Compared to Chen Yan's curiosity, He Mengxue was even more curious.

She wondered why Zhang Yonghao had invited Chen Yan to dinner.

And, she was curious, Chen Yan really took her to meet Zhang Yonghao?

Although Chen Yan acted very normally, the woman's sixth sense still made He Mengxue feel that there was something off about Chen Yan these past two days.

If you asked her to articulate her feelings, she wouldn't be able to.

At most... it would be that Chen Yan hadn't been as eager to buy breakfast in the mornings as he used to be, and he had suddenly stopped taking calls?

However, each of these issues had reasonable explanations, and He Mengxue could find no fault in them.

In the end, she could only chalk it up to her sixth sense.

Therefore, when Chen Yan said he was going to meet Zhang Yonghao by himself, He Mengxue felt that something was off again. That's why she took the initiative to volunteer to go along.

Originally, she thought Chen Yan would definitely refuse, but who knew, Chen Yan really agreed.

'Could it be that I'm just overthinking it?'

He Mengxue was a bit confused...

While He Mengxue was entangled in her doubts, the three of them arrived at the place where Zhang Yonghao had invited them for dinner.

An eatery that looked pretty ordinary from the outside.

But upon entering, they found it had great privacy, no main hall, just private rooms.

And the walls of each private room were thick, providing excellent soundproofing.

It was clearly a place for business dealings.

This also suited Zhang Yonghao's current status.

Although he was wealthy now, after all, he was someone invested in by Chen Yan, it wasn't appropriate for him to invite Chen Yan to a place that was too extravagant.

Reporting Zhang Yonghao's name, the waiter led Chen Yan and He Mengxue to a private room.

Jiang Xiaoyun, as the driver, since it wasn't quite appropriate to join such a confidential meal, Chen Yan had her go find a place nearby to eat and then simply get a receipt to expense it with Song Chuang later.

Upon entering the private room, Zhang Yonghao was already seated inside.

Apart from him, there were two middle-aged men.

Chen Yan recognized them; they were the company's vice presidents and the chief financial officer.

In the information Qin Ming had given Chen Yan, these two were Zhang Yonghao's die-hard supporters, so their presence there was not a surprise to him.

Upon seeing Chen Yan enter, the three men stood up with smiles to greet him.

Zhang Yonghao even took the initiative to pull out a chair for Chen Yan and then said with a smile, "Director Chen, you've arrived quite early. If we hadn't thought to come early and let you get here first, that would have been quite lacking in hospitality."

Chen Yan was now well-versed in these pleasantries.

He smiled and said, "What hospitality. We're all family here, there are no guests."

Hearing Chen Yan say this, Zhang Yonghao eagerly climbed along the conversational pole, "Right, right. Family, family."

They chatted as everyone found their seats.

Since it was an internal company meal, even though Zhang Yonghao was the host, Chen Yan still took the seat of honor, with He Mengxue sitting to his left and Zhang Yonghao to his right.

Since everyone was present, the chief financial officer got up to fetch a waiter to serve the dishes, and taking this opportunity, Chen Yan also took the initiative to inquire about the company, "How's the company doing lately?"

Zhang Yonghao smiled and said, "Everything is going smoothly. We've expanded globally and topped download charts in over twenty countries, overtaking other apps as the number one on the race track."

"In the domestic market, we're gradually closing the gap with Slowy, and I believe in a few months we'll surpass them."

"But..."

As he spoke, Zhang Yonghao's tone shifted, "We're almost out of money and need to raise funds again."

"I've discussed this with Director Qin, but there's been no clear response..."

Zhang Yonghao hadn't finished speaking, but Chen Yan get his drift.

It was nothing more than trying to make Chen Yan agree, to finance the company.

This way, Zhang Yonghao could achieve two goals.

One was to obtain cash for the company and the other was to dilute Chen Yan's shareholding.

Chen Yan wasn't a pushover either. He met the move with a counter, smiling as he said, "How much are we planning to raise? I have a lot of idle cash on hand."

"Whether it's in RMB or dollars, I've got it."

As he said this, he nodded towards He Mengxue, "Now that Director He is here."

"Tell us the amount and share ratio, she'll have a meeting to discuss it when we get back, and we'll just directly inject the capital."

Having said this, Chen Yan looked at Zhang Yonghao with a beaming smile.

Chen Yan's words were actually pressing Zhang Yonghao.

After all, it was Zhang Yonghao who said he was short of money.

And Chen Yan said he could provide the money.

If Zhang Yonghao refused, the situation would become very awkward.

But if he didn't refuse and allowed Chen Yan to take the entire financing round, then the company would further slip out of Zhang Yonghao's control.

This was definitely not something Zhang Yonghao could allow.

Thus, Chen Yan was compelling Zhang Yonghao to make a move, to see how he would respond, to make a choice.

Yet, who knew, Zhang Yonghao turned out to be a tough nut to crack too. He didn't refuse, nor did he oppose, instead, he responded to Chen Yan with enthusiasm, "That's great."

"If Director Chen can take this round of financing, it would greatly alleviate our company's financial pressure."

Chen Yan was taken aback, somewhat incredulous: Was Zhang Yonghao going to give in? Was it the effect of the Strong Buy Card?

While he was thinking this, Zhang Yonghao paused and then continued, "However..."

"There's an issue with the price."

He added, "The company's valuation has increased quite fast lately. It was around 10 billion at the last financing."

