Chapter 64: It's All Thanks to Master's Excellent Teaching

Meanwhile, in Futian, Shenzhen.

Li Jianlin put down his phone, his brows furrowed tightly as he pondered the meaning of Lu Liang's final words.

Wu Junle asked anxiously, "What did that guy say?"

"He said he is bullish on Tele-A and wants to hold it long-term."

"Bullish? Long-term hold my foot. I bet he just wants a bigger cut."

Wu Junle looked indignant. Li Jianlin shook his head, holding a different view: "He probably just doesn't want to get mixed up with us."

Lu Liang was different from them; the money he made was completely clean. Once he agreed to their terms, it would involve stock price manipulation.

If the scandal broke and they implicated Lu Liang, the best-case scenario would be a warning, and the worst-case would be a fine amounting to several times his illicit gains.

If he were in Lu Liang's shoes, he probably wouldn't agree either.

"Do you think he's bluffing us?"

Wu Junle frowned, his emotions gradually cooling down.

Tele-A was currently priced at 32.5 yuan. Once the stock price surged to 50 yuan, every board lot would yield an extra 1,750 yuan in profit.

According to their investigation, Lu Liang held 20,000 board lots, currently worth 65 million yuan, which would turn into 100 million yuan.

If he waited until they finished offloading their shares, that 65 million yuan might drop to 40 million yuan or even less.

The price difference alone was at least 60 million yuan.

He refused to believe that Lu Liang wouldn't be tempted.

"Let's wait and see how things look on Monday."

Li Jianlin furrowed his brows, knowing that Wu Junle's concerns were not entirely unjustified, but for now, they had no choice but to trust it.

Meanwhile, Lu Liang was returning calls one by one to those who had just inquired.

"President Zhang... You flatter me, but I have no such plans at the moment."

"President Liu... When there are plans in the future, I will definitely contact you right away."

"President Zheng... I'll host you next time you come to Shanghai, and the two of us will share a good drink."

After finishing the calls, Lu Liang let out a long breath.

Walking out of his office, he saw Chen Jinchun dozing off with her head resting on her desk. He gave the desk a light tap: "You're drooling."

Chen Jinchun snapped upright, still heavy with sleep, and wiped the non-existent saliva from the corner of her mouth: "President Lu, are you getting off work?"

Lu Liang gave a hum of acknowledgment, picked up his car keys, and left the company, leaving Chen Jinchun to close up and lock the doors by herself.

Graduating from a second-tier college, bypassing the internship period, and earning a salary in the tens of thousands—these were the duties expected of her.

At a little past seven in the evening, Lu Liang arrived home. As soon as he stepped through the door, he smelled the aroma of home-cooked food.

Aunt Liu, the housekeeper, said, "Mr. Lu, Ms. Li said she won't be back for dinner tonight."

"Aunt Liu, I'll go take a shower first."

Lu Liang nodded slightly and headed straight for the bathroom.

Last week, he helped Li Manli set up her studio and had her move out to live there, making it easier for her to get along with her colleagues.

At first, they filmed their content at home, but Lu Liang didn't like having people coming and going in his living space every day.

So he rented a villa in the western suburbs of Shanghai to serve as their studio, which also provided accommodation for the employees.

On weekdays, Li Manli basically stayed at the villa, filming videos and doing live broadcasts. Sometimes she would come back for dinner, and sometimes she wouldn't.

For Lu Liang's three daily meals and household chores, he had hired a professional cleaner and cook.

"Aunt Liu, today's pickled cabbage with pork intestines is really good."

Lu Liang praised it repeatedly, highly satisfied with Aunt Liu's culinary skills.

Ever since Li Manli moved out, he no longer had to eat those dishes that looked aesthetically pleasing but tasted mediocre.

Aunt Liu was cleaning up the kitchen, turned around with a wide smile, and said, "Mr. Lu, as long as you like it."

During dinner, Lu Liang received a call from Liu Mingxian, asking if he was free tonight to grab a drink.

"Alright, I'll head over now." Sensing that his friend was in a gloomy mood, Lu Liang didn't refuse.

Halfway through dinner, he picked up his car keys, left the house directly, and drove to a mid-range residential compound in the city center.

Unlike Lu Liang, Liu Mingxian majored in computer science. Ten years ago, college graduates in that field still carried a lot of weight.

After graduation, he came to Shanghai and joined a medium-sized internet company, responsible for website development and post-maintenance.

He could be considered one of the early beneficiaries of the internet boom, having settled down and bought a house in Shanghai early on.

Only this guy had his heart broken by a manipulative woman in high school. Supposedly, he wrote a love letter that was publicly read out and mocked by the girl, and ever since then, he had embarked on a wild and uninhibited lifestyle, running further and further down that road.

"Holy shit, are you trying to fly to the moon?"

Upon seeing the Lamborghini Urus, Liu Mingxian's eyes widened, and he stroked the car paint as if caressing a lover's skin.

