Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

Gu Ming didn't react much.

He looked into Su Qingying's shining eyes, and only one thought occupied his mind.

Silly girl.

Everything that's free usually comes at a price.

Moreover, the cost is very high.

"Which firm?" Gu Ming asked calmly.

"CVC Partners, a long-established European private equity fund. Their representative is downstairs and wants to contact us immediately." Su Qingying spoke quickly, afraid that this opportunity would slip away.

CVC?

That sounds plausible.

Gu Ming flicked off his cigarette ash, a smile playing on his lips.

Shen Guodong, you haven't made much progress.

They're still only good at using shell companies as a tactic.

I just don't know how much you paid to rent this shell.

"Tell them I agree to talk," Gu Ming said.

"Really?" Su Qingying's eyes widened.

"Of course it's true." Gu Ming stubbed out his cigarette, turned around and patted her shoulder, speaking in a boss-like tone, "Such a big matter, immediately summon all senior executives for a strategic decision-making meeting at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"I want to hear everyone's opinions."

……

The next day, in the top-floor conference room of Xingchen Holdings.

The atmosphere was very lively.

"Agreed, we must agree, this is a rare opportunity."

With a valuation of 10 billion, we can become a company on the same level as Ali and Tencent.

"It's not just about the valuation; they also promised not to interfere with our operations. It's like giving us free money and endorsing our brand. You rarely find something like this."

"Mr. Gu, we can't hesitate. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

All the executives around the conference table were excited.

It seems they've already received the prize money.

Su Qingying sat next to Gu Ming. She didn't lose her composure, but she also read the report in her hand more than a dozen times.

The solution proposed by CVC in the report is very good.

From valuation models to exit mechanisms, every aspect is highly advantageous to Star Holdings.

Each one is very tempting.

She secretly observed Gu Ming's profile.

He listened quietly, his fingers tapping the table unconsciously, his face expressionless.

These people.

They got carried away after winning just one battle.

If Shen Guodong had billions in cash flow, would he need to play dirty tricks on me? He would have already crushed me with money.

This is not a valuation scheme.

This is a trap.

When everyone's pleas were at their loudest, Gu Ming stopped tapping his fingers on the table.

The meeting room fell silent instantly.

He raised his head, looked around, and then slowly spoke.

"I agree."

Two words excited everyone in the conference room.

"However," Gu Ming changed the subject, "for an asset restructuring involving tens of billions, due diligence must be thorough. Chen Mo."

Chen Mo, who had been standing in the corner, stepped forward.

"exist."

"I'll give you twelve hours," Gu Ming ordered, looking at him. "I don't want to see the financial statements they hand over."

"I want you to trace the financial chain of this CVC company upstream."

"I need to know where this money came from."

"I need to know who's behind this money."

……

Twelve hours later.

Late at night, in the CEO's office.

Chen Mo pushed open the door and entered. Without saying a word, he placed an encrypted USB drive directly on Gu Ming's desk.

"Boss, we've found out."

"CVC Partners is real, but they are just a conduit. The source of the funds is an offshore trust fund registered in the British Virgin Islands."

Gu Ming raised an eyebrow: "What's your name?"

"Dawn Trust"

"The controller," Chen Mo's eyes changed, "is Shen Guodong's wife, Zhou Li."

Sure enough it was him.

They couldn't even be bothered to change the name, so they just called it Dawn?

Do you feel this is your dawn, or my dawn?

Gu Ming smiled.

He picked up the phone on the table and dialed Su Qingying's number.

"Qingying, inform CVC that the signing ceremony will be held tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM in the banquet hall on the top floor of the Hilton Hotel. Invite all the media from the internet to attend; I want to livestream the signing."

……

The next day, Hilton Hotel, rooftop ballroom.

The event was very grandly decorated. Cameras from hundreds of media outlets were pointed at the signing table.

The flashbulbs kept going off.

The live streaming platform's camera was pointed at the podium, and the number of online viewers exceeded 30 million.

Everyone wanted to witness how this new company would complete this massive funding round.

10:00 AM.

Gu Ming and CVC's chief representative for Asia, a white man named Davidson, appeared on stage together.

Davidson smiled and looked very confident.

He looked at the reporters below the stage, then at Gu Ming beside him, his eyes filled with contempt and pity.

Poor kid.

You think you've won?

Once you sign the contract, your Star Empire will disappear.

After both sides gave their speeches, the signing ceremony officially began.

The emcee placed two heavy contracts in front of Gu Ming and Davidson respectively.

Davidson picked up a pen and signed his name on the contract.

