On Chen Cheng's side, he logged out of the game and returned to the dining room to eat.

Chen Guosheng had brought the food over half an hour ago. The Bodyguards had ordered takeout, and since En Hui was out, Chen Cheng just joined them for a bite.

As Chen Cheng was eating a burger, his phone rang.

It was Karen calling.

Chen Cheng frowned slightly; Karen rarely called him directly, usually communicating via message.

"Hello?"

"Boss, I have some bad news."

Chen Cheng smacked his lips. "What happened?"

"Because of the recently submitted 13f report, some media outlets are digging into news about Likely Chen Chengs company."

The 13f report, officially known as SEC Form 13F, is a quarterly report required by the Securities and Exchange Commission for specific institutional investment managers under Section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange Act.

The purpose is to increase market transparency and allow the public to understand the holdings of large institutional investors.

Not all institutions are required to file quarterly reports; only those with assets under management exceeding 100 million USD are eligible.

These reports must be submitted within 45 days of the end of the quarter, so there is a certain time lag.

Clearly, Company Name's aggressive move of holding heavy positions in two targets worth nearly 5 billion USD had caught the attention of those with ulterior motives.

What was even more intriguing was that Company Name's 13f reports from the past few years reflected the same aggressive strategy.

Chen Cheng frowned. "Which one?"

"The Wall Street Journal."

The corner of Chen Cheng's mouth twitched. Old Mur...

"Can't it be pulled?"

Karen nodded. "No, it's already been sent to the printing plant. The digital edition will also go live tomorrow morning along with the physical newspaper."

Chen Cheng thought for a moment. "Do we know the content?"

"I've sent it to your email. It mainly digs into the history of Company Name's rise."

"It hasn't involved any personal content about you for the time being."

Chen Cheng frowned. "For the time being?"

Karen pondered for a moment. "I feel like the other party might have come prepared."

"In some people's eyes, our strategy is still too aggressive."

"But the returns are quite considerable, which easily attracts attention."

Chen Cheng smacked his lips. Damn, no peace and quiet.

Chen Cheng thought for a bit. "Issue a gag order to the company employees. No one is allowed to accept media interviews, let alone leak any information."

"Understood, Boss."

The fund manager of Likely Chen Chengs company was John, and the legal representative of the branch was also John.

Chen Cheng himself was just an 'ordinary employee' of Likely Chen Chengs company; it should be difficult for the outside world to find the connection.

Even if they found it, the impact shouldn't be large.

Major newspapers won't use ambiguous, non-public information to grab attention.

Chen Cheng thought again. "If there are follow-up reports, have Griffin sue this editor."

Karen nodded. "Understood."

On what grounds and how to sue were not things Chen Cheng needed to consider; the lawyers would handle that themselves.

Chen Cheng wasn't worried about the other party using this for hype either.

He would just ignore it.

It was purely a matter of being disgusted, so he wanted to disgust the other side back.

Chen Cheng hung up the phone and looked over the newspaper draft Karen had forwarded.

It was just as he expected: a brief history of Company Name's rapid expansion, speculation about the source of funds, and a deep dive into John's past.

Over the next two days, Chen Cheng and Qiao Jingjing played games together as if they were going to work.

By the weekend, the two were still duo-queuing. Winning more than they lost, they both reached Gold rank.

On Sunday night, Qiao Jingjing logged out of the game and muttered suspiciously, "How does this guy seem so free?"

"He doesn't look like he's in development at all."

"He couldn't have been lying about his profession, could he?"

Qiao Jingjing's eyes darted around as she switched to green bubble and sent a message to her best friend.

[Peipei, are there any classmates in our class who have really impressive jobs now?]

Peipei replied instantly, [Isn't it you?]

Qiao Jingjing's mouth twitched. She shook her head and continued typing, [I mean that group that used to have good grades. What are they doing now?]

[Oh, you mean them.]

[Qiqi is a deputy editor-in-chief at a book company.]

[Xia Qing is at an Investment Bank; she was promoted to VP two years ago.]

Qiao Jingjing didn't see what she wanted. [Any others?]

