Chapter 1009: Eight Lifetimes of Bad Luck

Night Tokyo reopened; even though it was on a weekday, the crowd was still considerable. From a little past eleven, guests began arriving one after another, and the restaurant started bustling.

"Wang Laoban, please do me a favor; my friends are all here to show support, so we can't be left without seats," Tao Tao nagged beside Wang Yan.

This was on the roadside of Jinxian Road, right in front of Linghong Boutique, where Wang Yan sat on a chair with his legs crossed, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

He glanced at Tao Tao squatting beside him, shook his head, and said, "Even I, a shareholder, have nowhere to eat; I just ate two big flatbreads made by Old Liu at the intersection two streets over, and now I'm sitting on the roadside. It's already good enough that Seeing Seeing Lingzi arranged seats for your friends here at Linghong's; you should be content. If I go talk to Seeing Seeing Lingzi now, I'll just get scolded."

Wang Yan was certainly not lying; Seeing Seeing Lingzi was busy enough to fly, greeting guests, taking orders, serving dishes, handling payments, and so on. She was earning money, tired yet happy, and had no mind to deal with idlers like them.

Tao Tao, squatting on the ground, let out a long sigh, took a deep drag on a Huazi cigarette, and watched the blue smoke he exhaled dissipate in the wind.

He said, "Before the new store opened, I kept thinking about how wonderful the future Night Tokyo would be. Now that it's open and so busy, it feels somewhat meaningless. It's not like the old Night Tokyo, where everyone laughed and chatted every day, never too busy; those were such happy times."

Teacher Ge nodded: "Tao Tao is right; I think so too."

"Oh my, the new renovation cost so much money, and now you won't even let us make a profit? You two really have no conscience." Seeing the gazes of Teacher Ge and Tao Tao converging on her, Linghong pursed her lips. "Fine, fine, none of us have a conscience. Truly, make one mistake, and you're nailed to the pillar of shame for life."

"Was it just once? It was just that you got caught once," Tao Tao delivered a precise finishing blow, leaving Linghong speechless.

When these few gathered together, apart from mocking each other or exposing shortcomings endlessly, they still insisted on sticking together; this was a true match of temperaments, a genuine affinity of kindred spirits.

Wang Yan smiled and said, "It's only these first few days of the grand opening that are so lively; after all, the current prices are even higher than before, so ordinary people are still reluctant to spend. However, I heard Seeing Seeing Lingzi has contacted travel agencies, and nowadays, tourists are all wealthy people. Even if business isn't like today in the future, it will still be quite good. Wanting it to be half-dead like before is probably impossible."

"Exactly..."

The three of them buzzed away in discussion; shortly after, Tao Tao's friends arrived, and together with others who had no place to sit, they all began eating inside Linghong's shop...

Because of Wang Yan's intervention, the renovation and reopening of Night Tokyo happened earlier than in the original drama, by about three to five days. After all, the renovation team Wang Yan hired was a professional, mature crew; materials were delivered in advance, and soft furnishings were prepared even earlier, significantly shortening the construction period.

Therefore, when Seeing Seeing Lingzi said Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie would come, the lad truly did come. As for Ah Bao, the poor Boss Bao did not receive an invitation from Seeing Seeing Lingzi.

Looking at it now, it seems Wang Yan indeed treated Ah Bao somewhat unfairly. But thinking about it the other way, it was all because Ah Bao himself had no ideas, so Wang Yan reluctantly took on the hardship.

As for Beidi, or rather Xuezhi, who was in Hong Kong nurturing her pregnancy, she had even less fate with Ah Bao. After all, in the original drama, Beidi would die soon; the so-called ten-year promise had already come to naught, leaving Ah Bao with nothing but endless melancholy.

Of course, as the situation develops now, it might not be very friendly to Ah Bao either; he certainly would not want to see Xuezhi, carrying a child, appear before him, and moreover, be very successful. If he carelessly asked about the child's father and learned of Wang Yan's involvement, he would inevitably think of Miss Wang again, and of Seeing Seeing Lingzi; his mood at that time would surely be terrible.

However, Wang Yan believed in Boss Bao's magnanimity; after all, they were all beautiful misunderstandings. Though they were beautiful for him, they were entirely misunderstandings for Boss Bao...

Compared to Boss Bao, President Sha Qiang's feelings were not much better either.

Arriving at Jinxian Road by car, he had just stepped out when he saw Wang Yan, who had set up a table on the roadside, drinking wine and eating dishes. After a brief hesitation, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie still walked over.

