The air conditioning in the Zhou Group's boardroom was turned on too cold, Lin Aotian tapped his fingertips on the desktop and looked at Zhou Jianbang who had a tight face across the long table. This old fox, who clinked glasses with him on the golf course yesterday, is now rubbing the "Brand Independent Operation Amendment" with his fingertips, and his eyes behind the lenses hide the ruthlessness of a desperate attempt.
"According to the company's bylaws, major decisions require the consent of shareholders holding more than 2/3 of the shares." Zhou Jianbang's voice was deliberately smooth, "Lin Shao holds 60% of the shares, so it's reasonable to say that he can have a veto, but I believe that you will respect the business rules."
Outside the conference room's floor-to-ceiling windows, the skyscrapers of Lujiazui loomed in the morning mist. Lin Ao Tian suddenly laughed lightly, his knuckles tapping the tablet in front of him, "Uncle Zhou is talking about this?" What popped up on the screen was the running water record of Zhou Group's Hong Kong account, three sums totaling 80 million dollars were transferred to Zhou Jianbang's nephew's private account in the name of "consulting fees" three months ago.
The directors' whispering suddenly cut off, and the finance director's pen "snapped" to the ground. Zhou Jianbang's throat knots rolled twice, and his fingers unconsciously twisted his tie -- the Hermes customized model that he had deliberately changed into this morning, but which appeared to be particularly harsh at this moment.
"Actually, I quite appreciate Uncle Zhou's vigor." Lin Ao Tian suddenly got up, the dragon embroidery on the cuffs of his suit sweeping across the desktop, "But you shouldn't have rushed to transfer your assets before the financial director sent by Huading was in place." He drew the envelope from his inner pocket, which contained Zhou Mingxuan's surveillance photos from the London casino, "Your son's loss of the trust fund in Monte Carlo, if Zhou's minority shareholders knew about it..."
"Enough!" Zhou Jianbang stood up violently, his chair scratching an ear-piercing sound on the ground, "What exactly do you want?"
Lin Ao Tian looked towards the portrait of the founder of Zhou Group on the wall, suddenly slowing down his tone, "It's very simple, Uncle Zhou resigns from his position as CEO and retains 3% of his shares as a consultant." He pushed a document over, "Huading will inject two billion dollars into the West Coast project, but we need you to cooperate in the drama."
The air pressure in the conference room gradually went down with Zhou Jianbang's silence. When the old fox's eyes fell on the "non-disclosure agreement" on the last page of the document, he finally realized that the young man did not intend to wipe out the whole company -- what he wanted was for the Zhou Group to be completely incorporated into Huading's territory, while keeping Zhou Jianbang's signboard to stabilize the military's heart.
"Deal." Zhou Jianbang suddenly reached out, the thin sweat on his palm blotting the edge of the document, "But I have one condition, don't let Qingqing know about this."
Lin Ao Tian's finger paused in mid-air, remembering the text message sent by Su Qing last night, only a short sentence of "Can I meet you?". He suddenly laughed lightly and held Zhou Jianbang's hand, "Uncle Zhou don't worry, Su Qing and I... Long ago there was nothing to talk about."
When he left Zhou's Mansion, Chen Mo's black sedan was being blocked by a silver Porsche. The window rolled down, Su Qing's Chanel perfume smell mixed with exhaust fumes hit his face, "Ao Tian, I..."
"Ms. Su has something?" Lin Ao Tian looked at the other party through his sunglasses and noticed that the pink diamond ring on her ring finger had been replaced with a plain ring. Three days ago at the Peninsula Hotel, he had witnessed Zhou Mingxuan's assistant stuffing that eight million dollar check into her Hermes bag, but at the moment, she was putting on a pitiful face.
"Ming Xuan was sent to London, dad's company... Is it you who is behind this?" Su Qing's voice with trembling, but in touch with Lin Ao Tian's icy cold line of sight is getting smaller and smaller, "Back then I was unintelligent, but you obviously can tell me your identity, why did you lie to me?"
