The year was drawing to a close.
For the venture capital industry, the past year had undoubtedly been a period of turmoil intense enough to be recorded in history as a turbulent one.
On the surface, the long-standing major case was finally cleared, with internal personnel at Qinrui Investment Bank deeply implicated, leading to the collapse of almost its entire management team. After the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and other relevant institutions conducted a thorough investigation into Qinrui’s internal operations, nearly all of the company’s top executives were implicated, and the structural system was shattered. With the fall of the tree, the monkeys scattered, and countless middle management elites quickly found positions at other companies. Among these, the biggest beneficiary was Vio Capital, which had previously been a fierce competitor to Qinrui.
In the shadows, many speculated that Vio Capital had played a significant role in the downfall of Qinrui Investment Bank, turning this incident into a business war that had lasted for years…
Aside from this, another more widely circulated theory emerged:
According to insiders, the whole affair had been secretly orchestrated by Qin Lou, the current Chairman and CEO of Vio Capital, who sought to avenge the wrongful death of his first love, Song Shu, and her mother.
To this end, he had spent years biding his time, even sacrificing members of his own company’s board and his biological aunt, all to clear the wrongful case. His deep feelings were said to be so heartfelt that those who heard the story were moved to tears.
—Gossip tabloids loved stories like this: tales of heroic love, where a man risks everything for a woman. Judging by the spread and popularity of the rumors, it was clear that the general public enjoyed this particular version of events the most.
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“Rv’p ps wdqyka. Gppkpvydv Dw oyp pwnb y tsse rlapsd, yde dso pbl’p clld piwllgle swv zkjl vbkp.”
The woman with the red nails sneered. “What can you do? It’s all because her parents gave birth to her with a face that looks exactly like President Qin’s first love.”
“Exactly like? Is that true?”
“Well, I’ve only heard that they look very similar… but think about it—if they didn’t look alike, why would President Qin treat her so well? When he went on a business trip to Country E, he didn’t take any other assistants, just her. Doesn’t that say something?”
“Tsk, that’s really enviable.”
“Come on, what’s so enviable about that? I think she’s just a substitute. President Qin treats her well because she’s a stand-in. How much can he really care for her?”
When Song Shu and Luan Qiaoqing walked into the employee cafeteria, they accidentally overheard the last sentence of a conversation being discussed by a few colleagues.
They had originally been talking about optimizing the year-end performance evaluation measures, but upon hearing this, both of them instinctively stopped in their tracks.
Song Shu was the first to react. After a moment, she blinked and reached out to pull Luan Qiaoqing aside—just as Luan Qiaoqing was about to move, Song Shu pulled her back.
“——!” Luan Qiaoqing, already irritated, turned around and looked at Song Shu. “They have such a big mouth—”
“They’re just making reasonable assumptions,” Song Shu replied calmly, her expression showing no emotion. “And even if you shut one person up, can you shut up everyone inside and outside the company?”
Luan Qiaoqing was still upset. “But we can’t just let them talk like that, can we?”
Song Shu thought for a moment, then nonchalantly raised her eyes. As she pulled Luan Qiaoqing’s wrist toward the cafeteria window, she continued to comfort her. “The year-end pressure is high; just let them vent. If I could single-handedly drive the entire company’s KPI growth, wouldn’t that make me impressive?”
Luan Qiaoqing could only stare at her speechless.
Luan Qiaoqing sighed in both frustration and amusement as her carefree older sister dragged her toward the cafeteria window.
However, if Luan Qiaoqing were the type to be obedient, she wouldn’t have caused so many problems for Song Shu and Qin Lou since childhood…
Taking advantage of Song Shu’s distraction, Luan Qiaoqing found an excuse to get a drink, slipping into the cafeteria’s safe passage. She pulled out her phone and dialed Qin Lou’s number.
She made three calls, all of which were hung up.
When she dialed the fourth time, the phone simply gave the message: “The number you’ve dialed is temporarily unavailable.”
Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth. Based on Qin Lou’s usual behavior, she reasonably suspected that she had been added to his blacklist.
“…It’s a miracle that you’re still single.”
While cursing Qin Lou silently in her mind, Luan Qiaoqing frowned deeply as she pondered her next move.
After a moment’s hesitation, she dialed Chu Xiangbin’s number.
Before he could speak, Luan Qiaoqing hurriedly interrupted, “Does my brother have any meetings today?”
There was a brief pause on the other end, and then Chu Xiangbin asked with a laugh, “What, can’t reach him?”
“…Stop talking nonsense. If you know, just tell me.” Luan Qiaoqing lifted her toes and unconsciously kicked the corner of the wall.
