Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 186 The Domineering CEO Arrives

Long March Capital has started making money.

Before Christmas, Changzheng Capital made a whopping 30 million yuan. After the holiday, the market showed no signs of correction, rising for three days and then slightly declining for two, earning another 6 million yuan.

Adding the money earned in November, the total profit is over 40 million.

To be precise, the closing statistics on December 30th were 40431527.

Of this profit, Chen Xuebing accounted for 43%, or 17.385 million yuan, while 23.046 million yuan belonged to the investors. The 18 investors brought in by Hong Yongqiang accounted for the majority, about two-thirds, with each person earning an average of over 800,000 yuan.

Investors suddenly started asking Chen Xuebing how he was doing lately, saying that he had come across any local specialties while traveling and wanted to bring some back for him sometime.

The profits were considerable, and everyone addressed each other as elders, which created a sense of kinship and respect.

The main theme is "Understanding Chongqing".

The gifts included, but were not limited to, a piece of jade that Uncle Jiang from Xinyuan Logistics had unearthed in Tengchong, Yunnan; a Pixiu ornament brought by Uncle Sun from the InterContinental Hotel; and a modern calligraphy and painting by a famous artist from Uncle Zhang of Chong'an Electrical Appliances Store.
And the stinky tofu that Hong Yongqiang brought back when he passed through Liulong Town, Dafang County, Bijie, Guizhou.

The place name was described in great detail, demonstrating Hong Yongqiang's sincerity.

On December 30th, Lao Hong called while he was eating stinky tofu, hissing and saying in a very generous tone: "This place tastes really authentic! You should try it! I'll also bring you some of their chili sauce. How many people are in your company now? Will five portions be enough? Set up a few griddles in the middle of the hall, grill some, it'll be delicious!"

Chen Xuebing gave a forced smile: "Everyone else gives me decorative items and calligraphy, but you're giving me stinky tofu? Are you trying to pickle my office with the smell?"

"Alas--"

Old Hong clicked his tongue: "What's the point of them giving those things? If you like them, come to my office anytime and pick something that's worth more than all that stuff! You'll understand when you finally see the light: only what you put in your mouth is real!"

Chen Xuebing chuckled.

"I can't be bothered going to your office. I'll come to your house next year when I've made a fortune and pick out a nice one!"

Chongqing used to be the wartime capital, and there are many high-end collectibles that have been passed down among the people. Old Hong started his business by running a garbage dump more than ten years ago, and he has a good eye for things, so he has acquired many good items.

Anyone who has been inside his office knows why he has such a strong appeal and can attract so much funding.

However, after Chen Xuebing and he became closer, he revealed during a conversation that his office was full of things worth tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan. The truly good things, some of which had historical and cultural value and could not be resold, were donated. The ones that could be resold were in his safe at home. He never took them out to sell, even in the most difficult times, and regarded them as family heirlooms.

When Hong Yongqiang said this, he also mentioned that he wanted to introduce his son, who had just started university, to Chen Xuebing. The implication was that Chen Xuebing was young and capable, and that he should take care of him after he passed away, so that his son wouldn't sell those things. Those things represented the lives of many people, and also represented his history of making his fortune.

"Alas--"

Upon hearing this, Hong Yongqiang sighed again.

You want my life!

The phone hangs up.

After scoffing at this miser, Chen Xuebing continued with his work.

Before the Spring Festival, the Chongqing government's guidance funds project approval was due to be finalized. Secretary Jiang informed him that he would be attending a meeting at the municipal government a week after New Year's Day, which might last for several days, and he needed to prepare some materials.

In addition, there's the issue of future financial planning, which I need to think about carefully.

The market rally came later than he expected, and he has only made a profit of over 1700 million so far, while he is still owing money to the debts he promised to repay.

Li Xueling received 816 million, Xu Yunfeng received several million, and there's also UC Investment, which is eagerly awaiting funding. Lei Jun said he would investigate, and once Lei Jun replied, it would be another 400 million.

The money is almost all gone.

Not to mention the CEO's salary, expenses in Shenzhen, and the cement plant in Pengshui.

