Chapter 35
Meng Zixian saw Xiao Jun out, and Chen Huan fell asleep on the sofa. When she woke up, she felt her ankles were a little cold and her toes were curled up. She opened her eyes and saw her calves resting on Meng Zixian's knees. He pinched her left ankle with his palm and pressed the ice pack with his other hand. Her instep relaxed again. Meng Zixian raised his eyes and looked at her face, his eyes thoughtful.
Shen Huan didn't know what he was thinking about, she thought it might be related to the holding company.
Li Ting said that Meng Zixian wanted more than just a few titles on the board of directors and management, and he would not be satisfied with the banking and investment sectors.
During the two months that Li Ting had been recuperating from his stroke, Qingyu's share of Ronghui's voting rights was about to exceed 25%. Weiss Capital had sided with Meng Zixian from the outset, and the other two private equity shareholders would also cooperate with the equity transfer at the next board meeting.
This was partly due to Li Ting's health, but more importantly, it was due to Ronghe's poor performance over the past two years, and shareholders were unconvinced by management's strategic direction. Li Ting still had actual control over the company, but only if he held the position of head of the board of directors.
Many small shareholders of Xuantao Group's holding company in Gangcheng were persuaded by Meng Zixian to sell their shares. Now that the price of gold is rising, it is difficult for them to refuse the temptation of a large sum of cash from Qingyu.
Shen Huan asked, “Does Xiao Jun want to buy my shares?”
Meng Zixuan seemed to come back to his senses and asked her what her plans were.
Shen Huan thought for a while, and she said: "I want to leave the shares directly to Li Ting." She knew that this made Meng Zixuan unhappy, but only in this way would Li Ting and Chang Yueqing not embarrass her.
Meng Zixian looked at her for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the injury on her ankle. He said the shares had voting rights. Shen Huan nodded, so if she didn't return them to Li Ting, she would get into trouble. Shen Huan said, "Before coming to the United States, I signed a power of attorney, and the voting rights belonged to Li Ting." Meng Zixian lifted her ankle and placed an ice pack underneath. His movements were gentle, but his voice was filled with contempt. He said, "The power of attorney is a piece of waste paper."
"Why is it waste paper?" Shen Huan asked.
“I will go to court to have it quashed.”
Shen Huan propped himself up with his arms and sat up. "Before the gift, Chang Yueqing will exercise the voting rights on his behalf. After the change is passed, the shares will be returned to him. This is what Li Ting and I agreed on."
"No." Meng Zixuan said.
Shen Huan said, "The proxy has been signed, and the board meeting will be held in two weeks. If you want shares, you can ask Li Ting to buy them."
"This is not something you can decide," he said in a low voice, but his words were clear: "You chose me, so I have to arrange things."
Shen Huan opened his mouth slightly and took two deep breaths, "When did I choose you?"
Meng Zixuan withdrew his gaze from her ankle and looked up at her. He replied calmly, "You filed for divorce from Li Ting, flew to New York, slept with me, and moved into my house. What do you think you're doing?"
"This is a private matter between the two of us. What does it have to do with Xuan Tao?" Shen Huan asked.
"Private matter." Meng Zixuan chuckled softly and put the ice pack on her instep. "You are lying to yourself. Levin saw my car last night, and Wu Ruifeng has arranged the position of vice president for you today. You will no longer be Mrs. Li when you go back. Li Ting will no longer trust you."
Chen Huan blinked in confusion. She had thought she could avoid the fight between Li Ting and Meng Zixian. She didn't understand why Meng Zixian couldn't let her go. Chen Huan knew Chen Yue was jealous of the shares, but Meng Zixian must have other ways, right? She felt that Meng Zixian had taken advantage of her. She had let him into the room last night without knowing what was going on, but he knew exactly what he was doing.
She pulled her feet away from him and sat up on the sofa. "Is this what you came here for last night?"
Meng Zixuan's left hand remained in the same position as before, while his right hand was suspended in mid-air, holding an ice pack. Hearing her words, he raised his head, took a slow breath, placed the ice pack on the coffee table, and then turned his head to look at her. A hint of indifference shone in his eyes.
From his disappointed eyes, Shen Huan knew she was wrong. Perhaps he came to see her just because he wanted to. But it made no difference to her. He was unwilling to give in and leave her in a difficult situation.
Meng Zixuan smiled, but there was no smile in his eyes, "If I want shares, I don't need to sleep with you, right?"
Shen Huan moved her feet from the sofa to the ground, her palms resting on the edge of the sofa. "I've already fallen asleep." Her voice was dry, her eyes fixed on the carpet under her feet. "Can't you let me go?"
"Sleeping with you for one night will earn me tens of billions?" His tone was cold.
Those words hurt. Ten years ago, she would have yelled at him, cried, and used the most awful words to retaliate, but not now. Perhaps because she had been hurt so many times by him, her body had become numb, so no matter how much he embarrassed her, she could accept it indifferently.
Her fingers quietly intertwined the seams of the sofa cushions. Shen Huan remembered what Li Ting had said, "Meng Zixian is a jackal. He'll spend his whole life biting off the neck of anyone who hurt him." Was this part of Meng Zixian's revenge? Shen Huan wasn't sure. That afternoon at the hospital, Meng Zixian had answered her questions candidly, but Shen Huan vaguely felt that an opaque wall still stood between them.
Meng Zixuan stared at her, "Are you so persistent in doing this to leave Li Ting with something to remember?"
Her shoulders tensed. She asked herself if this was the case. The answer was no, but she didn't want to hurt Li Ting. She and Li Ting had been together for many years, and it wasn't something they could just forget about overnight. Besides, why would she have to abandon him if she chose to leave Li Ting? What was this, a token of her loyalty to Meng Zixuan?
Maybe Meng Zixuan didn't understand this, or maybe he'd already anticipated it but still insisted on making things difficult for her. More likely, he didn't care about any of this at all; he just wanted to win. He could throw his life into the guns and smoke of war to win, so what would he be reluctant to do?
Chen Huan lowered her head. Meng Zixian's gaze remained fixed on her as she pondered. His cold, unrelenting gaze made her realize that Meng Zixian was not Li Ting. He wouldn't insult or lecture her, or even raise his voice at her. But with him, there was no room for ambiguity. Her outward obedience wouldn't satisfy him; he would press closer.
So Shen Huan relented. She told him that she would follow his arrangements, although she didn't fully understand what that meant.
She recalled a long time ago in Fayette, during the final year of Meng Zixian's Army contract, when he was assigned to the Tampa Air Force Base by the Special Forces. He hadn't even asked her a single question, spending the entire morning packing up their belongings. Chen Huan returned home, staring at the boxes against the wall and asking, "We're moving to Florida. How am I supposed to attend classes?" Meng Zixian stared at her, puzzled. He'd long forgotten that Chen Huan was just a freshman in graduate school.
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