While both sides were holding press conferences, Zhou Tao had already arrived at the Xia family residence.
"Old Xia, still practicing calligraphy?" Zhou Tao walked in with a cheerful smile, acting completely at ease. He picked up a teacup, poured himself a drink, and approached the desk with a smirk.
Xia Mingzhong watched him coldly, setting down his brush even though he hadn't finished his current calligraphy piece. The old man usually waited until he finished before attending to anything, but now he was deviating from his own principle, his gaze filled with ice. He hadn't forgotten the incident at the calligraphy and painting exhibition, nor had he forgotten that Zhou Tao was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. Such a thing could not happen again! To think of ruining his reputation was laughable. However, upon reflection, if his grandson hadn't been present that day, he probably would have been disgraced then and there. The thought of Zhou Tao caused ripples to stir in the old man's calm heart, leaving him unable to find peace.
"What do you want now? Speak," the old man said, sitting back in his chair, hands on his knees, his tone plain yet his aura powerful.
Zhou Tao looked genuinely surprised, as if he had forgotten the previous events, then seemingly recalled them, a smile appearing on his lips. "Old Xia, Old Xia, are you still angry about what happened before? Hahaha, there's no need for that. Besides, what's between us? I'm here today because I'm curious about why you sold all your calligraphy and paintings. You seemed quite short on cash. I don't mean anything by it, but if you need money, just say the word. After all, we've been rivals for so many years, and with your retirement, it's all over."
Xia Mingzhong sneered. "Do you really think it's over? Spit it out. What kind of bad intentions are brewing in your mind? Give me some preparation. After all, someone like you needs to be guarded against. You might make a move against me at any time, and I won't have any preparation." He didn't believe Zhou Tao was just visiting. The Zhou family resided in the north, and this was the south, a distance of about thirty kilometers. Who would travel thirty kilometers just to visit? Was he that idle? If he could make such visits, it would truly be a ghost story.
"I really am just visiting. Why don't you believe me? I'm not lying to you. I'm just genuinely concerned about your state. I know you sold those paintings because you were short of money. Although you betrayed your noble soul, you have entered the secular world after all, and you should be this way. Painters should consider these things carefully. Only by entering the secular world can you create true artworks. I'm different; I'm a very vulgar person. It can't be helped, that's just my nature."
Xia Mingzhong took a sip of tea, gave him a disdainful look, and said indifferently, "If you're here to mock me, then you can leave. Although your mockery is rather vulgar, I still don't want to hear you speak. Someone like you shouldn't be among my friends. So, please leave. The Xia family does not welcome you."
Zhou Tao shrugged helplessly. "I knew nothing could be hidden from you. Fine, since that's the case, then I have nothing more to say. I'm here to deliver an invitation. Tomorrow morning is the 80th anniversary of the Zhou family's establishment. While it's not too long, families are like people. Tomorrow, many dignitaries and high-ranking officials will be attending at the Zhou family's residence. So, I wanted to invite an old friend like you. But I didn't expect my old friend to treat me this way. I'm truly helpless... Forget it. If you come, you're welcome. If you don't, it's your freedom. Consider me as having said nothing." With that, Zhou Tao left without any hesitation.
After Zhou Tao departed, Xia Mingzhong finally stood up and walked to the desk, picking up the red invitation. It was indeed the Zhou family's 80th anniversary. Of course, who cared if it was truly on this day? What they cared about was only that the Zhou family was still established, and that was all. Thus, Xia Mingzhong was now faced with only two options: to attend or not to attend.
"Hmph! I want to see what kind of schemes and tricks the Zhou family is playing!"
...
At the same time, at Baichuan Group, Ye Longlin stood behind Tang Zihan, watching the stock market operations. Honestly, he didn't understand it. All he knew was that red meant an increase and green meant a decrease. As for other things like K-lines, he had no idea, not even knowing what K-lines were for.
"How is it now?" Ye Longlin asked, watching Tang Zihan's fingers fly across the keyboard.
Hearing this, Tang Zihan became displeased. She snorted, "Are you sure the Dragon Pavilion's hacker team has infiltrated their backend? I'm currently locked in combat with the opponent. Their methods are no less than mine. We're in a fierce struggle right now. To put it simply, we've already invested over three billion yuan, and we're mutually driving up each other's stock prices. Although it's a common tactic, this situation is unfavorable for us. Because their stock price is far higher than ours, we spent three billion to buy their stock, but they only spent twenty billion to buy an equivalent amount of stock as mine. We don't have the advantage here."
Tang Zihan also blamed Ye Longlin for setting the price so low back then. The main reason was that Ye Longlin believed they could win through volume. After all, besides them, there were many retail investors, and these retail investors sometimes held the decisive power!
"Haven't they infiltrated successfully yet? I'll make a call to inquire." Ye Longlin walked out to make a phone call for confirmation, while Tang Zihan operated with intense focus. Such operations left all the financial personnel around stunned. They had never seen such a large-scale manipulation of stock prices, nor had they seen such a reckless way of shorting the opponent's stock. "Killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of your own" was perhaps an understatement. But at this point, they had to trap the opponent's funds. Only by trapping their funds could they proceed to the next step of the plan, or rather, compel them to deploy more capital! Tang Zihan had stopped investing further; even with more money, it shouldn't be used this way. The fundamental goal was to trap them!
"Haven't they broken through yet?" Ye Longlin asked, his face grim, inside the office.
Xuanwu quickly replied, "Boss, many hands are already rusty. According to them, the opponent also has six layers of firewalls. They've now broken through to the fifth layer. Almost there, almost there."