Ke  Mingxuan was sick, and it wasn’t just a mild case.

Pei Siyuan sat across from him, wondering whether he should call his personal doctor to come check on him, or just send him straight to a psychiatric hospital for a few days. Otherwise, with how Young Master Ke was acting, all the hard work they’d put in over the past seven or eight years to build their media empire might be handed over to someone else.

Pei Siyuan still couldn’t understand how President Bian from Jiu’an had managed to make this guy lose his mind. He spent a while searching online and found a few blurry photos of the Jiu’an president. No matter how he looked at them, he just couldn’t connect the image to the pretty, obedient young men from before.

But he actually told him to use He Sheng’s 19% shares for a cross-hold with Jiu’an! What the hell kind of international joke was that?

Pei Siyuan pressed his hand to his chest, which felt like it was about to burst, and stared at Ke Mingxuan in disbelief for three minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Finally, he spoke with deep pain: “Tell me, what you just said isn’t true.”

“Why wouldn’t it be true? They’re offering 19% too.” Ke Mingxuan seemed completely unaware of how shocking his decision was.

“How can it be the same?!” Pei Siyuan, completely losing his composure, snapped. “What’s He Sheng’s market value? What’s Jiu’an’s? Do you realize that 19% of He Sheng’s shares could buy half of Jiu’an Group?! What’s the difference between this kind of cross-hold and just handing it over for free? Tell me, what’s the difference?!”

Ke Mingxuan winced at the yell, his ears buzzing. He lazily dug at his ear and answered him seriously, “The difference is, I’m giving it to him for free, and he doesn’t want it.”

“…” Pei Siyuan almost spat out a mouthful of blood. “So you really want to give it away for free?!”

Ke Mingxuan smiled gently, his expression clearly showing that this was exactly what he meant.

Pei Siyuan rubbed his forehead and turned to leave. “I need to calm down for a bit.”

“Old Pei…”

“Don’t talk to me!” Pei Siyuan turned around and glared at him. “Ke Mingxuan, what the hell are you thinking?!”

Bian Yiqiu spent the entire afternoon questioning his life, his hearing, and whether Ke Mingxuan’s brain had short-circuited. He didn’t even eat properly, shoving a few bites of food into his mouth before rushing upstairs to barge into Ye Zhen’s office.

Ye Zhen, who had been about to take a nap, reluctantly put away her sleep mask and stared at her boss with a lifeless expression. With no grace at all, she yawned and asked, “What’s going on?”

“You need to contact Haotian Investments immediately,” Bian Yiqiu said. “Tell them we want to buy back that 19% stake, and the price will be at the current market value.”

Ye Zhen’s tired eyes instantly widened at the mention of “money,” and all her sleepiness vanished.

“Current market value? Aren’t you going to negotiate with them? After all, Haotian acquired it for a low price back then, and now the stock price has more than doubled.”

“No need for that, getting the shares back is the most important thing,” Bian Yiqiu said, lifting the cup on Ye Zhen’s desk and drinking without any care.

Ye Zhen didn’t immediately respond. Instead, she studied Bian Yiqiu for a while before asking a question that had nothing to do with the matter at hand: “Are you breaking up with Young Master Ke?”

The water Bian Yiqiu had just taken a sip of splashed out with a “pfftt”—thankfully, it didn’t hit Ye Zhen’s beautiful face.

Ye Zhen, clearly disgusted, moved aside and automatically assumed her guess had been right. Frowning deeply, she lamented, “You men are so fickle. It’s only been a few days, and you’re already at the point of breaking up? I was planning to use He Sheng’s momentum to elevate Jiu’an’s position in the business world by a couple more levels, but that’s out the window now. If you’re breaking up, then break up, but to ask us to buy back the shares at market value? Young Master Ke is really heartless…”

“Shut up!” Bian Yiqiu snapped as he heard her rambling more and more off-track. He wiped his mouth carelessly. “Who told you we’re breaking up? Can’t you wish me some luck for once?”

“Eh?” Ye Zhen’s eyes lit up. “So you’re not breaking up? Then why are you in such a rush to buy back the shares?”

Bian Yiqiu gave her a look and decided to use Ke Mingxuan’s words to shut her up. “Aren’t we supposed to do the audit before April? Don’t we need to announce any changes in the shareholding? Jiu’an’s 19% stake was bought at a low price. How are we supposed to explain this to the shareholders?”

