Chapter 38: In Your Dreams, Try Me If You Dare

As Chu Yan’s voice rang out, every gaze in the room turned toward her.

Refusing to give Wen Ruoxuan any face and rejecting the acquisition of the Chu Group in public—surely, she must be unaware of just how formidable Wen Ruoxuan’s background was!

"President Chu, you may not be aware, but this is Miss Wen Ruoxuan from the prestigious Wen family of Haidu. Her acquisition of the Chu Group is intended to help us develop the company even better!" Wang Zeyu stood up, his bald head gleaming, and smilingly introduced Wen Ruoxuan’s pedigree.

"Exactly, President Chu. We have already discussed this with Miss Wen earlier. Even though the Chu Group is being acquired by her, you will still remain as the company’s president!" Zhang Qingbo also rose, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses with a smile. "With the backing of a powerhouse like the Wen family, our company is bound to become the number one enterprise in Linzhou!"

Upon hearing this, Chu Yan was almost driven to laughter by sheer anger. She was the owner of the Chu Group, yet these two major shareholders were actually urging her to sell the company and work for someone else. For the sake of profit, they had completely abandoned all sense of loyalty!

However, the revelation of Wen Ruoxuan’s identity did shock her. A dignified daughter of a top-tier Haidu family choosing to bypass the development opportunities in Haidu just to come to Linzhou to acquire the Chu Group—it was truly baffling.

"President Chu, my acquisition of the Chu Group is the will of the people and the trend of the times. If you truly care about the company, you should agree." Wen Ruoxuan sat in the president’s chair and said with a smile, "Besides, I am only acquiring fifty-one percent of the shares. We can all make money together; why wouldn't you want that?"

Chu Yan felt that this woman was utterly hypocritical. Her own stake was only thirty-two percent. If Wen Ruoxuan acquired more than half, the Chu Group would effectively be renamed to Wen!

Because her grandfather held sixty-two percent of the shares—which he had distributed among her, Jiang Chen, Chu Lihan, and others—this fifty-one percent stake would be acquired from the Chu family. It wouldn't diminish the interests of other shareholders; in fact, it might even increase them! Once Wen Ruoxuan succeeded, the Chu Group would exist in name only, and the Chu family would effectively be purged from the Five Great Families of Linzhou.

"To occupy a magpie’s nest and still speak so self-righteously—is the skin of a lady from the Haidu Wen family really that thick?" Jiang Chen glanced at Wen Ruoxuan, spinning his car keys as he spoke with a sneer.

The smile on Wen Ruoxuan’s face froze, and her expression darkened.

Seeing Jiang Chen speak so recklessly and call Wen Ruoxuan thick-skinned, the shareholders of the Chu Group were startled. Where did this idiot come from? Was he looking for death?

"Insolent!"

The female assistant beside Wen Ruoxuan let out a cold shout. Seeing the car keys in Jiang Chen’s hand, she looked at him with contempt and commanded, "You lowly chauffeur, how dare you be disrespectful to the young lady? Kneel down and beg for forgiveness at once!"

"President Chu, this driver of yours is speaking out of turn and has even offended Miss Wen. Fire him immediately!"

"Not only that, you must blacklist him from the company, never to be hired again! Let him have no place to stand in Linzhou. That is the price for offending Miss Wen!" Wang Zeyu and Zhang Qingbo pressed Chu Yan to banish Jiang Chen, desperate to curry favor with Wen Ruoxuan.

"Do you all enjoy being someone else's dog so much?" Jiang Chen asked coldly.

"You bastard!" Wang Zeyu roared in fury. "I am the second-largest shareholder of the Chu Group..."

"You aren't anymore. I am the second-largest shareholder of the Chu Group," Jiang Chen corrected him, interrupting him. While they were in the car, Chu Yan had already briefed him on the status of the other shareholders.

