contract shackles：the hidden weakness of the cold -faced president

"Help me."

Gu Heng's voice was low and hoarse, with a kind of almost fragile plea that Lin Wei had never heard before, and it came clearly through the encrypted line. These two words, like a stone thrown into the lake of heart, instantly disturbed Lin Wei's calm mood after commanding a beautiful counterattack.

Help me.

Not an order, not an instruction, but a request. A request from Gu Heng, who always controls everything and is high above. He is showing weakness to her, he is admitting that he needs her.

Lin Wei's fingers holding the phone tightened slightly. On the screen, the stock price of Gu's Group finally stopped the cliff-like decline after experiencing that wave of precise short squeeze, and launched a fierce tug-of-war near 39 yuan. The shorts did not retreat, but their edge had been temporarily curbed. However, Blackstone's venomous snake information about the metabolic time of "Rizatriptan" still lingered in her heart, exuding a cold chill.

"Mr. Gu," Lin Wei tried to keep her voice steady, without too many waves, "The short position has been suppressed for the time being, but Blackstone will not give up. I need to know, where is the most likely point for them to attack next? The supply chain of the 'Dawn Plan'? Or... other more core areas?" She cleverly avoided the topic of drugs and heartache, and brought the focus back to the battlefield.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, with only Gu Heng's slightly heavy breathing. He seemed to be adjusting his mood and recovering from the brief loss of control just now.

"Their supply chain is temporarily blocked, and their target will shift." Gu Heng's voice regained some calmness, but the hoarseness and fatigue were still clearly audible. "Blackstone is good at psychological warfare and information manipulation. They know that you have discovered GH-0721, and they also know... my situation. They will use this to create greater chaos."

He paused, as if he was struggling to organize his words: "The group... is not a monolithic entity. Although Jay Chou has fallen, the secret stakes he left behind, and those shareholders who have doubts about my "health condition"... are all breakthroughs that Blackstone can use. Their next step is likely to use the media or internal channels to spread information that is unfavorable to me, undermine market confidence, and at the same time... alienate me."

Estrange. This word pierced Lin Wei like a needle. Blackstone has already begun! That message is the most insidious alienation!

"I understand." Lin Wei took a deep breath. "I will strengthen monitoring of the public relations and legal affairs to prevent the leakage of false information. For internal supervision, you need to authorize Li Zhe to conduct in-depth screening." She did not ask about his "health status" or mention that piece of information, but they both knew the sword hanging between them.

"Li Zhe's authority has been upgraded. He will cooperate with you." Gu Heng's voice was resolute, "In addition... prepare for the worst case scenario."

"The worst case scenario?"

"Blackstone may have... obtained some of the original files of GH-0721." Gu Heng's voice suddenly became extremely cold, with deep hatred, "They may choose to throw out some... distorted 'truths' at the critical moment."

Lin Wei's heart sank suddenly! Original files? Distorted truth? About the car accident? About her father? This is undoubtedly the most deadly weapon! Not only can it destroy Gu Heng, but it can also drag her into an abyss of no return!

"I know." Lin Wei's voice also turned cold, with a determination to burn both sides together, "If they dare to throw it, I dare to take it! The truth will not be distorted forever."

There was another silence on the other end of the phone. After a long time, Gu Heng's low voice came, with an indescribable heaviness and... a very subtle tremor:

"Lin Wei... Protect yourself."

After that, without waiting for Lin Wei to respond, the phone was hung up.

Listening to the busy tone in the receiver, Lin Wei was stunned. The words "Protect yourself" were like a warm current, but they were wrapped in heavy shackles, entangled in her heart. Is he worried about her? Or is he worried about the "distorted truth" related to her father that might be thrown out?

Blackstone's divisive venom began to penetrate silently.

***

The next battle entered a more cruel and stalemate stage. Lin Wei sat in the command center, like the most sophisticated war machine, fighting with Blackstone in every corner of the capital market. Gu Heng retreated behind the scenes, providing key strategic intelligence and internal screening support through the encrypted channel and Li Zhe.

A strange, silent tacit understanding was formed between the two. Lin Wei no longer asked about GH-0721, and Gu Heng never mentioned his headaches and medication. They only discussed data, strategies, and possible enemy movements. Every encrypted communication was efficient, calm, and to the point. But the suppressed emotional undercurrent about secrets and pain was like a hidden iceberg, colliding silently in the gaps between each conversation.

Lin Wei's stomachache was sometimes better and sometimes worse under the medication and high pressure, but she never stopped. Gu Heng's condition seemed to be transmitted through the encrypted channel - his voice was still hoarse and tired, but the despair of being on the verge of collapse seemed to be replaced by a fierce battle.

Late one night, only Lin Wei and Li Zhe were left in the command center. The screen showed the final closing price of the day: 39.2 yuan, which was difficult to hold. But after-market data showed that Blackstone had quietly established a large number of short positions through multiple hidden accounts, targeting the next key support level - 38 yuan.

