Chapter 24.2 – Astray Youth (24)
The shareholders’ meeting, as originally planned, took place in the last week of June.
Everyone noticed that this meeting was different from the usual, with a strange atmosphere pervading the air.
The most noticeable thing was that the person who should have been most afraid of this meeting, and most likely to be removed at this meeting, appeared unusually fearless, as if they already knew something crucial without anyone else being aware.
Chen Luosong continued to preside over the meeting on behalf of the main host. The venue was large, initially appearing empty but gradually filling up with people until it was bustling with activity.
The meeting started off normally, and several agenda items were smoothly addressed.
However, when it came to the shareholder voting and decision-making phase, the surface calm was shattered.
Some questioned whether Secretary Chen had the right to vote, and the quiet scene gradually filled with conversations, voices growing louder as everyone’s attention shifted between the person in the main seat and the one raising objections.
Although there had been murmurs before about the old chairman’s son being found, recently, just before the shareholders’ meeting began, this rumor inexplicably erupted and spread among everyone.
The son of the old chairman could completely change the situation. According to the late chairman’s will, once the son was found, the shares would all belong to him, and no longer owned by Secretary Chen.
This meant that the person in the main seat was no longer considered a shareholder and did not have the right to vote.
The sound gradually grew louder, but the person in the main seat remained unmoved, with no hint of pupil dilation or panic, and the surrounding noise subsided once again.
“Secretary Chen has the right to vote.”
As the meeting settled back into quietness, the lawyer sitting on the side stood up, took the folder placed aside, and pulled out a document, saying, “Shareholder Zhou Kaiji legally inherits the shares held by the late chairman and entrusts the shares to be held by Chen Luosong, signing the Shareholding Proxy Agreement on June 11th.”
The lawyer produced two documents. One was the shareholding proxy agreement, and the other was the genetic test results. Both documents were legally valid and had legal effect.
“…On June 11th.”
Surrounded by a multitude of complex gazes – some disdainful, others mocking – as if deriding their lack of insight. However, Huang Li paid no attention to them, or perhaps she had no energy left to notice.
June 11th, the day she met with the son of the old chairman.
The person sitting next to her didn’t care about her current mood, patted her arm, and said angrily in a low voice: “Didn’t you say that Zhou Kaiji didn’t sign the contract? What the hell is going on!”
Huang Li also wanted to know what was going on.
In the midst of this episode, some watched with interest, while others stood by the air conditioning vent to cool off, still sweating profusely.
Chen Luosong glanced at the meeting venue and chuckled, “If there are no other objections, let’s move on to the next agenda.”
Huang Li and a few others were unsurprisingly removed from their director positions, with ample reasons and reliable evidence, and the vote passed by more than half of the shareholders.
The twists and turns of the shareholders’ meeting left many nervous and sweating profusely by the end, fanning themselves as they left.
The lawyer followed Chen Luosong back to the office. In the elevator, only the two of them were present. The lawyer carried his briefcase and sighed, saying, “Speaking of which, Young Master Zhou is indeed cautious.”
On the day of signing, when the other party put down the pen, he initially thought the other party didn’t want to sign, but it turned out they just wanted to switch pens. The other party didn’t use the pen he provided. He threw the pen he was carrying inexplicably into the trash can, and finally stood up to get the pen placed on the desk.
The pen on the desk was one that the person next to him usually used and had also signed with that pen before the meeting.
Lawyer Ye said, “He does trust you a lot.”
Just as the person in front thought, the other party indeed didn’t look much at the contract. After seeing the signature of “Chen Luosong” on the contract, he directly signed it without any hesitation, regardless of what the contract was about.
Chen Luosong smiled and said, “Maybe.”
“There are a few more documents here that need confirmation,” Lawyer Ye asked, “Should Secretary Chen handle them now or in a few days?”
“Today,” Chen Luosong said, “I have something to do in a few days.”
He was going to take Zhou Xiaokai to meet someone, so he probably wouldn’t be handling work that day.
*
After the shareholders’ meeting ended, the social news spotlight instantly shifted to the event of the heir of the top group being found after more than a decade. The spokesperson for the group acknowledged the fact that the heir had been found, but no further details were disclosed, and the media couldn’t learn about the heir’s appearance, personality, or past experiences.
Despite knowing nothing, this incident was undoubtedly explosive, completely overshadowing the board appointments.
