Beauty and the Bodyguard

 Chapter 307 - Chu Pengzhan's Difficulties

Wu Huiru was a very selfish woman. As far as she was concerned, Lin Yi was a nameless doctor, and them even going to him for treatment was praise. Were he to successfully cure Zhenhu then a word or two in his favor in the upper circle would yield him an eternal harvest of rich clients! He wouldn't have to worry about money at all!

Yet the guy set a price tag of one hundred million right from the get-go, it was simple extortion! Where did he come off giving the Lius the short end of the stick like that? Even if he truly were a miracle doctor, a couple millions' worth of payment was more than enough! A hundred million?? 

Hmph, so be it. Make sure you're able to hold on to that hundred million!!

Naturally, Tianyi would explode in rage should he learn of his wife's narrow-minded selfishness. A hundred million was indeed no small number, but it was absolutely worth it in exchange for a miracle doctor's friendship.

Would she never get sick? Would she never get old? Who would cure her, then? Spoiled, brainless bitch.

Yet Tianyi evidently had no knowledge of what was taking place out of his sight. He wouldn't be able to stop Chentian's malicious intent towards Lin yI.

Chu Pengzhan was quite furious today. Jin Gubang actually went and suggested a meeting for the re-election for the seat of chairman!

Remembering Gubang's relationship with Xie Guangbo sent a chill down Pengzhan's spine- it was the first time he'd felt powerless, the first time he'd lost control over the game!

Just yesterday he'd been confidently ridding the company of parasites, planning to shred at Gubang's influence and strength little by little before eventually removing him from the company entirely.

Yet things were no longer within expectations or within his favor- the second and third largest shareholders had now put their strength together in an attempt against him! The strength of his own share was inferior to that.

Just when did all of this happen to his company?

Did he have no choice other than give up the company his father founded to outsiders?

He hadn't brought up company affairs with his father all this time, too- he wanted his father to enjoy his retirement in peace.

Pengzhan hadn't thought of the current problem as anything too serious, since he'd be capable enough to deal with it were he to hold on to his own shares tightly, even if he were threatened by a selfish and greedy shareholder.

An alliance of two shareholders, however, was not within his expectations.

He had no cards to play against that. The re-election was underway under Gubang's influence, and he'd contacted Guangbo and all the other members of the board, gathering them for the meeting already. He might not even be the chairman anymore a few days later.

He was cornered, and had no choice. Although unwilling to interrupt his rest, he called his father anyway. Things were getting out of hand.

Elder Chu listened to Pengzhan's words silently without one interruption. He continued to stay silent for a while after Pengzhan finished.

"Dad, what do you think..?" Pengzhan was feeling rather pale. Gubang only needed a third of the members to start a board meeting, and not even Pengzhan could stop that, even if he was the chairman. Gubang starting this meeting at all meant that he was confident in the replacement of the chairman.

"I actually saw through the problem within the board a long time ago." Elder Chu's voice was calm. "Pengzhan, you treat people too kindly, too compassionately. While this is considered a good quality, you must understand that this world of business isn't dissimilar to the world of war. Kindness towards the enemy means cruelty towards yourself. Man is selfish. Greedy. An alliance to gain power is nothing out of the ordinary."

"Then……" Pengzhan paused- it looked like his father wasn't interested in dealing with the problem.

"Go to Lin Yi." Elder Chu sighed softly. "He might be the only one who could help you at this point……"

"Him?" Pengzhan was a bit surprised. "Dad, didn't you ask for him here for Yao Yao..?"

"Haha, he might be able to help you, but it's not for certain." Elder Chu laughed ambiguously.

"I understand, dad." Pengzhan hung up, wondering why his father wanted him to go to Lin Yi for help. He didn't understand Lin Yi's role to play in a situation like this?

He was no shareholder of the company, so he wouldn't be able to butt in in the first place. But it was a name his father had named for him, and he could only try.

Pengzhan didn't think that a titan in the business world like him would get betrayed by the sons of his father's friends. Was he truly too kind? Perhaps his father was right- if he'd pulled out the weed when it started sprouting without hesitation, the problem wouldn't have grown to what it was today!

Some of the shareholders might say that Pengzhan had no respect to his elders, but it'd still be better than getting forced into a corner like he was today.

Pengzhan looked at Li Fu at the steering wheel, and spoke up after some hesitation. "To Yao Yao's villa."

"Alright, Mister Chu." Li Fu sighed. "Mister Chu, don't be too worried- if even Elder Chu's recommending Lin Yi then he should be able to do something."

"Hopefully." Pengzhan nodded.

Lin Yi parked his car in front of Mengyao's villa, and saw a Bentley come in when he closed the door. It was Uncle Fu's car.

He didn't enter the villa, but waited for the car to be parked. Pengzhan got out after Li Fu stopped the Bentley. "Yi?"

Pengzhan wasn't expecting Lin Yi to have just gotten home. He looked at his van, curious. "Your car?"

"Oh. I helped Song Lingshan capture a criminal, that Heibao guy." Lin Yi explained candidly. "It's his car, I just got Song Lingshan to help me get a licence plate for it this afternoon."

Pengzhan nodded, not expecting Lin Yi to have established his own connections in Songshan already. It was evident that the relationship between him and Lingshan wasn't a normal one if he could get Lingshan to just get him the vehicle like that.

"Yi, I've something to discuss with you!" Pengzhan moved on with a pat on Lin Yi's shoulder.

"Oh? Alright. Do we talk about this inside?" Lin Yi said as he locked his van.

Pengzhan hesitated for a bit. "Maybe in my car?"