"They are accumulating strength and preparing to launch a general offensive." Li Zhe was worried.

Lin Wei stared at the complex fund flow chart with a frown: "Their ammunition is more sufficient than we expected... There must be a larger pool of funds behind this."

Just then, Lin Wei's private encrypted tablet issued a special prompt sound - the highest priority message from Gu Heng. It was not a voice, but an encrypted file.

Lin Wei immediately clicked it. There was only a blurry but very impactful photo in the file - a yellowed page of interrogation records with a police file number. The name of the person being questioned was deliberately blacked out, but the key paragraph was clearly visible:

**"... Mr. (the blacked-out name) admitted that he forced overtaking on the curve in order to save time, which was the direct cause of the tragic collision with the oncoming vehicle (driven by Ms. Shen Jing)... He expressed great regret..."**

Below the photo, there was a line of cold text added by Gu Heng:

**[Blackstone has just sent this "excerpt" to three mainstream financial media and two key shareholders through anonymous channels. Target: Detonate before the opening tomorrow morning. ]**

Shen Jing! Gu Heng's mother!

Forced overtaking! The direct cause of the collision!

The blacked-out name... Lin Wei's blood froze instantly! Although the name was blacked out, combined with the context and Gu Heng's previous hints... The person who "forced overtaking" was most likely her father, Lin Zhiyuan!

The "twisted truth" thrown out by Blackstone! They really got part of the file! And chose the most lethal fragments! Not only did they want to strike Gu Heng, they also wanted to completely tear apart the fragile trust and alliance that had just been established between Lin Wei and Gu Heng!

Once this "evidence" was made public, Lin Wei's father would be charged with the crime of "the perpetrator"! And she, Lin Wei, as the daughter of the "perpetrator", was helping the son of the "victim" to protect the empire? How ironic! How would public opinion attack her? How would Gu Heng see her? How would those already wavering shareholders react?

Huge fear and a sense of absurdity of being played by fate instantly seized Lin Wei! She felt dizzy, her stomach ached violently again, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back.

"Director Lin? What's wrong with you?" Li Zhe noticed her abnormality and asked with concern.

Lin Wei suddenly came back to her senses, bit her lower lip tightly, and used the pain to force herself to calm down. No! No chaos! What Blackstone wants is her collapse!

She took a deep breath and forced herself to look at the photo again, examining every detail with the calmest analyst's eyes.

Suddenly, her eyes were fixed on the blank space next to the smeared name - there seemed to be an extremely small, almost ignored, non-original record...watermark? A very vague arc-shaped outline similar to the edge of a seal?

This outline...she seemed to have seen it somewhere!

In a flash, Lin Wei suddenly remembered! When she was investigating the connection between "Tongda International" and "Senyuan Wood Industry", she had seen a similar watermark on a very secret scan of the cancellation document of a shell company controlled by Jay Chou in his early years! It was the mark of an extremely niche underground studio that specializes in forging documents!

Forgery!

This thought exploded in Lin Wei's mind like thunder!

This so-called "excerpt of the interrogation record" was probably forged by Blackstone using that underground studio! They tampered with the original file!

"Li Zhe!" Lin Wei's voice trembled slightly because of excitement, but her eyes burst into amazing light, "Immediately! Use all technical forces to track the original sending IP and path of this photo! Focus on investigating an underground counterfeiting organization called 'Shadow Workshop'! At the same time, let the chief expert of the Ministry of Justice stand by. I want to get the preliminary counterfeiting opinion of this document within half an hour! Quick!"

Although Li Zhe didn't understand, he saw the light of life in Lin Wei's eyes and immediately took the order.

Lin Wei looked at the photo on the tablet again, her heart pounding. If this is a counterfeit... then Blackstone has made a fatal mistake! They are too impatient! They think that throwing out the "truth" can kill them in one blow, but they may expose their own flaws!

She picked up the phone, her fingers trembling with excitement, and dialed Gu Heng's encrypted line.

The call was answered almost immediately.

"Lin Wei?" Gu Heng's voice was accompanied by a hint of subtle tension and worry. Obviously, he also knew the lethality of this "evidence".

"Gu Heng," Lin Wei's voice was extremely clear, with a desperate determination, "That transcript... may be fake! I found a trace of a forged watermark! I have asked Li Zhe to track it down!"

There was deathly silence on the other end of the phone! A few seconds later, Gu Heng's voice came, terribly hoarse, but containing a raging anger and an... unbelievable shock:

"Are you... sure?"

"Technology is tracking it! But my intuition tells me that it is true! They forged the evidence!" Lin Wei said firmly.

"...Okay!" Gu Heng's voice suddenly became like an icy hell, "Lin Wei, listen! No matter what the identification results are, prepare the counterattack materials immediately! Once it is confirmed to be forged..."

He paused, his voice full of deep murderous intent:

"I want you to personally nail this forged "evidence" together with Black Stone's dirty claws on tomorrow's headlines! Use the loudest way to tell everyone - they have provoked the wrong person!"