In the time after signing the documents, Zhou Kaiji had been staying at the villa without going out. Previously, due to his phone lagging and the lack of time from working every day, Zhou Kaiji had developed a habit of not checking his phone often. Even now with a new phone and more time, he still maintained this habit. Most of the time, he would go to Secretary Chen’s room to read or look at the documents the other party brought back.
He didn’t check his phone often, but Li Hua and a few others did and provided real-time updates every day, including news about the heir. Although he didn’t understand much now, he roughly knew that this matter needed to be handled carefully. He also finally understood why Secretary Chen had been coming home later than usual these past few days.
The butler would occasionally sit in the living room and chat with him. They also talked after the online news came out.
Online news was sometimes true and sometimes false, with both positive and negative aspects. The butler didn’t have any particular intentions; he just wanted to remind him to trust Secretary Chen.
Zhou Kaiji had always trusted Secretary Chen, starting from the moment the other party unhesitatingly picked up a dirty box.
He also knew what the other person had done for him behind his back.
“In the first few days when I came here, Brother Chen would pick me up from school every evening.”
Zhou Kaiji lowered his head and peeled an apple in his hand, saying, “Brother Chen waits near the school gate, and the driver waits in the car.”
But one day, the first person to arrive at the school gate to pick him up was the driver, and Secretary Chen rushed over after he got into the car.
It was said that on that evening, there was a robbery near the school, and afterward, the surrounding streets began to undergo renovations.
He always thought this matter had nothing to do with him until the day they caught the robber, and he saw the suspect’s face on TV.
That face had appeared in his dreams, the face of the person who came to collect debts from him. Although it sounded absurd, he still went back to where he used to live and asked around.
The locals told him that on the afternoon of the robbery, that person had been wandering around and asking about his whereabouts.
He, or more accurately his former parents, did owe this person money.
He remembered the throat lozenges that Secretary Chen usually ate; that brand was very distinctive and not commonly seen, but one day he saw Li Yue eating them at the classroom door.
He asked Li Yue about it, and Li Yue gave an answer that made everything clear. The lozenges were from Secretary Chen, and the robbers were handled by Secretary Chen too, but the other party had never told him. If it weren’t for that dream and the throat lozenges, he probably would never have known about this.
The person in front of him wasn’t completely unaware, and he seemed to have noticed quite a lot of things. The butler paused for a moment, then smiled.
Truly worthy of being the master’s child, and also worthy of being someone Secretary Chen brought up.
When the sound of a car came from outside the house, Zhou Kaiji happened to start cutting the apple into pieces. Upon hearing the sound, he quickened his movements.
Chen Luosong had returned, and the first thing he did upon returning was to receive a large pendant. He patted the person beside him and said, “I’m all sweaty, and you’re still clinging to me.”
Zhou Xiaoji said he didn’t mind the sweat.
Before going back to the room to take a shower, Chen Luosong tasted the apple that Zhou Xiaoji had hand-cut, which was shaped like a rabbit, oddly charming to look at.
When he came out after showering, the person who had been cutting the apple was already attempting to make a fruit platter.
Sitting down next to the person, Chen Luosong asked, “Do you have any plans in the next few days?”
Zhou Kaiji said he didn’t.
“Alright,” Chen Luosong said, “I’ll take you to meet someone.”
…
Two days later, on Saturday morning, the car left the villa early and headed to the airport.
The plane flew to E City, and when they walked out of the airport, a wave of heat hit them.
The person who was supposed to meet them was already waiting by the roadside, ready to take them directly to the car once they exited the airport.
There was a driver in the car, along with the family’s butler, who greeted them as soon as they got in.
While greeting them, the butler glanced at the person sitting on the side, then quickly averted his gaze without showing any emotions on his face.
So this was how the rumored heir looked like.
Online news was rife with speculation about how the heir’s life must have been difficult before being found. They imagined he wouldn’t be very tall, perhaps a bit skinny, and maybe not very articulate.
But the reality was quite different from their expectations. The heir was tall, probably similar in height to the young master, handsome, with well-defined muscles visible under his shirt sleeves. He was quiet yet not meek, maintaining eye contact instead of shifting away instinctively, and he greeted with a nod. Rather than being quiet, he seemed composed, showing no signs of discomfort in this unfamiliar environment.
It’s like you can faintly see a bit of Secretary Chen in him.
The butler smiled at Chen Luosong and said, “The master is already waiting inside. He originally wanted to come along but was persuaded to stay.”
That was indeed the truth.
