Chapter 71: Shameless Sophistry and Equity Fists

Inside the conference room of the Chu Corporation, shareholders led by Wang Zeyu and Zhang Qingbo arrived ahead of time in a uniform fashion, as if they had planned it beforehand.

Chu Lihan was also present, representing his family of three. He looked somewhat isolated by the other shareholders, and his mental state was far from ideal.

On the contrary, President Chu Yan and the second-largest shareholder, Jiang Chen, entered the conference room last, with Yao Bing trailing closely behind Chu Yan like a personal bodyguard.

"President Chu, several enterprises under the Huang Group have successively terminated their contracts with the Chu Corporation. As the president of the company, shouldn't you give us all an explanation?"

Before the ad-hoc shareholders' meeting was officially called to order, Wang Zeyu took the lead in standing up to question Chu Yan, eager to put on a good performance before Wen Ruoxuan's arrival.

"Huang Bingquan, the chairman of the Huang Group, is a man who breaks his word. I am already actively looking for new partners and will definitely be able to replace those enterprises from the Huang Group!" Chu Yan glanced coldly at Wang Zeyu, her voice chilling.

"President Chu, please don't dodge the serious issue by dwelling on the trivial. It is an established fact that several enterprises of the Huang Group have severed ties with us, which directly leads to losses of over one billion for the Chu Corporation!"

Zhang Qingbo chimed in, adjusting his black-rimmed glasses before continuing, "Let alone the fact that President Chu hasn't found a new partner yet—even if you had, could it possibly patch up a hole this massive?"

As soon as the topic turned to financial losses that would impact their dividends, the crowd of shareholders grew agitated and indignant.

"Please give us a satisfactory explanation, President Chu, and don't let those of us who have given everything for this company lose our shirts!"

"Indeed, President Chu should fill this gap of over a billion first before discussing the matter of finding new partners!"

"That's right! Even if President Chu has to resign to take the blame, she must take responsibility for this and step down with some dignity!"

Every single shareholder who spoke attributed the fault entirely to Chu Yan, forcing her to take responsibility and step down.

Frowning, Chu Yan swept her gaze across the room and said, "I will bear the responsibility I ought to bear to the very end. However, as shareholders of the Chu Corporation, you only want to share in the wealth and refuse to share in the hardships. How can such a wonderful thing exist?"

"President Chu, as far as I know, it was because your husband Jiang Chen offended the Han family that the Chu Corporation was subjected to a comprehensive crackdown by the Han Group, prompting the Huang Group's enterprises to terminate their contracts at the very first instance!"

Wang Zeyu glared at Jiang Chen, who was standing beside Chu Yan, and rebuked, "Therefore, this is a disaster brought upon us by the two of you as a married couple. Why should everyone in the entire company act as your scapegoats?"

"Exactly! President Chu, you know very well what kind of character your husband possesses. The last time someone beat up Miss Wen right here in this room, I reckon it was mostly likely him beating up people from the Han family and inviting this calamity upon us. This is entirely your responsibility!"

"Well said! If the two of you hadn't offended the Han family, would the rest of us shareholders have been implicated?" Zhang Qingbo and the others chimed in, denouncing Jiang Chen and Chu Yan in unison.

"Enough!"

Chu Yan let out a cold shout, her presence radiating stern majesty. "Jiang Chen did indeed beat up the young master of the Han family, and that was because that beast acted worse than an animal—he deserved to be beaten!"

"If you want to talk about being scapegoats and being implicated, then let me help refresh your memories! Back then, when you insisted on investing in the landscape tourism development project, I voted against it, but every single one of you voted in favor!"

"And what was the result? The landscape project failed, construction was left half-finished, and hundreds of millions in investment went down the drain. Did any of you take responsibility? In the end, it was still up to me to clean up the mess. Was I acting as your scapegoat then? Was I implicated by you back then?"

Some of the shareholders lowered their heads in embarrassment, but Wang Zeyu and Zhang Qingbo showed not a shred of guilt on their faces.

"President Chu, you are the decision-maker of the company. Without your signature, the investment project could not have proceeded anyway. When all is said and done, it was still your decision-making error, so naturally, you must take responsibility!" Wang Zeyu argued self-righteously. Although they, as shareholder directors, held the majority of votes and forced the investment project through, Chu Yan was indeed the one who signed the papers.

