Apex Predator - Chap 41

Despite the initial decline in Xingzhou’s share price the day of the markets reopening, it rebounded again slightly before the closing bell. Overall the decrease did not exceed three percent – well within Qu Moyu’s expectations, which could be considered as having safely made it through this hurdle.

But the real crisis had only just begun.

In just a matter of days, explosive allegations were made by an anonymous whistleblower on the country’s most popular online financial forum.

Chuanghai had transferred its most valuable prospecting and mining qualifications into a wholly-owned subsidiary company, announcing to shareholders that it aimed to turn one of its mines into an independent operation. However, it was alleged that the true motive behind this was to divest themselves of liabilities and facilitate the acquisition by Xingzhou. This presented a significant risk, as it was in essence exploiting a series of legal and financial loopholes, enabling Xingzhou to strip Chuanghai of its high-quality assets, leaving behind a debt-ridden mess and the investors the ones to shoulder the consequences.

The analysis of this post was incredibly in-depth. From a glance, one could tell that it had been written by someone with a deep understanding of the internal situation. Moreover, it was evident that there was someone manipulating things behind the scenes, given how this news had spread across the entire internet in such a short span of time.

The next day, Xingzhou’s share price took a tumble of seven percent.

The day before, Qu Moyu’s lawyer scheduled an appointment with Shen Dai for Friday to go to the notary office and tax department and handle a few procedural matters. But after these recent events, the lawyer postponed it for another day.

Sensing the gravity of the matter, Shen Dai sent Qu Moyu a message to enquire about it, but he received no reply.

That evening, Qu Moyu once again returned home with the lingering smell of alcohol on his body. Though he was still sober, one could tell from his condition that he had had more than a bit to drink.

Shen Dai helped Qu Moyu get undressed, then prepared some hangover medicine as the latter took his shower.

Qu Moyu emerged with a bath towel draped around his body. He had dried himself off sloppily, leaving droplets of water scattered on his muscular chest and his hair still dripping. As he plopped himself down on the chair, his head drooped slightly, giving the impression that he was taking a rest or lost in thought.

But Shen Dai knew it was that he was tired.

With a facecloth in hand, he walked over to him and tenderly wiped the moisture off his body. “You didn’t even dry yourself properly. The weather hasn’t started to warm up yet.”

Qu Moyu wrapped both his arms around Shen Dai’s sturdy and slender waist, nuzzling his face against his chest, eyes closed as he listened to the steady and powerful sound of Shen Dai’s heartbeat – ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. Gradually, his mood began to calm and stabilise itself along with it.

“Tired, huh,” said Shen Dai, as he proceeded to dry his damp hair. He said softly, “Seems like it was a pretty rough day. It’s just as well that in a few minutes, it’ll already be over.”

“Maybe tomorrow will be even worse,” muttered Qu Moyu.

“Today was an unforeseen emergency. You were caught off guard. But now that you’ve dealt with it, tomorrow will be better.”

Qu Moyu raised his head. He gazed at Shen Dai, his eyes unblinking. In fact, his hard chin pressed against his ribcage hurt a little, but that bit of pain did little to divert Shen Dai’s attention. He was completely captivated by the lost expression in Qu Moyu’s eyes.

The effects of alcohol had turned this usually cold and resolute man sluggish. The dilated pupils of his eyes were like the vast Milky Way, having lost its point of focus, but revealing a fractured beauty.

But what mattered most of all, was that he was looking up at him.

In that moment, as never before, this ever dominant and mighty top Alpha, was showing him the trust and dependence that he had in him. Just like …just like a child.

Although a surge of emotions washed over him, he remained absolutely composed. He knew that what someone in a state of turmoil and confusion needed from the one close to them was unwavering comfort.

“It turns out you’re quite good at comforting people,” remarked Qu Moyu slowly.

Shen Dai replied with a smile, “What I’m saying is true. I believe in you.”

Qu Moyu smiled as well. “The longer I am with you, the more I feel you still have many surprises that are worth uncovering.”

“Then, do you want to find out a little more about me?” asked Shen Dai. Bending down, he gently cupped Qu Moyu’s face in his hands and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I do.”

“I’m right here,” said Shen Dai, reaching his hand around to the back of Qu Moyu’s neck. And with his index and middle fingers, he tentatively brushed against his gland. At the same time, his heart started to pound like a drum.

For both alphas and omegas, the gland was an extremely important and sensitive part of their bodies. While not as intimate as their reproductive organs, it was a place only close family members, lovers, or friends were permitted to touch. The difference was that for an Omega, exposing their gland represented trust and subservience, whereas for top Alphas, the gland symbolised authority and strength, and was not something to be trifled with lightly. If Qu Moyu could accept him touching his gland, the significance of it would be great.

As expected, Qu Moyu’s body stiffened for a moment. Even though his mind was numbed by alcohol, he still instinctively sensed the unfamiliar touch on the back of his neck.

This was different from putting his arms around his neck. Below his hairline, where the base of his skull met the top of his spine, and under that patch of smooth skin lay one of his most vital organs.

Upon sensing his body’s response, Shen Dai quickly withdrew his hand as if he had been scalded, pretending it had been an accident. “Take the hangover medicine alright? I’ll go get the hairdryer and dry your hair for you.”

“Alright.”

Shen Dai went to fetch the hairdryer and stood in front of Qu Moyu to help him blow-dry his hair. Qu Moyu was behaving badly the whole time, clamping Shen Dai’s legs with his powerful thighs one moment, and slipping his hands into Shen Dai’s clothes to molest him the next, even mischievously shaking his head on purpose to splash water onto Shen Dai’s face.

