Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 283 - Shift in the Meeting

Xie Guangbo was the third-largest Pengzhan Industries shareholder- in other words, the strongest power within the company other than Chu Pengzhan and Jin Maosheng. Pengzhan's suggestion of handing over the entertainment industry to Guangbo's management should most likely be accepted by other members of the board.

Raising your hand and rejecting Pengzhan's suggestion would naturally win the favor of Gubang, yet with the cost of crossing both Pengzhan and Guangbo- tyrants at the board. No one would go for something with an opportunity cost like that.

This was Pengzhan's move on the chessboard- a move the other shareholders wouldn't go against, since the target benefactor he was moving the authority to was one of the biggest shareholders.

Yet even that excellent move was a misstep.

Gubang froze upon hearing Pengzhan's suggestion, followed with pure joy! Oh, Chu Pengzhan, you old fox! You were thinking of cutting my authority, but……

Chu Pengzhan was the chairman- pulling the entertainment industry back into his own hand wouldn't yield any rejections from the other members. The only real consequence was the strong impression people would have, yet now this man had chosen to transfer that authority to Xie Guangbo?!

Haha, hahaha!!! Gubang had to consciously hold in his laughter- this Xie Guangbo was his trump card!!

This trump card was something Gubang had acquired out of coincidence and accident- should Pengzhan have done this a couple days earlier there really wouldn't be any countermeasures Gubang could take, since he'd not have gotten into contact with Guangbo yet.

Yet now, Guangbo needed his help- his son might as well be dead if Gubang didn't provide said help!

Guangbo had a son overseas, constantly drunk on gambling and racking up an excessive amount of debt- he even got into drugs and developed an addiction problem on top of that… The man was now over hundreds of millions of kuai in debt!!

Guangbo was the third-largest shareholder, but he didn't have that much cash on him- most of his assets were shares and real estate, making it almost impossible to pull out hundreds of millions of dollars for his son to pay off his debt!

This was a sum that had to be paid! The mafia of the country his son was in had taken ahold of him, threatening to have his legs cut off if the debt weren't paid off within the month!

Helpless, the only way he knew to go about this was by moving the company's finances so as to have the debt paid off- he'd fill the gap back in afterwards.

He was in charge of the finance department, but even he couldn't pull out a sum like that without the chairman or vice-chairman's signature. He didn't dare bring this to Chu Pengzhan, and decided to have his hopes pinned on Jin Gubang instead.

Naturally, it wasn't something he'd brought to Gubang blatantly- he only hinted and hit at the topic, not expecting for the two of them to end up on the same side! Gubang hadn't any requests, only hoping that Guangbo would support Gubang with his full strength when he would need it!

Guangbo understood the situation that moment. The three biggest shareholders of a company were usually independent against each other- two of the shareholders getting too close would always be a threat to the other shareholder.

But Guangbo had no other choice- to him, his son's life was more important. What use was money if his son were dead? He'd spent half his life already, how long did he even have left? The money was to be left to his children and grandchildren, his descendants! How would he have grandchildren without a son?!

Guangbo made the decision there and then to fully support Gubang- he understood what that notion entailed perfectly. Gubang's wish for the two of them to team up meant only one thing: he was preparing to go to war with Pengzhan.

He hadn't expected for Pengzhan to go against Gubang this soon during today's meeting, and he hadn't expected to be the benefactor of their battle! Any other day before that and he'd take the gift, no questions asked… But he wasn't in that sort of position anymore.

He was now in an alliance with Gubang- he needed to constantly have Gubang's benefits taken into consideration! He raised his head to look at Gubang to find that the man was looking right back at him. Guangbo nodded very slightly to signal that he understood.

Only then did Gubang turn to Pengzhan with a smile on his face. "Haha, Chairman Chu makes a good point. This incident relates back to me- I've nothing to say in defense."

Pengzhan paused at Gubang's words- he'd thought that the man would be the first one to jump up against his suggestion! Why was he being so compliant, letting go of this authority in silence? Pengzhan saw something wrong in that attitude instantly.

Could it be that there wasn't any evidence left over at the theme park Pengzhan could use against him? He frowned- something was wrong, but he didn't quite understand where…

Gubang not rejecting Pengzhan's suggestion meant that no one else would- after all, the members of the board wouldn't piss Chu Pengzhan off for Gubang's sake when Gubang himself was complying.

With that- the notion for Gubang's 'burdens' to be lessened passed.

"Haha, since we're all in agreement… Let's have Mister Xie manage the entertainment industry from now on." Pengzhan hadn't expected for things to turn out so smoothly- something felt wrong, but cutting authority from Gubang was always a good thing.

"Chairman Chu, if I may?" Guangbo spoke faintly.

"Oh?" Pengzhan's heart tensed up. "Do speak your mind, Mister Xie."

"Haha, I feel that Vice-chairman Jin's been managing the entertainment industry perfectly well… I don't see the need for it to be passed onto me?" Guangbo said. "We cannot use a slight accident like this to nullify Vice-chairman Jin's accomplishments and capabilities- after all, the company has benefitted with profits of tens of millions yearly under his management! I wouldn't dare put myself on the same level as the vice chairman in terms of management skills...and thus I don't see myself agreeing with the authority transfer. My apologies, chairman- I can't quite handle this large a workload- I must reject." 

Pengzhan's pupils shrunk as he stared at Guangbo! When had he allied himself with Jin Gubang?! Why was he speaking for him??

This was more than just regular help, he wasn't just standing up for Gubang- throwing away a cake this big when put right in front of him? The two had come to a private agreement- that was the only explanation.

