Chapter 44

“We are the targets of a hostile takeover “

“……” “…”

“Your mother told me not to tell you about this, but I think you have the right to know.” Jiang Yu put his hand on her shoulder, hesitated , then continued, “You can start planning.”.

Yan Liang stood up.

She looked at Jiang Yu Nan with a stunned expression for some time, trying to understand if she had heard correctly.

Her mind was still trying to assess the news of the hostile takeover , she murmured “ hostile takeover?” . But the mind was still blank.

Jiang Yu Nan looked silently at her, whatever the outcome , Yan Liang had to understand this, “ How did you realise this was happening ?”

“ in the stock market, with the low share price of Xu ,the amount of shares being bought was getting bigger and bigger. We thought there must be something wrong and investigated. That’s how we found..”, Jiang Yu Nan stopped and glanced at her,”… the situation is worse than what we thought .”

Her heart thumped wildly.

A thousand different thoughts were mixed together in her mind, she felt as if she couldn’t breathe properly, Jiang Yu nan’s words were echoing in her mind..the situation is worse than what we thought.

Bad ? How bad could it be ? Yan Liang hesitated for a long while and then finally asked ,” Has the acquirer bought shares from the shareholders ?”

Jiang Yu Nan looked at her and nodded.

Briefly, she felt everything go black. One by one she was getting bad news. This seemed beyond her ability to control. She fell back on the chair, sat silently for a long time and then asked, “ Who is working behind the scenes?”

Jiang Yu Nan shook his head. “ At present , it’s only a shell company.”

“……” “…”

“Don’t worry too much . I have started the contingency plans to mitigate this. Your mother has decided to buy back some of the stock, the relevant procedures have also been signed.”

While listening to him, Yan Liang did not feel even the slightest bit of relief. The hostile takeover bid was only now uncovered by Xu, presumably the acquirer already had considerable shares. She had no courage to ask but guessed that there was even worse news. So she asked, “ Which shareholders have already sold their shares?”

“The current list of names includes Lai Zhengnian, Liu Jun.”

Miumiu : if you don’t remember zhengnian is the guy JYN was talking to at the end of chapter 41

At this moment, Jiang Yu Nan’s expression indicated how serious the situation was. Yan Jiang already could not ear to look at him directly. She bowed her head as he continued,” We know that their next target is Zhou Chengkuan, we are in contact with him and see if we can save his shares.”

A sudden gush of cold wind blew away the white cloth from the table and it fell on the grass.. She looked at it with her eyes lowered. Suddenly, she thought she was like the white cloth, with no resistance to any external force.

And then she picked up the white cloth and put it back on the table.

She looked up at Jiang Yu Nan.

“Don’t be in such a daze. Your hands are frozen”, he said . Holding her hands, he put them on his palm and gently rubbed them to warm them.

As she felt his warm hands, she could gradually feel herself getting warmer as well. This man was capable of pulling out any person from the edge of despair….

Yan Liang nodded. They walked to the house together, their backs to the haze that had enveloped the sky.

As they walked into the room,Yan Liang could see aunt Liang and Xu Ziqing’s mother ahead.Aunt Liang nodded at Jiang Yu Nan in greeting then turned to Yan Liang, “ The lawyer has arrived. Your mother had asked you to go to the study. The will is going Ti be read now.”

Jiang Yu Nan smiled and said, “ I will be here waiting for you.”

Although he was the son in law of the Xu family, he was still an outsider as far as the division of property was concerned.

Zhou Cheng was standing in the corridor and smoking. Yan Liang saw him as she reached upstairs. He also saw Yan Liang , took out the cigarette to greet her. Even though he smiled, Yan Liang could only see sadness on his face.

“Haven’t you quit smoking ?”

This had happened a few years ago when Xu Ziqing had complained about the smell of cigarettes in the house. Within a month, he had quit smoking.

But at this moment, Zhou Cheng did not hear her questions, he inhaled the smoke deeply and only smiled at Yan Liang.

Yan Liang was really not in the position to take off his cigarette so she only looked at him with mixed emotions.

