As expected, the triumphant Miss Xia quickly received a call from the Lu family.
Lu Yunshi’s father politely invited Xia Xiaolan to dinner this time.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t play hard to get – since the other party was willing to talk properly, she naturally had to show some respect.
“Oh, and Miss Lu and I hit it off immediately. Mr. Lu must bring Miss Lu along.”
When Xia Xiaolan arrived at the agreed location, she saw Lu Yunshi sitting expressionlessly beside an older man. Upon seeing Xia Xiaolan, Lu Yunshi forced a stiff smile.
“Miss Lu, last month at the exchange I mentioned having afternoon tea, but you might have left too quickly to hear. No matter, having dinner together today is even better. Hello, Mr. Lu, nice to meet you, sorry to have kept you waiting.”
No afternoon tea? Then she’d have to come out for dinner instead.
Looking at Lu Yunshi’s expression, Xia Xiaolan felt even more like a villain forcing someone’s hand.
There was a reason Du Zhaohui was so provocative – being the bad guy was more enjoyable than being good. Good people had to maintain their image, while villains could act freely.
Since she was already considered a villain in the Lu father and daughter’s minds, Xia Xiaolan decided to act as she pleased.
Lu Guangfu maintained a friendly expression:
“Please sit, Miss Xia. You and Yunshi have the whole evening to catch up.”
Lu Yunshi reluctantly greeted Xia Xiaolan.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t make things difficult for her, seemingly only wanting her company for dinner.
Lu Yunshi was no stranger to such social obligations.
Throughout the meal, Xia Xiaolan discussed business matters with Lu Guangfu.
After half a glass of wine, they finally reached the crucial point – Lu Guangfu wanted to buy back Qihang’s shares in ‘Lu Family Media’.
“Miss Xia, I’ll be direct. Whatever price you bought at, I’ll add 2 dollars per share to buy them back.”
20 million shares, adding two dollars per share – Xia Xiaolan would mysteriously earn another 40 million Hong Kong dollars.
Lu Yunshi stared at her glass, wondering how this woman made money so easily.
Moreover, the Lu family was begging her to take this profit.
What else could they do?
Xia Xiaolan now had abundant funds – newspapers reported she’d made hundreds of millions from stock trading. With Lu family stocks falling so badly, if Xia Xiaolan continued buying at the bottom, she might acquire all the retail investors’ and small shareholders’ stocks, potentially becoming the second-largest shareholder after the Lu family.
This would have been impossible just a month ago.
Now, Lu family stock prices hovered around 5.3 dollars.
If Xia Xiaolan wanted to continue buying, the Lu family couldn’t stop her.
Worse still, news of Xia Xiaolan’s high-profile property purchases in Hong Kong had overshadowed her acquisition of 20 million ‘Lu Family Media’ shares. This time, Xia Xiaolan wasn’t short-selling or going long – she was buying at the bottom.
Once Xia Xiaolan became the second-largest shareholder, with her ambition, she definitely wouldn’t give up on becoming the largest shareholder.
What was her intention – to change ‘Lu Family Media’ to ‘Xia Family Media’?
Lu Yunshi’s shoulders trembled slightly.
Despite her hundred unwillingnesses, she had to sit here dining with Xia Xiaolan.
Despite his hundred unwillingnesses, her father Lu Guangfu had to pay a 2-dollar premium to buy back Xia Xiaolan’s 20 million shares!
Giving Xia Xiaolan 40 million Hong Kong dollars was a trade-off, asking her to release her hold on ‘Lu Family Media’. If she wanted to buy at the bottom, there were other options – the Hong Kong stock market was full of cheap stocks!
Xia Xiaolan swirled her glass, “Mr. Lu, I understand your sincerity, offering a 2-dollar premium per share to buy back my shares… If I were sensible, I should happily accept this 48 million, sorry, not 40 million – because before dinner, my staff moved too quickly and accidentally bought another 4 million shares.”
24 million shares.
If Lu Guangfu were thirty years younger, he might have grabbed his steak knife and stabbed Xia Xiaolan!
