Chen Cheng quickly finished reading the quality inspection report for the Zhenyan Building and memorized the entire report just in case.

He set down the report, took a sip of tea, and pulled out his phone to check Jingyan's stock price again.

Just as Chen Cheng expected, it had been steadily declining for a long time.

People would certainly buy into the model of selling completed homes, but the capital market would not.

A project takes at least three to six years from land acquisition, design, and construction to the completion of sales.

The investment return cycle is too long. Some high-turnover projects nowadays can recover their investment in just a year or a year and a half.

It would be fine if they had used this completed home sales model from the start.

The output of one project would fund the input of another.

The snowball would just roll a bit slower.

But transitioning from high turnover to this direction would be exceptionally painful.

First, they would need to clear their debts and lower the overall cost of capital.

Huge debts would mean that for a long time, the people at Jingyan would wake up every day facing the payment deadlines of banking syndicates.

Moreover, coupled with project downsizing, the capital chain could easily collapse if they weren't careful.

If Ye Jinyan were only reducing debt or only transitioning to completed home sales, it would be fine.

But doing both at once was like a desperate man turning to any doctor available; he was making a reckless move.

He then thought about how, in the original plot, Ye Jinyan left Jingyan for a woman.

This ridiculous move further confirmed Chen Cheng's current suspicion.

Ye Jinyan was pulling a "Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell" maneuver!

A mischievous smile played on Chen Cheng's lips. Who would be the unlucky sucker to take over the mess?

Chen Cheng's gaze immediately landed on the second-largest shareholder in Jingyan's shareholder list: the Wu Family of Hong Kong Island.

The Wu Family held an 18% stake in Jingyan Group, second only to Ye Jinyan's 20.01%.

The Wu Family only needed one more acquisition announcement to surpass Ye Jinyan and become the largest shareholder of Jingyan Group.

But how was Ye Jinyan going to lure the Wu Family into the trap?

It wasn't easy to offload real estate assets at this time.

At this level of business, no one was a fool.

For a moment, Chen Cheng really couldn't figure this out.

While Chen Cheng's mind was wandering, Zou Yu's pleasant voice rang in his ear.

"Ye Jinyan invited you to a salon tonight. He said some friends from the business world are getting together to taste wine and chat."

"Hmm?" Chen Cheng was startled for a moment, then nodded. "Sure, let's go."

"Okay, I'll reply to them," Zou Yu responded with a smile. She suddenly thought of Xiao Ye. "Are you taking Xiao Ye with you?"

"Hmm..." Chen Cheng pondered for a second and shook his head. "No need. People in the circle have probably heard the news about her returning to her roots."

"If she goes, she'll inevitably have to deal with those boring people."

"She doesn't like it, and there's no need."

"I'll go by myself."

"Alright," Zou Yu nodded. "I'll reply to Fan Jingang."

Chen Cheng waved his hand, signaling her to go about her business.

He continued drinking his tea.

He watched the K-line on the big screen while checking his phone.

While Chen Cheng was replying to Xu Qin's message, Wang Manni also sent a text.

[Are you free tonight? I miss you.]

Chen Cheng thought about it and replied to her.

It had indeed been a while since he last saw her.

[Let's do noon. I have other plans for tonight.]

Wang Manni replied quickly, [Then should I book a hotel near our shop?]

Seeing this message, the corners of Chen Cheng's mouth curled up slightly.

She really did miss him. Just a moment ago, Chen Cheng thought she missed his money.

It seemed he had misunderstood her.

[Okay, I'll come over at noon.]

Switching the chat page, Chen Cheng made a video call to Xu Qin.

A few seconds later, Xu Qin answered the call.

Chen Cheng smiled slightly. "Just finished showering?"

Xu Qin was wearing a white home T-shirt with a blue headband on her head.

It was obvious she had just showered.

[Yan Zu, insert image]

With a bright smile on her face, Xu Qin nodded. "Mm-hmm~"

Chen Cheng: "If I'd known, I would've called earlier."

Xu Qin's face turned red, and she chided him playfully, "Ah~ You're so bad."

As she spoke, she mischievously pulled her collar and tucked the camera inside.

Chen Cheng's eyes widened instantly. He admired the view intently for a few seconds. After Xu Qin moved the phone away, he spoke sheepishly:

"Was I wrong?"

Xu Qin rolled her eyes at him and ignored him.

She blinked as she looked at the background behind Chen Cheng in the video and asked softly:

"Where are you?"

"I'm in the office," Chen Cheng said, flipping the camera. "Let me show you around my office."

"The tea station, the reception area, the office area, a small meeting room, and behind those are a library, a lounge..."

Xu Qin curled her lip. "Your office is really big, even bigger than my dad's."

"..."

After some light bickering, Xu Qin cleared her throat.

"Ahem~"

With a very aggrieved expression and a soft, delicate voice, she said, "Chen Cheng, I miss you~"

A doting smile appeared on Chen Cheng's face. "I miss you too~"

"Then when are you coming to see me?" Xu Qin pouted, looking very pitiful.

"Hmm..." Chen Cheng pondered, quickly going over his schedule in his mind. "How about the New Year? I'll come to accompany you during the New Year."

"Really?" Xu Qin's eyes lit up instantly, filled with surprise.

Chen Cheng chuckled. "Why would I lie to you? We haven't seen each other for over half a year. If I don't come, what if my girlfriend runs away with someone else?"

With a smile on her lips, Xu Qin gave Chen Cheng a charmingly resentful look. "You're the one who ran away with someone."

Chen Cheng was stunned for a moment. My situation isn't as simple as just running away with someone.

Seeing Xu Qin enter the kitchen, he changed the subject.

"You haven't had dinner yet, have you?"

Xu Qin placed her phone on the kitchen island and turned up the volume. "I had a sandwich around six. I'm a bit hungry now, so I want to cook some porridge."

"Porridge? White porridge?" Chen Cheng was taken aback.

"Yes, white porridge," Xu Qin nodded. "This is the only thing I know how to cook. You taught me last time."

"..."

Chen Cheng's face was covered in black lines. The nickname "White Porridge Sister" really wasn't for nothing.

"Hmm..." Chen Cheng pondered for two seconds. "I'll write a simple recipe for you. You should learn how to cook.

"If you keep eating irregularly like this, you'll ruin your stomach, and that would be trouble."

Xu Qin's eyes lit up. "Then... how about you teach me how to cook?"

"Sure," Chen Cheng agreed without hesitation. "From now on... every time we video call, I'll teach you a dish."

"You're a medical student, so your knife skills should be quite good. Maybe you'll learn quickly."

With a smile on her lips and a look of eagerness, Xu Qin nodded repeatedly.

"Okay!"

"..."

They chatted for nearly an hour. When Zou Yu's voice reminding Chen Cheng that it was lunchtime came through the phone, Xu Qin reluctantly urged Chen Cheng to hang up.

Chen Cheng put down his phone and instructed Zou Yu, "Have Ming Zhen prepare some domestic ingredients for me. They need to be easy to preserve and able to pass through customs."

"Also, have the flight crew confirm if it's feasible for them to not disembark—just fly to the airport, unload the goods, and fly straight back."

"If it's possible, have the crew make a trip."

Listening to his somewhat ridiculous arrangement, the corner of Zou Yu's mouth twitched. "You're having the flight crew make a trip just to send some food to your little girlfriend?"

Chen Cheng reached out and tapped her head. "What do you mean 'just' some food?"

"This is called a surprise!"

"Hmph!" Zou Yu gave him an annoyed look. "Got it."

Having the flight crew make a trip would cost over a hundred thousand US dollars.

Just to send some food...

Tsk tsk~