"It’s ti to get to work.”
In the following few minutes, Yang Mi sent several sixty-second voice ssages, none of which Lu Liang bothered to open.
After leaving the airport, he arrived at DiDi’s New Chenghai Building. On the way, Reba kept ssaging him, her mood shifting from delighted to resentful.
There were many ssages, but Lu Liang had no interest in browsing through them. He saw the last one, “I knew it, you’ve beco like this again. Forget it, I don’t want to waste my wishes. I have to join a film crew now. Bye, have a smooth journey and an easy workday, mua~”
Shortly after, he arrived at DiDi’s corporate building.
Lu Liang saw Xu Jiawei downstairs and nodded slightly as they walked and talked, “How’s everything, all set?”
"Mr. Lu, the self-review is completed. All docunts are ready and can be submitted to the New York Stock Exchange anyti,” Xu Jiawei answered.
"What about the personnel?” Lu Liang asked further.
"Everyone from the audit team except Mr. Liu has completed their exit paperwork and can leave at any ti.”
Hearing Xu Jiawei’s words, Lu Liang stopped in his tracks, his eyebrows furrowed, “Is Liu Qing restricted from leaving the country?”
"Mr. Liu hasn’t submitted his docunts; we don’t know the reason yet. Mr. Cheng said he went to inquire about it.”
"When did this happen?”
"This afternoon.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Liang imdiately turned around and headed for Cheng Wei’s office.
Just as he knocked and entered, he saw Cheng Wei on the phone, looking extrely anxious.
Lu Liang patiently waited for the call to end. Before he could speak, Cheng Wei, looking grim, said, “Mr. Lu, we can’t contact Liu Qing.”
"When did this happen?” Lu Liang asked.
"It must have been today.”
Cheng Wei wasn’t certain. Liu Qing, being a high-level executive and a substantial presence, wouldn’t report her whereabouts to him. ƒ
"Playing tricks?” Lu Liang asked again, “Quickly check, see if anything is missing from the company?”
High-level corporate battles were often plain, such as unplugging network cables, stealing company seals, or pouring hot water on a money tree.
Cheng Wei imdiately went to check. Lu Liang didn’t stay idle; he called Sun Zhengyi in Tokyo, from Softbank Group, to report the current situation.
From a moral standpoint, he strongly condemned Liu Qing’s irresponsible behavior, which had severely damaged the company’s interests.
"Mr. Lu, what do you plan to do?”
Sun Zhengyi asked, noting that Softbank Group was DiDi’s largest shareholder, participating in nearly all rounds of financing.
Having invested at least three billion dollars in silver, if DiDi couldn’t go public smoothly, they would face the greatest loss.
"Mr. Sun, I think Liu Qing is no longer suitable for any position within the group.”
The first strike before the listing was to cut off a partner. Lu Liang initially wanted to do this after auditing in the US.
But Liu Qing’s calmness the other days and her disappearance lately made him lose patience; he decided to proceed first with the dismissal.
Sun Zhengyi pondered for a long ti, hesitant to support Lu Liang’s decision, “Mr. Lu, what does Goldman Sachs think?”
Softbank Group only wanted to make money, and they genuinely didn’t want to ddle in DiDi’s internal disputes.
He dared not support Lu Liang’s decision because of Goldman Sachs; offending them could jeopardize the listing in the US.
"If Goldman Sachs agrees, will you agree?” Lu Liang asked again, needing a definite answer.
"If Goldman Sachs agrees, so does Softbank,” Sun Zhengyi replied without hesitation.
"Wait for my word.”
Lu Liang called David Schindler, the President of Goldman Sachs Asia-Pacific, also a board mber, to ask about Liu Qing’s whereabouts.
A man in his fifties who took over all of Goldman Sachs’ Asia-Pacific operations after Liu Qing left:
"Mr. Lu, we are also actively contacting Miss Liu,” said Schindler.
"Mr. Schindler, Liu Qing’s actions clearly show she doesn’t want DiDi to go public. I want to know if Goldman Sachs also doesn’t want DiDi to go public?”
Lu Liang’s expression grew cold. By tomorrow noon, his audit team was set to depart for New York, so he had no ti for ambiguity; he wanted a clear stance.
At this point, he didn’t care what Liu Qing was hiding; since she dared take this chance, Lu Liang was now determined to remove her by any ans.
"Mr. Lu, our goal at Goldman Sachs aligns with all shareholders’ objectives; we very much want DiDi to go public.”
Schindler was very much considering Liu Qing’s perspective, perhaps she had urgent matters or an ergency arose.
He suggested that Lu Liang should keep calm and suggested convening a board eting at nine tomorrow morning; if Liu Qing still doesn’t appear, they could discuss further.
Lu Liang remained silent for a long ti before he coldly said, “Fine.”
