Living with the emperor is like living with a tiger

Good Group's stock price in HK, unexpectedly by the world but within Lin Yuan's expectations, suddenly surged.

However, the spark that ignited this surge was something Lin Yuan hadn't anticipated.

He had guessed the general trend, but ultimately, he couldn't predict every detail.

Zhang Yan's former mentor, Director Wang, suddenly appeared on Zijin City's evening news one day.

Director Wang delivered a brief speech.

The gist of it was: The QinHuai District Network Management Department, through full engagement with Good Group, exchanged opinions thoroughly, and reached a consensus on the standardization of the food delivery market...

In short, Director Wang, against common sense, used his political career to give Good Group a boost.

If Good Group were to end up like last time—with delivery riders incomes dropping and everything in disarray—Director Wang would definitely face consequences. After all, his behavior was clearly overstepping.

A district's network management department in Zijin City getting involved in the daily operations of a large internet company was not only an overstep of authority but also a major taboo—the referee cannot personally enter the field.

Lin Yuan naturally went to ask Zhang Yan, "Did you tell your mentor about that 'interest' I gave you earlier?"

"Interest?"

"It's what I told you in the car, that Good Group was about to rise, and you could find an excuse to guide their work."

"I spent a day handing over work before I left, and I did write your opinion into the report."

"Hmm? And then?"

"Then I submitted the report, and... oh, right, my mentor specifically asked me about this a while ago. I asked if he wanted me to let him ask you directly, but he said no, he could ask your advisor directly."

"Alright." Lin Yuan could only rub his temples in frustration, "Did you just... casually throw away the generous gift your senior gave you? Why do you think I insisted you drive over for a face-to-face talk that day?"

"Ah? At that time, I was just thinking of getting to you quickly, so I didn't pay attention to that."

"Forget it. Anyway, you don't lack this kind of merit. It just benefited your mentor."

"My mentor is very good to me. It's not really benefiting him."

—

Good Group's stock price ultimately rose by about one-third against the trend.

For a trillion-market-cap internet company with stable operations, this was already a significant fluctuation.

Such a fluctuation, compared to the previous bull market frenzy of Big A, didn't even attract public attention.

Everyone just thought that Good Group, with official backing, had sorted out its internal management processes and returned to its original track.

But Lin Yuan knew this was just the beginning.

Because the food delivery algorithm has only been rolled out in Zijin City, and the algorithmic scale effect hasn't truly manifested yet.

Every innovation in a basic technical point brings exponential wealth growth. And the food delivery algorithm produced by the system clearly belongs to this category.

Although Lin Yuan was unsure of Good Group's next move, he instinctively wanted to keep his current assets of several million in the stock market.

His current stock market value was nearly 8 million.

This money was primarily earned through frequent short-term trading during the short-selling phase; the recent rebound in Good Group's stock price didn't bring him much wealth, as his initial capital was small.

Even though Lin Yuan felt that this money still had a lot of room for growth, when he faced an account balance of nearly eight figures, his commoner mentality couldn't help but act up, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

This was 8 million. Wealth that many people couldn't earn in a lifetime. No, most people couldn't earn this much even in two lifetimes.

As for stocks, whether their invention was a promotion or a hindrance to human society, Lin Yuan could only smile bitterly.

—

Keeping his promise to Song Xiaoxiao, Lin Yuan emptied and closed Song Xiaoxiao's stock account. Then, in her name, he paid the one million fine plus compensation.

As for Zhang Yan's one million...

"Junior sister, that one million of yours, I'm really taking it as food money."

"Okay. Senior brother, are you losing a lot? It's fine, if you lost, you lost. Don't touch stocks next time. That thing is like gambling; my grandpa doesn't let anyone in our family touch it."

"Do your family members really not touch it?"

"Probably."

"Probably? Maybe?"

"Oh, how much did you lose in the end?"

"Didn't lose, even made a little."

Zhang Yan asked curiously, "How much did you make?"

Lin Yuan didn't hide it from her and showed her his stock account balance directly.

"Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand..." Zhang Yan pointed at the laptop screen, counting, "Over 6.86 million?"

"Yes, just transferred one million to Song Xiaoxiao to clean up her mess."

"So, that's nearly 8 million?" Zhang Yan naturally found it hard to believe, "I remember you told me your capital was 2.3 million. So you made more than double. Senior brother... you're not... really doing insider trading, are you?"

"Insider my foot. You can look at Good Group's historical stock price yourself. It fell for over a month before, only dropping a quarter in total, and recently rebounded by a third, almost returning to its previous price, so it's basically stagnant.

