The Heiress's Game

Gu Zhenxing sat in the back seat, remaining silent for the entire journey.

Xu Bingjun glanced at him in the rearview mirror, then quickly looked away.

"Bingjun," Gu Zhenxing said.

"Do you think it was too early for me to hand over the real estate business to Mingcheng?"

Why are you asking this all of a sudden?

"Seventy-three billion."

"I told him to learn and observe at the Zhaoyang Club, but instead, he went and spent 7.3 billion in one go. 7.3 billion..."

"Back when I was applying for projects at Zhaoyang Club, I always thoroughly investigated every single one of them before signing anything. But he, on the other hand, didn't even bother to say hello."

Xu Bingjun carefully chose his words: "Mingcheng certainly has the ability. The real estate sector has been under his management for the past few years—"

"I know he has the ability," Gu Zhenxing interrupted him, waving his hand.

"But his ability is the kind of ability he has in books, the kind he has in PowerPoint presentations. When he actually gets into business, people can easily fool him with just a few words."

Look at these second and third generation kids now, which one of them didn't graduate from a prestigious university and speak English better than Chinese?

But what about when it comes to doing business? Aren't there plenty of people who get sold out and then help the seller count the money? Old Zhou's son lost 800 million in his first year back from studying abroad;

Old Zhao's family, what's with this "Internet+" thing? They've burned through 1.5 billion yuan in three years and haven't even made a dent.

Compared to them, Mingcheng is already considered good—but deep down he's still from that generation.

"If you've never experienced hardship or stumbled, you don't know how difficult it is to earn money."

He paused here, then sighed.

"We were different back then; we were really poor back then."

When I was his age, the Gu family had just crawled back from the brink of death, and I couldn't even afford ten million in my pocket.

Every penny I invest keeps me up at night, afraid I'll wake up tomorrow and it'll all be gone.

"I'm afraid the Gu family's business will be ruined in my hands."

His gaze was fixed on the scenery outside the car window, the streetscape receding frame by frame, the neon lights of the city casting flickering shadows on his profile.

"Now that conditions are better, children don't have to suffer anymore. But better conditions also have their drawbacks—they don't know what fear is."

Those who are unafraid are most likely to do foolish things.

Xu Bingjun remained silent for a while. He knew that Gu Zhenxing was not cursing Gu Mingcheng; cursing and disappointment were two different things.

"Mingcheng is thirty-eight this year, he's not young anymore."

Xu Bingjun said, "But compared to you, he still needs more time to hone his skills. This incident may not be a bad thing; it's better to learn from mistakes early and remember the lessons."

Gu Zhen let out a heavy sigh.

"If he can learn from this lesson, 7.3 billion won't be too expensive."

Gu Zhenxing said, his voice finally a little calmer than before, "I was afraid he wouldn't remember."

The office building of Gu's Real Estate is located in the core area of ​​Dahai City CBD. It is a property developed by Gu's own company, and the glass curtain wall shines with a cold blue light in the night.

When the security guards in the lobby saw Gu Zhenxing's license plate, they instinctively stood up straight, unsure of what to do with their hands.

When Gu Zhenxing got out of the car, he didn't even wait for Xu Bingjun to open the door for him. He pushed the car door open himself and strode inside, every step filled with anger.

Xu Bingjun jogged after him, and the two of them didn't exchange a single word in the elevator.

The elevator reached the top floor, and at the end of the corridor was Gu Mingcheng's office, the light still on.

Gu Mingcheng had probably already received the news. He stood at the office door, dressed in a sharp suit with his tie perfectly tied, his expression one of calm as if he were ready to face a storm.

But Xu Bingjun noticed his hands—hanging at his sides, unconsciously clenching and unclenching, clenching and unclenching again—he was tense.

Gu Zhenxing walked past him without even glancing at him, and pushed open the office door directly.

Xu Bingjun stood outside the door and did not go in.

"How much money did you invest?"

"Seventy-three billion." Gu Mingcheng's voice was a few decibels lower than usual, but he still held his own and didn't sound weak.

"How much should I let you bet?"

A brief pause. "—Several hundred million."

"How many hundreds of millions is that? Tell me, how much is several hundred million?"

Gu Mingcheng did not answer. The office was silent for about three seconds, then Gu Zhenxing spoke again, his voice even louder than before.

"The thing your dad hates most in his life is being kept in the dark. And you, not only are others keeping secrets from me, but you, my own son, also try to keep secrets from me."

"Dad, I'm not trying to lie to you," Gu Mingcheng finally spoke, his voice filled with an barely suppressed urge to explain.

"I really did a detailed analysis. Daheng Group's sales data this year has reached a new high. He Daheng made a promise at the board meeting that next year we will reach a trillion-yuan scale."

Uncle Zhang also invested; he invested over 8 billion yuan—you know Uncle Zhang's investment acumen; projects he approves of can't possibly have problems.

The real estate industry is booming right now, and everyone is rushing in. If we don't seize a share now, it will be too late once the market is divided up.

"Is Zhang Mingyuan your father or am I your father?"

Gu Zhenxing slammed his hand on the desk, the sound so loud that even Xu Bingjun outside the door instinctively straightened his back.

"It's Zhang Mingyuan's business to invest 8 billion. He can afford to lose it, but can you?"

"What are you going to lose? Every penny you have is money I've earned my whole life! You take my money and squander it with other people, and you're so confident about that? Huh?"

Gu Mingcheng was rendered speechless by the slap, while Xu Bingjun stood outside the door, even his breathing became soft.

"Gu Mingcheng, listen to me carefully." Gu Zhenxing's voice finally lowered.

"You are not in charge of the Gu family yet. This family and this group still belong to the Gu family—but this Gu is not you, it is me."

As long as I'm alive, any investment that's no different from going all-in at a gambling table must get my approval.

He walked to the door, put his hand on the doorknob, and glanced back at Gu Mingcheng.

"You need to withdraw all the money from me. No matter how much, you must withdraw everything that can be withdrawn."

Gu Mingcheng's expression finally changed. From his initial tension to his subsequent explanations, and now—his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he only nodded.

"I'm going to talk to He Daheng," he said.

"This isn't a talk," Gu Zhenxing interrupted him.

"It's about withdrawing investment. Go to him, not to discuss it with him, but to inform him."

If he doesn't release the loan—tell him to come directly to me, Gu Zhenxing.

After saying that, he opened the door and walked out. Xu Bingjun followed behind him, and the two walked one after the other through the corridor and into the elevator.

The elevator was quiet for a while. "Bingjun, for the next month, you will go through the financial statements of the real estate sector for me every day."

Any fund transfers exceeding 500 million should be reported directly to me.

Xu Bingjun nodded: "Understood."