Chapter 41
The next morning, Chen Huan received a call from Luo Dongyun, who asked, "Yesterday, we heard President Chang arguing with President Meng on the phone. Could it be... that President Meng wants to shut down Yixiang?" Chen Huan said no. Luo Dongyun breathed a sigh of relief. "Now that I think about it, President Li is easier to serve. When he was around, we worked from nine to five with two days off a week. There was less pressure to achieve results, and it was more prestigious to go out and do business."
Chen Huan didn't respond. She felt Luo Dongyun was right. The decade or so Li Ting had led Xuan Tao had coincided with a golden era for the growth market. He was a knowledgeable, courageous, and tolerant leader. Regardless of the outrageous rumors about his private life, his prestige within Xuan Tao was high. Entering the market was like a boatload of fishermen at sea; he braved the storms, yet never reaped the rewards alone.
But when the wind and waves proved too strong, the ship crashed into a trough, and even the strongest helmsman couldn't control the ship. A hole appeared in the bottom of the ship, and Meng Zixian drove the ironclad ship to catch up. Everyone knew only that the iron ship was watertight, and they scrambled to climb aboard, but no one knew whether the steam engine in the bilge was burning coal or flesh and blood.
Tuesday evening's board meeting was held at the Jingwan Hotel on the riverside. In front of the hotel stood a plaza and a fountain. Luxury cars streamed by, and women walked through the marble atrium, complete with high heels, handbags, notebooks, and pens.
The waiter led Shen Huan into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.
Chen Huan didn't know much about doing business, but she vaguely felt that Chang Yueqing's arrangement had a bit of a bluff.
In the past, whenever Li Ting pushed something, he always prioritized the main event upfront. He signed lucrative consulting contracts with directors, discussed the situation individually and in detail, thoroughly factored in every vote, even drafted meeting minutes and considered potential dissenting opinions. By the time the board of directors came around, there was no need for a major event.
But Chang Yueqing had only discussed the generalities up front. She'd actually booked the top floor of Jingwan for a meeting. The lighting, drinks, and backdrops all seemed to lay the chips on the table. The crystal chandeliers shone brightly, and the white seats on either side of the long table were neatly arranged, as if to prevent others from seeing her decisiveness.
However, Chang Yueqing and Li Ting have been side by side for so many years, Shen Huan thought, maybe Li Ting has his own plans.
From morning till now, Shen Huan had eaten two slices of white bread and drank a cup of black coffee. She was quite hungry.
A row of cold dishes lined the entrance to the conference room, but the people were too busy chatting and laughing to eat. The small plates lay untouched beneath the crystal chandelier, like split oysters.
Chen Huan stuffed three smoked duck rolls into her mouth one after another. When someone passed by and nodded to her, she closed her mouth and nodded to them steadily.
Ten minutes before the meeting, Chang Yueqing came to talk to her. CEO Gao Yufei also came over. Gao Yufei asked why Li Ting hadn't come. Chang Yueqing said that Li Ting couldn't sit still and would feel dizzy. Gao Yufei looked at Chang Yueqing in confusion, not convinced, but he didn't say anything more and changed the subject.
While they were chatting intently, Chen Huan picked up a mini toast cup and poured it into her mouth. Inside was avocado and salmon. The salmon didn't taste fresh, but it was smoked enough to mask the fishy smell. The avocado was also soft in her mouth, the kitchen had brought in some overripe avocado. But Chen Huan ate several in a row, facing the buffet counter, her back to the corridor and the conference room, so no one noticed her. With each piece she ate, she moved the plates behind her forward a little, trying to arrange them as neatly as possible.
Meng Zixian was very good at choosing avocados. He had good knife skills and sliced them evenly, squeezed some lemon, drizzled a few drops of olive oil, and finally sprinkled black pepper. If Meng Zixian wanted to, he would be a very good chef, but his mind was never on cooking. Chen Huan was happy to cook, but from knife skills to stovetop, her skills were not very good.
Chang Yueqing returned to the conference room, and Gao Yufei walked away to answer the phone.
Shen Huan stood by the cold dining table and poured a glass of watermelon juice. Behind him, Zhao Mingshan of Hengdao Holdings and Secretary Bei Hong walked over while chatting.
Zhao Mingshan said that he had not been able to get through to Meng Zixuan in the past few days and heard that he was fishing with someone at the Kuronia Spit.
Bei Hong laughed heartily. He said Meng Zixian had been a little Buddhist in the past week. A little Buddhist was good.
Zhao Mingshan, shaking a glass of red wine, explained that he'd spoken to Xiao Jun over the weekend. Xiao Jun, having worked under Pu Hongyue for so many years, must have a sharp mind. When Li Ting was still unconscious, Xiao Jun pushed the project harder than anyone else. Now that Li Ting was awake, Xiao Jun didn't want to push too hard. He'd be content to finally get Ronghui in his pocket.
Bei Hong hummed and nodded, echoing Zhao Mingshan's point. He said Qingyu was seeking shares for future cooperation, and Xiao Jun certainly didn't want to offend everyone. If Chen Yue didn't put pressure on him, Meng Zixian might just let it go.
Zhao Mingshan said that Xiao Meng's temper was sometimes too extreme, and he needed someone to keep him under control. In the past, it was Li Ting, Xiao Jun... It was hard to say whether Xiao Jun would be able to do it.
