Chapter 35: A Man Working Hard Is Truly Irresistible

After dinner, Lu Liang took Zhang Qian and her daughter home.

Having gone through so much today, Zhang Yun fell into a deep sleep in her mother’s arms on the way back. Lu Liang carried her inside, placed her on the bed, tucked her in, and then closed the door.

He said to Zhang Qian, "Once you’ve made up your mind, send me a message, and I’ll accompany you to sign the contract."

With a transfer fee of 1.3 million and a monthly net profit of 80,000, it was a decent project. Lu Liang still had over ten million in cash on hand; it was time to acquire some assets for himself.

"I’ll look into it a bit more over the next few days," Zhang Qian said cautiously, unwilling to make a snap decision. After a moment of hesitation, she added, "Brother Liang, if you don't mind, I’d like to invest a little, too."

Lu Liang smiled and asked, "How much do you want to invest?"

He realized why he appreciated Zhang Qian. She was independent, both in character and finances, and did not want to rely entirely on others. Perhaps it was tied to her experiences; raising a daughter alone naturally led to a lack of security. Unlike Li Manli, who at nineteen was carefree—a single person fed meant the whole family was satisfied.

"Forty percent, though thirty percent would also be fine," Zhang Qian said, carefully observing Lu Liang’s expression.

Lu Liang chuckled. "If you want more, forty percent; less, thirty percent. Either works for me."

He wanted to be a hands-off manager, using this as a pretext to maintain a long-term, unconventional relationship with Zhang Qian. The exact share percentage didn't matter much to him.

As it neared 8:10 PM, Lu Liang prepared to leave. The American market would open at 9:00 PM Beijing time, and there had been no anomalies in the Asian or European sessions throughout the day. London gold was currently at $1,458.55 per ounce, still 58.7 dollars away from the price predicted by the voice. If nothing went wrong, some sudden event in the Americas would trigger another wave of gains for international gold.

Zhang Qian suddenly wrapped her arms around Lu Liang’s waist from behind, nuzzling against him. "Brother Liang, why don't you stay at my place tonight?"

She didn't want to overthink things anymore. Even if they had no status, being his mistress for a lifetime would be fine, as long as Lu Liang was good to her daughter.

"Next time. I really have something to attend to tonight," Lu Liang said, turning around to hold her waist.

As their eyes met, he saw a different emotion than before.

"The door code is 889912. The spare key is usually hidden on the top shelf of the fire cabinet by the door." Zhang Qian stood on her tiptoes, seeking a lingering kiss. "You can come whenever you want. This is your second home."

"Mm, I’ll come see you both again once I'm done with these matters." Lu Liang nodded. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and Zhang Qian’s gaze was genuine now, no longer as evasive as before. It was filled with deep, melting tenderness—the first time in his life he had seen such a look. His marriage to his ex-wife had been more of a partnership, one she had unilaterally breached.

"Hee hee, shhh..." A childish voice suddenly came from the room, causing them to pull apart in a fluster.

"Since you're awake, go take a bath and do your homework," Zhang Qian said, blushing with the embarrassment of being caught in a tryst.

Lu Liang walked over naturally and patted the little girl on the head. "Sweetie, Uncle has some work to do at the company, so I'll come see you next time."

"When is next time?" The little girl opened her wide, innocent eyes, wanting a precise date.

"Hmm... today is Thursday, let’s make it the weekend."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

Before leaving, Lu Liang acted like the man of the house; right in front of the child, he kissed the woman on the cheek. "I’m off."

"Bye-bye~" Zhang Qian stood at the door, gazing affectionately as she watched Lu Liang enter the elevator.

"Mom, can I call Uncle Lu 'Dad' in the future?" the little girl suddenly asked, her eyes filled with expectation.

Zhang Qian was silent for a long time. Unlike before, she didn't avoid the topic. She crouched down in front of her daughter, looking very serious. "Sweetie, do you want him to be your father?"

"Mm-hmm, I like Uncle Lu." The little girl was jubilant, gesturing as she recounted how Lu Liang had taken charge at the school office that afternoon.