After a fair bit of difficulty, Shen Dai finally finished drying his hair. But as soon as he put down the hairdryer, he was picked up by Qu Moyu and tossed onto the bed.

The energy levels of top Alphas were really too excessive. For them, it was as if making love were not a physically-demanding activity, but merely a stress-relieving pastime.

But at the very least, the frequency and duration of their everyday love making outside of heat had nothing to do with Qu Moyu’s energy levels — only his mood and Shen Dai’s own energy levels.

This time was restrained. Afterwards, Qu Moyu held a still-lightly panting Shen Dai in his arms, enjoying the calmness and tenderness of the post-coital afterglow, and two of them started to chat about the day’s events.

As it turned out, the allegations this time were indeed Qu Chengchen up to his mischief. Moreover he had accomplished two of his aims, the first: to hinder the progress of the acquisition, the second: short-selling shares.

Knowing nothing at all about finance, Shen Dai asked, “Doesn’t he own many shares of Xingzhou himself? Isn’t this like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?”

“He wants to sabotage this merger and push the group’s strategic direction towards the chemical industry. Once he succeeds, he will gain the dominant voice. The mining industry has been in the doldrums for the past two years. I fear that it’ll be difficult to turn things around in the future. Thankfully, we went the route of focusing on rare earths the previous year, which allowed us to compete in the international markets. But at least we are still profitable at the moment,  unlike Chuanghai, which is barely surviving.

“The market for other minerals is tough, but the demand for Rare earths remains constant. What we need above all else now is time,” said Shen Dai, becoming animated as soon as he started discussing his work. “Once our research succeeds, we’ll gain an even stronger cost advantage. From there, Xingzhou’s growth will just skyrocket.”

In the darkness, Qu Moyu looked up at the ceiling and replied in a heavy voice, “Absolutely. My father and I firmly believe this as well. But the massive capital invested into research over the past few years, along with the industry being in a slump have caused some shareholders to waver. The drop in the share price today is proof that the investors are starting to lose confidence.”

“What do you plan to do then?” Even though the tone of his voice sounded calm, Shen Dai could imagine just how much stress he was under.

“The matter of public opinion will be left to the Public relations team to handle. Although we cannot eliminate its effects entirely , this type of internal information – which the majority of people cannot understand – will not sustain the public’s attention for very long. The level of discussion it generates cannot compare to all the people making fun of me and spreading gossip online. We have already identified the individuals behind the post, and so the next step will be to sue them for disinformation.”

“Oh, so you do actually know that people are gossiping about you online,” said Shen Dai, wanting to laugh a little.

“Those people seriously need to get a life,” remarked Qu Moyu furrowing his brow. “The most important thing now is to push the acquisition through as quickly as possible. Has Lawyer Chen already contacted you?”

“We originally arranged an appointment to handle some matters, But just today he called me to postpone it.”

“Got it. I’ll link up with him tomorrow. At a time like this, it is more important than ever to take decisive action and prevent You Xinghai’s side from going back on their word. It’s highly likely that Qu Chengchen is working for You Xinghai. Perhaps he and Xiao-yue are really about to get married soon.”

Hearing how these people were treating marriage so casually and using it as a bargaining tool, Shen Dai felt a little uneasy. “I will give you my full cooperation,” he answered.

“How is it that I’m already hungry again…?” muttered Qu Moyu. “A-Dai, go get me something to eat. I’m so hungry I can’t sleep.”

“Alright, I’ll go make you a bowl of noodles.”

Shen Dai went downstairs and started to prepare a simple bowl of noodles for Qu Moyu. Just as he was busying himself, Auntie Lan appeared in the kitchen in her nightgown.

“Auntie Lan, I’m sorry, I must have woken you with the noise.” Since Auntie Lan had the room closest to the kitchen, it was possible that the noise from him closing the fridge door just now had been too loud.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m a light sleeper. Why are you…Is the young master hungry?”

“Yeah. He says he’s too hungry to sleep.”

“Come, let me help you.”

“There’s no need. You go back to sleep. I’m only making a bowl of noodles, it’ll be quick.”

Leaning against the kitchen counter, she observed him with a bright smile on her face. “Look at you two, you’re just like a young married couple now.”

Shen Dai could not help but laugh.

He sighed, “The young master is already tucked in bed yet he’s still saying he’s hungry.”

All of a sudden, Auntie Lan became perplexed “The young master very rarely has supper. And once he’s in bed, there’s even less of a chance he would get up to eat unless he’s extremely hungry.”

“Maybe he didn’t have much to eat at his business dinner meeting.”

She pondered for a moment: “Either that, or I’m afraid his rut is approaching.”

The hands that were stirring the noodles came to a pause. He hadn’t thought about things from this angle at all.

While the rut period of Alphas also occurred more frequently in spring and summer, during which the urge to mate and reproduce would similarly dominate their minds, there were still many differences when compared to the heat of Omegas. For example, as the rutting period approached, Alphas would experience a significant spike in their appetites, gradually increasing as the date drew closer. This was because they would need to store a substantial amount of energy and calories to cope with the possibility of not being able to hunt outside during that time.

Naturally, in this day and age, the risk of starving due to such circumstances no longer existed, but this instinct still remained engraved in their genes, having been passed down through generations.

1. wholly-owned subsidiary (全资子公司)| A company whose parent company owns a hundred percent of the common stock

2. short-selling shares (做空股票) | This appears to constitute securities fraud. Any insider, or any other person who has unlawfully obtained inside information is prohibited from taking advantage of the inside information to engage in securities transactions. It seems unusual that Qu Chengchen is allowed to carry out such a trade, acting as both a director and major shareholder.