Chapter Thirty-Six: Asset Restructuring

“Qing, are we just going to let this go?”
“Let it go? Hell no! If I don’t get back at him, how am I supposed to survive in this game? I’m calling my big brother right now.” On Xue Qing’s handsome face, two swollen lips dangled like sausages; the shoulders of several female influencers twitched ever so slightly, clearly struggling to hold back their laughter.
Xue Qing shot them a furious glare, his anger barely contained, but with those sausage lips, even his rage appeared comical.
En Hui, the second most popular influencer after Xue Qing, with over thirty million followers, had worries of her own. She frowned with concern, saying, “Qing, I don’t trust Young Master Zhang. Right now he’s suppressing President Liu, so he’s willing to offer us generous terms. But once he takes over the company, he might not promote us like President Liu does. If that happens, we’ll be in trouble.”
“What are you afraid of? That’s Young Master Zhang we’re talking about.” Xue Qing waved off her concerns. “Besides, Chairman Tong is also involved. How can a mere Liu Yiyan compete with Young Master Zhang? You’re worrying about nothing.”
He swept his gaze over the other influencers. “All of you, listen to me. Liu Yiyan dares to hit people, so here’s what we’ll do: we’ll announce that Liu Yiyan forces her female streamers to entertain big shots, even push them to please investors. Those streamers are too scared to speak out, but we can’t stand her ways, so we’re stepping up to expose her. Liu Yiyan got furious and even hit me, the one standing up for justice.”
Li Huilan, who had only a few million followers, looked nervously at Xue Qing. “Qing, isn’t this going a bit too far? If President Liu gets angry, it’ll be hard for us to handle. Besides, that guy earlier was really intimidating.”
“Intimidating? My ass.” The memory of Ye Qiu slapping his face like it was free made Xue Qing’s expression twist in rage. “He can’t be more intimidating than Zhang Jun. Now that Young Master Zhang wants to deal with him, we’ll see. And use your brain: when we step up for justice, what will the fans of those streamers who stayed behind think? Who will they turn to? Even if they don’t, won’t we guide them?”
Everyone froze, then their expressions changed.
Xue Qing’s plan was truly ruthless.
Most of the top streamers were ready to jump ship with Xue Qing. The only one left was Jin Yueyun, a female streamer who had just broken forty million followers. If they followed his strategy, Jin Yueyun’s pure persona would collapse in an instant, destroying the company’s last big influencer.
Seeing the growing hesitation, En Hui’s face darkened, her eyes flashing dangerously as she stared at the group. “Let me be clear: it’s not too late to back out now. If you post the announcement and dare to betray us, you can forget about ever being a decent person again.”
Only then did the others realize how frightening En Hui could be. Someone recalled that when En Hui first joined the company, she was a country girl who didn’t even know how to do her makeup. Soon, she became best friends with Taozi, who already had millions of fans, benefiting from her publicity and guidance. But as soon as En Hui gained traction, a video surfaced of Taozi visiting a big shot’s home, spreading like wildfire in the influencer circles.
Most of Taozi’s fans, loyal to her sisterhood with En Hui, became En Hui’s followers. She then befriended another top streamer in the company, only for that influencer’s questionable character to be exposed not long after. En Hui, crying and defending her friend, skillfully contrasted their personas.
Naturally, En Hui rode the wave and amassed another batch of followers.
People rarely mentioned it, but everyone knew she specialized in undermining her own friends.
In less than a year, En Hui had become a major influencer with ten million followers.

Now, as En Hui bared her fangs, the bandwagon-riding female influencers felt chills running down their spines. Xue Qing’s scheme was so venomous, none dared to back out now; they all nodded in agreement.
While En Hui was lecturing the others, Xue Qing put away his phone, exuding a newfound confidence. “My brother Liu just gave the word—he’s going after that pretty boy.”
Yang Huilan involuntarily shivered. “Is that the man people call ‘Blackheart’?”
He was notorious in Linhai, with a gang of thugs under him. He meddled in every business, causing chaos in the industry. Small factories couldn’t keep up financially and were eventually forced to sell their land at a loss, earning him the nickname ‘Blackheart.’
“Smack!”
Xue Qing slapped Yang Huilan across the face.
“Watch your mouth! He’s my brother Liu, not ‘Blackheart.’”
“You…”
Yang Huilan’s cheek burned, but before she could protest, En Hui pulled her back. “This isn’t the time for infighting. When you’re in Young Master Zhang’s company, with his support, you’ll be a big influencer with tens of millions of followers. Why worry about this now?”
Yang Huilan looked at En Hui and could only swallow her anger.
…
“Yezi, you can’t be so impulsive.”
“Big Sis, I think there’s more to this than meets the eye.”
Knowing his sister was about to start lecturing, Ye Qiu quickly changed the subject.
“Naughty Yezi,” Liu Yiyan scolded with a sigh. “I know, but right now we need to calm the other streamers and shift resources to those with potential.”
“Have you found the person who copied the code?”
Liu Yiyan nodded. “He was acting under Tong Tiexing’s orders. The inspection team has arrived, so it seems the secret of artificial intelligence can’t be kept anymore.”

Ye Qiu didn’t care much about these things. “It’s fine. It was meant for Big Sis anyway.”
“It’s just a pity for Tong Tiexing.”
Just then, Mary chimed in unexpectedly, “Can’t you suspend trading during stock restructuring? The two companies could collaborate, suspend trading, dilute his shares, and kick him out.”
Ye Qiu considered it. “That’s actually a good idea.”
Liu Yiyan fell silent.
On the surface, it seemed like an excellent plan. If it were Ye Qiu’s suggestion, she would agree without hesitation, but with Mary, she couldn’t help but be cautious.
They’d just gotten rid of Tong Tiexing, and now were bringing in Mary—not just the richest woman in America. It was like chasing away a wolf only to invite a tiger; a loss either way.
Mary seemed to sense Liu Yiyan’s doubts and spoke openly, “We can set up a subsidiary with Mr. Ye holding the majority and a veto right. Big Sis, does that sound acceptable?”
Liu Yiyan was even more confused.
The terms were far too generous—how could a billionaire American CEO be so naive?
She gazed quietly at Ye Qiu.
Could it really be because of Naughty Yezi?
“Big Sis, I think Mary’s proposal makes sense. Let’s do it.”
Ye Qiu wasn’t concerned about the details. In China, things might be restrictive, but back in America, there weren’t so many limitations. If Mary ever tried anything, he had plenty of ways to deal with it.