Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Sun Tianqi Pushed to the Edge

The second day after returning home, Xu Yuan came back from his morning workout early and took a hot shower.

Wrapped in a towel, he came out, only to look up and see a room full of people staring at him wide-eyed.

“Brother Yuan, we’re all family here, don’t shoot!” Qi Wei said slyly, looking at Xu Yuan.

Xia Ke and Lin Wan’er both covered their eyes on the side.

Lin Jiadong and Bai Qiu just smiled and looked at him; after all, he was a child who grew up right in front of their eyes, so they didn’t mind too much.

“Damn!” Xu Yuan was momentarily stunned, but he quickly realized what was happening and hurried back to his room.

When he ran back, weren’t there no guests at home? How come there were so many people in the time it took to take a shower?

“Brat, not even wearing clothes, aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?” Xu Donglai couldn’t help but scold.

“Xiaoyuan is young, full of fire, not like us,” Lin Jiadong said with a smile from the side.

After a while, Xu Yuan put on his clothes and walked out of the room somewhat awkwardly.

Li Xiang and Bai Qiu heard that a new botanical garden had opened in Jiangcheng, one that didn’t use any pesticides at all, truly green and healthy.

So the two families agreed to go together and pick some fresh fruits and vegetables to bring back.

As for Xia Ke and Qi Weichun, they were purely there to join in the fun.

  ……

The two families, along with Xia Ke and Qi Weichun, took three taxis and finally arrived at the botanical garden in a grand procession.

This botanical garden was really quite large; as far as the eye could see, there were vegetable greenhouses, and inside there was even a chicken farm and a fish pond.

There were quite a few people at the botanical garden, probably all drawn by the green and healthy gimmick.

“Brother Yuan, Uncle Xu is calling us to go fishing.” Qi Wei came running over excitedly, holding two fishing rods in his hands.

“Aren’t you coming over just to stick close to Xia Ke? What fishing?” Xu Yuan glanced at the women pulling up radishes in the field in the distance and said suspiciously.

Qi Wei, hearing this, felt a bit guilty and whispered, “I want to, but I don’t dare. This botanical garden is owned by Xia Ke’s father, and it wouldn’t look good if we were seen.”

Xu Yuan was not surprised because he had long known that this botanical garden was owned by Xia Ke’s father. However, he still looked at Qi Wei with disdain. “You beast, you even took a girl to a hotel room, what are you afraid of?”
  ……

“Hey…”

In this cold weather, the white radishes were frozen in the ground, and it was really hard to pull them out.

Lin Wan’er exerted all her strength, her little face turning red with effort, and finally managed to pull out one.

“Wan’er, here are some tools. It’s better to loosen the soil before pulling.” Xia Ke said, bringing over several small shovels from a distance and handing them out to a few people.

“Thank you.” Lin Wan’er took the small shovel and said thank you.

“You two kids better not do this kind of work, it’s dirty.” Bai Qiu stood up and called out to the two.

“Mom, I can handle it.” Lin Wan’er declined Bai Qiu’s kindness.

“Don’t try to persuade me. I only brought them here for the experience. Children have their own fortunes, and I’ll enjoy my own without worrying about them. Why bother so much?” Li Xiang said with a smile, comforting Bai Qiu.

“Sister Xiang really has an open mind.” Bai Qiu smiled and shook her head, then stopped worrying about Lin Wan’er and the others.

  ……

“Whoa, Xiao Yuan caught a fish!”

Several people stood around the fish pond for half a day without any movement, and it was Xu Yuan who finally caught a fish first.

But they couldn’t be blamed; fish just don’t bite in such cold weather.

Moreover, the fish in the pond were all very cunning, especially those that hadn’t been caught yet. It wasn’t that easy to catch one.
“This carp must weigh at least three or four jin,” Lin Jiadong said with some admiration as the others helped scoop the fish out.

“Brother Yuan, are you skilled or what?” Qi Wei scratched his head; the joy of fishing lies in catching fish, but he hadn’t caught any for a long time, which was quite frustrating.

