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In the seventy-two hours following the broadcast of the "Lan Yan" interview, the online public opinion field was like being hit by a hurricane.

Four of the top ten trending topics on Weibo are related to the Suning couple: #Wang Duoyu flips the table#, #Liu Yifei is a good wife and mother#, #Is industry the foundation of the country or capital the king#, #Fish new energy vehicle technology roadmap#.

The headlines of major financial media outlets present a stark contrast...

"Serving the Country through Industry: Wang Duoyu's Passion for Manufacturing" - People's Daily

"A $200 Billion Gamble: How Much of a Bubble Remains in the New Energy Vehicle Market?" — The Wall Street Journal Chinese Website

From Actress to Supportive Wife: The Secret to Liu Yifei's Social Climbing – Harper's Bazaar

In the public relations office of the Wang Group, three electronic screens monitor the public opinion trends on different platforms in real time.

Public Relations Director Lin Xia rubbed her temples and said to her assistant, "Suppress that report on 'social mobility,' block the keywords. Madam doesn't like that kind of tone."

"Director Lin, what about this article concerning the lady's nationality?"

"Keep it! Madam specifically instructed that she is a public figure and there is no need for her to do something self-deceptive."

"Speaking of which, our lady is truly magnanimous! She rarely gets involved in legal disputes with others."

"Sigh! There's nothing we can do! Those people are like flies, you can't shoo them away. Even a warrior like Donglai Pang faces a lot of pressure. Blame it on the world for always bullying honest people."

"Is it not enough to have our Chairman Wang protecting us?"

"Hmph! You also want your wife to go live and cry on the internet, don't you?"

"This……"

"When faced with injustice, there are very few people who can stand up to it like Donglai Pang. Madam doesn't want to cause trouble for President Wang."

"That's wonderful! This must be what they call a loving and devoted couple."

But in the cigar room of a private club on the Bund in Shanghai, it's a completely different scene.

"Hahaha, 'faster than flipping a table'? This nouveau riche really knows how to coin words!" Wanhe Capital founder Zhao Ali swirled the whiskey in his glass, the ice cubes hitting the glass with a crisp sound.

The large screen in front of him was replaying highlights from "Lan Yan".

This entrepreneur, who started his business on the internet, has now transformed into a capitalist, and naturally scoffs at the idea of ​​"building the country through real industry."

"Mr. Zhao, didn't you share Suning's interview on your WeChat Moments yesterday, praising him as a 'model of industrialists'?" a young fund manager asked with a fawning expression.

Zhao Ali exhaled a smoke ring and squinted her eyes: "Little Chen! That's why you're still a fund manager. Of course, you have to say nice things in public, but do you really think we'd follow his example and go into some high-end manufacturing?"

He scoffed, "Developing a precision machine tool takes three years, and the return on investment cycle is at least five years. How can that compare to a game company releasing a skin every three months? How can that compare to how Wanhe drains the savings of those brainless housewives?"

"Hahaha……"

A knowing laugh erupted in the room.

In a corner, a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses said softly, "But the banks seem to be very receptive. I heard that ICBC has given the Wang Group a credit line of 300 billion yuan, with an interest rate 80 basis points lower than the LPR."

"Hmph! Banks?" Zhao Ali curled her lip in disdain. "They only know how to add icing on the cake. The day Wang Duoyu's cash flow runs into trouble, these are the first ones to withdraw their loans."

At that moment, the clubhouse door was pushed open, and Masclone strode in.

The laughter and conversation in the room stopped abruptly.

"You're having a lively chat!" Masclone walked straight to the bar, poured himself a glass of mineral water, and said, "Mr. Zhao, I heard you just invested in a live-streaming e-commerce company? Its valuation increased fivefold in three months?"

Zhao Ali immediately adopted a respectful expression: "Masclone, you are well-informed, but it's just a small-scale operation, nothing compared to your new energy strategy."

Masclone glanced around with a half-smile: "Everyone here is a sensible person. Wang Duoyu's rhetoric about building the country through industry might fool laymen, but even my new energy project is nothing more than a cash cow for the 'Mars colonization plan'."

He raised his water glass. "But capital never sleeps; it always seeks out the fattest piece of meat, doesn't it?"

