Just that, all these reasons were aboveboard and each had its own reasonable excuse, which made it impossible for outsiders to pick out any faults when looking at these reorganizations alone....

.....

After the meeting, Chen Yan returned to Zhao Xuan's villa.

Yang Rou, Zhao Ying, and Lu Man were all waiting there.

Yang Rou had been called in for a talk as the head of Zhao Group's film and television division, while Lu Man was..... just bored, so she tagged along.

It must be said, celebrities really are a miraculous breed. Perhaps they belong to the balloon species.....

Just a fortnight ago, when Chen Yan saw Lu Man, she had been chubby from overeating during the New Year's celebrations, but now, in just half a month, she had slimmed down to her slender, graceful self again.

This made Chen Yan wonder if the girl had come to Tiandu this time just to show off her successful weight loss.

After his gaze lingered on the slimmed-down figure of Lu Man for a while, Chen Yan's attention shifted to Yang Rou.

"How are things on your end?"

Hearing Chen Yan's question, Yang Rou slowly shook her head, then said, "A lot needs to be changed."

"It can't be done in a short time. We'll have to take it down and pause it first."

"What about your side?"

Chen Yan also frowned and said, "It's the same with me."

"We need to take it down for modifications too. According to their demands, we'll probably need to change blood into a blue liquid and alter the entire grand storyline of the game."

Yang Rou asked, "The storyline?"

Chen Yan hummed in confirmation, "For instance, it's not 'Player Unknown's Battlegrounds,' but rather a simulated acting performance."

"Players don't get injured or bleed when hit. They score points."

"When killed and removed from the game, there can't be any corpses. Instead, they have to wave goodbye to the player who eliminated them."

"In short, everything must promote truth, goodness, and beauty."

Yang Rou, Lu Man: ...

Such demands even made the normally composed Yang Rou curse, "This is really absurd."

"They might as well ban gaming as a form of entertainment."

Hearing Yang Rou's words, Chen Yan chuckled and then said, "Don't talk like that. They might actually be thinking along those lines. They just haven't found it convenient to take action yet."

Despite her wealth of experience in the industry, Yang Rou was encountering such strict restrictions for the first time.

This made her previous experience all but useless. For the moment, she didn't know how to deal with the situation and couldn't help but ask in a clear-cut manner, "Given the current situation, what should we do now?"

Chen Yan had clearly made up his mind on the way back.

So, hearing Yang Rou's question, he answered directly, "We'll make changes."

"We'll change it however they want it changed."

"In times like these, don't go head-to-head with them."

"The more anxious they are, the more effective our approach is."

"Time is on our side."

"It's just a loss of some money. That's not an issue."

Hearing Chen Yan's words, Lu Man, who was beside him, couldn't help but feel unwilling as she said, "Are we just going to compromise like this? It's so suffocating."

"Plus, it's not just a loss of some money, stopping all the projects will lose a lot, a lot."

Yang Rou looked at her coolly and explained tersely, "Right now, the other party has us by the throats. If we play tough, we'll only give them more openings, and we could end up facing bigger problems."

Lu Man puffed her cheeks, looking annoyed, and asked, "So, is there no other way?"

Seeing the two of them chatting back and forth, Chen Yan coughed to interrupt them.

Then he said to Lu Man and Zhao Ying, "You two go upstairs and play for a while, Sister Rou and I have some things to discuss."

The attitude of sending the kids away immediately made Lu Man, who was just getting into the conversation, widen her eyes.

However, the lovable thing about Lu Man was that despite her "proud yet coy" nature, she knew when to be petulant and when not to be.

So, understanding that it wasn't time for folly, she simply bared her little canine teeth at Chen Yan, then took the curious Zhao Ying by the hand and went up to the second floor of the villa, leaving space for Chen Yan and Yang Rou.

After the two young ladies had left, Chen Yan walked over to the sofa, then gently wrapped an arm around Yang Rou's voluptuous waist and asked softly, "Feeling a lot of pressure?"

Perhaps because she was at Zhao Ying's house, especially since the other two had been in front of her just before, Yang Rou reflexively tried to dodge away.

But Chen was domineering, pulling her forcefully into his embrace so that she could not move.

Faced with Chen Yan's assertiveness, Yang Rou struggled for a moment, but seeing that he was serious, she stopped resisting.