...If all else fails, should we just abandon the cement plant?

By mid-February, we'll have enough money.

Chen Xuebing shook his head.

There must be a way.

...

That evening, I received a phone call.

He thought he would never receive another call.

……

Shenzhen has no winter and its temperatures rarely drop to single digits, yet it is one of the cities that loves to rain the most.

Outside the Xuefu residential area, the heavy rain outside the window turned into white noise, pattering and accompanied by distant, not-too-noisy rumbling thunder, making it so loud that one could sleep for half a lifetime without feeling tired.

Yang Qingyue had been asleep on the living room sofa for a long time.

The phone suddenly vibrated, the bright light dazzling. A pale arm stretched out from under the blanket covering her body, she rubbed her dry eyes, and squinted at the phone.

From Sister Ren Ying:
[Honey, I'm so sorry. I've been studying away from home lately and just found out about this. I know you're really upset. Hugs~ I went back to the company today, and he's been really busy. I didn't get a chance to talk to him about the house. How about we talk about it tomorrow? Okay?]

Upon seeing this text message, a sliver of emotion stirred within her. She sat up, embracing the Stitch doll beside her bed, lost in thought.

She had only known about it for a few days.

In this era, the sensational events on the internet are still too far removed from real life. I only learned about this matter a while ago when I joined an English club and was asked by the club president to post recruitment notices on Tieba. I saw a few memes about Chen Xuebing and also saw a blog by "Netizen Chen Xuebing".

Out of curiosity, she searched online, but the related news articles that popped up on the search engine caught her off guard.

She knew Chen Xuebing had gone to Shanghai, but she didn't know so much had happened there.

Are they together?

Are they getting married?

Her first reaction upon regaining her senses was that something was wrong.

Xin Mengzhen had just started university; how could she possibly be getting married? Now that this had happened, her family was in a panic and immediately called to ask if she was alright.

Xin Mengzhen said she was fine. She confided in her friend whom she hadn't seen in a long time and took the initiative to talk about her recent life. They talked for a long time, but she didn't mention anything about Chen Xuebing. She just apologized at the end of the conversation, saying that she shouldn't have kept this from her.

Of course she said it was okay.

"I told you a long time ago that he likes you," she said with a smile.

After hanging up the phone, she felt she should have a good cry.

But she couldn't cry.

She felt more confused than sad.

She spent a long time thinking about where she stood.

She would clean the house on Xuefu Road every weekend to see if there were any traces of him. She even felt a little smug when she found that he had slept in that bed.

She was momentarily dazed, wondering if that house and his embrace had ever truly existed.

After hesitating for several days, she inquired with Ren Ying and learned that Chen Xuebing was not in Shenzhen, so she returned here.

When she opened the door, she knew everything she had arranged all too well, and when she smelled that faint fruity fragrance, she wanted to cry.

But she suppressed her emotions and went out, buying new sheets, a new shelf and mattress, and everything she and he had bought for the house together, erasing all traces of their love before texting Ren Ying to tell Chen Xuebing that the house was ready and that he should leave the keys with the property management.

She was exhausted after finishing all of this.

But the bedding on the bed had been changed to new ones. She curled up on the sofa, covered with the old duvet cover, and only then did the first tear stream down her face.

She cried herself to sleep.

The experiences of the past few days replayed in my mind, and a sense of weightlessness, as if my heart had skipped a beat, gradually welled up.

why?
Yang Qingyue really wanted to ask him.

The inability to extricate herself from the mire made her curious about a question that girls always ask themselves afterward.

Did he ever like me?

After about an hour of quiet contemplation, it was already dark. Even though she was reluctant, she didn't want to spend another night on the sofa. It seemed like it was time to go back to school.

She carried the packed items out the door twice, and just as she was about to close it, she stopped at the doorway, biting her lower lip so hard that it left a mark.

Despite clutching the couple's pendant tightly in her hand, she still dialed a number.

"Dudu."

The beeping sound accompanied Yang Qingyue's heartbeat.

She was determined to ask the right question as soon as the call connected.

