Chapter 179: Yes! I’m the One Doing It!

Chapter 179: Yes! I’m the One Doing It!

A dangerous light had already come into Wu Yurong’s eyes, though she was still smiling.

Wu Yurong truly was the kind of woman who could bury everything in her heart. Her scheming ran frighteningly deep. Pleased or angry, she concealed it well—Wu Chen’s words had offended her several times already, and she had given no sign of caring.

But—

Faced with a direct threat, Wu Yurong had no need to hide what she felt.

Hidden or not, the man had threatened her. He obviously knew where she stood.

And Wu Yurong could feel it clearly now.

Wu Chen was threatening her.

He was going after her businesses.

He had even said she might end up in prison.

“No.” Wu Chen denied it, still easy, still calmly smiling. “President Wu, I’m not going after you. I’m going after Ding Ruilong. At most, you’d be collateral damage.”

He smiled.

“But I believe that with your methods and your connections, President Wu, you should be able to save yourself and get clear. You’ll simply have to… pay a price.”

“Why are we back to Ding Ruilong?” Wu Yurong still could not find the joint in his logic. Frowning, she said, “Whatever lies between you and Ding Ruilong—it shouldn’t drag me in. What does it have to do with me?”

Wu Yurong genuinely could not make sense of it.

Set aside whether Wu Chen had the ability to contend with Ding Ruilong.

Assume he did.

Even then she could not imagine how the matter could reach her.

She had no relationship with Ding Ruilong whatsoever.

She had never so much as met him.

Senlan Group was a major corporation rooted in the traditional apparel trade. Naturally it kept close ties with local officialdom, while its competitors and partners in business generally had nothing to do with the great families.

The great families rarely involved themselves deeply in traditional industry.

The reason was simple. The money came slowly. Such industries demanded years of accumulation and gradual growth.

The great families had no need to spend that kind of effort.

They could dabble in real estate, play in finance, or move aggressively in fast-growing sectors—automobiles, smartphones, internet services—where the speed at which money could be made was beyond comparison.

So—

Wu Yurong not only had no direct connection to Ding Ruilong.

She had no indirect one either.

She had heard a few things about Ding Ruilong, the young master of the Ding family. That was all.

“You know Huo Wanqiu, Chuanhang Fund’s largest shareholder, don’t you?” Wu Chen asked her outright.

“Of course. Old Huo and I have known each other more than ten years,” Wu Yurong said, watching him.

“Then you must know that Huo Wanqiu is also Beiwang Fund’s second-largest shareholder.” Wu Chen smiled.

“…And?” she asked after a brief silence.

“Beiwang Fund’s largest shareholder is Gou Xunyang,” Wu Chen went on.

“Mm. And then?”

“Do I need to tell you who Gou Xunyang is?” Wu Chen asked, smiling.

“Gou Xunyang…” Wu Yurong thought a moment, then looked at him. “Gou Xunyang’s older sister is Ding Weifeng’s wife. He’s Ding Weifeng’s brother-in-law. So? What does that have to do with me?”

Ding Weifeng—known in certain circles as Third Master Ding—was forty-nine.

He was one of the core figures of the Ding family’s second generation, Old Master Ding’s third son, and Ding Ruilong’s third uncle.

In finance, Ding Weifeng’s name carried enormous weight.

The funds under his control—counting only the large ones that had actually succeeded, leaving aside the failures—managed capital in excess of a hundred billion yuan.

“Beiwang Fund’s actual controller is Ding Weifeng,” Wu Chen said, smiling. “His brother-in-law Gou Xunyang is only his proxy. His white glove.”

Wu Yurong’s brows lifted.

She knew little about that side of things; it truly had nothing to do with her.

But she did know that Gou Xunyang, as Ding Weifeng’s brother-in-law, was one of the Ding family’s peripheral operators.

So what Wu Chen said was reasonable.

Highly plausible, in fact.

Beiwang Fund was enormous, and it had invested heavily in Ding family businesses.