Chu Xiangbin, on the other end, adopted a more formal tone. “That’s not the attitude to have when speaking to your superior, Director Luan.”
“…………” Luan Qiaoqing was almost steamed with anger.
He wasn’t wrong, though—he had indeed become her direct superior. After the old case involving Lin O was brought to trial, there was a vacancy in the top vice-president position due to the heads of the HR department and three other departments being implicated. Naturally, the man who had made outstanding contributions and had an exceptional track record was promoted to the position.
According to her current position, Luan Qiaoqing would now have to address him as “Director Chu” when meeting face to face.
Just thinking about this made her grit her teeth in frustration. But since she needed his help, she suppressed her anger for a few seconds and reluctantly mumbled, “…Uh-huh…”
“Did Director Luan skip a meal?”
“——!” Luan Qiaoqing gritted her teeth. “Chu, Director.”
Chu Xiangbin laughed on the other end of the line, clearly pleased. “That’s more like it, Director Luan.”
“Stop talking nonsense… Just tell me the answer.”
“The Investment Decision Committee has the final year-end report meeting today. It started at 10 AM, and it’s probably not over yet—President Qin should be in that meeting.”
Luan Qiaoqing frowned. “Then when will it end?”
“I’m not a god. I can’t just tell you.”
“…”
“Is there something urgent you need to talk to him about?”
“Well, kind of.” Luan Qiaoqing hesitated, then said vaguely, “I called him, but he wouldn’t answer. He even blocked me.”
“He’s in a meeting. Isn’t it basic manners not to pick up the phone?”
“I had something important!”
Chu Xiangbin thought for a moment, then smiled. “I do have a way to help you get in touch with him.”
“What is it?” Luan Qiaoqing asked suspiciously. “Don’t tell me to just barge into the meeting room. I’m not like my sister. Qin Lou’s temper is worse than yours, and last time I did that, he almost threw me off the 22nd floor.”
Chu Xiangbin chuckled. “You know who he has a soft spot for. He won’t pick up your call, but do you think he wouldn’t answer Qin Qing’s call?”
“——Right.” Luan Qiaoqing’s eyes lit up. “Good idea, King Chu. Tomorrow I’ll send you a box of the Bawang Hair Growth Liquid as a thank-you gift!”
Before Chu Xiangbin could “politely decline,” Luan Qiaoqing hung up and turned to run.
In the meeting room next to the vice president’s office on the 21st floor, Chu Xiangbin stared at the phone screen for a moment after it returned to the home page, then scoffed softly.
“Heartless.”
He turned around and looked at his assistant team in the meeting room. “Where were we? Let’s continue.”
The assistants all sighed, “…………”
Basic manners, huh?
Down in the employee cafeteria, Luan Qiaoqing successfully borrowed Song Shu’s phone under the excuse that she “accidentally triggered the wrong unlock attempts on her own phone.”
This time, after sneaking into the safe passage again and dialing Qin Lou’s number, Luan Qiaoqing barely heard the second ring before the call was quickly answered.
A male voice came through, transitioning from lazy to pleasantly surprised in a second—“Clam shell?”
“…………”
Although Luan Qiaoqing was fully aware of the fact that Song Shu held a unique place in Qin Lou’s heart, one that clearly distinguished her from everyone else, including Luan herself, this stark difference in treatment still made her grit her teeth. “Clam shell? It’s me, the one you just added to your blacklist!”
The voice on the other end shifted back to its lazy tone almost immediately, laced with a hint of disdain and casual mockery. “I’m in a meeting. Can you not disturb me with these calls?”
Luan Qiaoqing was so angry she nearly ground her teeth. “My call is a disturbance, but my sister’s isn’t?”
Qin Lou scoffed lightly. “I didn’t mean anything by it—except for Clam Shell, all of you are.”
“…………”
“If it’s nothing important, I’m hanging up.”
“—My sister’s being bullied, are you going to do something about it?”
There was a brief silence on the other end, followed by a change in tone. The carefree attitude shifted into a light, almost mocking smile laced with an ominous undertone. “Who dares bully her?”
Luan Qiaoqing was taken aback by the speed at which this madman switched moods, her spine tingling. After hesitating for a moment, she still spoke up. “You’ll know when you come down to the cafeteria.”
“…”
The phone suddenly hung up.
Shivering at the chilling smile that had come through at the end, Luan Qiaoqing quickly walked away, her mind racing with doubt. Had she just made things worse? Qin Lou’s intermittent fits of madness were already terrifying enough—what if this made Song Shu angry?
Luan Qiaoqing shuddered, then quickly shook off the worry and focused. She swiftly deleted the call from her phone’s history, removing the “evidence” of her call to Qin Lou, and hurried into the cafeteria.
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