Clearly, hesitation flickered across Qiuyun’s face.
Seeing that he had a chance, Sun Guoping pressed on. “A woman can’t spend all her time revolving around a man. You need to have some security of your own! If you buy the shares back, then no matter which department he puts you in, it’ll be perfectly legitimate. From then on, you two can commute to work together every day. Wouldn’t that be just like a newlywed couple? How wonderful would that be? Think about it—isn’t what I’m saying perfectly reasonable?”
Qiuyun was persuaded. “But… how am I supposed to explain this to him?”
“Oh, just act spoiled, sweet-talk him, and ask him a few times whether he doesn’t love you anymore! You’ll smooth everything over in no time. Men fall for that every time!” Sun Guoping said with absolute confidence.
“All right.” Qiuyun clenched her fist like a young lady making a firm decision. “I’ll buy it!”
Sun Guoping was delighted. “Exactly! You should’ve decided that from the beginning.”
“However…” Qiuyun gave a weak smile. “I don’t have eight million.”
Sun Guoping sighed. “I already told you—I urgently need the money. Besides, Chu Nian and I are business partners too. But… sigh, the past is gone and can’t be recovered. If the two of you can end up together, that would count as fulfilling one of my youthful dreams.”
After saying this, he immediately asked, “How much can you offer?”
Qiuyun calculated for a moment. “I can give you three hundred thousand in cash. If I sell off some of my handbags, I can scrape together another seven hundred thousand.”
“Only one million?!”
Although President Pei had never made him an offer, and Sun Guoping hadn’t previously worked in the gaming industry, so he didn’t know the true market value, one million was definitely too little.
Qiuyun looked embarrassed. “I usually spend a lot. That’s the most I can come up with.”
To be honest, the price was somewhat low. But then he thought about it: if he treated it as an exchange for her salary over the past year or so, it wasn’t exactly a loss.
After all, President Ruan was eager to sell. He didn’t want to leave a poor-quality asset sitting in his portfolio and dragging down its overall allocation. Since he had managed to trick a young woman into taking it off his hands, he couldn’t very well complain.
It was better than having the shares stuck in his possession and getting nothing at all.
“All right.” Sun Guoping drafted a preliminary agreement. “We’ll sign a letter of intent for now. Once you’ve gathered the money, come back and sign the final documents with me.”
Qiuyun put on an inexperienced, wary expression, as though she were afraid of being cheated. She hurriedly said, “Then shall we sign it at a notary office? If President Sun is willing to make another trip, I can get the money together this afternoon—not tomorrow, this afternoon!”
“So quickly?” Sun Guoping was surprised.
She showed a hint of embarrassment. “The secondhand luxury handbag market is doing pretty well right now. And President Pei always gives me rare editions. Every time he bought one, I’d look up its secondhand price.”
That was more like it.
This was the kind of thinking a normal person should have.
“All right, this afternoon it is.” Sun Guoping also wanted to get the matter settled as quickly as possible.
Before leaving, he reminded her, “As the saying goes, plans succeed when kept secret, and words bring failure when carelessly spoken. Don’t tell that foreign-named fellow. It won’t be too late to tell him after the shares have actually been transferred into your name.”
Qiuyun put on a serious face. “I understand.”
Outside the office—
Seeing Sun Guoping arrive in a fury but leave in high spirits, everyone was thoroughly impressed by Chief Artist Qiu’s ability to calm a storm. Her persuasive skills were simply incredible!
Two minutes later, once Sun Guoping’s elevator had slowly descended, a burst of hearty laughter suddenly rang out from President Pei’s office.
Qiuyun rubbed her stiff jaw and quickly pulled out her phone to do the math.
Three percent of the company’s dividend-bearing shares!
That meant that if the company made fifty million in annual profits, she could receive 1.5 million in dividends!
At present, there were no competing games on the market with the same type, subject matter, production quality, and scale. As long as they successfully made it to release, the game’s earnings would definitely be far more than that!
A huge profit!
She had no idea what news Sun Guoping had heard that made him so eager to sell his shares, but that was none of her concern. This was an investment, after all. Buying and selling depended on one’s own judgment and ability.
That afternoon.
The two of them successfully signed the equity-transfer agreement at the notary office. Once she had obtained the document, Qiuyun left the subsequent procedures—tax registration, changes with the market-regulation bureau, and bank-related alterations—to Daniel.
Daniel was stunned when he saw the purchase price listed on the transfer agreement.
His eyes widened as he tried to make out the amount written in capital numerals.
It was only one million!
Ugh—what a sour feeling!
To be honest, even he could have come up with that amount if he had taken out a mortgage on his family’s house!
President Ruan had paid five hundred million for twenty-eight percent. President Jiang had paid 230 million for twelve percent. As for Sun Guoping’s three percent, President Pei had intended to leave him hanging for a few months before taking it for twenty million.
After all, President Pei had always been wary of that old fox and had never given him management authority over the finance department. Who would have thought that, after going around in circles, Chief Artist Qiu would end up picking up such an enormous bargain!
Only one million.
Daniel’s teeth ached with envy.
He was practically twisted into a knot of sourness.
After signing the agreement, Qiuyun returned to the estate.
She hadn’t seen President Jiang at the company, but she ran straight into him outside the garden of Brightmoon Tower.
“Fourth Young Master, have you come to see Miss?” Having just made a huge profit, Qiuyun’s smile was sincere and radiant, like a spring breeze.
Jiang Linzhi frowned, his expression stern. He turned around. “Come with me.”
“Sure thing.”
Qiuyun was in an exceptionally good mood, so she followed him cheerfully.
The two of them arrived at the pavilion they had visited before. Jiang Linzhi tossed the information he had obtained onto the table.
“Give me an explanation.”
What?
A string of question marks rose above Qiuyun’s head. She picked up the papers and looked them over.
Wasn’t this the chain of evidence proving that MR had bribed marketing accounts to spread smear articles about Miss?
Qiuyun glanced at Jiang Linzhi speechlessly.
When his father had been viciously attacked online, President Jiang hadn’t even bothered to return and take a look. But now that his little sister had encountered the slightest bit of trouble online, he had immediately gone off to find out who was behind it.
With a son like this, his father could probably give up on any hopes for a peaceful second half of his life.
“What’s with that look?” Jiang Linzhi snapped angrily. “I can tell that you were trying to play the ‘bring someone down before raising them up’ game. But did you ever consider what would happen if those online users really got swept along by those smear campaigns? What would happen to Little Seven then?!”
Qiuyun remained calm. “Isn’t the public reaction online pretty good? The Old Master has already agreed to let Miss attend the annual gala at the end of the month.”
Jiang Linzhi sneered. “Are you really so confident that everything will always go according to your expectations?”
“Not completely.” Qiuyun changed tack. “But since this batch of netizens can be led around by smear campaigns, they can just as easily be led around by favorable publicity, can’t they?”
Wasn’t that obvious?
“Fine. This matter ends here. I won’t pursue it.” Jiang Linzhi took a deep breath, then grew even more serious. “After our last conversation, I went to the company and looked into the new chief artist’s work. Those magnificent cities, exquisite costumes and makeup, and richly detailed sets… To be honest, I’ve never seen an ancient world like that before. But at the same time, I’m confused. Since you’re so capable—so extraordinarily talented—why did you initially apply for a position in the Jiang family as nothing more than a humble maid?”
He simply couldn’t understand. “I really don’t understand. Let’s be completely frank with each other for once. What exactly are you after?”
He was still asking?
Qiuyun knitted her brows.