But when a "hello" came from the other end, she couldn't speak.

"Hello?" Chen Xuebing repeated.

"Ah, I'm here, um." Yang Qingyue was still feeling wronged, but didn't know how to vent her feelings. Her thoughts were racing, and suddenly she thought of New Year's Day, and said somewhat inexplicably:

"Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and I'm going back to Chongqing. Do you have time to meet up?"

Chen Xuebing hesitated for a moment, then quickly agreed, "Okay, what time is your flight? I'll come pick you up."

Yang Qingyue panicked.

She suddenly remembered that she had spent a lot of money on bedding and furniture today. Not only did she not have enough money to buy the most expensive plane ticket, but she also had to quickly find someone to move the things she had taken off and send them to a place to be stored.

"Um, tomorrow afternoon or the day after tomorrow, I'll be back the day after tomorrow." She needed a day to deal with these things.

"You haven't booked your plane ticket yet? It'll be too late to book it tomorrow, won't it? Or should I have someone book it for you?"

"No, no, no, I'll order it myself!" Yang Qingyue hurriedly distanced herself from the matter.

In the past, she would have gladly accepted it, but now, he is someone else's boyfriend. Ren Ying said he was very busy, and that being able to drop everything to pick her up from the airport was the greatest duty a friend could do.

"Okay, set a time and call me."

"Well, hung up."

Yang Qingyue hung up hastily, afraid that she would reveal emotions she shouldn't have.

Let's meet... Let's talk about it when we meet, that's fine.

Her thoughts returned to the conversation they had just had, and she suddenly realized that Chen Xuebing's attitude seemed unchanged.

Perhaps... we can still be good friends.

Thinking about it, I couldn't help but go back into the house and sit on the sofa, lost in thought.

Where should we put all this stuff?
The phone vibrated and lit up again very quickly.

From: Chen Xuebing

【I checked, and the only available flight tickets for the day after tomorrow are for the afternoon, which is too late. There's a 9:30 AM flight tomorrow morning with a last-minute refund offer, which I booked for you.】

Yang Qingyue was caught off guard once again.

We need to leave by 6:30 AM, which is 9:00 AM.

How am I supposed to move all this stuff?!

She was so anxious she almost cried.

After hesitating for a while, she sighed, muttering to herself as she carried her things back into the house…

……

In fact, Chen Xuebing is not busy at all.

I don't have any plans for New Year's Day.

He just finished preparing the materials and had nothing else to do, so he stayed on the 45th floor browsing blogs online.

If he knew that Ren Ying and Yang Qingyue were having an affair, he could appear even busier, making it seem like he was being sincere in "taking time" to pick her up.

However, he did not expect that Yang Qingyue would take the initiative to find him, and the meeting place was arranged in Chongqing, which made his New Year's Day holiday meaningful.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the phone and called Jiao Gui.

"Hey, go somewhere and check it out for me..."

……

The next day, noon.

As Yang Qingyue stepped out of the airport, a gust of cold wind hit her, causing her to hug her shoulders.

She was dressed quite warmly.

Over the sweater, there was a long trench coat for autumn and winter.

But after staying in Shenzhen for several months, I'm finding it hard to adjust to such a large temperature difference.

She wanted to bring a thicker coat, but she didn't plan to stay there until the next day, so she didn't even bring a suitcase.

When Chen Xuebing walked over from a distance, he saw her movements and began to take off his scarf as he walked.

As Yang Qingyue saw him approaching with a smile, she was still thinking about how to greet him when a scarf was already draped over her shoulders.

Chen Xuebing, without any sense of boundaries, reached behind her head, lifted her hair, and tied it up for her.

The warmth from the scarf reached the back of her neck.

"you…"

Chen Xuebing's sudden approach caught Yang Qingyue off guard, and she hurriedly tried to back away.

"It's cold, don't move." Chen Xuebing said as he helped her put on the scarf, holding it around the back of her neck as if he were dressing a child.

He doesn't usually like wearing scarves.

But he wore it today.

I even put it inside my clothes to warm it up.

