Siheyuan: My wife is Xu Huizhen

When Zhou Xinnian hung up the phone for the third time, Li Yunzhen stared at the gradually darkening call screen on her phone and suddenly remembered that the other party had casually mentioned that his daughter was studying in the UK.

She quickly mobilized resources from study abroad agencies and drafted a cooperation plan overnight.

As dawn broke, a turning point suddenly arrived. Zhou Xinnian called back, his voice tinged with the weariness of eating breakfast:

"Xiao Li, your idea for a study abroad collaboration is interesting. 3.6 yuan, 5% equity, just to make friends."

At this moment, Li Yunzhen, clutching the gold-embossed equity agreement, looked out the window at the gradually clearing sky and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside the conference room's floor-to-ceiling windows, the twilight had already turned the glass a deep indigo blue.

He Yuzhu neatly folded the last equity transfer agreement into the folder, and the "click" of the metal clasp closing finally relaxed the tense atmosphere.

He picked up the now-cold coffee cup and peered through the rim at Mai Jianxun, who had just finished signing the documents across from him. This notoriously stingy businessman was wiping the thin layer of sweat from his forehead with a tissue, and his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses still held a hint of hesitation.

The phone screen lit up on the desktop, and the screenshot of the updated equity structure sent by the CFO made He Yuzhu's lips curl into a slight smile.

When the 30% shareholding figure appeared on the screen, he suddenly remembered the near-breakdown three months ago.

At this moment, fingertips trace the gold-embossed patterns on the edge of the contract. The plans revised all night, the intermediaries contacted, and even the pen deliberately smashed on the negotiating table have all become medals of this silent battle.

He calmly locked the documents into his briefcase, and when he looked up, he met Mai Jianxun's complicated gaze:

"Mr. He's move was truly unexpected." "The business world is like a game of chess; once a move is made, there's no going back."

He Yuzhu chuckled softly. The neon lights outside the window began to illuminate one by one, making the cufflinks on his suit gleam with a cold light.

"Mr. Mai, it's a pleasure to do business with you."

Li Yunzhen stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the equity data that was flashing on her phone screen.

After three months of intensive equity acquisition battle, she finally increased her shareholding from 18% to 32%, on par with Williams Group.

The setting sun cast a golden glow on her face through the glass curtain wall. Before the corners of her mouth could fully curve into a smile, the incessant ringing of telephones in the conference room made her pupils shrink slightly—the latest due diligence report was being passed in through the crack in the door.

"According to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing records, Wheelock's Wharf Holdings project's equity structure was abnormally frozen this month."

Her fingers, gripping the documents, turned white. "I just contacted the board secretaries of both companies, and the legal director of Hutchison Whampoa hung up immediately."

On the projection screen, the shareholding curves of the two companies suddenly stiffened at a critical juncture.

"They are forming a defensive alliance, and our previously prepared acquisition premium plan is probably now worthless."

It's important to know that Wheelock and Hutchison Whampoa were two giants in Hong Kong's business landscape.

Since establishing themselves in the Far East in the 19th century, they have built a vast commercial empire with core businesses such as shipping, docks, and warehousing, and their listed companies' stocks are the "stabilizing force" of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

When Li Yunzhen knocked on the doors of the two companies with her meticulously prepared acquisition plan, she received completely different yet equally cold responses. Wheelock's board of directors shelved the proposal on the grounds that "the strategic layout cannot be shaken"; Hutchison's leader even left the meeting midway through under the pretext of important business, leaving the negotiation team looking embarrassed.

Those meticulously calculated equity premiums and detailed development plans are nothing more than flimsy business documents in the face of the absolute power of the two giants.

Li Yunzhen's fingertips unconsciously traced the rim of her coffee cup, the water droplets on the cup reflecting shimmering light under the lamp. The blue light from the projector in the conference room had been turned off, leaving only the ticking of the wall clock.

Faced with the partner's sudden intention to withdraw, she lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, her eyelashes casting a fan-shaped shadow beneath her eyes. When she raised her head, a sharp light rekindled in her amber pupils:

"In that case, I'll go and contact them myself tomorrow."

She pulled two project reports from the leather folder, with a group photo from their first collaboration tucked between the yellowed pages. As her fingertips traced the relaxed smiles of everyone in the photo, Li Yunzhen recalled the sparks of inspiration that ignited between their ideas at the negotiating table.

She rearranged the documents, and the metal clips made a crisp "click" sound.

The moment she decided to take the lead herself, the moonlight from the window happened to brush past the pearl brooch she wore at her collar, reflecting a warm glow—she was going to knock on that seemingly closed door with the initial enthusiasm for this negotiation that concerned the future of the company.

However, after today's acquisition, which lasted nearly eight hours, Li Yunzhen's knuckles turned white as she held the transaction report.

The neon lights outside the conference room's floor-to-ceiling windows stained the numbers on the reports blood red; the continuously declining transaction volume curves resembled a noose that was tightening ever more.

The pop-up notifications from the market crawler kept flashing – the number of orders for circulating shares had fallen to a record low in the past three days, and the remaining tradable shares were like grains of sand scattered in the desert, being devoured by vultures of various capital groups.

The commotion in the trading floor came through the telephone receiver; the stockbroker's voice, choked with sobs and filled with despair, rang out:

"Mr. Li, the shareholders who were willing to sell had already cleared their positions and left the market three months ago."

Now, for every transaction that's finalized, we have to repeatedly verify whether the other party has court documents to unfreeze the assets; otherwise, even the transfer of ownership becomes a problem.

The clicking of the keyboard suddenly stopped, followed by a suppressed sigh.

"For today's 500-lot transaction, just verifying the seller's identity took three legal staff members two whole days."

The stock market screen on her desk suddenly went black. Amid the hum of the backup power supply starting up, Li Yunzhen looked at the glaring red "zero transactions" message when the screen lit up again. She finally realized that this game of capital hunting had entered its final stage, when all the ammunition was gone.

In Hong Kong's shipping industry landscape, Wheelock Properties, with its deep capital base and strategic layout, firmly holds a 10% stake in Yu Yan Watercraft Company.

This not only means substantial dividend rights, but also, with this equity advantage, a firm seat on the company's board of directors, enabling deep involvement in the formulation of major company decisions and the control of strategic direction.

In contrast, although Hutchison Whampoa had not yet completed its historic merger with Whampoa Dockyard at that time and failed to give birth to the Hutchison Whampoa that would later dominate the business world, its commercial influence as one of the four major trading companies in Hong Kong should not be underestimated.

However, in terms of equity relationship with Yu Ren Watercraft Company, Hutchison Whampoa only holds 4% of the shares, which is significantly weaker than Wheelock.