Earth – Junhi Country – Star City
Gu Family Mansion. Gu Zhongchen's Bedroom.
Gu Zhangchen was getting ready to go out. Today was the day of the shareholders' meeting to decide the new CEO of Gu Industries. His family had already left before him.
Gu Zhangchen wore a black suit with a black shirt underneath and black pants. As always, after getting ready, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, appreciating his looks for a few minutes.
After that, he left his room, heading for the garage.
On his way, he found Sebastian waiting for him.
Seeing him, Sebastian smiled and said, "Good luck, young master. I hope you succeed."
Still walking toward the garage, Gu Zhangchen smirked and said, "Sebas, I don't need luck. After today, I will be the new CEO of Gu Industries without a doubt."
Sebastian smiled even more and said, "Then I will wait for the good news, young master."
Gu Zhangchen, still smirking, got inside the car to go to Gu Industries headquarters.
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Gu Industries Headquarters. In the Meeting Room.
All the shareholders of Gu Industries were in the meeting room. Gu Zhangchen was also there. The meeting room was filled with visible tension.
Gu Fengzhou, as the chairman of the company, was sitting at the head of the table. The rest of the members of the Gu family were sitting near him.
Gu Industries was a private company.it was a company involved in various sectors. It was one of the biggest companies in Junhi Country.
The CEO of Gu Industries was decided by a vote by the shareholders. To become the CEO, Gu Zhangchen would need a majority vote. That meant shareholders whose total combined shares equaled at least 51 percent.
The Gu family as a whole held a total of 40 percent of the company's shares. Gu Fengzhou had 25 percent, and his grandmother, father, and mother each had 5 percent. The rest was owned by many others.
Looking at everyone in the meeting room, Gu Fengzhou said, "I am sure everyone here knows why this meeting was called."
At his words, everyone in the room nodded. Everyone had been informed of the reason for this meeting the day before.
Seeing everyone nod, Gu Fengzhou continued, "Good. I will state the reason again just to be clear. Gu Changsheng has been the CEO of the company for the past 22 years. Now, he wants to retire. So, this meeting was called to decide the new CEO of the company."
As soon as Gu Fengzhou finished talking, the tension in the room seemed to increase.
Seeing that nobody was speaking, Gu Fengzhou said, "I propose that my grandson, Gu Zhangchen, be chosen as the new CEO."
Suddenly, someone said, "I object."
Everyone looked at the person who said that. It was one of the shareholders, named Yi Chen. He was the shareholder with the second most shares in the company. He held a total of 20 percent of the shares.
Yi Chen was an old man from his grandfather's generation. He had always wanted to take control of Gu Industries. So, he had opposed Gu Fengzhou at every opportunity.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Yi Chen smirked and continued, "What qualifications does he have to be the CEO of the company? Why should we choose him as the CEO?"
Hearing that, all the members of the Gu family except Gu Zhangchen frowned. Gu Fengzhou glared at Yi Chen and said, "Yi Chen, mind your words. Gu Zhangchen is the heir to the Gu family. How dare you question his qualifications!"
Yi Chen laughed provocatively and said, "I dare. What are you going to do about it? We are also shareholders of this company. We have a right to decide who is qualified—"
"Shut up, old hag," Gu Zhangchen suddenly interrupted.
Hearing Gu Zhangchen say that, everyone in the room, including the Gu family members, looked at him, shocked.
Yi Chen frowned and said, "What did you just say to me?"
Gu Zhangchen smirked and said, "Did I stutter, old man, or are you hard of hearing?"
Yi Chen immediately stood up and started shouting in anger, saying, "You disrespectful brat. How dare you say—"
Gu Zhangchen once again interrupted him and let out a dramatic sigh. He then turned towards his grandfather and said, "Gramps, don't bother with all this small talk. Just start a vote."
Hearing that, everyone in the room became quiet. They didn't understand why Gu Zhangchen was behaving this way. After all, he needed to be in their good graces to become the CEO.
Although shocked, Gu Fengzhou trusted his grandson. So he said, "Now, I propose a vote on making Gu Zhangchen the new CEO. All those who agree, raise your hand. All those who don't agree, don't raise your hand."
With that, the vote began. Two minutes after everyone had voted:
Shareholders with a total of 48 percent agreed, and 52 percent did not. Of the 48 percent, 40 percent came from the Gu family and the other 8 percent came from two shareholders loyal to the Gu family.
Seeing the results, the Gu family members except Gu Zhangchen frowned. Yi Chen laughed mockingly and said, "What happened, brat? You seemed confident that you would be chosen."
Gu Zhangchen, not paying him any mind, turned towards his personal assistant Lin Yao and asked, "What time is it?"
Lin Yao looked at the time and replied, "It's 10:55 a.m. right now, sir."
Seeing him act like this, everyone in the meeting room was confused. Bai Lingling asked in a confused voice, "Chen'er, what are you doing?"
Gu Zhangchen looked at her and said, "Just wait for five minutes and you'll find out, Grandma."
Yi Chen frowned, seeing him act so nonchalantly, and said, "What are you doing, kid? The voting is already finished."
Gu Zhangchen looked at him and said, "Old man, are you really deaf? I just said to wait for five minutes."
Yi Chen looked like he was about to explode. However, this time, he didn't say anything and just sat in his seat, glaring at Gu Zhangchen. The other shareholders also stayed quiet and sat still, waiting to see what Gu Zhangchen was doing.
After five minutes, Gu Zhangchen suddenly said, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Lu, and Mr. Su, you three may leave the meeting room now."
Hearing that, the people who were called out nodded and stood up, leaving the meeting room.
Seeing them listen to Gu Zhangchen, everyone in the room was shocked. These three people were among those who had voted against Gu Zhangchen. So it didn't make sense for them to follow his instructions.
Yi Chen frowned upon seeing them leave. He then turned towards Gu Zhangchen and asked, "Why did you tell them to leave, kid?"
"Because they don't have the right to be in the meeting anymore," Gu Zhangchen said, shrugging his shoulders.
Yi Chen's frown deepened. He then said, "Everyone with shares has a right to attend this meeting, brat."
Hearing that, Gu Zhangchen smirked and said, "That's why they can't attend this meeting."
Everyone was even more confused.
Yi Chen again asked, "What do you mean?"
Gu Zhangchen looked at him with a bored face and said, "Are you dumb too, old man? It's clear that they can't attend the meeting anymore because they don't have shares in the company anymore."
This time his grandmother asked in a confused voice, "Chen'er, why don't they have their shares?"
Gu Zhangchen smirked and said, "That's because I bought their shares."
"What!!"
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That's it for today. Hope you liked the chapter. If you see any mistakes, tell me in the comments. See you on the next one. Bye.