Chapter 86: Setting the Finance Office on Fire
"Then call an emergency board meeting in your capacity as Qingzhou Yingni's largest shareholder," Lin Wan'an suggested. "Contact all the shareholders later. As for the directors who aren't shareholders, there's no need—they'll most likely be at the company anyway.
"When you speak to the shareholders, tell them directly that you intend to become Qingzhou Yingni's chairman. Unless they're out of Hong Kong, once they know you're practically guaranteed to become the new chairman, even if they have questionable ties with Harold Centurion, they probably won't refuse to attend tomorrow's meeting. After all, there's no point offending someone who's already certain to occupy the chairman's seat.
"Of course, you'll need to be on guard in case Harold Centurion makes some last-minute preparations. But with your current forty percent stake, you've essentially secured control of Qingzhou Yingni. Whatever preparations he makes won't change the outcome.
"Tomorrow, I'll bring some people with me to attend the board meeting alongside you."
Lin Wan'an carefully laid out his thoughts.
"Alright. With you there, Dad, I won't have to worry about Harold Centurion trying anything. I'll start making the calls right away," Lin Haoran replied confidently.
During the previous board meeting, he had exchanged contact information with every shareholder.
So getting in touch with them wasn't difficult.
It was only a little past five in the afternoon.
Most of the shareholders didn't hold any management positions within Qingzhou Yingni. They either had businesses of their own or were already retired.
Lin Haoran called them one by one. Whenever someone answered, he discussed the upcoming board meeting. If they didn't answer, he left them for another attempt later.
After spending over half an hour making calls, he successfully contacted seven of the eight shareholders—five British shareholders and two of the three Chinese shareholders.
Every single one of them was shocked by what he revealed.
Forty percent.
That was an extraordinarily high ownership stake.
Although each of them had one form of questionable arrangement or another with Harold Centurion, they all understood that resisting someone who had effectively secured controlling interest would be pointless. Even if they joined forces, it wouldn't change anything. Rather than offend Lin Haoran, they all agreed to attend tomorrow's meeting on time.
The only shareholder he couldn't reach was a Chinese shareholder who happened to be away and temporarily unavailable.
Besides the shareholders, Lin Haoran also called one other person—Burton, Qingzhou Yingni's current Deputy General Manager.
In his view, since Burton was highly respected by the company's middle management yet excluded from Harold Centurion's inner circle, it proved he was genuinely capable.
Once Lin Haoran took control of Qingzhou Yingni, General Manager Ziegler would certainly be dismissed. There was no way he would keep the former chairman's trusted subordinate in such an important position.
Burton, on the other hand, was an ideal candidate to temporarily replace Ziegler.
And if Burton continued to prove his ability, there was no reason he couldn't remain in the position permanently.
As a result, Lin Haoran spent more than ten minutes talking with Burton.
About another ten minutes after ending that call, the final shareholder he hadn't been able to reach returned his call.
Lin Haoran once again explained the board meeting and informed him that he already controlled forty percent of Qingzhou Yingni's shares.
As expected, even the British shareholders had agreed to attend. Naturally, this Chinese shareholder agreed as well.
After finishing all the calls, Lin Haoran finally let out a sigh of relief.
As for Harold Centurion and the other four non-shareholder directors, he didn't bother contacting them.
Just moments ago, he had already confirmed with the Human Resources Department that none of the five had any business trips or outside appointments scheduled for tomorrow.
They would all be at the company.
Since they were already there, they had no way of refusing to attend.
To put it bluntly, even if they delayed things for a day or two, they couldn't avoid the inevitable forever. Nothing they did would change the outcome.
"Dad, I've contacted everyone who needed to be contacted. The board meeting will be held tomorrow morning," Lin Haoran said with a smile as he set the telephone receiver down.
"Good. Then I should make some preparations as well."
Lin Wan'an was equally excited.
Taking control of Qingzhou Yingni!
Even as chairman of Wan'an Group, he had never imagined that one day the Lin family would gain control of Qingzhou Yingni.
It was simply unbelievable.
Although it was Lin Haoran—not himself—who would become Qingzhou Yingni's chairman, what did that matter?
Lin Haoran was his son.
That alone made it a matter for the Lin family.
Since he intended to help his son assume control, there were naturally many preparations to make in advance.
Tomorrow, he would bring the group's Finance Director, legal counsel, and several other key personnel.
That way, no matter what tricks Harold Centurion attempted, they would be fully prepared.
Everything had to be arranged ahead of time.
Faced with the overwhelming reality of a forty-percent controlling stake, Harold Centurion had virtually no room left to resist.
Although Lin Haoran hadn't contacted Harold Centurion, news of the matter quickly reached his ears.
...
At the same time, inside the chairman's office at Qingzhou Yingni, Harold Centurion had already gathered together with Ziegler and several of his trusted confidants.
The news had come far too suddenly.
Wasn't it supposed to be only 13.7%?
Hadn't Lin Haoran claimed he would buy at most 15%?
And now he was saying he controlled 40%?
