novelraw Chapter 425: Is CoCo the one causing trouble behind the scenes?
Chapter 425: Is CoCo the one causing trouble behind the scenes?
By dusk, Le Tong returned home with Baobao, and Ji Rui’s phone was still turned off.After dinner, Le Tong cuddled Baobao, who was playing games in her arms. With her eyes downcast, she hesitated for a long time before asking.
"Baobao, did your grandpa call in the past two days?"
Le Tong knew about Ji Wen and Ji Wu being denied bail and imprisoned overseas. Considering Ji Rui’s argument with Mr. Ji a few days ago, she thought Ji Rui’s trip to Y Country was likely related to Ji Wen and Ji Wu.
But since she couldn’t reach the person involved, and possible informants Xiao Li and Yang Sheng wouldn’t reveal the truth, Le Tong could only try to extract some useful information from Baobao indirectly.
Baobao looked up, blinking his big eyes, "Nope!" After answering, he suddenly realized and furrowed his pretty eyebrows, very anxiously asking Le Tong, "Mommy, did Grandpa bully you again?"
Le Tong didn’t know whether to feel happy or angry. It turned out that in her not-quite-six-year-old son’s eyes, she was so useless, always bullied by someone!
"Of course not, Mommy isn’t that weak."
Of course, facing powerful authority, not being weak doesn’t mean not being bullied. But Le Tong didn’t want to let her baby hear these pessimistic words.
Baobao put on a serious face, like a little adult, "Mommy is certainly not weak, but Grandpa is very cunning!"
Hearing her not-yet-six-year-old son say such things, Le Tong didn’t know whether to feel comforted or sad.
"No matter how cunning he is, he can’t beat my clever Baobao!"
Le Tong smiled and pinched Baobao’s face, trying to lighten the heavy topic.
Normally, such words would prompt Baobao to brag about himself, but this time, her flattery didn’t make Baobao happy.
Baobao lowered his eyes and suddenly fell silent.
Seeing her baby like this made Le Tong anxious.
She rubbed her head gently against Baobao’s little face, "Baby, what’s wrong? Are you sleepy?"
Baobao rubbed her back twice, "Baobao’s not sleepy."
Speaking, Baobao turned his face towards Le Tong, "Grandpa is nice to me, but Second Uncle and Third Uncle are big bad guys."
Obviously, the "bad guys" Baobao mentioned this time were different from the ones he called Ji Rui before.
And now, the expression on Baobao’s face was one Le Tong rarely saw, a heavy one.
This heaviness instantly transferred to Le Tong’s heart, weighing her down until she could hardly breathe.
Thinking about how many times her young son might have been bullied by the two bad uncles he mentioned, Le Tong’s heart felt like it was being forcibly torn apart, real pain!
She kissed his nose tip lovingly and reached out to hold his skinny body tightly.
If she guessed right, for a long time in the past, Ji Rui probably ignored Baobao, leaving him in the complex environment of the Ji Family to fend for himself?!
Otherwise, with a domineering man like Ji Rui, if he cared about someone, he would never allow anyone to touch even a hair on them! If Ji Rui had always cared about Baobao as he did now, people like Ji Wen and Ji Wu wouldn’t dare lay a finger on him.
However, as Baobao’s mommy, she had no right to accuse Ji Rui as the father. After all, just like Ji Rui, she had a specific purpose for having Baobao but neglected his growth. Although she had no choice, it couldn’t be an excuse to shirk responsibility.
"Baby, I’m sorry! It’s Mommy’s fault..." Le Tong whispered a quiet apology in Baobao’s ear, only audible to herself.
This conversation with Baobao made Le Tong more certain that Ji Rui left in such haste to deal with Ji Wen and Ji Wu’s matter.
However, this time, she was wrong.
The next morning, instead of Xiao Li, another bodyguard and driver took Le Tong and Baobao back to Ji Family. Usually, two bodyguards accompanied them, but today there were two additional ones, and they all looked more serious than usual.
In the car, Le Tong tried calling Ji Rui again, but his phone was still off. With all the unusualness today, Le Tong couldn’t help but feel nervous.
When Le Tong brought Baobao to the top-floor CEO office and saw Yang Sheng’s solemn face, her last bit of hope vanished.
Le Tong patted Baobao’s back, sending the little guy off to play in Ji Rui’s lounge.
Once the little guy closed the door, Le Tong sat down beside Yang Sheng. "Senior, did something happen?"
Yang Sheng lifted his eyelids to glance at her, nodded, and pointed at the screen, signaling Le Tong to take a look.
Le Tong shifted her seat, sliding her chair beside Yang Sheng. On the screen was an all-English website.
Scanning the headline, it was a report about a major multinational company being collectively sued for monopoly by an industrial alliance in Y Country.
The report didn’t explicitly name the company, nor did it clearly state which country the company belonged to. But from the text, Le Tong could guess the company implied was Ji Family.
"This refers to Ji Family, right?" Although Le Tong was ninety-nine percent sure, she hoped for a one percent miracle.
However, Yang Sheng’s nod shattered that one percent of hope.
"Did Ji Rui rush over to deal with this issue?"
This was a pointless question, but with her mind in a mess, Le Tong really didn’t know what to ask.
"Yes, originally, Rui and I thought there was a lot of room to salvage the situation. Rui spent all day yesterday trying to alleviate the conflict and slow down the escalation. Who knew, while they verbally agreed to consider our suggestions, this report came out today. Although it’s unfounded and speculative, it has already caused serious repercussions."
Yang Sheng frowned. Having worked closely with Ji Rui for so many years, they had never faced such a tricky situation.
Le Tong picked up on a lot of crucial information from his words, "Has Ji Family’s stock price dropped significantly?"
Saying this, she quickly opened her computer.
"Yes, the market in Europe has already hit the limit down. I expect when the domestic stock market opens, the situation won’t be any better."
Le Tong gasped. She had been with Ji Family for so long and they had faced many challenges, but none were as dire as this internal and external crisis striking simultaneously.
Ji Family had been developing strongly in the European market for the past few years, and such a storm out of nowhere must have someone pulling the strings behind the scenes.
"Have you found out the reason?" Le Tong stared intensely at Yang Sheng and asked before he could answer, "Is it CoCo?"