Chapter 17

The cruel natural world taught every living species what survival of the fittest meant. In the eyes of the Li family men, if little Rongxiu wanted to choose competition, he first had to understand its basic rule—when a baby cried for its mother because it was hungry, a bottle full of milk would never automatically be delivered to its mouth.

Only Li Rongyu took Li Rongxiu into the study and found his long-sealed school anniversary proposal. As he handed it to Li Rongxiu, he patted his shoulder encouragingly. "You can study my old proposal first and look for inspiration. Or you can form a think tank and have them give you some advice. Work hard at it. No matter what, we believe you won't give up halfway through. If you need any help from me, just come find me."

Li Rongxiu nodded. He carried Li Rongyu's old school anniversary proposal back to his room and studied it for a while, only to find sleepiness coming on faster than if he had taken sleeping pills. He forced himself to take a shower to wake up, then once again confirmed that he truly had no talent for burning the midnight oil.

Meanwhile, after spending more than an hour on the phone, Li Rongyu finally obtained school anniversary proposals that his old friends had organized and planned back then. With Uncle Li's help, he then rummaged through the Li family's library-sized study and found historical materials from Diwan High School's many years since its founding. He bound them together with the proposals he had printed earlier and brought them to Li Rongxiu's room. Yet the moment he pushed open the half-closed door, Li Rongyu and Uncle Li saw Li Rongxiu sprawled half on the bed, sleeping like the dead. The two exchanged a look and shook their heads with helpless amusement.

They tiptoed to the bedside, gently pulled out the proposal Li Rongxiu had been lying on, lifted him into the blankets, tucked him in, and turned off the lights. The uncle and nephew quietly left Li Rongxiu's bedroom.

Li Rongxiu slept heavily until broad daylight. When the alarm woke him again, he realized awkwardly that he had done almost nothing the previous night—and had forgotten his homework again. After pondering for three seconds, he called Zhao Qijun without the slightest guilt. By the time he reached school, a homework notebook with handwriting sixty to seventy percent similar to his own had been delivered into his hands. Along with it came the results of Zhao Qijun's evening of hard work in the library yesterday.

"...So Lin Junrui's idea is to establish a Financial Learning Enthusiasts Fund within the school, then use the money it earns in the stock market to invest in filming a promotional video for Diwan High School's Centennial School Anniversary. Not a bad idea. It can highlight the students' independent and self-reliant qualities, demonstrate that Diwan students remain practical and capable by connecting what they learn with real life, and tie in with the school anniversary theme as well... But where will the seed money come from?"

Zhao Qijun hurriedly replied, "...Based on the initial information, the seed money would probably come from the pocket money or scholarships of all the students participating in this project."

"So they're plucking wool from the sheep itself." Li Rongxiu nodded, then frowned. "Then how can they guarantee that every stock market investment they make over half a year will turn a profit? The market conditions aren't exactly good right now."

"Uh..." Zhao Qijun hesitated after being stumped. Somewhat unwillingly, he said, "It seems their luck has been pretty good so far."

Li Rongxiu frowned at that. "Do you have detailed records of every transaction they made?"

Zhao Qijun blushed again at his own incompetence and explained uneasily, "I only found this much in the library yesterday... But if you give me a little more time, Young Master Xiu, I'll definitely get to the bottom of it."

"Then go investigate quickly. Maybe Chi Junhao's choice wasn't entirely due to luck." Li Rongxiu closed the file folder and tapped it against Zhao Qijun's chest. "Chi Junrui may be hopeless when it comes to women, but since he's known as a business prodigy seen only once in a century, his judgment and methods must still be trustworthy. Chi Junhao's good luck surely has something to do with his brother's help. When it comes to stocks, though, some people truly have good judgment, while others simply have good luck and can get insider information. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy. I need to find out whether he's really that capable or merely mediocre..."

Before Li Rongxiu could finish, Zhao Qijun suddenly understood and immediately nodded. "I understand, Young Master Xiu. I'll keep investigating."

Li Rongxiu nodded in satisfaction, only to hear Zhao Qijun tactlessly and cautiously ask, "Then, Young Master Xiu... what exactly is our own school anniversary proposal?"

Li Rongxiu's face instantly darkened.

Damn it, how would I know? I fell asleep last night! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Li Rongxiu's time at school these days continued to pass amid everyone's furtive scrutiny and seemingly sympathetic whispers. For a young master who often appeared on the front pages of entertainment newspapers and even the covers of gossip magazines, this was hardly anything new. His friends, however—the spoiled-rich-kid alliance who likewise did nothing productive and took pleasure only in teasing others or causing them trouble—did not see it that way.

Everyone generally believed that the ultimate creed of a spoiled heir was this: heads could be cut off and blood could be shed, but face could never be lost. If someone insisted on making them lose face, they had to bear the consequences of humiliating them. The world outside school was too vast, and the spoiled heirs could not reach that far. But they had parents too, and those parents were more or less happy to do a favor—or, to put it another way, everyone liked to follow the wind.

Previously, there had been no excuse, so they had felt awkward about kicking someone when they were down. But now that their children had asked, the parents who doted on them could not handle children who cried, made a fuss, and demanded to regain their pride. They had no choice but to shamelessly say "sorry" to the Shen family, then naturally gain the Li family's approval and closer ties in their future business dealings.

Thus, over the next few days, the outside world suddenly discovered that although the Shen family had voluntarily surrendered its shares and management rights in T Country's infrastructure project, thereby avoiding the Li family's retaliation, some raw material suppliers in Wancheng still found all sorts of excuses. Some unilaterally tore up their raw material supply contracts with Baisheng Construction. Others used fluctuating market prices as an excuse to force Baisheng Construction to raise its purchasing prices. Worse still, some deliberately delayed Baisheng Construction's cargo collection at the docks...

