Actually, nothing much had changed by this point.

After all, even though Zhang Yonghao had lost all the cash on him, he still had shares in Headline Technology.

Before Chen Yan took over the company, he had been the largest shareholder.

Even after selling shares to Chen Yan several times, he still retained about 12% of the shares.

These shares, diluted by Chen Yan, had now dwindled to 9% but had also increased in value to 2.7 billion.

With that money, he could still achieve financial freedom and enjoy a good life if he just walked away from gambling.

But all of this was an ideal scenario.

Once touched, gambling was hard to quit.

Especially after losing so much money, anyone would think about breaking even.

In Zhang Yonghao's heart, he no longer thought about making a quick buck and leaving; instead, he was determined not to gamble again unless he could avoid losses.

Or maybe, he believed in the law of conservation of luck, feeling that after losing so much, it was time for his luck to change.

So, he borrowed over two hundred million from a loan company, hoping to turn his fortunes around.

Due to his wealth and his recent expenditures in Ao City, the lending company readily lent him the money, even just making him sign a loan contract without requiring any collateral.

This straightforward lending approach threw Zhang Yonghao right back into gambling.

Of course, he lost again...

Consequently, he caused a huge scene at the gambling venue, feeling that everyone was conspiring to cheat him...

After listening to Young Master Dong finish the story of Zhang Yonghao, Chen Yan felt somewhat melancholic for a moment.

Even though he had not used the talent card on Zhang Yonghao to see his ratings, Chen Yan knew from the system's projections of Headline Technology's future that Zhang Yonghao was definitely a high-caliber talent.

Yet such a talent had ended up in this plight.

Although he was not sure if someone had cheated him as Zhang Yonghao claimed, Chen Yan still felt that fate was playing tricks on him...

After finishing the discussion about Zhang Yonghao's recent troubles, Chen Yan took the initiative to ask, "So what is he doing now?"

Hearing Chen Yan's question, Young Master Dong disdainfully said, "What else can he do? Just going around borrowing money."

"He now owes Gambling City over two hundred million in gambling debts, he can't even think about running away."

Chen Yan couldn't help but ask, "Did Gambling City kidnap him?"

Young Master Dong quickly waved his hand, "How could that be? Gambling City is a legitimate business."

He laughed and said, "They just assigned a lot of people to 'protect him' and even applied to Ao City to freeze Zhang Yonghao's exit permissions."

"Unless he pays up, he can forget about leaving."

Hearing Young Master Dong's words, Chen Yan shook his head.

It all meant the same thing, just coated in a different wrapper...

Thinking this, Chen Yan pondered over how he should achieve his goal in this situation.

The system had guided him, clearly indicating that Chen Yan should buy Zhang Yonghao's shares through this incident.

But would Zhang Yonghao give up his shares to him so easily?

Chen Yan always felt that he might be overlooking something.

He thought for a while and then asked, "By the way, does he have any money on him? How is he going to pay back?"

Young Master Dong had apparently figured out everything by this afternoon.

He said, "Of course he has no money."

"So, the people at Gambling City are having him make phone calls to borrow money."

"And then they said if Zhang Yonghao can't borrow the money, he should use his Headline Technology shares to repay the debt or mortgage the shares to get money to pay off the debt."

Hearing Young Master Dong's words, Chen Yan suddenly saw the light and understood everything. He asked, "So, if he repays with shares, do they use the market price?"

Young Master Dong sneered, "How could they?"

He told Chen Yan, "Brother Chen, whether it's a mortgage or a pawn, they always downgrade the price. It's good enough if they can give one-third of the actual price."

Hearing Young Master Dong's explanation, Chen Yan finally understood all the nuances.

He smiled and then said to Young Master Dong, "Okay, I got it. Xiao Dong, General Manager."

"Thank you for bringing me this good news."

Young Master Dong smiled and said, "It's nothing, Brother Chen. I guessed you'd be interested in this news, so I came over late at night to chat with you."

"Let's leave it here. You should rest early. I'll head back and get busy."

Chen Yan didn't try to keep him but nodded and personally saw Young Master Dong out.

