After the counselor left, Zhou Yi quickly sat up in bed, wiped off the white powder from his lips, and showed no signs of illness.

Although the counselor seems to be a good person, this matter is of great importance, and only Aunt Zhou would pretend.

When anyone else came, Zhou Yi would carefully disguise himself to avoid the shareholders realizing that he hadn't fallen for the trap at all.

After leaving the hospital, the counselor took a taxi back to school.

On my way to report to the dean, I happened to run into a colleague who was coming out of the dean's office.

My colleague walked over with a beaming smile, his face radiating undisguised confidence, as if the deputy director position was already a sure thing.

Even when you see your counselor, you should go to the dean's office, and your colleagues will greet you proactively.

"So, did you manage to secure the sponsorship? How much did you get from Zhou Yi?"

The counselor shook his head calmly: "Not yet, we'll have to wait until after the Zhou family's annual celebration."

Upon hearing this answer, the colleague's expression froze, and he asked suspiciously as if he had guessed something, "He wouldn't have invited you to the Zhou family's annual celebration as well, would he?"

"You also have an invitation?"

The counselor calmly shook his head and explained Zhou Yi's words: "No, he said there was someone waiting for me at the door, and I can go in."

Upon hearing this, the colleague chuckled quietly.

The Zhou Group is a listed company and one of the top groups in Luzhou. Do you think it's so easy to get into their annual meeting? They didn't even send an invitation?

My colleague covered her mouth and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. I just think you're too naive, and I couldn't help it."

"How can you get in without an invitation from the Zhou Group?"

"Look at you, you've been in the workforce for a few years now, how come you still believe everything people say? I think you've been tricked by those students!"

"To tell you the truth, I was also invited to the Zhou family's annual celebration. It was Su Qingjiao who gave it to me personally. But unlike you, I received an invitation letter for the celebration."

Faced with her colleagues' doubts and disbelief, the counselor recalled Zhou Yi's face and the student's confident and composed expression.

He shook his head and said dismissively, "Perhaps I can get in without an invitation. I trust my student; he wouldn't joke with me!"

Although there was no invitation, he believed that Zhou Yi must have made arrangements!

Seeing that the counselor believed him without any reason, the colleague's face showed a hint of sarcasm.

With one less competitor, the deputy director position is definitely his. He said, "I really didn't expect you to believe something that's just empty talk so easily."

"Since you trust Zhou Yi so much, I won't argue with you anymore."

"Come with me when the annual ceremony arrives!"

"I'd also like to see how to get into the Zhou Family Annual Ceremony without an invitation."

After a pause, the colleague seemed to realize something, and the strange look on her face deepened: "Zhou Yi's arrangement for you, you didn't mean to have his mother get you a cleaning uniform to sneak in, did you?"

My colleague's words are getting increasingly unpleasant, and there's even a hint that he wants to see me make a fool of myself.

Sure enough, colleagues who seem easy to talk to can turn on you when it comes to personal gain.

The counselor frowned slightly, and his usually good-tempered tone became somewhat stern: "You're being too harsh. Besides, you didn't get the sponsorship either."

"It's not time to decide the winner yet, so there's no need for you to be so smug and sarcastic."

"Let's wait and see. Whether it's true or false, everything will be clear in time."

After saying that, he stopped talking to his colleagues and went straight to the dean's office.

-

The next day.

The large conference room on the top floor of the Zhou Group building can accommodate over a hundred people.

Today's meeting was attended not only by Zhou's senior management, but also by all of Zhou's shareholders, which shows the importance of the meeting.

The atmosphere was very heavy. Everyone had a document on their desk, and their expressions were unreadable.

"Your advertisement was already making headlines online half a month ago."

"Now everyone knows that our Zhou family is going to launch a hair care shampoo, and everyone is waiting for this shampoo to be released."

"But it's been half a month, why has there been no news all of a sudden?"

"Your research results won't fall short of the publicity goals, will they?" a shareholder with a small stake asked with a frown during the meeting.

Because he didn't own many shares, he was even more worried about whether the Zhou family could make money.

News about the Zhou Group has been flying around these past few days, and even the stock price has been fluctuating.

He has never paid attention to any of the decisions made by the president of Zhou's Group, but in this situation, as one of the shareholders, even if he is just a small shareholder, he should at least find out about the current situation and internal strife within Zhou's Group.

Aunt Zhou looked at the minority shareholder who spoke first. She remembered every shareholder in the company, no matter how much they owned.

This shareholder has never been involved in company affairs, so there is no question of them taking sides.

His question wasn't meant to be provocative or interrogative, but rather because he genuinely worried about the potential impact on his interests.

Aunt Zhou's gaze swept across the other shareholders, quickly revealing which shareholders were on her side.

Aunt Zhou withdrew her gaze and solemnly explained to the shareholders.

"Our product still needs some improvement."

"Moreover, our group's advertisements and promotions do not specify the release date, so even if it is delayed by half a month, it does not constitute a breach of contract."

She had already shown the improved formula that Zhou Yi had given her to the people at the research institute.

After seeing it, they praised it highly, saying that the person who came up with such a combination was a genius.

Although we don't know how effective it will be, we can try to figure it out first!

Aunt Zhou's words instantly changed the expressions of all the shareholders, who began to question her.

"Improvement? In other words, it's not perfect yet? We're here today to see you come up with a new product and see its effectiveness verified! Not to hear you talk about improvements."

"You called us all here, but the new product hasn't even been made yet. Are you just messing with us?"

“Young people just lack experience. We spend so much money on advertising every day. If you postpone the release date, we'll have to keep advertising non-stop. Do you know how much money that will waste?”

“Our Zhou family’s products are doing just fine, but you insist on doing market research and developing markets that we’re not familiar with. Now you’re telling me that we need to improve them and postpone the process. I think it’s better to cut our losses now. We don’t need to develop this new market.”

The senior executives in the conference room didn't dare to move.

Everyone watched with their eyes closed and their minds focused as the conflict between the shareholders and the president erupted.

The person who sat most comfortably throughout the meeting was the largest shareholder.

He always wore a faint smile, sitting in his seat with an air of shrewdness, occasionally exchanging glances with Aunt Zhou.