“From today onward, I will act as acting chairman to manage the company until the chairman returns.”
If he ever does come back, that is.
After quickly reviewing the Sang company’s operational model, Gong Ze called a board meeting, summoning every director who could make it to the company that day.
He sat arrogantly in the chairman’s seat, making no effort to hide his ambition and greed.
A small faction of the board had no objections to this—these were presumably the people the villainous Gong Ze had bribed.
The majority of the board members looked as if they’d just heard a hilarious joke—or as if they wanted to tear Gong Ze apart.
“An outsider—who gave you the face to sit on our heads and shit?”
“A nobody who can’t even show his face in public! You’re nothing but a dog of the Sang family! A shameless live-in ‘son-in-law’!”
A board member in his forties or fifties pointed at the man’s nose and roared. “And you haven’t even married into the family yet! Who knows whether you’re the one behind Mr. Sang’s disappearance? Besides, Mr. Sang has a son. We don’t need an outsider like you to inherit the Sang Corporation!”
Gong Ze let out a cold snort and glanced over at him casually, taking in his red, furious face. “You’re so indignant, one might think you were standing up for Sang You. Ha… but the truth is, some of you have simply seen through that Sang You has no ability to manage the company—he’s simple-minded, weak, and sickly. Easy to control. Easy to fool.”
On both sides of the conference table, quite a few people’s eyes flickered at his words.
“I think we all know very well—if Sang You were put in charge of the company, within six months, the Sang Corporation probably wouldn’t be called ‘Sang’ anymore. It would be renamed after one of you.”
The board member Gong Ze had been staring at coldly choked on his words, his face red and his neck bulging as he shouted, “You’re talking bullshit!!”
“Ahh…”
The man lounging in the chairman’s chair let out a long, weary sigh, looking at them with boredom.
That look—the kind of look that silently questioned a bunch of idiots why they were putting on such a pathetic act in front of him—immediately enraged every board member who had already disliked him.
They slammed their fists on the table and stood up, hurling insults without end.
Faced with their curses, Gong Ze let them go in one ear and out the other, propping his head on his hand, utterly bored. He pinched the wing of the little golden ball that was the system and gave it a shake.
“System, hasn’t that waste of a Main God developed a feature to skip the plot yet? Can’t we speed through this kind of useless plot?”
[…Esteemed host, although these small worlds are based on books, they are still real. Speeding up the time in a world is technically possible, but ahem… consuming that much energy for something so trivial is really unnecessary…]
The system wiped its metaphorical sweat.
At the end of the shouting match, the opposition faction yelled, “We want to see Young Master Sang You!”
Without even looking up, Gong Ze brushed them off. “Due to the sudden disappearance of Mr. Sang and Mrs. Sang, Sang You has fallen ill under the immense shock. He is currently recuperating and has entrusted the entire Sang family enterprise to my management.”
“That’s just your word!”
“As a matter of fact, even when Mr. Sang was here, he said he would leave the company to me.”
Gong Ze raised an eyebrow.
“Now that Mr. Sang is gone, his only son Sang You is the heir of the Sang Corporation. And since he knows he has no talent for management, he has entrusted his fiancé—me—to manage it on his behalf. Is that not correct?”
He stood up, looking down at them, and before leaving, said mockingly, “You’d all better think carefully before opposing me. The Sang household is under my control now, inside and out. Ha… the shares are in Sang You’s hands, which means they’re in mine. If anyone crosses me—”
His voice trailed off, and the smile on the man’s face vanished. His sinister gaze made cold sweat trickle down spines.
Seeing the pale, greenish faces of the board members, he let out a scoffing laugh and strode sharply out of the conference room.
Then he immediately had his secretary transfer the toughest, most intractable project in the Sang Corporation to his own hands.
The board members he had just threatened heard the news. Their anger turned to contempt, and they were no longer afraid.
They sneered, “The kid wants to run before he can even crawl? Hmph. I thought he was a real hard case, but he’s just a fool!”
“Let him do it.”
“A deal we couldn’t close even with all our connections? And he thinks he can pull it off? Who does he think he is?!” Once he fails, we’ll use it as an excuse to kick him out!”