When they reached the door, Chen Yan suddenly remembered something and then asked, "By the way, Xiao Dong, General Manager. There's something I'm curious about."

Hearing Chen Yan's words, Young Master Dong, who had already reached the door, stopped and turned around curiously, waiting for Chen Yan's question.

Chen Yan said, "You said... is it really like what Zhang Yonghao claimed, a scam?"

Young Master Dong hesitated for a moment. Then he smiled ambiguously and said, "Brother Chen, on the second floor of the VIP room, Gambling City does not participate in the gambling, they just provide the venue."

"The gamblers are all guests."

"It all depends on the hands you're dealt."

"So, I don't know..."

Hearing Young Master Dong's words, Chen Yan roughly understood his intention.

He nodded and then saw Young Master Dong off.

After sending Young Master Dong away, Chen Yan returned to the study, took out his phone, opened WeChat, searched, and found Zhang Yonghao's WeChat.

He opened Zhang Yonghao's WeChat and sent a message, "President Zhang, long time no contact."

Chen Yan initially thought about catching up with Zhang Yonghao before starting to discuss a loan.

However, as soon as his message was sent out, he received a red exclamation mark, "The message has been sent but was rejected by the recipient."

Chen Yan: ...

Is it really this real?

When did this guy block me?

Chen Yan grumbled to himself, thought for a while, and then opened his alternate WeChat account.

He pushed Zhang Yonghao's business card forward and added him using his alternate account.

To avoid being blocked by Zhang Yonghao again, Chen Yan didn't reveal his identity but wrote, "Can provide large collateral loans."

Zhang Yonghao must be really in need of money. Chen Yan's friend request was accepted within five minutes.

Chen Yan didn't delay and directly made a WeChat voice call.

This time, the call rang for a full ten seconds before it was answered.

Obviously, Zhang Yonghao hesitated about the identity behind this WeChat.

But, in the end, he decided to give it a try...

When the call connected, Chen Yan took the initiative to speak, "President Zhang, long time no see. I heard you've encountered some difficulties lately."

As soon as Chen Yan spoke, there was silence on the other side.

Zhang Yonghao remained silent for a good ten seconds before he slowly spoke.

His voice was hoarse, low, with a trace of sullenness, and palpable disdain, "Chen Yan. Didn't expect it to be you."

Chen Yan was unfazed by Zhang Yonghao's resentment.

Even finding Zhang Yonghao's mood to be unpleasant, he didn't bother continuing the small talk.

He straightforwardly said, "I heard you owe a lot of money. I can help you."

"Market price, three billion, for 1% of your Headline shares."

"Think about it. This should be the best price you can get."

Hearing Chen Yan mention the shares of Headline Technology, Zhang Yonghao flew into a rage.

He yelled, "You're aiming at my shares again!"

"I'm telling you! Don't dream!"

"I, Zhang Yonghao, would rather jump off this building, starve to death, thirst to death, or be beaten to death! I absolutely will not sell the shares to you!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone with a "snap".

Looking at the already disconnected voice call, Chen Yan just smiled.

Then he clicked on Zhang Yonghao's avatar to check.

As he expected: he was blocked again...

Because the Moments, which had been shown before, now displayed only a line...

Chen Yan nonchalantly shrugged and tossed his phone aside.

Since he had used the Strong Buy Card, Chen Yan believed that Zhang Yonghao would definitely sell the shares to him.

So, he just needed to wait patiently.

He knew Zhang Yonghao would regret it...

...

Meanwhile, in his room at the Waldorf Hotel in Ao City, Zhang Yonghao stood in front of the bathroom mirror.

He looked at his haggard face in the mirror, his bloodshot eyes, his disheveled hair, and eyes full of hatred.

He genuinely hadn't expected Chen Yan to actually call him!

In his eyes, Chen Yan was truly a shark, drawn by the scent of blood!

But just as he had said earlier, he would absolutely not sell even a bit of his shares to Chen Yan!

After all, no matter how downtrodden, he hadn't fallen to the level of handing benefits to his enemy!

He was still a billionaire after all!

