Water and Fire~Chapter 39.2: The Final Blow

 

Chapter 39.2: The Final Blow

At home, she wore the dress to show Gu Miaoyu. She was fair-skinned and slender, and the dress draped over her, revealing her slender waist.

The dress had a deep V-neck, opening at the neck, revealing a large expanse of her fair skin and delicate collarbone, then tapering downwards until it reached a seductive culmination, where the V-shaped tip formed a seductive end. Gu Miaoyu looked at Chu Qianmiao, raised her arm to wipe her saliva, and said, "Shuishui, if I were a man, I'd let you wear this dress, and then I'd brutally possess you!"

Chu Qianmiao put her hands on her hips and laughed heartily, "If you were a man, we wouldn't have to worry about finding a partner. We could just live together, that would be fantastic!"

Gu Miaoyu looked at her and shook her head, "Forget it. Seeing you act like such a man, I've decided to just be a down-to-earth woman."

Chu Qianmiao carefully packed the dress in her suitcase and boarded the plane to Shenzhen.

Even before she left, Gu Miaoyu chased after her, giving her earfuls, "Shuishui, when you put on the dress, don't put your hands on your hips, don't laugh too loudly, and don't walk as fast as 150 meters in one step. It's easy to pull your crotch! And when you walk, imagine you're a snake spirit. Twist your hips and hips, take small steps and smile. Ha!"

Chu Qianmiao imagined that if she followed Gu Miaoyu's instructions, she would become a perfect show-off. She couldn't help but laugh. She still didn't know what it felt like to be a show-off. It was satisfying, wasn't it? It was worth a try.

She and Zhang Teng were on the same flight as Ren Yan, Qin Qianyu, and the others. They met at Shenzhen's Bao'an Airport after landing.

Chu Qianmiao hadn't seen Ren Yan for a few days. She felt like her previous compliments were genuine. Every time she saw him, she could see a new kind of handsomeness in his face.

She thought Ren Yan had gotten even more handsome in those few days, the kind of handsomeness that comes from someone planning something big.

Everyone exchanged pleasantries while waiting for the company's pre-arranged car to arrive and take them to their reserved hotel.

While Ren Yan was talking to Zhang Teng, his phone rang. He answered, said hello, and said, "Hello."

Just now, Ren Yan and Zhang Teng were chatting side by side, and Chu Qianmiao was standing between their shoulders. Voice was leaking from Ren Yan's phone, and both she and Zhang Teng could hear it.

The leaked voice introduced the caller as a journalist.

Chu Qianmiao stood behind Ren Yan's shoulder, unable to see his expression. She only heard him say, "Please wait a moment." Then he lifted the phone to his ear and looked at it.

Chu Qianmiao thought he was observing the number, trying to discern any clues.

Then Ren Yan put the phone back to his ear and said simply, "Go ahead."

Chu Qianmiao gathered a general idea from the leaked voice. The man claiming to be a journalist told Ren Yan that he had intended to contact Hanhai Home Textiles Chairman Zhou Hanhai, but his phone didn't seem to accept unknown calls, so he called him.

The reason for his call was simple: he wanted to let them know that while Hanhai Home Textiles had obtained its IPO approval and was about to ring the bell, it actually held a hidden trap. If this bomb went off, Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO would be shattered and halted.

Ren Yan turned sideways, avoiding the pedestrians running past him. Chu Qianmiao was able to see the expression on half of Ren Yan's face.

He was completely expressionless, completely calm. Chu Qianmiao thought he was truly calm. Perhaps he had worked on so many projects that such things were no strangers to him.

Ren Yan calmly asked into his phone, "So, may I ask what you may be able to do for me?"

The reporter

The reporter said, "You know."

Ren Yan immediately said, "I don't quite understand."

"Mr. Ren, stop beating around the bush. Think about it: if this rumor gets out, Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO is over," the reporter said.

Chu Qianmiao could tell the reporter was asking for a bribe, a hush money. But Ren Yan continued to play along, acting like he really didn't understand, refusing to get into the details of "how much money do you want?"

She imagined she'd be pissed if she were that reporter. How could she have run into such an unruly person?

"First, tell me what the rumor is about," Ren Yan said.

"What? You think I'm trying to trick you? Don't worry, the rumor is real, enough to halt Hanhai Home Textiles's plans to go public. So, Mr. Ren, stop beating around the bush, okay?"

"You're the one beating around the bush. If you don't get more specific, how can we proceed with the negotiations?" Ren Yan said.

The reporter's laughter drifted through the leaked audio. Chu Qianmiao and Zhang Teng listened intently. She saw Zhang Teng frown as he listened. She sensed that things might not be so easy, despite Ren Yan's composed demeanor.

