60: Chapter 60 Attempt to Steal a Chicken Backfires

Beside the hospital emergency room bed, Zhou Yurou sat on a plastic chair, clutching a warm towel in her hand, gently wiping the cold sweat from Liu Ruyan's forehead.

The girl's eyelashes were still coated with fine beads of sweat, her face flushed with a lingering redness, and the liquid in the IV drip fell drop by drop.

Thinking back to the scene when she received Zhang Fan's call last night, Zhou Yurou's heart was still tightening.

At that time, she was chatting with Su Qing of Liwen Group in the summit lounge about the situation in recent years. Seeing Zhang Fan's call, she answered it, but unexpectedly, a hurried voice came from the other side: "Sister Rou, Ruyan has been drugged. Old Gu and I just rescued her, we need to rush her to the hospital immediately!"

She stood up almost immediately: "Su Qing, do me a favor."

The tacit understanding between best friends often requires no words, especially on the topic of "women being assaulted."

Su Qing didn't ask much, immediately dialing the security department, her tone crisp: "Have the security at the back door of the banquet hall clear the area. Bring three friends through the staff passage and avoid the media zone—yes, go now."

After hanging up, she shoved her work badge to Zhou Yurou: "Take this; security will prioritize letting you through."

She then turned to call over two familiar female assistants, "You two go with Sister Zhou and take good care of her on the way."

Zhou Yurou clutched the badge and ran toward the elevator. Just as she turned the corner of the corridor, she ran into Zhang Fan and Gu Jingshen. The two were supporting Liu Ruyan's arms, one on each side. The girl's body was limp, and most of her weight was resting on them.

"The media is blocking the front hall to interview the big shots, so we'll leave through the back door." Zhou Yurou hurried forward, reaching out to support Liu Ruyan's back to help share the weight. "Su Qing has arranged security; we can avoid the crowds."

The group followed the security guards toward the back door of the hotel. In the corridor, they could still hear the commotion from the front hall; the reporters' questions and the sound of camera shutters mixed together, forming a sharp contrast to the tension on their side.

"I'll take Ruyan to the hospital myself." Zhou Yurou took over Liu Ruyan, her voice kept exceptionally low. "Ruyan's situation is special, and she's just a young girl who hasn't graduated yet. If you two grown men go to the emergency room and happen to be seen by acquaintances, it won't be good for her reputation if word gets out."

These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly waking Zhang Fan and Gu Jingshen up.

The two opened their mouths, then swallowed the words back. Zhou Yurou was right; at a time like this, female accompaniment was the safest choice.

After the taxi's taillights disappeared into the night, the two turned and walked toward the parking lot.

A night passed, and just before dawn, Liu Ruyan finally woke up.

She opened her eyes and saw Zhou Yurou watching by the bed. She was stunned for a few seconds, her voice raspy like sandpaper rubbing together: "Sister Zhou... I've troubled you."

"Silly girl, what trouble are you talking about?" Zhou Yurou handed her a cup of warm water, the cup at just the right temperature to drink. "The doctor said you need to be observed for another two days. I've told Zhang Fan; just rest assured for these two days."

Liu Ruyan took the water cup, and when her fingertips touched the warmth of the cup, her nose suddenly felt sore. Growing up, apart from her late adoptive mother, no one had ever stayed up all night watching over her like this.

Her biological mother in the Liu family, although occasionally caring, always urged her to "yield to Mengqi"; Liu Mingxuan only felt disgust for her; and Liu Mengqi treated her like a thorn in her side... Only at Singularity Technology did she dare to let down her guard a little and feel a bit of the warmth that belonged to "her own people."

"Thank you, Sister Zhou." She lowered her head, tears dripping into the water cup, creating small ripples.

But a few kilometers away, at the headquarters of Wang's Investment Company, it was as if a bomb had been dropped.

After fleeing the AI summit in a sorry state, President Wang immediately had people check the backgrounds of Zhang Fan and Gu Jingshen, and the more he looked, the more stifled he felt.

Gu Jingshen was the heir to the Gu Group. The Gu Corporation, with a market value of tens of billions, had deep roots in Jiangcheng, and even the mayor would give Tang Wanqing some face when they met.

And Zhang Fan was not only Gu Jingshen's best friend but was also highly regarded by Tang Wanqing. It was rumored that President Su of Liwen Group also looked at him with special regard, and he likely had a network of big shots in the investment circle behind him.

