks up a girlfriend, just like he's planting a flag. I think Lao Meng is one of them. The company management posted a serious promotional video online, and the comments below were like, 'Brother, please slap me!' And it was written by a man. It's really annoying."
"Lao Li's partner, Jianguo, had a father who worked in the military's foreign affairs office. After graduating from college, he joined the local government to attract foreign investment. He's incredibly quick-witted, and he's always ready to receive foreign guests. Later, he left the system and, relying on local resources, helped connect Hong Kong and foreign businessmen, earning commissions.
"He always talks about military stuff: loyalty, stability, discipline, and obedience. Do you know how I memorized it so well? It was Lao Li who kept telling me. Lao Li idolized him. So I think it was no coincidence that Lao Li later recruited Meng Zixuan."
Chang Yueqing glanced at Li Ting again, turned back and picked up some shredded chicken with grapefruit for Chen Huan. "What can I say about that guy... He's very good at cultivating this kind of image, and everyone buys it. But in fact, he does things in a sinister and cruel way, and every step he takes is like walking on a tightrope.
"He'd have a drink with a junior investment bank manager in Hong Kong, then come back to the mainland and brag about signing contracts worth tens of millions. If negotiations couldn't reach an agreement, he'd threaten the locals: 'If the funds are invested in a neighboring province, will you take responsibility?' He'd snag a transitional payment from the government, then gamble on the stock and real estate markets, then come back to do the accounting. Isn't that terrifying?"
Shen Huan put down the spoon, his tongue felt bitter, and he couldn't taste the chicken soup.
The latter half of Jianguo's life was a downward spiral. By his forties, he was a formidable figure, boasting companies in mainland China, ports, and North America. In reality, his fortunes were propped up by leverage and layers of fundraising. One day, he'd open an 'energy fund,' the next, 'Middle East capital,' swindling money from former classmates, colleagues, relatives, and friends to keep him afloat. When the economic investigation caught up with him, he immediately fled to a Southeast Asian port before flying to Switzerland.
"I originally thought it would be a good idea for these people to go abroad and not stay here and cause trouble. But whose money do you think they're taking? Is it the money of ordinary people? I don't know what they're doing now. Some people say they're partying every night with champagne and red wine by Lake Geneva. I don't believe it. He can't save money. He's probably still working odd jobs in restaurants, doing some shady business, or lining up at the supermarket every day to buy discounted bread.
"Really, Xiao Shen. Don't be superstitious about military backgrounds. If you ask me, the man who has never seen temptation is the most unreliable man." Chang Yueqing said, "When I was eighteen, full of blood and passion, I touched bullets and cannons, never a girl's legs. Now that I'm almost thirty, I feel itchy inside. Do I need to make up for it?"
Chang Yueqing said this, scooped a spoonful of chicken soup into her mouth, and invited Shen Huan to eat grouper. Then she changed the subject and asked her if she was used to living in the east city. Before Shen Huan could answer, Chang Yueqing said, "It's okay once you get used to it. Live there slowly, don't rush to move, wait for half a year or a year, and find a house that suits you before leaving. We plan to leave that house to Lao Li's son. When he comes back one day, it can still be a school district house. But Wangnan is still traveling all over the country, so the house will be vacant for a while. Lao Li will definitely feel more at ease if you live there."
Chen Huan lowered her head to eat the fish. The fish was tender, but she didn't like seafood. Hearing this, she looked up at Chang Yueqing and put down her chopsticks. The chopsticks made a crisp sound when they touched the edge of the plate.
Chang Yueqing smiled at her, put down her spoon, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Just as she was about to speak, Li Ting suddenly cleared his throat at the gate. Chang Yueqing changed her tone: "You and Lao Li should discuss the house matter slowly."
After the meal, Chang Yueqing finally got to the point. She explained that yesterday, Secretary Bei Hong had received a notice of initiation from Gangcheng, and Meng Zixian had gone to the High Court to request the revocation of the 7% voting rights delegation. "Alas, why did we choose this crucial moment to bring this to light? Shareholders, investors, and internal and external regulators are all watching closely, yet we're making a big news story about this equity dispute."
Shen Huan lowered his head and wiped his hands with a tissue.
"You're one of us, so I won't hide anything from you. Just before you came to me this morning, I had a phone call with everyone. Hengdao, Hanhai Guotou, Zhongzhou, these domestic and international partners, are all aware of this situation. They're all more anxious than I am, calling Bei Hong directly to urge progress. I thought for a moment, and decided to set the date for next Tuesday and postpone the transfer proposal."
"I can't get through this." Chen Huan sat very politely, his hands on his knees, "Meng Zixuan won't agree."
"He has the final say in Ronghui, but not in the group." Chang Yueqing straightened her back a little, holding her neck high, and gestured to Jintuo to clear the dishes away. She turned to face Shen Huan, her tone slowing down, as if patiently counseling: "Let me explain it to you. Meng Zixian's resources—be it Qingyu or Weiss—are all at the level of Ronghui. Even if I give him Ronghui tomorrow, ah, just give him the entire asset management sector, he will only have 18 points of voting rights in the holding group. At the head office level, he has no say.
