Chapter 145: That's called internal and external troubles (Part 2)

Zhou Ming's worries were not unfounded, because just the next day, his fears were confirmed.

The next morning, when Zhou Ming and the others were about to go to the restaurant for lunch, Il'bedov and Boltarsky hurried over to them and said urgently, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, it's bad news. Just now, Mond Metallurgical Company announced that it had accepted foreign investment and sold 51% of its shares!'

This news made Li Cheng and Tong Gang take a cold breath at the time, because they all knew about this Mond Metallurgical Company. The company's chairman was also one of the people who came to the meeting room yesterday and caused a commotion. He was also considered to be one of the wealthy people in Krisko. Perhaps he was not as wealthy as Irbedov, but he had set a very bad example. No one could predict whether anyone else would follow suit.

Irbedov and Bortasik also thought of this point, which is why they hurried here to tell Zhou Ming.

'That damned bastard, without so much as a word of warning, has gone over to the side of the Tower Project, he's got no shame at all!' Du Peng cursed angrily, although they hadn't failed to consider this outcome, they still felt anger.

Compared to the irritable Du Peng, Zhou Ming looked much more composed. After listening to him, he didn't rush to say anything, but thought about it for a moment before asking Irbedov, 'Did this happen this morning? Has the share transfer agreement been signed, or is it still being negotiated?'

'It's already been signed,' Irbedov replied, his face a little embarrassed. 'This damned guy, I heard that he had been in contact with Mr. Meta early on. He also bought a lot of shares when the stock price skyrocketed before, and when the stock market opened again this morning, Mondi's stock price skyrocketed by more than 100%, and then he signed a share transfer agreement with a German company.'

Il'bedov added later, 'He didn't tell us anything beforehand, and we didn't know about it until today, when a friend happened to be in that hotel.'

Zhou Ming glanced at him and felt that this addition was completely unnecessary, because there was no obligation to inform his side. Even if he did say it, his people could do nothing about him. After all, he was an independent legal person of Mond Company. He had the right to make his own decisions, and his side had no right to interfere. It was just that he felt that this was too mocking, and he didn't say it so that he could still have fun here in the future.

Zhou Ming nodded and let out a breath, saying, 'Okay, I understand. We are going to go have lunch now. Would you two like to join us?'

Zhou Ming's words made Il'bedov's eyes light up. 'Mr. Zhou Ming, have you thought of a good solution? If so, just tell us and we can get ready right away.'

However, Zhou Ming just smiled and shook his head, telling him, 'That's not it. I haven't thought of a good solution. It's just that it's time to eat, so we should go.'

This answer made Ilbedov feel extremely surprised. He couldn't figure out what was going on in Zhou Ming's head. If the previous calmness was to stabilize the troops, then now someone had openly defected and betrayed them. How could he still eat?

Zhou Ming saw what Ilbedov was thinking and patted him on the shoulder, saying, 'My Northern Russian friend, I'm not really heartless. It's just that, as I said before, there's nothing we can do about the current situation, and we can only choose to continue waiting.'

'I don't understand, Mr Zhou Ming, what are we waiting for?' Boltarsky asked.

'Waiting for a time that is more favourable to us,' Zhou Ming replied.

Facing this answer from Zhou Ming, Irbedov and Boltarsky looked at each other, and in the end both of them revealed a wry smile. In the end, Irbedov shook his head and said, 'No need, Mr Zhou Ming, you go ahead and eat. We are more worried about the situation in the stock market.'

Bortaszki also said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I know you must have your own plans, but please also take care of the emotions of all your collaborators.'

After saying this, Irbedov and Bortaszki turned and left. After they had left, Tong Gang looked in the direction they had left and asked Zhou Ming, 'Are you sure it's okay to just let them go like that?'

'How could there be no problem? There's a big problem,' Zhou Ming said. "But there's really nothing we can do now. We can't possibly invest tens of billions of dollars to hedge against the Dota project, can we? Not to mention that we don't have the strength to do so. Even if we did, I think it would be very uneconomical to do so.'

'I understand, but in that case, we're going to have a very hard time in the next few days," Li Cheng said.

Li Cheng's words were just a spontaneous outpouring of emotion, but they turned out to be prophetic. Starting the day after Irbeldov and Boltarsky came to see them, the phone calls just kept coming.

'Mr Zhou Ming, things are not good. The oil stock has already risen by more than 100 percentage points today. The people from Urals Group are already in contact with Mr Mata, hoping to get foreign capital injections!'