"Damn it!" He kicked over his leather office chair, the chair hitting the wall with a loud bang. "A bunch of brats dare to ride on my head!"

But no matter how angry he was, he dared not really go looking for trouble with Zhang Fan and Gu Jingshen. He couldn't afford to provoke the power of the Gu Group, and crucially, the video in their hands could cut off his livelihood.

Facing the Gu Group with a market value of tens of billions and the Liu family, which originally had a market value of over a billion but had shrunk to around one hundred million, the weight of each was clear at a glance.

The anger in his eyes instantly turned into malice—you pick the softest persimmon to squeeze; if he couldn't provoke the Gu Group, couldn't he handle the nearly bankrupt Liu family?

The Liu family's main business was traditional mining equipment. In the last two years, the new energy industry had emerged abruptly. Photovoltaics and wind power were snatching up the traditional energy market, and demand for coal and iron ore had shrunk accordingly, dragging the downstream mining equipment industry down with it.

Their order volume had plummeted by 70% compared to three years ago, the old factory had shut down two production lines, and they were barely able to pay the workers' wages.

Liu Mingxuan, who had returned from studying abroad, looked at the mess at home and wanted to lead the Liu family out of the quagmire of traditional industries, betting their transformation on the thriving AI technology sector.

After all, the digital economy was a major trend, and the concept of AI + manufacturing was also easy to attract investors.

But everyone in the circle knew that AI development was a money pit that could never be filled: from assembling the algorithm team and purchasing computing servers to massive data training, every step required real money to be poured in.

The Liu family was already being dragged down by their traditional business, leaving them stretched thin; where would they have spare money to support AI research and development?

Liu Mingxuan could only take his team to run around to every investment institution in Jiangcheng. The investment intent previously released by the Wang Group was supposed to be the last straw they could cling to to keep going.

Unexpectedly, after this incident, Wang's Investment issued an official statement, not only withdrawing all investment intent for Liu Mingxuan's new company but also having their PR department spread news in industry groups, implying that the Liu family "for the sake of financing, would not hesitate to use women for transactions, having absolutely no bottom line."

When the news reached the Liu family, Liu Mingxuan was in the living room discussing the transformation with his father.

Seeing the words in the statement on his phone, his vision went black, and he grabbed his phone and rushed toward Liu Mengqi's room.

The door was kicked open with a "bang," and the phone was thrown fiercely at Liu Mengqi.

"Didn't you say President Wang would definitely invest?!" Liu Mingxuan's voice trembled, his eyes bloodshot. "What do we do now? If we don't get this investment! My transformation plan is completely ruined!"

Liu Mengqi had just returned from the hospital, her right eye still swollen with a blue-purple bruise, and she let out a muffled groan as she was hit by the files.

She picked up the scattered reports, and when she saw the words "withdraw all investment intent," her face turned as pale as paper instantly, her fingers shaking so hard she couldn't hold the paper: "I... I didn't know it would be like this... It's Liu Ruyan! It must be Liu Ruyan who offended President Wang, and that's why he's taking his anger out on us!"

"Liu Ruyan?" Liu Mingxuan was like a firecracker that had been lit, instantly exploding. "I knew she was a jinx! We shouldn't have recognized her and brought her back in the first place!"

He pointed at the door, his voice hoarse and distorted, "Go and call her back for me! Make her apologize to President Wang! Otherwise, our family will be dragged down by her!"

After speaking, he slammed the door and left, not seeing the resentment that flashed in Liu Mengqi's eyes.

Liu Mengqi covered the injury at the corner of her eye. She never expected that President Wang would actually not dare to provoke the two people from Liu Ruyan's company, but instead vent all his anger on the Liu family. This time, it really was stealing a chicken only to lose the rice.

What made her even more restless was that Mother Liu had recently been secretly calling Liu Ruyan. Although she couldn't hear what was being said, her heart was icy cold.

She knew that deep down, Mother Liu ultimately favored her biological daughter; before, it was only due to her status as an "adopted daughter" and the engagement with the Lin family that she hadn't said it openly.

Now that the Liu family was about to collapse, the engagement with the Lin family would likely not be kept either. Once Liu Ruyan returned, her position as the "eldest daughter of the Liu family" would truly be replaced.

Resentment grew wildly in her heart like vines. She took out her phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and then dialed Fu Chengyu's number, her voice as soft as cotton: "Chengyu, I'm in a bad mood and want to see you..."