Chapter 9: The Most Beautiful Bride
At nine o'clock in the morning, in the conference room on the top floor of the Shang Group, Yan Shuang sat at the very end of the conference table. There was a faint dark shadow under her eyes, indicating that she had not slept all night, but her makeup was still exquisite, and even her hair was neatly tied up.
It was as if the girl who fled in the darkness last night had never existed.
The conference room door was pushed open, and Shang Qiuzhu stepped in, her expression still distant and indifferent.
"Let's begin." He sat down, his voice low and cold. "The Zhou Lin acquisition case."
The marketing director immediately pulled up a PowerPoint presentation and began his report: "Zhou Lin signed a letter of intent last night, but he still holds 5% of the core patents. This part is the real battleground."
Shangqiu Zhu lightly tapped his long fingers on the financial data of the Zhou Group. "The Zhou Group's technical team is valuable, but their financial structure has collapsed. We are not acquiring a company, but dismantling it. We keep the valuable parts and divest the worthless ones."
The marketing director couldn't help but interject, "But if we can't reach an agreement on the patent issues, we may get bogged down in a long-term lawsuit."
Shangqiu Zhu's lips curled slightly, but there was no smile in his eyes: "So, what we want is not negotiation, but to make him give up on his own."
With a swipe of his finger, he switched the screen to a shareholding structure diagram.
“Zhou Lin’s biggest need right now is cash flow, and his creditors are getting impatient. If we join forces with the banks to put pressure on him, he will either obediently hand over the patents or wait for bankruptcy liquidation.”
The meeting room fell silent, and admiration shone in everyone's eyes.
At this moment, Shangqiu Zhu turned to the side and nodded slightly towards the door: "In addition, the Shang family will cooperate with the Du family on this project."
The door was pushed open, and a tall figure stepped in. It was Du Yunchuan, the young master of the Du Group, and one of Shangqiu Zhu's few good friends.
He was wearing a dark gray suit, his eyes were smiling, and his temperament was gentle, which was completely different from Shang Qiuzhu's coldness.
"I've heard so much about you all." Du Yunchuan smiled and nodded, but his gaze inadvertently lingered on Yan Shuang as he swept across the conference room.
She was looking down at the documents, her eyelashes drooping slightly, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the edges of the pages, clearly lost in thought.
Shangqiu Zhu's cold voice suddenly rang out: "Secretary Yan."
Yan Shuang suddenly looked up and met his gaze unexpectedly.
What are your thoughts on patent clauses?
All eyes in the conference room instantly turned to her.
Yan Shuang quickly adjusted her breathing and said clearly, "Zhou Lin's 5% patents may not seem like much, but they involve core algorithms. If we forcibly divest them, the technical team may resign en masse, and then we will only be buying an empty shell."
She paused, then continued, "Instead of putting pressure on him, let's try a different approach. We can promise to retain his technical team and give them independent research and development rights, but the patents must belong to the Shang family."
A hint of interest flashed in Du Yunchuan's eyes. He turned to look at Shang Qiuzhu and said with a smile, "Qiuzhu, this secretary's thinking is exactly the same as our Du family's strategy."
The marketing director chimed in, "Secretary Yan is a finance major."
Du Yunchuan raised an eyebrow and looked directly at Yan Shuang: "In that case, Miss Yan, would you be interested in joining this project team?"
Yan Shuang was taken aback.
She did study finance in college, and was naturally interested in these kinds of capital acquisitions.
But as a secretary, she never imagined she would actually be involved in core projects.
She subconsciously looked at Shang Qiuzhu, as if seeking his opinion.
Shangqiu Zhu remained indifferent, only asking, "What are your thoughts?"
Yan Shuang pursed her lips and finally nodded: "I'm willing to give it a try."
Shangqiu Zhu withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "Well, then go ahead."
The meeting ended, and everyone left one after another.
Du Yunchuan walked to Yan Shuang's side and smiled gently: "Looking forward to cooperating, Ms. Yan."
Yan Shuang nodded politely, and when she looked up, she saw Shang Qiu Zhu walk away without turning her head.
For several days in a row, Yan Shuang did not return to the Yan family home.
She stayed at a hotel near the company, attending meetings with the project team during the day and organizing materials alone until the early hours of the morning at night.
She knew very well that this was her first time truly involved in a core project, and if she didn't perform well, she might not have another chance in the future.
She has to prove herself.
During lunch break, Yan Shuang and several colleagues from the secretariat sat together in the restaurant downstairs from the company.
"Yan Shuang, look at your phone!" Secretary Yang Xuanyun said with a smile, "Xiao Wang from the marketing department posted a picture on his WeChat Moments, it's hilarious, he actually photoshopped himself into a domineering CEO."
Yan Shuang glanced down at it obediently, a smile playing on her lips.
She casually swiped the screen, and suddenly, a familiar name jumped into her eyes: Zhou Yaqin.
That was a photograph.