"You—" Chu Yan was so furious she felt like hitting someone.

"Alright, President Chu, there is no need to bring up past matters again. The most pressing priority right now is to resolve the immediate problem!"

Wang Zeyu said triumphantly, "You and Jiang Chen now have only one way to make up for the losses of us shareholders, and that is to hand over a portion of your equity as compensation!"

"Impossible!" Chu Yan shouted furiously. Want elegance? Want equity? In their dreams!

"President Chu, I think what Wang Zeyu said makes a lot of sense..." Jiang Chen smiled, speaking with a deeper meaning.

"Jiang Chen, what nonsense are you spouting?" Chu Yan glared at Jiang Chen and barked a stop to his words.

Yao Bing also glared fiercely at Jiang Chen, silently cursing this bastard for having such severely impaired comprehension skills!

"Hahaha, President Chu, did you hear that? Even your husband thinks what I said makes a lot of sense! He is, after all, the second-largest shareholder of our company. He will definitely keep his word and use his equity to compensate us!"

Wang Zeyu burst into loud, excited laughter, suspecting that Jiang Chen knew Chu Yan was bound to lose and therefore wanted to abandon the sinking ship to join the winning side.

"Isn't that the truth? President Chu, you really ought to learn from your husband. Using equity to compensate the shareholders—this is precisely what you, as the president, should be doing!"

"We aren't asking for much either; compensate every shareholder with at least one percent of the equity. President Chu, that's not too much to ask, is it?" Zhang Qingbo and the others also laughed heartily, eager to carve up the equity held by Chu Yan and Jiang Chen.

The pretty faces of Chu Yan and Yao Bing were filled with anger. This group of corporate parasites was utterly detestable!

Right at that moment, Jiang Chen walked toward Wang Zeyu, asking with an entirely harmless and innocent smile, "How much equity do you want me to compensate you with?"

"Since the chairman transferred fifteen percent of the equity to you, you can just compensate me with five percent!" Wang Zeyu said arrogantly, a playful grin plastered across his face.

*Bang... Plop...*

Suddenly, Jiang Chen delivered a fierce punch straight to Wang Zeyu's face. The man was sent flying backward, his head knocked completely crooked as he spat blood onto the faces and clothes of the surrounding shareholders.

A dead silence fell over the entire room, and the smiles vanished entirely from the faces of the shareholders.

"Ah... Aaah..."

It wasn't until Wang Zeyu's miserable shrieks and the terrified screams of the other shareholders rang out that the stillness was broken.

Chu Yan and Yao Bing were also taken aback. Jiang Chen truly never played by the conventional rules. Although they knew resorting to violence was wrong, seeing Jiang Chen ruthlessly thrashing the shameless Wang Zeyu still felt immensely satisfying!

"Jiang Chen! How dare you hit me?!" Wang Zeyu roared from the floor, clutching his face. Even his wig had been knocked clean off his head.

"Now you're just misunderstanding me. Didn't you just ask for 'guquan' (equity)?"

Jiang Chen smiled and extended his right fist, asking with a grin, "Look at my fist—isn't it swollen and striking (gu quan)? Would you like another five percent?"

Damn it!

A stampede of alpacas thundered through Wang Zeyu's heart. This bastard had actually used a homophonic pun just to beat him up!

"Are there any other shareholders who want equity? I wouldn't mind giving all fifteen percent to them!" Jiang Chen shifted his gaze toward the remaining shareholders, raising his fist with an unyielding smile as he posed the question.

Terrified out of their wits, the shareholders all lowered their heads in silence. Who the hell would dare ask for this kind of "fist equity"?

"Chu Yan, aren't you going to manage your husband? Are you just going to let him run wild like this?" Unable to defeat Jiang Chen, Wang Zeyu could only direct his furious reprimands at Chu Yan.

"Sorry, I can't control him!" Chu Yan suppressed a smile, her voice cold and aloof. "Weren't you quite capable just now? You could turn white into black—you manage him, then!"

"You—" Wang Zeyu was so angry he nearly vomited a mouthful of old blood. With Chu Yan and Jiang Chen singing the same tune, did they really think they had him completely cornered?

"Has the shareholders' meeting started yet? Chu Yan, I have come to acquire the Chu Corporation!"

An arrogant laugh echoed from the doorway of the conference room as Wen Ruoxuan made her grand reappearance.