My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 450

Hearing Mei Li’s words, Lu Man rolled her eyes in disbelief.

What kind of logic was that?

Money isn’t love, but giving a lot counts as love?

Lu Man felt that love couldn’t be measured with money.

Just like when she first had a crush on Chen Yan, he was just a struggling entrepreneur racing to her hotel to pitch a project.

Even later, when Lu Man slowly fell for Chen Yan, his wealth was no greater than hers.

So, love and money could never be equated.

However, although she didn’t agree with Mei Li’s view on love, she did somewhat understand her feelings.

After all, both yesterday and today, upon discovering Chen Yan was really prepared to give her tens of billions, Lu Man was just as shocked as Mei Li.

But originally, when she and Chen Yan discussed this money, Lu Man never intended to accept it. She just wanted to spite Chen Yan a bit.

Now that Chen Yan had actually sent the money, Lu Man couldn’t accept it even more so.

After all, she wasn’t interested in money.

And she didn’t understand financial management.

The money would definitely be better utilized in Chen Yan’s hands than hers.

Lu Man hadn’t forgotten what Chen Yan explained yesterday concerning the difficulties he encountered....

Thinking of this, Lu Man glanced at Mei Li and changed the topic at the right moment, "By the way, sis. Let’s not talk about this money issue for now."

"Have you heard about the troubles Chen Yan has faced recently?"

Hearing Lu Man’s words, Mei Li, still in an excited mood, came back to reality.

She glanced at Lu Man and asked, "Did you hear some rumors?"

Lu Man said, "No. I just heard Chen Yan mention it briefly, but I’m not clear about the details."

As an executive who truly handled affairs, Mei Li obviously knew more than Lu Man.

She looked at Lu Man and then nodded, "I heard he’s encountered some trouble."

She explained, "A few days ago, I heard that the investment firm received a lawsuit and I discreetly checked it out."

"It turns out, it’s a shareholder dispute."

"And the plaintiff is Zhao Group."

"Zhao Group?" Lu Man was somewhat surprised.

Zhao Group was a colossal conglomerate, one of the largest real conglomerates nationally, involved in energy, healthcare, education, electronics, real estate, and other mainstream industries.

But that wasn’t what surprised Lu Man.

Yesterday, when Chen Yan mentioned the Zhao Family, she hadn’t paid attention.

Now, when Mei Li mentioned Zhao Group, it hit her: wasn’t Chen Yan said to be from Zhao Group when Mei Li inquired before?

Thus, the initial employees were all deployed from various branches of Zhao Group.

Now... how did they suddenly become enemies?

Thinking this, Lu Man couldn’t help but ask, "Isn’t Chen Yan from Zhao Group?"

Mei Li looked around and then said mysteriously, "Let me tell you what I found out."

"Chen Yan indeed has ties with Zhao Group, but his connection is with the Zhao Family of Qin Island."

"Now, it’s said that the main Zhao Family is consolidating power from various branches, so conflict has arisen."

Hearing Mei Li’s words, Lu Man also became a bit nervous, "Isn’t that very dangerous for Chen Yan?"

Mei Li nodded, "I suppose so."

"It’s said that all the branches are fiercely fighting with the main family. Chen Yan’s case is relatively mild."

Hearing this, Lu Man pursed her lips and thought hard for a while, then said, "No! I have to help Chen Yan!"

Hearing Lu Man’s words, Mei Li was momentarily at a loss.

Seeing that Lu Man stood up, Mei Li quickly grabbed her and said, "Young lady, what are you planning to do now?"

Lu Man, holding the check, said, "I’m going to return this money!"

"Then I’ll give Chen Yan all my savings from the past few years to ease his burden!"

"How can I hold him back at such a critical time? I want to contribute my strength!"

Seeing how agitated Lu Man was, Mei Li was momentarily speechless.

She said, "Wait a minute."

"Man Man, do you know how much money you actually have?"

Lu Man furrowed her brow and said, "It doesn’t matter how much money I have! It’s all about the thought, the effort!"

After speaking, she paused, then added, "I’ve also earned quite a bit these past two years. It must be tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions."

"It would relieve some pressure off of Chen Yan, so let’s do it!"

Hearing Lu Man’s words, Mei Li coughed and said, "Man Man... you actually have only 2.31 million in your account."

Lu Man: ???

She couldn’t help but look at Mei Li and asked, "Why?"

Mei Li returned her gaze, "Why? Don’t you know?"

"You spent it..."

Lu Man was completely baffled, "I spent it?"

As if anticipating this day, Mei Li seriously nodded, then took out her phone, opened the expense-tracking app, and began to go through each spending with Lu Man...

Lu Man had only been earning for a bit more than a year. And because she was rather lazy, and Chen Yan didn’t want her to overwork, she wasn’t involved in many projects. Consequently, she didn’t earn as much as she imagined.

