Chapter 31#

Leveraging the advantages of the secretariat, Yan Zishu, within his authority, inquired about some of the issues to be voted on at the upcoming shareholders’ meeting.

Among them, besides “recommending Fu Jinchi to join the board of directors,” as for the others, although many were still in draft form, to experienced people, it was somewhat possible to analyze changes favorable to Third Uncle Fu from them, but which Fu Weishan would probably find hard to agree to.

Third Uncle Fu was greedy, eyeing Yinghan as a fat piece of meat, and his ambition was always obvious to all, but he didn’t hold enough shares.

As a listed company, Yinghan Group’s equity was relatively dispersed. Fu Zhizhang held 31% of the shares back then, which was enough for him to have absolute say. At that time, Third Uncle Fu only held 2%, taking dividends humbly and behaving himself, never stepping forward.

It wasn’t until the elder brother’s death that the situation changed. After years of operation, Third Uncle Fu’s shares had increased to 10%.

Fu Weishan was indeed a bit too green to deal with this old fox, and he had gone through multiple rounds of confrontations, having to grudgingly accept it.

As for Fu Zhizhang’s shares, he had promised Mrs. Fu before his death that he would leave all of them to Fu Weishan in his will.

The final result, however, was that Fu Weishan received 25%, and Fu Jinchi received 6%.

It was truly a case of “both sides of the hand are flesh.”

Now that Third Uncle Fu happened to have this “virtuous nephew” Fu Jinchi with his methods, it was no wonder he felt capable again.

The combined 16% shares held by Third Uncle Fu and Fu Jinchi, while seemingly still far less than Fu Weishan’s, in reality, only needed the stance of a few major shareholders to bridge the gap. Who could say how many people Third Uncle Fu had already won over to his long-planned big ship?

Fu Jinchi’s exposure clearly showed Fu Weishan’s “incompetence in governance,” and Third Uncle Fu’s negotiations further added to his bargaining chips.

However… two people can be bound on the same ship for the same goal, but they are not necessarily a solid block.

Yan Zishu could hardly avoid this conclusion when he thought that Fu Jinchi could casually betray Third Uncle Fu in front of him.

To say that others “die for wealth and birds die for food” is very credible.

To say what this villain BOSS Fu Jinchi is truly after, however, still requires a question mark.

It is also worth noting that if he really wanted to be elected as a director of Yinghan, even with the support of Third Uncle Fu’s faction, and even if he suppressed the major shareholders’ confidence in Fu Weishan through public opinion pressure, Fu Weishan would undeniably still be the current chairman and would hold a firm opposing stance.

Currently, it seems Fu Jinchi’s own bargaining chips are not enough.

Unless he has other plans.

At this time, Yan Zishu could not foresee what other moves the people on Third Uncle Fu’s ship would make.

However, the other party probably would never expect that there were also people lurking on the shore, waiting for an opportunity—

It was Yan Zishu himself. After Ji Chen returned to work, he planned to frame him.

The motive for the malicious cannon fodder’s evil deeds was relatively straightforward, explained from a plot perspective as love turning into hatred.

More specifically, Fu Weishan, like most “successful men,” in the tempting world of flowers, inevitably left his mark everywhere. In the past, he would pass through a field of flowers without a single petal sticking to him, but now he seemed to have genuinely fallen for a little white flower.

This was something Yan Zishu (theoretically) could not tolerate, and dark thoughts grew in his heart, leading him to want to deal with it quickly.

That’s pretty much the gist of it. Others were going off-script, but he was following the script.

Yan Zishu couldn’t be blamed for fishing in troubled waters; it could only be said that everyone happened to make their moves at the same time.

After consideration, he believed that he should not abandon his mission just because these people were fighting for power and profit.

*

However, before Yan Zishu could act to eliminate dissenters, he found that Fu Xiaoyu was almost stealing his thunder.

This Fu Xiaoyu, who suddenly intervened, was truly more like a cannon fodder than a cannon fodder.

First, Ji Chen returned to work after being injured for about a month. Although it takes a hundred days for bones and tendons to heal, his fracture was closed and not too severe. Being young, he recovered quickly, but he still needed crutches and didn’t dare to exert too much force.

