CH 95

Chapter 95 – Chairman Sheng

The chairman of Changfeng Group, named Sheng Jiaqi, used to always have a smiling face and appeared to be a very easygoing person. In his early twenties, he joined Changfeng Group and worked his way up through the ranks. Ten years later, he became the chairman of Changfeng Group, making him the youngest chairman in the history of the company. And now, Sheng Jiaqi has been firmly sitting in the position of chairman of Changfeng Group for nearly twenty years.

Of course, part of Sheng Jiaqi’s brilliant life came from his background.

In the capital, what kind of existence was the Sheng Family? Even the person currently occupying the highest leadership position would respectfully address Old Master Sheng as “Commander Sheng” or “Senior Official Sheng.”

Sheng Jiaqi called Old Master Sheng uncle, as his father was Old Master Sheng’s own brother. Although he was not Old Master Sheng’s biological child, Old Master Sheng treated Sheng Jiaqi as his own son and loved him just the same. After all, Sheng Jiaqi’s father had passed away protecting Old Master Sheng.

His background was a small part of Sheng Jiaqi’s success, with a larger part naturally stemming from Sheng Jiaqi himself. He appeared gentle but was not indecisive. He was adept at drawing upon others’ strengths and selecting the most suitable course of action. He was neither arbitrary nor authoritarian, and he remained indifferent to fame and fortune. Under his leadership, Changfeng Group gradually ventured into the world and successfully entered the ranks of the Fortune Global 500.

Currently, there was intense competition between two factions within Changfeng Group. However, Sheng Jiaqi stood in a neutral position because he deeply understood that competition led to progress. As long as the two factions maintained such a balance, even if the competition turned fierce, he would act as if he hadn’t noticed.

However, this time, someone wanted to disrupt this balance and harm the interests of Changfeng Group. How could Sheng Jiaqi sit idly by?

The night grew darker, and after a six-hour-long meeting, Sheng Jiaqi glanced around and left with a gloomy expression. Wherever he passed, the people standing near him didn’t even dare to take a breath.

Until Sheng Jiaqi’s figure disappeared around the corner, the people in the office let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that the air around them began to circulate.

Following Sheng Jiaqi’s departure was Zhou Tongpeng, his face terrifyingly dark, and each step he took seemed as if something heavy was crashing onto the ground, exceptionally heavy.

Lin Xin followed Zhou Tongpeng out, drenched in cold sweat, his footsteps somewhat unsteady, indicating how anxious he was at the moment.

As Zhou Tongpeng and Lin Xin left, the people in the meeting room gradually dispersed. Finally, only Zhuge Feng remained sitting in his own position, contemplating about something unknown.

“Isn’t General Manager Zhuge leaving?” someone walked to the door and asked, seeing no signs of Zhuge Feng getting up to leave.

“You go ahead. I need to think about some things,” Zhuge Feng waved his hand to bid farewell to the person and propped his chin, truly pondering on matters.

The person didn’t know what tricks Zhuge Feng had up his sleeve, so they bid farewell and left the meeting room.

Zhuge Feng himself didn’t know what he was thinking about; his face didn’t reveal any joy or anger. After about ten minutes, Zhuge Feng took out his phone and sent a text message to Wei Chen.

— It’s time to end the leave and come to work.

Shortly after Wei Chen hung up the phone with the Wei family, Zhuge Feng’s message came in. Reading the few words on it, Wei Chen knew that they were planning to tighten the net.

Wei Chen simply replied with a single word.

— Okay.

*

Early the next morning, Wei Chen drove and took Chen Li to Q University. Before he entered the gate, he said, “I’ll be going to the company today. I’ll pick you up later.”

Wei Chen actually felt uneasy in his heart. He was worried that once he left Chen Li’s side, he wouldn’t be able to adapt. Although he hadn’t been by Chen Li’s side all the time before, at least he had been secretly observing him. Chen Li was still within his line of sight. But this time, he truly let go and let Chen Li attend class independently. Naturally, Wei Chen’s heart was filled with concern.

Chen Li nodded at Wei Chen, but he didn’t feel any reluctance or uneasiness in his heart because he knew Wei Chen would come to pick him up.

Wei Chen still wanted to say something to Chen Li, but Chen Li had already turned and entered the classroom.

Everything happened so naturally, without the need for reassurance or guarantees. Chen Li was taking each step to walk out of that dark world. Wei Chen’s eyes felt a little hot, his mood mixed. He stared at Chen Li’s figure for a long, long time before finally mustering the strength to turn and leave.

As Wei Chen departed, Chen Li’s gaze fell on the entrance, and it took him a while to retract it. Like Wei Chen, he had also made a huge decision.

Just as Zhuge Yu said, only when he became strong himself would he and Wei Chen have a future without worries.

*

Changfeng Group, Marketing Department.

As Wei Chen entered the Marketing Department, the employees there all turned their attention to him, full of enthusiasm, and greeted him with a cheerful “Good morning, Director Wei!”

