The hospital room was eerily quiet.
Even the bodyguards didn’t dare breathe loudly.
Besides Du Zhaowei’s roaring, there was only the beeping sound of life support machines.
The scene Du Zhaowei imagined – of the old man jumping out of bed in anger – didn’t materialize.
“Hmph!”
Du Zhaowei snorted coldly, though it wasn’t clear what disappointed him:
“Take good care of him.”
The bodyguard thought for a moment, “Young Master, Fifth Madam has been visiting Mr. Du frequently lately.”
For this to be worth mentioning, the frequency must have been quite high.
When Du Chengrong first fell into a coma, Du Zhaowei feared his awakening and the loss of his power. Now that Du Zhaowei had come to terms with things, seeing no better heir in the Du family, he’d become rather indifferent – where did this confidence come from? Who knows, maybe it was from that 120 million pocket money?!
“Let her come if she wants. If she can find a way to wake the old man up, I’ll certainly give her a generous red packet.”
Pressured by the Lu family, Du Ziyu, known as the “Three Thousand House Landlady,” naturally yearned for the old man’s awakening.
However, Du Ziyu had remarkable psychological fortitude – carrying a child that wasn’t the old man’s, yet acting so righteous.
If the old man woke up, his first move would be to strangle Du Ziyu, the woman who had cuckolded him.
Du Zhaowei inexplicably thought of the deceased Liu Keying.
Liu Keying had been nearly full-term when the old man shot her dead.
If that child wasn’t the old man’s, whose could it have been?
Du Zhaowei had a suspicion but dared not believe it.
Leaving the room, he ran into Du Ziyu arriving.
Recently troubled by various issues, Du Ziyu had lost weight, appearing delicate and pitiful. Seeing Du Zhaowei, she immediately straightened her back, clearly unwilling to lose face before him – though with nothing left to preserve, what was there to insist upon?
Du Ziyu sneered, “Young Master is so filial.”
Mocking Du Zhaowei’s infrequent visits to Du Chengrong.
Du Zhaowei remained unmoved.
“You’re quite faithful to the old man. If he wakes up, he’ll surely reward you well.”
The word ‘reward’ was particularly emphasized, and Du Ziyu’s shoulders trembled, perhaps from guilt.
Her eyes were filled with hatred as she looked at Du Zhaowei.
Du Zhaowei wasn’t afraid of her at all, “What? The Lu family’s taken you to court, and you resent me for not helping? Why should I help you? If I hadn’t helped you sneak into Hong Kong and brought you to the old man, you’d be in jail by now. How long have you enjoyed the good life? A few days of the old man’s favor, and you’ve forgotten your place… You even fantasized that I would help you with the Du family’s face? Haha, I don’t care about the Du family’s face at all!”
When Qihang Capital was shorting stocks, Du Ziyu had rushed to go long.
Deliberately opposing Qihang Capital, opposing Xia Xiaolan.
Xia Xiaolan was earning pocket money for him, and Du Ziyu was directly opposing him.
Du Ziyu’s own foolishness had lost tens of millions in the stock market – money given by the old man, but still Du family money… And wasn’t Du’s family money essentially Du Zhaowei’s money?
For a woman who opposed him and lost him tens of millions, Du Zhaowei showing enough restraint not to chop her up and feed her to the fish was already merciful. He was following Lawyer Cheng’s advice to prioritize the bigger picture—
And now she wanted him to help fill her financial holes, give her living expenses, and help her deal with the Lu family.
Dream on.
Did she think that looking somewhat like Xia Xiaolan after plastic surgery would get her the same treatment?
Du Zhaowei didn’t care about the Du family’s face – the family was already a mess.
Du Ziyu’s face turned pale from Du Zhaowei’s scolding.
Like Lu Yunshi, Du Zhaowei spoke without regard for place or occasion.
Du Ziyu rushed into Du Chengrong’s room and naturally broke into tears.
Teary-eyed, leaning against the bed, she spoke of her misery, hoping the comatose Du Chengrong would quickly wake up.
Isn’t this how it always happens on TV?
At crucial moments, miracles always occur.
Du Ziyu felt this was her crucial moment – the Lu family was nearly driving her to death.
She now had to wear a mask whenever she went out.
But after crying for so long, there was still no movement from the bed. Du Ziyu was deeply disappointed.
Her tear-filled eyes looked at the comatose Du Chengrong, then fell on the life support machines beside him.
Poor people with such illnesses wouldn’t live long.
Long illness reveals no filial children – over time, children’s care grows less attentive, and treatment costs become unsustainable.
But for a family like the Dus, they could afford 24-hour care, no need for children’s attention. Treatment costs weren’t a concern; even if they couldn’t wake him, they could keep him alive, dragging on for many years… Du Ziyu’s tear-stained cheeks suddenly felt dry and painful.
This wouldn’t do.
She needed money.
She couldn’t wait 5 or 10 years for that money.
Even if not 200 million, Du Chengrong’s will must have left her something!
She needed to think of a way.
Find a way that wouldn’t require her direct involvement, at least nothing that could be traced back to her.
…
After that hospital visit, Du Zhaowei decided to sell off the shipping division.
He had to consult with company shareholders; when some opposed, Du Zhaowei brought up Du Zhaoqi’s smuggling arrest.
“The group’s focus has been shifting these past two years. The mainland market is one we can’t abandon. If we don’t handle this ‘smuggling case’ well, the mainland market will abandon us!”
Du Zhaowei’s face was stern, showing none of his playboy demeanor.
Under his firm stance, the resolution was preliminarily passed. With Xia Xiaolan mediating, Du Zhaowei and Harold began meeting to discuss the matter.
This wasn’t as simple as buying apples on the street – asset liquidation, auditing, Du Zhaowei’s pricing, Harold’s counter-offers – both sides had much to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Xia Xiaolan’s cold shoulder made Lu Guangfu anxious.
Before Du Zhaowei and Harold’s deal was concluded, Lu Guangfu requested another meeting with Xia Xiaolan, this time without Lu Yunshi, clearly intending to discuss business.
Lu Guangfu proposed splitting the Star Finance Daily and South Harbor Financial Report, valuing the latter at 400 million Hong Kong dollars, demanding to first buy-back Xia Xiaolan’s Lu Family Press shares at market price before selling her the South Harbor Financial Report—
What?!
What kind of dream was this?
Xia Xiaolan showed a sincere smile:
“Mr. Lu, my acceptable terms are: a 2-dollar premium per share to buy back my 25 million shares of Lu Family Press… Oh, you’re wondering why I have an extra million shares? That’s just a minor detail, not important. Money sitting in an account just depreciates, so casually buying some stocks isn’t bad, don’t you think? Of course, my willingness to sell shares at a 2-dollar premium is contingent on you first selling me the South Harbor Financial Report. 400 million Hong Kong dollars is too high – I think 200 million is a reasonable price!”
She’d bought more!
Another million shares.
Just an unimportant minor detail?
This was a threat…