Although Gambling City kept urging him to pay back the money, they still treated him with great respect. They even booked a five-star hotel for him and treated him with good food and drink.

While he was thinking this, a rough voice shouted from outside the door, "Are you done yet?! What, are you drinking pee in the toilet?! Why aren't you out yet!"

Zhang Yonghao's face changed several times and then became pleading.

He quickly washed his face, wiped it, and left the bathroom.

Standing at the door of the restroom was a man almost two meters tall, resembling a small mountain.

Seeing Zhang Yonghao emerge, the giant man disdainfully glanced at him and said, "Hurry up! Can't you see my Brother Cao has been waiting for you all this time!"

Glancing at the giant man at the door and the twin beds inside the room, Zhang Yonghao sighed softly...

Indeed, Gambling City let him stay in a five-star hotel, but the only downside was... it was a double room, and he had to live with this man who was constantly watching over him...

...

At that moment, in the room, besides Zhang Yonghao and the giant man, there was another man dressed in a suit, wearing makeup, with slick hair.

Seeing the giant man speaking rudely to Zhang Yonghao, the man hurriedly scolded with a smile, "How can you speak to our President Zhang like that? You have no manners at all."

After saying this, he smiled at Zhang Yonghao, "President Zhang, don't mind this crude man. It's my fault for not disciplining him well."

Although he said this, his face showed no real regret, as if he was just saying something to fill the air.

Zhang Yonghao was obviously familiar with this man.

Seeing him, he swallowed and then walked over, saying, "It's okay, Brother Cao. I was indeed in the bathroom too long."

The powdered-face man shook his head, "It's alright. So, have you borrowed the money?"

Hearing the man's words, Zhang Yonghao's expression darkened.

In this era, money was not easy to borrow.

Many who had good relations simply stopped talking when they heard Zhang Yonghao needed money.

And among those few who still talked, everyone stepped back upon hearing that Zhang Yonghao needed to borrow two billion.

That was too much money, even making calls to the bank complicated the issue.

They required a lot of collateral and even then, the process took a long time.

After all, it was more than two billion, not just two thousand.

And the only one readily willing to lend money was his sworn enemy.

Just thinking about it made Zhang Yonghao furious.

So, he remained silent for a while and then shook his head, "Didn't manage to."

Hearing Zhang Yonghao's words, the smile on that man's face suddenly disappeared.

He looked at Zhang Yonghao and sarcastically said, "President Zhang, then this is going to be difficult... We are a legitimate company, not a charity organization."

Hearing the man's words, Zhang Yonghao took a deep breath and said, "I know. Can I use the shares to settle the debt? I have shares in Headline Technology, they are very valuable, I can use them to repay you."

"Headline Technology shares..." Hearing Zhang Yonghao's words, that man looked at him meaningfully and said, "That can be done."

"Just wait a moment. I'll call the company to see how they value it."

With that, he feigned casualness with a wave to the giant man, indicating him to keep an eye on Zhang Yonghao, then he got up and left the room to make a call.

Zhang Yonghao confidently sat in the chair, patiently waiting for Brother Cao to return.

Headline Technology was developing well; although it had experienced some turbulence due to his departure, it was gradually stabilizing. So, Zhang Yonghao felt that anyone would be eager for his shares.

Ten minutes later, Brother Cao returned to the room.

He nodded at Zhang Yonghao and said, "President Zhang~ the company agreed that you can use your shares to settle the account."

Zhang Yonghao's heart lifted.

But then, he heard Brother Cao continue, "As for the price, let's calculate it as 1% of the shares for one billion in loans."

"You borrowed two billion from us, we'll wipe out the interest for these few days, and take 2% of the shares."

Hearing Brother Cao's words, Zhang Yonghao abruptly stood up and shouted, "What kind of joke is this! 1%, one billion!?! Why don't you just rob me?"

Hearing Zhang Yonghao's words, Brother Cao's expression immediately turned cold.

Seeing Brother Cao's displeasure, the giant man tilted his neck and flexed his pectoral muscles, intensely staring at Zhang Yonghao.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Yonghao... instantly caved.

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