Moreover, female celebrities inherently have high expenses, she lacked self-control, and after earning money she started buying everything—things for herself, for her family, for Chen Yan, she even bought a new house back in her hometown, hence, obviously not much money was left.

After seeing the accounts Mei Li calculated for her, Lu Man was momentarily speechless.

She had always thought she was a little rich woman with quite some money in hand.

But now... this was it?

Turns out, she was actually poor!

Seeing that Lu Man finally realized her financial status, Mei Li spoke earnestly, "Do you still want to give all your money to Chen Yan to help?"

Lu Man’s proud nature made her want to retort.

But then she thought, her 2.3 million compared to Chen Yan’s billions was a mere one-ten-thousandth fraction.

Moreover, she’d probably have to borrow money from Mei Li for meals if she gave it all to Chen Yan, so she pouted and went silent.

Seeing her reaction, Mei Li chuckled.

After "serving" this young lady for years, she knew Lu Man was someone who didn’t take criticism well, so she continued without going further, but instead softly said, "Nevertheless, I know you want to help Chen Yan."

"You can help him in other ways."

Hearing Mei Li say this, Lu Man’s eyes widened, "What ways?"

Mei Li once again spoke mysteriously, "Let me tell you."

"I found out. The head of the Zhao Family, his name is Zhao Qingtian."

"And I’ve heard before that Zhao Qingtian has some personal grievances with our President Rou."

"If you want to help Chen Yan, you could go and ask President Rou. See if you can get some information about Zhao Qingtian."

Lu Man frowned, "Is that okay?"

"Moreover, Sister Rou has personal grievances with Zhao Qingtian. If I ask her, won’t she be upset?"

Mei Li nonchalantly said, "It’s been so many years. There haven’t been conflicts between them for years, probably forgotten by now."

"I think there won’t be a problem."

"And even if she doesn’t want to talk and gets mad at you, you can just say it’s for helping President Chen and apologize, she would probably understand."

Hearing Mei Li say this, Lu Man pondered a bit and felt... it made sense!

She decided!

She would go this afternoon to chat with Yang Rou and, for Chen Yan, gather some intelligence on Zhao Qingtian!

Since she couldn’t help Chen Yan financially, she hoped to assist him in other ways...

However, her current priority was to first cancel that pre-transfer.

Thinking this, she picked up the document bag, took out her phone, and in front of Mei Li, started making the call.

....

An hour later, Chen Yan received the news that Lu Man had voided the pre-transfer.

Listening to his personal account manager respectfully update him over the phone, Chen Yan wasn’t surprised.

He calmly said, "Understood."

"Thank you for handling this. Since she doesn’t want it, let’s leave it at that."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Actually, this 20 billion gift to Lu Man was something Chen Yan had deeply considered.

Firstly, based on his past experience of directly transferring money to Yu Qiao Qiao: like this time with Lu Man actively wanting money, whether she was serious or just joking, if Chen Yan gave it, the system would consider it within a reasonable range.

Thus, no matter how much money Chen Yan gave to Lu Man, he could get 20 times cashback! A guaranteed profit without loss.

Secondly, Chen Yan knew Lu Man’s personality. She might fuss over minor things, but when it came to major issues, she was always practical. The high probability was that she wouldn’t accept the massive amount Chen Yan offered.

And lastly...

Chen Yan’s genuine thoughts.

His two favorite people were Yu Qiao Qiao and Lu Man!

Lu Man ranked very high in his heart!

Moreover, due to Yu Qiao Qiao, Lu Man’s relationship had always been concealed! Not only did it have to be secretive, but it also lacked any sense of security!

Originally, she had planned not to meddle with Chen Yan and Yu Qiao Qiao, but after being persistently pursued by Chen Yan, she was finally wooed.

Thus, she unwillingly became the other woman.

This was where Chen Yan felt he had wronged her.

So... what were twenty-three billion to make her happy?

It was just that all he had in cash was twenty-three billion. If Chen Yan had over a hundred billion, he would still give it to her without hesitation!

Even if the money would not generate returns, Chen Yan was still willing!

After all, with the system, money in his hands was just a number.

And Lu Man, was the person he truly liked...

He shook his head, dispersing the thought, yet Chen Yan didn’t just put it out of his mind. Instead, he quietly noted it down in his heart: he "owed" Lu Man 2.3 billion.

Once he settled the affairs of Headline Technology and made some cash, he would then think of a way to give this 2.3 billion to Lu Man.

Chen Yan was a man of his word. When he said he would give money, he meant it.

After finalizing things with Lu Man, Chen Yan’s thoughts involuntarily drifted off to Yu Qiao Qiao.

Last night, Chen Yan had gone to Yu Qiao Qiao’s home.

Yu Qiao Qiao had already returned home by then, and knowing beforehand that Chen Yan would come, she was happily cooking in an apron.

Embracing her, Chen Yan tentatively inquired about the morning’s events.

