"How long do you plan to stay in Beijing?"

"Leaving tomorrow."

Liang was sitting at the entrance of the milk tea shop, holding Zhang Tian'ai in his arms, gently pinching her earlobe with his thumb and index finger, "Staying another day is just to see you."

He had originally booked a flight for 9:30 in the morning, but just before setting off, he suddenly thought of Zhang Tian'ai.

The last time they parted had been over two months, and he didn't know how she was doing at Mahua Theater, so he came to see her.

"It's pretty good, Mr. Zhang and Mr. Shen, and many theater teachers all take good care of me."

Zhang Tian'ai was slightly disappointed, having hoped and waited so long for Liang, only to spend a single day together.

The feelings were there to some extent, but more so, she had already experienced the benefits of having a strong backer.

As Liang's fame grew, Zhang Chen's attitude towards her improved as well.

Everyone she met were good, kind people, willing to help her.

Had she not struggled for years in Hengdian, she might have almost believed that all was peaceful and orderly.

Zhang Tian'ai knew it all stemmed from Liang.

Liang asked, "Is Mahua having a performance tonight?"

Zhang Tian'ai thought for a moment, "There's one, but I'm not the lead. I'm just a supporting actress and bow out after the second scene."

She was just a supporting actress, and besides, the play was dominated by male roles, which is why she managed to take a leave and was free to hang out with Liang.

Liang smiled and said, "I've grown up so much and it seems I've never watched a stage play, let's go watch it tonight if there's nothing else."

Zhang Tian'ai was stunned, moved, and embraced Liang's neck with her arms, her eyes watery with deep affection.

She clearly understood that Liang was going to see the play purely to support and bolster her.

"Let's go, and stop by to talk to Zhang Chen to see if there's any new movie project."

Liang smiled lightly, kissed Zhang Tian'ai's cheek, making no attempt to hide that it was all for her.

He was not so high-minded; he believed in letting the beneficiary know of the good deeds.

If the beneficiary doesn't acknowledge his kindness, then the good deeds he did would be in vain.

Liang thought of an egg project, which Tang Caidie had almost finished reviewing, just waiting for his signature to authorize.

Leaving Wangfujing, Liang called Zhang Chen, and then the two headed to the Mahua Theater in the Xicheng District.

"Mr. Lu, why are you here all of a sudden, we weren't prepared at all."

Zhang Chen panted as he ran out from the inner theater, his face beaming with a radiant smile.

His eyes fell on Zhang Tian'ai as he said with a rueful smile, "Tian'ai, Mr. Lu is here, why didn't you inform us in advance?"

"Mr. Zhang, you're too kind, no preparation needed. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision to come over."

Liang patted Zhang Tian'ai on the back of her head with an intimate gesture, "You have a leading role in a play later on, go get ready."

"Liang, Mr. Zhang, you guys talk. I'll go ahead and prepare," Zhang Tian'ai obediently nodded.

Her attitude towards Zhang Chen remained as respectful as usual, not using Liang's presence to throw her weight around.

Zhang Chen smiled genuinely, pleased, "Mr. Lu, you really are a benefactor to Mahua. Tian'ai has always been very diligent; she's quickly becoming one of our theater's beauties."

Liang smiled broadly, "Individual effort is definitely helpful, but in the face of a stage to display ambitions, it counts for little."

"You flatter me, Mr. Lu."

Zhang Chen beamed joyfully, seizing the opportunity to invite, "Tonight's play is called 'Friends', starting in an hour. Why don't you rest in our reception room first?"

Liang nodded, following Zhang Chen through the large theater to the administrative area behind, which also housed the Mahua's main headquarters.

People coming and going, a few of whom seemed like film and television actors, looked vaguely familiar to Liang, but he couldn't quite place them.

Zhang Chen introduced with a smile, "This is Mr. Lu from Tianxing."

"Mr. Lu, hello..."

Upon hearing their boss, everyone widened their eyes, their expressions filled with shock.

Because the new energy sector surged by 172 points today, Lu Liang once again made the hot search on Weibo.

It was hard to imagine that a legendary figure in the financial world had actually appeared before them.