“I’ve already thought this through,” Bian Yiqiu said. “Last year, due to Hongyuan, the group’s consolidated profits were pulled down significantly. If it weren’t for Ruiyi and Huayue carrying the weight, we’d almost be at a loss. With shareholders’ dividends already reduced, there’s already some discontent. Buying back the shares at a high price now isn’t realistic. It’s better to just let Haotian hold the shares. Haotian’s background is with He Sheng. We’ll have Du Chen handle the PR, get some headlines, and I believe both the shareholders and investors will have more confidence in Jiu’an.”

Bian Yiqiu’s team, though they seemed unreliable on the surface, never gave him any trouble when it came to business matters. Ye Zhen handled the finances, Old Meng ran operations, He Xu managed legal affairs, and Du Chen was in charge of PR. Even Yu Ben and Liang Yu, the new trusted people he’d promoted, could all stand on their own. That’s why he could comfortably leave everything to them and enjoy a leisurely life as a hands-off boss.

But he had his bottom line. While Jiu’an’s stability and growth were important, it couldn’t be built on He Sheng’s influence. That was no different from using Ke Mingxuan.

“You’re the CFO, so how you handle the audit and produce a solid performance report that satisfies the shareholders is your problem. But no matter what you do, don’t bring He Sheng into it.”

Ye Zhen tried to argue a little longer. “We’re all one family now. What’s the big deal about ‘you’ and ‘me’…”

“Ye Zhen.” Bian Yiqiu’s expression darkened, signaling he wasn’t joking.

“OK, OK!” Ye Zhen raised both hands in surrender. “Fine, Haotian’s business records don’t show a direct connection to He Sheng. I can work on the Haotian PR piece at least, right?”

“I’m saying it’s not allowed. As soon as someone digs into it, they’ll find the connection between Haotian and He Sheng. Not to mention…” Not to mention that Ke Mingxuan wants to directly use He Sheng for the cross-hold with him. Why would he care if people find out about the connection between the two companies? Maybe he wouldn’t even need anyone else to dig; he might just expose it himself. This guy is completely out of his mind!

Ye Zhen waited for him to finish the thought, but Bian Yiqiu clearly wasn’t planning to continue. “I’m the boss, I make the decisions. Buy back the shares, and nothing else needs to be discussed.”

“Alright, alright, you make the calls.”

Ye Zhen reluctantly compromised and made the call to the person in charge at Haotian Investments in the afternoon. However, the person was very clear that they had no intention of selling the 19% stake at the moment. She went on and on, reassuring them that the price was negotiable, but the other party didn’t show any signs of budging.

Finally, with no other choice, she asked, “How much would it take to buy back the shares? You name your price.”

The person responded politely, “Miss Ye, you’ve misunderstood. It’s not about the money. We’ve just received notification that this portion of shares is now to be held by He Sheng Media. If you really want to buy them back, you’ll need to talk directly with our boss.”

“What? Who did you say?” The battle-hardened Ye Zhen was momentarily stunned.

“The one truly in charge of Haotian is President Ke from He Sheng Media.”

Ye Zhen silently cursed in her mind.

Of course, she knew that Ke Mingxuan was the mastermind behind Haotian, but what she couldn’t understand was what kind of game these two were playing? One was adamant about a high-priced buyback, while the other not only refused to let go, but also wanted to make a big show of changing the shareholding to He Sheng? Was someone going to tell her that this was some special kind of rich-man kink?

The phone rang, and an even bigger shock… no, a scare, followed.

When she heard Director Qu from He Sheng Media’s investment department mention the words “cross-holding,” she felt like she could almost storm into the CEO’s office, grab Bian Yiqiu by the collar, and roar, “Is it really so satisfying to mess with me?!”

After finally hanging up the phone, Ye Zhen stormed toward Bian Yiqiu’s office, her high heels clicking fiercely with each step, exuding a murderous aura. Before she even reached the door, the secretary stopped her, saying, “President Bian isn’t here.”

Ye Zhen turned on her heel and walked back to her own office. She picked up the phone and dialed, waiting for what felt like an eternity before the other side finally picked up.

“Boss Bian, what does it mean that He Sheng wants to cross-hold shares with us?!”

After staying up too late last night and being woken up by Qian Ying in the morning, Bian Yiqiu had already started to feel drowsy by lunchtime. He figured he’d covered everything that needed to be done, and with no urgent company matters, he felt justified in heading home for a nap… or rather, having Zuo Cheng drive him home for a nap. He dozed off almost as soon as he got in the car, only to be jolted awake by Ye Zhen’s question, pausing for a couple of seconds before processing what she was asking.

