Shao Guangjie clearly recognized Song Qiming’s voice and furrowed his brows, looking at Lin Yushu with a perplexed expression. He asked, “Were you on the phone with Song Qiming?”
When faced with a situation they don’t understand, people tend to provide reasonable explanations.
Shao Guangjie seemed to understand why Lin Yushu wasn’t cooperating with him. After all, it was Song Qiming on the other end of the line, not a stranger, and they had their own conflicts.
Lin Yushu didn’t answer and walked straight to the door, opening it. He was afraid that Song Qiming would keep knocking, causing others in nearby rooms to come out.
As soon as the latch was released, the door forcefully swung open, narrowly missing Lin Yushu’s face.
Song Qiming stormed in with an angry expression. But upon seeing Lin Yushu behind the door, he restrained the three words “Shao Guangjie” and nervously looked at Lin Yushu, asking, “Has he done anything to you?”
“No,” Lin Yushu stood in front of Song Qiming, stopping him from getting violent, and whispered, “Don’t be impulsive, it’s not the right time.”
Shao Guangjie walked in from the balcony, looking at Song Qiming with a meaningful gaze. “Are you having Lin Yushu help you with work this late in the evening?”
From the implication in his words, it was evident that he fully believed what Lin Yushu had said, thinking that there was nothing between them and that Song Qiming had called for work purposes.
Perhaps in his eyes, Song Qiming seeking Lin Yushu’s help late at night had a similar nature to his own actions, both having ulterior motives towards Lin Yushu.
In other words, he believed that he and Song Qiming were similar.
“President Shao, you can enjoy the wine yourself,” Lin Yushu went to his luggage and started packing. “I’ll change to another room.”
“Where are you going to change?” Shao Guangjie raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied with Lin Yushu’s uncompromising attitude. “Do we have another room available here?”
During the Asia Economic Forum, the luxurious rooms and executive-level rooms of the designated five-star hotels were assigned to various domestic and foreign enterprises.
Within the company, the rooms would be further allocated based on the leader’s level, relationship, and special requirements.
For example, even if two executives didn’t belong to the same department, if they were married, the administrative secretary would arrange for them to stay together.
Therefore, after Shao Guangjie specifically made arrangements, Lin Yushu’s room had already been assigned. If he wanted to change rooms, it would involve coordination with other executives or even other companies, which would be quite troublesome.
Moreover, Shao Guangjie, the young master, was willing to share a room with him. Did he really need to put on airs and request a single room?
Chinese people inherently tend to avoid going against collective arrangements. Initially, Lin Yushu was the same, but now he no longer felt the need to endure.
“Don’t bother, President Shao, I don’t want to trouble you,” Lin Yushu finished packing his luggage and turned to Song Qiming, who was waiting by the door. “Let’s go.”
Since he was determined to change rooms, several choices lay before Lin Yushu.
There were low-priced standard rooms for a few hundred yuan, the presidential suite for two hundred thousand, and perhaps there were other vacant rooms in the hotel besides those reserved for the forum guests.
At worst, he could go to Song Qiming’s room.
“Lin Yushu,” Shao Guangjie seemed to finally realize that the situation was not within his control. He frowned and asked, “Are you sure you want to leave me and go with Song Qiming?”
Lin Yushu didn’t respond, and Song Qiming took his luggage, looking at Shao Guangjie and said, “Take care of yourself.”
Shao Guangjie, unwillingly raising his voice, said, “Do you know that you’ve chosen the wrong side?”
In response to Shao Guangjie, Lin Yushu closed the door firmly.
If we talk about choosing sides, Lin Yushu had actually made up his mind long ago. He had just been deceiving Shao Guangjie recently, creating a false impression for him.
After all, from Shao Guangjie’s perspective, he had the absolute advantage, and it was indeed difficult for him to understand why Lin Yushu would leave him.
“He might go to complain to his grandfather,” Song Qiming led Lin Yushu back to his room. “Let’s think about our approach.”
“He harassed me first. Even if he wants to complain, he won’t mention anything about our sexual orientation. At most, he’ll say I’m biased towards you,” Lin Yushu lay down on the large bed, massaging his temples with a headache. “But if you want to remove him, you can’t avoid involving your grandfather.”
“I know,” Song Qiming helped Lin Yushu take off his shoes, then lay down next to him, looking at the ceiling. “I’ll ask my grandfather not to interfere. If he doesn’t agree…”
“What then?” Lin Yushu turned his head to look at Song Qiming.
“I don’t mind causing chaos in the Shao family.”
“Please,” Lin Yushu felt another headache coming on. “I have a lot of stock options. Don’t make me lose money, okay?”