"Lie to you?" Lin Ao Tian suddenly took off his sunglasses, the coldness that surged under his eyes made Su Qing couldn't help but take half a step back, "When you broke my mother's relics at the engagement banquet, how come you didn't think about whether or not I lied to you?" He turned around and sat in the car, speaking faintly through the car window, "Su Qing, the account between you and me, eight million dollars has been cleared."
When the sedan merged into the traffic, Su Qing's figure in the rearview mirror was getting smaller and smaller, like a gorgeous bubble that was burst. Lin Ao Tian touched the dragon jade pendant on his chest, remembering what his mother said before she died, "A true dragon will not stay for the ridicule of ants." The cell phone vibrated, Chen Mo sent an encrypted email: second uncle, in conjunction with North American private equity funds, is secretly acquiring the outstanding shares of Huading.
"Go to Starlight Capital." Lin Ao Tian suddenly spoke, "Doesn't second uncle like to play equity games? Then play with him."
The office of Starburst Capital was filled with the smell of cheap perfume, and when the receptionist girl saw the dragon crest on Lin Aotian's chest, she almost knocked over the coffee cup on the table. In the president's office on the 18th floor, second uncle Lin Zhenguo was clinking glasses with the blonde fund manager, and when he saw him come in, the bourbon in his glass rippled finely.
"Ao Tian is here?" Second Uncle's tone carried a deliberate warmth, "Just in time, let me introduce, this is Mr. Johnson from the Blackstone Fund, interested in our nickel mining project in Indonesia."
"Mr. Johnson is afraid that he has come to the wrong place." Lin Ao Tian casually flipped through the documents on his desk, "The equity pledge rate of Starlight Capital has exceeded 70%, even the carpet in your office, it was bought with a loan, right?" He looked at the stone-faced fund manager, "Why don't you tell Mr. Johnson about your company's tax arrangements in the Cayman Islands last week, which I have copied to the U.S. IRS."
Johnson's face instantly went white, grabbed his suit and headed out the door, giving Uncle Two a hard stare before he left. The office door closed with a "bang", and Uncle Two's emerald ashtray suddenly smashed against the wall, "Do you have to rush to the end?!"
Lin Ao Tian stared at the cracks on the wall, suddenly remembering the year he was sixteen years old, it was also such a stormy night, when second uncle rushed into his room with a forged account book, saying that his mother had misappropriated public funds." The one who rushes to the end of the world has never been you."
He took out the kraft paper bag from his inner pocket, which contained the security camera footage of the housekeeper before she fell, "Uncle Wang was on his deathbed, but he told me everything."
Second Uncle's body froze violently, the veins at the corners of his forehead throbbing. That "accident" ten years ago, he thought he did it seamlessly, but he didn't expect to be remembered by a brat for ten years.
"Tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning," Lin Ao Tian walked towards the door and suddenly stopped, "the board of directors of Starlight Capital will hold an impromptu meeting to discuss your retirement." As he turned around, his dragon jade pendant cut out a cold light in the sunlight, "By the way, as a reminder, the three hundred million dollars you have deposited in a Swiss bank has been frozen."
When night falls, in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of the Huading Mansion, Lin Aotian looks at the flashing headlights downstairs, like the rose petals all over the floor at the engagement party back then. Chen Mo handed over hot coffee, and the screen showed the resolution of the Zhou Group's board of directors: Zhou Jianbang retired as CEO, and Lin Aotian became the executive director as well.
"A call from the old mansion, the old master wants to see you." Chen Mo reported in a low voice.
Lin Ao Tian took a sip of coffee and suddenly laughed softly, "Looks like second uncle has already been to the old mansion." He looked out the window at the Huangpu River, the whistles of the cargo ships pierced through the night, like the prelude of a giant dragon about to take off, "Prepare the car, and by the way, bring along that document about the shipping rights of the East China Sea Lin Clan -- tonight, it's time to show the old master how sharp the fangs of the main vein, really are."
The phone vibrated on the desktop, popping up a message from Su Qing, this time with only a red exclamation mark. Lin Ao Tian hooked the corner of his lips and held the phone upside down on the desktop. The glass reflected the dragon emblem on his chest, lifelike under the light, as if it would break through the shackles in the next second, setting off a storm belonging to the oriental dragon in this forest of steel and concrete.