She hung up the phone.
Liu Yutong turned to the people in the trading room and said two words: "Wrap it up."
Chen Mo froze for a moment: "Chairman, you mean... it's over?"
Liu Yutong nodded: "It's over. Close out all short positions. Stop adding sell pressure on Star Shine Media and Origin Real Estate. Let them digest it on their own."
"But Chairman, this is the perfect time to reap the rewards. If we pull back now..." Chen Mo was still reluctant, because he felt this wave could easily net another seven or eight hundred million.
Liu Yutong raised her hand to cut him off: "Listen to me. Wrap it up."
Although Chen Mo felt a pang of regret, he immediately turned and went to execute the order.
In the trading room, the clatter of keyboards rang out once more, but this time, it wasn't to open short positions—it was to close them and exit the market.
On the big screen, the stock prices of Star Shine Media and Origin Real Estate, no longer crushed by the massive sell pressure, finally stopped their decline and began to rebound slowly.
The rebound was weak, but at least the crash had halted.
"Remove the trending topics," Liu Yutong instructed Lan Die.
Lan Die immediately contacted the technical team at Weibo.
Within less than ten minutes, all the hot searches about Zhou Ran, The Voice, and Wanlong Group disappeared from the trending list one by one, as if erased by a rubber band.
Those traces were wiped clean, as if they had never existed.
At the same time, on the Longkan Vision platform, malicious comments and videos about the show's behind-the-scenes scandals began to be purged on a massive scale.
In just about half an hour, the once-boiling public opinion went from a raging storm to dead calm.
This almost magical operation left countless onlookers stunned.
[What the hell? Where did the trending topics go? They're all gone!]
[I can't see a single hot search about The Voice anymore. That's insane!]
[Wait, it's over? I haven't even finished my popcorn!]
[The power of capital is truly terrifying...]
[Can someone explain what the hell just happened?]
[Hey, don't ask. That kind of stuff isn't for us to know.]
[Damn, it feels like the internet itself is turning dark.]
[...]
Just as Liu Yutong left the trading room, Yun Cheng followed behind her and asked in a low voice: "Miss, did someone higher up step in?"
Liu Yutong nodded: "The Chu family found someone to mediate."
"So that means Chu Junlin has admitted defeat?" Yun Cheng pressed.
Liu Yutong: "He's lost whether he admits it or not. That's inevitable. He'll come to Mingzhu City to apologize in person."
"Oh, and by the way, for the first batch of our employee family tours here in Mingzhu City—where are they headed?"
Yun Cheng: "BS Province. A lot of people want to see how the post-disaster reconstruction is going over there. There are also plenty of tourist spots there, perfect for sightseeing."
Liu Yutong nodded: "Got it."
...
Two days later, Mingzhu City.
At six in the morning, the sky was already bright. The square in front of the Wanlong Group headquarters was already buzzing with noise and activity.
Today was the departure day for the first batch of Wanlong Group's employee direct family member tour groups.
Most of them were family members of employees on the BS Province route—about twelve hundred people in total, mostly middle-aged and elderly folks in their forties, fifties, and sixties, along with some younger employees who'd taken annual leave to travel with their parents.
For this trip, the group had mobilized over thirty luxury tour buses, each equipped with a professional guide, a team doctor from the medical university, and two black-suited security guards from Wanlong.
On the square, thirty buses were lined up in a single row, with big red flowers tied to the front—festive and imposing.
The employees' parents participating in the tour were all dressed in new clothes. Some had even dyed their hair specially. They looked spirited, with smiles all over their faces.
"Mom, make sure to call us when you get there. Don't be stingy with money. If you want to eat something, just buy it," a young female employee said, holding her mother's hand.
"I know, I know. Don't worry about me. Your company said everything will be arranged. All I have to do is follow the guide and enjoy myself."
"..."
"Dad, your blood pressure is a bit high. Remember to take your meds on time. The guide will remind you, so don't be shy."
"Don't worry, your old man is still tough as nails. You just take care of yourself at home. Don't skip meals, and eat well."
"..."
Similar conversations echoed across the square.