"Wang Zong, I'm here to support your business."

"Saying such things is rather meaningless," Wang Yan shook his head and took a sip of beer.

Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie did not mind, instead saying, "I assume Wang Zong has been following the stock market; I wonder what you think of Yingzhou Industrial right now?"

The corners of his mouth curved upward slightly; it was the confident smile of someone talking about stocks.

"Irregular disclosure, illegal operations."

"What is not forbidden by law is permitted; Wang Zong should know this principle better than anyone. In this Yingzhou Industrial affair, Boss Bao also participated; I heard he is contacting a garment company, intending to operate its listing, so I suppose Wang Zong also provided funding, yes?"

Wang Yan nodded frankly: "Not much, thirty million."

"I wonder how many thirty millions Wang Zong has?"

"Even a landlord's family has no surplus grain; thirty million is no small sum anywhere."

The corners of Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's mouth curved upward even more: "Then Wang Zong had better prepare well."

Having said this, he nodded to Wang Yan, turned around, crossed the road, and entered Night Tokyo.

Seeing Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's figure disappear, Linghong finally pursed her lips: "So good at pretending; let me tell you, he wasn't like this when he was an intern in Japan."

"What's strange about that? When people strike it rich, their confidence swells, their sights rise, and they feel superior to others. How many are there like Little Northeast?"

"Ah Bao is actually quite good too; for where I am now, he helped me a lot. Didn't you two also eat Ah Bao's food for three years?" Tao Tao stood up for his good brother.

"I waived the rent."

"I ate free at Seeing Seeing Lingzi's."

Wang Yan shook his head amusingly: "What's there to calculate? It's quite boring."

"Wang Laoban, this Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie seems very confident; does it matter that you told him how much you lent to Ah Bao?"

"Some impact, but not much. The stock price and trading volume are there; even if I don't say it, he can estimate Boss Bao's capital scale. It's just that now he knows a bit more, so next time he looks for trouble, he might prepare more funds. But I don't have only one thirty million; it doesn't matter. Alright, stop researching this; come, come, let's drink, let's all get rich."

The shop was very busy now; their task was simply not to cause trouble or add to the chaos. Of course, they had helped before; now they were just having a meal...

With the reopening of Night Tokyo, Seeing Seeing Lingzi also became busy. The career ambition she had long reflected upon was not worn down by the money Wang Yan gave her; on the contrary, she became even more spirited.

Wang Yan thought it might be that Seeing Seeing Lingzi's competitive spirit had risen. Although strictly speaking, their relationship did not involve romantic feelings, as their interactions grew increasingly deep, some feelings had inevitably developed. Of course, Wang Yan had none; he was simply experiencing different women. But Seeing Seeing Lingzi ultimately could not achieve purely transactional interaction; inevitably, affection grew over time.

Therefore, under such circumstances, knowing that Miss Wang was developing a high-end clothing brand and that Little Little Jiangxi was opening a hotel, she naturally was unwilling to fall behind. Moreover, she was five years older than Wang Yan; although she maintained herself well, it was ultimately impossible for her to communicate emotionally with Wang Yan at fifty just as she did now, while at forty-five, Wang Yan could still seek pleasure with glamorous young women in their twenties.

It was precisely for this reason that Seeing Seeing Lingzi devoted herself even more to her work. Earning money provided her security, demonstrated her value, and increased her weight in Wang Yan's eyes.

But what she did not know was that apart from her biological parents, no one had any weight with Wang Yan, including Wei Lan from the real world, who was carrying his two children...

The fierce struggle over Yingzhou Industrial concluded on the fourth day after Night Tokyo's reopening. The highest price fell all the way from forty-two yuan, and in the end, retail investors took the bag.

This secondary market merger, which set a precedent in China, ultimately resulted in no merger; instead, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie, Ah Bao, and the Heavenly Heavenly Qilin, which had secretly co-invested, made a fortune.

By the fifth day, before those who had made a fortune could properly celebrate, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie and Li Li were taken away by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau for investigation.

At that time, the Economic Crime Investigation Division had not yet separated from the Criminal Investigation Division to operate independently, so economic cases were also handled by Criminal Investigation. However, within Criminal Investigation, there were specialized squads and brigades to handle the growing number of economic crime cases, though the split had not yet occurred.

As for Ah Bao, just as in the original drama, he did not fully trust the information Li Li provided; although he had advanced some funds to buy stock 601, his main capital was still in other stocks. It was only after Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie announced the news that he shifted his main forces to enter the market, thus avoiding being taken away for investigation.

