103: Chapter 103 Third Round of Intelligence

It was nearly four o'clock by the time he returned to the company.

With nothing much to do, Qiao Yichen dawdled at his workstation until five-thirty before packing up and clocking out.

He drove toward home, but the roads were still congested during the evening rush hour, moving in fits and starts.

His phone vibrated several times on the mount. Unable to free his hands, he turned his head toward the passenger seat and said, "Help me check the messages. See who sent them."

Liu Yanran took the phone and swiped the screen open.

"Zhou Huaiming," she read aloud. "Asking how your considerations are going."

"Reply to him. Say I'll give him an answer in a few days."

Liu Yanran lowered her head to type. Just as she sent it, another message from Zhou Huaiming arrived. She glanced at it. "He says he can settle the payment immediately. The money is ready; he's just waiting for your nod."

Qiao Yichen nodded and turned the steering wheel to enter the residential complex.

"What about the others?" Liu Yanran placed the phone back on the mount.

Gripping the steering wheel, Qiao Yichen spoke while reversing the car. "Regarding Qian Zhengqing and Liu Wenyuan, Teacher Song passed a message at noon saying they both offered 2.5 million."

"As for Wang Jianguo," he paused, "I had Old Zhou pass a word to him, saying the price was too low and asking him to add a bit more. No response yet."

"Duan Peng sent a message this afternoon, raising his price to 2.7 million. He said that's the highest he can offer and suggested I finalize it as soon as possible."

The car came to a steady stop. He turned off the engine and leaned back against the seat without moving.

Liu Yanran turned her face to look at him and did the math. "2.5 and 2.7—that's a difference of 200,000."

"Yeah." He unbuckled his seatbelt.

The two of them went upstairs, opened the door, and entered the apartment.

Liu Yanran changed into her slippers and slumped onto the sofa, sinking into it as if she didn't want to move ever again. Qiao Yichen walked over, sat down beside her, and reached out to pull her close. Liu Yanran leaned against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

They just held each other like that, neither saying a word.

An unknown amount of time passed until the sky outside was completely dark. The living room was incredibly quiet—so quiet they could hear each other's breathing.

Past seven o'clock, Qiao Yichen got up to cook two bowls of noodles. By the time they finished eating and cleaned up, it was nearly eight. Liu Yanran curled back onto the sofa, and he sat down with her. She leaned against his shoulder again, and they continued to stay like that.

The TV was on, but neither of them was seriously watching whatever drama was playing. They just leaned against each other, occasionally chatting or staying silent. Liu Yanran's fingers unconsciously traced circles in his palm.

The phone rang. She glanced at it; it was a message from the work group.

"The first draft passed," she said after reading it, tossing the phone aside. "Eight teams made the shortlist. We have two weeks to prepare the second draft."

Qiao Yichen looked down at her but didn't speak.

She didn't say anything more either, simply burying her face a little deeper into his shoulder.

After a while, she shifted, picked up her phone to check the time, and saw it was almost nine. She sat up from his embrace and stretched lazily.

"Want to go take a shower?"

"Mhm." She nodded and walked toward the bathroom.

Past nine, the two finished washing up and went to bed.

Qiao Yichen pulled Liu Yanran into his arms and suddenly leaned close to her ear, whispering something in a low voice. Liu Yanran was stunned for a moment, and then her face turned red.

"No way," she pushed him.

"Just give it a try," he laughed, his voice muffled.

"No."

He rolled over to press down on her, whispering options into her ear one by one: "Flight attendant, nurse, teacher... pick one?" With every one he listed, her face grew redder. Her hands pushed against him, but they had no strength.

"Aren't you annoying..." Her voice was soft as she buried her head in his chest, refusing to look up. "All you think about all day is this stuff."

"So do you agree or not?"

"I don't agree."

He lowered his head to kiss her earlobe, and she shrank her neck away.

After several rounds of intimate whispering and nuzzling, the light was turned off at some point.

A bit of moonlight filtered through the curtains, falling on the foot of the bed. The exhaustion and tension accumulated from days of overtime slowly dissolved away on this night.

Later, Liu Yanran was curled in his arms, so drowsy she was almost asleep, and she mumbled something incoherently.

Qiao Yichen didn't hear clearly and looked down to ask her, "Hmm? What did you say?"

She was already asleep.

He smiled, pulled her a bit tighter into his embrace, and closed his eyes.

Early the next morning, Qiao Yichen woke up early.

He leaned against the bedside and glanced out the window—the sky was just beginning to dawn, and a grayish-blue light leaked through the gaps in the curtains. Liu Yanran was still sleeping, her breathing steady and her body slightly curled up.

He got out of bed quietly, threw on a piece of clothing, and walked to the window.

Buzz.

It felt as if a string had been gently plucked deep within his brain.

In the next instant, several lines of glowing cold blue text appeared in the center of his vision without warning.

[Intelligence 1]

A-share listed company 'Huayuan Technology' (Code: 603XXX) will release a major asset restructuring suspension announcement after the market closes at 15:00 on May 14 (Wednesday), intending to acquire a leading enterprise in the semiconductor industry chain.