Contrary to the mature appearance rumored among the folks, he looked to be only in his late twenties or early thirties.

"Um, hello."

Lu Liang gave a slight smile, and Zhang Chen noticed his lack of interest in these people, quickly waving his hand: "Go back to what you were doing."

He then turned to Lu Liang and said, "Mr. Lu, this way, please."

A group of employees awkwardly smiled until Lu Liang and Zhang Chen entered the office, and then they suddenly remembered the company's rumors.

Zhang Tian'ai, who had joined the Mahua Team due to the viral web series last year, seemed to have a vague relationship with Lu Liang.

The Crown Princess Consort was an investment by Lu Liang, Zhang Tian'ai was the female lead; she was able to leave Xitian Media without being blacklisted after the series' success.

This was enough to prove that she had someone behind her, someone with a background far stronger than Xitian Media.

If it was Lu Liang, it explained why Zhang Chen dared to take the risk of offending Xitian by accepting Zhang Tian'ai.

Lu Liang's appearance today was like an invisible thread, connecting all the disparate pieces together.

The director of "Friends" casually said, "Little Love has suddenly decided not to take the night off and to come back for the performance." f

Everyone looked at each other, and the case was solved.

They began to reflect on whether they had ever offended or made things difficult for Zhang Tian'ai; this girl had a terrifying background.

Although Lu Liang wasn't on the wealth rankings or the Hu Run elite list, no one dared to question his capabilities and his network.

Not to mention Tianxing Private Equity gathering the nation's top elites, Lu Liang's personal ability was also a presence not to be overlooked.

Yesterday, he invested 20 million US Dollars to establish a new energy research institute at Huaqing University; today, the sector soared by over eighty billion yuan.

Last year, the film industry's output barely broke the hundred billion mark.

The new energy sector today, simply because Lu Liang decided to enter the field personally, directly increased by eight times the total output of films.

There were many in various industries across the nation stronger than Lu Liang, definitely not the practitioners of the film industry.

Inside the office, after Zhang Chen exchanged a few pleasantries, he gradually moved onto the main topic: "Mr. Lu, I have something I'd like to consult with you about."

"Feel free to speak."

"Last year, our Mahua was listed on the New Third Board."

With the hit of Xia Luo, Zhang Chen also took advantage of the market's still existing heat to push forward with listing on the New Third Board.

But since the New Third Board had poor liquidity, coupled with the unprecedented four-day two circuit breakers at the start of the year, financing became exceedingly difficult.

That made him consider delisting from the New Third Board and transitioning to the Growth Enterprise Market, but the audit was never passed.

Among the various requirements for re-listing on the Growth Enterprise Market, Happy Mahua met them all except for lacking a lead figure.

Lu Liang was silent, flipping through the documents, as Happy Mahua had a market value of 4.32 billion yuan on the New Third Board.

Last year alone, Xia Luo brought in 1.95 billion yuan in revenue for Mahua, accounting for 51.8% of the annual total revenue.

This year, by mid-January, they issued 1.52 million shares at the price of 24 yuan per share, which was successful.

But just two months later, issuing 2.84 million shares at 106 yuan per share turned out to be a failure.

Lu Liang closed the documents and smiled slightly: "Mr. Zhang, haste won't get you hot tofu, so it's normal for the Growth Enterprise Market audit not to pass, as Mahua's revenue is too unstable."

Without Xia Luo, with Mahua's annual revenue not even reaching 200 million yuan, how could they justify a market value of 4.3 billion yuan.

Zhang Chen's mistake was knowing about the poor liquidity on the New Third Board, yet still rushing to finance—a failure was foreseeable.

Displaying an obvious fundraising intention, the Securities and Futures Commission wasn't foolish enough to let him pass the Growth Enterprise Market audit.

The lead figure was merely a facade.

Since there has always been a rumor online,

On January 7, the night of the second circuit breaker.

Mr. Xiao from the Securities and Futures Commission had called Lu Liang, asking for his opinion on the introduction of the circuit breaker mechanism.

What they discussed then was unknown.

Thus, there was a rumor that Mr. Xiao finally decided to cancel the circuit breaker mechanism because of Lu Liang's remarks.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com