Then, he smiled and pushed the contract in front of Gu Ming.

"Mr. Gu, please."

All the cameras were focused on Gu Ming's face and the pen in his hand.

Gu Ming smiled too.

He was laughing even more heartily than Davidson.

finally come.

We've been acting for so long, waiting for this moment.

Old dog, I'm going to nail the coffin lid shut for you myself today.

He picked up the pen and, under everyone's watchful eyes, signed his name in the signature column.

wrong.

It's not his name.

He put down his pen, and a close-up shot focused on the contract, allowing everyone to clearly see the three words written on it.

—Shen Guodong.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

The live stream chat was flooded with comments very quickly.

"Holy crap? What's going on?"

"Wrong name signed? How could such a big event cause such a blunder?"

"No, look at that foreigner's face."

Davidson's face.

His smile froze.

His pupils contracted.

The color drained from his face, leaving it deathly pale.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He tried to stand up, but his legs were weak and wouldn't obey him.

He's finished.

He was exposed.

"Mr. Davidson, what's wrong? You look so pale?"

Gu Ming smiled and asked in a concerned tone.

Then, without waiting for a reply, he snapped his fingers.

"Bang!"

The huge LED screen behind the signing table lit up.

The image above shows a complex equity structure diagram.

At the top of the chart is CVC Partners.

At the bottom, after penetrating through more than a dozen shell companies, it ultimately points to one name.

——【Dawn Trust】.

Beneficiary: Zhou Li.

Relationship with Shen Guodong: [Husband and wife].

The entire venue was in chaos.

"My God! It's a scam!"

"This was a scheme set up by Shen Guodong to use a shell company to swallow up Xingchen Holdings."

"A poison pill plan, this is a capital poison pill."

The reporters rushed toward the podium.

Gu Ming's performance has only just begun.

He stood up, took the microphone from Chen Mo, and his voice clearly resonated throughout the venue.

"Everyone, quiet down."

"Today, I'm not only going to expose this scam to everyone."

"I also want to teach a lesson to everyone who wants to manipulate capital."

He snapped his fingers again.

"Do you think I've simply seen through this trap?"

The image on the big screen changed again.

This time, the interface of an overseas securities trading software appeared.

Above are rows of transaction records.

"Just as Mr. Davidson was holding this contract and urging us to sign it," Gu Ming accurately analyzed the conspiracy, "he, or rather Shen Guodong behind him, would inevitably need to use overseas leverage for short-term financing in order to mobilize this fund."

"And I," Gu Ming laughed, "just yesterday, through a Swiss short-selling firm, precisely targeted his core gambling fund."

"I used his own money to short his own assets."

"Now, that Dawn Trust has been completely liquidated by us through legal financial means."

"In other words," Gu Ming walked up to Davidson, whose face had turned purple, leaned down, and whispered in his ear:

"Thank you, Mrs. Shen."

"I'll accept your retirement money on your behalf."

……

Beijing, First People's Hospital, VIP ward.

The gaunt Shen Guodong was leaning against the hospital bed, watching the live broadcast of the signing ceremony on a tablet computer.

He saw that Gu Ming had signed his name.

He saw that the equity structure diagram he thought was perfect had been printed out.

He saw the short-selling transaction record that Gu Ming had revealed.

A mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth, splattering across the screen.

He watched helplessly as his hopes, dignity, and retirement savings were plundered by that young man he looked down upon, using the capitalist methods he was so proud of.

He clutched his chest, making a hoarse sound in his throat, his eyes rolled back, and he fell off the hospital bed.

The ECG monitor by the bedside emitted a piercing alarm and displayed a straight line.

Outside the door, doctors and nurses were in complete chaos.

"Quick! The patient has suffered a sudden heart attack! Prepare for defibrillation!"

"Get him to the ICU! Quickly!"

……

Starry Sky Holdings, President's Office.

Cheers of celebration from the employees downstairs could be heard.

The office was quiet; there were only two people there.

Gu Ming and Su Qingying.

Su Qingying stared in disbelief at the long string of numbers that had appeared in the company account on her computer screen.

She looked at Gu Ming.

This man turned a crisis into a plunder of wealth in just one day.

He wasn't doing business.

He is waging war.

Use finance and law as weapons.

She felt that Gu Ming in front of her was a stranger.

Gu Ming ignored her gaze.

He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and calmly looked at the traffic below, as if the billions of dollars in embezzlement he had just witnessed were nothing more than a trivial matter.

Looking at the extra funds in his account, he whispered to Su Qingying behind him:

"We have enough money."

"It's time to launch that trillion-dollar plan."