The first time he saw him, Fu Xiaoyu yelled: “Hey, where did this cripple come from? Salespeople can’t come in, get out.”

At that moment, Ji Chen was stunned on the spot, completely bewildered.

Fu Weishan followed him in from behind: “Fu Xiaoyu, speak properly.”

Amy pulled Fu Xiaoyu: “This is Ji Chen. His cubicle is next to yours. You asked who was there before.”

Ji Chen was on sick leave, so he hadn’t been around for a while, but his employee badge and cubicle showed there was still an employee there. Fu Xiaoyu had just joined the secretariat and had already questioned who sat there, why they were so arrogant, and why they were absent from work every day. His impression was already bad.

Fu Xiaoyu shook off Amy: “Oh, so he’s Brother Weishan’s ’that one.’ Fine, got it. Stop pulling me, okay?”

Just as Fu Xiaoyu knew he wouldn’t feel sorry for being rude to Yan Zishu in person, calling a colleague a “cripple” or “salesperson” to his face wouldn’t make him feel any apology. Instead, the gesture to “shut up” made him feel greatly offended.

Everyone present, except himself, looked embarrassed, and Amy’s face was even more awkward.

In a moment of desperation, she had pulled Fu Xiaoyu, forgetting that he was also a young master.

Others introduced Fu Xiaoyu’s identity, and Ji Chen wanted to shake his hand.

But Fu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes, telling him to save his hands to hold his crutches.

Fu Weishan frowned slightly, but restrained himself from getting angry. After Fu Xiaoyu walked past, he said to Ji Chen: “This is a relative’s child from the main family. He’s temporarily arranged here. Don’t take him seriously.”

Although Ji Chen nodded in agreement, Fu Weishan felt that he shouldn’t have agreed to Ji Chen coming to work so quickly.

To be honest, he now just wanted to keep his lover hidden away at home, and it didn’t feel bad at all.

Regarding the changes in the mindset and feelings of these two, outsiders couldn’t see it for over a month, but to summarize, when Yang Baoshan first posted the anonymous thread, Ji Chen was greatly affected, his mentality collapsed, and he didn’t want to see anyone. His roommate, “Black-rimmed glasses,” kept in touch with him, but the more he comforted him, the more stubborn he became. Fu Weishan took advantage of the situation, playing the role of an omnipotent god in front of him.

The later turning point was that a small matter escalated into a nationwide incident, which instead caused Yinghan Group to fall into turmoil. During that time, Fu Weishan always looked solemn and seemed to be struggling. Ji Chen, feeling guilty, instead cheered up and actively offered to come to work and do something.

Although Fu Weishan agreed, he was constantly uneasy and had people take care of him.

Who knew that this kind of accustomed pampering was again an eyesore for Fu Xiaoyu.

Of course, there’s no need to misunderstand; Fu Xiaoyu had absolutely nothing to do with the orthopedic proposition of “liking Fu Weishan.”

His girlfriends outside were all busty and curvy young models, a standard for rich second-generations.

It’s just that in Fu Xiaoyu’s view, given his background, being willing to start as a “secretary” was already condescending. He couldn’t stand the feeling of being suppressed by one of Fu Weishan’s mistresses.

This Fu Xiaoyu had a strong spirit of taking over. When he joined the company, he aimed to be like Li Chang’an, which, roughly speaking, meant becoming the future Vice President.

When he first arrived, Fu Xiaoyu was furious because he found out he wasn’t arranged to be the chief assistant but actually a secretary, and he vented his anger on Yan Zishu and others.

It wasn’t until he was educated by Third Uncle Fu at home that he reluctantly agreed to stay there.

Who knew, Yan Zishu was very “sensible” and submissively showed deference to this new secretary.

If the workplace were viewed as a level-up novel, in Fu Xiaoyu’s eyes, this was his first subordinate.

Therefore, unconsciously, Fu Xiaoyu finally reciprocated Yan Zishu with some condescending goodwill.

After all, a subordinate could be considered a member of his own camp.

In contrast, Fu Xiaoyu treated Ji Chen and Amy, these rookies, with an imperious attitude every day, extremely impolite.

