Chapter 140: Clash (1) |
Tai Liqun, hearing Wei Hongsi's almost teasing remark, couldn't help but feel a surge of anger, yet he also felt it beneath his dignity to tangle with this young man. So he turned his head to look at Dai Songquan in the host seat.
"Director Dai, are all reports at Zhiwei now conducted with such a lack of decorum?"
Dai Songquan said calmly, "Young people humbly seeking guidance, hoping to gain recognition from their seniors—I believe we should still offer more support."
Tai Liqun was silent for a moment, then looked at Wei Hongsi and said, "Continue your report."
Seeing Tai Liqun calm down so quickly, Wei Hongsi felt a bit regretful. But since he had already spoken, it wouldn't be so easy for Tai Liqun to keep his opinions to himself anymore.
He set Tai Liqun aside and walked over to President Hua. "President Hua, Director Tai thinks this project of mine is acceptable. What do you think?"
President Hua couldn't help but glance at Tai Liqun not far away, seeing his face rigid with barely contained fury.
Wei Hongsi had used the informal "you" when speaking to Tai Liqun, but he used the respectful "you" with President Hua. The distinction was very clear, and who in the room couldn't hear it?
So some shareholders couldn't help but think that Wei Hongsi's targeting of Tai Liqun wasn't necessarily instigated by Director Dai or the current management team. Tai Liqun had gone after Wei Hongsi twice before; it was actually quite normal for the young man to strike back.
He immediately said, "Your concept is good, and your positioning is high-level, but you're a bit too optimistic about the project's prospects."
Wei Hongsi nodded. "Thank you for your feedback, President Hua."
Afterward, he went to ask for President Yu's opinion.
President Yu said with a faint smile, "I agree with President Hua. Young man, you're worrying needlessly. Where would so many negative valence emotion-inducing videos come from?"
The attitude of these two essentially meant they didn't favor the project, aligning with the majority of shareholders.
Objectively speaking, their assessments were still relatively fair. Since they didn't know about the existence of the Guide Light Society and were unaware that certain things had already happened, it was naturally difficult for them to correctly evaluate the project's value.
However, relatively speaking, President Hua's stance was milder, while President Yu's words were a bit sharper.
But for Wei Hongsi, their personal attitudes toward him didn't matter. As long as they were willing to voice their opinions, that was fine.
He thanked President Yu again and returned to the podium to continue his report.
With this interactive segment in the middle, the attending shareholders listened to his report more attentively than before. Even among the investor shareholders, a few individuals showed expressions of serious listening.
While reporting, Wei Hongsi kept an eye on the reactions of the various shareholders.
After finishing the introduction of the project's projected investment and returns, he once again solicited Tai Liqun's opinion. "Director Tai, do you have any objections to this part?"
Tai Liqun had been harboring a grudge ever since Wei Hongsi had targeted him earlier. Having been humiliated in front of so many people, how could he let it go so easily?
Thus, instead of ignoring it, he listened even more carefully to the rest of Wei Hongsi's report, looking for an opportunity to teach this brat a proper lesson.
As an industry veteran, he had plenty of confidence. An arrogant young man who didn't know his place could be completely crushed with industry experience alone—no need for any other tactics. Those were reserved for dealing with Dai Songquan.
Seeing Wei Hongsi walk right into his trap, Tai Liqun immediately let out a cold snort. "A mess of nonsense! Utter garbage!"
He planned to first set the tone for this part of Wei Hongsi's report, then dissect and refute every point.
Unexpectedly, after hearing him out, Wei Hongsi nodded and said, "Oh, so Director Tai means it's acceptable."
Tai Liqun fumed. "When did I say it was acceptable? Your input-output analysis is completely baseless. It simply won't work."
Wei Hongsi asked, "So isn't that what 'acceptable' means?"
Tai Liqun said darkly, "Don't play word games with me! 'Won't work' means won't work! What the hell is 'acceptable'?"
Wei Hongsi pressed further, "So earlier, in the overview section, when Director Tai said 'acceptable,' did that really mean 'acceptable'? Surely the same word can't have dual meanings depending on context?"
Tai Liqun's face turned livid with rage. The pencil in his hand snapped in two with a crisp crack.
"Young man, are you reporting on a project or something else?" said the shareholder seated at Tai Liqun's right.
Wei Hongsi looked at the man with a smile. "President Hu, any advice?"
The shareholder surnamed Hu said, "You asked Director Tai for his opinion, but then you twist his words unrelated to the project content. Is this the attitude you bring to your report?"
Wei Hongsi replied, "I approach this report with rigor, pragmatism, and seriousness. I assumed that Director Tai, as a shareholder of the company, would express his opinions with the same rigor and objectivity. When faced with contradictory statements, am I not allowed to raise questions?"
President Hu gave a cold laugh. "Your report itself is full of flaws. We just chose not to nitpick. Do you really think your PPT is that well-made?"
Wei Hongsi sighed inwardly. President Hu was a double agent—on his side!
He immediately said, "No matter what problems my report has, I welcome all shareholders and industry seniors to point them out. Even if this project doesn't succeed, it will still be a great learning experience for me personally."
President Hu said, "Fine, I'll have a word with you."
He was one of the few shareholders who had listened carefully. He had even jotted down questions on paper wherever he found issues, and now he pointed them out to Wei Hongsi one by one.
With President Hu taking the lead, several other shareholders also spoke up, including President Hua and President Yu.
Wei Hongsi listened to all these shareholders' opinions and committed them to memory. For the parts of his report he had already presented, most of the criticism was fairly reasonable, and quite a few of them were intentional flaws he had planted.
If it hadn't been for his earlier interaction with Tai Liqun—that little disruption—these shareholders probably wouldn't have been very interested in listening to his report.
But after realizing that this young man's motives weren't simple, they actually became more engaged.
For them, a project destined to fail had no point in voting. However, being pushed around by this young pawn Dai Songquan had put on the front lines would be a real blow to their dignity.
Among these former executive shareholders, there was always a lingering obsession: that Dai Songquan had been wrong to oust them, and that one day, Old Dai would regret it.
So Wei Hongsi, who had just thrown down the gauntlet from the podium, was no longer just a young upstart in their eyes—he was Dai Songquan's mouthpiece.
If they couldn't do anything to Dai Songquan, couldn't they at least take down this young man?
This clash between the former executive shareholders and Wei Hongsi also piqued the interest of the investor shareholders. After all, sitting around doing nothing was boring—why not enjoy the show?