If its actual controller really were Gou Xunyang, simply because he was the largest shareholder, that would be the unreasonable version.

Without the Ding family, Gou Xunyang could never have built anything on that scale.

“Fine. Suppose you’re right. So?” Wu Yurong asked again.

Her patience was nearly gone.

The smile remained out of habit. She was frowning now.

“Huo Wanqiu and Gou Xunyang are very close personally. So wouldn’t you say Huo Wanqiu’s relationship with the Ding family must also be… rather good?” Wu Chen asked, smiling.

Wu Yurong did not answer.

Because she knew it was a great deal more than good.

Huo Wanqiu worked very closely with the Ding family.

Beiwang Fund proved it. Ding Weifeng was the actual controller, and Huo Wanqiu the second-largest shareholder.

Put plainly, Huo Wanqiu had a direct line to the Ding family.

Any major move involving Beiwang Fund would be settled between Huo Wanqiu and Ding Weifeng themselves.

Gou Xunyang, for all that he was the proxy, actually had less say than Huo Wanqiu.

“Mr. Wu, can you simply say what you mean?” Wu Yurong said once she had thought it through. “You’re making my head spin with all this circling.”

There was a trace of petulant reproach between her brows.

It was devastatingly alluring.

She did it without thinking.

It had become habit.

“If Huo Wanqiu suddenly gets into trouble—financial crimes, online lending through the fund, illegal fundraising, that sort of thing—then, President Wu, do you think Chuanhang Fund, which you and Huo Wanqiu founded together, would run into difficulty?” Wu Chen asked.

“…Of course it would.” After a moment’s silence Wu Yurong did not deny it.

She admitted it outright.

There was nothing to deny.

Very few people who played with funds were entirely clean.

There were operations of every kind in the gray areas and along the edges of the law.

Once something went wrong, the whole thing could go up.

But the reverse held too.

It was not easy for something to go wrong, unless the business itself failed, or they overreached and lost control.

Because the people capable of playing that game all had extraordinary reach.

Without someone powerful behind them to hold things up, they could never have played it at all.

Beiwang Fund had problems, certainly.

Wu Yurong did not need to look into it to know.

Chuanhang Fund had problems too.

And Wu Yurong knew exactly what they were.

That was precisely why she had not started a fund alone but partnered with several others instead.

Divide the interests properly, make sure every partner had connections and someone behind him, and even if trouble came there would be someone able to step forward and absorb the strike.

Huo Wanqiu was that man.

The one with the reach and the backing to take the hit.

In connections, Wu Yurong freely admitted she was no match for him.

“If Old Huo goes down, then of course…” Wu Yurong said frankly. “Nobody walks away clean. Chuanhang Fund really could drag me in with it.”

The interests were plain. There was nothing to hide.

Then her tone turned.

She smiled at him.

“But! Mr. Wu! What would make Huo Wanqiu go down? I don’t know how much you understand of his background, but if he weren’t solid enough I would never have gone into business with him.”

Absolute confidence rang through the words.

She felt he was threatening her.

So naturally she had to be confident that nothing would happen to her.

“Huo Wanqiu is solid enough. More than solid enough.” Wu Chen’s smile widened. “He’s the kind of man the Ding family couldn’t allow to go to prison even if it cost them an enormous price to prevent it. Because his relationship with the Ding family runs far deeper than you imagine. He has done far too many things for them through fund operations that can never see daylight.”

Wu Chen smiled.

“Secrets he can only carry into his coffin.”

“If you know that, then what makes you say Chuanhang Fund will have trouble? That I will?” Wu Yurong’s smile widened too, and she looked at him as though he made no sense at all.

“Because Huo Wanqiu is certainly going down,” Wu Chen said, smiling.

Wu Yurong froze.

It took her a moment to grasp what he was actually saying.

“You mean…” Wu Yurong set both hands on the desk and rose slowly to her feet, her eyes never leaving his. “You mean the Ding family? The Ding family is… going down?”

“Yes.” Wu Chen smiled.

Then he added:

“I’m the one doing it.”