At the same time, inside the private room.
Jiang Lai walked out from behind the folding screen and encouragingly patted Ya’s shoulder: “Well done.”
“Master is satisfied, so I’m relieved.” Ya grinned ingratiatingly. “But Master, what did you mean by what you said later?”
That part hadn’t been in their prior plan.
“Literally what I said.”
Jiang Lai’s eyes were calm and confident.
“The Gu family will face a major calamity later, and only I can resolve it — it just depends on their attitude.”
After sending **Ya away, Jiang Lai returned to Minlai Apartment.
She curled up on the sofa watching TV, her phone casually placed beside her. Suddenly, it began ringing repeatedly.
Jiang Lai lazily tapped “answer.” Gu Xingyun’s restrained, angry voice came through the line.
“Let’s talk about the project again.”
Jiang Lai chuckled lightly. “Talk about what? Is President Gu finally willing to meet my conditions?”
There was a long silence before he replied, “Yes.”
The company’s cash flow was on the brink of collapse. If they didn’t secure a follow-up project soon, the situation would spiral completely out of his control.
He no longer dared to bet that Jiang Lai would simply hand over the project for free.
Gu Xingyun tried to negotiate: “I’ll discuss things properly with Qianhe. Can you bring the project to the company first?”
“That can’t be rushed.” Jiang Lai remained relaxed. “Shares in one hand, project in the other. When President Gu has settled things, contact me — I’ll be ready anytime.”
She hung up immediately after speaking.
On the other side, Gu Xingyun had no time to be angry. He immediately drove back from the company to Maple Lotus Villa.
Gu Shaochen was sitting on the sofa reading a medical journal. Hearing the noise, he looked up.
“Big brother?”
Recently Gu Xingyun had been exhausted over the medical equipment project, often returning near midnight.
“Why are you back so early today? Has there been progress with the project?”
“Where’s Qianhe?” Gu Xingyun didn’t answer directly. “I need to talk to her.”
Gu Shaochen pointed upstairs. “She had a business event today and is resting now — probably asleep.”
Gu Xingyun nodded and instructed a maid to wake her.
“Big brother, what’s so urgent?” Gu Shaochen asked seriously.
Gu Xingyun sat down opposite him, pressed his lips together, then spoke.
“The company’s cash flow is about to break. We need the Zhuang family’s project to keep operations running.”
“The project is currently in Pei Jingchuan’s hands, and he listens to Jiang Lai. She wants five percent of the company’s shares.”
Hearing this, Gu Shaochen felt a shock in his heart.
He worked in a hospital, but he understood business well enough.
If five percent of shares could save the company from disaster, that was actually a bargain.
“So… are you planning to transfer Qianhe’s shares to Pei Jingchuan?” he asked.
“To Jiang Lai,” Gu Xingyun said in a low voice.
“Pei Jingchuan said the decision power over the project is in her hands.”
Gu Shaochen fell silent for a moment.
“How are you going to explain this to Qianhe? She already feels wronged everywhere because of Jiang Lai, and now you’re asking her to give up her shares…”
Qianhe already lacked a sense of security in the Gu family.
Although this was the only solution, he still felt uneasy.
“I’ll try to get Jiang Lai to change the condition,” Gu Shaochen said reluctantly. “Qianhe has already done enough for the Gu family.”
Gu Xingyun rubbed his temples in frustration. “She won’t back down. Don’t waste your effort.”
“Qianhe has always put the bigger picture first. If we explain it clearly, she won’t object,” Gu Shaochen said, trying to convince himself.
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of a glass shattering came from upstairs.
Both men looked up.
Gu Qianhe stood at the top of the stairs, eyes red and brimming with tears.
Gu Xingyun immediately stood up. “Qianhe, your second brother and I were just discussing—”
A flash of guilt crossed his face.
Gu Qianhe crouched down sobbing and began picking up the glass shards.
Gu Shaochen hurried upstairs, pulled her up gently, and held her hands to check for injuries.
“Leave this to the servants — don’t hurt yourself.”
After seeing her fingers were intact, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Second brother…” Gu Qianhe leaned weakly against him. “If I don’t have shares anymore, what will I do in this family?”
“I’m not the Gu family’s real daughter. The only reason people didn’t look down on me was because I had a little bit of shares. If I give them to my sister, how will I live in South City?”
Gu Shaochen felt torn.
The upper circles in South City valued bloodline above all else.
Since Jiang Lai returned, Gu Qianhe had been subtly excluded many times, though she rarely complained.
Most of what he knew came from her assistant.
She continued crying softly.
“I’ll think of a way to help with the company’s cash flow, okay? I can sell all my bags and luxury items, and take out all the money I earned from filming… we can definitely get through this.”
Hearing this, Gu Xingyun felt both heartbroken and helpless.
Gu Qianhe’s luxury goods totaled only a few tens of millions, and even with her acting income, it might barely reach a little over 100 million.
But the Gu Group needed more than one billion to fill the gap — her contribution would be a drop in the bucket.
“Qianhe, company matters aren’t as simple as you think,” Gu Xingyun said gently as he led her into her room.
“The company needs at least over a billion to survive. There’s no way to gather that much cash in such a short time. Just hand over the shares first — your big brother and second brother will compensate you properly later.”
Gu Qianhe hesitated. “But I…”
If she were giving shares back to the Gu family, she might accept it.
But now she had to give them to Jiang Lai.
She had worked so hard to replace Jiang Lai as the Gu family’s precious daughter — everything she had taken from her now had to be returned piece by piece.
She couldn’t accept it.
“I can’t…”
“This matter is not up for discussion.” Gu Xingyun said firmly, then asked his assistant Zhao Xiaodong to bring the share transfer agreement.
Fifteen minutes later, the document was in front of Gu Qianhe.
“Sign it,” Gu Xingyun handed her a pen.
Gu Qianhe stared at the paper, meeting the expectant gazes of her two brothers — her pen hovered in the air, unable to fall.