As a result, while Baisheng Construction's stock price fell, it also had to spend more money to maintain normal operations. This left the company with an increasingly severe shortage of liquid capital, to the point that its cash flow nearly broke. It had no choice but to take greater risks and secure high-interest loans from banks using collateral.

Meanwhile, due to a lack of raw material supplies, Baisheng Construction could not complete its projects within the contractually stipulated deadlines. This also delayed its clients' planned property promotion campaigns and normal operations. Not only did Baisheng Construction have to pay enormous compensation to its clients, but its reputation and credit within the industry also plummeted to rock bottom.

Shen Yingbo, the Shen family head, was driven frantic by this string of troubles and had no choice but to call Father Li and invite him to dinner. Li Bingcheng maintained a smiling, friendly attitude throughout, but every word he said could choke a man to death—though Father Li's reasoning made sense. The Li family had been forced to compromise over Shen Manyao for the sake of profit, but the Li family's friends felt that Li Rongxiu had been wronged and wanted to vent his anger for him.

Since everyone was reacting so enthusiastically, Father Li could hardly go against their wishes or embarrass them by refusing.

In other words, the benefits you, Shen Yingbo, gave up were only enough to buy the Li family's restraint. They were not enough to make him stop his friends' "goodwill." Take Duke Yakesa, for example—this old man, in order to vent his anger for his godson, had spared no effort in persuading his family to make moves in Y Country. On charges of tax evasion and illegal business operations, they had revoked the business license of the Shen family's Y Country office. The favors and benefits invested in that were not something a portion of the shares in a T Country infrastructure project could buy.

After being elegantly and calmly mocked by Father Li, Shen Yingbo could only suppress his fury and return home. Seeing the other man clearly gloating while putting on a disgusting act of, "I'm sorry, but I truly can do nothing about the difficult circumstances you're in," only made his anger burn hotter. When he then saw his troublemaking daughter Shen Manyao, pregnant with a bastard child, crying with his wife Sun Minqiu, his rage intensified further. After the family of three had a fierce argument, Shen Yingbo flew into a rage and cast Shen Manyao out of the family.

Once the news spread, every prominent family in Wancheng was utterly stunned. For a time, gossip tabloids flooded the city, mocking the Shen family for having such an old custom as "an unmarried daughter gets pregnant and is cast out of the family." The Shen family's reputation fell to a new low once again. At that point, though, Shen Yingbo could no longer care about it.

Because the ultimate purpose behind his seemingly impulsive and heartless action was to sever Shen Manyao's connection to the Shen family. He had already cast his own daughter out—those people close to the Li family could not very well keep using this excuse to make things difficult for the Shen family, could they?

Shen Yingbo's guess proved correct. Wancheng was neither particularly large nor particularly small, and the upper-class circle consisted of only so many families. After generations of intermarriage, if one truly wanted to trace connections, nearly every household could be linked by blood or marriage. After Shen Yingbo's decisive sacrifice and willingness to pay to win people over, people close to the Shen family immediately stepped forward to plead for them. Seeing that matters had reached this point and that they had regained all the face they needed, the Li family men decided not to press any further. If they pushed the Shen family into desperation, it would not end well.

Since the Li family had made its stance clear, the rest of those watching the wind naturally understood when to stop. The Li family had already made clear that it appreciated their efforts. If they continued sparing no expense to make trouble for the Shen family, would they not merely be hurting their own wallets? Thus, they all called it quits for the time being.

Even the deeply entrenched Shen family, an old-established powerhouse of Wancheng, had been left in such a sorry state under everyone's concerted pressure. The Chi family, whose foundation was still comparatively weak, required even less mention. Before any external pressure or suppression could even descend, the Chi family, with its more complicated internal relationships, had already fallen into chaos.

To explain this clearly, one first had to mention the marriage arrangement between Chi Junrui and Yao Pingting.

As everyone knew, the Yao family had made its fortune through gambling and operated primarily in shipbuilding. For many years, the Yao family, with its complicated background and influence in both the underworld and legitimate society, had firmly controlled Wancheng's shipbuilding market. Thanks to the long history and superb craftsmanship of Yao Shipbuilding, more than fifty percent of the Empire's customized private yachts, cruise ships, and ultra-luxury passenger liners were supplied by Yao Shipbuilding.

Yao Qilin, who had always dared to fight and take risks, was no less formidable in expanding into international markets. In the previous year alone, Yao Shipbuilding's profits from the international market had reached a figure that made people's eyes redden and hearts race.

As the Yao family's prospective in-laws, the Chi family naturally had their eyes on this highly profitable piece of fat meat. Thus, after Chi Junrui and Yao Pingting's relationship was confirmed, the Chi family entered the shipbuilding industry with the Yao family's support. However, shipbuilding had always been a capital-intensive industry requiring enormous upfront investment. The investment was huge, the risks were great, and naturally, the eventual returns were high as well.

The Chi family head had courage and connections, so three years ago, he had dared to stake everything by using nearly seventy percent of the Chi family's assets as bank collateral, pouring every last borrowed cent into the shipyard. He had believed that with the Yao family escorting them, the Chi family's development in this field would surely proceed smoothly. He had never expected Chi Junrui to create such a massive disaster over a woman.

The moment the scandal between his son and that Shen family woman broke out, Yao Pingting immediately tore up their engagement. Yao Qilin gave no one time to catch their breath before tearing up the cooperation agreement between the Chi and Yao families. In an instant, the Chi family could not take a single step forward in the shipbuilding industry, while falling stock prices and a broken cash flow also affected the Chi family's own business operations.