Also on the morning of that day, Wang Yan received a call from Manager Pan of Zhi Zhen Garden, informing him that Li Li had been taken away.

Wang Yan made a straightforward phone call; then, at quitting time in the evening, he drove to the Municipal Public Security Bureau and picked up Li Li, who had been cooperating with the investigation for most of the day.

After chatting for a while with the leader who saw them out, he took Li Li to the car and left.

"How was it?"

"Not great." Li Li shook her head, then smiled. "But seeing that Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie hasn't left yet makes me happy."

Wang Yan shook his head amusingly; strictly speaking, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie had actually helped Li Li.

Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie had intended to trap Ah Bao, which in the drama was called washing out Ah Bao's chips; essentially, by constantly driving the price down and up, leveraging his advantage of holding a large quantity of stocks acquired earlier at low prices, he aimed to deplete Ah Bao's funds and kick him out of the game.

It was just that Li Li told Ah Bao Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's target price, allowing Ah Bao to make money along with them.

Of course, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie was not without precautions against Li Li; after all, Li Li had been quite close to Boss Abao during that period, so he could not feel entirely at ease. It was simply because Boss Abao had not heard news from Li Li and entered the market somewhat late that Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie believed Li Li had kept the secret. Perhaps he also considered some past friendship, and knowing that Li Li needed to repay Mr. A, he therefore revealed the price to Li Li once again.

Afterwards, Li Li sent Seeing Minmin to the counter to buy stocks, thus earning quite a sum of money; this was purely insider trading. After all, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie was a securities dealer, and his revealing information to Li Li was already a violation of regulations.

He asked with a smile, "How much did you make this time?"

"My capital was small; including the share from President Bao, it amounts to roughly five million."

"Quite good; that is also a large sum of money."

"What do you think if I cooperate with President Bao again to establish a clothing company? He has been persuading me recently."

"How would we do it?"

"I have some ideas; let me discuss them further with President Bao. However, do not put in any more money for now; wait until I have finished earning before you contribute." Li Li asked, "Where are we going?"

"Of course, we are going to Zhizhen Garden. You were taken away by the police; things must be in chaos by now. Let us go back to soothe everyone, have a meal, and then return home to rest properly."

"That is true; I indeed need some rest." Li Li cast a coquettish glance at Wang Yan...

The car sped along, quickly arriving at Huanghe Road; Wang Yan and Li Li paid no heed to any rumors, simply getting out of the car together and entering Zhizhen Garden. Wang Yan even smiled and waved greetings to Liu Liu Jingxiu, as well as to Lu Jin Meilin, who was watching the commotion.

Just as in the original drama, the restaurant was filled with incessant noise; there were staff from the restaurant, and also suppliers who had rushed over immediately upon hearing that something had happened to Li Li. For such a large restaurant, there were simply too many kinds of supplies, especially various fresh vegetables and produce, which were mostly settled on a monthly basis, so many people had funds tied up there.

While Li Li was over there soothing the crowd, Wang Yan sat down opposite Boss Abao.

"Why has President Bao come?"

"I am waiting for Li Li to return; I have a cooperation with her and need to settle accounts with her. Additionally, I want to invite her to join in operating the listing of the clothing company. One can never have too much capital, and since she has connections with Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie, she can provide some information."

Boss Abao looked around, leaned closer, and said, "To be honest, Wang Laoban, the information for operating stock 601 this time was provided by Li Li, which is why I have come to share the profits with her."

Seeing Wang Yan nod, he turned and asked, "Did you bail Li Li out?"

"You could say that; it was just an early release, but she still has to cooperate as required. Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie has also been arrested; he will not be out until tomorrow."

"Is everything alright?"

Wang Yan shook his head and smiled: "Everything is fine. A while ago, when Night Tokyo reopened, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie even went there, telling me that whatever the law does not forbid is permissible, and asking me how many thirty millions I had. Having successfully executed this 601 operation, he has become even more arrogant; you will need to step up your efforts."

"Is there really no possibility for cooperation? Would it not be better for everyone to make money together?"

Boss Abao still did not wish to confront him directly; after all, this was his first time operating a listing, and this opportunity was very important, so naturally, he wanted to seize it. Therefore, regarding Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie, he still held an attitude of some compromise.

He believed Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie should be rational, rather than blindly targeting him because of Seeing Lingzi.