Yan You stood in front of the dressing mirror in a snow-white wedding dress. Her mother stood beside her, gently adjusting her veil with her fingers, while her father stood on the other side, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
The caption reads: "My Youyou, will always be the most beautiful bride."
Yan Shuang paused slightly.
"Yan Shuang?" Yang Xuanyun noticed her unusual behavior. "What's wrong?"
Yan Shuang raised her face, a perfectly natural smile quickly spreading across her lips, and precisely picked up where her colleague had left off: "It's nothing, so what happened next? What was the client's reaction?"
Her voice was light and cheerful, her eyes bright, and she showed no signs of anything amiss, perfectly blending into the joyful atmosphere of the lunch.
Lunch was over. Yan Shuang and her colleagues walked out of the restaurant chatting and laughing.
The afternoon sun was a bit too bright, so she squinted slightly. Her colleagues were discussing whether they should order milk tea together that afternoon.
Yan Shuang listened absentmindedly, following the crowd around the corner outside the restaurant.
Just as she instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight, she didn't notice the person walking towards her and, unexpectedly, bumped solidly into a hard chest.
"Hmm!"
Her nose suddenly collided with the meticulously ironed fabric of the suit, and a familiar yet cool woody scent instantly enveloped her, mixed with a very faint hint of tobacco.
Yan Shuang was stunned for a moment from the impact, her forehead throbbing slightly. She instinctively took a step back and hurriedly looked up, saying, "I'm sorry..."
The apology was left unfinished.
Shangqiu Zhu was looking down at the person who had barged into his arms, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
Du Yunchuan, who was standing next to him, was clearly also taken aback by this sudden turn of events.
He raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, then a playful smile curved his lips as he watched the scene of someone throwing themselves into his arms with amusement.
"Mr. Shang, I'm so sorry!"
Shangqiu Zhu's gaze lingered on her flushed face for a second before she calmly replied, "Watch where you're going."
After passing each other, Du Yunchuan suddenly turned around and looked at Yan Shuang's departing figure. She was walking very fast, and her bodycon suit skirt outlined her slender figure.
"Tsk," Du Yunchuan chuckled, turning to Shang Qiuzhu, "Yan Shuang's shy expression is even more charming than her usual smile, isn't it?"
Shangqiu Zhu walked into the office without turning her head, her tone indifferent: "Are you very free?"
He picked up the coffee on the table, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
It's too astringent.
He looked up at Secretary Qiu, who was standing to the side: "Change it to another cup."
Secretary Qiu asked nervously, "President Shang, is the temperature unsuitable, or...?"
"It doesn't taste right," he said calmly.
Lin Sheng, standing to the side, keenly sensed the problem and tentatively asked, "Does Mr. Shang want the same flavor of coffee as before?"
Shangqiu Zhu looked up at him, her eyes filled with a hint of impatience, as if she already knew the answer.
Lin Sheng smiled and explained, "Your coffee has always been handled by Secretary Yan. She's in a meeting downstairs in the investment department. Should we call her up?"
Shangqiu Zhu's fingers paused for a moment on the rim of the cup.
Just by changing the person, the coffee can taste so different.
"No need." He withdrew his gaze, his tone still indifferent. "That's fine."
He picked up the cup of coffee that didn't suit his taste again, took a sip, his brows still slightly furrowed, but he didn't say anything more.
Lin Sheng stood to the side, glanced at him thoughtfully, and ultimately said nothing more before turning and leaving the office.
At this time, Yan Shuang had finished the meeting and stayed in the conference room to organize the materials.
She went through Zhou's Technology's financial reports, patent documents, and background information on the technical team for the past five years, and even dug up bank records of Zhou Lin's privately mortgaged shares.
She discovered a critical vulnerability.
Although Zhou Lin holds 5% of the core patents, the research and development funds for these patents actually come from a shell company overseas. And this company happens to have a secret connection with Zhou Lin's creditors.
This means that Zhou Lin is likely involved in illegal fundraising.
Yan Shuang immediately compiled this clue into a report and brought it up directly at the morning meeting the next day.
“If we pressure the regulatory authorities on the grounds of the legality of the patent’s origin, Zhou Lin will either have to give up the patent or face an investigation.”
Investment Department Manager Xue quickly checked the information on his tablet, his face beaming with excitement: "Found it! The shell company Yan Shuang mentioned is indeed involved with Zhou Lin!"
The team members who were engrossed in their work immediately surrounded them.
On the screen, Yan Shuang highlighted the key paths in red on the complex fund flow chart, accurately hitting the nail on the head.
"This is incredible!" A colleague from the finance department pushed up his glasses. "They even managed to dig up cross-border transfer records from three years ago."
Yan Shuang sat in her swivel chair, her fingertips still resting on the keyboard. Looking at the sincere admiration on her colleagues' faces, a long-lost warmth welled up in her chest.
This sense of satisfaction from professional recognition is more precious than any empty praise.
“I knew Secretary Yan was no ordinary person,” Wang Hequan, the project leader of the Du Group, declared. “Let’s go, let’s report to the two bosses right now!”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
