Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 628 The Prodigal Son's Counterattack! Young Master Hu Intimidates the Board of Directors with His Boss Aura

In this subtle and slightly oppressive atmosphere, the other members of the board of directors arrived one after another in the luxurious meeting room.

Everyone was a familiar face to each other. Although not every meeting was amicable, they all maintained a good basic facade.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, nods, and handshakes, everyone found seats, sipping coffee and tea while chatting in hushed tones, waiting for the meeting to officially begin.

A little while later, the most key figure in this group's senior management meeting.

Chairman Hu Wenxin, surrounded by several senior assistants, finally walked steadily into the reception room.

Upon seeing Hu Wenxin enter, all the directors present, regardless of their inner thoughts, stood up and took the initiative to greet her.

Regardless, Hu Wenxin is the rightful chairman of Hezhong Group, a person with real power, and the necessary superficial respect must be shown.

Dong Jianming spoke first, a warm smile spreading across his face, and asked with concern, "Chairman Hu, I heard that General Manager Hu will also be attending the meeting today? This is the first time, it's truly something to look forward to!"

Hu Wenxin nodded with a calm smile: "He will come, of course he will come."

As she spoke, Hu Wenxin raised her wrist to check her watch and added, "At this time of day... there might be some traffic on the road, but we should arrive in a little while."

"That's great, great!" Dong Jianming's smile widened. "This is a perfect opportunity to have a good chat with General Manager Hu and see what big projects he's been busy with lately."

Hu Wenxin waved his hand, his tone casual, even with a fatherly humility: "Hey, his stall is just a small business, nothing worth discussing in detail. Young people need more experience."

Dong Jianming, however, persisted, raising an eyebrow and continuing, "Chairman Hu, you're being too modest! We've all heard that Mr. Hu's business is booming lately, managing the Jiangshan Group perfectly and getting it on track! This isn't just a small undertaking; it's a real achievement!"

When Hu Wenxin heard others praising his son, his smile became noticeably more genuine. He nodded, his tone carrying a hint of pride, but he still tried to remain composed: "This kid has indeed put in a lot of effort and worked quite hard lately. But you shouldn't praise him too much. Young people are prone to getting cocky. If you praise him any more, he might just fly off the rails."

Hu Wenxin's reaction caused the surrounding directors to exchange meaningful glances.

Judging from Mr. Hu's demeanor, it seems he is quite satisfied with his precious son's performance?
That's really strange.

With his son's meager abilities and demeanor, how could he possibly be so arrogant? That's quite something!
Just as everyone was making various speculations and a subtle, indescribable atmosphere filled the reception room, a few clear knocks came from the door.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy solid wood door of the reception room was gently pushed open, and one of Hu Wenxin's personal assistants leaned in and respectfully announced:
"Chairman Hu, fellow directors, Mr. Hu has arrived."

Upon hearing her assistant's announcement, Hu Wenxin showed no surprise. She simply nodded calmly and instructed in a composed tone, "Okay, I understand. Bring him directly over there."

The pretty and capable female assistant responded and quickly left the meeting room.

Her departure caused the already somewhat subtle atmosphere in the reception room to ripple silently, as if a small pebble had been thrown in.

The board members exchanged glances discreetly, and some even began to whisper to those they knew well.

"It seems this young Mr. Hu is quite punctual," a director said in a low voice.

Someone nearby immediately corrected him: "Punctual? How can this be called punctual? The meeting wasn't scheduled to start yet, he's already early."

"In any case, being able to arrive early at least shows that their sense of time is much better than before, which is a kind of progress."

"Has he ever attended a group meeting of this level before?" someone asked curiously.

"Hey, don't even mention it! In the past, he wouldn't even get a chance to attend these core meetings. Chairman Hu wouldn't let him come either. You know, Chairman Hu has pretty high standards for attendees."

"So what's going on today? Has Chairman Hu lowered his demands?"

"How could we possibly lower our standards! Haven't you ever thought about why everyone's started calling him 'Little Hu' now?"