Possibly deciding to let the chips fall where they may, she even leaned into Chen Yan's shoulder, and then spoke softly, "Yeah. With a matter this big, how could there not be pressure."

Hearing Yang Rou's words, Chen Yan whispered, "What if I tell you, you don't need to feel pressured, we definitely won't lose?"

Hearing Chen Yan's reassurance, Yang Rou let out a faint chuckle with her distinctively cool voice and said, "Don't comfort me like this. The plan was made by both of us, I'm as aware of how dire the situation is as you are."

"We really overestimated some people's bottom lines; they can truly go so far as to help Zhao Qingtian unconditionally for their own interests."

"When they go down under, do they really have the face to meet those great figures of the past?"

"Doesn't their conscience fear being condemned?"

Hearing Yang Rou's words, Chen Yan laughed and stroked her hair, then said, "Where do they still have any conscience left?"

"But, we don't need to wait for any conscience to condemn them."

"Since no one can punish them, let us be the ones to do it."

Hearing Chen Yan's words, the astute Yang Rou straightened up and looked at him, then asked, "Chen Yan, do you have some kind of plan?"

"I feel like you're in a different state than before."

Chen Yan smiled, stood up, and said, "....I've just come to understand some things."

"Actually, I've always had a trump card, it's just that I didn't want to use it."

"But now that the other side has disregarded the rules and lacks any bottom line, I guess I'll have to use that trump card.

Hearing Chen Yan's words, Yang Rou couldn't help but ask, "What trump card?"

A mysterious smile appeared on Chen Yan's face as he said, "It's a secret."

Afterward, Chen Yan posed a question to Yang Rou, "I remember you telling me that, through your investigations over the years, Zhao Qingtian and those around him have actually been involved in significant financial dealings?"

Yang Rou nodded.

Hearing Chen Yan suddenly discuss serious matters, Yang Rou also set aside her curiosity for the moment.

She spoke in her distinctively cool tone, "Yes."

"A big part of the reason Zhao Qingtian has developed so quickly is because of his connections with some unspeakable people."

"And those people couldn't possibly be won over by him for nothing. So, in fact, over the past twenty years, there have been a lot of economic dealings between them behind the scenes."

"Only, because the domestic investigations were so strict, Zhao Qingtian kept his money overseas."

"Because the Zhao Group has many operations abroad, and with those operations as a cover, the money has been laundered back and forth within them, making it impossible to trace back to the source."

At this point, the astute Yang Rou suddenly guessed Chen Yan's thoughts. She couldn't help but look towards him sharply, asking, "Chen Yan, you're not thinking of targeting their money, are you?"

Chen Yan noncommittally said, "Yes and no."

Yang Rou's brows deeply furrowed.

Then, after pondering for a moment with her head lowered, she spoke with a cold voice, "That money is their lifeline. If you touch it, they will..."

Chen Yan continued, "They won't just let it go?"

Chen Yan smiled, "Just like they would let things go now."

"Moreover... even if they wanted to make peace," Chen Yan paused and declared decisively, "I wouldn't agree to it."

Listening to Chen Yan's words, Yang Rou shook her head, her face expressionless as she continued her own line of thought, "If that money is lost, they would truly be finished."

Chen Yan: ???

This idea of pulling out the cornerstone obviously struck a chord with Yang Rou. She, so calm usually, didn't notice Chen Yan's puzzled expression but, with eyes shining, analyzed, "Because of their trust in Zhao Qingtian, and the high returns he promised to maintain their allegiance, these people have entrusted all the money they have made over the years, whether through legitimate or illegitimate means, to Zhao Qingtian to hold and launder for them."

"Their means of escape, the lavish lifestyles of their family and children abroad, even all of their expenses, all come from this money."

"If this money is lost, they definitely won't just swallow the loss silently."

"Instead, they will undoubtedly go causing trouble for Zhao Qingtian, the custodian."

"Zhao Qingtian is wealthy, but his money is also tied up in those funds. If that money is lost, his own money would be gone too. He wouldn't be able to compensate."

"With such a huge amount of money at stake, they will inevitably turn on each other, squabbling and blaming. There's no way they could collaborate like they do now."

"When that time comes, we can pick them off one by one. Send them to jail."

