"Madam Lu!" Mrs. Wang had no intention of listening to any explanations anymore. "We had a clear agreement in black and white. During the contract period, there should be no negative news, or else you will have to pay ten times the penalty... As required, you must pay fifty million within ten days, otherwise we will see you in court!"
"Uh, Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Wang..." Xu Aiqin wanted to say something, but the other party had already hung up the phone. When she tried calling again, she was already blocked.
Xu Aiqin felt completely defeated. Fifty million, where could she find fifty million? Although Lu Zhenhai was the richest man in Dongcheng City, with personal assets exceeding one billion RMB, most of it was in fixed assets such as houses, shops, shares, and cars...
A while ago, due to sudden disagreements with large conglomerates like Ouyan Capital, their funds were not circulating smoothly, and coupled with losses in business, they had already sold several shops and houses.
Now they had to pay fifty million??
Perhaps they could only sell their shares!
But once they sold the shares, they would become minority shareholders... The decision-making power would lie with Old Lady Lu and other shareholders!
No, it couldn't be done...
They couldn't sell their shares...
"You all can leave!" Xu Aiqin dismissed the nanny and anxiously asked Lu Zhenhai in a low voice, "What should we do? Yao Yao violated the contract and has to pay fifty million in compensation within ten days."
Lu Zhenhai was about to say something when his phone vibrated. It was an unfamiliar number.
"Hello," he answered.
"Is this Mr. Lu Zhenhai? I am Miss Ting Yin's attorney..."
The other party said something that greatly surprised Lu Zhenhai, "Compensation of sixty million?"
"Yes, Miss Lu plagiarized Miss Ting Yin's work, took it to participate in a competition without authorization. This constitutes a serious infringement and she must bear corresponding civil liability."
"According to the relevant laws and regulations, you must stop the infringement, eliminate the impact, and make a formal apology, in addition to compensating for the losses suffered by Miss Ting Yin."
"Considering Miss Ting Yin's reputation, the fifty million compensation is already very lenient."
"If the amount is not received within three days, we will sue Miss Lu in court and announce this matter through official channels."
"No..." Lu Zhenhai hurriedly pleaded, "Let's discuss this peacefully..."
If it was announced officially, the whole country would know about Yao Yao's plagiarism, which would have a severe negative impact on her reputation and the reputation of the Lu family.
Xu Aiqin saw Lu Zhenhai finish his phone call and hurriedly asked, "What's going on? That Qing Yan girl wants us to compensate 60 million? Why?"
"Just because Yao Yao copied her music!" Lu Zhenhai became angry just thinking about it. "Can you stop calling her a girl? If it wasn't for you insisting on kicking her out of the Lu family, with her identity as a music prodigy, how much benefit would she have brought us? How outstanding are our two daughters? How much face would they have gained outside? And when she gets married, how many connections would she have brought?"
The Lu family doesn't lack the meal that Qing Yan brings!
It's all because of their narrow-mindedness!
Regretting now is too late...
"Who knew that... that girl had a talent for music? She never mentioned it before," Xu Aiqin said resentfully. "It shows that she's a highly scheming person! Grandma loved her the most, and yet she kept it a secret from Grandma!"
Xu Aiqin was convinced that if Grandma knew, she would have told them.
Lu Zhenhai slumped on the couch. The breach of contract penalty of 50 million and the copyright infringement compensation of 60 million... combined, it was over a hundred million!
He didn't have that much cash on hand!
"Zhenhai, should we try to negotiate with that girl? She's soft-hearted..." Xu Aiqin hadn't finished her sentence when Lu Zhenhai couldn't help but rebuke her. "You think she's soft-hearted? If you had been more magnanimous back then, even if we had to send her away reluctantly, we could have parted amicably. When we met later on the road, we could have exchanged smiles and greetings, and our relationship wouldn't have soured to this extent!"
Lu Zhenhai realized that since Qing Yan left the Lu family, nothing had gone well for them...
Yao Yao finally got second place, but before they could celebrate, they were slapped in the face!
Lu Zhenhai couldn't describe his current emotions—was it regret, heartache, anger, or frustration...
He thought of Ou Yan Capital and suddenly understood.
"No wonder she would have meals with Wu You and the others, and no wonder Assistant Liu showed her such respect..."
It was highly likely that her identity as a music prodigy allowed her to make connections with some influential figures.
Lu Zhenhai regretted deeply. "Bring Yao Yao down. We can only sincerely apologize to that child now and try to earn her forgiveness..."
"Why?" Xu Aiqin exclaimed, unwilling. "Yao Yao has already apologized to her on stage..."
Apologize in private as well?
Wouldn't that be like using themselves as a stepping stone for Qing Yan to trample on?
"If a simple apology could save us from losing sixty million, go ahead and laugh with your hand covering your mouth!" Lu Zhenhai vaguely felt that things were not that simple. "What worries me is that the child has been hurt by us too many times. It won't be so easy for her to forgive us..."
She has already blocked their phone numbers...
"Didn't she used to like Yao Yao's necklace? At most, we could give her that..."
Before Xu Aiqin finished her sentence, Lu Zhenhai burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
"She's a piano master, can't afford a necklace?"
"Then why did she steal Yao Yao's? And why does she associate with so many men? Isn't it all for money?"
Lu Zhenhai contemplated for a moment and said, "What Yao Yao said might not be true. Maybe she associates with so many men because of her identity as a piano master, to make friends with like-minded people..."
After all, these people with status and position like to gather together...
Xu Aiqin, upon hearing this, suddenly found it reasonable...
But how could Yao Yao possibly deceive people?
Lu Zhenhai must have been overthinking!
Just then, Lu Zhenhai's phone vibrated again. It was a call from Yang, the secretary of the company.
"General Lu, it's not good!! The Li family has issued a stern warning, prohibiting any company from cooperating with our Lu family. Anyone who dares to help us will be at odds with them!"
"Several more companies have come to terminate contracts..."
"If this continues, our company will be left with nothing!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhenhai was shocked and couldn't understand. "We haven't offended the Li family, have we? Did the Li family mention any specific reason?"
"No..."
"Then quickly find out!" Lu Zhenhai was anxious. They didn't have any conflicts with the Li family at the awards ceremony today... They didn't even exchange greetings! How did they offend them?
"General Lu, please don't worry. I'll find out right away." After Yang, the secretary, hung up the phone, Lu Zhenhai had a sense of impending doom...
He couldn't understand why the Li family would issue such a strong warning. Could it be because of Qing Yan?
Is there a possibility that the Li family, who enjoys listening to music masters, saw her being bullied and decided to intervene?
If that's the case, they would have offended two people with status and position at once...