Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

The scarlet liquid in the wine glass swirled gently between Lu Yang's fingers, reflecting the dazzling yet cold light of the banquet hall. Faced with Lu Yang's light yet barbed "idiot" and "hehe," Huang Junfei's carefully crafted arrogance and obsequiousness froze instantly, revealing an embarrassing crack.

He never expected this to happen.

The other party didn't give him any face at all. You know, he is the head of Walden International's investment division in mainland China. The two sides used to be very friendly!

"Mr. Lu, what you're saying..."

He suppressed the shame and anger welling up inside him and tried to salvage the situation.

He took a deep breath and said, "Zhuzhu Company has completely severed ties with that woman surnamed Yin. The legal representative will soon be replaced by an absolutely reliable person who will guarantee that they will not cause you any more trouble. Please be magnanimous and show some mercy. After all, this company has tens of millions in annual revenue and considerable profits. Keeping it will benefit everyone. Mr. Lu, what do you think? Are you also interested?"

The implication is that if you, Lu Yang, also have your eye on this lucrative opportunity, then we can all share it.

However, Lu Yang's lips curled into a cold smile, and the mockery in his eyes was almost tangible.

He leaned forward slightly, his voice not loud, but icy cold: "Mr. Huang, are you saying that I look like someone who's short of a few pennies?"

He paused, his gaze like an icy probe piercing Huang Junfei: "I blocked it not because I wanted anything from it, but because this company clashes with me. I don't like the name 'Zhuzhu,' and I want it shut down. Mr. Huang, you're suggesting replacing it with a reliable person now? What, do you see an easy way out and want to take it over?"

Huang Junfei's heart sank. Lu Yang not only saw through his identity as a "reliable candidate," but seemed to know even more!
He opened his mouth, wanting to explain.

"okay."

Lu Yang, however, was too lazy to listen any longer. He took an elegant sip of wine, his posture relaxed, but his tone left no room for argument.

"Zhuzhu Company is doomed, I'm telling you."

He slightly raised his chin, gesturing to a blond figure walking towards them from a distance. "Is that your woman? Not bad, Mr. Huang, you have quite the taste. Although she's not as good as my Sister Tan, she's young and energetic. But she seems to be getting impatient. Mr. Huang, you should spend more time with your beauty."

The implication is that I know your ex-wife better than you do, and even she couldn't handle it, so why do you think I'm obligated to give her face?

He's just a high-level employee at a foreign company.

The implication of dismissing them was undisguised.

Huang Junfei's face turned pale and then red as he watched Lu Yang turn away without looking back and walk into another circle, leaving him frozen in place. His carefully planned dream of "picking the peaches" was shattered by Lu Yang's few words.

A chill, accompanied by a profound sense of defeat and resentment towards his ex-wife, instantly gripped him.

"The matter did not come to fruition."

Why don't you say that he has already rejected you before?

After being rejected by Lu Yang in public without any mercy, Huang Junfei lost face at the party.

He dared not lash out at Lu Yang, so he could only direct his anger at his ex-wife, who was not present.

Go to the corner.

He immediately called his ex-wife and used the harshest language to denounce her "ineffective plan," accusing her of scheming that backfired and brought trouble upon herself, not only failing to gain any benefit but also causing him to lose face in front of people in the industry at such an important occasion.

“I contacted him before, but the meeting didn’t go very well. I originally wanted to threaten him, but he wouldn’t have any of it. Now that kid has grown up, but you’re different. You’re the head of Walden International Capital in mainland China.”

I received a call from my ex-husband.

The accusations over the phone made Tan Xisong's face turn ashen. "During Xiaoshentong's Series B financing, you successfully invested in Xiaoshentong Electronics. Now, at the crucial time for Xiaoshentong's IPO, does he really have to hold a grudge against you for such a trivial matter as saving face?"

She doesn't understand.

According to her original plan, it should have been a sure thing.

"What face do I have?"

"I'm just a lowly employee. To put it nicely, I'm a senior professional manager. To put it bluntly, I, Huang Junfei, am just a dog of capital. President Lu is at least a billionaire in mainland China, with his wealth and status firmly in the top 10. Why should he give face to a dog of foreign capital like me?!"