"Since Mr. Ren has said so, fine, I'll tell you. It's about intellectual property."

Chu Qianmiao saw Ren Yan's eyes narrow. She knew he must be replaying Hanhai Home Textiles' intellectual property information in his head like a movie special effects.

Then he said, "What's wrong with the intellectual property?"

The reporter chuckled over the phone and said, "Mr. Ren, it's inappropriate to ask any more questions. To understand the rest of the story, let's talk about something else first, like the value of this intellectual property."

"What did you say?" Ren Yan tapped the phone. "I'm at the airport, it's quite noisy, I didn't hear you clearly."

The reporter repeated, "Let's talk about something else first."

"What?" Ren Yan made Qin Qianyu stamp his foot. "It's too noisy. Please say it again."

He repeated this three times.

The reporter finally lost his patience and said impatiently, "How about we first talk about how much this bomb is actually worth?"

Ren Yan hung up the phone.

The car to take them to the hotel arrived. They all got in and headed straight for the hotel.

Once at the hotel, Ren Yan gathered everyone in his room for a meeting. He also invited Zhou Hanhai and Yu Yue.

He led everyone through all the intellectual property documents overnight, going through them so thoroughly that everyone's eyes practically became microscopes. They especially reviewed the patent that had caused internal disputes, going through it from beginning to end, and then from end to end twice, finally breathing a sigh of relief when they were sure there were no problems.

Chu Qianmiao remembered Ren Yan once saying that Di Chong's daring to go against the company was most likely backed by Hanhai Home Textiles' competitors.

During a break, she asked Ren Yan, "Could that reporter be related to Di Chong? Are they colluding to pull some kind of conspiracy?"

Ren Yan paused for a moment, then said, "That's possible. But if it's really them, we don't have to worry. No matter how hard Di Chong tries, he won't be able to pull any punches. It's not his fault. The only thing to worry about is that it's not Di Chong."

Everyone checked themselves and found nothing wrong. They felt relieved and ignored the reporter.

Everyone continued to wait for the bell ringing ceremony with excitement and anticipation.

But the day before the bell ringing, when everyone's excitement and anticipation were at their peak, Ren Yan received an urgent message from the regulatory authorities. Everyone was scrambling to digest the news in his room.

Someone had reported violations by Hanhai Home Textiles' directors, supervisors, and senior management. The sponsor and the issuer's lawyers were requested to investigate the aforementioned matters, explain the investigation process, provide relevant evidence, and express an opinion on whether the aforementioned matters constituted major violations or posed an obstacle to the IPO. Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO was temporarily suspended.

Just as the IPO was about to go through, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) urgently halted Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO.

That evening, a news report broke, announcing that the CSRC had halted Hanhai Home Textiles' IPO. The press release eloquently described the violations committed by Hanhai Home Textiles' directors and the negligence of the sponsor.

The press release was widely reprinted and quickly became a hot topic.

Ren Yan received numerous calls from company leaders, colleagues, and other reporters seeking interviews.

Chu Qianmiao felt that if she were dealing with this matter at that moment, she would have probably panicked. Even if not, she would have been irritated like a headless chicken. And with so many calls coming in at that moment, she would have lost her temper and yelled back.

But Ren Yan remained calm. He first assured company leaders that the problem was not serious and that he had already figured out a solution. He then replied to each of the colleagues and friends who had called, saying, "Thank you for your concern, but I'm a bit busy right now. We'll talk more later." In the end, he even politely addressed the reporters, politely asking them to wait for further information.

For some reason, watching Ren Yan handle the situation so methodically, Chu Qianmiao felt a pang of heartache.

He shouldered the pressure alone. He didn't cause any panic or anxiety for the rest of the team. He truly was like a stabilizing force, steady and supporting everyone.

But who could help support him? It seemed only he could.

After Ren Yan finished his phone call, he put it away.

Chu Qianmiao suddenly saw him smile.

One corner of his mouth lifted, a playful, self-deprecating grin.

She tentatively called out, "Mr. Ren... Senior!"

Ren Yan turned and looked at her, still smiling. "I'm fine," he said. After a pause, he said, "It just occurred to me that the reporter was quite cunning. He must have known about our previous internal disputes over intellectual property rights, so he deliberately said the issue was about intellectual property to divert our attention. But the real issue wasn't here."

Chu Qianmiao listened to these words, thinking that she was indeed inexperienced. She felt a wave of fear.

Now, she had once again been exposed to the intrigues of the workplace.

She pondered, and asked, "So, that reporter must be related to Di Chong, right?"

Zhang Teng said, "Obviously, they are."

Ren Yan said, "Whether they are related or not is not something we can worry about right now. The most urgent task is to resolve this issue."