Finally she decided not to say anything and turned to the study. She hesitated a bit before pushing the door in

When Xu Jin fu was alive, if he wasn’t found at home, the most common place he would be found in was the study, from the furniture to the décor, everything had been done up according to his tastes. Now. Xu Ziqing and her mother were sitting on the sofa and waiting. As she looked around, her eyes inadvertently glanced at the family portrait hanging on the wall behind the desk.

This portrait was possibly taken five years ago. Yan Liang was tanking with a somber face, Xu Ziqing was smiling and at the centre, Xu Jiang fu was sitting, hale and hearty.

The family was split in private, but on the surface, everything looked perfect. Not like now.. when even on the surface, they were not maintaining even the semblance of unity…

While Yan Liang was contemplating this, the door was pushed open and her mother and the lawyer came in.

“ Yan Liang ?”

Yan Liang realised that her mother had called out to her so she would stop staring at the family portrait.

She looked at her mother and the lawyer, got a grip on herself and sat away from the sofa where Xu Ziqing and her mother were sitting.

All the estate in Xu Jin fu’s name , including the movable and immoveable properties was to be divided.

Because of what Xu Ziqing had done before, apart from the shares she had earlier, she did not receive any more in the will. All of Xu Jin Fu’s shares went to Yan Mu.

Such a decision was equivalent to an indirect statement: Yan Liang would inherit Xu.

The majority of his real estate holdings would go to Xu Ziqing and her mother.

The stocks and other immovable property as well as the rest of his estate would be managed by a trust. Both the mother daughter pairs – Yan Liang and Xu Ziqing would get money from the trust in the ratio of 4:6

Xu Ziqing and her mother were currently staying in the Xu House. When it was built, it was under the joint names of Yan Mu and Xu Jin Fu. Now Xu Ziqing and her mother would need to move away from the mansion and to the villa in town that they had just inherited.

No one had any objection to the distribution of the estate in this manner. They all signed.

Perhaps as Yan Liang sat there and watched Xu Ziqing helping her mother out of the room, she wanted all the resentments that she had carried for so long to be buried finally. So she said, “Goodbye.”

.. Or perhaps she never wanted to see them again….

Her eyes were trained on their backs, she moved her gaze from there to the coffee cup in front of her. Xu Ziqing and her mother reached to door. She looked at her mother and said, “Mom, let us go.”

Yan Mu nodded. Then, she thought of something and called out, “Xiao Qing.”

Xu Ziqinq looked back.

Everyone in the study heard Yan Mu’s next words,” You tell me your price to sell back all the shares that your father gave you.”

Xu Ziqing’s face changed.

Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Yan Mu guessed that she was going to be difficult, and said in a gentler tone, “You see the situation in Xu is very volatile right now. I hope you can consider this.”

Xu Ziqing hesitated for a moment and then replied ambiguously, “I will revert to you as soon as possible.”

*** ***

They finally left..

Yes finally..

Xu Ziqing and her mother got inside the car to leave. Her mother was silently sobbing while Xu Ziqing propped her chin on the window. She could hear her mother’s sobs but in her mind, the words of Yan Mu echoed.

…Sell back the stocks that your father gave you..

You see the situation in Xu is very volatile right now. I hope you can consider this.

“Mom.” Xu Ziqing suddenly said.

Her mother was surprised and quickly wiped her tears and asked, “What?”

Xy Ziqing was silent for a long time and decided not to continue after all, “Nothing.”

The car started , and after many decades , they finally left the mansion for good. Although she didn’t say anything as they travelled, Xu Ziqing’s mind was in unprecedented chaos.

Finally she came out of her trance and said to the driver, “ Drop me off in the next intersection and take mother home.”

“”Where are you going?”

Xu Ziqing barely smiled: “I need to do a small errand.”

The driver stopped at the next intersection, Xu Ziqing immediately opened the door to get off. Soon she hailed a taxi and went to the Li Bo building.

To the outside world, she was the future Mrs Jiang so naturally her access to the platinum group was unimpeded. On her way she had to reluctantly respond to the greetings of others. Finally she reached the exclusive office area where Jiang Shi Jun sat.

When the secretary saw her, he immediately got up to inform the president. Xu Ziqing stopped him, “ No need.”

So she went in alone.

The office area was very spacious. To entertain guests, there was even a small indoor golf course inside the office. When she reached the door, she suddenly heard, “When will you come with me to visit your father’s grave?”