Zhao Mingshan handed the empty wine glass to Chen Huan when he said this, and said, "Waiter, please ask a few more people to deliver the drinks to the conference room."
Chen Huan didn't turn around, but leaned over to take the cup and walked away. She shouldn't have heard these words.
The meeting began at eight o'clock, with more than twenty people gathered around the table. Shen Huan didn't know if it was because she'd drunk too much watermelon juice earlier, or because the crystal chandelier above her head was too glaring, but as soon as Secretary Bei Hong started introducing the agenda, she felt her eyes couldn't focus.
Chang Yueqing began by discussing a few common topics: how employee equity incentives would be adjusted, and that the budget for the next fiscal year would be finalized next week. Halfway through her speech, the conference assistant announced a remote access feature. The projection screen, which had previously displayed only a live camera feed of the conference room, suddenly displayed a black square in the corner. It had no name, but instead displayed a +370 phone number.
Hengdao's Zhao Mingshan said this was Meng Zixian, right? Isn't +370 Belarus? Zhongzhou's Zhou Qiyuan said Belarus is 375, but Meng Zixian wasn't in Belarus, he was in Russia. Xi Yuhui said he was in Lithuania, so 370 was Lithuania. Zhou Qiyuan waved his hand and said, "Stop arguing; this is all former Soviet territory."
The black square unmuted, and a flat voice came. It was me, Meng Zixuan.
Zhao Mingshan quickly moved his chair towards the screen, as if he wanted to get closer to talk to Meng Zixuan. But the microphone was clearly in the middle of the table.
Zhao Mingshan raised his voice, "Can you hear me, Xiao Meng? Can you see us sitting here?"
"Yes, Mr. Zhao, I saw it." Meng Zixuan responded politely.
Zhao Mingshan breathed a sigh of relief. "Xiao Meng, you haven't answered the phone yet. Did you hear what Yueqing just said about Nuoyan? I've told you over and over again that you need to act quickly. Are you managing this post-investment exit? As a vice-president, I have to chase you down like a small manager to push for this matter..."
Gao Yufei, the CEO, felt as if he had been slapped in the face. He continued, "Mr. Zhao, we are exiting as quickly as possible. We have to exit step by step. The investment framework is designed like this. If we withdraw all the money, we won't get back 70 yuan if we don't make 100 yuan."
Xi Yuhui tried to persuade Zhao Mingshan, saying, "Mr. Zhao, look at the footnotes at the bottom of page seven of that PPT. Do you see them?"
Zhao Mingshan raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute!" He opened his glasses case, took out his reading glasses, put them on, and muttered, "Page seven, page seven, which page seven?" The conference assistant walked over and pointed to it. "Oh, I see," he said.
"Oh, yes, there is a cooling-off period," Xi Yuhui said.
Zhao Mingshan was still unconvinced and asked if he could borrow money to bridge the gap and change the name of the investment. He said, "You can't include this investment project in this year's annual report. I used to work in the pharmaceutical industry and I'm well aware of the regulatory risks."
They argued over Nuoyan. Actually, Nuoyan wasn't a big investment, but including it in the annual report would make Zhao Mingshan lose face, and Gao Yufei didn't want to lose more money for this.
The sounds piled up in Shen Huan's ears. She thought the cold dishes were definitely unhealthy, and her stomach churned, like the slow bubbling of molten iron. She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the round crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. It was like a rough-edged sun, baking her until she felt dizzy.
Meng Zixuan finally spoke and said that he would handle it before the end of the month.
As if a power outage had been triggered, the noise in the conference room died down. Zhao Mingshan moved his chair back with satisfaction, his demeanor once again respectful and elegant.
For the next two hours, Meng Zixuan dealt with one question after another, such as how much annual profit should be retained for reinvestment, whether shareholder dividends could be paid out first, and when Chen Yue's personnel appointments in venture capital and Ronghe would be finalized.
These were things that no one dared to say when Li Ting was around, but now everyone was eagerly waiting for Meng Zixuan to finalize them. The meeting didn't follow the agenda, and Chang Yueqing was like a cabbage left out, her face becoming increasingly unsightly.
Shen Huan felt a thick, sticky warmth in her esophagus, slowly pushing upward until it felt like cotton wool blocking her throat. She hurried to the bathroom, closed the door in the stall, took off her scarf, and lay on the toilet to vomit. Afterward, she felt the salty, fishy feeling in her stomach subside a little.
She sat on the tile floor, her back against the wooden partition, nausea pushing her against the wall like a tide. After a few minutes, she vomited again. Occasionally, when she heard someone come into the bathroom, she would flush the toilet and turn on the faucet in the stall sink to cover the sound of her vomiting.
After vomiting several times, her stomach felt empty. She rinsed her mouth and wiped her face with a towel. Her mouth tasted like rust. She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked. No one was calling her. She breathed a sigh of relief. The repeated vomiting had drained her strength. She curled up on the floor, the cold white of the tile stretching before her eyes. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.
When she woke up again, she checked her phone. Twenty minutes had passed. She felt like a vessel marinated in rotten avocado, watermelon juice, and duck meat, finally hollowed out. So she crawled out of the cellar, like a spirit without feet touching the ground, floating from the bathroom into the elevator, past the marble fountain downstairs, the noisy crowd, the busy traffic, and finally into an online-hailing car.
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