At this moment, the soft sofa felt as if hundreds of nails had been driven into it, making them wish they could stand up immediately to draw prizes, especially the cars, cell phones, computers, and other prizes on it, which were making them envious.
But glancing at Su Qingjiao lazily sipping red wine beside him, he had no choice but to suppress his excitement and ask for Su Qingjiao's permission.
"Miss, I heard that in previous years, they even gave away houses and luxury cars at the annual celebration. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true!"
"Then... can we participate even if we're not Zhou's employees?"
Su Qingjiao recalled what the shareholder had just said, raised her chin, and nodded haughtily.
"Okay, you can go and participate."
Seeing Su Qingjiao nod, everyone praised her for being beautiful, kind-hearted, generous, and magnanimous, and then stood up in great joy and walked towards the lottery stage.
On the stage, several high-ranking executives from the Zhou Group were taking turns spinning the turntable.
This turntable looks heavy and difficult to spin, but actually you don't need to use much force to make it spin very fast.
The spinning wheel kept creaking and rattling, but no one paid it any mind. They were still praying to win the grand prize or a car.
"I hope I can take a year of paid leave... Win a luxury car? The prizes have changed this year? Oh well, a sedan will do! Please bless me!"
The words had barely left his mouth!
The next second, there was a "thud" sound, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Before anyone could react, the pointer on the turntable disappeared.
However, the turntable was still spinning rapidly!
Without the pointer holding it down, the wheel spins faster and faster, drifting further and further away from the main axis. It looks like if it doesn't stop soon, it will turn into a flying disc and fly away in the next second.
As everyone stared in disbelief, the turntable detached from the main axis and flew off the stage with a whoosh.
In front of everyone, it flew high over their heads and then landed on an open ground five meters away.
"Bang!"
The turntable slammed violently onto the ground.
Fortunately, the guests had all gone to the second-floor lounge, so the spinning wheel landed on the ground instead of hitting the guests on the head.
Everyone present who witnessed the accident had lost the ability to control their own actions. They stood there like wooden figures, staring blankly at the giant turntable that had fallen out of control.
A bead of cold sweat slowly trickled down everyone's forehead.
If such a huge spinning wheel were to actually hit someone on the head, they'd probably get cuts and bleed on the spot.
Everyone was relieved that they hadn't been standing there.
In the deathly silence, the media, who had been invited by the Zhou Group to film the video, snapped out of their shock and began snapping photos of the scene.
With such a huge mistake made by the Zhou family, this news is sure to be the hottest trending topic tonight.
The clicking sound of the camera startled the old shareholder who was dealing with toasts.
Upon witnessing this scene, the old shareholders' faces instantly turned ashen, and they sternly rebuked the media.
"No taking pictures!"
He turned his gaze to the stunned Zhou Group executives on the stage and demanded angrily, "What's going on here? Which department organized tonight's annual meeting?"
"Such a huge blunder occurred on site, how could you do your job like this!"
"Also, I remember the prizes used to include a luxury car worth millions. What's going on this year? What is written on this?"
The surprise on the faces of the executives waiting on stage for the lottery instantly turned into fear and terror under the questioning of the old shareholders. Their eyes darted around as they hurriedly distanced themselves from the situation.
"President, this is not our finance department's business. Our finance department is only responsible for disbursing the money."
"President, our business department has not taken over this project either."
"I think this year's Zhou Family Annual Ceremony was organized by the R&D department, right?"
With the last sentence, everyone turned their attention to the R&D director, who was below the stage and about to go up to draw a prize.
The director trembled uncontrollably, fear pounding in his chest like bullets, under the old shareholder's grim gaze—
The director turned pale and began to regret his actions, realizing he shouldn't have embezzled so much.
But all of this is Xu Yan's fault. He should have told him that there wasn't enough funding. He shouldn't have made it so shoddy!
And it almost resulted in a serious accident.
Yes, it's all Xu Yan's fault!
The director was trembling with fear, but he still insisted on clearly explaining his case to exonerate himself.
"President, shareholders, I'm innocent!"
"I entrusted this task to my most capable and honest employee."
"I never imagined that such an honest man would make such a big mistake. The material of this lottery table is obviously problematic; it's far too cheap."
Explanation complete.
The director looked around the banquet hall and shouted, "Xu Yan, come out here and explain yourself!"
"I'm entrusting you with such an important task because of your usual diligence. This is a grand annual event, and every aspect is of utmost importance."
"I never expected that you, who seem honest and upright, are actually so cunning and sly."
Xu Yan, who was watching all of this backstage, felt his hair stand on end as if he were possessed the moment the pointer dropped, and cold sweat poured down his back.
From the start of the banquet, he dared not relax for a moment, keeping a close eye on all the surveillance cameras.
Unexpectedly, the place where mistakes were most likely to occur did not go wrong, but the place where mistakes were least likely to occur caused such a huge mess.
Xu Yan didn't know how he left the monitoring room and arrived at the banquet hall. He felt lightheaded, as if his soul was about to leave his body.
But those feet felt like they were filled with lead, pulling his entire soul downwards.
In this torn state, he stood before the director, whose eyes were blazing with fury.
His unfocused eyes reflected the director's face, which was a mixture of anger, cunning, and relief.
Like a water ghost finally finding a scapegoat, its chilling laugh dragged him down without hesitation: "I'm sorry, Director..."
"I've done my best with this material, considering I only got it this year—"
Xu Yan knew that the director was looking for a scapegoat; he himself had embezzled so much money, but he wanted to pin the blame on him.
Although Xu Yan worked hard and conscientiously at the company, he was not stupid.
He was simply carrying too much on his shoulders, and had no choice but to endure it! Many of his past research and development achievements had been stolen, and he could only silently bear it.
But this time is different!
Embezzling money from the company's annual meeting in front of so many high-ranking officials could land you in jail.
Just as Xu Yan was about to speak up to defend himself, the director interrupted him first. His questioning tone was harsh and fast, leaving Xu Yan no chance to interject.
"Xu Yan, the company has given you a budget of 200 million yuan."
"Is this how you do things? Look at what these hands are made of; they could break with a flick of a wrist! And look at these gifts—not even a decent luxury car brand! Forget about giving away a house!"
"With a budget of 200 million, you can't even find a good manufacturer?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
