The afterglow of sunset illuminated the reinforced glass of the Angel Wings Building. Rays of light shot in, lining the floor inside. A migrant worker stood on a lift, cleaning the windows. Sweat wet his clothes. The sunlight shone on his face, a face which was honest, and sincere. Xia Lei saw a thirst for life in his eyes, and the strength to fight for it.
There were many people like that worker in this land.
He did not have hundreds of billions of worries, but he did have worries of an outstanding man.
“My worry. My worry is...” Xia Lei didn’t say it out loud but he knew his worry was women.
Knock knock knocking came from the door of the VIP guest lounge.
“Come in.” Xia Lei didn’t even want to see who had knocked.
Liu Zhengnan pushed the door and walked in. “Director Xia, I’m here to report the situation.”
Xia Lei nodded. “Sit. Sit and tell me.”
Liu Zhengnan sat on the sofa, opposite Xia Lei. “Sister-in-law’s plan is going smoothly as of today’s market closing. She is contra-trading. Her share ratio is increasing rapidly, and due to a series of misinformation, the individual shareholders are scrambling to dump Vientaine Group shares. The more she buys up, the lower the costs. I am in awe of Sister-in-law. She really is an impressive business genius.”
Xia Lei smiled wryly. “She has always been outstanding. She is the best businesswoman of all the women I’ve met. She is much better than me on this front.”
“Director Xia.” Liu Zhengnan gave a laugh. “You and Sister-in-law are not in the same line of business so you can’t draw comparisons. If I were to choose between Vientiane Group or Thunder Horse Group to be a possible future-Apple Inc, I will definitely choose Thunder Horse Group.”
“Why?”
“Because Thunder Horse Group has its own core technology and can reach the global market. Thunder Horse Group is not great as Vientiane Group in terms of scale, but we need to set our sights in the future. Who can say that Thunder Horse Group won’t surpass Vientiane Group in decades? Besides capital operations, Vientiane Group doesn’t have any global leading core technology. It has little technology in its makeup. Technology determines the future. This is the trend of human development, as well as the trend of the market,” said Liu Zhengnan. He looked at Xia Lei, his gaze respectful.
He was quite right.
Indeed, Thunder Horse Group could not be compared to Vientiane Group now, but given time, Xia Lei definitely had the ability to develop it into a leading global super-company. This was because Thunder Horse Group had core technology and core products which not even the European and American countries had. These technologies were like the IOS system of Apple Inc, and the Apple phones, like Qualcomm’s CPU. Thunder Horse Group would definitely conquer the world with these core technologies and products!
Could Shentu Tianyin not see this?
No, with her intelligence, she could definitely see this. Unfortunately, she was a headstrong woman, and also the world’s proudest woman. Abandon Vientiane Group, sit in prison for a few years, and help Xia Lei manage Thunder Horse Group after she got out? Shentu Tianyin could not do it.
She was the more powerful party in her and Xia Lei’s life as a married couple. This type of power didn’t refer to criticising Xia Lei, giving orders, or intervening in his work and lifestyle, but rather not accepting any of Xia Lei’s suggestions, even if the suggestion was beneficial. She wouldn’t take it. Her pride, and Vientiane Group, acted as the basis for this attitude, like a part of the genes in her body. How can a person lose the genes that their life depended on?
“Director Xia.” Liu Zhengnan continued, “I know you haven’t been in a good mood recently. Sister-in-law is a powerful woman. She won’t be knocked down easily.”
Xia Lei smiled faintly. “Thank you.”
Liu Zhengnan stood up. “Then I’ll go now.”
Xia Lei nodded and watched Liu Zhengnan leave.
Fu Mingmei walked into the VIP guest lounge right after moment Liu Zhengnan left. She held a delivery box in her hands.
Xia Lei looked at Fu Mingmei. “What do you want?”
Fu Mingmei placed the delivery box on the coffee table in front of Xia Lei. “The guard at the gate received a package. It’s yours. I specially brought it over for you.”
“My package?” Xia Lei’s heart thumped. His left eye twitched, and he quickly saw what was inside the package. A satellite phone. “What sort of person brought this over?” he asked.
Fu Mingmei said, “How would I know? I only know about this package because the guard at the gate told me about it. They are probably a courier. Oh right, what did you buy?”
“Chocolate,” said Xia Lei.
“You even bought chocolate? Quick, open it. Let me eat some.” Fu Mingmei moved closer.
Xia Lei glared at her. “I’m lying. I bought underwear. Do you want to wear one out?”
“You... I’m going to tell Tianyin. Humph!” Fu Mingmei was embarrassed, and she turned around to run off.