If it were insider trading, even if all were bought at the low point and sold at the high point, combining shorting and longing, the theoretical maximum profit would only be fifty to sixty percent.

I earned this by playing short-term."

Lin Yuan was certain Zhang Yan wouldn't understand, so he didn't deliberately hide it from her. Anyway, she didn't even understand what short-term and long-term meant.

"Then why don't you share the money with me since you made so much, you stingy person."

"I feel it will continue to rise."

"You won't treat me to food, and you won't return my money. You're being a rogue."

"The exam is the day after tomorrow. After the exam, I'll take you home for a meal. It also happens to be when I'll finish dealing with Song Xiaoxiao's matter."

"Is she still living with Xia Ye?"

"Yes. I need to get her to move out as soon as possible, then I can live with my wife."

Zhang Yan immediately became unhappy upon hearing this, "You're living with Xia Ye, what about me?"

"You'll still live in your dorm."

"Can I rent an apartment in your community?"

"Then why don't you just sleep in my living room?"

Zhang Yan actually nodded excitedly, "I'm Xia Ye's sister-in-law."

Lin Yuan half-jokingly said, "It just so happens Song Xiaoxiao should be moving out, you go talk to Xia Ye yourself."

"I'll talk to her myself. If Xia Ye agrees, you can't go back on your word."

Before Lin Yuan could say anything, she pulled his hand over and hooked pinkies.

"Senior brother, we've hooked pinkies, so it's settled, okay?"

"Let me state first, the pinky promise you made is 'if Xia Ye agrees, I won't object,' but it's not me agreeing to let you stay."

"I know that. Would I really pester you?"

Lin Yuan pondered for a moment. This little scion wouldn't go that far. Anyway, Xia Ye wouldn't let another girl live with them; what woman would tolerate such a thing?

"That's not right, I was just joking." Lin Yuan only thought that Xia Ye wouldn't agree, but he overlooked the absurdity of the proposal itself—on what grounds would Zhang Yan say that, and how would Lin Yuan explain it to Xia Ye then?

"I don't care, we've already hooked pinkies."

"My dear, for a girl like you to suddenly run to my house and say you want to live with my wife and me. This... I wouldn't be able to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River."

Zhang Yan tilted her head and thought, "You're right, what if Xia Ye misunderstands? Senior brother, quickly help me think of a solution."

"The solution is for you to drop this idea."

"I won't. The more you say that, the more I want to move in."

"Are you seriously forcing your way in? Then I'd rather not go back to live there. Less trouble is better than more trouble."

"No matter if you go back to live there or not, I'm going to live with Xia Ye."

"Hey, you're determined to sleep with my wife?"

"Huh?" Zhang Yan froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Yes, this scion has taken a liking to your wife. You took a million from me for food, can't I sleep with your wife?"

"Stop messing around."

"I'm not messing around, senior brother, this is too much fun. It's much more fun than staying in the bureau. It seems I came to the right place. Let me think hard about how to persuade Xia Ye."

"Damn it! Are you serious? Don't force me to turn hostile."

"Oh, don't be so anxious. I'll definitely persuade Xia Ye not to overthink it, and I won't ruin your family. I'll go ask someone for advice on how to do ideological work."

"Who are you planning to ask for advice?"

"You don't need to worry about that."

Watching this little scion genuinely get excited, Lin Yuan's heart was in a panic.

Indeed, everything has two sides. This little scion's straightforward and innocent nature is her strength. But this personality also leads her to act recklessly; she just came to study when she felt like it. If she wants to live with Xia Ye, she'll really try to live with her.

"It's truly like accompanying a tiger when accompanying a monarch," Lin Yuan sighed, shaking his head.

"Do I look like a tiger?"

"If senior brother says that doing this will truly make senior brother angry." Lin Yuan's expression was very serious.

Zhang Yan immediately put away her playful smile, "I know why you'd be angry, isn't it just fearing Xia Ye's misunderstanding? I promise, I won't let her misunderstand. So you don't need to be angry."

"You're forcing me to accept this, aren't you?"

"It's just persuading Xia Ye, it's not a big deal. I really don't know what you're agonizing over." Seeing Lin Yuan's cold face, Zhang Yan also looked displeased, "I've decided not to be nice to you today. I'm leaving."

Zhang Yan left as soon as she finished speaking, and Lin Yuan couldn't stop her.

'Perhaps this is the price of the backlash.' Lin Yuan thought he could control dragons and tigers, but ultimately, it was the dragons and tigers who held the true power.