Chapter 11: Cheng Xiao Xiao’s Past
“I never would have thought you and Cheng Xiao Xiao would have a connection.”
As the city lights began to twinkle on, nearly every skyscraper in B City’s famous financial district was a blaze of brilliant light. Figures still hurried through the floors, bustling with work, showing no signs of stopping. The renowned securities firm in the industryâHesheng Securitiesâwas located in a very prominent position among these towering buildings.
At this moment, on the fortieth floor of the Hesheng Building, Lu Xiao Shan sat opposite Jiang Chen, the general manager of Hesheng’s investment banking department.
The one who had just spoken was this very Jiang Chen, known as a “genius” in the investment banking world. In his early thirties, with a face as bright as the moon and a smile in his eyes, he sat leisurely across from Lu Xiao Shan, appearing clean, reserved, gentle, and calm.
Seeing Lu Xiao Shan frown, Jiang Chen shook his head and chuckled, pouring a cup of tea and handing it over. “You probably don’t know, Cheng Xiao Xiao’s reputation in the investment banking circle is no less than her fame as a writer… Youâ”
Noticing something was amiss, Jiang Chen paused, looking with surprise at Lu Xiao Shan, whose frown had visibly deepened. After a moment of astonishment, a sudden realization dawned on him, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He asked, almost with certainty, “You went on a blind date with her, but you didn’t know what she did for a living?”
“There were other reasons,” Lu Xiao Shan said noncommittally, taking the cup from Jiang Chen, clearly not intending to elaborate.
Jiang Chen nodded in understanding and didn’t press further. He glanced at Lu Xiao Shan, the smile in his eyes deepening, and continued the previous topic. “Cheng Xiao Xiao has been with Tongguang Securitiesâright in the next buildingâever since her pre-graduation internship. Her professional skills are said to be incredibly strong. Less than two years into her career, she followed Jiang Tongchen on the Jinshan IPO case. However, a small accident occurred during the preliminary due diligence, and the contract ultimately fell through. It was a trivial matter, but not long after, Chen He, the eldest young master of Jinshan, publicly made harsh threats, saying that Cheng Xiao Xiao didn’t know the rules, and whoever hired her in the future would be making an enemy of him. Guess what happened in the end?”
“Jinshan was delisted, restructured, and finally went into bankruptcy liquidation,” Lu Xiao Shan replied, seemingly having anticipated it, sidestepping the topic Jiang Chen had intentionally thrown at him.
Jiang Chen let out a soft “ai” and sighed, half-jokingly, “I almost forgot, you’re also a major investor who has been in the stock market for years. And since Jinshan and Dingyuan are in the same industry chain, you probably know more about these things than I do. In short, it’s quite an interesting story if you dig into it. At that time, Jinshan was considered a leading company in the industry. But in the investment banking circle, which is used to seeing capital move mountains, Chen He’s words didn’t necessarily have that much of a deterrent effect. It’s just thatâ”
At this point, Jiang Chen sighed with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, tinged with aææ š for the fickleness of human relationships. He refilled Lu Xiao Shan’s tea and continued, “People are naturally inclined to seek advantages and avoid harm. With no prior relationship with Cheng Xiao Xiao, of course no one was going to offend the young master of Jinshan for a stranger. They might even intentionally avoid her when it wasn’t necessary. Tongguang put on a very tough front and completely ignored Chen He’s threats. Cheng Xiao Xiao also continued to work at Tongguang as usual, but during that time, almost all of Jiang Tongchen’s business came to a halt. I later heard that Cheng Xiao Xiao herself requested a transfer from Jiang Tongchen’s department.”
This was a lot of information to take in. Jiang Chen naturally paused and looked at Lu Xiao Shan.
Lu Xiao Shan’s expression was cold. He looked up at Jiang Chen, his tone equally frosty. “Are you trying to say that Jinshan’s delisting and restructuring had something to do with Cheng Xiao Xiao?”
“That’s my guess,” Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and smiled, admitting it readily. He continued, “I happen to know a little about what happened in between. Ai, during that time, Jiang Tongchen’s face was dark every single day. After all, she was his protĂ©gĂ©. To be nearly driven out of the industry by a client’s harsh wordsâhe couldn’t swallow that. Later, I don’t know how he managed it, but he let Cheng Xiao Xiao build her own team within Tongguang and even brought in two newcomers. After that, Jinshan went public, but in less than two years, it started to have a series of financial crises. Rumor in the industry was that the articles exposing Jinshan’s scandals were all written by Cheng Xiao Xiao, but neither Tongguang nor Cheng Xiao Xiao ever responded, so it’s all just speculation. The final buyer of Jinshan’s core assets was their old rival, Chengjia, a fact you must also know. Chengjia went public the year after Jinshan’s bankruptcy, and coincidentally, the sponsoring institution was Tongguang! Even more coincidentally, do you know who signed as the sponsor representative on Chengjia’s IPO application materials?”
Jiang Chen hadn’t really been asking a question. The moment he posed it, the answer was obviousâof course, it was Cheng Xiao Xiao who signed it!
Lu Xiao Shan’s expression remained unchanged, showing no hint of fluctuation. He put down his teacup and looked at Jiang Chen without speaking.
Jiang Chen raised his teacup to Lu Xiao Shan, sighing with a smile. He leaned back in his chair, filled with emotion. “What’s even more surprising is that after the Chengjia case, Cheng Xiao Xiao made a very clean break. Her team was immediately disbanded, and the two newcomers were absorbed into Jiang Tongguang’s department, both getting promotions. Cheng Xiao Xiao herself, however, requested a transfer to Tongguang’s fixed-income department, moving directly from the stock market to the bond market.”
