"Are the Tang family members that crude and unbearable?" Wang Kexin said with a cold laugh.
"What did you say?" Tang Zixuan's face instantly changed. He glared at Wang Kexin and yelled coldly, "How dare you insult me? Believe it or not, with a single word from me, I'll have Haitong Group fire you!"
"You? Fire me? Hah, you're thinking a bit too much!" Wang Kexin said with a cold sneer.
At that moment, Tang Ziqi emerged from the restroom. Upon seeing Wang Kexin, she excitedly rushed over. "Secretary Wang, you're finally here. We came specifically to deliver the contract!" Tang Ziqi said excitedly.
"Ziqi, you... what did you call her?" Hearing Tang Ziqi's words, Tang Zixuan was instantly stunned. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, then condensed into drops, flowing down his cheeks one by one.
"Brother, you don't know yet. Let me introduce you. This is Secretary Wang Kexin, the secretary to the Chairman of Haitong Group!"
"Brother, what's wrong? Why are you sweating so much?" Tang Ziqi looked at Tang Zixuan strangely.
"I apologize, but our Haitong Group cannot afford to associate with such crude and unbearable people like your Tang family!" Wang Kexin said with a cold laugh before Tang Zixuan could even speak.
Hearing this, the two were struck as if by lightning.
"Why? Everything was going so well this morning. How did it change so drastically?" Tang Ziqi looked at Wang Kexin anxiously and asked.
"There's no why. You can leave now!" Wang Kexin issued the order to leave.
"You... Your Haitong Group is going too far!" Tang Ziqi couldn't help but yell at Wang Kexin.
"Going too far? With you lot? Do you even qualify to sign a contract with our Haitong Group?" Wang Kexin retorted. "Go back and tell your Tang family patriarch that our Haitong Group will only sign contracts with Miss Tang Shimin. We do not recognize anyone else!"
With that, Wang Kexin returned to her office, leaving Tang Zixuan and Tang Ziqi in a state of utter confusion.
"What did she just say? Only sign with Tang Shimin? That idiot?" Tang Zixuan finally processed the information after a long moment, his ears doubting what he had heard. He looked at his sister and asked.
"Yes!"
"Actually, last time, this Secretary Wang was always attending to Tang Shimin. I thought she was just saying it casually, but I didn't expect her to only sign with Tang Shimin. What do we do now?" Tang Ziqi's eyes reddened as she looked at Tang Zixuan and asked.
"Sign with Tang Shimin? Even if this project falls through, we can't let Tang Shimin get any benefit. Otherwise, given Li Xiumei's personality, she'll kick our family out of the Tang family!" Tang Zixuan said. "Alright, this is how we'll report it when we get back..."
Half an hour later, at the Tang family villa.
"What? The contract is voided?" Tang Yuan's face instantly changed upon hearing Tang Zixuan's words. He had already booked a banquet room at Guo Xing Hotel, planning to celebrate the siblings' success after they delivered the contract. Instead, the news he received upon their return was that the contract was voided.
"Why? Why did this happen?" Tang Yuan shouted hysterically. The duck that was about to be cooked was gone. He was on the verge of entering a prestigious family, only to have it all go to waste. How could this not drive someone mad?
"Grandfather, it's all Tang Shimin's fault. They found out Tang Shimin is an idiot and has a useless husband, and instantly felt our Tang family lacked strength, so they voided the contract!" Tang Zixuan said with utmost sincerity, as if he had suffered great injustice. "Sister and I tried our best to explain, but they wouldn't change their minds. We had no choice but to come back!"
"Yes, Grandfather. Originally, they asked me if Tang Shimin had any issues. To avoid affecting our Tang family's reputation, I casually made up a reason. As a result, they found out the truth after investigating. Alas, Grandfather, I did my best!" Tang Ziqi quickly chimed in. The two of them shifted all the blame onto Tang Shimin and Lu Yang, and did not mention the fact that Haitong Group wanted to sign with Tang Shimin.
"It's them again?" Tang Yuan roared angrily, surprisingly believing Tang Zixuan's words. "For so many years, all the good things for the Tang family have been ruined by them!"
"Grandfather, if you ask me, we should directly kick Tang Shimin's family out of the Tang family. With them around, our Tang family will never enter the ranks of the prestigious families!" Tang Zixuan fanned the flames in front of Tang Yuan.
"Yes, that family is simply a bunch of freaks. One idiot, one useless person, it's enough!" the Tang family members immediately began to lash out at Tang Shimin's family, each more venomous than the last. "They've been living off the Tang family for years, contributing nothing, and instead dragging the Tang family down. These people should be begging for scraps!" "An investment of one billion yuan, just gone like that. Their family is the sinner of the Tang family, destined for the eighteenth level of hell!"
"..."
"Immediately call Tang Mingde and Li Xiumei and tell them to get over here!" Tang Yuan, trembling with rage, roared.
...
At this time, Lu Yang was at home playing chess with Tang Shimin. Although Tang Shimin only had the intelligence of a seven or eight-year-old, she was very skilled at chess, already a level nine player on the computer. Only Lu Yang could defeat her. Just as they were engrossed in their game, Lu Yang's phone rang.
"President Lu, as per your instructions, we uploaded the investment prospectus online yesterday. Today, we received cooperation inquiries from hundreds of projects. After a morning of selection and organization, we've compiled ten promising projects. If it's convenient for you, please come to the company to make the final decision!" Lin Guoxiong said respectfully.
"Mm, I'll head over now!" Lu Yang replied. He deliberately lost the current game to Tang Shimin, watching her happily celebrate. Lu Yang smiled knowingly and then downloaded a chess app onto Tang Shimin's phone, allowing her to continue dominating.
Half an hour later, in the chairman's office at Haitong Group, Lu Yang was seated, holding the list of investments, along with the business plans and company introductions for each investment. Lu Yang quickly reviewed all the projects and companies, finally circling two.
"Old Lin, please prepare the detailed materials for these two companies!" Lu Yang said, pointing to two companies.
"Yes!" Lin Guoxiong glanced at the list and nodded.
"Set aside three billion yuan. Invest the remaining seven billion yuan in these eight projects. As for how much to invest in each project, you can decide in a meeting with the investment department," Lu Yang continued. He had no objections to the other eight projects; they were all quite good and could be invested in directly. However, the two projects he had circled and the companies behind them had piqued his interest. One of the companies' legal representative was named Lin Weimin. He was in the new energy electric vehicle business. Due to poor management, the company was insolvent, but the project he had developed was very promising, which was why Haitong Group had included it in the list. Lu Yang vaguely recalled that his college deskmate Lin Xue's father was named Lin Weimin, and he was also in the electric vehicle business.