"You idiot, you've ruined my life. Don't come to me with your problems again."

He would rather give up the almost free shares of Zhuzhu Company than offend Lu Yang.

If he offends Lu Yang, then as long as Lu Yang doesn't let go, the shares of Zhuzhu Company that he took over will be a hot potato.

and also……

Now is the crucial period before the little prodigy goes public and rings the bell. He, a professional manager representative of capital, actually dared to offend the big boss who brings returns to capital. If the big boss is unhappy, he can just make a phone call to the big boss behind him and say that he doesn't like him. Then his position as the head of Walden International's mainland investment will be over.

Some of his colleagues were eyeing his lucrative job with covetous intent.

"No."

"I need to go apologize to President Lu. This idea of ​​plotting against him wasn't mine; it was all my ex-wife's doing. That crazy woman can't even handle her own affairs, she's hiding crucial information and trying to drag me down with her. Ugh, what a jinx, she really is a jinx."

He muttered curses under his breath, ignoring his white girlfriend's intimate interactions, and began looking around, searching for Lu Yang's whereabouts.

At this moment, Lu Yang, Xiao Jun, Sun Yansheng, and two elderly white men, the five of them, went up to the conference room on the second floor of the banquet hall.

Both of these elderly white men are quite prominent figures; one is one of the heads of brokerage qualification audits at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, and the other is a Democratic member of the California State Legislature.

"Mr. Robert, Mr. Pierre Cardin, this is Mr. Lu Yang from China, the big boss behind our Little Prodigy, the founder and major shareholder of our Little Prodigy."

"Mr. Lu, this is Mr. Robert, whom I told you about. Mr. Robert is a good friend of our Little Prodigy. He helped us a lot during the listing process, which accelerated our listing process and saved us a lot of lobbying funds."

"Mr. Robert deserves the most credit for the smooth listing process, so I must give you a formal introduction."

"And this Mr. Pierre Cardin is a good friend of Mr. Sun, a Democratic congressman, a California state legislator, and has a deep background in California. If you can reach a cooperation agreement with Mr. Sun and invest in C-cube, I believe Mr. Pierre Cardin will be able to help a lot."

Xiao Jun was talking boastfully.

Indeed, being responsible for something on your own is a real learning experience.

"The United States is different from China. Each state in the US has its own laws, and sometimes if these laws conflict with federal laws, the state may even take its own laws as the basic principle, which could lead to disputes that could last for many years..."

Xiao Jun whispered in Lu Yang's ear again.

He reminded Lu Yang that he must take Pierre Cardin seriously.

Although this white man wasn't a member of Congress from the United States, but merely a state legislator from one of its states, seemingly insignificant, in reality, if Lu Yang wanted to invest in Sun Yansheng's C-cube company, the first hurdle he would face was qualification review by the California state government. Otherwise, if he couldn't even pass this first hurdle, there was no need to worry about potential obstruction from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Conversely, if this first hurdle is overcome, even if there is some obstruction from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as long as it doesn't escalate to Capitol Hill and lead the big boss to use national security as a pretext to veto the deal, then there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Hello Mr. Robert, Mr. Pierre Cardin, it's a pleasure to meet you both..."

Lu Yang came here today specifically to see these two elderly white men, so he naturally wouldn't give that senior professional manager from Huabei Investment the cold shoulder like he did downstairs.

Now that the path to listing for the child prodigy has been cleared, Lu Yang faces a smooth road ahead.

But how do you cut this cake now?!

Others have said that...

"Mr. Sun, this is your last chance. If you miss tonight, I'm sorry, but you may not be on the list of shareholders of Little Prodigy's IPO."

This was something Lu Yang had arranged beforehand by calling Sun Yansheng in advance when he confirmed his attendance at the dinner party.

Both of them knew it very well.

Because Lu Yang's words weren't exactly a threat, but rather a fact that was already out in the open, there was no point in dragging it out any longer. As the listing date approached, even the NYSE would require listed companies not to arbitrarily change their shareholder list.

"you win."

