Chapter 147: A Pure Investment

Liao Yuan had a flood of words at the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he could only nod and say, "I know, I'll go back."

Back then, Liao Yuan had filled out his college application choices without consulting his family, infuriating his parents. Due to adolescent rebellion, Liao Yuan had also left home in a huff. By the second year of university, he stopped asking his family for any financial assistance whatsoever, relying entirely on work-study programs to cover his food and living expenses.

In the blink of an eye, three or four years had passed...

His uncle laughed and said, "I heard about you on the internet. You're quite something, kid—being able to make that many people chase after you just to curse you is a skill in itself. I was passing through Donghai today and wanted to see you. Tell me, where are you right now?"

Feeling rather awkward, Liao Yuan gave his uncle his address before hanging up the phone.

"Your uncle?"

Fu Xiaoci asked excitedly while driving, "Your actual uncle? Can I meet him too?"

"Why would you want to meet him?" Liao Yuan asked, puzzled.

Fu Xiaoci choked, momentarily left speechless.

Soon, the car stopped in front of Yanlord Riverside Gardens. After getting out, Liao Yuan heard someone calling from behind, "Over here, this way."

Liao Yuan turned his head and saw a man in a black suit waving at him from the security guard room, with four sturdy young security guards standing behind him in a standby posture.

Upon seeing that familiar face, information about the person flashed rapidly through Liao Yuan's mind.

His uncle, named Dong Qiusheng, had been exceptionally brilliant since childhood. After graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, he quickly plunged into the financial sector, working for some major foreign conglomerates. After Liao Yuan entered high school, the number of times his uncle returned to the country each year could be counted on one hand, so opportunities for them to meet were rare.

Seeing Liao Yuan now, Dong Qiusheng looked visibly surprised. "If I hadn't looked at your photos beforehand, I really wouldn't have recognized you. Good lad, you've completely grown into your looks. I remember when you were little, you were too ugly to look at."

Black lines crawled all over Liao Yuan's forehead.

Behind him, Fu Xiaoci looked at Dong Qiusheng's handsome face and said excitedly, "Hello, Uncle! I'm Liao Yuan's manager, my name is Fu Xiaoci. Are everyone in your family this handsome?!"

"Fu Xiaoci?" Dong Qiusheng nodded, his attitude toward her noticeably much colder, and replied irrelevantly, "Hello."

Fu Xiaoci choked once again, feeling like crying without tears.

What the heck, are all modern male gods this aloof?

After Liao Yuan sent Fu Xiaoci away, he led Dong Qiusheng into his home and asked, "Uncle, why did you suddenly come to Donghai?"

"Nothing much, just missed you!"

Dong Qiusheng left his bodyguards waiting outside the door, stepped into the apartment, and while looking around the interior, replied, "You probably didn't know, but I've been keeping an eye on you. Seriously, that resignation of yours was a brilliant move!"

Liao Yuan poured some tea for his uncle and asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

Dong Qiusheng chuckled and said, "If you had just kept your ordinary job obediently, I wouldn't have come today!"

Dong Qiusheng's half-spoken words and deliberate air of mystery only heightened the confusion in Liao Yuan's heart. "You care about me this much?"

"You're my own nephew, how could I not care about you? But this time you've actually guessed wrong. I have faith in your abilities, and I know everything about you, so worrying about you is naturally redundant. What I'm worried about is that girl Meiqi."

Dong Qiusheng took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "Meiqi is considered somewhat well-known now. What's the next step? Do you have any specific plans?"

The more they talked, the more baffled Liao Yuan became. "You know everything about me?"

"Of course." Dong Qiusheng put on a profound air.

"Just what do you know?" Liao Yuan frowned and asked.

Dong Qiusheng smiled and said, "Hah, looks like there are still things about you that I don't know! Fine, I'll lay my cards on the table for you. From the time you wrote *Ghost Blows Out the Light*, left the Donghai Broadcasting Station, wrote songs for Meiqi, to when you took over the Little Yellow Croaker Culture Company, I know it all. Oh, right, and I also know about you participating in that piano competition or whatever it was."

Liao Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. "Just that?"

"Mm, just that." Dong Qiusheng paused and asked curiously, "Is there anything else I don't know?"

Liao Yuan smiled. "No, that's all."

Dong Qiusheng tutted. "This unruly child has grown up and learned to keep secrets. I remember when you were little, you even told me about peeping at little girls taking a bath!"

Extremely embarrassed, Liao Yuan coughed and asked, "Right, what were you saying just a moment ago?"

"The grand finals of *Produce 101* are just around the corner. After the finals, Meiqi debuting in a group is a nailed-on certainty. There is a problem right in front of you now—have you figured out anything regarding Meiqi's future?" Dong Qiusheng asked solemnly.

Liao Yuan asked strangely, "You even know about Meiqi's affairs?"

Dong Qiusheng waved a hand. "You underestimate your uncle too much. If I told you that Meiqi's contract is right in my hands, and that I was the one who originally arranged for Meiqi to go on the show, would your jaw drop in shock?"

Liao Yuan opened his mouth.

Dong Qiusheng laughed, "Back then, when Meiqi ran away from home and arrived in Donghai, I had people keep an eye on her developments. Do you know what kind of life you two were living at the time? I originally thought Meiqi would go back once she suffered a bit, but I didn't expect this little girl to actually stick it out. Sigh, she really suffered a lot following you. And look, she wanted to participate in *Produce 101*, but was troubled by having no connections. When I found out about this, I casually helped her out. I never expected this little brat to actually have quite the talent; starting from the second or third episode, she's been in first place the whole time. Do you know what this situation means to me?"

Liao Yuan digested the information in his uncle's words and asked, "What does it mean?"

Dong Qiusheng mocked, "Stupid! It means I've made a fortune!"

Liao Yuan suddenly understood. "That Xinyuan Talent Agency... you opened it?"

"No, but I'm Xinyuan's largest shareholder. Whenever I want to, I can buy up all the shares at any time," Dong Qiusheng said indifferently. "This small company was just a free bonus I happened to get when I acquired a company back then. I never expected it to be worth 100 million now, completely beyond my imagination."

Liao Yuan paused. "Uncle, what have you been doing all these years?"

Dong Qiusheng smiled. "Investing, purely investing. Just like Xinyuan Agency—it was merely a worthless freebie back then, and now, just two years later, it has appreciated by 100 million. Would you dare believe it?"

Liao Yuan fell silent. He realized his uncle seemed quite wealthy.

Dong Qiusheng sighed emotionally, "The value of this 100 million entirely stems from the contract I casually had someone sign for Meiqi back then. Right now, numerous companies are fighting over this contract, with the highest bid reaching 120 million. Even if I don't care about it anymore, I can't ignore this. This is 120 million after all..."