“Don’t worry, baby,” Song Qiming pulled Lin Yushu into his arms and kissed his forehead. “I still have billions of debts to repay. I have a sense of proportion.”
But on second thought, Lin Yushu didn’t think things would escalate to the point of causing chaos in the Shao family.
When Shao Zhenbang wanted Lin Yushu to marry into the family, he faced opposition from many relatives, so he abandoned the idea. This indicated that he himself didn’t want to create family conflicts.
Similarly, if Song Qiming managed to push Shao Guangjie out through his own abilities, but Shao Zhenbang insisted on intervening, the people from the Shao Hedong and Shao Hexu families would definitely not sit still.
“By the way,” Song Qiming suddenly lifted his chin, looking straight into Lin Yushu’s eyes. “When I heard that Shao Guangjie was bullying you just now, I had a momentary thought.”
“What?” Lin Yushu thought, could it be that he wanted to castrate his cousin?
“If helping me means you have to suffer, I don’t want anything,” Song Qiming hugged Lin Yushu tightly. “That’s not suffering.”
Once again, the power of a German’s sweet talk.
This sentence was even more potent than castrating Shao Guangjie a hundred times over.
“That’s not suffering,” Lin Yushu nudged forward, resting his head on Song Qiming’s neck.
“Enduring silently is a workplace philosophy. I’ve endured Shao Guangjie for years, and it has nothing to do with you.”
“But it’s true that he became even more excessive towards me after you appeared,” Lin Yushu said after a moment of thought. “Well, then… compensate me with a gold bar.”
“A gold bar?” Song Qiming’s hands started to wander mischievously. “If I give you another chance to choose, between an iron rod and a gold bar, which one would you pick?”
“No, a gold bar is much more valuable than your rod! I choose the gold bar!” Lin Yushu struggled and said, “Um… Song Qiming… don’t you have any principles…”
The next day, Song Qiming dressed casually for his speech at the venue.
He had originally brought a suit, but his rare appearance in a suit made Lin Yushu feel a sudden urge, and he whimsically made him wear it. As a result, Song Qiming’s custom-made suit was left in a mess.
On the stage, Song Qiming strolled casually, confidently sharing his insights with the industry veterans in the audience.
Unlike Shao Guangjie, his points of view were based on his personal opinions of the automotive industry. He delivered his speech entirely in English, occasionally incorporating a few Chinese proverbs and seamlessly switching between the two languages.
There were noticeably fewer distractions from phones during his speech compared to Shao Guangjie’s. This alone was enough to indicate that his content was superior.
“Don’t you want to listen to the other sessions?” Lin Yushu asked.
After Song Qiming finished his speech, Lin Yushu went to the adjacent cocktail party venue. He had initially planned to relax for a while, but to his surprise, Shao Hedong approached him at that moment.
“Chairman Shao,” Lin Yushu put down his champagne glass and said, “I came over to see if I know anyone here.”
In a place filled with entrepreneurs like this, sharing insights was secondary; expanding connections was the opportune moment.
As the Chairman of Yong Xing Group, Shao Hedong should have many social obligations. However, he specifically sought out Lin Yushu, indicating that it couldn’t be just casual conversation.
“Did you listen to Guangjie and Qiming’s speeches?” Shao Hedong asked.
“I did,” Lin Yushu replied. “They both did well.”
Shao Hedong nodded without expressing his opinion. He surveyed the spacious cocktail party venue, took a sip of champagne leisurely, and suddenly said, “I’ve heard some rumors recently.”
“Rumors?” Lin Yushu’s nerves tensed. “What kind of rumors?”
Shao Hedong shifted his gaze back to Lin Yushu and said, “Someone else wants to go after Guangjie again.”
“Again.”
The reason he added the word “again” was because Shao Guangjie had previously failed in developing electric cars, causing the company’s stock price to plummet and external directors to demand his removal as CEO.
And this time, even before Song Qiming had taken any action, Shao Hedong had already heard rumors, indicating that Shao Guangjie and Shao Hexu had begun operating behind the scenes.
Lin Yushu pretended to be unaware and asked, “Do they want to remove Guangjie from the CEO position?”
“It seems so,” Shao Hedong said in a calm tone. He looked at Lin Yushu, and his eyes suddenly became sharp. “What do you think?”
Lin Yushu maintained a calm demeanor and replied briefly, “It’s unlikely.”
Speaking less would prevent more mistakes. Shao Hedong wasn’t as easily fooled as Shao Guangjie.
“Indeed, it’s impossible.” Shao Hedong eliminated the uncertainty in Lin Yushu’s words directly and said with certainty.