"He likes Seeing Lingzi, yet Seeing Lingzi ran off with you; at that time, he had no money while you did, which is a great insult to a man. Try putting yourself in his shoes and feel it, and you will understand clearly. Now Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's status is higher than yours, the funds he controls are greater than what you currently have, and there are past events that remain vivid in his memory; on what basis would he seek harmony and profit with you?

He does not do this for Seeing Lingzi, nor for money, but solely for a breath of pride in his heart. Without this breath of pride supporting him, do you think he would dare to speak to me with such passive-aggressive tones to my face? Do you think he does not understand the ways of the world?"

"What Wang Laoban says is correct; Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie was previously an excellent salesperson, very skilled at raising capital," Li Li walked over and said with a smile.

Unlike the development in the original drama, Li Li had already shown her hand clearly to Boss Abao by this time. Her past identity and so on were not concealed at all. After all, relying on a towering tree, she had no need to pretend to be mysterious.

Boss Abao nodded and smiled: "Then let us take him down. I wonder what Miss Li thinks of my proposal?"

"Shall we discuss it further?"

Wang Yan voluntarily stood up and left: "You two talk; I am not very interested in these matters. I will go over there to eat."

"Wang Laoban seems very close to you, Miss Li," Boss Abao said, watching Wang Yan sit at a table by the window, boredly holding a cigarette in his mouth while reading a newspaper and waiting for his food.

"We are all friends." Li Li shook her head, "Let us speak of serious matters then; regarding the listing of the clothing company..."

Li Li's thoughts were not difficult to guess, since the plot was set. It was nothing more than the same old routine: using Zhizhen Garden as collateral to seek capital from that Mrs. Lin from Taiwan. With a guaranteed minimum of thirty million, if losses occurred, Zhizhen Garden would change ownership. Afterwards, leveraging Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's desire to drain Boss Abao's funds, she would then mortgage Zhizhen Garden to Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie, making one big profit to repay the debt owed to Mr. A.

Under the circumstances at that time, Boss Abao held the original shares of the clothing company, while Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie had inflated the stock price, resulting in heavy losses. Relatively speaking, by draining the capital of Boss Abao, this major market maker, and scattering the sold stocks, he could buy back a portion; furthermore, due to the massive selling, the cost would not be high. Calculating inside and out, his purchase of Zhizhen Garden would not be a loss.

Otherwise, Zhizhen Garden would never be worth that much money even if beaten to death. After all, Zhizhen Garden was merely a restaurant; the land it operated on was leased, not owned. To say the building itself was worth thirty million might be somewhat reasonable.

Li Li's current idea was that Wang Yan would not continue providing more capital to Boss Abao, allowing Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie to see hope; she would first earn Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie's money, and then Wang Yan would provide capital to crush Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie.

Truly calculated, this belonged to the final segment where the Heavenly Heavenly Qilin Society took over; now it was replaced by Wang Yan continuing to support Boss Abao. In this way, Boss Abao would not collapse, and Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie would still be finished.

Of course, this was something Wang Yan had thought of for the future; the current Li Li did not yet have so many ideas, nor could she reveal her full hand to Boss Abao. The conversation between the two now was merely reaching a preliminary consensus.

Very quickly, the two had nearly finalized their discussion; Boss Abao came over and said, "Miss Li says to put the money in your trunk; Wang Laoban, could you lend a hand?"

"No problem."

Wang Yan responded and followed Boss Abao outside, took six boxes out of Boss Abao's car, and transferred them into the trunk of his own Santana.

After loading the money, Boss Abao asked, "How is Seeing Lingzi?"

"She is doing very well; she now thoroughly possesses career ambition. The new dishes at Night Tokyo are also popular, and she has contacted travel agencies, so she lacks no customers; business is booming."

"Then I can rest assured. Speaking of which, it was my problem; I delayed her time." Boss Abao's tone was low, appearing reflective. Immediately, he let out a long sigh, waved his hand at Wang Yan, and said, "Go back and have dinner with Li Li; I am leaving. Farewell, Wang Laoban."

"Farewell." Wang Yan nodded with a smile.

Returning to the restaurant, Li Li asked, "I noticed President Bao's mood did not seem very good just now?"

"He asked about Seeing Lingzi; because when Night Tokyo reopened earlier, Sha Qiang Qiang Mujie went, but he was not invited. He said it was his own problem, that he had delayed Seeing Lingzi's time."

"Does he not know about the matter between you and Seeing Lingzi?"

Wang Yan shook his head with a smile: "It is unclear."

Li Li also shook her head, but then let out a long sigh and brought up the old saying again.

"For President Bao to have a friend like you, he truly has suffered misfortune for eight generations."