"Oh? You mean I heard that Hu Jiangshan recently started his own company? It seems to be doing quite well, with some success?"

"Yes, that's true, but..." the speaker drawled, a meaningful smile on his face, "personally, I think it's probably not that simple. Could he really have started that company himself? Could it be that President Hu personally arranged a capable team to run and manage it for him?"

"Is there even a need to guess? It's practically obvious!" someone nearby immediately chimed in. "It must be Chairman Hu orchestrating this behind the scenes, paving the way for his son. In our circle, this kind of thing is no secret at all."

Just then, Dong Jianming, who had been observing everyone's reactions, quietly moved to the empty seat next to Tian Ziyi and sat down. He lowered his voice and said with a hint of mockery, "President Tian, ​​it seems we're about to see that troublesome little Mr. Hu again. Thinking back to how he used to be, really..."

Tian Ziyi picked up her teacup, gently blew away the foam, her expression calm and her tone unwavering: "It's nothing serious. When he comes, we'll just act as usual. As long as he doesn't come over to talk to us, we don't need to pay any attention to him. We can just pretend we didn't see him."

Dong Jianming nodded repeatedly, a fawning smile plastered on his face: "President Tian is right! I'm just afraid that this young Mr. Hu doesn't know his place and will make a fool of himself. If he doesn't know his place and interrupts or asks some amateurish questions during the serious meeting later, it will be a huge embarrassment, and Mr. Hu will lose face."

Tian Ziyi glanced at Dong Jianming, her tone still indifferent: "Even if they make a fool of themselves, it's the Hu family who will be embarrassed. What does it have to do with us here? We just need to focus on our own roles."

"Yes, yes, yes! Mr. Tian, ​​you've hit the nail on the head, that's so insightful!" Dong Jianming quickly flattered.

In fact, Tian Ziyi didn't have a good impression of Dong Jianming and was even somewhat wary of him.

She felt that Tung Kin-ming was too shrewd and calculating, always giving off a sinister and unpredictable vibe. Tian Ziyi's ability to establish herself in the business world and achieve her current status is not solely due to her family background, but also to her exceptional shrewdness and ability to judge character.

She clearly understands which kind of people she can get to know better and which kind of people she must keep her distance from.

People like Tung Kin-ming are like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows. They may act like brothers to you on the surface, but if you confide in them too readily, they might stab you in the back at any time, and you won't even know how you died.

Tian Ziyi didn't want to have too much to do with this kind of person.

Dong Jianming seemed oblivious to Tian Ziyi's aloofness, or perhaps he simply didn't care. He leaned closer, lowered his voice, and adopted a sincere expression: "By the way, Ms. Tian, ​​there's something I've been wanting to discuss with you privately. Do you think it's possible for our Hezhong Group to truly enter a sustained and stable upward trajectory in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Ziyi raised an eyebrow and retorted, "What do you mean by that? Isn't Hezhong Group doing quite well right now? All the business data are improving, isn't it already on an upward trajectory?"

Dong Jianming smiled, a smile that held a hint of mystery: "President Tian, ​​didn't you just say that the group's recent major investments are all concentrated on some technology startups in mainland China? These companies are indeed developing rapidly and have great momentum right now, but whether they can ultimately break through the competition and successfully achieve an IPO to bring substantial returns to the group is uncertain. There are too many variables involved, and no one can say for sure. I'm worried that we'll invest huge sums of money, only to end up with nothing, which would be a huge loss."

Upon hearing this, Tian Ziyi gave a half-smile, waved her hand, and said in a relaxed tone, "President Dong, isn't it too early to talk about these things now? Investing, especially investing in high-growth technology companies, is inherently very uncertain, and to some extent, it does require a bit of luck. All we can do now is take it one step at a time and closely monitor the project's progress."

“Hey, Mr. Tian, ​​I can’t completely agree with that.” Dong Jianming shook his head, his expression turning serious. “This isn’t just a matter of luck; the key lies in the decision-making mechanism.”