“I accept your equity swap plan, but I also have a request. Now that you, Mr. Lu, are one of our C-cube shareholders, I hope that C-cube can also have a fair chance to compete in the Chinese domestic market and no longer suffer the same deliberate suppression as before.”

"of course."

The final agreement reached by the two was a compromise that leaned slightly towards Lu Yang.

C-Cube, currently valued at $17.17 billion, is not viewed favorably by the market, with its stock price having been declining for some time. After mutual probing and negotiation, the two parties have reached a preliminary agreement:
Lu Yang exchanged his 3.7% stake in Little Prodigy for Sun Yansheng's 10% stake in C-cube.

In this way, he became the second largest Chinese shareholder of C-cube after Sun Yansheng, another Chinese owner.

However, this Chinese person is not the same as that Chinese person; there are significant differences between the two.

Sun Yansheng is a native of China and is a genuine American citizen.

Lu Yang is a native Chinese.

So, in this equity swap, it may seem that Lu Yang suffered a loss, but in reality, he will gain more potential benefits.

"Happy cooperation!"

"I wish us a pleasant cooperation!!"

"Mr. Pierre Cardin, I've already reserved a senior consultant position for you at C-cube. Don't worry, the annual salary will definitely satisfy you..."

“Mr. Robert, I heard you have an illegitimate son who wants to intern at Goldman Sachs. No problem, I’ve already made arrangements for him… No, no, no, this is just a small token of my appreciation… I won’t trouble your wife…”

The United States has its own set of social customs.

They don't even care if this is called bribery.

Instead, it's called free lobbying, money lobbying, or legal lobbying.

After all, even their big bosses will become senior consultants for some capital companies after retirement, comfortably earning a hefty retirement pension. Let alone these state legislators under their command, making money is not shameful, the key is that everyone needs to eat!
"asshole!"

"You bastard, Huang Junfei, you'll die a horrible death! And you little bastard surnamed Lu, you really think I'm easy to bully..."

"Get out! Who let you in?"

On that day, all the staff in Tan Xisong's department in the entire CCTV building were filled with anxiety.

Because their minister was very angry, he had already scolded several colleagues who had gone in to report on their work.

"Could it be that she's going through menopause?"

"That's it. This woman is already difficult to deal with. If she goes through menopause early, it will only make things more difficult. We're doomed."

"What the hell is this, a man on top of a man? Be careful, if Sister Tan inside hears you, you'll be in trouble."

"Damn it, you're obviously overthinking it, okay? I'm being very serious..."

"Shh, all of you keep your voices down. I heard that our Minister Tan's business outside was ruined by a competitor. There was a former colleague, a very pretty girl, who used to come over and chat happily with Minister Tan, and would often treat us to coffee. She came over this morning and had a very heated argument with Minister Tan in his office."

"Are you kidding me? How can you talk about something like this? Be careful, the walls may be overheard."

"I don't know, I don't know anything."

"I don't know anything either, I'm going back to work now..."

Through the glass doors and windows of the office, with the blinds drawn, Tan Xisong knew that people outside were in a state of panic, and his subordinates were also gossiping about it privately.

But she had no other choice.

Yin Mingzhu came again today, but she still didn't give the other party a reply. If she didn't sign the contract, the other party would definitely get angry and choose to make their private contract public. At that time, she would only face a worse situation than she is now.

Does that mean the only option is a refund?
Do not!
This option had never crossed her mind. Not only had she already spent part of that money, but she also needed to save the rest for her daughter's overseas studies. Even if she hadn't spent it, he would never return the money to her.

That was rightfully hers; it was a dividend she was entitled to.

He gritted his teeth.

She returned to her desk and called Yin Mingzhu. "Bring your lawyer and the contract. I said I'd give you an answer within three days, and I definitely will. I've already prepared one yuan."

Although Zhuzhu Company is currently in debt, she still decided to buy it for 1 yuan, thus avoiding a direct conflict with the crazy woman Yin Mingzhu.

The more than 300 million yuan in year-end dividends do not need to be returned to the other party.

As for the road ahead, it will be difficult, but how will we know if we don't try? (End of Chapter)