264: Chapter 264 Intrusion

Hao Jinghan's return was expected, but the trouble lay in how to convince her parents afterward.

Given her family background, convincing her parents to agree to her living the rest of her life without marriage would be quite a struggle—even harder than convincing them to let her remain unmarried for life.

However, with the deed already done, there was plenty of room to maneuver; it was just a matter of finding something significant enough to please his father-in-law to offset the situation.

Thus, driven by various mutual needs, Zhao Xiaoshuai arrived at the scene on the day of the final negotiations between Hengtian and the Huo Group.

"I'm sorry, sir, but a private meeting is taking place ahead. Entry is prohibited."

"I have an appointment with President Xing."

"I'm sorry, but this is President Huo's order."

Zhao Xiaoshuai looked at the four or five bodyguards in suits at the door. Each had a sharp gaze and an upright posture, clearly no inferior to the bodyguard who used to follow Huo Shaoqi.

On his side, he only brought his beautiful secretaries, without a single bodyguard by his side.

"How much is your salary?"

"Trade secret. No comment."

Zhao Xiaoshuai smiled; they clearly didn't understand what he meant.

"Sir, if you take one more step forward, we will have to take action."

"Legally, you don't have the right to block this area, so I won't be showing you any courtesy. You will be responsible for the consequences of whatever happens next."

Having suffered a loss last time, Huo Shaoqi naturally went home and complained to his father, embellishing the story.

Huo Zhengdong knew his son's character and didn't care too much, but out of caution, he still spent a fortune to temporarily hire the best bodyguard team currently available in the country.

It was said that these bodyguards were all veterans with outstanding records during their time in the military.

Seeing that none of the bodyguards backed down, Zhao Xiaoshuai stopped trying to persuade them. He turned to his women and said, "Stand back a bit."

He respected their professionalism, but he wouldn't show any mercy.

Just a few minutes later, these elite bodyguards were sprawled on the ground, one by one, with their joints dislocated.

"Risking your lives for just a few thousand yuan a month... what's the point?"

This time, Zhao Xiaoshuai brought four women to the meeting: his two young secretaries, Bai Feng and Ling Rui, and his exclusive legal counsel, Guan Xiaosu.

There was also his recently very clingy young girlfriend, Zou Luyao; bringing her along was purely to let her gain some experience.

Most of these women were seeing their man fight for the first time, and their eyes sparkled with admiration.

"My man is strong in every way!"

Zhao Xiaoshuai led the group of women and pushed open the door to the conference room.

...

...

"Old Xing, this is your last chance. No one dares to help you now."

"Humph, but isn't your appetite a bit too large?"

During the most critical period when Hengtian was seeking funds to save itself, the Huo Group kept stalling them under the guise of capital injection, causing them to miss the best financing opportunities.

By the time Xing Jiaxing realized what was happening and secretly contacted other investment institutions, the news that 'Hengtian is about to collapse' had spread like wildfire almost simultaneously.

Everyone in the business world was out to make money; no one would try to save this sinking ship for the sake of so-called friendship.

Besides, they would need the capability to do so in the first place.

Saving Hengtian would require at least 5 billion in cash flow, and if Hengtian were to collapse, its stock value wouldn't even be worth that much.

Thus, the situation had reached a dead end.

"How about this? We'll take a step back. 3.5 billion. Carve out all of Hengtian's high-quality assets and sell them to me as a package."

"Then what about the remaining mess?"

"That's not my problem."

To be honest, with 3.5 billion, Xing Jiaxing could clear his personal debts and even have some capital left to make a comeback.

But in doing so, the foundation the Xing Family had worked hard for generations to build would be destroyed in an instant.

Huo Zhengdong counted on exactly this, betting that between personal prosperity and dying with his family business, he would surely choose the former.

And in fact, that was the case.

'The remaining money will be enough for me to make a comeback!'

'If I can succeed once, I can succeed countless times!'

Just as Xing Jiaxing was resigning himself to fate and preparing to agree to the old fox's final terms, the conference room door was pushed open.

Huo Zhengdong frowned. "How did those useless trash outside handle things?"

Zhao Xiaoshuai scanned the room and sat down at a corner of the conference table on his own accord. "Quite lively in here. What big business are you discussing? Why don't you let me hear it too?"

Xing Jiaxing was overjoyed; the turning point he had been waiting for had finally arrived!

Huo Zhengdong naturally knew who this person was, but to be honest, he hadn't taken him seriously before. The family had already used all their connections to investigate his background.

This person didn't have many valuable assets under his name. The rumored 7 billion he was supposed to use to back Xiong Xiqu was essentially determined to be just empty talk.

Although this person could be considered someone of note in this remote place, in the eyes of the entire Huo Group, he was not worth mentioning.

"I don't believe I invited you, Mr. Zhao."

"Who are you? Are we close? I'm here at President Xing's invitation. I heard there's big business to be done."

Insulted, Huo Zhengdong remained expressionless. "I'm afraid you won't be able to get involved in this business."

"President Xing, how are your talks going?"

"President Huo wants to offer 3.5 billion to take over Hengtian."

"Oh, then I'll offer 7 billion."

Unlike Xing Jiaxing's look of ecstasy, Huo Zhengdong clearly treated these words as a joke.

"Your acting is too poor. You think you can trick me into paying more with this level of performance? Next time, find a shill with some weight. I'll be leaving now; my terms remain unchanged. I hope you really do have 7 billion."

A calm Huo Zhengdong was about to lead his people out when he was stopped by Zhao Xiaoshuai.

"Wait a moment."

Huo Zhengdong paused briefly, wanting to hear what this 'shill' had to say.

"A while ago, your son questioned whether I truly dared to be an enemy of the entire Huo Family. I asked him to pass on a message at the time. I wonder if you heard it, President Huo."

Huo Zhengdong glanced at his son, and Huo Shaoqi quickly lowered his head.

"Why don't you repeat it, Mr. Zhao?"

"I said, 'Go back and tell your father that you have successfully offended me on behalf of your Huo Family.'"

Huo Zhengdong suddenly laughed. "Hahaha, interesting, interesting. I'd like to know what the consequences are for our Huo Family offending you."

"Wait and see."

Huo Zhengdong took a deep look at the confident Zhao Xiaoshuai, wondering where his assurance came from.

"I heard you promised to support Xiong Xiqu. You might need to prepare more funds next. I hope you really have 7 billion."

As the Huo Family party left, only two groups of people remained in the conference room.

However, Zhao Xiaoshuai didn't immediately acknowledge Xing Jiaxing, who stood up to greet him. Instead, he looked at Zou Luyao, who had been trembling slightly beside him for a while.

"Yaoyao, what's wrong?"