Chapter 57

Chapter 57 The Group Exploded

“President Xu, you finally… President Huang!” Sun Tianqi saw Xu Yuan from afar and immediately approached with a smile.

But when he saw the person beside Xu Yuan, his expression first showed surprise, then he quickly hurried over.

“You should have told me in advance if you were coming.” Sun Tianqi looked at Mr. Huang in front of him, feeling somewhat nervous.

Although both Tianqi and Tianyu share the character “Tian” in their names, their strengths are not comparable at all.

Huang Sheng’s status in the real industry is comparable to Ye Hao’s in the financial investment circle. Moreover, besides the real industry, Tianyu is also formidable in the financial investment field.

“Little Sun, didn’t you send me an invitation? I heard there’s a charity banquet at the end of the annual meeting, so I came.”

Huang Sheng affectionately calls Sun Tianqi “Little Sun,” effectively elevating his own seniority by a generation. Given their ages, this is indeed appropriate, but it also shows that Huang Sheng’s status is truly extraordinary.

“President Huang, President Xu. You two actually know each other?”

Ye Hao walked slowly from a distance, giving Xu Yuan a deep look.

Xu Yuan touched his nose; he was sure the other party had misunderstood his relationship with Huang Sheng.

But he was too lazy to explain, so let the misunderstanding be.

“Ye kid! Haven’t seen you for years, you’ve gotten old,” Huang Sheng laughed heartily and patted Ye Hao on the shoulder.

The two seemed quite familiar with each other, but politeness in business is common. Nothing could be inferred from this alone.

“Yeah, people have to accept getting older. But President Huang still wields his sword with skill,” Ye Hao said with a smile, glancing at Xu Yuan intentionally or unintentionally, clearly a jab hidden in his words.

Although Longhua’s market value is far from comparable to Tianyu’s, the two operate in different fields. So Ye Hao did not hold the same reverence for Mr. Huang as Sun Tianqi did.

Longhua’s strength lies in its near-excessive profitability. Tianyu, on the other hand, is a powerful industry giant. Comparing the two would be like Lin Daiyu pulling up the willow trees by their roots.

“I’m just here to attend the charity banquet. What’s this about an ‘ageless sword’? That kid Ye, his words are quite sharp. Xiao Xu, is he picking on you?”
Looks like you’re putting quite a bit of pressure on that kid Ye. I have to say, you two do look alike. Ye was like a wolf in his youth, biting at everyone.

Mr. Huang had enjoyed a glorious life for most of his years and had seen all kinds of people. He immediately noticed that Ye Hao and Xu Yuan seemed to have some minor friction.

“Mr. Huang, I’m just a junior. What could Mr. Ye possibly find fault with? Mr. Ye and I are partners,” Xu Yuan said, waving his hands repeatedly.

As expected, the older he got, the more cunning he became; Mr. Huang was not as kind as he appeared. If the two really had any irreconcilable conflicts, those few words just now were clearly meant to stir up trouble.

“Everyone, please take your seats quickly, the annual meeting is about to start,” Sun Tianqi also chimed in to smooth things over.

This time, Tianqi’s annual meeting invited more than forty shareholders in total.

However, most of these so-called shareholders didn’t even hold 1%.

Originally, there were only seven seats in the front row, but due to Huang Sheng’s sudden arrival, it was increased to eight.

Although Xu Yuan only held a 5% share, he was still considered a major shareholder, albeit barely.

On the other side of the venue was a lineup of celebrities, which seemed somewhat crowded compared to the shareholders’ seats.

Tianqi’s annual meeting was also a small grand event in the entertainment industry. Besides the artists under its banner, some big names from the entertainment circle showed up uninvited.

After Sun Tianqi led a few people to their seats, there was already someone sitting at the table.

Tian Ming, the head of Penguin Securities, nodded slightly at Xu Yuan, who returned the nod in acknowledgment.

Ye Hao naturally noticed their gestures and felt a bit frustrated. He roughly knew where Xu Yuan had been during those few hours of disappearance.

However, Ye Hao was not worried. Even if Xu Yuan’s 5% stake was added to Penguin Securities’ slightly over 29%, it still wasn’t decisive.

