When Ye Ling returned, Ning Ruoxi immediately rushed over to him. "Stinky, what did your dad say? Did he say anything about me?"
"He did."
Ye Ling glanced at her, then sat down on the sofa.
"So what did your dad say?"
Ning Ruoxi asked, her voice laced with anxiety.
"He said that if I donât treat you well, heâll have my head."
Ye Ling said.
"Hehe, really?"
Upon hearing this, Ning Ruoxiâs eyes immediately curved into happy crescents again.
"You little rascal, satisfied now? My dad treats you way better than he treats me,"
Ye Ling said with a light snort.
"Stinky, I think your dad actually cares a lot about you. While you were gone, he asked me so many things about you,"
Ning Ruoxi, however, said this with a rather serious expression.
"I know."
Ye Ling nodded. Suddenly, the corner of his mouth quirked into a smirk, and his gaze turned mischievous as he looked at Ning Ruoxi. "But... you little minx, badmouthing me in front of my dad just now... you were just trying to get some payback, werenât you?"
"I didnât! Of course not."
Ning Ruoxi blinked, her face a mask of innocence.
"Is that so?"
Ye Ling narrowed his eyes. With a swift motion, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.
"No, I really didnât~ How could I ever say anything bad about you?"
Ning Ruoxi said this, lowering her head in embarrassment.
âAfter all, she *had* said quite a few bad things about Ye Ling just now...â
"So, how do you think I should punish you?"
Ye Ling pinched Ning Ruoxiâs cheek and said with a mischievous grin.
"Honey~"
Ning Ruoxiâs voice suddenly turned soft and sweet, her glistening eyes fixed on Ye Ling. "Will you let me off, please?"
At the sight, Ye Ling couldnât help but swallow hard.
âThis little vixen, how does she keep getting more and more captivating!â
"Donât get any ideas. Yueyue is still in her room,"
Ning Ruoxi said immediately, seeming to notice his breathing quicken.
"To the room, then."
Ye Ling slid his arm under her knees. Amid her cry of surprise, he swept her up into a princess carry and charged toward his room.
About half an hour later, a satisfied Ye Ling emerged. Ning Ruoxi, however, was flushed with a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, and she hurried to the bathroom to wash her hands.
"Ahh, so satisfying. Sweet revenge."
Ye Ling stretched lazily, then flopped down on the sofa and turned on the TV.
RING RING RINGâ
Just then, Ye Lingâs phone suddenly rang.
"Chairman Ye, itâs Zhu Yun. Are you free to come to the office right now?"
"Whatâs wrong?"
Ye Ling was a bit taken aback and asked, puzzled.
"Thereâs a bit of a problem here at the office. It would be best if you could come and handle it. If youâre not free, itâs okay," Zhu Yun said, her voice laced with gravity.
"Alright, Iâm on my way."
Ye Lingâs heart tightened. This was the first time heâd ever heard Zhu Yun sound so serious. He quickly told Ning Ruoxi he had to leave and drove to Shengding Group.
About fifteen minutes later, Ye Ling arrived at the Shengding Group building.
"What happened?"
Ye Ling walked into the office, where Zhu Yun was already waiting for him.
"Chairman Ye, please take a look at this file."
Seeing Ye Ling, Zhu Yun immediately stood up and handed him a file.
Ye Ling took the file and scanned a few pages, his brow furrowing slightly.
"How credible is this information?"
Ye Lingâs expression grew serious.
"Itâs essentially one hundred percent accurate."
Zhu Yun responded, "Ever since you asked me to start monitoring Bauhinia Energy, Iâve been investigating. This is the data Iâve uncovered."
"I see."
Ye Ling narrowed his eyes. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk and sank into thought.
The file Zhu Yun had given him was almost entirely focused on Bauhinia Energy.
For years, Bauhinia Energy had focused on the new energy sector. But recently, it acquired two domestic internet companies.
A typical acquisition wouldnât have been a problem. But for a new energy company like Bauhinia Energy to suddenly pivot to the internetâa field completely unrelated to its core business...
It was, without a doubt, highly suspicious.
Especially from Ye Lingâs perspective. It was highly likely that he was the reason for it.
"After acquiring these two companies, Bauhinia Energy didnât officially merge them. Instead, they had the two companies reorganize into the Net Entertainment Group. Theyâre leveraging their existing platforms to push into the online cultural IP sector,"
Zhu Yun continued.
This online cultural IP sector was, in fact, Shengding Groupâs core businessâcreating and adapting online cultural products for IP development.
The emergence of the Net Entertainment Group was bound to impact Shengding Groupâs development!
After all, its two predecessor companies were both highly ranked among domestic internet companies. Their strength had increased exponentially, especially after the merger!
"Looks like someoneâs getting impatient to make a move."
A cold smirk played on Ye Lingâs lips.
Bauhinia Energyâs intentions were obvious. Suddenly acquiring two internet companies, merging them, and then pushing into the primary sector Shengding Group was developingâit was clearly a method to pressure Ye Ling.
"Chairman Ye, one more thing. The companyâs website and local network have been under frequent and unusual attacks recently. According to our preliminary investigation, a portion of these attacks are likely originating from within Bauhinia Energy,"
Zhu Yun added.
"Is that so? Take me to the server room,"
Ye Ling said at once.
"Yes."
Although Zhu Yun didnât quite understand what Ye Ling was planning, she still led him to the server room.
Meanwhile.
Inside the server room, numerous programmers were working furiously. Shengding Groupâs website had been suffering from frequent, unusual attacks lately, so they were all under immense pressure.
In fact, on one occasion, the website had crashed late at night, forcing dozens of programmers to rush back to the office and work overnight. They only managed to resolve the issue just before dawn.
"Sister Yun, what brings you here?"
A man in a dark blue plaid shirt stood up upon seeing Zhu Yun and greeted her.
"This is Chairman Ye. Iâm accompanying him on a visit to see you all,"
Zhu Yun said, then turned to Ye Ling. "This is Zhang Zhi. Heâs mainly in charge of website security."
"Hello, Chairman Ye."
Zhang Zhi gave Ye Ling a respectful glance. Heâd never met him, as Ye Ling rarely appeared at the company.
Seeing Ye Ling in person now, he was taken aback.
âHeâs ridiculously handsome. He looks more like a movie star than the chairman of a corporation!â