“You didn’t even adjust the float. Even if the fish come into the bait area, you wouldn’t know. Who’s to blame?” Xu Yuan glanced at Qi Wei’s float, which was drifting horizontally on the water surface—obviously set too high.

“Then Brother Yuan, can you help me adjust it?” Qi Wei looked at Xu Yuan with some admiration. When did he learn to fish?
He remembered Xu Yuan had only fished once before and then got beaten up.

“Pretty professional, I thought after beating him that time, he would never go fishing again in his life.” Xu Donglai had a good memory and always remembered beating Xu Yuan once.

That time when Xu Yuan triggered the soul of a fisherman, he was really scared. He couldn’t be found all day and almost called the police in the end.

“That time, huh.” Lin Jiadong also had a vivid memory of that incident. He had known Xu Donglai for so many years and was usually a pretty easygoing person, but that time no one could calm him down.

“By the way, Old Xu, your temper is really the kind that either doesn’t flare up or scares people to death when it does. When you beat little Yuan that day, you really scared our Wanwan. Her pillow was wet the next day.”

“Is that so?” Xu Donglai scratched his head a little embarrassed upon hearing this. He was really anxious that time. Although Xu Donglai was quite lenient with Xu Yuan, after all, he was his biological son—how could he truly be at ease?

“Then you have to help me apologize to Wanwan. Uncle Xu didn’t mean it.”

“Speaking of that little river, I also released some fish there later.” Lin Jiadong’s memory was triggered.

“You were the one who put the fish in? I even told that kid there were no fish in the river. But that day when I went out, I saw fish jumping in the river.” Xu Donglai scratched his head, realizing that was how it happened.

“Isn’t it because you were afraid Xiao Yuan would be stubborn? Letting him catch a fish might make him less stubborn. Xiao Yuan really takes after Old Xu,” Lin Jiadong chuckled.

Upon hearing this, Xu Donglai also shook his head and thanked him, “Then I have to thank you. But that kid never went fishing again afterward.”

“It wasn’t my idea. We’re busy all the time, and sometimes we overlook the children’s feelings.

It was Wanwan. She thought Xiao Yuan was being beaten so harshly because he couldn’t catch any fish. She begged me to put some fish in the river, thinking that if Xiao Yuan caught fish, you wouldn’t hit him anymore.” Lin Jiadong said this with a somewhat regretful sigh.

“Haha, really? Kids are still innocent. Such a big river, what’s the use of putting in a few fish?” Xu Donglai said suspiciously.

“Yo… I caught a fish too, Old Lin grab the net!”

  ……

  ……

After returning home, Xu Yuan was casually scrolling through his Moments.
Mainly because Li Xiang posted several videos and photos of the botanical garden, forcing Xu Yuan and Xu Donglai to like them one by one.

“Is Shen Yueshu traveling?”

Xu Yuan saw Shen Yueshu’s update, and the background behind her seemed to be the Potala Palace.

He remembered that her home was in the capital city, and with the New Year approaching, could it be a family trip?

Xu Yuan didn’t pay much attention and just casually liked the post.

“Son, stop playing with your phone and come help me pick the vegetables. You have nothing to do and just know how to play on your phone,” Li Xiang called out to Xu Yuan from the kitchen.

“I said I wanted to help just now, but didn’t you tell me to stay cool on the side?” Xu Yuan said somewhat unfairly.

At that moment, Xu Yuan’s phone rang.

“Sun Tianqi?” Xu Yuan frowned slightly. Why does this person keep asking something of me?

The 5% equity he held was considered a significant share among most of the shareholders of Tianqi Entertainment. But in the end, it still couldn’t help Sun Tianqi turn the situation around.

“Mom, I’ll go take a call first, I’ll help you later.”

  ……

“President Sun, I’ve talked to President Ye several times, but his attitude is ambiguous,” Xu Yuan said with a tone full of regret, expressing that he had done his best.

Otherwise, how could he tell the other party that he had completely forgotten?
“Mr. Xu, I won’t say much else, but will you and Mr. Ye be coming to the annual meeting the day after tomorrow?” Sun Tianqi asked somewhat urgently, seeming genuinely a bit flustered.