From that moment on, she had an accurate understanding of the word "father," which had previously existed only in textbooks. He was like a towering mountain, or a great tree providing shade.

"Then you have to be a good girl, and next time, Mom will ask Uncle Lu for his opinion."

"I will definitely be good!" The little girl nodded emphatically, her smile suddenly radiant.

...

Back home, Lu Liang said, "Manli, make me a cup of coffee." He didn't stop for a moment, heading straight for the study.

As the clock struck nine, the international gold market, quiet for three hours, sprang to life. Lu Liang closed his losing positions at the $1,458.55 price point. As the 1,540-lot order was placed, his total account loss instantly hit $653,300. His cost basis was $1,462.85, meaning every point fluctuation resulted in a $154,000 gain or loss. His $5.62 million margin allowed him to withstand a 27-point drop without a forced liquidation. This time, he had gone all-in, reinvesting all his previous gains and principal back into the market.

Hundreds of millions in wealth were too tempting. While not the only opportunity in his life, it was certainly the best.

A few minutes later, Li Manli knocked and entered with an iced Americano. She sat playfully on Lu Liang’s lap, looking at the colorful screen. "What is this?"

"A kind of stock, I suppose." Lu Liang knew Li Manli wouldn't understand, so he didn't explain much, keeping his arm around her waist while his eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"What does '-730,300' mean?" Li Manli considered Lu Liang her boyfriend and wanted to know more about his life and work.

"It means exactly what it says: a loss of $730,300," Lu Liang said with a smile. It had just dropped another 0.5 points, adding another $77,000 to the loss.

"I remember that '$' symbol means dollars, right?" Li Manli was dazed, her voice trembling slightly. If the figure in the top left was a loss, then the nine-digit number at the bottom must be the account balance. And it started with a two—in dollars! Her head spun; she couldn't even calculate the conversion.

Lu Liang gave a hum of acknowledgement without explaining that this was the balance after using hundred-fold leverage.

Li Manli’s eyes brimmed with emotion. "Honey, can I take a picture?" She wanted to post it to her social media circle to show off.

Lu Liang’s expression cooled, but as he was about to reprimand her, he smiled instead. "Sure, but don't show my face or the specific position sizes."

He remembered that Li Manli was in regular contact with Zhou Xiaoqi, having even invited her over a few days ago to sample her cooking. They were friends on social media. Zhou Xiaoqi was Meng Changkun’s mistress, and it was time for Old Meng to know that his investment had value.

Li Manli was thrilled, running behind Lu Liang to find the right angle. "Honey, your profile while drinking coffee is so handsome." She snapped away, eventually selecting four representative photos.

"Let me see." Lu Liang deleted two, leaving one of his blurry profile and one showing only the corner of the account, displaying the profit without exposing the volume.

However, the account in this image no longer showed a loss; instead, it showed a profit: +$3,581,700.

Just then, the London gold market had suddenly shifted. A massive bullish candle shot toward the sky, rising 28 points in an unstoppable surge. Lu Liang’s account instantly turned from red to black.

"This... this is over three million in profit? In dollars?" Li Manli’s eyes widened in shock.

"Go out, and close the door behind you," Lu Liang said, having no time to attend to Li Manli as he searched for the reason behind the sudden gold spike.

Li Manli was intimidated and dared not disturb him. She even kicked off her slippers and tiptoed out of the study. Barefoot, she jogged through the living room, excitedly returning to her bedroom. Lying on her bed, she looked at the photos and giggled.

This was literally making millions in minutes.

Li Manli smiled, unable to wait to post to her social media with the caption: "The man working hard is the most handsome."

As soon as the post went live, it triggered a wave of likes, far more intense than her previous late-night posts. Last time, it was just night scenes and selfies, which people would forget after a glance. But this time, it was real money—over three million dollars, more than twenty million yuan. With that kind of money, one could buy cars, houses, and invest in storefronts in any city in the country, living a life of luxury. They didn't even dare to imagine how much his total assets must be to generate such profits.

Zhang Qian was the first to like it, followed closely by Zhou Xiaoqi...