Of the original seven seats in the front row, only three remain unoccupied.

It seems they probably won’t be coming; they likely understand what’s going to happen today and are deliberately avoiding it.

When immortals fight, mortals suffer. Choosing the wrong side often leads to unbearable consequences. In that case, it’s better to simply forfeit to avoid collateral damage.

  ……

The annual meeting officially began, and a documentary promoting Tianqi was played on the big screen on stage.

In the venue, dozens of cameras started recording simultaneously, and the year-end party, broadcast live in its entirety, finally kicked off.

Facing the cameras almost pressed against his face, Xu Yuan felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Today, he was probably going to become completely famous; the lies previously concocted by Li Xiang’s side were definitely going to be exposed.

This live broadcast was not only on the TV entertainment channel but also streamed online. Although online streaming was not as popular as in later generations, a few small internet companies were operating it.

Below the official live broadcast room, a crowd of fans waiting to see their idol noticed the young man sitting in the shareholder’s seat and all became interested.

【Where did this eighteenth-tier actor come from? So elegant, love it!】

【The person upstairs is blind, they’re sitting in the shareholder’s seat!】

【Why did the scene change? The young man is handsome and rich, I want to see him a couple more times!】

【My Rongrong appeared on screen! The first celebrity to appear! Tianqi must be ranking by star power, my Rongrong really has status!】

  ……

The discussion about Xu Yuan in the live broadcast room was just a brief moment, and soon it was quickly overshadowed by various topics about other celebrities.

After all, the shareholders were not the focus. In a live broadcast, they probably only got a few shots, with the spotlight still on the celebrity seats.

“President Xu, switching sides at the last moment is not classy, you know?” Ye Hao said, slightly covering his mouth with his hand as he spoke to Xu Yuan beside him.

“I don’t quite understand what Ye Hao means. When did I say I would agree to help President Ye?” Xu Yuan also covered his mouth with his hand and responded with a smile.

“President Xu, don’t choose the wrong side. President Sun and I have already reached an agreement. Tianqi will sign a five-year cooperation plan with Longhua,” Ye Hao said quietly.

He originally didn’t want to say these things, but it seems that as long as he stands with Sun Tianqi, Tian Ming from Penguin Securities won’t be able to shake them.

However, Ye Hao always had a feeling of unease; Xu Yuan’s strange behavior made him uncomfortable.

Xu Yuan did not respond, only nodded.
Both Sun Tianqi and Ye Hao must have made compromises; if this result satisfied both parties, there would have been no need to wait until today.

Ye Hao saw that Xu Yuan did not respond and looked confident, so he involuntarily turned his gaze to Huang Sheng.

Could it be that Xu Yuan’s confidence comes from this? Huang Sheng also holds 7% of Tianqi’s shares. But Tianyu has always clearly stated that it will not participate in company decisions and remains absolutely neutral.

Unless Huang Sheng has shamelessly changed this time, but given his status, that’s unlikely. Besides, Tianyu’s development mainly focuses on the real industry, so there’s no need to compete.

“Ye kid, don’t look at me, Tianyu doesn’t want to get involved.”

Although Huang Sheng didn’t hear what the two had quietly talked about just now, he could roughly guess and said with a smile.

“President Ye, you’d better enjoy the show,” Xu Yuan slightly reminded Ye Hao.

On the stage, a popular singer slowly took the stage. A burst of applause immediately erupted from the audience below.

  ……

“Qi Wei! Qi Wei! Qi Wei!…”

Holding a cup of iced city drink, sipping milk tea while looking at her phone, Xia Ke suddenly patted Qi Wei, who was idly picking at his fingers beside her.

They had agreed to go watch a movie today. During the boring wait for ticket inspection, Xia Ke scrolled through Weibo. The top trending topic was the Tianqi Annual Meeting. She noticed there seemed to be a cross-platform live stream link below, and out of curiosity, she clicked into the Tianqi Annual Meeting live room.

What she saw was Xu Yuan’s face. At first, Xia Ke wondered if she had seen it wrong. After all, Xu Yuan in front of the camera had the young, domineering CEO aura that didn’t match the usual Xu Yuan at all.