After the call ended, Cheng Wei also entered the room and shook his head gently, “Nothing was lost.”
Lu Liang said, “Tomorrow at nine, before we depart, hold another board eting. If Liu Qing doesn’t show up, kick her out directly.”
Cheng Wei nodded. He had no thoughts of dissuading him, as what had once been a great aid had now beco the greatest obstacle.
"If it’s ant to rain, let it rain. If a woman is to marry, let her marry. If Liu Qing cannot produce a proper reason, she will fall on the eve of the trip to the US for the review.”
Lu Liang went to the café downstairs and, after waiting a while, saw Zhu Hu looking around and waved him over.
"What would you like to drink?” Lu Liang asked. Since Zhu Hu was a local heavyweight in Beijing, he had called him to find out more about the situation.
"An Aricano, please.” Zhu Hu was very surprised, “Liu Qing suddenly can’t be reached?”
Lu Liang nodded, then Zhu Hu asked further, “The company’s important docunts, official seals, and the like weren’t lost, were they?”
Lu Liang shook his head, and Zhu Hu, puzzled, stroked his chin and wondered, “What on earth is this woman playing at?”
Lu Liang shook his head again, and Zhu Hu squinted his eyes and suggested, “What if we pretend the official seal was lost?”
"Recently, all such items have been in Cheng Wei’s care.”
Lu Liang sighed. He had not ruled out framing and entrapnt, but Liu Qing, as if she had planned everything, had kept herself aloof from the company and the review team for so ti and had had no opportunity to access these things.
It was thus impossible to fra her.
Lu Liang asked, “Has the Liu family made any moves lately?”
Zhu Hu shook his head, “With the 5G vote rigging scandal being so big, they just managed to divert attention. They wouldn’t dare make any moves.”
Suddenly, Lu Liang’s phone rang; it was Cheng Wei calling, “Mr. Lu, Mr. Liu has made contact—she says she seems to have returned to the company.”
"When?” Lu Liang asked.
Suddenly, crisp footsteps approached, sounding like high heels tapping on the floor.
Lu Liang instinctively looked up, only to see Liu Qing approaching quickly. He told Cheng Wei, “Got it, we’re all at the café in Zone E.”
"May I join in what you two are discussing?”
Liu Qing, dressed in a black wool coat, approached and removed the sunglasses from the bridge of her nose.
She wore a smile on her face, “Sorry, I just stepped out, and the signal wasn’t very good over there.”
"Ms. Liu, I’m glad you’re unhard. We were just about to call the police,” Zhu Hu said, smiling as if nothing had happened.
"Ms. Liu, your files are the only ones missing. We’re departing tomorrow noon, and I hope you can hand them over to Secretary Xu as soon as possible.”
No sooner had Lu Liang finished his sentence than Liu Qing smilingly produced the docunts, “I was just going to process them; my previous docunts had expired.”
Lu Liang nodded slightly and called Xu Jiawei to receive the docunts, and Cheng Wei also received the ssage and hurried over.
"It’s just an afternoon without answering the phone—what, is this an inquisition?”
In the face of the three n, Liu Qing did not flinch and maintained a confident smile on her face.
"We were very concerned about your safety,” Lu Liang inford her of his subsequent contacts with Softbank and Goldman Sachs and their attitudes.
He also detailed the schedule for the next day. They’d depart at noon, land in the afternoon, and at four, he had an appointnt to et with David and asked if Liu Qing was interested.
Liu Qing had been inactive for half a month, then suddenly played disappearing today.
Lu Liang seriously doubted her sincerity and decided to throw a stone to attract the jade—to test her depth.
"Mr. Lu is truly well-connected.”
Liu Qing’s face changed slightly, then she lightly laughed, “Since Mr. Lu has invited , I might as well join, especially since it’s been a long ti since I’ve seen David.”
"Okay, let’s settle on that then.”
Lu Liang smiled, took his leave from Liu Qing, and Cheng Wei and Zhu Hu also took their leave and followed him.
As the three walked, Zhu Hu asked, “Playing mysterious?”
"We can’t rule out that possibility,” Lu Liang answered.
Cheng Wei frowned tightly, “Liu Qing isn’t usually like that. I always feel she has sothing up her sleeve.”
"What does it matter what tricks she has? In the face of absolute power, all cunning plots are just paper tigers.”
Lu Liang revealed a confident smile, deciding it was better to simply overpower Liu Qing rather than worry about what she might be planning.
Liu Qing might have sothing up her sleeve, but so did he. Neither Liu Qing nor DiDi mattered much compared to Bitcoin.
Anyway, Old Te was retiring next year. He probably wouldn’t be going to Europe or Arica anymore; worst cos to worst, just threaten and tempt, and if necessary, tear off the face mask.
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