"Then... all the money they've embezzled over these past few years would be gone, as well as them ending up in prison. When they come out, without power or money, they will have nothing."

"That would be the true definition of pulling out the cornerstone!"

Watching Yang Rou's mouth go 'babble babble babble' nonstop, Chen Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

No wonder Zhao Ying said that Yang Rou has a volcano hidden inside her.

Really though.

Look how calm she usually is, how little she speaks.

But now, presented with a topic that interests and excites her, she spoke for four or five minutes straight without giving Chen Yan a chance to get a word in.

Chen Yan's chance to look impressive was completely taken by Yang Rou, leaving him just nodding continuously.

Perhaps sensing her own lapse in composure, after noticing Chen Yan's strange look, Yang Rou's face turned slightly red in embarrassment. Then she reached for her cup and took a sip of water, her expression returning to its usual coolness.

Once calmed down, Yang Rou also brought up a few concerns with the plan, saying, "The plan is good. But there are two fatal problems."

Chen Yan hummed in acknowledgment and then said, "We don't know where exactly Zhao Qingtian has hidden this money in the funds."

Yang Rou nodded, "Right. I've been investigating for a long time, but because there's so much money the Zhao Group has overseas, we simply can't find where it's hidden."

"And even if... we knew where the money was, would it be difficult for us to completely deplete it through operations?"

"That's a huge sum of ill-gotten wealth worth billions."

"Besides, there is definitely leverage added to such capital operations. How much money would it take to evaporate all of it?"

Chen Yan smiled and said, "Where that money is hidden, we indeed need to search carefully."

"But once it's found, when it comes to having more money, I've never been afraid of anyone."

Yang Rou: ??

Seeing Chen Yan's confident demeanor, Yang Rou always felt like Chen Yan harbored some secret.

Having more money than anyone else, fear of no one?

Why was he so confident?

Could this be the trump card he mentioned?

Did he actually have several mountains of gold at home?

Yang Rou felt that, even if there were mountains of gold at home, it still wouldn't account for such confidence...

...

After the conversation with Yang Rou, Chen Yan asked her to continue investigating the hiding place of the money, while he himself went upstairs to find his two Virtual Girlfriends.

As Chen Yan's trump cards, they were now like Bodhisattvas to him, to be treated with care.

So, despite the situation being very dire, Chen Yan still took the two women out for some crazy shopping that evening.

The only problem was that Lu Man was too well-known, which necessitated covering up her identity during the entire venture. This made Lu Man somewhat unhappy, constantly mumbling in Chen Yan's ear that she would have put off her diet for another half month if she had known. This left Chen Yan conflicted between laughter and tears.

After dinner, they packed up a meal for Yang Rou, bought a few cream puffs for dessert, and Chen Yan took the two women back home.

Back at home, Yang Rou was still working.

Chen Yan let the two girls have fun, then sat with Yang Rou for another meal.

Throughout the meal, Yang Rou seemed distracted, her focus was all on the investigation.

But how could she possibly have results so soon on a matter she's been unable to solve for many years?

So, Chen Yan could only comfort her while encouraging her to eat.

After the meal, when it came time to sleep, they encountered a problem.

Chen Yan and Zhao Ying had been sleeping well together.

But now, suddenly with two more women in the house, it wasn't easy to arrange.

Yang Rou didn't mind, but Zhao Ying and Lu Man were at an impasse.

Zhao Ying wanted to continue sleeping with Chen Yan, and so did Lu Man.

Chen Yan thought about suggesting they all sleep together, but before he could offer it up, Lu Man, who had guessed his ulterior motive, kicked him in the shin.

So, the situation stalled there.

Unable to reach an agreement, the two girlfriends sat sulkily on the couch, eating their cream puffs. One glowered at Chen Yan, the other looked at him with innocent eyes.

After sitting like this for a while, perhaps feeling that a deadlock was useless, Lu Man glanced at Zhao Ying and then took the initiative to back down, "Alright, you can have Chen Yan. You two rest together."

Upon hearing Lu Man's words, Zhao Ying felt triumphant and was visibly overjoyed.

But just at that moment, Lu Man casually walked up to Chen Yan, then licked the white cream puff frosting around her mouth, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, "However, it's such a pity. I was looking forward to eating cream puffs tonight, to being shot with cream puffs in the middle of the night..."

Chen Yan: ???

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