"This time, in our recent discussions, it feels like we can reach around 50 billion."

"Chen Yan, can you accept this price?"

Hearing Zhang Yonghao's words, Chen Yan's expression froze.

50 billion?

That was an outrageous demand!

Only half a year had passed since the last financing round. While Headline Technology's business indeed grew very rapidly, it was nowhere near a fivefold increase.

The system had valued it at only 20 billion.

Meaning, Zhang Yonghao was retreating under the guise of advancing, using a high price to give the choice back to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan was ready to retort.

But then Zhang Yonghao said with a smile, "Director Chen is part of our company, and naturally, the higher the valuation, the better. This way, your shareholding will be worth more."

"Moreover, our company's business has indeed been growing extremely fast lately, for example..."

Then, Zhang Yonghao started citing a series of figures, and he seemed to have memorized every aspect of the company.

Even though they were enemies and Chen Yan disliked Zhang Yonghao's spineless character, Chen Yan still had to admire Zhang Yonghao's capability.

This guy, indeed worthy of having founded Headline Technology and bringing it to a trillion-dollar market value as a business magnate.

Even now, just starting, he already had some flair.

While internally admiring, Chen Yan smiled and subtly defused the conversation, "Our company has indeed been developing very quickly lately."

"But of course, the valuation can't just be what we say it is, there have to be strict standards."

"In a few days, let Director He lead a professional team, we can investigate and discuss together, and then we'll determine."

In other words, he was putting the matter on hold for now. Zhang Yonghao achieved his objective and nodded with a smile, "That can be done."

The first round, back and forth, ended in a draw.

Chen Yan, however, was a bit perplexed.

Because he truly didn't understand Zhang Yonghao's reason for having this dinner.

Originally, he thought Zhang Yonghao wanted him to loosen up about the financing, but now Zhang Yonghao just probed and no longer insisted.

That clearly wasn't right.

And... Chen Yan didn't spot any opportunity for Zhang Yonghao to sell him shares.

What was going on?

Was the time not right?

While pondering this, Chen Yan randomly chatted with Zhang Yonghao.

Mid-conversation, Zhang Yonghao brought up something Chen Yan had just mentioned, "By the way, Director Chen, you've been saying you have ample funds, in RMB and dollars."

"How did you manage that?"

When Zhang Yonghao asked, Chen Yan was going to make up a reason: after all, the cash he had was from cashback, legal but not something Chen Yan wanted others to know about.

But then, suddenly, that subtle premonition appeared again.

Chen Yan, feeling that guidance, was about to speak, but he changed his words at the last second, "Oh, that. That was all earned from financial maneuvers in the stock market, futures, or forex."

"Not worth mentioning, really."

Hearing this, Zhang Yonghao's eyes lit up, and he exchanged glances with Vice President Wang, then chuckled, "I hadn't realized Director Chen had this talent."

Chen Yan subtly kicked He Mengxue under the table.

She hesitated for a moment, then smiled warmly, adding, "Actually, our Director Chen has always been a financial genius."

"The initial capital for starting his company was made from virtual currencies."

"Afterwards, even though he started a company, he never gave up on trading stocks and futures."

"Many people on Qin Island know, running a company is just his sideline."

"Finance is his main line of work."

Hearing He Mengxue's accompaniment, Zhang Yonghao's eyes glittered again.

At this moment, the chief financial officer returned.

Zhang Yonghao glanced at him and pursued the matter with a smile, "Director Chen, do you play around in Hong Kong?"

Chen Yan nodded, "Yes. At first domestically. But too strict with the regulations, and the funds weren't free enough."

"So, I gradually moved to Hong Kong."

He Mengxue caught on, "The initial funds were even transferred over by my family for Director Chen."

"It's just that we never expected that, in just a year or two, Director Chen's funds had multiplied by five to ten times."

Listening to the coordinated dialogue between He Mengxue and Chen Yan, Zhang Yonghao licked his lips with a touch of eagerness.

However, as a sly old fox, he did not directly reveal his intent.

But skillfully changed the subject, talking about other things as if everything just discussed was casual.

After that, the topic was never brought up during the meal.

They dined amicably, talking about company and personal matters.

Chen Yan and Zhang Yonghao chattered like two long-lost brothers, thoroughly engaged.

Once the meal was over, after chatting for a while, Chen Yan saw it was getting late and took the initiative to leave.

Zhang Yonghao and his men stood up to see off Chen Yan and He Mengxue.

At the restaurant's entrance, Zhang Yonghao laughed and said to Chen Yan, "Director Chen. I've learned a lot from our chat today."

"We must meet again for another meal."

Chen Yan replied with laughter, "Sure, no problem. I'll still be in Tiandu for a couple of days, let's set up another time."

"No problem." Zhang Yonghao agreed with a smile.

By this time, Jiang Xiaoyun had finished her meal and returned, so upon seeing Chen Yan and He Mengxue exit, she quickly drove over to pick them up.

Chen Yan and He Mengxue said goodbye once more, then got into the car.

The car drove off, leaving the restaurant.

He Mengxue hesitated, then asked Chen Yan with some confusion, "Chen Yan. I feel like I don't quite understand."

"What was the real reason Zhang Yonghao invited you for dinner?"

"It seemed like you two didn't talk about much."

At that moment, Chen Yan wore a slight smile, sorting through some of the information he had listened in on, using the "Headphones"...

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