"Heroes see the same thing."

The crystal glass reflected a cold light under the lamp, much like the calculating glint in the eyes of everyone in the room.

Meanwhile, in the conference room of the Wang Group headquarters building, a strategic meeting was reaching a critical moment.

"Chairman, banks are now bringing money to our door, we should take this opportunity to expand our financial investment sector." The general manager of the investment department pointed to the data on the PPT, "Last year, our private equity fund's return rate reached 47%, far exceeding the 8.6% of the industrial sector."

The CFO then added, "If we invest this 300 billion yuan credit line in the financial market, conservatively speaking..."

"Enough." Su Ning interrupted the report, tapping her fingers lightly on the table. "Have you all forgotten your origins?"

He stood up and walked to the window. "Those people in the financial world do make a lot of money by buying and selling, but it's all castles in the air. Sooner or later it will collapse."

The meeting room was completely silent.

Liu Yifei gently put down the teacup, the clinking sound of the porcelain was exceptionally clear.

"The latest order from the precision gear factory is a five-year contract with the German Bosch Group." Suning displayed a set of data on the screen. "Aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, already certified by COMAC. These are the foundation of the Wang family."

He looked around at the crowd: "I know finance is a quick way to make money, but a country without high-end manufacturing is like a person without a backbone. The way Wall Street operates..."

Suning suddenly laughed, "Isn't this just the ultimate 'table-flipping'? Let's see what they can play after they've hollowed out the real economy."

Liu Yifei added at the opportune moment: "Chairman Wang and I have visited German hidden champion companies. They have focused on making one component for generations, and eventually made it irreplaceable globally. This is the path we should take."

After the meeting, Mr. and Mrs. Su Ning stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the bank vehicles drive away one after another below.

Each bank representative left with a satisfied smile...

Wang's Group accepted all credit lines, but the purpose of the funds was clearly stated: high-end manufacturing R&D and production line upgrades.

“Masclone met with Zhao Ali and Niu Tengteng’s group today,” Liu Yifei suddenly said.

Her intelligence network always operated efficiently.

Suning chuckled: "I guessed it! Domestic capital still craves foreign investment the most. Those who dream of partnering with foreign capital are actually no different from the compradors of the past—it's the same old trick."

"That's true! When Zhao Ali was looking for angel investors, the first thing she considered was foreign capital."

"All they think about is making money and exploiting the system! At best, they can only take advantage of the times through opportunism."

"I heard they're forming a new energy industry alliance, intending to use standards warfare to strangle the Wang Group."

“Then let’s see,” Suning put his arm around his wife’s shoulder, “whether their paper alliance is stronger or our machine tools are tougher.”

The setting sun cast long shadows of the two people onto the map of China on the wall.

On the map, more than a dozen newly built "Fish" production bases are being built, like a key piece being placed on a chessboard.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Masclone put down the phone and said to Zhao Ali and Niu Tengteng in front of him, "Contact Shenzhen Capital Group and Sequoia Capital. I need to meet with their representatives next week. Since Wang Duoyu likes to get involved in real businesses, let's show him what the power of capital is."

"Haha, got it! This time we'll hunt down capital."

Outside the window, the city lights were just coming on, and the neon lights of the financial center flickered like countless greedy eyes.

In the city's lights and shadows, the battle between industry and capital has only just begun.

……

At six o'clock in the morning, the curtains of the Aman Tokyo Hotel slowly and automatically opened, and the morning light flowed in like molten gold.

Su Ning woke up first, and he turned to look at his wife's sleeping profile...

Liu Yifei's eyelashes cast tiny shadows in the morning light, and her breathing was even and calm.

The intense work she's been doing lately has left her with faint bluish tinges under her eyes, which are difficult to completely conceal even with the best skincare products.

Suning quietly got up and picked up the tablet computer from the bedside table.

The moment the screen lit up, seventeen unread message notifications popped up in succession, the top one from the assistant: "Masclone is contacting our battery supplier."

He frowned, his finger hovering above the screen for three seconds, before making a decision he rarely made...

Swipe left to mark all as read.

"It's a holiday today," he told himself.

"Honey, what time is it?" Liu Yifei's voice was hoarse from just waking up.