No one expected to see the child of an old friend again in this lifetime. The old master had initially planned to come along, eager to fulfill his wish of meeting early, but due to the hot weather today, it wasn’t suitable to go out, so he was persuaded to stay by the people in the house.
Chen Luosong smiled and nodded.
The car swiftly drove from the airport toward the Yan family’s mansion. Upon reaching the gate, they walked through the vermilion doors and were greeted by artificial hills, flowing water, and a profusion of greenery filling their view.
Passing through the courtyard, past white walls and gray tiles, they arrived at the real entrance gate. Under the eaves, the wooden door opened, and an elderly man leaning on a cane walked out from inside the house.
The butler called out, “Master.”
Zhou Kaiji followed Chen Luosong in greeting.
The old master leaned on his cane, looking quite well, even better than before going to the hospital, waving to them to come inside quickly.
Handing over their belongings to the butler, they all entered the house together.
Zhou Kaiji had initially thought Secretary Chen had come for work and had brought him along as well. However, he soon realized that Secretary Chen had intentionally brought him here for this trip.
Without discussing anything work-related, Secretary Chen simply introduced him to the elderly man sitting across from them, referred to as Old Master Yan. Most of the afternoon passed in casual conversation.
The old master seemed to enjoy the afternoon chat immensely.
He never thought he would be able to fulfill his old friend’s wish of seeing his son, even if just for a moment. He had someone fetch his glasses from the study and earnestly looked at the person he was meeting for the first time today.
Even without looking at a DNA test, he could tell that this person was the seed of his old friend.
He wanted to know how his old friend’s child had been faring outside, but he wasn’t the type to pry, so he only asked about what had happened after the return.
Zhou Kaiji selectively answered. The old master then looked at the person sitting aside, slowly sipping tea, and said, “It’s been quite some time since you came back, yet even I was kept in the dark by Secretary Chen.”
Chen Luosong smiled and replied, “I brought him to meet you, didn’t I?”
By the time they arrived at the mansion, it was already afternoon, with the day transitioning into evening.
Before dinner, the old master went upstairs to the study for a while.
The overall style of the mansion leaned towards classical, but there was an oddly placed elevator, which the old master used to move between floors.
Coming down from upstairs, facing the gaze of the people in the living room, he approached leaning on his cane and said, “Yuan Yan insisted on installing that.”
The elevator was installed after he fell, and it looked out of place with the rest of the house, but Yuan Yan insisted, so they had to go with it in the end.
After saying this, he finally remembered something and looked at the quiet person sitting beside Chen Luosong, saying, “Yuan Yan is my son, been raising him for so long and he’s still not up to par. He’s not here today, I’ll introduce you next time.”
“I’m over here, quite far from you all. When the time comes, you can visit each other more.”
Zhou Kaiji glanced at the person beside him, and his hand on the side slightly clenched as he said, “Okay.”
After dinner, the old master gave a gift as a token of meeting.
The gift from the old master wasn’t a physical item or money; it was something far more valuable than money.
Chen Luosong smiled and said, “The old master is generous.”
Zhou Kaiji accepted it and thanked him politely.
As it was getting late in the evening, the butler arranged rooms for everyone to stay in. Zhou Kaiji, who had recently transitioned out of high school, was taken to his room to sleep.
Watching as the person entered the room, Chen Luosong stood at the door, lifted his hand slightly holding the phone, curled his fingers, and casually tapped the screen twice.
“If you can’t sleep at night, you can send a message, just like usual,” he said.
Zhou Kaiji instantly understood his meaning, and his lips curled slightly upward.
As the room door closed and the former high schooler went to sleep, the old master leaned on his cane and looked at the relaxed person standing there, saying, “Wanna chat?”
Chen Luosong nodded.
The two of them went to the tea room on the second floor.
Although it was a tea room, it was already late at night. The two of them finally filled their teacups with warm water and sipped it.
The old master said, “This time I had prepared two gifts for our meeting.”
One was money and property, the other was shares, depending on the situation to decide which to give.
The former was a meeting gift for his old friend’s son, the latter for the heir of his old friend.
He ended up giving the latter this time.
After taking a sip of water, he said, “Secretary Chen is indeed capable.”
The person opposite him still had his usual smile, concealing his thoughts. After another sip of water, the old master seemingly casually said, “It would be great if that boy Yuan Yan could also come under your guidance.”
Chen Luosong lightly tapped the tabletop and smiled.