After nodding in their direction, Wei Chen entered his own office.

Not long after, He Keqiang also arrived at work. Compared to his former confident appearance, He Keqiang now looked much more exhausted, as if he had aged several years overnight, even his hair was thinning.

He Keqiang’s gaze was somewhat sinister. When he passed by the entrance of Wei Chen’s office, he paused his steps, not knowing what he was thinking. He spotted a chair in the distance, walked over, picked it up, and fiercely swung it towards the door of Wei Chen’s office.

A loud noise erupted in the Marketing Department, shocking everyone with He Keqiang’s sudden action. They all looked up from their documents, wearing expressions of disbelief.

“What are you looking at?!” He Keqiang’s sinister gaze fell upon the employees, sweeping across them as if he wanted to engrave their appearances in his mind. Then he kicked the chair that he had just knocked down to the ground, before returning to his office.

The employees were sent shivers down their spines by He Keqiang’s recent actions, but they looked at each other in confusion, suspecting if He Keqiang had taken the wrong medication before coming to work.

In his office, Wei Chen heard the commotion outside the door. His gaze grew heavy, and he was about to get up and go out when a phone call came in. The chairman was holding a meeting and specifically named Wei Chen to attend.

Wei Chen quickly tidied up some documents and headed to the top floor.

The senior management of the company did not find today’s meeting surprising. The previous meeting had failed to produce the desired results for the chairman, so it was certain that he would reconvene the meeting until the reasons were identified and solutions found.

If the chairman was in a bad mood, the subordinates naturally wouldn’t fare well either. When a meeting was called, no one dared to be late.

At this moment, although the chairman had not yet arrived in the conference room, all the attendees had already gathered. In the past, there would be a few people whispering to each other before the meeting started, but this time, an eerie silence enveloped the room. Everyone sat up straight, waiting for the chairman’s arrival. When Wei Chen walked into the conference room, the high-level executives, who were sitting upright, cast their gazes upon him. It had been one or two months since they last saw him, and Wei Chen was still the same Wei Chen, showing no signs of change.

But they knew that the wind at Changfeng was about to change.

When Zhuge Feng saw Wei Chen enter, he smiled and nodded at him, gesturing for Wei Chen to sit beside him.

Wei Chen was under Zhuge Feng’s wing, which was widely known throughout the company. But the treatment he was receiving in front of Zhuge Feng now indicated that after this meeting, Wei Chen would have the qualifications to sit by Zhuge Feng’s side.

This speculation lingered in everyone’s minds, and the answer to this speculation was almost certain.

After about ten minutes, the chairman entered. His demeanor was much more relaxed than the previous day. He nodded at the people in the room and then took his seat at the head of the table.

“Let’s continue our discussion from yesterday,” the chairman said, his gaze shifting towards Lin Xin. “Deputy General Manager Lin, I gave you a night to think about it. Now you can tell me why so many companies wanted to cancel their cooperation with us, even though the contracts were signed less than three months ago.”

The chairman’s tone was calm, without a hysterical rant. Even the expression on his face seemed plain, without any angry glares. However, it was precisely this flat tone that made people’s hearts tighten, taking their breath away, not daring to breathe.

Lin Xin’s forehead was beaded with cold sweat as he looked to Zhou Tongpeng for help. But Zhou Tongpeng seemed completely oblivious to everything happening in the conference room, as if he didn’t know a thing.

A chill ran through Lin Xin’s heart, realizing that Zhou Tongpeng had decided to abandon him.

The chairman’s gaze remained fixed on Lin Xin. Lin Xin mumbled, his lips trembling, but he didn’t know what to say. He felt that today’s and yesterday’s meetings were like a struggle session for him, exposing him bare in front of everyone, inviting criticism and judgment. Although no one in the room said anything, Lin Xin felt that those gazes were like sharp swords and whips, mercilessly lashing at him.

Lin Xin’s face flushed red, wanting to speak up in his defense, but the facts were already presented before everyone, leaving him with no way to argue.

It was he who ruined the excellent strategy left by Wei Chen. It was he who made the CEOs of those companies, who had just signed contracts with the company, doubt and even consider breaking the agreements.

Lin Xin couldn’t understand why those automobile companies couldn’t sit still just because he touched Wei Chen’s strategy. Could Wei Chen’s strategy really be that good? Good enough that those companies valued it more than Changfeng Group itself?

If he had known that those companies were signing contracts because of Wei Chen, he would never have tampered with Wei Chen’s strategy. After all, as long as the performance didn’t decline, the chairman wouldn’t blame him in the short term. But losing so many cooperative businesses, while it didn’t threaten the foundation of Changfeng, it did cause tangible damage to the interests of Changfeng Group. How could the chairman let him off?

After enduring psychological torment, Lin Xin compromised and met the chairman’s gaze, saying, “I am willing to accept the company’s punishment.”