"You? How laughable!" Wang Zeyu laughed in anger, looking at him with disdain. "A bottom-feeding peasant like you is only fit to be a driver. Don't even dream of being a shareholder of the Chu Group for the rest of your life!"

"President Wang, watch your tongue. Standing before you is the second-largest shareholder of the Chu Group, Jiang Chen! He holds fifteen percent of the company's equity!" Chu Yan reminded him coldly, the words landing like a slap across Wang Zeyu’s face.

"What? He holds fifteen percent of the company's shares?" Wang Zeyu was shocked at first, then scoffed, "President Chu, stop joking. How could a peasant like him..."

"This is the equity transfer agreement from my grandfather. Read it clearly before you speak!" Chu Yan pulled the document from her folder and tossed it to Wang Zeyu.

"This is impossible! Why would the Chairman transfer equity to a peasant?" Wang Zeyu denied it while opening the agreement to check. His face went pale with shock. "An unconditional transfer of fifteen percent of the equity to Jiang Chen?! This... this is actually true!"

The "peasant driver" he had insulted was actually the second-largest shareholder, sitting right above him. He felt as if his face had been thoroughly pummeled.

Zhang Qingbo and the other shareholders were even more stunned, their gazes toward Jiang Chen shifting to one of wariness. Even Wen Ruoxuan and her assistant were taken aback, realizing they had misjudged him.

"Since the shares were transferred to you by the Chairman of the Chu Group, then they belong to me. I still need thirty-six percent!" Wen Ruoxuan’s smile returned, determined to have the Chu Group.

"Are you dreaming?" Jiang Chen looked at Wen Ruoxuan as if she were an idiot. "You want everything—do you want a slap to go with it?"

The smile vanished from Wen Ruoxuan’s face again, replaced by seething rage.

"You ignorant wretch! Even if you are the second-largest shareholder, you are nothing but an ant in front of the Young Lady. I can crush you whenever I want!" The female assistant cursed, clenching her fists as she prepared to teach Jiang Chen a lesson.

"Go ahead and try to crush me," Jiang Chen said nonchalantly.

"Do it!" Wen Ruoxuan commanded, intending to make an example of Jiang Chen. Her assistant was a martial arts master with real-world combat experience; she could easily take down everyone in the Chu Group, let alone a posturing ant!

The assistant understood perfectly. Narrowing her eyes, she said sharply, "You have repeatedly disrespected the Young Lady. I’ll start by smashing your mouth!"

*Whoosh!*

She swung her right hand violently, delivering a fast and ruthless slap toward Jiang Chen’s face.

"Watch out!" Chu Yan warned instinctively, fearing Jiang Chen would be injured.

*Slap... spit... bang!*

A crisp sound of a slap echoed through the conference room, followed by the sound of someone spitting blood and slamming into the wall.

Everyone was stunned. Before they could even see Jiang Chen’s movement, they saw the assistant slam into the wall, bounce back, and vomit blood.

"Is that it?" Jiang Chen looked down at the assistant on the floor and asked with a cold smirk, "You’re so slow—did you not eat breakfast this morning?"

The assistant was so furious she almost vomited blood again. She was a martial arts master! For this "ant" to dare humiliate her, and for her to be swatted away with a single slap—it was utterly humiliating!

"You have such audacity!" Wen Ruoxuan glared at Jiang Chen, shocked and furious. "How dare you strike my person? Are you trying to make an enemy of the Wen family?"

In her eyes, Jiang Chen striking her assistant was the same as slapping her, Wen Ruoxuan, in the face. It was unforgivable!

"What is the Wen family anyway? I’ve swatted a dog, so what? If you’re not satisfied, you can try me!" Jiang Chen didn't hold the Wen family in any regard at all, rubbing his fingers as he walked toward Wen Ruoxuan.

His cold words fell, stirring up a storm. The crowd was paralyzed with fear, all feeling that Jiang Chen had become far too arrogant.

Could this guy actually be planning to strike Wen Ruoxuan?