He took another sip of champagne, adopting a confident tone, “According to the company’s new bylaws, to remove Guangjie from the CEO position, it requires the agreement of over two-thirds of the directors. That means, out of the 11 directors, at least 8 of them need to agree. Do you think that’s possible?”
Lin Yushu tightened his grip on the wine glass and heard the underlying message in Shao Hedong’s words.
In other companies, a simple majority of directors would be enough to appoint or remove a CEO.
But after the incident where Shao Guangjie almost got removed, Shao Zhenbang deliberately revised the company’s bylaws. Now, the removal of the CEO requires the agreement of over two-thirds of the directors.
Shao Zhenbang’s reason was simple—to prevent outsiders from meddling in the company’s management, which would be detrimental to internal unity.
Therefore, it was indeed extremely difficult to remove Shao Guangjie now.
But could Lin Yushu be unaware of the difficulties?
Given that he already knew the situation, Shao Hedong mentioned the new bylaws and even calculated the number of people involved. It was certainly not to help him review the company’s regulations but rather to warn him not to act recklessly.
It seemed that Shao Guangjie hadn’t gone to complain to his grandfather but had approached his father first.
After years of immersion in the business world, Shao Hedong was much more sensitive than Shao Guangjie.
He must have heard some rumors and, upon hearing that Lin Yushu had sided with Song Qiming, realized that something was amiss. So he specifically came to test and warn him.
There was no denying that experience was valuable.
“Of course, it’s impossible,” Lin Yushu echoed nonchalantly. “Chairman Shao, you have four directors on your side. How could it be possible to get eight people to agree?”
“Yes, it’s good that you know,” Shao Hedong said lightly. “Go and mingle some more.”
After Shao Hedong left, Lin Yushu exchanged his champagne glass with a waiter, avoiding the lively crowd and finding an empty corner.
He had no mood for socializing now; his mind was filled with information about the directors.
Out of the 11 directors, Shao Hedong’s people occupied 4 seats, which was indeed a difficult situation.
Originally, Lin Yushu and Song Qiming’s plan was to release negative press releases criticizing Shao Guangjie after the Asian Economic Forum, and then promise those few directors with actual benefits, hoping to win them over.
But now that Shao Hedong had made preparations in advance, it would be extremely difficult to sway those few individuals.
As for the three directors from Shao Huxu and Fang Tian Real Estate, as well as the other four external directors, even if they all agreed, it would only make up 7 votes, which was not enough to remove Shao Guangjie.
“Why are you alone here?” Song Qiming’s voice suddenly rang out, interrupting Lin Yushu’s thoughts.
He glanced around, seeing that no one paid attention to their corner, and proceeded to tell Song Qiming about his conversation with Shao Hedong.
“This battle is not easy,” Lin Yushu couldn’t help but sigh at the end. “Let’s not mention Shao Hexu’s single vote. We can try to gain the favor of Fang Lan; Fang Tian Real Estate’s two votes are reachable. The external directors already had some grievances with Shao Guangjie, so those four votes are also attainable. Perhaps Shao Hexu and Fang Lan have already secured them. But what about the remaining one vote?”
Song Qiming pondered for a moment and asked, “Is it really impossible to win over Shao Hedong’s people?”
“If we act first, there might still be some hope,” Lin Yushu said, “But now Shao Hedong will definitely reach out to each one of them, so it’s unlikely we’ll have any chances.”
“If we had more time, we could slowly negotiate with each one of them,” Song Qiming frowned.
“But the board meeting is only a few days away.”
The two fell into contemplation once again. Lin Yushu went over the information of all the directors in his mind, and suddenly an idea popped up. However, at that moment, Song Qiming said, “Or maybe we should let it go for now.”
Lin Yushu paused his thoughts, waiting for Song Qiming to continue.
“Time is indeed running short,” Song Qiming said, “And if we stop now, you still have an exit strategy. If we continue and ultimately fail… I don’t mind, but your situation will become difficult.”
Lin Yushu understood Song Qiming’s intention and said somewhat surprised, “Are you scared?”
“I’m not scared,” Song Qiming immediately denied. “I just…”
“You’re worried about me,” Lin Yushu finished the second half of his sentence for Song Qiming.
“Yes,” Song Qiming sighed helplessly. “After all, this is my matter. There’s no reason for you to get hurt.”
Lin Yushu lifted his chin slightly and smiled lightly before looking at Song Qiming again. “You still underestimate me, Song Qiming.”
“Huh?” Song Qiming looked at him with a puzzled expression.
Lin Yushu clinked his glass with Song Qiming’s and then finished his champagne in one go. “Leave it to me from now on, darling.”
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