Tit For Tat (Beloved Enemy) - Chap 112
After GuQingPei returned home, he didn’t know what got into him but he turned on his computer and found an old e-mail from years ago and opened it.
A few of the pictures in this email were massively circulated.
In these years, he had always avoided from seeing it again, afraid that it would affect his mood. Now that he is looking at it carefully, the kind of shame that made his mind feverish and his cheeks inflamed is no longer there. Maybe because such a long time had passed and he was already numb to it. Or perhaps he had already overcame his worries of this matter from his heart. At this moment, this feeling of peaceful tranquility came at a surprise to even himself.
If it wasn’t for the kidnapping this time, he really would have forgotten about the photos.
He smiled and laughed at himself, then closed the webpage.
This is actually best. As long as he can look past it, any problem is no longer a problem at all.
GuQingPei rested for two days at home. He didn’t want to go out with his bald head. It looked terrible. His assistant and several senior executives came to his home Friday night for a meeting and to check up on him.
As the few people were eating their dinner, GuQingPei’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was WangJin’s call.
He went to the bedroom to answer the phone, “Hey, Wang Ge.”
“QingPei, I want to ask you, are you following YuanYang in playing with the Worker’s labor credit union?”
“Yeah.”
“I have some news here. I think it is necessary to warn you.”
“What news?”
“I don’t know what method YuanLiJiang and President Xue used to get through to the higher ups of XX Group. Right now, XX Group is delaying the time and refusing to sign the guarantor agreement with YuanYang. If the guarantor agreement can’t be signed, then the funding can’t be withdrawn from X bank. And if YuanYang can’t make the payment on Monday, your contract can’t be signed.
GuQingPei’s heart sank, “Wang Ge, is this news reliable?”
“Very reliable. You’ll know if you call and ask YuanYang. In these past two years, he had been competing with his own father at great lengths. There is nobody in Beijing who doesn’t know about this. This is really interesting. Father and son are like enemies. Last year, YuanYang won over 6 billion yuan of YuanLiJiang’s contracts. This year, he must be making a comeback, QingPei, quickly withdraw from this, YuanLiJiang’s definitely has a way to raise the money, but as long as they can delay your payment, he will become the major shareholder. He had been working on this Works Labor credit union for so long, how can he allow YuanYang harvest the benefits that he had worked so hard on.”
GuQingPei pondered for a moment, “Wang Ge, what else do you know, tell me?”
WangJin sighed, “Although I don’t want to say anything, I do know that the reason why YuanYang and YuanLiJiang fought to this extreme is because of you.”
GuQingPei lowly replied, “Wang Ge, what I want to know is business affairs. This, don’t mention it to me.”
“If business related, this is all I know. XX Group is a state-owned enterprise. To guarantee a loan of such a large amount to YuanYang is already giving him high esteem. However, it still seems that he can’t beat his dad. YuanLiJiang was just waiting for this hand, for YuanYang to have it all planned out, then let him taste defeat at the last minute.”
GuQingPei took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, his voice shook slightly.
“QingPei, get out of this, do not mix with them. I’ll say something that is not good. YuanYang wants to be the major shareholder but he can’t take out that much money, so he’s stringing a girlfriend on one side and you on the other. With the three of you together, that is just perfect for him to be on level ground with YuanLiJiang. If we disregard talking about the benefits, you getting ‘used’ by YuanYang like this, won’t you feel pained?”
GuQingPei smiled stiffly, “Wang Ge, we can’t disregard the benefits; that is the only thing I am after in this matter. How can we ignore that? Since the starting point in this is for benefits, how can it be called ‘used’?
“You just don’t want to admit it. QingPei, ask yourself this, seeing YuanYang holding onto Chairman Liu’s daughter, using the alliance of a marriage to collaborate with YaoShin, what are you thinking in your heart? Who knows, maybe they’ll become a family soon, then what will you be considered as? They have more shares than you. In the future, what they have are ways to force you to relinquish your shares. Once YuanYang married the girl, then the true chairman of the Credit Union is him. You tell me, you really never thought of such a day?”
