My autobiography is definitely not a tragedy!
Chapter 337 - 222: Covert Battle

Chapter 337: Chapter 222: Covert Battle

A typical modern case.

A woman fell for a man and on a dark and stormy night, she made the first move to declare her love, but the man, already committed, amazingly refused her with great determination.

As a result, the woman, out of love turned to hatred, tore her clothes and screamed for help on the spot.

The outcome was that the man lost his job, was imprisoned, and was despised by his friends and family and frowned upon by society.

The girlfriend he adored left him, and after his release, he was left alone and died depressed, his entire life changed by this event...

There’s a Latin legal maxim that says: All laws have loopholes.

In situations where women are disadvantaged, both public opinion and law enforcement institutions tend to be biased, which is meant to protect the rights of the vulnerable, and is not to be criticized.

However, such bias is undoubtedly unfair to the other party and provides opportunities for those with ulterior motives to exploit these loopholes.

Thus, it is said that the law is never absolutely fair.

The so-called fairness is always relative.

In times when investigative techniques were not sophisticated, such false accusations were almost indefensible.

Even in modern society, where investigative techniques are increasingly advanced, one cannot claim to be able to fully recreate the scene, and the prolonged investigations and legal proceedings quickly tarnish the reputation of the so-called "stronger groups."

For public figures, once their reputation is damaged, their every move is scrutinized, and the invisible psychological pressure under such circumstances inevitably strikes a blow to their ambition.

Thus, going against a woman’s will is indeed a serious issue!

Boys must protect themselves when they are away from home; this is no joking matter...

"Hmm?"

When the woman came out of the bathroom, instead of the man she expected, she saw his female secretary, and her smile immediately stiffened on her face.

I just took a bath, how did the person change?

"Where’s Mr. Liu?"

"Oh, Miss Liu, Mr. Liu had to leave earlier due to urgent business and was worried that you might misunderstand, so he asked me to stay and explain."

The female secretary wore a professional smile, unfazed by the woman only wrapped in a towel in front of her.

Gone?!

Surprise on the woman’s face was quickly followed by a flash of anger in her eyes, feeling a surge of nameless rage shooting up sky high.

I have taken my bath, and you tell me he has left first?

That guy... wasn’t he just passionately engaged a moment ago?

I took my clothes off, and he could resist?

But that’s not the point, the point is, he’s gone, so what about my mission tonight?

If he were here right now, she would definitely make him understand what it means to spurn kindness and invite trouble!

Just as her eyes flickered, considering whether to settle for less...

"Miss Liu, before leaving, Mr. Liu also made reservations for dinner with you tomorrow night to express his apologies, hoping you could grace the occasion," the female secretary added.

The woman’s anger quickly subsided, her heart immediately eased.

I knew it!

The fish has bitten the hook, how could it possibly escape?

"Please tell Mr. Liu, I will definitely be there tomorrow night."

"Alright, then I shall take my leave!"

...

"Bang!" The car door was closed.

"Is everything settled?" Brother Dong, sitting in the backseat, turned his head to look at the secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Liu, Miss Liu has agreed to the dinner appointment tomorrow night."

"Hmm..." Brother Dong’s face relaxed slightly.

It seems the situation is temporarily stabilized...

Just having sat in the car, he calmed down and once again carefully analyzed the evening’s developments, his back breaking out in a cold sweat.

This close save was indeed influenced by Meng Lang’s miraculous "accurate prediction."

However, what’s more critical is that this journey across the ocean was never meant to be an easy trip.

The numbness from alcohol had made him momentarily forget he was still in the enemy’s den, surrounded and fraught with danger!

Outsiders might not know, but insiders in the industry could more or less feel that the relationship between Jingdong and Wall Street capital was in a very delicate phase at that moment.

Initially, Jingdong had relied on Wall Street capital for development financing, and aside from Tencent’s later participation, several major shareholders in the company came from Wall Street capital.

However, the stockholding report showed that Linggao Capital, once a major shareholder of Jingdong, had seen its stock market value in Jingdong plummet from about 1.4 billion US Dollars in the first quarter to about 700 million US Dollars.