"Don't tell me you rented this one too."

Soon, he shifted his attention back to Lu Liang, wanting to see if his friend of over a decade had been possessed by someone else.

Car rentals had different tiers; sedans were rented by the most people, followed by sports cars, and SUVs were basically never rented out by anyone.

Let alone a Lamborghini Urus; he could bet his life that not a single car owner in all of Shanghai would be willing to rent out a Urus.

Lu Liang smiled calmly. Just as he was about to speak, Liu Mingxian waved his hand to stop him: "Don't tell me, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it."

"Brother Liang, let me drive it, please?" A flattering smile appeared on his face, pulling a look he thought was cute.

"Take it, just take it." Completely disgusted, Lu Liang hurriedly handed over the car keys and walked over to the passenger seat.

"If this car were parked in front of the Shanghai Film Academy entrance, I wouldn't even dare to imagine how many blue little pills I'd need to take tonight."

Liu Mingxian caressed the steering wheel, pressed the accelerator lightly, and instantly felt the surging power.

With an expression of utter infatuation, he couldn't help praising, "As expected of the world's most badass SUV."

"Stop making that wretched face. What on earth is going on?" Lu Liang looked at him with utter disgust.

Liu Mingxian suddenly deflated again: "Let's find a place to drink and I'll tell you the whole story slowly."

"Then let's go to the Bund. There's a newly opened music bar there that looks pretty good."

Just as he was crossing the river earlier, Lu Liang had noticed a newly opened music bar on the Bund with what seemed like a great atmosphere.

Guiding Liu Mingxian along, they arrived at the NaN Tavern and booked a table by the river.

The environment was pleasant, the river breeze delightful, and the cool gusts of wind chased away the summer heat.

A young and pretty girl sat on stage, strumming a guitar and singing folk songs, creating a very bohemian and sophisticated atmosphere.

Lu Liang ordered a dozen Bud Light beers along with a few snacks; neither of them was used to drinking spirits, and beer suited their palates better.

Liu Mingxian chugged two bottles back-to-back, and a look of sorrow instantly surfaced on his face.

For some reason, Lu Liang felt a sudden urge to laugh: "My friend, please tell me your story."

Liu Mingxian glared fiercely before recounting how last month, the daughter of a relative and friend from his hometown wanted to come to Shanghai to find a job after graduation, so she asked him to help look after her...

"So you looked after her all the way into your bed, and now you've knocked her up?"

Looking disgusted, Lu Liang had guessed the ending the moment he heard the beginning, and lost all desire to listen further.

"Are you a tapeworm living in my stomach?"

Liu Mingxian looked utterly shocked, his hard-earned emotional momentum suddenly cut short.

"You've been this kind of scoundrel for more than just a day or two. Did I only just meet you today?"

Lu Liang rested his chin in his hand, admiring the beauties passing by on the street. The female goddesses of the Bund were of very high quality and quite generous as well.

People were complex, multi-faceted beings, and as a friend, Liu Mingxian had nothing to fault.

Not only had he lent him money to buy a house back then, but whenever Lu Liang argued with his wife after getting married, he would also go stay at Liu Mingxian's place for a few days.

However, as a man, Lu Liang couldn't easily offer opinions, so he could only feel glad that he had no involvement with the woman in question.

Liu Mingxian scratched his head and drank another half bottle of beer: "That girl's home is in the village right next to mine."

"Then you're completely screwed."

Taking pleasure in his misfortune, Lu Liang spotted a few tall beauties wearing pleated skirts.

He beckoned a lounge waiter over, paid the bill for their table, and raised his beer bottle in a toast to them.

Liu Mingxian widened his eyes in shock: "Since when did you become such a playboy?"

Lu Liang cupped his fists in a salute and smiled, "It's all thanks to my master's teachings."

Seeing the pleated-skirt beauties heading their way, he kicked Liu Mingxian under the table to signal him to keep quiet.

The beauty walked over with a glass in her hand, smiling all over: "Handsome, what is the meaning of this?"

Without turning his head, Liu Mingxian sat composedly and suddenly blurted out, "I'm getting married."

Lu Liang's eyes widened. Choking abruptly on his beer, he quickly turned to the beauty and said, "I'm sorry, I recognized the wrong person."

The beauty smiled brightly: "Handsome, my name is Lingling. Your pick-up line is so old-fashioned~"

"I really did recognize the wrong person. The tab is already paid anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Lu Liang smiled calmly and waved his hand dismissively: "Could you please step away first? We have some matters to discuss."

The beauty's smile gradually stiffened. Without a word, she turned and left, returning to her companions to point and whisper at Lu Liang.

Unbothered, Lu Liang turned his head to look at Liu Mingxian: "Seriously? Have you thought it through?"

After all, compared to a close friend's major life milestone, beautiful maidens were merely pink skeletons and fleeting smoke.