"Oh? What do you mean?" Tian Ziyi pretended not to understand, but she had already guessed what Dong Jianming wanted to say.

Tung Kin-ming leaned forward again, almost whispering, "What I mean is, can our board of directors reach a consensus? That is, when making some key investment decisions with particularly large sums of money in the future, we cannot let the chairman make the final decision alone. We should give full play to the collective wisdom and supervisory role of the board of directors, and make more prudent assessments and decisions. This way, we can minimize the risk of overly risky or even obviously unreasonable investments. Don't you think so?"

Tian Ziyi had a look of sudden realization on her face, but she knew exactly what was going on in her mind.

It turns out that Dong Jianming went through all this trouble to achieve his ultimate goal: to unite the other members of the board of directors to form a cohesive force, thereby restraining and influencing Chairman Hu Wenxin's decision-making power on major investments.

Tian Ziyi did not want to be easily used as a pawn by Dong Jianming and pulled into his camp.

She immediately chuckled and skillfully changed the subject: "Brother Dong, what's the point of talking to me about this? I'm just a small shareholder, and my voice carries little weight in the board of directors. If you really think it's necessary, you should go and discuss it with the major shareholders who hold more shares and are ranked higher!"

Dong Jianming was not so easily dismissed. He immediately flattered her, saying, "Oh, Mr. Tian, ​​you are too modest! If you are a minority shareholder, then there are not many major shareholders on the board of directors! Everyone knows your weight and influence."

Tian Ziyi sneered inwardly. This Dong Jianming was simply testing her, thinking she might be easier to talk to because she was relatively young and a woman. Who couldn't see through his little scheme?

However, on the other hand, the question raised by Tung Kin-ming is not entirely without merit.

Tian Ziyi herself had also considered that the current mechanism of Hezhong Group, in which Chairman Hu Wenxin has almost absolute decision-making power over major investments, does indeed carry certain risks.

Generally, as long as Hu Wenxin's investment decisions do not have obvious or serious problems, other board members will usually support them for various reasons and will not easily raise strong objections or interfere.

This "one-man show" mechanism may have the advantage of high decision-making efficiency, but its disadvantages are also obvious.

If Hu Wenxin's judgment is wrong, or if his vision fails to keep up with market changes, then the huge amount of money he invested could very well be lost.

Therefore, Tian Ziyi also believes that if certain investment projects do have obvious unreasonable aspects or excessive risks, as a shareholder and director, she must stand up and speak out when she should raise questions, and exercise her rights. She must not hide anything because of personal feelings.

This is not only being responsible to the company, but also being responsible for the shares you hold.

Just as Tian Ziyi was pondering to herself, and Dong Jianming was about to say something more, the door to the reception room was gently pushed open again.

A young man appeared in the doorway.

Tian Ziyi subconsciously looked up, and when her gaze fell on the person who had come, she froze instantly, her hand holding the teacup pausing slightly.

Who, who is this?
She blinked and looked again more closely.

Indeed, judging from the facial features, this is clearly Hu Jiangshan, Hu Wenxin's son.

But why does it feel completely wrong at first glance?

Although they look exactly the same, their temperament, demeanor, and even the invisible aura they exude are completely different from the Hu Jiangshan that Tian Ziyi remembers!
In the past, no matter how expensive or dazzling the designer clothes Hu Jiangshan wore were, his slovenly demeanor, frivolous behavior, and empty aura that showed he had no substance made him look exactly like an uneducated good-for-nothing and a spoiled brat, whose true nature could be seen through at a glance.

However, the Hu Jiangshan who was walking steadily in front of her completely overturned Tian Ziyi's preconceived notions!

He wore a well-tailored, high-quality dark business casual suit, which was neither too casual nor too rigid like a traditional suit.

His steps were steady and powerful, his posture upright, and his gaze calm and profound, sweeping across the entire room with a natural ease and composure.

His calm demeanor made him appear even more composed and experienced than many of the people present who were a generation older than him.

Tian Ziyi was completely stunned; she couldn't believe it, it was unbelievable.

(End of this chapter)