Returning - Chapter 177
Chapter 177: Severance (I)
The sound of the elevator came from deep within the corridor—Zhuang Ye must have left. Yet Ji Sui still stood quietly at the door of the hospital room, staring blankly at the person inside.
Was it Zhao Yu, or Tang Xi? Or perhaps, someone else entirely?
But no matter who it was, she was a stranger—someone he had never truly understood, had never even truly seen.
At a time like this, what was he supposed to say?
Ask her why she had deceived him? Ask her if she had ever genuinely liked him? The answers were painfully obvious; why should he humiliate himself further?
Ask her how she had managed all these years? Ask her if she was alright now? He didn't need to ask to imagine the agony of everything she had endured.
Ask her if she had ever hated him, been disgusted by him? That answer also seemed abundantly clear. He was a member of the Zhuang family—how could she possibly not hate him?
Their eyes met for a long moment before he finally spoke. "You want... my Lanxi shares, is that it?"
Zhao Yu looked at him calmly. "Yes."
He stood there in a daze for a good while before Ji Sui said, "Alright."
Then, he turned around and slowly walked away in the direction Zhuang Ye had gone.
Zhao Yu knew he would give them to her.
Because he had made her a promise long ago. A man so devoted to keeping his word, so bound by his promises—no matter what she had become now, he would give them.
It was only watching his desolate figure retreat that she felt the weight pressing on her chest grow heavier and heavier, so heavy she could barely breathe.
Ling Jianwei gently squeezed her hand and helped her lie back on the bed. Only after she had finally fallen asleep again did he allow himself a sigh of relief.
Rubbing his dry, tired eyes, he softened his footsteps and carefully stepped out, planning to wash his face in the public restroom at the other end of the corridor. But as soon as he turned the corner, he discovered that Ji Sui had never left.
Instinctively glancing towards the hospital room, Ling Jianwei said quietly, "Brother Ji Sui."
Ji Sui also looked in the direction of the room. "Can we talk? About... her story."
He didn't even know whether to call her Tang Xi or Zhao Yu.
Ling Jianwei nodded.
After Ling Jianwei had endured a full day, Xue Zi'ang came to the hospital to take over the vigil. The two, who had previously found each other an eyesore, had for once developed a tacit understanding and started a shift system.
These next few days were a critical period. Xue Zi'ang knew she was in no mood to discuss anything else, so he wisely kept his mouth shut, not bringing up the unresolved issues between them. He simply stayed with her silently in the hospital room.
Now, there was nothing left for Zhao Yu to do. She also tried her best to empty her mind, to think of nothing, just waiting patiently—waiting for one piece of good news after another to arrive, waiting for the dawn of victory.
From Xu Chengyan's broken engagement and Yicheng's resulting enmity sparking speculation about Lanxi's financial crisis, to the fatal blow from short sellers, to the media frenzy surrounding Yiyuan's similar fallout with Lanxi—in just three short days, Lanxi had been pushed into the abyss.
On the first day, the stock price saw a minor dip. On the second, it plummeted by 30%. On the third, it continued to slide by nearly 10%. Even though Lanxi had responded immediately, it could not reverse the decline.
And just as they were barely managing to stabilize the situation, another bombshell hit: [Huacan and Yiyuan have successively announced tender offers for Lanxi]
The Xue family had been plotting this for a long time; the Ling family was merely seizing the moment. When it came to profit, there were never any true friends. Lanxi had anticipated this outcome, but unfortunately, a defeated army is like a landslide—even if they guessed the Xue and Ling families' moves, they were powerless to stop them.
Now, with the news of the two companies' tender offers breaking, Lanxi was immediately thrust back into the peak of public opinion. Although the stock price had rebounded somewhat due to this premeditated hostile takeover, the two companies were bearing down with irresistible force. The battle had just begun, and the outside world was already predicting Lanxi's downfall.
"I told you long ago the Ling family are just fence-sitters, completely unreliable."
"What's the use of saying that now? Everyone's a hindsight expert. Why didn't you see back then that the Xu family was also unreliable?"
"Who's to blame for the Xu family mess? Isn't it Zhuang Yiqing's fault... the eldest sister's fault for messing up her relationship with Xu Chengyan..."
The familiar sounds of arguing came again. Zhuang Yiqing automatically blocked out all the pointless noise, returned to her office to grab some documents, and prepared for yet another meeting.
Company matters were too urgent; she was stretched too thin to deal with Zhuang Ye and Ji Sui for now, and even regarding Zhao Yu, she had only instructed people to investigate thoroughly, with no time to manage it personally. Yet, she had a nagging feeling that this Zhao Yu was far more complex than she had initially assumed.
"According to the information I've had people gather, she entered Huacan over three years ago."
Seizing a moment's break, Yao Qian hurried over to report, "And her relationship with Xue Zhan has always been unusually close. The talk inside Huacan is that she's the future wife of the chairman."
Zhuang Yiqing let out a scoff. "The future wife of the chairman would offer herself up to the enemy?"
Yao Qian himself felt this piece of intelligence was truly too ridiculous and could only offer a quiet apology: "Her profile seems to have been deliberately doctored. It's genuinely difficult to investigate. I will try harder."
Zhuang Yiqing said nothing more. At a critical juncture like this, one Zhao Yu might not matter all that much.
After finishing a flurry of phone calls, she turned back to Yao Qian. "What does President Zhou say? How are the talks with Taiyi progressing?"
"President Liu of Taiyi says their company's revenue has been less than ideal these past two years. Our operation is too large for them to take on."
"As expected." Zhuang Yiqing stood up and walked towards the adjacent conference room.
Yao Qian followed closely. "However, President Yuan mentioned that Vice President Luo of Kuangshiji has expressed to him that they might consider a collaboration. It's just that their company has just undergone an internal shake-up, and that newly appointed President Shang's position isn't stable yet. He might not ultimately agree to intervene."
Zhuang Yiqing pondered for a moment. "Keep both lines of contact open, just in case they're needed."
With the crisis at hand, everyone in the company was frantically busy, and the infighting within the Zhuang family—whether at home or at the office—had never ceased.
After a huge row with her husband, Weng Ruohua stormed home, cursing all the way. Just as she entered and switched on the light, she was startled again. "Zhuang Ye? What are you doing hiding here? Why didn't you turn on the light?"
Zhuang Yiqing, who had been in no mood to listen to her mother's complaints, also froze, looking at her younger brother huddled on the living room carpet, hugging his knees. "You're back? Why didn't you turn on the light?"
Having spent too long in the darkness, the sudden stab of light brought an involuntary sheen of moisture to Zhuang Ye's eyes. But looking at his mother and sister at the door, he smiled. "I went today... to have a vasectomy."
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