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Chapter 12 - 12 The frozen battlefield and the silent smoke of gunpowder

"Mrs. Gu, how does the medicine bottle taste? Do you want to see the truth of GH-0721 more clearly? - Blackstone"

The cold text on the mobile phone screen licked Lin Wei's nerves like the tongue of a venomous snake. The shadow of Blackstone not only shrouded the Gu Empire, but also accurately projected on the bloody wound between her and Gu Heng that had just been torn open. They know! They know everything! They may even... be enjoying the pain of the prey struggling in the trap.

Lin Wei closed her eyes hard and locked the screen of her mobile phone, as if this could isolate the suffocating peeping. She took a deep breath, forced down the storm in her heart, and refocused her eyes on the huge real-time stock price chart in the conference room. The curve representing the stock price of Gu Group, like a dying electrocardiogram, had fallen below the 5% warning line within less than half an hour after the opening, with abnormally enlarged trading volume and surging selling.

"Director Lin, the short position is very resolute and the method is sophisticated, which is the style of professional hedge funds." Li Zhe's voice is low and solemn. He quickly operated the computer and called up an analysis report. "Preliminary judgment shows that the source of funds comes from several offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands. It is difficult to immediately lock the real trader, but the direction is very obvious - it is Blackstone Capital!"

The atmosphere in the conference room was as depressing as the dead silence before the storm. Fang Wei and other core members were pale, and their eyes were focused on Lin Wei. Gu Heng could not be contacted, and his life and death were uncertain (in their opinion). The highest decision-making power of the entire group was like hanging in the air, and Blackstone's fangs had already bitten hard on the vitals!

Lin Wei stood in front of the main screen, her back straight as a pine. There was no fear on her beautiful face, only a kind of cold determination tempered after being forced into a desperate situation. She knew that at this moment she was not only the director of the "Dawn Plan", but also the temporary and only helmsman of the giant ship of Gu when Gu Heng was absent! She had no way out.

"Li Zhe," her voice was clear and powerful, breaking the suffocating silence, "Immediately activate the group's first-level emergency plan 'Fortress'! Notify all directors outside to hold an emergency video conference within an hour and authorize me to act on behalf of General Manager Gu for some of his decision-making power to deal with malicious short selling!"

"Yes!" Li Zhe was refreshed and executed immediately.

"Fang Wei, the supply chain crisis will continue to be implemented according to my previous instructions. The order for the North American 'Orphan Workshop' must be won, and the price cap will be increased by another 10%! This is the lifeline of the 'Dawn Plan' and one of the bases for our counterattack!"

"Understood! I will personally monitor it!" Fang Wei's eyes lit up with fighting spirit.

"Legal Department, concentrate all efforts to dig deep into the illegal operations in the acquisition of 'Oak Family', find loopholes in Blackstone Capital's anti-monopoly and cross-border M&A procedures, and prepare to launch a counterclaim! At the same time, submit abnormal transaction reports to the exchange and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and apply for investigation!"

"Received!"

"Public Relations Department, launch the highest level of public opinion monitoring and guidance plan! Unify the external caliber: the group's operations are stable, and the recent stock price fluctuations are due to market sentiment and malicious short selling by international capital. The company has sufficient evidence and has taken legal action to resolutely safeguard the interests of investors! All information must be reviewed by me before it is released!"

"Yes!"

Instructions shot out from Lin Wei's mouth like precise arrows, with the force of burning the boats. Her mind was running at high speed, and every decision was based on solid data analysis and keen judgment of the situation. Her calmness and decisiveness, like a magic needle, instantly stabilized the panicked military spirit in the conference room. Everyone acted quickly as if they had found the backbone.

Lin Wei's eyes fell back on the stock price chart again. The selling continued, but the slope of the decline seemed to have slowed down slightly. She knew that this was just a brief respite in the storm. Blackstone would not give up.

She took out her private encrypted tablet and quickly typed in commands, calling up the core financial model of the Gu Group, the shareholder structure, and the huge database she had accumulated when she was doing global supply chain analysis for the "Dawn Plan". She needed to find a leverage point, a lever that could temporarily stabilize the stock price and even fight back against short-selling funds!

Time passed by. An emergency video conference was held in a depressing atmosphere. The directors had obviously also learned about Gu Heng's loss of contact, and voices of doubt and worry came one after another. Lin Wei did not explain Gu Heng's situation, but calmly stated the current crisis, the measures taken, and her subsequent counterattack plan. The data she presented was clear and powerful, and the counterattack strategy was logically rigorous, which shocked most of the directors and made them choose to temporarily trust and support this "Mrs. Gu" who was appointed in a critical situation.

After the meeting, Lin Wei immediately plunged into the intense trading. She, Li Zhe and several core traders formed a temporary command team.