'Today, several small and medium-sized banks, including Krisko Commercial Bank, have reached agreements with Western securities companies to jointly operate the stock market. Today, a lot of capital has flowed into the stock market from these small and medium-sized banks, further exacerbating the rise in the stock market.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, someone saw Smog go to Villa 8, where Mr. Meta is staying, this morning. I'm afraid he also wants to talk about cooperating with the Dota Project!'

...

On the balcony of the room, Zhou Ming was sitting there looking at Geller Street. He was still holding the phone in his hand. This was another call that had just come in. Someone else was talking to the Dota Project about cooperation.

Su Han sat next to Zhou Ming, and she helped him fill his teacup. She could tell that Zhou Ming was depressed. After all, getting a phone call like this was not something that made anyone happy. However, suddenly Zhou Ming spoke: 'Xiao Han, do you think I can still hang in there?'

Su Han did not react at first, and it was only after Zhou Ming repeated himself that she reacted. She said in surprise, 'Zhou Ming, what are you talking about? Of course you have to hang in there. Isn't this what you planned a long time ago?'

'It is true that I planned this long ago, but if this continues, I'm afraid there won't be many people left on our side. After all, the current situation is really too bad.' Zhou Ming said, 'You heard what happened over there. At first, it was just some unimportant people who went over to the Dota Project, but now it has developed to the point where even Smog has gone over. He is now one of the seven richest men in Krisco and is considered to be the core figure of our cooperation. It would be fatal for him to do this.'

Su Han nodded to show that she understood. If the betrayals of others such as Mond or the Ural Group could be said to be due to unstable situations, then with Smog's betrayal, the entire situation could be said to have collapsed. It was conceivable that even a character like Smog no longer trusted Zhou Ming, so how could anyone else trust him? It was just like a swarm of bees taking advantage of the opportunity to quickly draw a line with Zhou Ming.

'So what should we do now? Should we go find Mr. Il'bedov and Mr. Boltarsky to come over and talk?' Su Han asked.

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'No need for Irbedov, but as for Boltski, I think we'll meet him today.'

This answer made Su Han pause for a moment, but before she could say anything, Katerina came outside to report that Boltski had come to see Zhou Ming. Su Han said in surprise that Zhou Ming was really amazing, while Zhou Ming waved his hand with a wry smile, saying, 'I'd rather he didn't come, because whatever good news he has to tell me, it's definitely not good news.'

Zhou Ming asked Katerina to invite Boltanski in. The second richest man after Irbedov came in and sat directly in front of Zhou Ming and asked, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, do you still plan to wait?'

'Of course, this was my plan from the beginning,' Zhou Ming replied.

'But do you know what happened today?' Boltanski asked again.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'Yes, Mr. Smog went to Villa 8 of Mr. Meta.'

Hearing this answer, Boltarsky suddenly burst out laughing. He said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Smog? It is indeed Mr. Smog, but Mr. Zhou Ming, I'm afraid you don't know that Mr. Smog went to Villa 8 with your most trusted Mr. Il'bedov!'

'That's it, my worst fear has come true,' Zhou Ming said.

Bortansky's eyes widened: "Mr. Zhou Ming, how can you still be so indifferent? Are you not at all surprised, or is this something you arranged?'

'I want to say that this is not the case. On the contrary, I am afraid that this will happen," Zhou Ming said.

'Then Mr. Zhou Ming, are you still not going to do anything, or are you just going to keep waiting?' Bortansky asked.

Zhou Ming sighed. After sitting for a while, Bortaszki left. Su Han wanted to say something in response to Bortaszki's departure, but at this time, Zhou Ming's phone rang again. Zhou Ming answered, but this time it wasn't his partner, but David from the Dota Project.

'Mr. Zhou Ming, I presume you have already heard the news about Mr. Irbeldov coming to Villa 8? In fact, I'm calling you now not because I have anything else to say, but because our Mr. Meta feels that you still have a lot of potential. If you can cooperate with us now, it would not be a bad choice. I wonder what you think, Mr. Zhou Ming?' Davie asked provocatively, perhaps deliberately, speaking in Chinese.

Upon hearing David's voice, Su Han immediately perked up, and after hearing what he said, Su Han was furious: 'This guy is so arrogant!'

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and answered in English: "Thank you very much, but no.'

'That's a real pity, Mr. Zhou Ming is still too young and likes to act on impulse!" David finally sighed and hung up.

After Davier hung up the phone, Su Han couldn't help but say, 'He was deliberately mocking you, otherwise why would he even be prepared to speak Chinese?'

Zhou Ming, on the other hand, revealed a smile: 'It doesn't matter what he wants to mock me about, but after this phone call, I feel like what I've been waiting for is about to happen.'