His level wasn’t very high either; his emotions were always visible on his face. He would either exclaim exaggeratedly, “How can you make a mistake in such a simple place? Are you a pig-brain?” or disdainfully say, “Can you please stop spraying this perfume? It smells as bad as shit.”

Actually, Fu Xiaoyu and Ji Chen, these two had vastly different personalities, but their work abilities were truly on par.

Excellent employees are excellent in their own ways, but poor employees… probably no one is much better than the other.

However, facing such a Fu Xiaoyu, Yan Zishu could actually still discuss things with him, which was very different from his attitude towards Ji Chen.

For this, Ben couldn’t help but grumble, “Does even the ‘workaholic king’ have to yield to those with connections?”

The old man couldn’t stand incompetent little white rabbits, but could he tolerate incompetent cross-eyed fighting cocks?

But Yan Zishu didn’t need to explain his motives to Ben.

He only required his project team to do their part.

Only Chief Secretary Helen maintained the same stance as Yan Zishu, keeping a polite distance from Fu Xiaoyu.

Actually, Helen didn’t see through any trickery; it was just based on a bit of workplace experience: if Assistant Director Yan smiled particularly kindly and unusually at someone, it was best to be vigilant and keep a distance. The principle of self-preservation never goes out of style.

Perhaps it was also because of this intuition that when Fu Weishan wanted to handpick someone from the secretariat to follow up on the autumn auction, Helen and Yan Zishu stood separately in front of his desk. Helen glanced at Yan Zishu’s calm face, and then thought of Fu Xiaoyu who had been talking about this project for a long time, considering it his own. So, by some strange impulse, she excused herself, saying she couldn’t do it either.

Corresponding to the spring auction, Yinghan Group usually also held an auction in autumn.

This kind of regular annual auction already had a very mature and complete set of project procedures. As long as it was done according to the established rules, there was no need to innovate, and it could connect with various core business departments. Giving it to anyone was like finding a treasure.

The significance of this autumn auction also lay in the fact that after a series of negative hot searches, Yinghan Group also needed a high-profile appearance, preferably to hype up one or two sky-high priced items, emphasizing its stable position as an industry trendsetter.

At the same time, more beautiful press releases could be issued to dilute negative news and wash away bad impressions in the public’s mind.

Out of prudence, Fu Weishan habitually wanted Yan Zishu to worry about it. But because Yan Zishu stated that he was currently responsible for the cooperation with Dongyun Bank and might not be able to handle both, he needed someone else to follow up.

Who knew that Chief Secretary Helen also followed suit, expressing her inability to split herself with a troubled look.

Excluding everyone else, among the remaining candidates, since Ji Chen was not a formal employee but an intern, no matter how favored he was, it was impossible to entrust him with independent responsibility. And compared to small secretaries like Amy, who had no roots or foundation, and Fu Xiaoyu, who had connections…

Fu Weishan thought about it and still designated Fu Xiaoyu, also to shut Third Uncle Fu’s mouth.

If Third Uncle Fu were to nag again, he couldn’t possibly say that Fu Xiaoyu wasn’t given any important projects.

Fu Xiaoyu was naturally very proud, feeling it was only natural, and puffed out his chest even more.

However, Yan Zishu privately suggested to Fu Weishan that Ji Chen could participate in the form of assisting Fu Xiaoyu’s work, which would be better than being bored with miscellaneous tasks every day. Fu Weishan originally thought it was unnecessary, but Ji Chen himself was more motivated and actively came to fight for it.

Finally, Fu Weishan couldn’t resist the persistent persuasion and agreed to his little lover’s request.

Although Fu Xiaoyu was not very happy, due to pressure from Fu Weishan, he reluctantly accepted this point.

Yan Zishu didn’t hide anything, asking Ben to organize a complete set of past auction materials for them to refer to, and told them to ask if they didn’t understand anything. In fact, for specific matters, the planning department did what the planning department should do, and the appraisal department did what the appraisal department should do. The people in the secretariat were mainly responsible for the liaison work of uploading and conveying. Fu Xiaoyu and the others only needed to fill in the gaps.

For newcomers, the first time they get started, it’s not about achieving merit, but about making no mistakes—that’s victory.