Chapter 153 The Queen Offers Wine, This Round is Called "Devour"!
The maybach cut through the morning mist like a silent, swimming black shark.
The interior of the car was deathly silent.
There was only the low hum of the engine and the faint vibration of the tires rolling over the asphalt road.
Zhou Ran leaned back in the rear seat, eyes closed, resting.
He wasn't sleepy in the slightest.
At this moment, he was savoring the sensation of crushing Li Cangtian to death and the power of laws within that small crystal.
Could this be Ji Yue's Dao?
Lin Qingxue curled up by his side, her small hand tightly clutching the corner of his clothes; even in her dreams, her brow remained tightly furrowed.
Last night's bloodiness could not be washed clean even after three days and nights.
"What are you calculating?"
From the passenger seat, Chen Ya suddenly spoke.
She held the coffee brought by Wu De, but her gaze was fixed on Zhou Ran through the rearview mirror like a hook.
The man in the mirror opened his eyes.
His pupils were purely black and bottomless.
"Settling scores."
Zhou Ran's voice was a bit raspy, carrying the lingering scent of gunpowder.
"The Song Family's power in Jiangcheng has fallen, but that centipede may be dead, yet it's not yet stiff."
"If we don't devour it while it's still warm, are we supposed to wait for the flies to come stinging?"
Hearing this, Chen Ya tossed the coffee cup into the storage compartment.
She turned around, and in those signature peach blossom eyes, where was there any trace of her previous exhaustion and terror?
In its place was the excitement of seeing prey, the greed belonging to a business queen.
"Quite an appetite."
The corners of Chen Ya's mouth curled up, her fingers unconsciously tapping on the leather seat.
"The Song Family's business in Jiangcheng is mainly in export trade and high-end real estate."
"The Xiao Family has ports but lacks trade; the Chen Family has always focused on building materials supply, with very little involvement in high-end real estate."
"This is indeed a piece of fat meat, but unfortunately, it's too fat."
"Official seizures and judicial auctions take at least three months."
"By then, those bone-crunching noble families from Jingcheng will come sniffing around."
She paused, her tone becoming playful.
"You want it all for yourself?"
"On what basis?"
"Just because you had a satisfying killing spree just now?"
Zhou Ran smiled.
He didn't speak, but simply took out his phone, clicked on a newly released pop-up news item, and showed it to Chen Ya.
【Breaking! Liability for the massive collapse accident in Jiangcheng determined: Caused by 'Jinghong Construction' cutting corners!】
Chen Ya glanced at the headline, her pupils shrinking suddenly.
Jinghong Construction.
That was the white-glove company the Song Family used for money laundering and dirty work; the legal representative was one of Song Tiancheng's dogs.
"I had Liu Jianguo pin the whole blame on them."
Zhou Ran pulled back his phone and said nonchalantly:
"Tens of billions in public facility damage, plus the 'fire' losses of the Xiao Group Building."
"According to the law, all related assets of Jinghong Construction are frozen immediately to compensate the victims."
"Tens of billions for a tofu-dreg project is enough to give Jinghong Construction a hell of a time."
Zhou Ran pointed at himself, then at Chen Ya.
"And we are the biggest victims."
"We have the first priority for compensation."
Chen Ya stared at Zhou Ran, her chest heaving violently.
This move was too dirty.
And too brilliant.
This was killing the Song Family and then boiling their bones for oil and stripping their skin to make drums.
Not only did they not have to spend a penny at an auction, but they also rightfully turned the empire the Song Family built in Jiangcheng into 'compensation' for the Xiao and Chen families.
To kill the person and then destroy their heart—nothing could be more ruthless than this.
"That was the civil side."
Zhou Ran looked at the receding streetscape outside the window, his tone icy.
He only felt his blood boiling, finally experiencing the feeling of a big boss in a Hong Kong drama.
"In two hours, the stock market opens."
"The remnants of the Song Family in Jingcheng, and those capitalists wanting to take advantage of the crisis, will definitely short our stocks frantically."
