362 Kicking a Man While He Was Down
Xu Nan finally stopped, perhaps tired from her outburst.
The call was cut off. Chairman Xu’s expression was dark. The entire conference room remained quiet.
Tap tap tap!
Right then, a series of hurried footsteps could be heard. A formally dressed female employee walked in, holding onto a handful of materials.
“Chairman Xu, managers!”
“What’s the situation? Give us a report,” Chairman Xu asked with a sigh.
“Yes sir.” The employee nodded, then flipped open the materials and announced in a serious tone, “As of now, the injured were all sent to the hospital, totaling at 97 people. 21 were seriously wounded. The estimated medical expenses should be within four million. However, apart from this, many family members are coming to us, looking for compensation for their trauma, lost time costs, and others. The grand total is…around 10 million!”
Around 10 million would average out to about 10 thousand per person. Those compensations were compulsory. It directly relates to Wanrong Group’s last shred of reputation. Furthermore, they were in the wrong. If they refused to pay compensations, it would lead to the same results when the family members bring them to court.
With that, they needed to payout a total of 14 million!
Chairman Xu took a deep breath, then said with a hoa.r.s.e voice, “Continue!”
“After we settle those injured, we still need money on operations to make an announcement on the major news platform to run a series of promotions. The estimated cost would be around 5 million. However, the main issue lies in…”
The employee hesitated for a moment before continuing, “As this incident caused quite a stir, it attracted the attention of many departments. A lot of our company’s rights are frozen and would be faced with various audits. Furthermore, our cars in the market are having trouble with sales and are being returned. Many collaborating companies announced that they would cease collaboration with us. The deal we previously signed with Wanhao Automobile Group for collaboration on autonomous vehicles is now being challenged. They’re asking us to pay 50 million in compensation for breach of contract!”
Silence.
Although they had expected this outcome, it was difficult not to feel despair when they heard the news.
“C-c-chairman Xu…”
Right then, a middle-aged man in the conference room suddenly voiced out. “I would like to withdraw as a shareholder of the company…”
Wanrong Automobile Group adopted the joint venture method. Shareholders would invest in shares, and then dividends were paid at the end of the year according to the company’s performance. Under such circ.u.mstances, dividends were out of the question. It would be lucky for them to even retrieve their initial investments!
Once the topic was brought up, the conference room’s atmosphere turned even eerier. Chairman Xu’s face took on a gloomy expression, yet there was nothing he could do.
As for the others, a lot of their faces showed signs of eagerness.
In light of profit, they would kick a man while he was down.
“Our meeting ends here. Save your opinions for the next meeting. Dismiss!” Chairman Xu did not wait for the rest to voice out and quickly left the office.
Ouyang Qing finally stood up and ma.s.saged her numbed knees. Her face was filled with sadness, looking at Chairman Xu who was walking out of the office.
When she opened the door, Chairman Xu and Ouyang Feng were both there, frowning helplessly.
“Uncle Xu, Dad, I’m sorry.”
“What’s the use of saying this now.” Ouyang Feng waved her off, suffering from his headache.
“Actually…this incident was totally avoidable. It was caused by my arrogance.” Ouyang Qing’s mind recalled Ye Lingchen’s face, the sorrow on her face deepened. “Xu Nan’s master had brought to my attention the issues the autonomous vehicle would face before the exhibition. At that time, I didn’t listen to him. After that, the exhibition went exactly as he had foretold!”
“What? There was such a thing?!” Ouyang Feng immediately stood up, his expression was a mix of shock and anger. Finally, he let out a long sigh. “This world had such talent, yet we rejected him outside our door!”
“Xu Nan’s right. I should’ve listened to him from the start. Sigh, it would seem that she found an exceptional master. Unfortunately, we’ve been misjudging him. What a joke.” Chairman Xu shook his head as he laughed self-deprecatingly.
“Chairman Xu, do you think it’s possible…”
“Impossible!” Chairman Xu shook his head, cutting Ouyang Qing off. “Xu Nan and Xu Wanqing had contacted me earlier. Her master wouldn’t offer his a.s.sistance any longer. There’s no chance for me to say anything.”
Ouyang Qing remained silent. Ye Lingchen’s reaction was reasonable. Geniuses had their ego, especially given her previous att.i.tude toward him.
“I got us in this mess. I’ll get him to help no matter what it takes!”
Ouyang Qing steeled her eyes, her voice filled with dedication. After that, she immediately headed out without hesitation…
Hill Spring Residence…
Ye Lingchen was in his villa, both his hands typing away on the keyboard.
It was rare for him to have this much free time. He prepared to quickly type out all the chapters for Celestial Bane and end this novel.
Xu Wanqing and Xu Nan could not bring themselves to ask Ye Lingchen for help again. With the troubles back home, they quickly returned.
Since the publication of Celestial Bane, it had always been a hot topic in the world of internet novels. It turned into a symbol of Yuewen Group, a legendary novel where the author achieved greatness within the first publication.
Right then, because of his frenzied uploads, the entire comment section exploded with activity.
[F*ck! It’s going crazy! What’s wrong with I am Y today?]
[15 thousand words! He’s already uploaded 15 thousand words! This is amazing!]
[Ahhh, this is wonderful! I’ve never read so comfortably for a long time! Thank you very much!]
[This. .h.i.ts the spot. If only the updates are like this every day. Thank you!]
[Author, you should take care of your health. If you churn out chapters this intensely, your health will be affected.]
[Cut the c.r.a.p. I’m just a student without much money. I’m sending you 1,000 coins to show my grat.i.tude!]
[I’m well off. It’s difficult being an author. I’ll send you 10,000 coins. Keep it up!]
…
Following that, 20 thousand words, 25 thousand words, 30 thousand words!
The chapters were still being uploaded. Not just the readers, even authors were stirred.
[F*ck! What’s going on today? What’s Celestial Bane’s author doing?]
[d.a.m.n! It’s bad enough that his ratings are good, and he’s still putting in this much effort? Are they leaving us any room to breathe?]
[So scary! What kind of typing speed is this? No wonder he became a legend!]
…
However, right at that moment, Ye Lingchen’s hands froze. It was not that he lost the motivation to type, but there was a guest.
Ding dong, ding dong!
The villa’s doorbell brought a frown to Ye Lingchen’s brows.
The visitor did not have a key, so it was not Zhang Yunxi coming home.
He went downstairs and opened the door, which led to a frown on his face, followed by a mischievous smile on the corner of his lips. “Well, I didn’t expect the great Director Ouyang to be here.”