GuQingPei’s hand slowly clenched into a fist. He lightly laughed, “Wang Ge, I have already thought of all the future risks that may arise in any investment projects. You want to disregard the benefits in discussing this matter, but I just want to disregard the relationship aspect to talk about this. Number 1, after the Credit Union registration is successful, the shares that I hold are sufficient to support the liquidity that is needed for the 3 to 5 years of my company’s development. Number 2, to get me, GuQingPei, to relinquish my shares, there is a great price to pay. Number 3, if that price is really lucrative, it also shows that my investment is completely worthy and successful. No matter how I look at this, it is still beneficial to me. Wang Ge, no matter how you put it, isn’t this a business collaboration? Where does relationship aspect come into play?”
Wang Ge laughed twice, “QingPei, if you insist on saying it like that, I would say no more. In fact, after giving up on pursuing you, I found that I was able to seriously understand you even more. What you are thinking in your heart, I won’t dispute. I just hope that everything will continue to go smoothly for you and that you won’t have to suffer any setbacks caused by anyone.”
GuQingPei smiled, “You can be rest assured that I know what I’m doing.”
“About the credit union, what are you planning to do?”
“I’ll have a talk to YuanYang about this. After all, this is a project that I had also wanted to do. I want to help him think of a way.”
“You…..well, forget it.” WangJin paused, his voice gentle and pleasant, “If you need me to help, I will try my best to help you.”
GuQingPei did not mind that WangJin’s words seem to be spoken out of courtesy. He is still very touched, “Thank you, Wang Ge.”
After hanging up the phone, GuQingPei rushed to the living room, “There’s been a change, immediately check up on XX group and YuanLiJiang to see if they have any exchange dealings recently.”
“Director Gu, what’s going on?”
“The other side is deliberately delaying. They’re not going to sign the guarantor agreement with YuanYang. I’m going to head out. You guys hurry up and check up on this.”
A few people looked at each other and see GuQingPei putting on his jacket to go out.
He drove while giving YuanYang a call.
It was a long time before the phone was answered. The other side had on soft soothing music. YuanYang’s voice is very steady, “Hello? Director Gu.”
“Where are you? I got the news, let’s meet up to discuss countermeasures.“
“I don’t have time right now.”
“Are you in the middle of discussion?”
Right when YuanYang was about to speak, GuQingPei heard a middle-aged man from the other end, “Is that Director Gu? The Director Gu from QingYan’s investments?”
YuanYang replied, “Yes.”
GuQingPei knitted his brows and retorted, “Who are you talking to?”
“If Director Gu isn’t busy, invite him to join us for a meal, this can also be considered as our indirect collaboration, we should meet each other,” the man’s voice added.
YuanYang paused, “I’m with YaoShin’s CEO at XX restaurant. Why don’t you come over and join us?”
GuQingPei sighed and asked, “Your future father-in-law?”
YuanYang evaded and didn’t comment, “We’ll be partners in the future. Come and meet him.”
GuQingPei’s eyes went dark, “Okay, I’m heading over now.” He hung up. The veins on the back of his hand protruded from excessive force in holding the steering wheel.
Coming into the reserved room, GuQingPei saw the CEO of YaoShin sitting on one side, with YuanYang and LiuZiWen sitting on the other side. Their demeanor is just like a daughter taking her boyfriend to meet his future father-in law, it pierces GuQingPei to the point that his eyes hurt.
As he entered, all three stood up.
LiuZiWen and Chairman Liu smiled as they headed toward him to shake his hands, “Director Gu, I’ve looked forward to meeting you. Ooow. What happened to your head?”
“Ahhh, from a robbery. Nothing serious. I’ve always heard of Chairman Liu’s big name and have only been able to see you in the newspapers. It’s such an honor to finally be able to meet Chairman Liu today.”
The two went through a lot of formalities. Chairman Liu steered GuQingPei to the seat next to him.
Four people, sitting directly across from each other; GuQingPei was immediately designated to the side of the elders. He wanted to laugh. He knew that in the eyes of any normal person, things should really have been like this. The young and promising, match-made in heaven young couple sitting on one side and the older generation sitting on the other side, this is reasonable and fair.
After GuQingPei and Chairman Liu complimented each other a few words, he broached the main subject at hand, “Actually, I was looking for YuanYang today because I’ve heard some news that is unfavorable to us. Now that Chairman Liu is also present, we should discuss this.”