"However much they dump, we'll take."
"But not right now."
"What do you mean?"
Chen Ya's eyes narrowed.
"Human greed has momentum."
Zhou Ran's voice was low, yet it held a coldness that saw through the human heart,
"When the stock price drops by ten percent, retail investors will panic."
"At thirty percent, institutions will stop their losses."
"At fifty percent..."
"All rationality will collapse."
"What I'm waiting for is that critical point of collapse."
...
Xiao Family Manor.
The maybach came to a stop.
Lin Qingxue and Xiao Hongli were supported by servants back to their rooms; the two women were already exhausted and fell asleep as soon as they touched their pillows.
Zhou Ran didn't sleep.
He went straight to the top-floor terrace.
The east was beginning to brighten.
A streak of purple Qi pierced through the clouds; it was the moment when the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was at its purest.
Zhou Ran sat cross-legged.
As he breathed in and out, the purple Qi in the surrounding air surged into his mouth and nose like a whale sucking in water.
Last night, his Physical Body broke the sound barrier and caught a missile with his bare hands, which had almost drained every drop of spiritual liquid in his Qi Sea.
At this moment, the Yin Yang Art operated frantically.
It completely devoured Li Cangtian's spiritual power and then converted it.
Fifteen minutes later.
Zhou Ran opened his mouth and spat out a white streak.
His cultivation had recovered to seventy percent.
"Recovering quite quickly."
Behind him, the sound of high heels clicking on the marble floor rang out.
Zhou Ran didn't turn around, but he smelled an expensive perfume in the air, mixed with the mellow aroma of red wine.
Chen Ya had washed away the dust and blood.
She had changed into a wine-red silk slip nightgown.
The fabric was minimal, clinging tightly to her devilish figure, with a high slit revealing a large area of snow-white skin.
She walked over in the morning breeze, holding two glasses of red wine.
Her gaze was no longer tentative as before, but one of naked aggression.
She walked up to Zhou Ran but didn't hand him the wine.
Instead, she sat directly astride Zhou Ran's lap, her arms hooked around his neck, looking down at this man who was ten years younger than her.
"We didn't finish our talk in the car."
Chen Ya brought the wine glass to Zhou Ran's lips, her voice lazy, her eyes curving.
"Why don't we play a game of chess?"
"Sure! I'd love to!"
Without a word, Zhou Ran picked up Chen Ya and threw her onto the chess table.
"You little pervert!"
"Is this the 'game' your big sister was talking about?"
Her other hand pulled out a stack of thick documents from behind her and threw them onto the nearby rattan chair.
Those were the top-secret financial reports of the Xiao Group and Chen's Building Materials, along with a complex equity structure diagram.
"This is my battlefield."
Chen Ya took a sip of red wine, the bright red liquid staining her lips, breathtakingly seductive.
"According to my inside information, there are at least three groups of ten-billion-level hot money from Jingcheng that have already set their sights on us."
"Combined with the hidden positions originally held by the Song Family, once the market opens, it will be an avalanche."
"Our cash flow is very tight; if the stock price falls below the margin line, the bank will force a liquidation."
Chen Ya leaned close to Zhou Ran's ear, her breath like orchids:
"Little brother, being 'hard' alone is useless."
"This round is a capital meat grinder."
"How do you plan to break this game?"
Zhou Ran looked at the charming beauty before him.
He put down the wine glass.
His large hand unceremoniously grabbed that slender yet powerful waist and pressed her into his arms.
"Ugh..."
Chen Ya let out a muffled groan, her eyes instantly becoming blurred.
"You're right, this is a meat grinder."
Zhou Ran used his other hand to pick up the report, glanced at the red deficits on it, and tossed it away.
Papers flew everywhere.
"But who is the meat and who is the knife hasn't been decided yet."
He looked into Chen Ya's eyes, a wicked smile playing on his lips.
"As for how to break the game..."
"It's simple."
"Come play chess; your little brother will give you a proper education!"
Zhou Ran's finger brushed across Chen Ya's delicate collarbone.