The holding percentage also slid from 11.32% when Jingdong was listed in 2014 to just 1.47% today, long having exited the ranks of major shareholders.

Jingdong’s market value evaporated by more than 26 billion US Dollars due to the large-scale reduction by its most important strategic shareholders.

This was just the tip of the iceberg visible in the capital market.

As early as six months ago, Wall Street had already begun to short Jingdong, leading to a recent plummet in its market value.

And all this originated from a battle for interests.

Previously, a famous domestic case involved Jack Ma’s Ali being controlled by international capitals such as SoftBank and Redwood. Dissatisfied, Jack Ma set up a new venture and transferred a series of assets, establishing Alipay.

This move irritated the shareholders greatly, but they were powerless.

The experiences of predecessors serve as lessons for successors!

The ambitious Brother Dong naturally did not want to work for others all his life.

As everyone knows, Jingdong is a company listed on the US Nasdaq, with a peak market value of 450 billion US Dollars, employing over a hundred thousand employees, and simultaneously branching into e-commerce, finance, and logistics.

However, contrary to its popularity, finance and logistics contribute more to Jingdong’s wealth than e-commerce does.

In 2013, Brother Dong established Jingdong Financial Group. To ensure the equity was cleanly restructured, Jingdong Financial underwent another round of equity restructuring in 2017.

As for the logistics sector, one of the three main pillars of Jingdong, Brother Dong kept it running as an independent division without establishing a company open to the public.

It took ten years from setting up its logistics in 2007 to formally announcing the establishment of Jingdong Logistics Group in 2017, which reflects deep precautions against Wall Street capital.

The massive reduction in holdings by Wall Street capital was not unrelated to Brother Dong’s series of actions.

And now, with the international situation undergoing sudden and dramatic changes, this conflict of interests between the two parties had suddenly become intertwined with a fierce competition among major countries...

Given the sudden tension in their relationship, Brother Dong’s trip abroad this time was ostensibly to participate in an entrepreneurial advancement program, but in fact, he intended to reach a limited consensus with Wall Street to ease the relationship between the parties.

However, over the past few days, instead of coming to terms on certain key interests, the rifts seemed to widen.

Brother Dong had already sensed that this business war would likely escalate further in the future...

At such a critical juncture, he was still making such a mistake in the enemy’s home ground!

Even if what Meng Lang said was mere alarmism, if he had truly missed a wonderful evening, he should thank the other party for helping him avoid a potential terrible risk.

It wasn’t so much that he was convinced by "superstitions" as he himself had also sensed the looming danger...

"Miss Liu, do I need to reserve a restaurant in advance for tomorrow evening?" the female secretary asked with a teasing smile.

Brother Dong helplessly glared at her.

This dinner seemed destined to be postponed indefinitely...

...

"To witness the drama surrounding such a tycoon from up close, who else could there be?"

Having put down his phone, Meng Lang faintly felt that he had once again stealthily altered the course of history.

Brother Dong was undoubtedly a global tycoon, with Jingdong’s market value even exceeding the GDP of many small countries, making him a leading figure worldwide.

Such an influential tycoon traveling abroad would even have Zhongnanhai bodyguards by his side, and the relevant departments would also closely monitor his surroundings.

For instance, the Soviet Union’s female spy, Yanzi, had seduced and turned quite a few people using her beauty.

In fact, various spy organizations would use the honey trap approach.

For a domestic business giant like Brother Dong, security was always a top priority for the related authorities because any incident could influence domestic economic development.

And how a regular university student could bypass stringent security measures so quickly and precisely hit the vulnerable spot, and how the aftermath of this quickly fermented...

There were many doubts in this incident already.

This must have involved people coordinating to ply him with drinks, people helping to cover up, and people coordinating domestic and international media to steer public opinion...

But the underground warfare of this world was clearly beyond what Meng Lang could currently access.

At least his sentiments at the moment were quite simple and unadorned...

"Thanks to me, it looks like Milk Tea Sister doesn’t need to change her name to Matcha Sister..."