YuanYang lightly smiled, “It’s for this very reason that I’m meeting with Chairman Liu today.”
Chairman Liu deeply sighed, “This matter is too troublesome. Actually, I was hesitant to start this investment from the beginning. To tell you the truth, Director Yuan, if not because we have this relationship, I would really need about a month’s time to consider such a large investment. Since this issue as occurred, perhaps it is giving us some time to reflect on this.”
YuanYang reacted, “If this really gets delayed for a month, we won’t even be able to get half of a share. Since things have gotten to this point, I still want to move forward.”
Chairman Liu looked at him and then looked at his daughter. He said slyly, “YuanYang, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m even willing to give you my daughter. But you know that my company is listed. Even though I am the Chairman of the Board, giving you the guarantee is not something that I can decide on my own. I need to have a Board of Directors meeting to discuss with them. That takes at least 15 days of public notification. Even if I was to rush it, the meeting still won’t happen till next month. Then after the meeting, the Board will still need think this over before a decision can be made. How could this be in time for the contract to be signed coming Monday?”
YuanYang smiled, “Since Chairman Liu has your difficulties, I won’t force the matter.”
GuQingPei immediately understood that YuanYang was hoping that YaoShin will give him the guarantee loan. But it’s apparent that Chairman Liu is definitely unwilling to do so. What GuQingPei found out when he investigated YaoShin is that their board structure consist of three of his relatives, adding on Chairman Liu himself holds more than 60% of the company’s shares. To make the decision, as long as he nod his head, there would be a way. But if he was not willing, there can always be many reasons.
GuQingPei can fully understand Chairman Liu’s apprehension. If it was him, he can’t impulsively agree to be someone’s guarantor. If the money can’t be paid back, then he’d lose everything.
He looked at YuanYang; YuanYang was also looking at him at the same time. The moment that their eyes collide, GuQingPei saw a chill in his eyes.
Chairman Liu tried to appease the matter, “YuanYang, although I’m powerless in this, but as long as you can come up with money on Monday, I am willing to fulfill the contractual terms and continue to cooperate with you on the credit union.”
GuQingPei could see that this Chairman Liu had already determined that YuanYang would not be able to get the funding.
YuanYang nodded his head, “With this sentence, I can be rest assured. Chairman Liu, ZiWen, Director Gu and I are going to leave first, we still have some work to do.”
From the beginning to the end, LiuZiWen did not interject even a single word and just sat there like an ornament. At this moment, she only nodded in a faint manner, as if the conversation of these few people had nothing to do with her.
Chairman Liu warmly escorted them to the door.
After the two men stepped out of the restaurant, GuQingPei gloomily asked, “What is going on? Tell me clearly.”
YuanYang reciprocated with a question, “Who told you the news?”
GuQingPei replied, “WangJin.”
He laughed loudly, “He’s been waiting to see me make a fool of myself right?”
GuQingPei coldly retorted, “You’re still in the mood to think that people are seeing you as a fool? I just want to know what resolution you have.”
YuanYang shook his head, “Nope, I haven’t thought of it yet.”
“Today is already Friday. Even if there is a guarantor security agreement in the next two days, the bank will not provide for the loan.”
“As long as I can get a guarantor agreement, I can get the loan anytime. But with XX Group’s delay, I really don’t have a solution at the moment.” YuanYang’s pupils revealed a cold light, “I’ve really underestimated him.”
GuQingPei sneered twice, then sarcastically added, “No solution, that’s really a good answer.”
“I still have two days, let me think about it.” YuanYang grimly said, “You go ahead and head back first. I don’t have time to explain it to you.”
GuQingPei, “I know a Venture Capitalist company. I’ll coordinate a meeting with them tonight.”
YuanYang shook his head, “You know yourself that this is useless. With such a large loan guarantee, no company will make a decision within two days.”
GuQingPei sighed and felt his head hurt again.
Just as YuanYang was planning on leaving, a phone call came. He took the phone out and looked. Furrowing his brows, he hesitated for a bit before answering the call, “Dad.”
GuQingPei raised his eyebrows and turned to look at him.
He could only see YuanYang lift his head to glance up at the building, “What is it?”
