Chapter 2: One Hundred and Twenty Billion and a Dirty Contract

The next morning, Lin Qian arrived at the Lin Group very early.

She asked the finance, legal, and internal audit departments all to be present. Before doing anything else, she needed to know exactly how much money the Lin family had lost, which sums could be recovered, and which contracts were threatening the company.

The CFO presented a thick file.

“Miss, over the past two years, the Lin Group has supported the Lu Group many times. That includes the investment in the Haifeng Port project, short-term loans, and a number of assets paid for on Mr. Lu’s behalf.”

“Are there complete contracts?”

“For most of it, yes. However, some sums were recorded as personal gifts or entertainment expenses.”

Lin Qian frowned.

This was the result of the original Lin Qian using company money to buy personal affection.

She couldn’t simply demand the return of sums that had no legal basis. To get the money back, she had to sort every transaction, identify who received the money, what it was paid for, and what terms applied.

“Make a separate list. For anything with a loan agreement, send a notice of debt recovery. For investments, check the conditions for withdrawing capital. Personal payments need their records reviewed before we decide whether to sue.”

The head of legal nodded at once.

“Yes.”

Lin Qian turned to the last page.

“And what’s this guarantee?”

The room went silent.

A vice president spoke up cautiously:

“The Lu Group is short on cash flow. If the port project fails, the bank may require the guarantor to fulfill its obligations under the contract.”

“Value of the guarantee?”

“About one hundred and twenty billion.”

Lin Qian set the document down.

She had thought that simply cutting ties with Lu Xi would let her live happily ever after. She never expected that before she woke up, the original Lin Qian had already dug an enormous pit for her own family with her own hands.

But the more dangerous it was, the less she could act recklessly.

“Contact the bank and review the terms of the guarantee. Under no circumstances are we to pull capital or move assets on our own to dodge our obligations. We’ll handle this strictly by the law.”

She turned to her secretary.

“At the same time, send notices ending any support that no longer serves the Lin Group’s interests.”

Just then, her phone lit up.

Lu Xi was calling.

Lin Qian put him on speaker.

“Qianqian, don’t overdo it. Last night was just a misunderstanding. I know you only said those things because you were angry.”

“What do you want?”

“I need you to transfer another hundred billion to sort out the Lu Group’s cash flow. Once things are stable, I’ll come see your family to talk about the engagement.”

Lin Qian was silent for two seconds.

Then she laughed.

“Lu Xi, do you know the biggest difference between you and a bank?”

“What?”

“A bank at least knows to check whether you can pay it back before it lends you money.”

She hung up.

Less than half an hour later, Bai Lian posted on social media.

She didn’t mention Lin Qian by name. She only posted a photo of a reddened wrist with a pointed caption:

Some people are born at the top, so they never understand how ordinary people feel. Just because they can’t have love, they’re willing to ruin someone else’s life.

The post was quickly shared.

Some accounts began hinting that Lin Qian was a bully who picked on the weak.

Her secretary asked angrily:

“Miss, should we say something?”

“Yes.”

Lin Qian opened the footage from the party, but didn’t post it right away.

“First, confirm we have the right to use the video, ask the organizers to preserve the original, and have an incident report drawn up. Then legal will send a request for correction if there’s false information that damages the company.”

She didn’t want to turn herself into someone who only knew how to bicker online.

She wanted the other side to understand that every word could come with real consequences.

That afternoon, another piece of information came in.

The main design for the Haifeng Port project that Bai Lian had been promoting shared many points with the graduation project of an architecture student named Song Ning.

Lin Qian immediately asked for its origins to be checked.

The first results showed that Song Ning had once submitted her portfolio to a consulting firm, but there wasn’t enough evidence yet to conclude that Bai Lian had copied it or violated copyright.

“Get in touch with Song Ning. If she agrees, we’ll help verify everything and protect her legal rights.”

Her secretary was surprised.

“Miss, if there really is a problem with the design, the Lu Group could lose the project.”

“Then they should worry about the quality of their work, not about whether I’ll help them cover it up.”

Lin Qian looked out the window.

She had changed her own choices, but the world of the novel wasn’t going to change automatically along with her.

Lu Xi still had his ambitions.

Bai Lian was still building her innocent image.

And from now on, she had to fight the consequences the original Lin Qian had left behind.