“It’s still early,” Su Ning put down her tablet and sat back down on the bed. “It’s only a little past six.”

Liu Yifei sat up, her silk nightgown slipping off her shoulders: "What were you looking at just now?"

Years of living together have given her an intimate knowledge of her husband's every subtle expression.

"It's nothing," Su Ning reached out and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "Where do you want to go today? Ginza? Or Shibuya Omotesando?"

Liu Yifei's eyes lit up: "Let's go to Ginza first! We can take a look at my newly opened luxury flagship store there."

She threw back the covers and stepped barefoot onto the soft carpet. "The new Issey Miyake collection should have arrived at the store by now."

Su Ning smiled and shook her head: "We agreed to come here for a vacation."

"This is what a vacation is all about!" Liu Yifei turned around and smiled sweetly. "Shopping, isn't that a woman's romance?"

Two hours later, in Ginza 4-chome, Liu Yifei, arm in arm with Su Ning, casually walked into a luxury shopping mall with glass curtain walls.

Today she wore a simple white turtleneck sweater and black wide-leg pants, with the only accessories being two small pearls on her earlobes, yet she was more eye-catching than the nouveau riche covered in logos.

"Welcome!" The store manager recognized them and was about to bow in greeting when Liu Yifei stopped him with a look.

“We’re just browsing,” she said in fluent Japanese, her voice low. “Please treat us like ordinary customers.”

"Hi!"

Suning watched with great interest as his wife instantly switched to "consumer mode".

Liu Yifei's fingers gently brushed over the handbags on the display shelf. She picked up a burgundy handbag and examined the stitching repeatedly. She then brought it closer to smell the leather and finally checked the workmanship of the lining.

“The stitch spacing is uneven,” she whispered to Suning in Chinese, “the right side is about 0.5 millimeters wider than the left.”

Then she picked up another sample of the same product, saying, "This one is much better."

The store manager nervously observed this special guest.

Liu Yifei wandered around for a while and finally only bought a silk scarf. Before leaving, she casually remarked, "The lighting on the third floor is too strong, which makes the leather look dry. I suggest adjusting it to a color temperature of 4000K and reducing the illuminance by 30%."

The store manager was dumbfounded and quickly bowed, saying, "Hey! We'll improve it right away!"

As they walked out of the store, Su Ning couldn't help but laugh out loud: "The way you were just now, you looked just like a queen on an incognito visit."

Liu Yifei gently pinched his arm: "This is our own brand flagship store. Details determine success or failure."

She paused for a moment, then added, "Besides, I spent three years studying bag design in Paris."

At noon, they avoided Michelin-starred restaurants and found a sushi restaurant hidden in an alley.

The master chef stood behind the cypress counter, skillfully shaping sushi.

Liu Yifei quietly translated her master's explanation of the different textures of the tuna, while Su Ning attentively observed the rhythm of the master's every movement.

“Look,” he suddenly said, “every time he makes a sushi, he gently presses the joint between the raw fish and the rice with his left thumb, just like…”

“It’s like the way you inspect the seams of a car’s sheet metal,” Liu Yifei replied, and the two smiled at each other.

In terms of craftsmanship, Japan and China share a common ground.

In the afternoon, they disguised themselves even more thoroughly...

Wearing a baseball cap and a mask, I mingled with the crowd of tourists at Senso-ji Temple.

Liu Yifei bought a pink rabbit amulet, saying she wanted to give it to her assistant's newborn daughter.

Just as Suning bent down to tie a kimono-style sash for her, a Chinese tour group passed by.

"That guy looks like Wang Duoyu!" a girl's voice rang out.

“The one next to her looks more like Liu Yifei!” her companion chimed in.

The couple stood frozen in place, then turned and walked away in unison, followed by a chorus of exclamations of "It really is them!" from behind.

They jogged into a narrow alley and only stopped to catch their breath after confirming they had shaken off any potential followers.

“I told you so,” Su Ning said, panting as she leaned against the wall, “you should wear those brown sunglasses.”

"And then it'll look more like a celebrity going on an incognito trip?" Liu Yifei laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "Why don't you just not wear that 200,000 yuan custom-made shirt next time you're disguised?"

"Hahaha..." In the end, the couple couldn't help but laugh.

