Chapter 80: No, I’m Going Long on Lu’s Stock

“My childhood friend went to the same university as them. I heard that when Mr. Lu met Liu Yiyi, he had a girlfriend, a rich girl who was his childhood sweetheart. They were engaged, but Liu Yiyi broke them up right before the wedding.”

“What a scumbag and a slut! It’s a good thing that girl escaped!”

“Liu Yaozong has a history of theft. Did Lu’s not do any background checks before hiring him? Putting someone like that in such an important position, handling such a large amount of money… well, it’s hard to say.”

“The current Mr. Lu is a bastard child anyway. It’s possible that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! If there’s no hidden agenda, why would Liu Yaozong’s parents make such a fuss?”

As the incident gained traction, Lu’s stock, already down due to the “substandard goods” scandal, continued to plummet.

Many individual investors, grumbling, sold their shares.

…

After breakfast, Jian Yao chose an English novel from her study and started practicing her translation skills, aiming to pick up her profession again.

She majored in foreign languages in college, specializing in English and minoring in French.

Gu Garden was quiet, with a strong artistic atmosphere of Chinese architectural style, perfect for quiet work.

It had been a few years since she had touched her profession, and she couldn’t remember many of the technical terms and obscure phrases. Jian Yao stumbled through her translations for the entire morning, finally getting the hang of it.

The antique mechanical clock in the study chimed twelve o’clock precisely.

Jian Yao stretched her shoulders and wrists, habitually picking up her phone. She noticed that there were many news notifications about Lu’s on Weibo.

The most prominent one was:

【Lu’s stock price continues to fall, is there a hidden agenda behind the “substandard goods” incident?】

Jian Yao’s initially relaxed posture straightened immediately. She clicked on the news.

Seeing Liu’s parents causing a scene at the entrance of Lu’s, sending Lu Chengze to the police station, a feeling of surprise, yet inevitability, flashed through Jian Yao’s mind.

Undeniably, there was a hidden sense of schadenfreude mixed in.

She had suffered so many setbacks at the hands of Liu Yiyi, and Lu Chengze and Wu Yue always stood by Liu Yiyi, using her pitiful background as an excuse to force her to concede.

Now, she wanted to see how they would react when the “pitiful Liu Yiyi” turned on them, whether they would be as nonchalant as they were before.

Jian Yao scrolled through the comments below, expecting that since Liu’s family had been exposed so thoroughly, she would also be dug up by netizens.

However, while there were mentions of her in the comments, they were all fleeting and didn’t reveal her identity.

After confirming that there was no threat to the Gu family or Jian’s, Jian Yao’s attention fell on the words “stock price falls”.

Before she could exit the page to check Lu’s stock price, the door behind her was opened from the outside.

Gu Zhiyan walked in casually.

Jian Yao turned her head and saw the cufflinks on his wrist, the pair she had given him yesterday.

Her eyes flickered. “You’re back.”

Gu Zhiyan raised an eyebrow at her, his tone nonchalant. “Why do you sound like you’re not happy to see me?”

He was tall and had long legs. Jian Yao was sitting by the window, so he was only a few steps away from her. His gaze inadvertently swept over her phone, catching the prominent “Lu’s” headline. The smile on his lips faded slightly.

The lighthearted atmosphere in the room suddenly became a bit subtle.

Jian Yao followed his gaze to her phone, inwardly cursing.

Looking at Gu Zhiyan’s expression, although it seemed unchanged, Jian Yao had gradually figured out his temper over the past few days.

His current demeanor was a sure sign that he was a little unhappy.

Jian Yao thought for a moment, feeling that words wouldn’t be enough. She simply reached out and tugged at Gu Zhiyan’s cufflinks, looking up at him.

“Can you do me a favor?”

Jian Yao had noticed before that whenever she tugged at his cufflinks like this, Gu Zhiyan couldn’t help but smile.

Only this time, it seemed to have failed.

Gu Zhiyan looked down at Jian Yao’s porcelain-white face, and countless moments of Jian Yao and Lu Chengze together flashed before his eyes, finally stopping on the Weibo he had just seen.

She still has feelings for Lu Chengze, doesn’t she?

It’s understandable, after all, a love that has lasted for more than a decade can’t be easily erased by him.

But if she asks him to help Lu Chengze, should he agree or refuse?

Gu Zhiyan’s eyelashes drooped, his gaze falling on Jian Yao’s slender fingers. After a long time, his thin lips parted slightly.

“What do you want me to help with?”

Jian Yao looked up and carefully observed Gu Zhiyan’s expression.

He was tall, and Jian Yao was sitting on a stool. From her angle, her gaze collided directly with Gu Zhiyan’s dark eyes.

Dim and lifeless.

Her heart tightened, and she unconsciously released Gu Zhiyan’s sleeve, grabbing his fingertip. It was icy cold to the touch.

His body temperature was always high, but today he seemed a bit unusual.

Jian Yao bit the soft flesh on her cheek, unsure about the request she was about to make.

“Can you help me consolidate Lu’s stock?”

Lu’s stock price has been falling, and a large number of retail investors have sold their shares. Lu’s will definitely not allow such a large number of shares to fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives.

Therefore, they will definitely have someone to buy back these shares.

It would be difficult for Jian Yao alone to snatch something from Lu’s, but if Gu Zhiyan was willing to help, it would be much easier.

Gu Zhiyan looked up at Jian Yao, his expression one of “I knew it”. “You want to help Lu Chengze?”

The root cause of the decline in Lu’s stock price was Lu Chengze after all. If a large number of shares flowed out, Lu Chengze would ultimately bear the brunt.

Unfortunately, Lu Chengze himself is in a precarious position, and most of his assets are tied up in Li’s project. He simply doesn’t have the energy to reclaim the outflowing shares.