Xia Lei opened up the delivery box and picked up the satellite phone. A phone number was had been saved in it. He hesitated, then dialed the phone number.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring...
“Xia Lei.” A woman’s voice came from over the line.
A faint cold smile appeared in the corners of Xia Lei’s lips. “Gu Kewen.”
“It feels so good to be able to hear your voice,” said Gu Kewen. “Every night, I would dream of you. I can’t rid your voice and your face from my mind.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Your target is me. What are you causing so much trouble for?”
“My father died because of you, and so did my brother. Don’t tell me that my brother is still alive. The Japanese police officers found my brother’s body in that canyon. You didn’t shoot him but kicked him off the cliff to create the false impression that he lost his footing and fell, huh?”
“Yes. Come to me for your revenge, then.”
“Am I not having my revenge right now? Your company is not on the market so I can’t do anything about it. However, your wife’s company is a listed company. I have something that I can use against her. It’s very easy for me to do something to your wife. I want you to experience the feeling of losing someone close to you. I want Shentu Tianyin to regret marrying you, because she wouldn’t be so unlucky if it weren’t for you.”
“So you secretly bought up Vientiane Group’s stocks and spread negative news about Tianyin in the media?”
“I can’t help wanting to smile whenever I see those reports. I’m so happy.”
“Enough.” Xia Lei said in a heavy voice, “You know that with my connections right now, I can save her life, and lose some money at the very most. If you want to avenge them, come after me. I believe your target this time is still me. Tell me, what do you want?”
“I want your life. Will you give it to me?”
“I will. Come over and kill me.”
“Hahaha...” Gu Kewen laughed loudly.
“You’re sick.”
“Xia Lei, our business deal won’t be too complicated. You tampered with the Thunder Dragon intelligent lathe at Rheinmetall AG and it can’t be used anymore. You know how to fix it. Give me the parts that Rheinmetall AG needs and the microchip with the computer control program. Someone will come to retrieve the things I want tomorrow morning before 0930 hrs. I will release the Vientiane Group stocks I have once my guy gets the items.”
Xia Lei sneered, “But you already gave the evidence that can indict Tianyin to the prosecutor’s office. Do you actually believe that I will still make deal with you under these circumstances?”
“That is only a portion of it. It’s not everything.” Gu Kewen’s voice slowly turned cold. “You don’t have a choice. If you don’t agree to this deal, I will keep releasing pieces of evidence, one by one. Each piece of evidence will be hyped up by the media. The pressure of public opinion is way bigger than what you imagine to be. Do you think the higher-ups will ignore the huge pressure of public opinion? If I continue to stir this up, I believe even you can’t save Shentu Tianyin. Do you want to try me?”
Xia Lei was silent.
Gu Kewen gave a laugh. “Whether you agree or not, that is your choice. Either way, I won’t lose anything.”
“Give me some time. I will think about it,” said Xia Lei.
“Okay. Tomorrow, before nine-thirty. I’ll be waiting for your call.” Gu Kewen hung up.
Xia Lei sat there for gloomily for quite a while before he stood up and left the VIP guest lounge and went to Shentu Tianyin’s office.
Shentu Tianyin stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring out at the cityscape. She was silent. Her solitary back seemed so lonely, so helpless.
Xia Lei felt a pang in his heart. He walked over to stand behind her, then reached out to hold her small waist in his arms.
Shentu Tianyin stiffened slightly but knew who was behind her when she felt the familiar touch, and smelled the familiar smell. “I am so useless,” she said softly.
“Why do you say this?” Xia Lei’s voice was very gentle.
“I couldn’t even give birth to a child for you since I married you.” Shentu Tianyin’s voice was faint.
The corners of Xia Lei’s eyes moistened. “Don’t say this. I’m the one who didn’t take good care of you. Gu Kewen’s target is me, not you. I dragged you down.”
“No...” Shentu Tianyin turned around and nuzzled up to Xia Lei’s neck. “Marrying you was the happiest event in my life. I won’t ever regret it, no matter what difficulties come my way. If I go to prison tomorrow, can you still bear for me to stay home alone, on my last night with you?”
Two clear, sparkling tears slowly formed in her large eyes, gathering more moisture till two drops of tears were formed. These two tears rolled from the corner of her eyes, down, down.
One of the drops landed on the back of Xia Lei’s hand.
This teardrop was like a catalyst for his emotions. Xia Lei’s emotions flooded from him like a breached dam, bursting out, losing control. He scooped Shentu Tianyin up in his arms and walked towards the lounge room with large strides.
All his worries had flown away.
At least, for now.
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