Outside, the cars came and went. GuQingPei could not hear what YuanLiJiang is saying but he also subconsciously followed YuanYang’s gaze and looked up. They see YuanLiJiang standing beside the window on the third floor.
As it turned out, he was also eating here.
YuanYang hung up the phone and looked at GuQingPei, “My dad asked us to go up.”
GuQingPei also looked at him but didn’t say anything.
YuanYang, “If you don’t want to go, don’t. I’ll go by myself. I want to see what he wants to say.”
“It’s okay. I’ll go with you.” GuQingPei eyes are fixated, “I also want to know what he wants to say.”
The two people went upstairs just as YuanLiJiang was sending his guests out. There is a table of leftover food in the room. It appears that YuanLiJiang was also here coincidentally.
After everyone had left, YuanLiJiang stood in front of the window and said softly, “The phone signal in this room is not good. I had just walked to the window to take a call and saw the both of you. What a coincidence.”
YuanYang got straight to the point, “Dad, what do you want to say? Just hurry up and say it.”
YuanLiJiang glanced at him and mocked, “So you can still call me ‘dad’. Because of a man, you abandoned your family, abandoned your mom and dad and abandoned your brother and sister. Don’t you feel any shame in calling me ‘dad’?
YuanYang calmly responded, “If you don’t want me to call you that, then I won’t in the future.”
YuanLiJiang’s eyebrows straightened, looking like he was about to get angry but still tried to endure it. As he look at GuQingPei’s swollen face with his head wrapped in gauze, he explained, “What XueLin did had nothing to do with me, even though we both have common benefits.”
GuQingPei countered, “This matter will always have something to do with you. Without what you did, no one would threaten me.”
YuanLiJiang raised his head, paused and muttered, “What you said is right.” Then he look toward YuanYang, “This is why you’ve been resenting me for more than two years.”
YuanYang didn’t comment nor deny, “What is the reason for calling me here? Say it directly.”
YuanLiJiang sighed softly, “I’ve always wanted to know. You opposing me in all respects, taking my business, pushing me to a corner. What is your plan? You are my son, isn’t all this going to be yours after all?”
YuanYang looked at him with determination but did not answer.
YuanLiJiang stared at him, “I’ve analyzed this. Are you just wanting to prove that you are more powerful than me?”
YuanYang reacted, “Dad, I don’t have time to listen to all this. If you don’t have any proper business matters to say, we’re going to leave.”
YuanLiJiang suddenly laughed twice, then his laughter very much shifted as he looked deeply at the two people and said something very profound, “YuanYang, have you ever thought of how much affections GuQingPei has for you? For you to go against me like this? What did he do for you? What did he do?”
Both YuanYang and GuQingPei’s expressions changed.
YuanYang coldly responded, “Dad, I think the person that is least qualified to talk about this matter is you.” He tugged GuQingPei, “Let’s go.”
“Hold on,” YuanLiJiang looked at YuanYang’s unsightly face and felt that his purpose had been achieved, “I’ll talk to you about proper business matters right now. You can’t do this project. XX Group will not sign the guarantor agreement with you. Not now and not in the future. You won’t be able to get the money. As long as you can’t get the shares, YaoShin will follow along to withdraw from this investment. At the time, the only one left is GuQingPei. I have ways to push you out. You might as well give up.”
YuanYang coldly replied, “Until the last minute, don’t say such frivolous words.”
“What other ways do you still have?”
“I will definitely think of a way.”
“YuanYang, don’t boast. What company is going to decide to be your guarantor for such a huge loan within two days? This company must meet all these conditions. First, the company’s total assets has to be able to cover the entire amount of your loan. Second, the boss of a wholly-owned enterprise has to immediately agree. Third, he’d have to dare cast the money away for you with his eyes closed. Ahhh, in this world, there is one person and that would be your father, me. Unfortunately…”
“There is one other,” GuQingPei looked at YuanLiJiang calmly.
YuanLiJiang eyes sharply fell onto GuQingPei.
GuQingPei calmly said, “I will be YuanYang’s guarantor.”
When this statement sounded, both father and son could not speak.
YuanLiJiang stared at GuQingPei in disbelief. YuanYang’s fist clenched, his knuckles cracked.
