Song Zhiqing replied in a fluster: 【It probably won’t be very good.】
Ye Yuhuan had no intention of dwelling on the topic. She just continued her usual routine of dropping hints to Song Zhiqing, reminding her of the ambiguity between Shangguan Xianxian and Shen Wei.
After all, if a potion of forgetting existed in the world, Ye Yuhuan would be the first to give it to Song Zhiqing to drink.
In her view, as long as Song Zhiqing didn’t fall in love with the female leads, at most, Shen Wei would only retaliate for the events of her past life. But the Song family was no pushover. In the original plot, they went bankrupt because Song Zhiqing, madly in love, had recklessly courted disaster. As long as she severed her feelings for Shangguan Xianxian, extinguished her love for her, and with Ye Yuhuan’s own vigilance from knowing the plot, ensuring Song Zhiqing’s lifelong safety would be quite easy.
YYH: 【We’ll know when the time comes.】
Song: 【Okay, I’m going to bed then. Good night. You should get to sleep early too. You’ve had dark circles under your eyes this whole time. No matter what you’re busy with, you can relax a little during the break.】
Ye Yuhuan checked the time. It was almost midnight. Normally, she should be sleeping, but her situation was special, so she replied honestly: 【I’ll probably be busy for a while longer. I’ll try to sleep as early as I can.】
Song: 【Ah, you, honestly!】
After ending her conversation with Song Zhiqing, Ye Yuhuan began revising the business plan she had just written. Later, she still had some exercises from her online courses to do. Sleep was still a long way off.
Ye Yuhuan put her glasses back on. Her jade-white face was often creased with a frown, and the light from her computer and desk lamp cast reflections on her lenses. It was late at night in the city. For some, this was when things came alive. Neon lights flickered on the streets, and tall buildings reveled one after another. Ye Yuhuan was nestled in a corner of the city, busy with something that would change a part of it, but no one knew.
No, except for Shen Wei.
She had sent people to investigate Ye Yuhuan starting last night. The information that trickled in showed that Ye Yuhuan hadn’t suddenly become a different person, nor did she possess memories of a past life like Shen Wei herself. Her life’s trajectory was crystal clear, and all her choices were logical. Even during this past month when her whereabouts had become erratic, her way of doing things hadn’t changed much.
But how could she explain the coincidences with those investments?
And the changes in Song Zhiqing in this life, thanks to her interference.
Shen Wei tapped her fingers on the table. It seemed Ye Yuhuan knew her too well.
She must know something.
Just as Shen Wei was lost in thought, there was a knock on the door. Shangguan Xianxian stood at the entrance holding a glass of milk, a faint hint of reproach in her cool eyes. “It’s already very late.”
A warmth spread through Shen Wei’s heart. She looked at the milk in her hand and said with a smile, “Is that for me?”
Shangguan Xianxian’s expression remained cool, but she nodded, as if she had simply come to deliver the milk and nothing more.
Over the past few days, she had become less resistant to Shen Wei. At times, she even felt a desire to be closer. Of course, Shangguan Xianxian knew this was Shen Wei’s “boiling the frog in warm water” tactic, but she couldn’t refuse her. It was as if some fateful compatibility existed between them; Shen Wei could always find her soft spot.
Shen Wei obediently drank the entire glass of milk and said gently, “I’ll put the glass away myself. You should get to bed early. I’ll go to sleep right after I put it away.”
See? Just like now, Shangguan Xianxian sighed to herself.
Two days later, Ye Yuhuan took the subway to the city outskirts. She had dressed especially maturely today, even buying lipstick to tone down her currently youthful face. Unfortunately, it wasn’t very effective; she merely went from looking like a high schooler to a college student.
The reason for taking such pains was that she was going to negotiate a business deal—a deal so important that she had to go in person, unlike the previous times which she had handled via phone and email. After all, this investment wasn’t the small-scale dabbling she’d done before. After a month of playing the stock market, using information from the plot, Ye Yuhuan had seized the opportunity of a bull market and successfully multiplied her lottery winnings several times over.
This lottery ticket was originally a tool for Shen Wei in the plot to verify if this world was still the one she had been in before. Now, it had been used by Ye Yuhuan to acquire her first pot of gold. One could say it had been put to good use.
An hour later, Ye Yuhuan knocked on the door of a humble studio. Inside sat a few young people who had tried to dress up but still looked down on their luck. In the plot, these were the very people who would become leading figures, making outstanding contributions to breakthroughs in new energy research.
But for now, they were just a group of grassroots entrepreneurs who, after graduating and starting a business, had such poor returns that even affording meals was a struggle.
Inside, Tang Ke and Li Xiang exchanged a glance. How could it be such a young girl?
She was very pretty, sure, but being so poor they were practically eating dirt, they had basically lost all worldly desires like lust. All they wanted was to make money. They couldn’t help but wonder if this young girl was just playing a joke on them, or if she really had that much money to invest.
Zhao Xiwei, on the side, was more clear-headed. Whatever her purpose, they should talk first. She quickly welcomed the person in.
The three of them had spoken with Ye Yuhuan online before. Based on her manner of speaking, they never would have imagined she was so young; they had assumed she was at least a seasoned businesswoman in her thirties. Now, seeing her at a glance, they thought this girl might still be in school.
Seeing their distracted expressions, Ye Yuhuan knew her appearance was indeed too shocking. She sighed helplessly, gave up on the idea of making small talk, and got straight to the point. “I can take full responsibility for this investment, but I hope to have a say in the company going forward.”