"With these strategic major shareholders guaranteeing me, I have a firm grasp on the 12 points of the employee stock ownership platform. Add in the bulk held by Li Ting and your 7 points, and I'm well over 60 percent. Now it's up to you, Xiao Shen, to come to this meeting or not?"
It was already 1:30 PM when I emerged from Yunjing. The golden sunlight filtered through the branches of the sycamore trees onto the stone pavement. While waiting for his ride, Chen Huan sat exhausted on a stone pier by the roadside.
She had been like a secretary since she got off the plane, answering endless phone calls. Some said Meng Zixian was going to join Blackstone as a partner, some said he was opening a branch in the Empire State Building, and some even said he was going to list Xuan Tao on the New York Stock Exchange. They would tell her stories with all sorts of details and then ask her if they were true.
She came to Yunjingli this morning to discuss the division of property in the divorce, and she almost lost the apartment in the east city. She didn't want the enviable share, but Meng Zixian wouldn't let her. She wanted to take the share away, but Li Ting wouldn't let her.
Chen Huan was in a taxi when she saw Meng Zixian had called her two hours earlier, having muted her phone. It was past one in the morning, and she figured he was probably asleep. She replied, saying they'd talk tomorrow, and hung up. A few seconds later, her phone vibrated, and the caller ID read "Meng Zixian."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a long time, only the steady, slow breathing. After a while, he finally spoke, his voice heavy. He asked where she had been. Chen Huan replied, "In Yunjing." There was another long silence. Chen Huan explained that she had gone to discuss the divorce arrangements with Li Ting, but Li Ting still sent Chang Yueqing to deal with her.
After a while, Meng Zixuan reluctantly responded. "Oh."
The trees on both sides of Qinglan Street were lined up in a row. As the car moved forward, the shadows of the leaves passed by the window. Meng Zixuan had been silent, but this call was from him.
After a while, Shen Huan said, “Then I won’t disturb your sleep.”
He coughed for a moment, then calmed down. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse: "I can't sleep." After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Huanhuan, can you come to New York and stay with me for a while? Three months at most. Once I'm done with things here, I'll go back to Hancheng with you."
Chen Huan didn't answer for a long time. She understood what he meant. She swallowed and asked, "You're not coming back tomorrow, are you?"
Meng Zixian said there were some unexpected problems. He had to fly to Lithuania next Monday, and he would be spending most of the next few months in the United States. "I'm a little tired of running back and forth like this."
Chen Huan hoped he could come see her, even for a weekend, but she felt the request was a bit unreasonable, as he would have to waste two days on the road. She didn't answer his question, she just said, "Then you go ahead and get busy."
"You don't want to come to me." Meng Zixuan's tone was flat: "Why?"
Shen Huan took off the hair tie and wrapped it around her fingertips. "I don't know. I haven't thought it through. You didn't say that a few days ago. You suddenly changed your mind. Every time your work schedule changes, I have to accommodate you. When I got there, you were busy working most of the time. And I just flew back, and my foot isn't fully healed yet."
Meng Zixuan's demeanor softened slightly, and he apologized. Chen Huan thought he'd back down, saying, "Let's discuss this again. I'll return to Hancheng when I'm done." But he didn't. He let the oppressive silence on the phone linger. He wanted an answer from her right then and there.
The cars were stuck at the edge of the city square, and impatient honking could be heard from time to time.
Chen Huan lost her patience and brought up what had just happened with Chang Yueqing. She said she didn't intend to go against Chang Yueqing. She wanted to stay in Hancheng and cooperate with Chang Yueqing to hand over the transfer proposal to the board of directors. "Otherwise, they will make it difficult for me to get a divorce, and I will have to fight with Li Wangnan for even a ready-made place to live."
She regretted her words the moment she finished speaking. The breathing on the phone gradually grew slow and subdued. Chen Huan caught the sign of his anger and stopped talking. The hair tie tightened around the end of her index finger, turning it white. She slowly pushed the hair tie away from her fingertips and told him she was sorry.
It took a long time for his low voice to come from the microphone: "Three days, Shen Huan, only three days. This is betrayal."
Chen Huan wanted to say that she had been squeezed and flattened like a dough ball since landing, but she knew that would only infuriate him further. She also wanted to ask about the board meeting next Tuesday, whether he would go to Lithuania or come to Hancheng.
But Meng Zixuan didn't seem to want to discuss this anymore. He asked her again, "Will you come to New York?"
At this point, Chen Huan stopped arguing with him. She gave in and said, "Wait until my leg is healed. I'll fly over in a week or two."
"Next Thursday," he said.
When Shen Huan wanted to argue again, he had already hung up the phone.
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