Expected suspension duration: approximately 2 weeks.

After resuming trading, the cumulative increase is expected to be in the 338%—348% range.

Current stock price: 20.00 RMB/share.

Critical Time: Buying must be completed before 15:00 on May 14.

[Intelligence 2]

Director (Qichen Media) is engaging in unfair competition in the 'sweet spring project':

On May 14, Director obtained the core content (strategic direction, creative concepts) of Liu Yanran's team's first draft through Li Fan, an evaluator from the Liquan Group, and is currently adjusting his own second-round proposal based on this.

On May 15, Director transferred 300,000 RMB to the account of Li Fan's wife, 'Wang Li,' with the note 'consulting fee.'

[Intelligence 3]

Liu Yanran's ex-boyfriend, Zhou Shiyu, will return to Hangzhou on the afternoon of May 17 (Saturday).

Zhou Shiyu works in Shanghai and has been broken up with Liu Yanran for about two months.

The relationship initially faded due to the long distance and work reasons. Zhou Shiyu was seduced over a long period by Liu Yanran's best friend, Lin Wanwan (a female streamer on a certain platform), and eventually chose to abandon Liu Yanran to be with Lin Wanwan.

Recently, Lin Wanwan broke up with Zhou Shiyu because she felt he couldn't provide the life she wanted.

In the end, Zhou Shiyu was left with nothing. Regretting his past choice, he saw a Mogan Mountain post on Lin Wei's Friends Circle (a group photo of four people). By comparison, he remembered Liu Yanran's virtues and decided to use a business trip as an opportunity to ask her for a meeting.

Meeting Time: Around 16:30 on May 17.

Meeting Location: A certain café in the city center.

...

Qiao Yichen stood by the window, staring motionless at those lines of cold blue text in his vision.

He first focused on the first piece of intelligence—there were two key points: one was the massive increase of over three hundred percent, and the other was the deadline before the market closed tomorrow, May 14th.

He subconsciously licked his lips, his heart skipping a beat. An increase of over three hundred percent... this was fucking money being delivered to his doorstep.

If he wanted to seize this wave of fortune, he had to hurry and gather the funds before today's market close.

He took a deep breath and shifted his gaze away from the first piece of intelligence—the cabinet had to be sold today. It couldn't be delayed any longer.

His gaze fell on the second piece.

Director.

He narrowed his eyes. The scene he saw yesterday in the Sweet Spring lounge area resurfaced in his mind—Director and Li Fan walking into a corner, their voices kept extremely low.

He had felt something was off at the time; as it turned out, there really was something fishy going on.

As expected, a dog can't stop eating shit.

Drugging her during the first meeting, and bribery during the second. This guy really was... of that sort.

He let out a cold laugh, his mind already beginning to turn with ideas—he had to think carefully about how to deal with him.

He continued scrolling down his line of sight.

The third piece.

Zhou Shiyu. Lin Wanwan.

The moment these two names popped up, Qiao Yichen's head gave a 'buzz.'

A previous piece of intelligence had mentioned it—'Direct supervisor and director Liu Yanran, due to the double betrayal of her boyfriend and best friend.' At the time, he had only glanced at it and didn't take it to heart. Now, the people involved had all appeared.

Zhou Shiyu, the ex-boyfriend. Lin Wanwan, the best friend.

He stood by the window, staring at those two lines for a long time. This weekend, huh? Well, he'd definitely have to go take a look.

He stood there and read those three lines once more before slowly withdrawing his gaze.

Just as he turned around, the alarm clock on the nightstand rang.

Seven o'clock sharp.

He walked over and reached out to press the alarm off. On the bed, Liu Yanran moved, opened her eyes, and looked toward the window in a daze.

"Why are you up so early?" Her voice was thick with the laziness of someone not yet fully awake.

Qiao Yichen walked over, sat at the bedside, and looked down at her. Her eyes were half-squinted, there was a pillow mark on her face, and her hair was a mess; she looked completely defenseless.

He reached out to pull her into his arms, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "Launch was successful last night, so I'm feeling refreshed this morning."

Liu Yanran was stunned for a second, and then her face 'whooshed' into a deep red. She reached out and started swatting at him, hit after hit, but the force was soft. She mumbled, "Aren't you annoying... what are you saying first thing in the morning... can't you talk properly..."

Qiao Yichen laughed and let her hit him. When she stopped, he lowered his head to kiss her forehead. Then he lifted the quilt, grabbed her coat from the side, and draped it over her.

"Let's go."

Before she could react, he had already bent down, one arm around her back and the other under her knees, lifting her entirely off the bed.

Liu Yanran was startled and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. "What are you doing—"

"Carrying you to wash up," he said as he carried her toward the bathroom, his tone matter-of-fact.

Liu Yanran buried her face in his shoulder and muffledly said something he didn't catch. Looking down at her, he saw that even the tips of her ears were flushed red.

The bathroom light flickered on.