Harold Centurion's emotions were in turmoil.
He realized he had been deceived by Lin Haoran from the very beginning.
At the same time, he couldn't understand where the young man had obtained such an enormous amount of money to purchase so many shares.
After all, Wan'an Group wasn't powerful enough to support such an acquisition.
Over the past few days, he had secretly investigated Wan'an Group's situation.
Everything matched what Lin Haoran had previously claimed.
Wan'an Group was concentrating nearly all of its resources on a major real estate development project in North Point and simply didn't have the financial capacity to acquire a company even larger than itself.
Every indication suggested that Lin Haoran shouldn't have had the means to continue buying Qingzhou Yingni shares.
Yet now...
The man claimed he owned forty percent of the company and intended to become its chairman.
This...
This...
This...
When Harold Centurion first heard the news from one of the British shareholders, his immediate reaction was that the man was joking.
But after receiving calls from several more shareholders...
He realized there was a very real possibility it was true.
"Mr. Ziegler," Harold Centurion sighed, "what do you think we should do now? If I'm forced out, you won't escape either."
"Mr. Harold, let's not assume the worst just yet. What if it's false? Forty percent? That's impossible."
Not only did Harold Centurion find it difficult to believe—even Ziegler couldn't accept it.
"I hope it's false too.
"But all the signs point toward it being true.
"I've investigated Qingzhou Yingni's stock trading over the past two months. Trading has been far more active than usual.
"I calculated the total trading volume. Even after subtracting the company's normal low-volume trading, there were still more than twenty-five million shares changing hands.
"If he acquired twenty million of those shares, it's entirely possible.
"The last time he told me another mysterious force was secretly buying Qingzhou Yingni shares alongside him, I already suspected it might not be true.
"Now it seems...
"That was nothing more than a lie designed to deceive me.
"There never was another force.
"It was him all along."
By the end of his analysis, Harold Centurion looked utterly dejected.
After spending a lifetime believing himself to be an astute businessman...
He had been completely outmaneuvered by a young man.
His tenure as chairman of Qingzhou Yingni...
Had come to an end.
Forty percent.
It was a level of ownership he simply had no way to overcome.
"Mr. Harold," Ziegler said with a frown, "since we can't change reality, the only thing we can do now is protect our secret.
"I suggest we destroy every piece of falsified financial documentation.
"If they investigate, they'll never find anything.
"Otherwise...
"We're all in serious danger.
"To be perfectly honest, the fake accounts we've created over the years would only fool outsiders.
"Anyone with even moderate financial knowledge would immediately recognize that something is wrong."
Everyone present naturally knew exactly what they had done over the years.
As one of Harold Centurion's carefully promoted confidants, Ziegler—and the others—had all received enormous benefits they never should have enjoyed.
"It's not that I don't know destroying the fake records is the best solution," Harold Centurion replied bitterly.
"But if we destroy them, we'll also have to explain the missing financial statements and accounting books from previous years.
"How are we supposed to account for their disappearance?"
The Finance Director suddenly spoke up.
"I have a suggestion.
"If we're going to do it...
"We should do it thoroughly.
"If the Finance Department happened to suffer an accident...
"Wouldn't it be perfectly normal for the financial reports and account books to disappear?
"So I think...
"A fire breaking out in the Finance Office tonight would be a very good solution.
"Mr. Harold, as the former chairman and the company's second-largest shareholder, with the support of so many other shareholders, you can remain as Vice Chairman.
"Lin Haoran won't be able to object.
"As long as you continue holding a senior executive position, your influence and control within the company will remain intact.
"There's a very good chance you'll still be able to secretly control Qingzhou Yingni behind the scenes.
"So what if he becomes chairman?
"We can still hollow out the company's real authority.
"Don't forget—
"Qingzhou Yingni is a British-owned enterprise.
"The overwhelming majority of its middle and senior management are British.
"When something goes wrong...
"The blame will ultimately fall on him, the chairman."
If all the accounting books were burned...
Then every piece of evidence that could implicate them would disappear as well.
The more the Finance Director spoke, the brighter the eyes of both Harold Centurion and Ziegler became.
"Then we'll do it," Harold Centurion decided.
"But how exactly do we make the Finance Office catch fire?"
"I'll handle the arrangements," Ziegler answered decisively.
"One of the company's electricians happens to be a relative of mine.
"I'll have him inspect the outlets in the Finance Office later today and intentionally leave behind a hidden electrical hazard.
"Once night falls...
"Starting a fire won't be difficult."
"Good."
"Mr. Ziegler, I'll leave this matter entirely in your hands.
"We don't have much time left.
"It must be done flawlessly."
"Don't worry, Mr. Harold Centurion."
"I'll take care of everything.
"I won't allow anything to cause you trouble."
"Very well."
Harold Centurion nodded.
He had complete confidence in Ziegler.
(End of Chapter)
✨ Love this novel?
Visit my Patreon for fast access and advanced chapters! patreon.com/BbingTranslations Thank you for your support.❤️
Comments
Post a Comment