"A bully?"
When Ye Ling heard that, the smile on his face instantly froze.
In that moment, the look on his face was absolutely priceless.
"You little brat, so this is what you’ve been saying about me behind my back, huh?"
Ye Ling’s brows furrowed. He ripped the blanket off Luo Yue’s head and glared at her menacingly.
Luo Yue was stunned for a second. She dazedly turned her head to see Ning Ruoxi sitting on top of her, and... Ye Ling, looking absolutely murderous.
In an instant, she realized what was happening!
"Ruoruo, you actually teamed up with this stinking man to bully me!"
Luo Yue said, her face a mask of grievance.
"Stop pretending."
Ye Ling saw right through her act and said with a cold smirk:
"Don’t think I don’t know you’re trying to change the subject. Fess up. What other bad things have you been saying about me?"
Ye Ling was both exasperated and amused. This little brat was usually so sly and clever, yet under these circumstances, the first thing that came out of her mouth was ’a bully named Ye Ling lives here’...
Ye Ling felt so wronged. Well, okay, maybe he did bully this girl all the time, but... ’Can the affairs of a scholar truly be called bullying?’
’This is called tea—bah! This is called looking out for you! Yes, showing concern!’
"You’re on your own with this one."
Seeing this, Ning Ruoxi hopped off Luo Yue and watched her with a gloating expression.
Luo Yue’s gaze grew even more resentful. She pouted, "I knew it, Ruoruo! You’d ditch a friend for a guy any day!"
"Hey, saying that about my girlfriend right in front of me? We haven’t even settled our score from a minute ago."
Hearing this, Ye Ling feigned anger, walked over, and pinched her little face.
Seeing Ye Ling get "angry," Luo Yue didn’t dare talk back anymore. This guy really didn’t know how to be gentle with a girl; he pinched her cheeks so hard it hurt.
"Quick, Ruoruo, save me!"
Luo Yue hurriedly pleaded for help from Ning Ruoxi.
Ning Ruoxi smiled helplessly. "He’s just messing with you."
Knowing Ye Ling as she did, she could tell at a glance he was just teasing Luo Yue.
"Hmph! You’re all ganging up on me! I’m running away from home!"
Luo Yue said indignantly.
"Then go ahead."
Ye Ling said without a moment’s hesitation:
"I’m begging you, please. Don’t disturb my girlfriend and me in our own little world."
"You! Hmph! Well, now I’m definitely not leaving."
Luo Yue puffed out her cheeks and threw her arms around Ning Ruoxi.
"And not only am I not leaving, I’m going to sleep with your girlfriend tonight!"
Ye Ling’s expression froze again. But really, he was helpless against this mischievous little brat.
Beside them, Ning Ruoxi couldn’t help but smile. For some reason, she always found it incredibly amusing to watch Luo Yue and Ye Ling bicker.
It was perfect. When one goofball meets another, it’s an epic showdown!
And what a show it was.
Ye Ling didn’t continue the banter with the girl. He went to the gym, did a few sets of anaerobic exercises, took a shower, and then fell into a deep sleep on his bed.
「The next day」
Ye Ling woke up around six in the morning. His daily sign-in reward was another ten cases of yogurt, though it seemed to be a new brand today, not the usual one.
After washing up, Ye Ling headed straight for Shengding Group.
Ever since leaving Tan Palace yesterday, he had been thinking about the request Ning Tianliang had made: to build a world-class company.
World-class. That adjective was worth mulling over. There were many domestic companies now, but very few had achieved a monopolistic position on the international stage.
Moreover, Ning Tianliang had said that not even Ning International counted as a ’world-class’ company.
Right now, Ye Ling only held shares in two companies: Shengding Group and Character Jumping.
The latter had indeed stormed the overseas market as a unicorn company, but since he only owned twenty percent of the shares, it couldn’t strictly be considered his company.
Besides, although Character Jumping had been developing well in recent years, it was still a long way from establishing a monopoly.
Therefore, for Ye Ling, the most pressing concern was the development of Shengding Group.
As an internet company, Shengding Group’s growth had gradually slowed in recent years. However, its strength had skyrocketed after swallowing a huge prize like the Yu Group.
So, Ye Ling planned to put some effort into this and push Shengding Group’s capabilities even further.
"Zhu Yun, I’m almost at the office. Get ready, I want to call a board meeting."
Ye Ling made the call from his Maybach, then slammed his foot on the accelerator.
By the time Ye Ling arrived at Shengding Group, Zhu Yun had already been waiting at the building’s entrance for some time.
"Chairman, everyone has arrived. We’re just waiting for you."
Seeing Ye Ling get out of the car, Zhu Yun immediately walked over and said respectfully.
"Let’s go. We’ll head up."
Ye Ling nodded.
Inside the conference room, the many board members were whispering among themselves.
Their impression of Ye Ling, their newly appointed chairman, had already changed drastically.
Shengding Group’s development had been somewhat lukewarm for years, but after Ye Ling took office, he had gone and immediately swallowed the Yu Group!
This feat had gradually earned Ye Ling the approval of many board members.
When Ye Ling arrived in the conference room with Zhu Yun, everyone fell silent in unison, their gazes all converging on him.
"Everyone, the reason I’ve gathered you all here today is mainly to explain my development goals for the future."
Ye Ling didn’t beat around the bush and said directly:
"Zhu Yun, give us an update on the progress of the Yu Group acquisition."
"Yes, sir."
Zhu Yun nodded and clicked something on her laptop. A PowerPoint presentation about the acquisition immediately appeared on the screen at the front of the room.
"Regarding the takeover bid for Yu Group, we seized a favorable opportunity, moved in first, and acquired a large number of Yu Group shares. Therefore, the progress has been very smooth. The plan to merge Yu Group into Shengding Group is also proceeding in an orderly fashion!"
Zhu Yun explained.
Just as her voice fell, Han Feng, who was sitting to the side, raised his hand.
"As far as I know, Yu Group’s main businesses are real estate and hospitality, while our group’s core business is in internet services. Instead of merging Yu Group into Shengding Group, it might be better to operate the two companies separately."
Han Feng said.
Hearing this, many of the surrounding shareholders nodded slightly.
Merging the two groups has its pros and cons. The advantage is that a merger between two Fortune 500 companies would inevitably lead to a significant increase in the company’s comprehensive strength.
However, there are also many disadvantages. The management level alone would be quite troublesome to handle.