novellhall Chapter 26 Sika works herself to the bone, while Zhixing rakes in the money.
Chapter 26 Sika works herself to the bone, while Zhixing rakes in the money.
Jessica stared blankly at Li Zhixing, her eyes welling up with tears again.
This time, however, it wasn't because of feeling wronged.
Li Zhixing reached out and poked her forehead, sighing helplessly, "You really have to force me to say it myself, don't you?"
"So, that's why you kept it from me?"
Jessica sniffed, and her hands, which had been crossed over her chest, unconsciously came down.
The anger that had been building up because he had kept it from me had completely dissipated.
She lightly tiptoed on her toes, still defiantly saying, "Hmph, do you think I'd be jealous of you if you told me? Of course I'd be happy for you!"
Li Zhixing glanced at her sideways: "There are too many people who are happy for me, it won't make a difference if you're one more."
"Hey, Li Zhixing, do you really have to have this mouth of yours?!"
Li Zhixing ignored her protest and leaned back in his chair.
He mimicked Sika's earlier actions, crossing his arms, crossing his legs, and staring at her with a scrutinizing gaze.
Jessica still had an undisguised smile on her lips, but Li Zhixing suddenly spoke up: "Tell me, what exactly happened to you today?"
"what?"
Li Zhixing pointed to her face: "I noticed when you came in. You looked terrible. It doesn't seem like you're just tired from your schedule. What happened?"
I didn't expect that he would still see through my emotions, which I tried so hard to hide.
Jessica's smile slowly faded, and after a moment of silence, she asked softly, "Do you think our group will eventually disband?"
Li Zhixing paused for a moment, glanced at Jessica's expression, and then teased, "What, did the other eight team up to kick you out of the group?"
Jessica's carefully cultivated sadness vanished instantly, and she kicked him, yelling, "Hey, can't you be normal for once?!"
She glared at Li Zhixing resentfully and sighed, "It's TVXQ. It seems they're disbanding. I heard that Park Yoochun, Kim Jaejoong, and Kim Junsu are arguing with the company about terminating their contracts and are even going to sue them."
"What???"
Li Zhixing suddenly sat up straight, his expression turning serious.
He pressed eagerly, "Is the news true?"
Jessica stared at him blankly, completely baffled as to why he was so agitated: "It should be true, it's being rumored inside the company."
Li Zhixing said irritably, "Why didn't you tell me such important news sooner!"
He quickly opened his computer and started searching for news related to TVXQ.
Jessica was baffled: "Wait, why are you reacting so strongly? You're a fan of boy bands?"
Li Zhixing had no time to pay attention to her, his eyes fixed on the screen.
The webpages mostly display gossip posts from fan forums, based on hearsay and speculation.
For example, there are rumors that the three members seem to be investing in a cosmetics business in private, which has caused some unpleasantness with the company. Some people are also wondering why their recent schedules have been somewhat unusual.
As for explosive news like lawsuits and contract terminations, there wasn't a single word about it online.
Seeing this, Li Zhixing finally breathed a sigh of relief; there was still time to take action.
Jessica watched his series of actions from behind, looking completely bewildered.
She remembered that besides Taeyeon, Lee Ji-hsing didn't seem to have any other favorite singers.
Li Zhixing weighed the options in his mind for a moment, then picked up his phone and dialed a number.
The call connected, and Zheng's father's impatient voice came from the other end: "Get to the point, I'm reading 'Swallowing the Sun' right now."
Jessica recognized her father on the other end of the phone and was even more confused about Li Zhixing's actions.
How can you connect Lee Ji-hsing with his own father after TVXQ disbanded?
Li Zhixing hurriedly said into the phone, "President, quickly turn on your computer and place a pre-order on the stock trading software. Sell all your SM Entertainment shares as soon as the market opens at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!"
SM Entertainment stock?
Jessica was completely stunned.
Her first thought was, "Dad still dares to buy stocks?" Her second thought was, "Dad actually bought their company's stock?"
Mr. Zheng, sitting opposite, was also taken aback for a moment, then hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
"Oh dear, it's hard to explain in a short time. Just listen to me, and quickly put up an order to sell it."
"Okay, I'll get to it right away. Should I sell them all?"
"Yes, sell everything, don't keep a single share!"