Hearing this, the three of them immediately snapped out of their stray thoughts and looked at each other. There were investors who were purely shareholders and only collected dividends, and there were those who participated in company management through capital injection. Seeing how young Ye Yuhuan was, they guessed that if she wasn’t messing with them, she was probably from a rich family, investing in a company for fun. In other words, she wouldn’t care how they developed. Unexpectedly, Ye Yuhuan once again exceeded their expectations, forcing them to take her seriously.
“Miss Ye, you know our company has a long profit cycle. To be honest, we don’t have any products right now that can guarantee market success. So, we’re not sure what aspect of the company you’re referring to when you ask for a say.”
The subtext of this question was: Our company has nothing. What do you plan to do with a say in it? You don’t expect us to become your hired hands, do you?
Ye Yuhuan took a sip of hot tea and said calmly, “I did some research on your company before investing, so naturally, I know your strengths and weaknesses.” Meeting their astonished gazes, Ye Yuhuan smiled faintly. “Yes, you have strengths. It’s just that due to current funding limitations, you can’t realize their true value. I believe your research capability is your greatest strength.”
“But right now, you’re too distracted. You’re so focused on making a product the market will welcome that you’ve ended up a step behind at every turn, causing your funding to dry up. Otherwise, as top students from A-University, you wouldn’t have ended up in this state.”
Her words made the three of them feel a surge of passion. There were advantages to being young; what Ye Yuhuan said now seemed exceptionally sincere. If a middle-aged person had said the same thing, they probably would have suspected it was just empty promises.
Sure enough, Ye Yuhuan then revealed the filling for her pancake: “I will inject five million in initial capital, and I will make additional investments later. You can rest assured that I won’t interfere with the company’s specific management. For now, I only ask for one thing: that you focus all your efforts on researching new energy.”
The three of them almost suspected Ye Yuhuan was a benefactor tailor-made for them by the heavens. New energy had always been their dream, but because the research cycle was long and the prospects were dim, with major companies all competing in the field, few people believed they could achieve anything. Even they didn’t believe in themselves. That was why they had to set aside new energy and turn to products with quicker returns. They never expected Ye Yuhuan to ask them to devote themselves to tackling new energy right from the start. Such a sucker—ah, no, a Bo Le—missing out on her would be a crime against heaven.
Only one question remained. Tang Ke asked respectfully, “Then how much equity will you require?”
Ye Yuhuan held up one hand. “Fifty-five percent. However, you cannot accept investments from anyone else in the near future. I don’t want my shares to be diluted so quickly.”
The three of them said in unison, “No problem!”
Where would they find a second Bo Le so kind and generous? Ye Yuhuan’s capital injection was enough for them to focus on research for several years. They could also buy some necessary equipment and materials. For her to be so generous and only ask for fifty-five percent of the shares… they knew that even if they sold the three of them as a package deal, they wouldn’t fetch five million. She really is young.
Ye Yuhuan quickly drafted and signed a contract with them, promising the money would be transferred by that evening.
After everything was settled, Zhao Xiwei invited Ye Yuhuan to have a meal with them, but Ye Yuhuan politely declined. She wasn’t used to eating with strangers, so she took her bag and departed gracefully.
Watching Ye Yuhuan’s tall, slender back, Zhao Xiwei felt the scene was picturesque. She couldn’t help but say with envy, “Miss Ye is so beautiful, and so rich too! How can God be so unfair when creating people, boo hoo hoo!”
Li Xiang nudged her and said coolly, “Get back to work. We still haven’t found the cause for yesterday’s data anomaly. Stop thinking about useless things. Miss Ye helped us out so much, not so we could sit around and squander it all.”
Tang Ke was a bit gentler, simply saying, “Li Xiang is right.”
Hearing this, Zhao Xiwei gritted her teeth. Once they made money, she was definitely parting ways with these two. She couldn’t understand how there could be men in the world so clueless at reading the room—and two of them at once!
These three, who were convinced Ye Yuhuan must be some wealthy, beautiful heiress, never imagined that the person who had just invested five million in them had turned around and gotten on the subway.
It wasn’t rush hour, so the subway wasn’t crowded. Ye Yuhuan sat and sorted through the plot in her mind. These three had already done some research on new energy in school and even had a few patents, which was why they dared to start a business right after getting their master’s degrees. Unfortunately, investors now favored large corporations. After all, new energy was a massive undertaking, and no one would believe a ragtag team could solve a problem that hindered social development.
And yet, it was precisely this ragtag team that succeeded.
Well, “succeeded” wasn’t entirely accurate. In the end, they took their mostly completed research and joined a large corporation. Although they had done the bulk of the research, most of the credit and profits were taken from them. This became a point of regret for them, and in their autobiographies, they lamented that if only they had held on a little longer.
At the time, the story of these three was known throughout the country, and many people felt it was a pity. Shen Wei naturally knew about it too, and as a member of the Shangguan family, she knew even more details. After her rebirth, Shen Wei had decisively planned to step in and help them in their most desperate moment in order to gain their absolute loyalty.
Ye Yuhuan had essentially exploited a time difference, snatching this deal before Shen Wei could. She knew Shen Wei would find out about her actions sooner or later, so she had to complete her setup before Shen Wei could react.
As for absolute loyalty, she wasn’t Shen Wei; she had no particular need for it.
Ye Yuhuan only wanted to gain the power to protect Song Zhiqing from Shen Wei. She didn’t care how long her name, Ye Yuhuan, would be associated with this company. As long as she could have some influence over it for the next ten years, that would be enough.
After all, in the plot, the time of Song Zhiqing’s downfall was just eight years away.
