Chapter 44 Part 2

The directors in the conference room saw Zhou Chiyu accompanying Gu Lao and exchanged displeased glances before politely nodding. “President Gu, President Zhou.”

It was Zhou Chiyu’s first time seeing all the company’s top executives gathered, and his heart couldn’t help but tremble. Like a child who had done something wrong, he stood by Gu Lao’s chair, cautiously sizing up these unfamiliar and stern faces.

“Little Fish, sit down.”

Gu Yuan led Zhou Chiyu to sit, then swept a direct gaze over everyone.

Grandpa had said there were even relatives of Zhou Chiyu’s among them.

“President Gu, Young President Zhou is almost of age. Shouldn’t you hand over the Chairman’s authority?” The first to challenge them was Vice Chairman Liu Yong. Though wary of the Gu Family’s power, the Corporation’s control concerned his life and death; he was unwilling to let outsiders hold it indefinitely.

“Nan Zheng did say that Little Fish would be under my care until adulthood, and that the Corporation and Foundation would be temporarily managed by me.” Gu Lao coughed twice, his cold gaze sweeping over Liu Yong’s face. “But as you said, he’s almost of age—Little Fish isn’t yet.”

Liu Yong retorted, “It’s just one month. In my view, this is a Corporation-internal confidential meeting; you and your grandson shouldn’t attend.”

He turned to Zhou Chiyu and suddenly smiled. “Young President Zhou, President Gu bringing his whole family to the meeting—don’t you find that problematic? If I’m not mistaken, President Gu intends to groom his grandson. You’re quite naive, so don’t let decades of family legacy slip away so easily.”

“It’s what I want.” Zhou Chiyu’s gaze locked onto Liu Yong, his earlier timidity gone as he spoke. “They are my family; I’m willing to trust them. Even when I turn eighteen, I’m willing to let Grandpa manage the Corporation for me.”

“What?”

“How is that possible?”

“Young President Zhou, he’s an outsider.”

Though Gu Lao was not surprised by Zhou Chiyu saying such things, he had not expected him to state it so firmly.

“I’m not joking; this decision is after careful consideration.” Zhou Chiyu’s back straightened. “So please respect my family.”

The conference room fell silent.

Liu Yong’s expression grew uglier. “Young President Zhou, though you’re the Corporation’s largest shareholder, that doesn’t mean every decision you make is right. Take this time you uploaded the Last Will via the OA System—you know the impact it had? 51% of shares easily transferred, making partners and investors think the heir lacks long-term planning. A trust crisis is only natural!”

Mentioned this, Zhou Chiyu clearly lost confidence, biting his lip tightly without responding.

“Yes, Young President Zhou, you must take responsibility this time.”

“The Corporation nearly lost billions.”

The other executives tacitly sided with him, echoing Vice Chairman Liu and starting to pressure Zhou Chiyu.

“Vice Chairman Liu, as Little Fish’s brother, I’d like to ask you a question.”

Having finished reviewing the materials, Gu Yuan closed the folder, his tone icy. “With ZN’s stock plummeting, is there suspicion that directors colluded to dump shares and spread false rumors? Like how the internal notice leaked? Was someone fanning the flames? I suggest forming an investigation team to thoroughly probe this and root out those with ill intentions.”

Liu Yong’s narrowed eyes gleamed coldly. “You say form one, and it’s formed? What right do you have to make decisions here?”

“He’s my brother; how could he not have the right?” Zhou Chiyu couldn’t help arguing.

“Of course I have no right.” Gu Yuan smiled, his eyes unflinchingly meeting Liu Yong’s. “I’m just making a suggestion. After all, the PR Department can handle the press conference for this stock crisis. Little Fish has a good relationship with us— isn’t that a win-win? As shareholders, everyone cares only about profits. If I recall correctly, though ZN’s main business is biopharma, its R&D-production-investment-service operations require partnerships with many other industries. Our Gu Family can be ZN’s stable partner; aside from certain people, other shareholders would naturally welcome it.”

“Sharp-tongued.” Liu Yong hadn’t expected the Gu Family kid to argue so cleverly and flew into a rage. “By your logic, we can just brush this off lightly? How old are you? This isn’t child’s play; it could determine the Corporation’s rise or fall.”

Gu Lao had wanted to speak but saw that Gu Yuan seemed confident, so he left the opportunity to him.

“Brother…” Zhou Chiyu thought those people were too fierce and gently tugged Gu Yuan’s clothes, worried he would be bullied.

In the end, he was the one who had done wrong.

“Of course not.” Under the table, Gu Yuan grasped Zhou Chiyu’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “Right now, the most urgent matter is emergency PR to reassure investors, prevent short-term share dumps by shareholders, and avoid short-selling by competitors. We also need to activate equity structure defenses to check for malicious acquisitions. Of course, there might be opportunists inside the Corporation too, so shareholders who truly care should unite—increase holdings, commit to dividends for the next few years, and dilute market panic.”

Gu Lao nodded thoughtfully and looked toward Liu Yong.

This time, not only Gu Lao, but the other executives seemed to agree.

Liu Yong knew Gu Yuan had hit the nail on the head. After a moment’s thought, he questioned, “Of course we know to do emergency PR, but the problem is there’s no blood relation between Young President Zhou and the Gu Family.”

Manager Chen followed up. “You’re just close, without marriage. Rashly transferring all shares to the Gu Family—how do we convince shareholders and employees?”

“Marriage?”

A strange light suddenly surged in Gu Yuan’s calm eyes. His peripheral vision quietly fixed on Zhou Chiyu as he suddenly smiled. “If Little Fish is willing, our Gu Family can marry into his.”

“Yeah! I have no objection!” Zhou Chiyu leaned close to Gu Yuan, glaring at Liu Yong alongside him.