Meanwhile, around the perimeter of the square, core members of Wanlong wearing dragon-shaped badges on their chests were maintaining order.
Everyone entering the square had to pass their identity verification.
Every vehicle approaching the square was politely stopped and directed to the outer parking lot.
Such a spectacle—even the police officers who saw it couldn't help but silently marvel.
"What's going on here? Why so many middle-aged and elderly people?"
"I heard Wanlong Group invited its employees' parents on a trip. This seems to be the first batch."
"All these people and they're just the first batch? That's insane!"
"No wonder they're the biggest group in Mingzhu City. They're loaded and they don't hide it."
"I'm so jealous. I want to work for a company like that, with free trips for family members."
"..."
While the square was orderly distributing food and water for the family members to take on the road, a black Audi with out-of-town plates pulled into the outer parking lot.
The door opened, and Chu Junlin, dressed in a blue suit, stepped out. Two bodyguards followed behind him.
When he saw the thirty buses on the square and the middle-aged and elderly people queuing up for provisions, his brows furrowed slightly.
These people are Wanlong's employees?
Hadn't the rumors said Liu Yutong's staff were all young men in black suits, with burly builds and fierce combat skills?
But looking at this now, it didn't match the rumors at all.
Could it be that Liu Yutong was just bragging to scare outsiders?
The more Chu Junlin thought about it, the more he believed it might be true. After all, who in their right mind would keep thousands of black-suited thugs on the payroll?
But if it was true, then all his previous fear and dread had been ridiculous.
Before coming to Mingzhu City, when he'd heard those black-suited men numbered in the thousands, he'd been genuinely terrified.
He'd even debated whether to come to Mingzhu City at all.
He admitted that in the battle on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Liu Yutong had won fair and square.
Over thirty billion in capital, crushing him completely. He had nothing to say.
But that didn't mean he was truly convinced.
It wasn't until he heard that Liu Yutong had an army of underlings, and that they were especially dark and menacing, that he truly began to consider surrendering.
"Boss, should we go in?" one of the bodyguards asked.
Chu Junlin straightened his tie, restoring his usual arrogant demeanor: "In, of course we're going in. Let's see if this Miss Liu is really a paper tiger or not."
With that, he led his two bodyguards into the building.
The lobby was spacious, and the decor was impressive enough, but it was far from the den of dragons and tigers he'd imagined.
Is this it?
Chu Junlin felt even more scorn rising in his heart.
“Mr. Chu, this way, please.” A man in black walked over from the direction of the elevator and made a gesture of invitation.
Chu Junlin stepped into the elevator with his bodyguards.
The man in black swiped the badge on his chest and pressed a button that had no number printed on it. The elevator began to rise.
Chu Junlin noticed that there was no floor indicator inside the elevator—only that single illuminated button.
“Which floor are we going to?” he asked casually.
The man in black didn’t even turn his head. “You’ll know when we get there.”
Chu Junlin frowned slightly, a flicker of displeasure crossing his face, but he said nothing more.
The elevator ran for about ten-odd seconds before finally coming to a stop.
The moment the doors slid open, the expression on Chu Junlin’s face visibly hardened.
It was just an ordinary corridor ahead of him, yet for no clear reason, his heart suddenly felt uneasy—as if something heavy were pressing down on his chest.
“Mr. Chu, after you.” The man in black stepped out of the elevator first and gestured again.
Chu Junlin nodded and walked out.
As for his bodyguards, they tried to follow, but two men in black standing at the elevator entrance blocked them with outstretched arms.
“You two can’t go in. Just wait here.”
“Boss...”
Chu Junlin glanced back at his two bodyguards, gave a slight nod, and followed the man in black alone toward the front.
The closer he got to the closed door not far ahead, the stronger the sense of unease and suffocation grew inside him.
When he reached the door, the two men in black guarding it pulled it open.
The man leading the way made another gesture of invitation.
Chu Junlin took a deep breath and strode inside.
The moment he set foot beyond the threshold, his steps came to an abrupt halt. The expression on his face—and even the blood in his veins—seemed to freeze solid.
Because before his eyes stretched a dense, suffocating expanse of blackness...
