The news that Huo Cifeng was selling his Luo Corporation shares for a pittance, with the price dropping by the day, soon made the papers.
It was already evening when Luo Beishi saw the news. "Tongtong, can this count toward my Face-Slapping Points? It all started with me."
The system: "..."
"Host, do you think the system is stupid?"
"No, think about it. If I hadn't reported their tax evasion before, if I hadn't stirred things up, would Huo Cifeng have lost ten billion? Would any of what followed have happened?
Besides, didn't Song Yachao return to the country to get revenge on me? Doesn't that mean all of this is connected to me?"
The system's not-so-clever little brain considered it, and that did seem true. "All right, Host. Successfully fanning the flames will count toward your Face-Slapping Points too."
Just like that, Luo Beishi could earn Face-Slapping Points without lifting a finger.
Meanwhile, when Luo Bai learned that Huo Cifeng had sold his shares at a low price, he trembled with rage. Luo Ming ended up in the hospital again because of it.
He wondered why Brother Cifeng had done this!
Gritting his teeth, he angrily called Huo Cifeng to ask, but his call was declined.
Luo Bai's face instantly went deathly pale.
He clutched his chest as his heart raced. Huo Cifeng was the man he loved most. What was happening now?
First he dumped his shares at a low price, and now he wouldn't answer his calls...
Was he really not going to spare him the slightest consideration?
He sank limply to the floor and opened his contacts again with trembling hands. He had to find Brother Yachao... Brother Yachao was the only person he could depend on now.
Luo Bai's tears fell in an unstoppable patter as he dialed Song Yachao's number.
Luo Beishi was lying in a rocking chair listening to an audio drama when two Face-Slapping Points arrived without warning.
The system explained what had happened, and Luo Beishi exclaimed in amazement!
The male lead gong had become a scum gong, and had even wronged the protagonist shou.
"The protagonist shou has so many flings and backups, so the protagonist gong isn't really that scummy, is he? After all, they're evenly matched in scumminess."
The system: "..."
Luo Beishi moved his finger and dragged the progress bar back to the part he'd missed while distracted.
Huo Cixiao: "???"
The system: "You're right, Host. They deserve to torment each other!"
Luo Beishi was perfectly content. "Exactly! I've decided that whenever I don't need to act, I'll just let them fight among themselves. It's a shame the second male lead, Shen Dong, is locked up. If he were released for a three-way showdown, that would be so much fun." He missed another minute of the audio drama and dragged the progress bar back again.
Huo Cixiao: "???" Having heard the same scene three times, he was a little bewildered. His bargain wife was distracted again!
Was he chatting with someone else? Was that why he was distracted?
As Huo Cixiao listened, frustration welled in his chest, and his mood vanished in an instant.
Song Yachao hadn't expected his investment to be diluted just one day after he put the money in. He knew the Luo Corporation had serious problems, but he hadn't expected them to be this serious.
Even Huo Cifeng had dumped his shares at a low price. The others seemed to have caught wind of something and started selling theirs too...
The Luo Corporation sank another notch. This time, it was practically sinking into the dirt...
Bzzz, bzzz...
It was a call from Luo Bai. Song Yachao took a deep breath and immediately adjusted his mood, speaking gently. "Baibai? What's wrong?"
" sob... Brother Yachao, I miss you so much. Where are you?"
Song Yachao's heart clenched at the sound of his crying. "I'm out taking care of something. I'll be back soon. Where are you? I'll come to you."
"I'm at my apartment. I'll send you my location," Luo Bai said through sobs on the other end.
Song Yachao wished he could fly straight over, gather him into his arms, and soothe him until he stopped crying.
By this point, the Song Family had been defeated by Song Yachao's stupidity.
When Chairman Song saw on the news that Song Yachao had invested the entire fifteen billion he'd given him to start a business into the Luo Corporation, blood rushed straight to his head. Clutching his wildly pounding heart, he was so furious he wanted to beat his unfilial son to death.
It was stupidity beyond belief. The Luo Corporation had always been in transportation, and its operations were now on the verge of shutting down completely, yet Song Yachao had invested another fifteen billion.
Then, less than half a day later, news of Huo Cifeng selling his shares for a pittance spread across the internet.
Shareholders sprang into action at the news, all thinking something major had happened to the Luo Corporation again. They were so frightened that they wanted to sell their shares even if it meant losing their last penny.
Just like that, another fifteen billion evaporated in an instant.
"Go bring those two here. I'd like to see how they plan to explain this." Chairman Song's eyes darkened and reddened, as though he might flip the desk at any moment.
His subordinate replied, "Yes, right away."
It was already eleven at night when Luo Bai and Song Yachao arrived at Chairman Song's office.
After looking Luo Bai up and down, he nearly laughed in anger. "A-Chao, you spent fifteen billion on something like this? He's not even as good-looking as those minor celebrities out there!
Fifteen billion! How many truckloads of better goods could you have kept with that money!"
Luo Bai listened with his head lowered, his back teeth clenching tighter and tighter. This was the first time anyone had insulted and belittled him like this... Anger, resentment, and hurt screamed wildly in his heart.
Why... If I'd been the one to marry Huo Cixiao, would Luo Beishi not have taken such frenzied revenge on me? Even Brother Cifeng has betrayed me now.
He had even dragged Brother Yachao down with him... He stood there with his lips pressed together, saying nothing.
Song Yachao, however, refused to bow his head, wearing the brazen look of someone with nothing left to lose. "Every investment carries risks. Some people profit, and some lose..."
Before he could finish, a folder struck him across the bridge of his nose. The documents, forced out of the folder, fell in front of him and were soon spattered with blood.
Seeing beads of blood pouring from the bridge of Song Yachao's nose, Luo Bai, who had never witnessed anything like this, felt his heart jolt in fright.
He instinctively took a step back, desperately wanting to escape this oppressive, tense, terrifying space.
"Risks? I'd intended to put you on the board once you'd accomplished something in business. Now you can forget all of it. Get yourself to City C for an internship and start at the bottom.
Assistant, go freeze every card in his name. Repossess his cars and properties immediately."
Only then did Song Yachao realize that his usually refined, good-tempered father was truly angry.
"Dad, I was wrong... I'll apologize, all right? Please don't take those things away." Without money, he wouldn't be able to do anything, and he would have to work his way up from the bottom too. He would die.
"Do you know what happened to the Shen Family? Even the Shen Family wouldn't dare help the Luo Corporation, and Huo Cifeng was in a hurry to sell too. Do you think you, Song Yachao, can compare to Luo Beishi?
Once Luo Beishi makes his move, the Song Family wouldn't last you a single day!
If I hadn't kept it tightly under wraps, your identity as an investor would have been exposed long ago! If Luo Beishi finds out, forget the Song Family being unable to protect you-you'll drag the whole family down with you!"
Chairman Song's thunderous roar struck fear into Song Yachao's heart.