"Use the group's reserve funds to set up invisible buying orders at key support levels. Don't force a hard cap, and focus on consuming the opponent's ammunition!"

"Contact several long-term cornerstone investors, release positive signals, and seek short-term borrowing funds support!"

"Analyze the concentrated closing points of short positions, and prepare to create technical short squeezes at key positions!"

Her instructions were precise and forward-looking, with a kind of coldness and sharpness tempered in the financial battlefield. On the huge screen, the complex K-line chart, capital flow chart, and order book information were like a battlefield sand table, and Lin Wei was the commander dancing on the edge of the knife.

***

"Yunqi Waterfront", restricted area on the third floor.

Dead silence. The broken instruments and scattered documents still maintained the mess after being swept by the storm. Gu Heng curled up in the cold corner, like a sculpture without a soul. The effect of the painkillers had long passed, but the pain of tearing deep in the soul had not diminished at all.

Lin Wei knew.

This thought was like a curse, echoing in his mind over and over again, each time bringing deeper shame and despair. He dared not imagine her eyes at this moment - pity? Fear? Or... disgust?

The internal phone on the table rang for a long time. It was Butler Zhou, carefully reporting the dramatic changes in the group - stock price plummeting, Blackstone shorting, emergency meetings... and Lin Wei was ordered to command the overall situation.

Gu Heng did not move, as if he did not hear it. Blackstone's attack? It was within his expectations, but it was faster and more ruthless than expected. But at this moment, he felt that his heart was dead, completely frozen by the torn secret. He was like a deserter, hiding in this fortress full of painful memories, letting the outside world turn upside down.

He didn't want to face it. He didn't want to face Lin Wei's possible questioning, didn't want to face the emotions that might be revealed in her eyes, and didn't want to face... the truth about his mother and the car accident that he had buried for more than ten years and didn't even want to touch.

He just wanted to shut himself up and let the endless darkness and pain devour him.

However, the next words of Butler Zhou were like a tiny needle that pierced his closed cocoon:

"... Mr. Gu, Director Lin... has been working intensively in the conference room for nearly ten hours without eating or drinking... Her face is not good... Director Fang just sent the documents in and said that she seemed to... have a severe stomachache and kept pressing her hands..."

Gu Heng's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Stomachache? She...

The slightly cool fingertips when she wiped the cold sweat for him, the weak but firm strength when she supported his body, and the unpretentious worry in her clear eyes flashed through his mind uncontrollably...

A sharp sting pierced his frozen heart without warning! It was more unbearable for him than the previous headache! It was a mixture of worry, guilt and a deeper and more unfamiliar pain!

He suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the monitoring screen - that was the screen connecting the small study on the second floor and the temporary headquarters of the "Dawn Plan" (he had never closed the monitoring rights to Lin Wei's work area, even after she moved out of the master bedroom).

On the screen, Lin Wei was standing in front of a huge data screen, pressing her upper abdomen with one hand, her brows furrowed, her face as pale as paper, and fine cold sweat oozing from her forehead. But she still straightened her back, staring at the screen sharply, her lips opening and closing, and quickly giving orders. Her figure seemed so thin under the huge crisis and pressure, but so...tough and unyielding.

Gu Heng's heart seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand, and he was almost unable to breathe in pain!

She knew his secret, knew the tragedy that might be related to her father... She could have resented, escaped, and even added insult to injury!

But she didn't!

She was using up all her strength, even overdrawing her body, to protect his empire! While he, a "coward", was hiding here licking his wounds!

An unprecedented, surging emotion instantly broke through the dam he had built! Was it guilt? Was it heartache? Was it shock? Or... a nearly destructive self-blame and regret?

He stood up suddenly, staggered, but rushed to the desk regardless, grabbed the intercom, his voice hoarse like a broken gong, with an urgency and panic that he himself did not realize:

"Uncle Zhou! Immediately! Send the ginseng soup and... stomach medicine warmed in the small kitchen on the third floor to Lin Wei's command center! Watch her drink it! Immediately!"

After shouting, he seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and fell dejectedly on the chair, his hands deeply inserted into his hair, and his shoulders shook violently and uncontrollably. He looked at the stubborn and pale figure on the screen, watching her endure the pain but still command with confidence, and his heart seemed to be repeatedly fried in a frying pan.

He was wrong.

He was very wrong!

He thought that by pushing her away and isolating her from his pain, he could protect his shaky dignity.

But he forgot that she was never a greenhouse flower that needed his protection.

She was an eagle that could fly against the wind in the storm!

And he, a coward hiding in the fortress, almost let her fall on his own battlefield when she was fighting for him!

A despair deeper than physical pain and an almost humble desire, like a vine, entangled his cold heart.

How should he face her?

Is he worthy?

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