Blocking someone’s wealth was like killing their parents.
With Xia Xiaolan sharpening her knife against ‘Lu Family Media’, how could Lu Guangfu like her?
His daughter Lu Yunshi had called her a northern girl who seduced men with her looks. Lu Guangfu wanted to slap Lu Yunshi – he had been misled by his daughter’s words, not taking it seriously when Qihang first started short-selling Lu family stocks.
After Qihang closed positions and made hundreds of millions in Hong Kong dollars, Lu Guangfu breathed a sigh of relief.
He also didn’t want to bow to a young successor.
That matter could have been over – if Xia Xiaolan hadn’t profited, someone else would have made money from the stock market, given how much Hong Kong stocks had fallen.
But unexpectedly, Xia Xiaolan had turned around for another strike.
A few days after closing positions, once Lu Guangfu lowered his guard, she began secretly buying at the bottom… small orders accumulated into large ones, until Xia Xiaolan finally revealed her fierce face and true purpose. Was she unsatisfied with the 2-dollar premium buyback, wanting to take a big bite out of the Lu family?
How big a bite?
The smile disappeared from Lu Guangfu’s face.
“A 2-dollar premium per share is quite generous. Miss Xia is young and capable – the Lu family would like to be friends with you.”
Xia Xiaolan nodded, “Mr. Lu, I also want to be friends with the Lu family, that’s why I came to this dinner. As a friend, I’m very optimistic about ‘Lu Family Media’s’ prospects. Accepting a 2-dollar premium per share buyback now would be underestimating your abilities! I believe under your leadership, ‘Lu Family Media’s’ stock price will eventually return to 20 dollars per share!”
So why should she accept a 2-dollar premium per share, just to earn that 48 million?
Wait until Lu Family Media rises back to 20 dollars.
She could profit 15 dollars per share – with 24 million shares, that would be 360 million Hong Kong dollars.
Lu Yunshi couldn’t hold back anymore, “Xia Xiaolan, don’t go too far. If you’re thinking of making the Lu family buy back at a 15-dollar premium per share, impossible—”
“Yunshi, shut up!”
Lu Guangfu scolded his daughter.
He reassessed Xia Xiaolan.
This young beautiful woman was now Hong Kong’s hottest female stock guru.
This title wasn’t just media hype.
Lu Guangfu had to take Xia Xiaolan’s words seriously – was she truly optimistic about Lu family stocks, planning to hold long-term?
No, the holding amount was too large.
Forget reaching 20 dollars per share – even at 10 dollars, buying back would bleed the Lu family dry. Given how Xia Xiaolan had dared to short-sell aggressively when Hong Kong stocks were performing well, Lu Guangfu really couldn’t rest easy with his company’s shares in such hands.
“You’re not complaining about the 2-dollar premium being too low – you want something else. Tell me what you want. Do you want my unworthy daughter to apologize to you in the newspapers? I can agree with that. Tomorrow’s front pages of both ‘Star Exchange Report’ and ‘South Hong Kong Financial News’ will carry Yunshi’s apology announcement!”
Lu Guangfu was truly ruthless.
Lu Yunshi was mortified, crying out shrilly: “Dad—”
She couldn’t help stealing glances at Xia Xiaolan.
Just for an apology?
Had Xia Xiaolan done all this just to make her apologize? Lu Yunshi was going crazy!
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t help but smile lightly:
“Mr. Lu, it’s not like that. I’m not so petty – although Miss Lu has targeted me somewhat, she already came to apologize in person. How could I hold a grudge until today? But Mr. Lu isn’t wrong – I do have other intentions.”
Miss Xia kept giving herself mental reminders.
Yes, I’m not petty.
Lu Yunshi’s public apology wasn’t worth that much – this was a hundred-million-dollar business!
Lu Guangfu felt a sense of foreboding, then heard Xia Xiaolan say precisely:
“…I find running newspapers quite interesting. Being new to Hong Kong, I admire how respected cultural figures are. The Lu family has two newspapers – why not let me have one, Mr. Lu?”