Liu Rumei seemed to genuinely just want to treat the two to a meal, making no requests whatsoever!
She didn't even mention anything about the underground forces.
Moreover, during the meal, she mostly discussed business matters with Tang Xinwan.
These two strong women, both with extensive experience in the business world, became increasingly engrossed in their conversation, leaving Ye Cangtian and Liu Zhendong to stare at each other blankly.
Fortunately, there were many delicacies on the table, so the two began to eat heartily without any regard for their image.
Suddenly, Liu Zhendong's phone rang. He went out to take a call, and when he returned, his face was grim. He walked up to Liu Rumei and lowered his voice, saying, "Sister, something big has happened! That guy has really returned!"
Liu Rumei's expression also grew serious. She took a deep breath and stood up, "Miss Tang, Mr. Ye, I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I won't be able to accompany you both."
Tang Xinwan smiled, "Sister Liu, please go ahead and take care of it. There's no need to be so formal!"
"Then I must excuse myself!"
Liu Rumei offered an apologetic smile and then hastily left with Liu Zhendong.
After they left, only Tang Xinwan and Ye Cangtian remained in the private room.
Ye Cangtian couldn't help but grin, "You got so familiar so quickly? You're already calling her Sister Liu. You women really get more serious about business than men!"
Tang Xinwan shot him a look and chided, "What do you know? Sister Liu's understanding and insights into business are incredibly beneficial to me. I used to hear people say she was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sharp in her methods, famously known as the Black Widow, and I was quite prejudiced against her."
"Meeting her today, I found Sister Liu to be quite a good person, and she speaks very gently. It seems I was prejudiced before."
Ye Cangtian couldn't help but chuckle helplessly. She already thought the other party was a good person? This girl still lacked experience.
How could a woman who once stirred up the winds and waves in the underground forces, and whom people still feared immensely, not have some tricks up her sleeve?
Outside Yanlai Tower!
Liu Rumei got into the Range Rover that Liu Zhendong had driven. After settling in, she asked, "What's the situation now? When did Ba Tian Hu sneak into Yangzhou?"
From yesterday, Liu Rumei had instructed her subordinates to closely monitor the recent movements of the underground forces. Logically, Ba Tian Hu should have been discovered immediately upon his return.
"I'm not sure. My subordinate just called to say that Ba Tian Hu had, at some unknown time, reached agreements with two forces within the city. They are now all under his control, and he's starting to encroach on various other factions," Liu Zhendong said in a deep voice.
"It seems he had a plan all along. Now the underground forces in Yangzhou are going to be in complete chaos!"
Liu Rumei sighed and then said, "Contact the leaders of all the factions in the city immediately. We can't let Ba Tian Hu grow stronger like this!"
Ba Tian Hu, who had fled like a stray dog all those years ago, reappeared after disappearing for several years, and in the blink of an eye, he had taken control of two major forces.
This was definitely a premeditated conspiracy. If the major factions did not unite, they would easily be divided and devoured by the opponent, leading ultimately to total chaos!
...
Underground forces were in turmoil!
But ordinary citizens couldn't feel anything. Only some regular patrons of bars and KTVs noticed some differences. Sudan Novels.
And Ye Cangtian paid no attention to these matters, having no interest in those underground forces whatsoever.
The weekend quickly passed!
Monday arrived, and it was back to work as usual. When he was bored in the security office, he would stroll around the office building and occasionally visit Tang Xinwan's office, drawing complaints.
However, today, as he walked towards Tang Xinwan's office, he saw that her expression was not good, and her assistant was at a loss.
"What happened?" Ye Cangtian asked in surprise.
Tang Xinwan was not in the mood to pay attention to him. The female assistant, knowing that Ye Cangtian had a good relationship with the chairwoman, explained, "Mr. Ye, the company's stock suddenly plummeted this morning. It hit the limit down within an hour."
"That serious?"
Ye Cangtian's eyebrows shot up. Although he didn't understand anything about stocks, he knew that a stock hitting the limit down was a blow to any company.
He looked at Tang Xinwan, "Has anything like this happened before?"
Tang Xinwan shook her head, her expression quite displeased, "Never. Even since the company went public, it never fell by more than five percent, which is why I find this situation rather suspicious!"
"Could it be that someone is deliberately targeting Haitian Pharmaceuticals?" Ye Cangtian mused.
"The stock market is not what it used to be. It's not easy to maliciously control a company's stock price anymore! Even if it could be done, it would be by large financial groups. But how could they target a small company like ours?"
Tang Xinwan shook her head and then waved her hand impatiently, "Why am I telling you all this? If you don't understand, don't interfere. Go out!"
Ye Cangtian grinned, "Alright. Anyway, I'm clueless about this stuff. But if you really have any difficulties, tell me. I can help if I can!"
"Okay, you can go now. I'm busy!" Tang Xinwan didn't pay it any mind. Even she was overwhelmed, so how could she expect help from him?
In just one hour, the company's stock value had evaporated by at least two hundred million. If no solution was found, it would continue to slide and eventually collapse, making it impossible to recover.
...
The sharp decline in Haitian Pharmaceuticals' stock attracted a lot of attention.
Even some shareholders and business partners called the company to inquire.
On the first day, Haitian Pharmaceuticals' stock plummeted by ten percent!
On the second day, the stock hit the limit down again!
The third day was the same.
With three consecutive days of sharp declines, even the Tang family patriarch personally called Tang Xinwan to inquire about the situation.
For these three days, Tang Xinwan had barely slept, and although she had thought of many solutions, the stock continued to fall. Thus, by now, she had no choice but to believe that someone was manipulating everything from behind the scenes.
Ye Cangtian observed everything. His fiancée valued Haitian Pharmaceuticals more than her own life. She had become much thinner over the past two days, yet she still stubbornly supported the company, preventing the employees from becoming demoralized.
In the office, Tang Xinwan sipped her coffee, gazing blankly at the bustling traffic outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
She felt a sense of despair! Would the Haitian Pharmaceuticals, which her parents had worked hard to establish, be ruined in her hands?
"Cough, cough, that... do you need any help with the company's affairs?" Ye Cangtian asked awkwardly.
Tang Xinwan didn't turn around, saying bitterly, "You? What can you do? If the company goes bankrupt, you can leave too. Don't worry, I can still afford to pay you!"
Ye Cangtian smiled brilliantly, "Don't worry, I won't let our company go bankrupt!"
He took out his phone from his pocket, closed his eyes, recalled a certain phone number, and then dialed it.
This was a special number, or rather, a string of code! However, this string of code, when dialed, still managed to connect.
The phone rang only three times before someone answered.
"Is... Is it Mr. Ye?"