After hanging up the phone, Li Zhixing quickly opened the HTS stock trading software on his computer, typed a few quick keystrokes, and placed sell orders for all his positions for tomorrow morning. Only then did he lean back in his chair and let out a long sigh.
He closed the laptop, looked up, and met Jessica's cold gaze.
She had already realized what was going on.
When did you buy our company's stock?
Li Zhixing raised an eyebrow with a hint of smugness: "It was at the beginning of the year, the day you published 'Gee'."
Jessica was somewhat surprised: "Why that day?"
Lee Ji-hyeong said matter-of-factly, "Of course I thought that song would be a hit, and at that time your company's stock price was plummeting, only around 1500 won, which was basically the lowest point."
"But to be honest, even I didn't expect 'Gee' to become this ridiculously popular."
Jessica recalled that the members were all nervous about "Gee" being the title track of their new album. Almost no one in the group had confidence in the song, especially Taeyeon, who absolutely hated it.
Unexpectedly, this guy realized that the song would be a hit that very day, and even got his father to buy shares in their company.
The thought that this was yet another thing she had been kept in the dark made Jessica's anger, which she had just suppressed, flare up again.
She asked, somewhat annoyed, "Looks like you made a profit. What's the stock price now?"
"More than four thousand five hundred."
"What?" Jessica exclaimed in surprise, "It's tripled?"
Li Zhixing nodded, his tone tinged with a mixture of relief and regret: "Yesterday, your company's stock price just hit the daily limit because of the favorable new copyright law."
"I originally thought there would be another surge recently, but I didn't expect this to happen. If the news of TVXQ's contract termination is fully revealed, the stock price will definitely collapse."
However, Jessica didn't listen to his long-winded explanation at all.
The words "tripled" were echoing in her mind at that moment.
She, who never paid attention to financial news, never imagined that her company's stock price could rise so ridiculously in just six months.
The sheer volume of data momentarily stunned her, even easing the sadness she felt earlier from her senior's contract termination.
She leaned closer to Li Zhixing, her eyes shining, and asked, "How much did you buy?"
Li Zhixing leaned back in his chair, smugly touched his chin, and smiled without saying a word.
"I'm asking you, how much did you buy?"
"Hehehe."
"Speak!"
"Hehehe."
"Hey, Li Zhixing, keep chuckling to me!"
Jessica grabbed Li Zhixing's ear and said fiercely, "Split the money, split the money, I deserve some credit for this."
Li Zhixing rolled his eyes, slapped her hand away, and said, "Why should I share with you? If I lose money, are you going to compensate me? If you want money, go ask your dad; he bought it too."
Jessica was even angrier: "So, you two! I'm out there working myself to the bone doing gigs and singing, and you're secretly buying our company stock and making money without even telling me!"
He rubbed his ears and muttered, "Not only did I not tell you, I didn't even tell your mom."
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he had misspoke, quickly covered his mouth, and looked at her with a guilty expression.
Jessica, however, heard it all clearly.
She crossed her arms and sneered, "So you're teaming up to keep it from Mom, huh? Don't you know buying stocks in my house is taboo? You two are finished."
Li Zhixing immediately protested, "It has nothing to do with me! It was the president who insisted on making me buy it."
"Hmph, go explain to Mommy O'Hara." Jessica crossed her arms and sneered repeatedly.
Li Zhixing was in a real bind.
If Zheng's mother knew that the two of them were secretly trading stocks behind her back, she would definitely skin Zheng's father alive and take care of him as well.
Li Zhixing quickly grabbed Jessica's arm, pleading pitifully, "Jessica, please give me a way out!"
Jessica gave a soft snort and turned her head to the side, refusing to look at him.
Li Zhixing then leaned over and gave her a leg massage in a flattering manner.
Jessica remained unconvinced and turned her head to the other side.
Li Zhixing got up and walked behind her, massaging her shoulders with extreme attentiveness: "Sika, spare my life."
Jessica finally smiled and said haughtily, "I'm hungry. I want seafood noodles."
"Alright, I'll go make it for our Ice Queen right away."
Li Zhixing felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly went into the kitchen.
No sooner had he left than his phone on the table began to vibrate slightly, and the screen lit up.
Jessica instinctively turned her head to look, and saw two words flashing on the screen.
Shun-gyu.
......