Several board members exchanged glances, smugly preparing to enjoy the show.
But would Gong Ze let them have their show?
If these old foxes had fifty years of cunning, then Gong Ze was a fox spirit thousands of years old.
Gong Ze took on the most headache-inducing projects of the Sang Corporation and threw himself into work.
According to the original plot, “Gong Ze” would have spent a full year fighting the board before truly sinking his teeth into the Sang Corporation. But the current Gong Ze didn’t have that kind of time to waste.
“The best way to shut the board up is to show them real strength.”
And negotiation and corporate warfare? That was practically picking a topic right up Gong Ze’s alley!
A month later.
Gong Ze shook hands with the foreign business partner. The signed contracts were exchanged and handed to their respective secretaries. The atmosphere before the cameras was warm and amicable.
“Mr. Gong has a very special charm. If you didn’t already own a company, I would have sincerely wanted you to become my partner.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
The proud foreign partner now looked genuinely regretful, as enthusiastic as if he and Gong Ze were old friends who had met too late in life.
And that previously tough, hopeless project? After its success, it had directly turned into the fattest, most lucrative project of all. Gong Ze now firmly held the lifeline of the Sang Corporation’s development for years to come.
The board members who had been waiting to laugh at him were rendered utterly speechless.
From now on, even if Sang You returned, there was no way anyone could kick Gong Ze out of the Sang Corporation.
…
I thought he was a venomous wolf, but it turns out he’s a tiger with real strength to match his appetite.
The Qin household.
A middle-aged man sighed and set down his teacup. “Looks like it’s not possible to take advantage of the situation and absorb the Sang family into our Qin Corporation after all.”
He turned to look at the child he was most proud of, a hint of regret in his voice. “I was hoping you could try to get in touch with Sang You—coax that naive young master into handing over his shares to you and testifying against Gong Ze. But now it seems Gong Ze is not someone to mess with. Xiao Chuan, you need to be careful of this man. He may very well become our Qin family’s greatest enemy in the future.”
“I understand, Father.”
Qin Chuan nodded beside him.
Mr. Qin cautioned him further: “Sang You is beautiful, but without the Sang family behind him, he’s useless. Treat the mayor’s daughter well. Take Yan Zhenzhen out more often. Marrying her will benefit both you and the Qin family’s future development.”
But this time, Qin Chuan seemed distracted. He mumbled vaguely, “I’ll remember.”
“Alright. You may go.”
“…”
Leaving his father’s study, Qin Chuan returned to his room, locked the door warily, and made sure no one would disturb him. Then he quickly walked to his desk.
He pulled out a key, opened the drawer, and took out a tie.
Ever since Gong Ze had defeated him that day, Qin Chuan couldn’t stop thinking about Gong Ze.
He had even started brushing off Yan Zhenzhen.
Qin Chuan thought it was a matter of his own excessive desires. But no matter how many people he slept with, something always felt wrong.
Like scratching an itch through a boot.
Something he desperately wanted but couldn’t have.
Eventually, Qin Chuan even stopped visiting his lovers as often.
He couldn’t help but think of that man—the one who had pinned him down in the arena, laughing low and hoarse in his ear.
Those long, narrow eyes, even when they smiled at him with teasing provocation, Qin Chuan could see that those eyes had never truly regarded him at all.
No.
Not just him.
Beneath the mask that man wore was someone who had never taken anyone to heart—aloof, superior, and cold with arrogance.
That coldness made Qin Chuan want nothing more than to sink his teeth into that man’s throat and see those eyes—eyes that didn’t see him—widen with surprise just because of him—
“Mmm…”
The breathing in the room grew heavier.
Sitting by the bed, Qin Chuan’s eyes turned bloodshot. He tilted his head back and let out a pained moan.
By the time the pure black men’s tie was crumpled beyond recognition, Qin Chuan had collapsed onto the bed, convulsing.
His bloodshot eyes were unfocused and hazy.
Clutching the tie as if possessed, he called out over and over like a madman:
“Gong Ze… Gong Ze… Gong Ze…”
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