After finishing the story, Jiang Chen’s face was full of regret, and he shook his head and sighed repeatedly. “Because of this incident, Cheng Xiao Xiao is known by almost everyone in the inner circles of the industry. Opinions on her are mixed. However, I quite admire her. What a pity…”
“So?” Lu Xiao Shan interrupted Jiang Chen’s half-genuine lament, his face impassive. “What are you really trying to say?”
Jiang Chen’s eyebrows rose slightly, a glint in his eyes. He sighed slowly, a smile returning to his face. He sat up straight, poured Lu Xiao Shan another cup of tea, and then spoke slowly, “What I’m trying to say is, Cheng Xiao Xiao is not the type to take a loss lying down. Today’s farce was clearly your fault for dragging her into it. Just because of a New Year’s blind date, she was inexplicably cursed at for half the day, and the person involved didn’t even react. Given her personality, this grudge probably won’t be easily resolved. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to swallow this either. Don’t you think you should go and explain things to her?”
Jiang Chen shook his head and smiled as he spoke. Before Lu Xiao Shan could respond, a knock on the door came at the right timeâLu Xiao Shan’s assistant, Li Yu, pushed the door open and entered.
The clean-cut young man stood at the door and said a polite “Excuse me,” giving Jiang Chen an apologetic smile before walking up to Lu Xiao Shan.
“Mr. Lu, we’ve found the person. They have indeed been in contact with Meiyuan.”
The concise report clearly left Jiang Chen, who was sitting to the side, somewhat bewildered.
Lu Xiao Shan grunted in acknowledgment. “Is Lin Yi still at the police station?”
“Yes. Mr. Lin just called. They’ve almost finished their investigation there as well,” Li Yu nodded, then added after a pause, “However, according to the police, because the other party’s blackmail attempt was unsuccessful, it may not be possible to directly file a criminal case.”
Jiang Chen’s hand, holding the teacup, froze mid-air. He looked at Lu Xiao Shan in astonishment, then took a deep breath and put down the cup. “You called the police?”
His words were clearly tinged with surprise, not because he thought calling the police was wrong, but because he felt that such a gossip scandal was a trivial matter, not worth such a major response.
Lu Xiao Shan ignored Jiang Chen’s question. After a moment of silence, he said to Li Yu in a deep voice, “Send the things you’ve found over to the police station as well. Tell Lin Yi to come back and leave the rest to Zhou Wei.”
As the general manager of Dingyuan Group’s marketing and public relations departments, Lin Yi’s daily work was actually mainly focused on product allocation. The person primarily responsible for external communications, advertising, and publicity was actually the deputy director of the public relations department, Zhou Weiâa true iron lady. She was the public face of Dingyuan in its external dealings, adept at handling relationships with major clients, suppliers, and the media.
Having Lin Yi return and Zhou Wei take over meant that the matter could now be handled through normal channels.
Li Yu understood immediately. He agreed, stood for another moment, and seeing that Lu Xiao Shan had no further instructions, turned to leave and make the call.
In the office, Jiang Chen looked at Lu Xiao Shan with a mixture of amusement and curiosity, directly voicing his confusion. “How did it end up at the police station?”
“Do you think this kind of farce won’t affect Dingyuan?” Lu Xiao Shan asked in a cool voice, glancing at his phone screen and getting up to leave.
“It would be a lie to say it has no effect at all,” Jiang Chen’s smile faded. He stood up as well to see Lu Xiao Shan out, his tone still laced with doubt. “But this kind of minor squabble will at most just cause some delays during audits. After all, the auditors also go online and can be influenced by public opinion, leading to some preconceived notionsâbut it definitely won’t affect the final result. There are many ways to resolve this kind of thing privately. There’s no need to bring it out into the open.”
“You want me to waste my time and energy on these things?” Lu Xiao Shan stopped and turned to look at Jiang Chen, his gaze turning cold. “I don’t want a second time for this kind of farce.”
He doesn’t want a second time, so he’s showing no mercy the first time, to make an example of them?
Jiang Chen froze, watching Lu Xiao Shan turn and walk away. After a long moment, he burst out laughing.
That was Lu Xiao Shan, alright. Direct, and sufficiently calm and decisive. Of course, the deterrent effect would probably be quite good, just a bit more unexpected than usual. Looking at it this way, Cheng Xiao Xiao and he really were cut from the same cloth. No wonder the two of them could sit down for a blind date!
Right, Cheng Xiao Xiao! Jiang Chen suddenly remembered the topic they hadn’t finished. He hurried after him, calling out to Lu Xiao Shan at the elevator. “Xiao Shanâabout Cheng Xiao Xiao, do you want me to help you set up a meeting?”
In all fairness, Cheng Xiao Xiao had been caught in the crossfire this time. But for Dingyuan, her unexpected involvement was undoubtedly beneficial. Otherwise, public opinion online would have likely shifted to digging up Dingyuan’s “dirt,” which would have caused some trouble for Lu Xiao Shan. The involvement of Cheng Xiao Xiao’s fans and her own Weibo response had directly diverted public opinion, turning an unfavorable scandal into an excellent publicity opportunity! Such opportunities were rare!
Lu Xiao Shan stopped, giving Jiang Chen a look with an unreadable meaning. “No need!”
If nothing unexpected happened, she would come to find him herself!
He would be waiting for her!
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