Lin Yi paused, understanding immediately. He nodded in response. "Alright."

He reckoned that there were some things Pengzhan didn't want Mengyao hearing about.

Chapter 308 - Leave It To Me

Pengzhan lit up a cigarette as Lin Yi entered the Bentley. He handed one to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi refused it with a wave of his hand. "I don't really smoke."

Pengzhan didn't mind. He handed it to Li Fu.

"Yi, Uncle Chu's run into some trouble." Pengzhan didn't know why his old man asked him to go to Lin Yi for this. The guy was responsible for Mengyao's protection, so how was he supposed to help him with company politics?

Lin Yi shouldn't have experience in this field.

"It's about the company?" Lin Yi had a pretty good guess what Pengzhan was troubled over.

"Yes, the company." Pengzhan nodded, not hiding anything since he was asking Lin Yi for help. "The second and third largest shareholders have formed an alliance against me, and now they have the members of the board on their side. They're preparing a board meeting for the re-election of the chairman……"

Lin Yi waved his hand to stop Pengzhan there. "Uncle Chu, no need for details- I don't understand how companies work too well. I just want one thing cleared up: is it a certainty that your position is threatened if these two are allied?"

"Yes. They've been in the company for many years, and they have their connections outside and inside the board of directors as well. I have no chance of winning if they're teaming up." Pengzhan said bluntly.

LIn Yi nodded, his brows locked in a frown as he started thinking. Pengzhan didn't interrupt him, thinking that Lin Yi would need some time to digest the information since he wasn't versed in the field.

An unexpected question then came from Lin Yi. "The second and third largest shareholders you mentioned- what was their relationship like before?"

"Before?" Pengzhan was a little infuriated after a brief pause. "As far as I could tell, not very good at all. As you know, the three top shareholders all have a certain influence in their words, and within these three shareholders we don't try to please the other at all. As far as I can see, their relationship had always been a tense one! Yet all of a sudden these two shareholders got together against me during Sunday's meeting…… This is what's got me cornered- the two had been plotting together long ago!"

"Ah…" Lin Yi smiled. "As the saying goes, onlookers see more than the involved player."

"What do you mean?" Pengzhan paused.

"Maybe they hadn't been plotting together- what if it was an alliance they had just formed at the last second?" Lin Yi shrugged. "Of course, this is just a conjecture. There's always something wrong when it's out of the ordinary. I think there's something people don't know about involved in their alliance."

Pengzhan nodded. "Yi, it's an accurate guess, but that no longer matters- the point is that the two are currently in an alliance, and that I have to be fighting them."

"Ah… Why fight them?" Lin Yi smiled. "Uncle Chu, have you not considered the other possibility? That you could split them, or make them fight each other from the inside?"

Lin Yi had no experience in managing companies, but he'd fought plenty of enemies in the past. The method he most commonly used was just that: making the enemy kill each other from the inside!

"Oh?" Pengzhan paused. He'd only been thinking of how he should combat Gubang and Guangbo as an alliance…

"Let's talk about these two shareholders- who's the leader?" Lin Yi asked.

"Jin Gubang and Xie Guangbo. They're the two largest shareholders, and Jin Gubang is the one I've been thinking of fighting. He's the one who sent all those attacks on Yao Yao! Last Sunday meeting I used the theme park incident as leverage to use against Jin Gubang, and that was when Xie Guangbo sprang up all of a sudden……" Pengzhan then continued to describe the events in detail. "......Old Xie was never a talkative man- he rarely talked, and rarely fought for anything. This alliance was truly an unexpected one."

Lin Yi now had some understanding of the two shareholders- this Jin Gubang had to be the leader, and it was near impossible to get him to be the one to turn on his partner. Xie Guangbo, on the other hand, was the key for solving the problem!

Pengzhan himself had said that the guy was acting out of character- that was what's wrong with this out-of-the-ordinary event. This was the person LIn Yi should target.

"Alright, if that's the case… Just leave it to me, Uncle Chu. I'll take care of it." Lin Yi nodded, following it with a question. "Where does Xie Guangbo live?"

"Xie Guangbo…… Yi, you wouldn't do anything like murder, would you?" Pengzhan paused, a little worried as he looked at Lin Yi.

"Don't worry, I won't kill him." Lin Yi said with a reassuring smile. "Killing him would be a clean way, but from what I've heard, I might as well kill Gubang directly if I were to go down that route. I can't do so if I'm setting Xie Guangbo as my target."

Naturally, assassinating Gubang had come to mind as an option, but it was an option that would inconvenience Pengzhan. Gubang was the second-largest shareholder at the end of the day- no small fry. A Pengzhan shareholder's death would most definitely attract heavy attention, and that was not something Lin Yi currently wanted. He still had a peaceful life to look forward to in Songshan.

"Good!" Pengzhan nodded. "Xie Guangbo's house is located in the Chinalead Shore district, villa number six."

"Got it. Leave it to me." Lin Yi said. "I'll go have a talk with him right now."

"Be careful……" Pengzhan didn't know if he'd made the right choice coming to Lin Yi with this, but it was what Old Elder Chu had recommended. It was something he had to try. "Xie Guangbo is no normal man, and he also has a bodyguard himself. A master!"

"Also?" Lin Yi narrowed his eyes, involuntarily turning his sights to Li Fu. Uncle Fu's expression looked a little off that time he mentioned the golden class masters… Could his suspicions be accurate? Was Uncle Fu a master among masters as well?

Yet he couldn't sense any energy from him- he couldn't sense any 'pure qi' from him. Was he a physical master?