Chapter 282 — The Board Strikes Back

Seeing the eager look on Shen Yushu's face, Gu Mengyao could not bring herself to dampen her spirits — especially with Wei Zhao having slaved over this shark all afternoon and now serving it up sizzling and fragrant. It smelled rather good; it was only when she tasted it that she found the flesh had nothing delectable about it at all, merely passable...

"See!" Shen Yushu, her appetite roused by the aroma, speared a piece of shark meat with her fork and popped it into her mouth, chewing blissfully.

"Huh? How come this shark tastes worse than it did at noon?" Shen Yushu frowned as well... Tasting it carefully, the flavor seemed much the same — there were even seasonings in it now, making the meat richer and more savory — yet somehow, when she chewed it, it was simply not as good as it had been at noon...

"Shark was never much good to begin with," Wei Zhao said, spearing a piece for himself. "At noon you'd been scared half to death, and you'd thrown up everything in your stomach along with the seawater. Of course you were starving — that's why it tasted so good."

"Is that so..." Shen Yushu looked a little embarrassed. "Yao-yao, maybe you shouldn't eat it..."

"How could I not?" Gu Mengyao shook her head. "I'll eat it — I insist on eating it! This is your doing, both of you, and eating it makes me happy!"

"Oh, then have some more. Actually, I still think it's quite tasty!" Shen Yushu speared another piece and went on eating...

"Damn it! Are you brainless?" Jin Gubang glared at his son, beside himself with fury. "Wei Zhao and Shen Yushu aren't dead — word's already come from the police station! We're in real trouble this time!"

"Not dead? Then what's the trouble?" Jin Maosheng was slightly taken aback.

"That old fox Gu Pengzhan is convening the board of directors tomorrow — he's clearly looking to make something of it!" Jin Gubang said viciously. "If he takes back the businesses I control, a casual investigation will turn up plenty of problems, and we're finished!"

Jin Maosheng was no fool; hearing his father's words, his expression darkened. He had not thought so far ahead before. Wei Zhao's survival was regrettable, but hardly catastrophic — if this attempt failed, there would be a next time. What he had not anticipated was that Gu Pengzhan would use the amusement park affair to erode the Jin family's power.

The amusement park happened to be one of the businesses under Jin Gubang's management. An accident there could be made much of or little of — it all depended on what Gu Pengzhan intended.

"Dad, I'm sorry!" Jin Maosheng had not expected today's business to stir up such a disaster, nor that Gu Pengzhan would react so swiftly.

"Forget it. He won't find anything in the short term. Don't we still have our trump card? I didn't want to go this far, but since he's forcing my hand, he can't blame me for showing no mercy!" Jin Gubang gave a cold laugh. "Does he take me for a fool, easy to push around? He wants to strip my power? Then I'll have him removed as chairman first!"

A flicker of astonishment crossed Jin Maosheng's eyes. For the first time he learned that his father held another ace — all along, his father had been nibbling away at the company's assets and authority, seeking control of the corporation by such means.

Yet Jin Gubang seemed to have other preparations besides, and to be confident of ousting Gu Pengzhan from the chairmanship — which could not but astonish Jin Maosheng.

"Dad..." Jin Maosheng had just begun to ask something when Jin Gubang waved a hand to cut him off.

"Don't ask so much. Just mind your own affairs!" Jin Gubang said. "By the way — that fellow who took them bungee jumping, he's been dealt with?"

"Xiao Ma? I've already hinted to Zhang Yuzhou to get rid of him," Jin Maosheng said. "Don't worry, Dad. No one will trace today's business back to us."

"Won't they? Hmph — that old fox Gu Pengzhan never intended to investigate at all!" Jin Gubang sneered. "I underestimated him! He actually called the police station and said that since Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao are unharmed, there's no need to investigate! It's plain as day — he means to pin this filth on the Jin family!"

Jin Maosheng was speechless. Pin it on them? This was their own doing in the first place. If an investigation did turn up anything, wouldn't the Jin family be finished just the same?

Early Sunday morning, the Gu Group convened an emergency shareholders' meeting.

Jin Gubang sat stone-faced in the seat beside Gu Pengzhan. As the company's second-largest shareholder and vice chairman, he was entitled to sit there.

"Very well, everyone is present. Let us begin." Gu Pengzhan dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point. "You all know that yesterday, at the carnival amusement park under our group, a serious and malicious accident occurred. The victim was Shen Yushu, my daughter's good friend. If anything had happened to her, our entire Gu Group would have been culpable. I believe everyone present knows Shen Yushu's background!"

It was no secret. The shareholders present had all learned of it beforehand, and so at Gu Pengzhan's words they nodded one after another. Indeed, had anything happened to Shen Yushu, it would have been a grave matter!

"Thankfully, Shen Yushu is unharmed — the police rescued her and brought her back," Gu Pengzhan said. "And that is precisely what this incident reveals: the gaps in our management. Had management been up to standard, had the bungee cords been carefully inspected each time, I daresay this accident would never have happened!"

Jin Gubang listened coldly to Gu Pengzhan's words, turning countermeasures over in his mind. Only as a last resort would he play that trump card of his, for though it could achieve his aim in the shortest possible time, even if he took the chairman's seat that way, he would struggle to command the respect of the board.

If he were to carve off the entire real estate company and hand it away, he reckoned not a single one of these shareholders would back him; he could not simply force it through on his own will. So he needed a gradual process of gathering power and consolidating it.

"I have no wish to pin the blame on anyone either. Though the amusement park falls under Vice Chairman Jin's charge, I doubt Vice Chairman Jin wished for such a thing to happen any more than we did — isn't that so, Vice Chairman Jin?" Gu Pengzhan asked.

"Of course! No one wants such an accident to occur!" Jin Gubang answered blandly. In his heart, though, he gave a cold laugh. No wish to pin the blame? The drunkard's mind is not on the cup, I'll wager.

Sure enough, Gu Pengzhan went on: "Vice Chairman Jin is the company's vice chairman, attending to a thousand affairs a day, and the entertainment industry is one of the more tangled and miscellaneous branches of the company's business. It is only natural that Vice Chairman Jin cannot attend to everything. Therefore, I propose that we lighten Vice Chairman Jin's burden somewhat. Let the entertainment industry henceforth fall under Chairman Xie's charge — Chairman Xie currently handles only the group's finance and personnel departments, so adding a little to his load should pose no problem, I trust?"

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