In the evening, they went up to the special observation deck of Tokyo Tower.

The setting sun bathed Tokyo in a golden-red hue, with the silhouette of Mount Fuji faintly visible in the distance.

Liu Yifei leaned against the railing, gazing absently at the horizon.

“Sometimes I think,” she suddenly said, “what would I be like now if I hadn’t retired from acting back then.”

Suning did not respond immediately.

He understood his wife; it wasn't regret, but simply a woman's curiosity about another possibility in life.

“You could win every Best Actress award, or you could be abandoned by the market and the times,” he concluded. “Or you could start a film company ten times bigger than yours now and drive all those young, inexperienced actors out of the industry.”

Liu Yifei chuckled softly, "You certainly know how to talk."

She turned and leaned against the railing, facing Su Ning, "Actually, I prefer my current life. Acting is about interpreting other people's lives, but now..."

She reached out and straightened Su Ning's collar, which had been ruffled by the wind. "I've lived my own life."

As the night breeze grew cooler, Su Ning took off his coat and draped it over his wife's shoulders: "Where do you want to go tomorrow?"

“Sony headquarters,” Liu Yifei answered without hesitation, “their industrial design department has an old friend who wants to see you.”

"Great! Now you're taking control of my schedule."

"What? Don't want to?"

"Alas! It's too late for regrets now."

"Hmph! What a jerk! He should be secretly happy about it!"

The next day at Sony headquarters, design director Kenichi Tanaka led them on a tour of the concept product area, which had not yet been publicly released.

A transparent display screen caught Suning's attention.

"If this technology were used on car windshields..." he murmured to himself.

Tanaka smiled knowingly: "Mr. Wang certainly has a keen eye. We are planning to collaborate with German automakers to develop an AR-HUD system."

"Excellent! Sony's research and development is indeed very forward-thinking."

"Thank you for your recognition, Mr. Wang."

"But the essence of technology lies in its promotion! Your stinginess will one day bring you trouble."

"Uh? Hi! Mr. Wang, actually, these drawbacks have already become apparent."

"Tanaka-kun, be more open-minded! Times have changed. I hope we can achieve a win-win cooperation."

"Hi, Mr. Wang, our Sony board of directors will definitely discuss this carefully."

During lunch, Liu Yifei skillfully steered the conversation toward the quality management systems of Japanese companies.

Tanaka detailed his experience learning about the "Andon system" in a Toyota factory when he was young...

Any employee who discovers a problem can shut down the entire production line.

"The losses from the line outage must be huge, right?" Su Ning asked.

“But it’s much smaller than delivering defective products to customers,” Tanaka replied.

On the way back to the hotel, Su Ning remained silent.

It wasn't until in the elevator that he suddenly said, "I want to raise the quality control standards for 'Fish' by another 20%."

Liu Yifei nodded, not surprised: "Even if it increases costs, we're willing to pay the price?"

“Especially when costs increase,” Suning’s eyes lit up, “that’s when the table can’t be overturned.”

"Huh? You still can't forget to flip the table?"

"Hehe, because flipping the table is the most fun."

"..."

That evening, while they were dining at the hotel's rooftop restaurant, their assistant sent them a message: Masclone had signed exclusive agreements with three battery suppliers.

Seeing her husband's face darken instantly, Liu Yifei reached out and covered his phone screen: "Do you remember what Mr. Tanaka said today? Sometimes stopping to think is more important than acting blindly."

Su Ning took a deep breath and placed her phone face down on the table: "You're right! Let's go to Hakone for hot springs tomorrow."

Liu Yifei smiled and raised her glass: "This is the Wang Duoyu I know."

Outside the glass window, the lights of Tokyo's countless homes resembled stars fallen to earth.

In this moment of tranquility, it seemed as if the world consisted only of the two of them and the gently swirling red wine in their glasses.

However, Suning had anticipated Masclone's move and had already arranged for someone to file a complaint with the relevant authorities.

This is blatant monopolistic behavior, which is not allowed in the Chinese market.

Of course, Suning also expanded the production capacity of its own battery factories to ensure that "Fish" could operate normally without any problems.

In addition, there's BYD, which Suning now owns a significant portion of.

...(End of chapter)