Chapter 282 — The Board Strikes

Seeing the look of eager anticipation on Shen Yushu's face, Gu Mengyao could not bring herself to disappoint her. Especially since Wei Zhao had spent the whole afternoon cleaning and preparing this shark, and now it had been roasted to a fragrant, appetizing smell. It certainly smelled good enough—but when it came to taste, the meat was nothing to write home about, merely passable at best...

"It is!" Shen Yushu breathed in the aroma of the shark meat, her appetite surging. She speared a piece with her fork and popped it into her mouth, chewing with obvious relish.

"Huh? Why does this shark meat not taste as good as it did at noon?" Shen Yushu frowned as well... She savored it carefully. The flavor seemed to be the same, and with the seasonings added, the fish was even richer and more fragrant than before. Yet somehow, when she chewed it, it simply was not as delicious as it had been at noon...

"Shark meat was never all that tasty to begin with." Wei Zhao also speared a piece and began eating. "At noon, you were frightened out of your wits, and you had thrown up everything in your stomach along with the seawater. Of course you were starving—that is why it tasted so good."

"I see..." Shen Yushu felt a little embarrassed. "Yaoyao, maybe you should not eat it..."

"How could I not?" Gu Mengyao shook her head. "I will eat it. I must eat it! This is your heartfelt effort, and eating it makes me happy!"

"Oh, then eat more. Honestly, I still think it is quite delicious!" 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 are not dead—the police station has already sent word! This time we are in serious trouble!"

"They are not dead—so what is the problem?" Jin Maosheng was slightly taken aback.

"That old fox Gu Pengzhan is convening a board meeting tomorrow. He is surely planning to make an issue of this!" Jin Gubang said through gritted teeth. "If he takes back the businesses I control, a casual investigation will turn up problems everywhere. We are finished!"

Jin Maosheng was no fool. After hearing his father's words, his expression turned grim as well. He had not thought that far ahead before. Although it was regrettable that Wei Zhao had not died, it was hardly a catastrophe—if this attempt failed, there was always the next. What he had not anticipated was that Gu Pengzhan would use the amusement park incident to chip away at the Jin family's power!

The amusement park happened to be one of the businesses under Jin Gubang's management. An accident at the amusement park could be made into something big or something small—it all depended on what Gu Pengzhan intended.

"Dad, I am sorry!" Jin Maosheng had not expected today's affair to stir up such a disaster. Gu Pengzhan's reaction was astonishingly swift!

"Forget it. He will not find anything for the time being. Do we not still have our trump card? I did not want to play things this ruthlessly, but since he is forcing my hand, he cannot blame me for showing no mercy!" Jin Gubang sneered. "Does he think Jin Gubang is a fool, easy to push around? He wants to strip my power—then I will 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 up his sleeve. All along, his father had been quietly eroding the company's assets and authority, using such means to scheme for control of the corporation.

Yet Jin Gubang seemed to have other preparations as well—and he was highly confident he could remove Gu Pengzhan from the chairmanship. This could not help but astonish Jin Maosheng!

"Dad..." Jin Maosheng was about to ask something, but Jin Gubang waved a hand to cut him off.

"Do not ask so many questions. Just take care of your own affairs!" Jin Gubang said. "By the way, that fellow who took them bungee jumping—he has been dealt with, yes?"

"Xiao Ma? I already hinted to Zhang Yuzhou to get rid of him." Jin Maosheng said. "Rest assured, Dad. No one will trace today's matter back to us!"

"They will not? Hmph. That old fox Gu Pengzhan never intended to investigate in the first place!" Jin Gubang sneered. "I truly underestimated him! He actually called the police station and said that since Shen Yushu and Wei Zhao are unharmed, there is no need to investigate! It is plain as day—he wants to pin this mess squarely on the Jin family!"

Jin Maosheng was somewhat speechless. Pin it on them? This was their doing in the first place! If a real investigation turned up problems, would the Jin family not be just as finished?

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

Jin Gubang sat stone-faced in the seat beside Gu Pengzhan. He was the company's second-largest shareholder and vice chairman, and by rights this was where he belonged.

"All right, everyone is present. Let us begin." Gu Pengzhan dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point. "As you all know, yesterday at the carnival amusement park under our group, a serious and malicious accident occurred! The victim was Shen Yushu, a close friend of my daughter. If anything had happened to her, our entire Gu Group would be inexcusable! I believe everyone present is aware of Shen Yushu's background!"

This was no secret. The shareholders present had already learned of it, so at Gu Pengzhan's words they all nodded in agreement. Indeed, if anything had happened to Shen Yushu, it would have been a grave matter!

"Fortunately, Shen Yushu is unharmed. She was rescued by the police." Gu Pengzhan continued. "From this incident, we can see the gaps in our management. Had management been adequate—had the bungee cords been carefully inspected each time—this accident would not have occurred!"

Jin Gubang listened coldly to Gu Pengzhan's words, calculating his countermeasures. Unless absolutely necessary, he would not play that trump card, because doing so, while the fastest way to achieve his goal, would make it hard to command respect even if he took the chairman's seat!

If he were to carve off the entire real estate company and give it away, presumably none of these shareholders would support him. He could not simply have his way. So he needed a gradual process of consolidating power before merging it together.

"I do not wish to assign blame to anyone. Although the amusement park is under Vice Chairman Jin's purview, I believe Vice Chairman Jin also does not wish for such a thing to happen. Is that not so, Vice Chairman Jin?" Gu Pengzhan asked.

"Of course! No one wishes for such an accident to occur!" Jin Gubang replied indifferently. In his heart, though, he sneered. Not assigning blame? The drunkard's mind is not on the cup, is it?

Sure enough, Gu Pengzhan continued. "Vice Chairman Jin is the company's vice chairman, handling a myriad of affairs every day. And the entertainment industry is one of the more complex and diversified branches of our 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. The entertainment industry shall henceforth be overseen by Chairman Xie. Chairman Xie currently manages only the group's finance and human resources departments. Adding a little more to his load should not be a problem, should it?"

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