Then, using the "internal headphones," he also learned the entire process of the event.

For a moment, Chen Yan was a bit skeptical.

Was it really all Nuan Nuan’s doing to persuade Boss Qiao Qiao?

Why though?

Wasn’t she plotting against him and already turning dark?

It didn’t make sense.

Even after asking in detail about how Nuan Nuan persuaded her, Chen Yan found out that Nuan Nuan genuinely spoke in his favor, helping Yu Qiao Qiao dismiss her concerns.

So, for a while, Chen Yan also couldn’t help but feel a bit of gratitude towards Yang Nuannuan.

However, since he wasn’t really interested in Yang Nuannuan, he couldn’t realize this gratitude.

Chen Yan thought...

Well...maybe he should project this gratitude towards Yang Rou instead?

Returning a daughter’s favor to the mother didn’t seem wrong.

After all, they’re all family...

With a stroke of good luck and "genuine feelings," Chen Yan finally managed to circumvent the underhanded tactic that Zhao Qingtian unexpectedly deployed.

However, this also made him vigilant.

He had heard before from Yang Rou and Zhao Xuan that Zhao Qingtian was a man who would do anything to achieve his goals, but he had never really encountered him directly.

Now, understanding the lows Zhao Qingtian could stoop to.

Even the rumored gang rules involved not targeting family members, and yet he went right after the people close to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan felt that he also didn’t need to observe too many rules, just find the opportunity, and take direct action against him!

Currently, Chen Yan’s most urgent task was to solidify the foundation, take over Headline Technology, and build a moat strong enough to confront the Zhao Family.

Then deal a blow to the few executives at Headline Technology who leaned towards Zhao Qingtian.

At the same time, look for Zhao Qingtian’s weaknesses and wipe out his cronies: the Xu brothers.

Chen Yan felt... he had indeed kept the Xu brothers around for too long.

It was time to end all of this...

Thinking of Zhao Qingtian’s weaknesses, Chen Yan suddenly had a flash of insight, as if he had thought of something.

He felt... maybe this could add some chaos to Zhao Qingtian’s life...

...

Meanwhile, as Chen Yan was devising plans of retaliation, Lu Man silently made her way to the entertainment company.

This time she dressed very low-key, with no one following her, even Mei Li sister wasn’t by her side.

According to what Mei Li had said: investigating Zhao Qingtian’s matters was rather sensitive, and with more people, Yang Rou would be more reluctant to talk.

Moreover, since Mei Li and Yang Rou were both powerful executives within the company, Yang Rou would have many concerns if Mei Li were present.

Thus, sending Lu Man, who had an exceptional position in the company yet did not handle executive matters, was the best outcome.

And Lu Man... didn’t really have any opinion of her own, what Mei Li said, she just went along with.

Arriving at Yang Rou’s office, Lu Man knocked on the door.

A cold voice from inside responded, "Please come in."

Lu Man pushed the door open.

Yang Rou was sitting behind her desk, working.

Even though Lu Man had seen Yang Rou many times, each encounter still left her a bit "drooling."

Because Yang Rou was incredibly charming.

She was in her thirties, but because of good maintenance and regular physical exercise, she looked like a woman in her late twenties.

Furthermore, coupled with life experiences and the charm of a mature woman, she had an allure of a fully ripe peach.

Plump, juicy, making both men and women want to take a bite.

And that wasn’t even all, supplementing it with her inherently cold demeanor and the stress carried from holding a high position for many years, added a layer of forbidden allure to her.

The kind that made one want to get closer but also fear getting too close, an itch in the heart.

Even as a woman, but each time Lu Man saw Yang Rou, she somewhat couldn’t control herself.

She wanted to embrace Yang Rou, act coquettishly, and be a little naughty. Just like what she had done to Yu Qiao Qiao initially...

After Lu Man entered, Yang Rou also looked up at Lu Man.

Upon noticing it was Lu Man, she was also startled.

Because just as Mei Li analyzed.

Although Lu Man held a high position in the company and had quite a few shares, she had always been a hands-off manager.

Also, being close to Mei Li, anything that needed to be communicated was done through Mei Li.

Therefore, her private relationship with Yang Rou wasn’t extensive. They only chatted occasionally during meetings.

Now that Lu Man suddenly came to seek her out, Yang Rou was unsurprisingly unclear about the situation.

Therefore, she put down her mouse, looked at Lu Man, and asked, "President Lu, do you need me for something?"

Hearing Yang Rou’s words, Lu Man came back to her senses.

She giggled a bit, then leaned forward and said, "Actually... there’s no particular matter."

"I just wanted to chat with Sister Rou."

"I wonder if you’re available right now?"

Yang Rou glanced at the documents on her computer desktop and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Five minutes?"

"I can make five minutes of time temporarily."

"So if you have something, just get straight to the point..."

Saying this, true to her character, she rarely added, "The company is indeed... a bit busy."