Chapter 284 - Hitchhike

The only possibility was that Gubang and Guangbo had come to some sort of agreement- Pengzhan didn't know what, but a bad feeling started to form…

Guangbo turned to look at Gubang gleefully, only to find a very darkened face- yes, Gubang was very pissed indeed!

Gubang had looked really pleased when Pengzhan suggested to hand the business industry over to Guangbo, but Guangbo actually rejected it!!! Was he an idiot?!

Why the hell would he reject it?! Just accept the damned offer, Gubang wouldn't be worried with that in Guangbo's hands, they were in an alliance! They were on the same boat! Didn't Guangbo understand that he wouldn't be afraid of him betraying him, since that would mean the end of his son??

Rejecting the offer would instantly inform Pengzhan of the relationship they had with each other! Gubang didn't want that to be exposed this soon; he'd planned to attack Pengzhan with a killing blow when he least expected it!!

That was now an impossibility because of what Guangbo did- Pengzhan would now be on full alert! He'd have to use this relationship with Guangbo as a card earlier now!

Gubang wanted to curse- a card like this, used so early in the game! Wasted!! He didn't want to break with Pengzhan now, since he wouldn't be able to just cut off an entire industry of the company himself even if he were the chairman- it wouldn't be possible as long as Pengzhan still held most of the Pengzhan Industries shares.

Gubang glared at Guangbo, but there wasn't much he could do about it now- it had been done: everyone now could see that Guangbo and him were allied.

"I see- Let's entrust the entertainment business to Vice-chairman Jin as you wish, Mister Xie!" Pengzhan hmphed coldly. "Vice-chairman Jin, I hope you take measures so as to prevent such accidents from happening again!"

"Rest assured, chairman- I will do so immediately!" Gubang nodded- both Pengzhan and him were pissed. Why the hell was this Guangbo so retarded? 

Gubang didn't go home after the meeting ended- he contacted Guangbo! Their relationship was now exposed, and they had to pick up the pace before Pengzhan put his defenses up.

It was Monday, and Lin Yi was taking Uncle Fu's car to school. He used some containers for some shark meat, thinking of letting Xiaobo, Tangyin, and Fen try them.

He did have an entire shark, after all. He put the rest of it back in the fridge after roasting the half he needed.

The map he'd found in the shark, however, was left alone in his drawer. He couldn't understand it anyway, and didn't have the time. He decided he'd take a look when he had the chance.

What happened that Saturday had tightened the three closer- Mengyao didn't have that pissed-off face to show Lin Yi all the time anymore, and didn't say anything about Lin Yi hitting on girls even if she didn't like that.

Yushu and Mengyao were chatting away during the whole trip, about stuff Lin Yi wasn't very interested in. It was girl stuff, after all, stuff about clothes and makeup and whatnot, not topics Lin Yi could butt into.

They were almost at the school when Yushu pointed at a Mercedes-Benz some distance away. "Yao Yao, isn't that Zhong Pinliang's car?"

Mengyao frowned upon hearing what Yushu said- she raised her head and saw Pinliang get off the car.

Pinliang was quite stressed- he received a call from his uncle last night, asking how things were between him and Mengyao already- Gubang called him trash upon hearing how they hadn't even held hands yet!!

It seemed that his uncle was about to make his move soon when Pinliang didn't even have Mengyao sorted out on his side! His uncle had given him a deadline, that he'd have to take Mengyao within the week, by force if necessary! 

Gubang actually didn't want Pinliang to get together with Mengyao- Pengzhan only had one daughter, and that meant that all his assets and businesses would be passed onto her, a.k.a, to Pinliang! Yet Zhong Fabai wasn't one who liked serving others- Pinliang getting with Mengyao would temporarily give his assault on Pengzhan considerable support, but that was what it was- temporary! Fabai might even turn back and bite Gubang once he'd risen in power!

He didn't have much of a choice left now that Guangbo had exposed their relationship- the time was now, and he needed Pinliang to get with Mengyao. It'd hold Pengzhan back for a while as he planned his move on the company.

Pinliang turned to see Mengyao's Bentley, much to his joy- he'd been worried that he wouldn't have a chance to talk with Mengyao now that their seats weren't close! He waddled over to wait for Mengyao to get off.

"He's coming, Yao Yao……" Yushu grinned as he looked at Pinliang standing there.

"God…….." Mengyao rubbed at her forehead- could a guy get any more annoying?? "Lin Yi, get out the car and tell him to go away!"

"Me? Out the car?" Lin Yi blinked. Wouldn't that expose his relationship with Mengyao to Pinliang?

"Yes, you! Tell him to get out of my sight!" Mengyao nodded. "I don't wanna see him!"

"What if he asks me why I came out of your car?" Lin Yi smiled bitterly.

"Tell him you hitchhiked! Tell him we have the same route, so you hitchhiked!" Mengyao didn't see anything wrong with that. "Or just don't explain anything, he's not gonna think much of it anyway, since you're Tang Yin's boyfriend and everything!"

Mengyao hmphed internally at that thought, annoyed- Tang Yin sure had it good now, Lin Yi was the shield her father hired! Just thinking about it irritated her.

"Ah……" Lin Yi smiled and got out of the car.

"Yao Yao- Huh? Lin Yi? Why were you in Yao Yao's car??" Pinliang had thought that it was Mengyao who came out when he saw Lin Yi's face!

"I hitchhiked." Lin Yi looked at Pinliang coldly. "Scram before I count to three. One… Two…"

"Fine!!" Pinliang couldn't believe this- how unlucky could he get? He'd managed to get a chance to hit on Mengyao, and out of nowhere jumped a Lin Yi! But this wasn't a guy he could cross right now, so Pinliang decided that he'd hold it in, thinking that Lin Yi would be fucked by the time Naipao came down the mountain.