Xu Yuan wasn’t really concerned about whether he would go or not; what he truly cared about was Ye Hao.

“Well…” Xu Yuan hadn’t decided whether to go or not, after all, he was just a minor shareholder.

As for Ye Hao, with the year-end approaching, Longhua has so many holding companies under its control—doesn’t each of them have a year-end party? Why must he go to Tianqi’s?

“President Xu!” Sun Tianqi took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision.

“As long as you can get President Ye to attend the year-end party, the previously promised 3% shares will still be fully granted, and if I manage to negotiate with President Ye, I will add another 2%.

With the 5% you hold, you would become the fourth largest shareholder of the company.”

I can say it again, and you can record the call. That way, it can be considered a verbal agreement and will have the same legal effect.

Hearing Sun Tianqi’s words, Xu Yuan deliberately glanced at the notes and the number to make sure it wasn’t a scam call.

After the Tianqi Entertainment meeting, there would be a shareholders’ meeting. This time, Sun Tianqi was truly cornered.

It’s nothing more than the position of company president, enjoying the highest decision-making power. Sun Tianqi was willing to give up shares worth more than 400 million.

Is the world going crazy, or is Sun Tianqi going crazy?

Xu Yuan was silent for a long time, and Sun Tianqi on the other end of the phone did not urge him further.

“Mr. Sun, is it worth paying such a high price?”

Sun Tianqi was silent. If he had a choice now, he definitely wouldn’t be like this.

Xu Yuan thought for a long time and said, “I’ll think about it some more. I can’t give President Sun a reply just yet.”

Although he was tempted, Sun Tianqi was after all a big shot, yet he was being forced into such a situation. There was definitely more to this, and Xu Yuan didn’t want to act rashly and risk bringing trouble upon himself.

However, Ye Hao was able to build a giant capital like Longhua with such ruthless methods, Xu Yuan couldn’t help but admire how he managed to push Sun Tianqi to this extent.

  ……

“Son, is everything alright?” Li Xiang saw that after the call, Xu Yuan’s expression seemed off, and she couldn’t help but ask with concern.

Xu Yuan looked up and smiled, saying, “It’s nothing. You used to just let me do my own thing, right? Why are you suddenly so concerned?”

“You little rascal, that’s because you never caused any trouble growing up,” Li Xiang said, looking at Xu Yuan with a hint of reproach.

“What trouble could I possibly cause? Mom, stop worrying unnecessarily.”

Xu Yuan smiled and walked over to the kitchen, starting to help his mom pick vegetables.

After lunch, Xu Yuan stayed in the bedroom for the entire afternoon.

Xu Yuan sat at the computer desk, roughly browsing through Tianqi’s meeting record archives from the past three years.

As a shareholder, he had a dedicated private account to access the company’s database. Xu Yuan learned that Ye Hao had been proposing the idea of splitting Tianqi’s departmental functions at shareholder meetings over the years.

Moreover, the business model adopted was almost entirely aligned with that of Korean entertainment companies.

However, ever since Penguin Securities invested in Tianqi, Ye Hao seemed to be less aggressive than before.

Penguin made a large-scale subscription this year, and by acquiring shares transferred from some small shareholders, it quickly became the largest shareholder.

Originally, Sun Tianqi, relying on his advantage as the founder, had always opposed Ye Hao’s idea of rapid advancement.

But ever since Penguin moved in, adopting a philosophy almost identical to Ye Hao’s, and even more aggressive, Sun Tianqi could no longer withstand the pressure in the face of absolute shareholding superiority.

If it weren’t for Ye Hao constantly mediating between the two, Tianqi would have no say left for Sun Tianqi now.

He now roughly understands what exactly Sun Tianqi has been anxious about.

Xu Yuan never expected that the era of media traffic had already begun to take shape, and that Ye Hao was even fanning the flames.

“Looks like I really have to make a trip to the capital.”

Xu Yuan clasped his hands behind his head, gazing up at the ceiling with a deep look in his eyes, lost in thought.