Having traveled between Shenzhen and Chongqing so many times, he is well aware of the temperature difference between the two places.

"Let's go, I bought you a down jacket and a hat, they're drying in the car with the air conditioning on, you can change into them later."

He made a second, unbridled move, grabbing Yang Qingyue's hand and pulling her away.

Yang Qingyue was stunned and followed him forward without any power to resist.

"Where to go?"

"Get in the car, we can't park here, the car is outside."

"You put it down..."

"You slow down!"

"Let go, I can do it myself... Slow down!"

Whenever Yang Qingyue said "Let go," Chen Xuebing would quicken his pace; when she said "Slow down," Chen Xuebing would slow down.

After a few moments of commotion, Yang Qingyue became smart and stopped talking.

Chen Xuebing slowed down again: "Be careful, it rained yesterday, the ground is slippery."

Yang Qingyue's face turned bright red.

Angry.

Don't I want to go slow?
"Where are we going?" she suddenly remembered a question.

She had originally planned a quiet place for the two of them to have a conversation, but Chen Xuebing clearly had other plans.

Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "I'll treat you to fish to welcome you back."

The car is right at the airport exit.

Without saying a word, they got into the car.

Sure enough, there was a long white down jacket and a down hat in the car, covering the rear air conditioning vents.

This time, instead of abruptly helping Yang Qingyue take off her clothes, he handed her the down jacket.

"Wear it, it's even colder in the county."

Yang Qingyue felt Chen Xuebing's unprecedented attentiveness, and holding the warm down jacket, she was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"The county? Where...are we going?"

"Pengshui, you know it? It's famous for its fish hot pot."

Chen Xuebing waved his hand, signaling Jiao Gui to drive.

“Pengshui…” Yang Qingyue is a native of Chongqing. The only difference is that she is used to speaking Mandarin due to her family environment since childhood.

Of course she knew Pengshui.

That was the place where Chen Xuebing used to work.

She was a little restless; Pengshui was so far away that even if she came back after dinner, it would be very late.

"Isn't it too far? I want to go home!" Yang Qingyue's voice became righteous and stern, trying to intimidate Chen Xuebing: "My mother is waiting for me at home, I can't go!"

Chen Xuebing leaned back and chuckled, "You don't have any family here, so why would you go home? You came back just to find me, didn't you?"

He knew which building and floor Yang Qingyue lived on. He had Jiao Gui drive there last night. The lights hadn't been on from 8 pm to midnight. It was pouring rain yesterday. There were clothes hanging on the windowsill, but the windows weren't closed completely, obviously left open to ventilate the house, so it didn't seem like anyone was home.

If her mother were really home, Chen Xuebing wouldn't have dared to be so bold as to take her to Pengshui.

Seeing his confident expression, Yang Qingyue knew she couldn't fool him.

Her mother had gone to Hong Kong long ago and had no idea that she had taken advantage of the three-day holiday to run back to Chongqing.

Actually, this holiday was four days long. She didn't have class on Saturday the 31st, and spent the whole day cleaning the house.

That house...

As she thought of this, sadness began to well up within her.

"I...I really can't go." Yang Qingyue's tone began to plead: "I'm hungry, let's eat in Chongqing."

Chen Xuebing grinned and turned around, pried down the armrest between the two of them, and pulled out an open cardboard box from the trunk area. The box was filled with all kinds of snacks and bread from the bakery.

There was even a cup of milk tea, warm.

"Make some preparations first."

Master Chen never fights a battle unprepared.

Yang Qingyue was speechless when she saw the abundance of food in front of her.

She pursed her lips, a serious glint in her eyes, glanced at Jiao Gui in the front row, and whispered:
"I...I came back because I have something to tell you."

Emotions are about to rise.

Chen Xuebing smiled and shook his head, interrupting her: "We can talk about it when we get there."

to be frank.

He sensed what Yang Qingyue wanted to say from her hesitation when she called yesterday.

It's nothing more than saying things like "I wish you happiness".

He didn't want to hear it.

I don't want to listen when Xinmengzhen is with me.

Now... I don't want to hear it even more.

(End of this chapter)