[Sun Xiu is in the Mayor's Secretary's Office.]

"..."

Qiao Jingjing was speechless for a moment, then decided to ask directly: [What about Chen Cheng?]

[Don't you know? He was a transfer student. He left the group chat after high school graduation.]

[I heard from classmates who went to university in Shanghai that he seemingly went abroad right after graduation.]

[No idea what he's doing now.]

[By the way, why are you suddenly asking about your former desk-mate?]

[Spill it!]

[Smirk.JPG]

An awkward smile touched Qiao Jingjing's lips. [It's nothing.]

Putting down her phone, Qiao Jingjing thought about it and felt she was being a bit unfair.

"Qiao Jingjing, oh Qiao Jingjing, the man has been tirelessly teaching you to play games, and you're actually doubting him."

Qiao Jingjing nodded heavily. "Exactly, Qiao Jingjing, how can you just speculate about people like that?"

She thought again and muttered, "Since I'm curious, why not just ask him out? Anyway, he's right here in Shanghai."

Once this thought sprouted, it began to surge uncontrollably.

"But, how should I ask him out..."

Qiao Jingjing's little brain worked rapidly, and suddenly a smile curved her lips. "Got it."

She picked up her phone and sent a message to Chen Cheng: [Are you free?]

[How about we meet offline tomorrow? It would be easier to communicate, and I could improve faster.]

Chen Cheng's lips curled into a slight smile as he looked at the message on green bubble. This was exactly the message he was waiting for.

[Sure. Should you set the time and place, or should I?]

Qiao Jingjing thought, where should they meet?

A public place wouldn't work, too many people.

A private room at a club? No, it would be awkward for two people to stay in a closed space for too long.

She scratched her head.

Seeing she hadn't replied for a while, Chen Cheng thought for a bit. [I forgot, it might not be convenient for you.]

[Yeah!]

After thinking for a long time, Qiao Jingjing realized that her home was the most convenient place.

[How about you come over to my place?]

[I'll treat you to dinner as a thank you for teaching me the game.]

Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow. He had originally thought about booking a private sports club.

It seemed that wouldn't be necessary now; this buddy was going straight into the inner sanctum.

[Okay.]

[See you tomorrow then?]

[See you tomorrow!]

Chen Cheng put down his phone and pondered his sleep schedule.

After a short while, Andy entered the study wearing sexy pajamas.

Today, he was at Andy's villa in the western suburbs.

Andy basically spent her weekends here accompanying Xiao Ming.

Scum Cheng had also suddenly remembered today and come over in the afternoon.

While Andy was busy working overtime, Chen Cheng had sat in the study playing games all afternoon and evening.

Andy sat down openly on Chen Cheng's lap, raising her fair arms to circle his neck. "Red Star has entered the substantive closing phase."

Chen Cheng nodded, not actually regarding it as very important.

Now that new investors had been introduced, his interest had waned.

Well, due to plot inertia, the Oil King, Little Bao, still appeared.

The Bao Group invested 700 million, taking a 10% stake in the joint venture.

Tan Zongming's Company name invested 5 billion for a 70% stake, and the remaining 20% belonged to Chen Cheng's Zhencheng Hong Kong.

It wasn't that Chen Cheng didn't want to kick the Bao family out, but he really did need a local power. Otherwise, there would be a mountain of trouble with industrial, commercial, tax, and fire departments after the acquisition.

Since he had already won over Andy, he didn't care too much about this matter.

Mainly, there were better projects distracting Chen Cheng's attention.

If it weren't for not wanting to sour things with Tan Zongming, he would have wanted to withdraw his investment.

He was currently short on cash.

"That's pretty good."

Andy frowned slightly. "You don't seem very concerned about Red Star," she said with a hint of coquettishness. "You did invest two hundred million dollars."

The corner of Chen Cheng's mouth turned up. Teacher Bai's coquettishness was truly delightful.

He carried Andy toward the bedroom. "I trust your handling of it."

The two hadn't seen each other for several days, so it was destined to be another night of intense passion.