Chapter 51: Dust Settles

Jiang Hanhai felt that he was completely finished!

Having plotted for so long, not only had he failed to acquire any shares in the Lin Group, but his conspiracy had also been completely exposed by Ye Fan. Now, it was his turn to watch the stock price of the Golden Dragon Group behind him plummet drastically!

He was merely the agent of the Golden Dragon Group in Dragon City. Things having reached this point, he wouldn't even have to wait for Ye Fan to retaliate; the Golden Dragon Group would deal with him first!

Meanwhile, Huang Dalei was so terrified that he tumbled right out of his wheelchair.

He had already framed Ye Fan twice, and there was absolutely no way the other party would forgive him again.

Paying no attention to the two of them whatsoever, Ye Fan addressed the reporters present: "Thank you for your hard work, my reporter friends. If there is anything you don't understand, feel free to interview Mr. Jiang and Mr. Huang over here and see what kind of absurd excuses they can come up with!"

"Hahaha!" The reporters burst into hearty laughter, scrambling forward to rush the stage. "Mr. Jiang, do you have any explanation for what happened today?"

Looking utterly disheveled, Jiang Hanhai pushed the reporters aside, muttered a hasty "No comment!", and hurried away.

Seeing that Jiang Hanhai had fled, the crowd turned their attention to Huang Dalei. Startled, Huang Dalei scrambled to his feet in a panic and limped away as fast as he could.

"Wasn't he supposed to be bedridden and paralyzed?"

"Hahahaha!"

The conference hall was filled with an atmosphere of joyful amusement.

...

Ye Fan returned to his loyal Spring River Joyous Villa. While he was in high spirits, Chen Shuting, on the contrary, wore a deeply troubled expression.

"What's wrong, Sister Chen? Your grievances have been cleared, shouldn't you be happy?"

"Happy my foot!"

Chen Shuting shot him a sideways glance and said, "Even though we signed agreements for the shares we acquired today, we haven't paid for them yet! The agreement states that payment must be completed within a month. Do you have that kind of money right now?!"

"I told Grandpa yesterday about my plan to acquire the Lin Group's shares today, but our family simply doesn't have two hundred million to spare!"

This was completely normal. The Chen family was indeed wealthy and powerful, but a large portion of their assets was tied up in fixed assets or operational capital. Pulling out two hundred million in cash all at once—unless their family ran a bank, even average financial consortia might not be able to bear it.

Luan, standing to the side, offered an idea: "After a press conference like today's, the Lin Group's stock price is bound to skyrocket tomorrow. The members of the Lin family are going to regret this, and someone is surely going to propose breaking the deal and demanding to buy their shares back. Why don't we take this opportunity to extract some penalty fees from them and let them redeem their shares?"

That was one way to handle it, earning a bit of money through liquidated damages.

However, Ye Fan shook his head.

"We acquired 25% from the Lin family members, Sister Chen already held 5% to begin with, and later we secured another 10% from the Lin family. That makes 40% of the shares in total. Practically speaking, Sister Chen is now the largest shareholder of the Lin Group, just like Lin Junqiang!"

"To give up the entire Lin Group just for a small amount in penalty fees is simply not worth it!"

"Right now, two hundred million can buy us control of the Lin Group. Once the stock price rises in the future, we might not even be able to buy 1% with that same amount!"

Hearing this, Chen Shuting still felt it was far too risky and advised Ye Fan: "Trying to swallow these shares and ending up choking yourself to death is what's truly dangerous. We can completely afford to take things step by step and build our success steadily."

After pondering for a long while, Ye Fan gritted his teeth and said, "The timid starve to death, while the bold stuff themselves to death! There is still a month left; let me see if I can find a way to make two hundred million!"

"You?" Chen Shuting felt as though she were listening to an Arabian Nights fairy tale. Ye Fan was just a poor kid who had just graduated from college—where on earth was he going to make two hundred million in a single month?

"Ye Fan, you need to calm down! Have you been completely blinded by this temporary victory? Do you really think that because you used a few minor tricks to defeat Jiang Hanhai, you've suddenly become invincible?"

As she spoke, a sudden wave of alarm gripped Chen Shuting's heart: "You aren't planning to use that jade pendant to exchange for money, are you? Don't say I didn't warn you—if you dare use that thing for cash and Miayun Ravine finds out, they will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"

Hearing Chen Shuting's words, Ye Fan shook his head and smiled. "Sister Chen, I never thought about trading that jade pendant for money! I have other ways."