“That guy Ke really moves fast,” Bian Yiqiu muttered, looking exhausted. “Making such a big move like cross-holding shares, shouldn’t we hold a shareholders meeting or something to discuss it?”

Ye Zhen really didn’t know what to say anymore. “So, you’ve been in a relationship with him for so long and still don’t know the shareholding structure of He Sheng Media?”

“I don’t go around staring at other people’s shareholding structure,” Bian Yiqiu replied, sounding annoyed.

“Is it too much to care about your partner’s business?” With the boss being unhelpful, Ye Zhen had to take matters into her own hands and explain. “Although He Sheng Media has more than a dozen shareholders, Young Master Ke personally holds 56.73% of the shares, which is more than half of the total. The rest are all small shareholders. So, for him, the shareholders’ meeting is basically a formality. His word carries absolute authority. To put it more bluntly, even if they held a shareholders’ meeting, the other shareholders wouldn’t be able to oppose him much.”

Bian Yiqiu stared blankly for a while before muttering, “So damn impressive…”

“Yeah, it is impressive. He Sheng was created entirely by Young Master Ke, and with his family background, he pretty much calls the shots at the company. Even if he transfers out 19% of his shares, he can still be the controlling shareholder of He Sheng. If we go through with this cross-holding deal, we’ll become the second-largest shareholder of He Sheng. Do you realize how much benefit this could bring to Jiu’an?”

“I know, that’s why I refused.”

His nonchalant rejection finally pushed Ye Zhen over the edge. “I don’t care what you two are playing at, just don’t drag me into it! They want to cross-hold with you, and you tell me to buy back the shares at a high price? This isn’t how things work! That guy, Director Qu, probably thinks I’m a fool, doesn’t he?!”

Bian Yiqiu winced as Ye Zhen’s shouting nearly ruptured his eardrums. Even Zuo Cheng, who was driving, could feel the fury coming through the phone as if Ye Zhen was about to leap out and slice him with a sword.

“As a woman, can you not speak so crudely?” Bian Yiqiu asked, trying to calm things down.

“You damn queer, stay out of it! I’m not dealing with this, you handle your man!” Ye Zhen snapped, slamming the phone down.

Listening to the busy signal on his phone, Bian Yiqiu shook his head helplessly. “What kind of woman talks like that? Who would dare marry her?”

From the driver’s seat, a voice came, dry and amused, “Well, she doesn’t need you to marry her.”

Bian Yiqiu thought for a moment and decided that Ye Zhen had a point. He then pulled up Ke Mingxuan’s number and called, intending to smooth things over and deal with his own man first.

However, after the phone rang for a while without anyone picking up, Bian Yiqiu figured he was busy and let it go. After all, stock transfers weren’t something that could be resolved in a day or two. If he didn’t agree, He Sheng couldn’t do anything either.

When he finally returned home and crashed into bed for a nap, Ke Mingxuan’s call came through. He explained that his phone had been left in the office during a meeting.

Bian Yiqiu hummed quietly with his eyes still closed, signaling that he’d heard and understood.

Ke Mingxuan could tell he was still asleep, so he deliberately asked, “What’s the matter? Why are you calling me?”

Bian Yiqiu mumbled drowsily, “Let’s talk when you get back tonight.”

“No, we need to talk now.” Ke Mingxuan thought to himself, I’m here working hard to make money, and you’re just at home sleeping, living the good life.

Bian Yiqiu kept his eyes closed, still half-asleep. “The stock holding exchange…”

“You don’t want to?”

“I didn’t agree to it at noon…” Bian Yiqiu’s voice sounded like he was about to fall asleep again.

“Bian Yiqiu,” Ke Mingxuan’s voice lowered, “You won’t accept the betrothal gift, and you don’t want the dowry either?”

After saying this, he waited for a reply, but after a long silence, Ke Mingxuan thought to himself, This idiot couldn’t have actually fallen asleep, right?

Just as he was about to hang up, Bian Yiqiu let out a soft groan. Ke Mingxuan quickly brought the phone back to his ear.

Bian Yiqiu lifted his hand to cover his eyes, blocking the light that was creeping in through the curtains.

“Ke Mingxuan, you can’t do this…”

Ke Mingxuan laughed, “What can’t I do?”

“You… someone like you… I can’t afford to marry you.”

Bian Yiqiu’s voice was so soft it felt like a feather, drifting past Ke Mingxuan’s ear with a sigh. Ke Mingxuan chuckled, cursing under his breath.

“Just marry me honestly, and everything will be settled.”