Chapter 263: 163 Chapter Desperate
Now, she finally understood. Chen Xiao wasnāt out of money; he was just pretending to be.
What a deep ploy...
She was completely dumbfounded by this sudden blow. After all, since her debut at eighteen, she had never experienced such a defeat. Moreover, this one was enough to plunge her into hell...
She sat there lifelessly, her eyes devoid of spirit.
Xiao Defengās lips were dry as he reported, "Miss Lu, the other party is still injecting funds. From the marketās opening until now, they have already invested forty billion."
"I know..." Darkness swam before Lu Rugaoās eyes, and her red lips tightened involuntarily.
Lu Corporation had already stopped infusing capital, yet Chen Xiaoās side kept raising the stakes. It was an obvious and blatant provocation.
But what could she do? She was already utterly defeated.
After Xiao Defengās figure vanished from her sight, the last shred of her feigned defiance completely disappeared. Su Linger quickly supported her trembling body.
"Ruge, Ruge, hold on!"
"Lingāer, this time, Iāve lost..." Lu Rugao was despondent. "Iāve lost completely! I just canāt accept it! Why would I lose to a few ants!"
She, Lu Rugao, was the most talented of the Lu Familyās younger generation. Since childhood, she had always been a Heavenās Chosen One. Yet she had lost to people she had never even taken seriously. How could she possibly accept this?
"Ruge, maybe we havenāt lost yet! We still have Elder Li! We have the Lu Family! And my Su Family!"
Lu Rugao gave a bitter smile. "The hole Iāve dug is too big now. No one dares to try and fill it, not even the Lu Family. The Lu Family is probably in a complete uproar right now... After all, far too many people want to see me, Lu Rugao, ruined."
She could already foresee her own downfall.
"We canāt escape now. Once Chen Xiao begins the real squeeze, our two hundred billion in funds will be devoured so quickly that not even a tenth will remain!"
Hearing this, Su Lingerās pretty face turned deathly pale. She herself had invested fifty billion. It now seemed impossible to get it back, and the Su Family would surely hold her accountable. However, seeing Lu Rugao in this state, she chose to stand by her side.
At worst, Iāll be scolded a few times, grounded, and then my future will be arranged by the family...
The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt.
After a long moment, Lu Rugao took a deep breath and said, "Lingāer, you should go back to Capital City. What happens next between me and Chen Xiao isnāt something you can get involved in. I donāt want to drag you into this. But to accept defeat like this... I refuse!"
Lu Rugaoās words made Su Lingerās eyes tremble slightly. "Ruge, are you thinking of..."
"Iām out of options," Lu Rugao said with another bitter smile. "At this point, what does my pride matter? If I have to be despicable, then so be it."
Su Linger took a deep breath. In the end, she could only respect her decision. "That man is no ordinary person. You have to be careful he doesnāt bite back."
Only now did she realize just how terrifying Chen Xiao was. Even her brilliant friend, who had never known defeat, was nothing more than a plaything in his hands.
Lu Rugao nodded.
Soon, her phone rang. It was the only son of a corporate president who had loaned her several billion during the financing conference.
"Miss Lu, Iām so sorry, but I need to get the money I loaned back... Really, Iām terribly sorry. My dad said the corporation is facing a bit of a financial crisis, and we need the money for turnover. We wonāt even ask for the interest you promised. Can we just get the principal back?"
The manās words made Lu Rugaoās breath catch. "I will return the money to you soon."
"Miss Lu, I donāt mean to rush you, but itās really urgent..."
The man rambled on, but his core message was clear: he wanted his money back. It was obvious he was beating a retreat. Seeing her at a complete disadvantage in this confrontation, he was terrified he wouldnāt even get his principal back.
Lu Rugao coldly hung up the phone. However, other calls began pouring in one after another. Without exception, they were all from people wanting back the principal they had lent her at the financing conference. After answering six or seven such calls, Lu Rugaoās heart sank to rock bottom. Where could she possibly find the money to pay them back now? The funds she had invested in the stock market were completely locked up.
Finally, even Murong Lin called, making up an excuse to take his twenty billion back. Lu Rugao gave a few perfunctory responses and hung up, utterly exhausted.
Su Linger was furious. "These people! When they saw a profit to be made, they all wanted a piece of the pie. Now that thereās trouble, they just want to save their own skin. Itās disgusting!"
"They came for a piece of the pie in the first place," Lu Rugao said flatly. "Itās only normal for them to turn on me now. The business world has always been about self-interest." These people were not her family or friends; now that they saw the risk, it would be stranger if they didnāt run.
Su Linger sighed, sensing the depths of Lu Rugaoās despair. Two hundred billion was an enormous sum, enough to cripple any major family, let alone a single person like Lu Rugao.
After a while, the sound of an approaching car was heard from outside. Jin Zilong, his body wrapped in bandages, walked in slowly.
Lu Rugao looked at him with an indifferent expression. "Jin Zilong, are you also here to ask me for money?"
Jin Zilong smiled. "Ruge, how could I be that kind of person? I understand your current predicament. I want to help you."
"Help me?" A faint smirk touched Lu Rugaoās lips. "This hole is too big. No one can help me."
"As long as... as long as you agree to marry me, Iāll risk everything to scrape together another hundred billion for you! The alliance between our Jin and Lu families is a match made in heaven! Ruge, please, just say yes! You have no way out, and Iām the only one who has stood by your side supporting you! Donāt you understand how I feel about you?" he pleaded, gripping her arms and shaking them with a frantic look in his eyes.
However, Lu Rugao simply shook her head. "The Jin Family would never take such a risk. Even if they would, I wouldnāt agree. I lost this battle on my own, and Iāll accept it, even if it ends in failure. I will pay you back the fifty billion I borrowed from you. And finally, Iām warning you, donāt you ever threaten me with marriage again."
With that, she wrenched her arms free from his grasp, turned around impassively, and walked away.
"Why?! Why?!" Jin Zilong demanded, his eyes bloodshot.
"Because Ruge has no feelings for you," Su Linger said, patting his shoulder, finding it too cruel to say what she was really thinking. It wasnāt just that Lu Rugao had no feelings for him; she was utterly repulsed by him.
Lu Rugao walked gracefully to a door and pushed it open.
Inside the room, Li Xianqun, who was deep in meditation, slowly opened his sharp eyes.
Lu Rugao spoke respectfully, "Elder Li, from this point on, I must trouble you."
Li Xianqun looked slightly surprised, then sighed under his breath. "So, in the end, it still falls to this old man to make a move."
"I... I am at my witās end," Lu Rugao admitted with a bitter smile.
"What do you have in mind?" Li Xianqun asked.
"Negotiate a truce," Lu Rugao enunciated each word clearly.
"And if that fails?"
"Then," Lu Rugaoās voice turned cold, "we will have no choice but to meet them in battle. Iām not being unreasonable. I only want to take back what Iāve lost. Even if I canāt win, I absolutely cannot lose."
Because the price of defeat was far too high, and it was a price she could not afford to pay.