"You..." Seeing Ye Fan remain so optimistic, Chen Shuting still harbored deep anxiety. "Promise me that you will never use that jade pendant for anything!"

"Rest assured! I won't! The jade pendant is right here, and I'm not giving it to anyone!" Ye Fan pointed to his chest. Ever since he told Li Yaoyao about the pendant last time, Li Yaoyao had insisted on keeping it with Ye Fan. Unable to refuse her persistence, Ye Fan had simply kept it close to his body ever since.

With that, he turned and walked toward the second-floor bedroom. He was exhausted from the day and wanted to sleep.

Watching Ye Fan's retreating figure, the worry between Chen Shuting's brows refused to disperse.

"In just one month, without using the jade pendant, how could he possibly make two hundred million?" Chen Shuting turned to Luan and instructed, "I plan to make a trip back to my maiden family to try and borrow more money. Even if we can't swallow all the shares, being able to take a slightly larger portion will have to do!"

"As for you... if any members of the Lin family demand to tear up the contracts, don't give them a flat refusal right away. Try to stall and maneuver as much as possible!"

Luan nodded with a solemn expression. "Rest assured, Miss!"

Sighing deeply, Chen Shuting retreated to her own room as well.

Inside the bathroom, the sound of running water echoed. Through the billowing steam, a fair and delicate alabaster figure shimmered faintly, revealing an alluring and seductive silhouette.

Chen Shuting looked at herself in the mirror and let out a soft sigh. Ever since she heard Ye Fan's words, she had been restless and uneasy, constantly worrying that Ye Fan might resort to using the jade pendant. How else could one possibly explain his claim of getting two hundred million in a single month? That wasn't twenty thousand; that was ten thousand times twenty thousand!

"Oh, Ye Fan, Ye Fan, why won't you ever listen to my advice!"

Having finished her bath while weighed down by these heavy thoughts, Chen Shuting suddenly heard someone knocking at her door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Ye Fan!"

"Oh? Just a moment!"

Hearing Ye Fan's voice, Chen Shuting felt an inexplicable wave of panic flutter through her chest.

Why is he looking for me this late at night? Could it be that he's finally changed his mind?

At this thought, Chen Shuting hurried over to her wardrobe, picked up a nightgown, put it on, and moved to open the door, only to stop after taking barely two steps.

What if Ye Fan still hasn't changed his mind? What if he's utterly determined to go out and make those two hundred million...

"If all else fails, I'll just confiscate the jade pendant and keep it with me! Without the pendant, let's see how he plans to make money!"

With this idea in mind, Chen Shuting glanced at a slip dress hanging inside the wardrobe, her face flushing red as she pulled it out.

Ye Fan waited outside the door for quite a while, and seeing that Chen Shuting still hadn't opened up, he couldn't help growing somewhat impatient. It wasn't as if she needed to go out, so why was she taking so long? Was she putting on a full face of makeup or something?

Unable to wait any longer, Ye Fan knocked on the door once more.

"Sister Chen, are you done yet?"

"Ah! Almost!"

Chen Shuting replied, quickly smoothing out the slip dress in front of the mirror while her face burned with heat.

She had never worn this particular nightgown ever since she bought it, mainly because it was far too sheer. Today, just to get her hands on Ye Fan's jade pendant, she had no choice but to muster up her courage and put it on!

The door slowly opened. Ye Fan was standing there in a pair of oversized shorts, idly rubbing his leg with his foot, when he suddenly froze in place.

There stood Chen Shuting, her face flushed crimson, wearing a low-cut slip dress. The soft and smooth white silk fabric gently molded to her form, and under the bedroom lighting, the alluring contours of her graceful figure were faintly visible beneath...

"Sister Chen..." Ye Fan swallowed hard, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Chen Shuting.

Her scalding-hot little hands suddenly reached out, grabbed Ye Fan, and pulled him directly into the room, whispering softly: "Have you changed your mind tonight?"

"Changed what mind? I want to use Zhongtong!"*

"Oh you, annoying!"

The moment Chen Shuting heard the word "Zhongtong," a tingling sensation shot through her legs, and she thought to herself that this cheeky younger brother was actually playing word games with her, as if she wouldn't understand!

*(Translator's note: "Zhongtong" here is a pun/double entendre combining a logistics company name with a suggestive slang meaning in the context of the romance novel.)