So Xia Ke deliberately took a screenshot, wanting to verify it with Qi Wei beside her.

“Keke, you actually have a crush on my Yuan Ge!” Qi Wei looked at the handsome photo of Xu Yuan on Xia Ke’s phone, feeling heartbroken to the point of vomiting blood.

One is the man he loves most, the other is the woman he loves most.

This question is too difficult, he can’t solve it!

“What are you thinking? This screenshot is from the live stream! Just tell me, isn’t this Xu Yuan?” Xia Ke couldn’t help but roll her eyes. What was Qi Wei thinking?
“This is definitely Brother Yuan. Where did you get this screenshot? Brother Yuan hasn’t been home these past few days.

Aunt Li said Brother Yuan went back to school to fill in some information that wasn’t properly registered before. How could he be on a live stream?” Qi Wei scratched his head and said.

Xia Ke took a deep breath. What information wasn’t properly registered that he had to wait until the New Year to fill it in? What was he doing all semester?

“Xu Yuan has become a major shareholder of Tianqi!” Xia Ke still found it hard to believe.

At the same time, the four-person group chat in Xu Yuan’s dorm exploded.

  ……

Li Rui: [Picture]

Li Rui: [Brothers, does anyone feel this person looks a bit familiar?]

Zhang Long: 【Isn’t this a handsome photo of my eldest son? Are you secretly in love with Yuan’er and want to take me as your father-in-law?】

Li Rui: 【Go to hell, I was watching the live stream with my girlfriend, that’s where I saw it.】

Qian Jialun: 【The picture looks like the live stream of Tianqi’s annual meeting, I’ll go check it out.】

Zhang Long: 【Seems like it really is! Isn’t the nameplate in front marked? Shareholder Xu Yuan.】

Zhang Long: [Damn, since when did my godfather become a shareholder of Tianqi again? Can I ask Xu Yuan to get me an autograph from the big star Gao Rongrong?]

Li Rui: [Look at you, so useless. At least you can touch her hand.]

Zhang Long: [No, I want to see her legs!]

Zhang Long: [@The Most Handsome in the Country!!! Come out and speak!]

Li Rui [I was at the annual meeting, no time to reply!]

Li Rui and the others originally thought that it was already the limit for Xu Yuan and Ye Hao to know each other, but unexpectedly, Xu Yuan has now directly reached a shareholder position at Tianqi.

They all live in the same dormitory, so why is the gap so big?

  ……

In the shareholder seats, the few people in the front row, except for Huang Sheng, were watching the performance with great interest.

The other few people obviously were not in the mood.

Ye Hao and Xu Yuan remained silent, while Tian Ming and Sun Tianqi were quietly communicating.

“President Xu, the shareholders’ meeting is tonight. Why not just lay all the cards on the table? After all, what’s done is done.” Ye Hao felt increasingly uneasy the more he thought about it.

Ye Hao thought he knew Xu Yuan well enough, which was why he let him be the messenger.

But Xu Yuan was really acting too abnormally. If he was after profit, all he had to do was sit back and watch the show.

The Tianqi reform was bound to proceed, and the market value would skyrocket in the coming years. Xu Yuan just needed to wait quietly and collect the dividends.

Ye Hao always felt that it was the wisest choice for Xu Yuan to stand with him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have given up 5% of Lin Changyuan’s shares back then.

Originally, if things went smoothly, Sun Tianqi would be impatient. Ye Hao could squeeze the other party as much as possible.

But because of the anomaly brought by Xu Yuan, it is now Ye Hao who is actively contacting Sun Tianqi, which signifies a compromise.

Therefore, the content of the upcoming five-year contract is much lower than his previous demands.

This also means that the pace of Tianqi’s reform will slow down. Xu Yuan’s interests will also be affected, and if pursuing profit, he should not have stopped him.

Ye Hao now feels that perhaps he should not have tested Xu Yuan in the first place; it would have been better to choose someone irrelevant.

Will Lin Changyuan’s 5% stake be a fatal blow that Xu Yuan deals to himself?

Thanks to A Chen for the 100 Qidian coins tip for wanting to sleep