Chapter 1910 - Old Mr. Li's Decision
Chapter 1910: Old Mr. Li’s Decision
At this point, Wen Xinya and her team were already inside the Li Corporation’s board meeting room. Together with them were several board directors from the Li Corporation’s China division. These directors held a lot of power and even Xia Ruya had to give them due respect. But at this moment, none of their faces displayed any signs of arrogance. They were extremely hospitable toward Wen Xinya and her team, to the point of appearing ingratiating.
One of the board directors went forward to shake hands with Wen Xinya. “Miss Wen, it’s the Li Corporation’s honor to have you here! Please take a seat. Everyone, please take a seat.”
Another director was also smiling in an ingratiating manner. “I heard that Miss Wen loves Biluochun, so we specially prepared a premium Biluochun for you.” With that, he instructed the nearby assistant to go brew some tea.
Wen Xinya smiled graciously. “Director Li and Director Zhao are too kind.”
The atmosphere within the meeting room was very affable and there were no feelings of animosity at all.
Xue Yishan spoke up. “I wonder when will the Li Corporation’s Harbor City representatives arrive? The ones specially assigned by Old Mr. Li? It’s already 12 minutes and 43 seconds past the appointed time of our meeting. You know that Director Wen is very busy and doesn’t have much time to waste waiting for others to arrive.”
His words were not at all cordial. His tone sounded warm, but his words fully displayed his displeasure at the tardiness of the Li Corporation’s representatives. At the same time, he was clearly showing that the Wen Corporation held the upper hand in this meeting.
“Miss Wen, please forgive us. Our representatives are hurrying over as we speak and will be here soon. They had to rush over early this morning from Harbor City, so…”
We seek your kind understanding!
The board directors all looked very grave, as sweat trickled endlessly down their foreheads. The Wen Corporation had agreed to this meeting on account of Old Mr. Li. They would be doomed if they bungled this up.
They heard that in order to persuade Miss Wen, Old Mr. Li had set aside his pride and personally called her on the phone to arrange this meeting.
Wen Xinya continued to smile in the face of the directors’ obvious discomfort and anxiety.
Wen Xinya and Xue Yishan, playing good cop and bad cop respectively—had the Li Corporation’s board directors all flustered.
As the board directors continued to apologize, Wen Xinya felt that enough was enough and she glanced down at her wristwatch. She said in a mild voice, “It’s now 10:15 am and already 15 minutes past the appointed time. We will wait another five minutes for Old Mr. Li’s sake.”
Her cold voice held an undoubted sense of authority, while her gaze held a chilly deterrence. At this moment, Wen Xinya was a figure standing right at the peak of a golden pyramid, high above all.
Everyone at present could feel the air of authority emanating from Wen Xinya. No one dared to raise any objections, especially those Li Corporation people, who didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly now. Their ramrod straight backs had subconsciously started to droop, as they quietly prayed for their representatives to arrive as soon as possible.
Just as she finished her statement, the doors to the meeting room were pushed open.
A group of men in business suits and briefcases entered the room. They were obviously the tardy Li Corporation’s representatives from Harbor City.
One of them was a refined-looking man of about 50 years old and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He said apologetically, “I’m really sorry that we are late. The traffic in Capital city is truly nerve-wracking!”
His apology sounded rather sincere, and the Wen Corporation people were not the type to nitpick. Hence, they accepted his apology and explanation.
Following that, both sides started to make their introductions.
The Li Corporation contingent was led by Old Mr. Li’s most capable special administrative assistant—that bespectacled man. Going by the name of Zhu, this man had been by Old Mr. Li’s side for many years. He was highly regarded by Old Mr. Li, and not only was he Old Mr. Li’s special administrative assistant, but he was also the one who held the true power within the Li Corporation’s board of directors.
Special Assistant Zhu reached out his hand to Wen Xinya. “Miss Wen, I have heard a lot of great things about you, and I see that they were not spoken in vain.” He then glibly changed the topic. “Old Mr. Li bid me to ask after Old Mr. Wen.”
Having followed Old Mr. Li for so many years and skillfully meandered his way around that bunch of shrewd and merciless Li Corporation board of directors, Special Assistant Zhu naturally had good judgment instincts and could easily detect Wen Xinya’s special aura. He could see that there was something unique about her.
“Old Mr. Li is too kind. I wonder how is his health?”
This Special Assistant Zhu’s status in Harbor City’s Li Corporation was equal to that of Wen Xinya’s own position in the Wen Corporation. The corners of her lips curled up. Old Mr. Li was showing a lot of sincerity here. It looked like this meeting would go very smoothly.
At this point, Wen Xinya couldn’t help feeling rather rueful. Old Mr. Li, who had dominated Harbor City for over half a century, was indeed a great character.
In the past, because of Xia Ruya, Wen Xinya had been very annoyed by Old Mr. Li’s domineering manner. She felt that Old Mr. Li was just a stubborn old man. Now it seemed like she had been wrong about him.
The Li Corporation had remained standing in Harbor City. Even when Xia Ruya had secretly funneled away nearly 70% of the company’s financial resources, the Li Corporation continued to hang on in that dog-eat-dog world that was Harbor City. Old Mr. Li was no simple man.
Special Assistant Zhu smiled. “Thank you for your concern, Miss Wen. Old Mr. Li’s health has been stable.”
Special Assistant Zhu’s anxious heart finally relaxed at Wen Xinya’s attitude. It looked like the Wen Corporation was also rather sincere about this meeting. At least she was now smiling less formally and with more genuine emotion.
Wen Xinya nodded with a smile.
Special Assistant Zhu didn’t waste any more time and came straight to the point. “As we were late and caused much delay to Miss Wen’s schedule, let us just get down to business now!”
Wen Xinya did not have any objections.
Special Assistant Zhu adjusted his spectacles higher up the bridge of his nose. “According to the details of the agreement between Miss Wen and Old Mr. Li last night, he will sell 51% of his Li Corporation shares to the Wen Corporation at a five percent discount to the current market price. He will also hand over his management rights to the company.”
Following that, he took out several documents from his briefcase and placed them in front of Wen Xinya. “This is the agreement done up by Li Corporation’s lawyers according to Old Mr. Li’s intentions. Miss Wen, please take a look. If there are any issues, we can discuss and make changes on the spot. Old Mr. Li hopes to conclude this matter as soon as possible.”
Wen Xinya handed out the documents to the various members of her own team so that they could analyze it.
At the same time, Special Assistant Zhu gave a brief description of the contents of the agreement.
Wen Xinya flipped through the contract and found the terms to be very reasonable. It was clear that Old Mr. Li was offering his utmost sincerity in this matter. After the Wen Corporation’s legal team had discussed the agreement and plus a few requests of her own, the terms of the contract were finalized and agreed upon.
Special Assistant Zhu had not expected Miss Wen to be so decisive and straightforward. He himself didn’t hesitate at all as he took out Old Mr. Li’s personal seal to stamp the document.
The two parties exchanged their signed documents and shook hands.
At this moment…
“Bang!” The doors to the meeting were pushed open with a loud bang.