manynovel Chapter 46: Annual Meeting
Chapter 46: Annual Meeting
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains and shone on Nie Xiguang's face.
Nie Xiguang opened his eyes, his head still throbbing slightly.
A faint smell of alcohol lingered in her nose. She shifted her body and realized she was still wearing the sweater from last night.
Phew~ Nie Xiguang quickly remembered what happened last night.
She drank too much last night and clung to Yu Chen, refusing to let go. After getting home, she was incredibly sleepy.
Nie Xiguang's cheeks flushed instantly. She sat up abruptly, looked down to check her clothes, and found that the buttons were neatly fastened and there was nothing unusual about her.
She bit her lip, feeling both shy and warm inside.
Yu Chen must have spent a lot of time and effort settling her in last night, but he kept to himself and didn't do anything out of line.
She tiptoed out of the bedroom, and the aroma of breakfast was already wafting from the living room.
Yu Chen, wearing an apron, was frying eggs in the kitchen.
The sunlight fell softly on his tall, straight profile.
Hearing footsteps, Yu Chen turned around and glanced at her, a faint smile curving his lips. "Awake? Go wash up quickly, breakfast will be ready soon, I specially cooked some hangover porridge."
Nie Xiguang's heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye, and only whispered "Mmm" before fleeing into the bathroom.
My reflection in the mirror shows my cheeks flushed.
She turned on the tap and splashed cold water on her face; the icy touch calmed her down a little.
"Nie Xiguang, it's alright!"
"That's your boyfriend, what's there to be shy about!"
After taking a shower, Nie Xiguang returned to the dining table, and the two sat facing each other in a quiet and somewhat subtle atmosphere.
Nie Xiguang rummaged through the porridge in his bowl, his eyes fixed on the bottom, not daring to look up.
The construction that had just been completed crumbled instantly upon seeing Yu Chen.
"The porridge is at just the right temperature, drink it slowly." Yu Chen's gentle voice rang out. "Oh, okay."
Nie Xiguang responded softly, his ears starting to burn again.
Nie Xiguang was restless and uneasy while eating breakfast.
She only relaxed a little after they finished washing the dishes and went to the company together, but she still didn't dare to look Yu Chen in the eye.
As the car entered the Shuangyuan factory area, the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year gradually intensified.
Red lanterns were hung at the entrance of the office building, and many New Year decorations were pasted in the corridor. Even at the entrance of the laboratory, Hua Xiangyang pasted a "May all things go smoothly" character.
Not long after arriving at his workstation, Nie Xiguang received a notification from the administration department.
Shengyuan Group will host a year-end gala, inviting all employees of Shuangyuan to attend a month later. The venue will be the most luxurious five-star hotel in Shanghai, a lavish banquet co-organized by Shengyuan and Shuangyuan.
The news spread, and the entire research and development building was in an uproar.
"My God! Sheng Yuan is really going all out! I heard that a single table at that hotel costs close to five figures!"
"It's not just about food, there's also a lucky draw! The grand prize is a new energy vehicle!"
"Great, I can finally relax a bit. These past few months have been exhausting!"
Nie Xiguang couldn't help but laugh, turning to look at Yu Chen, deliberately tilting her head to tease him, her tone slightly mischievous, "I heard that for these kinds of annual parties, you have to bring a female companion to be presentable. Yu Chen, do you have a girl you like? I can introduce you to someone?"
Yu Chen saw the barely concealed smugness in her eyes and knew exactly what was going on. He deliberately went along with her words, a smile curving his lips, "Alright, then I'll wait for Miss Nie to make the arrangements for me."
"Hmph!" Nie Xiguang immediately pouted, gently pinched his arm, and turned her face away angrily, her ears turning slightly red. "Then you just wait, I'll introduce you to the most talkative one, someone who'll be nagging you every day!"
Yu Chen grabbed her wrist with his other hand, his fingertips brushing against her reddened earlobe, and chuckled softly, "No need for introductions, I think you're just fine, I like it even if you're a bit long-winded."
At 3 p.m., a small meeting about the preparations for the annual meeting was held in Lin Yusen's office.
In the conference room, Lin Yusen calmly reviewed the proposal in his hand. "This annual meeting is not only a gathering of employees from Shengyuan and Shuangyuan, but more importantly, Chairman Sheng will invite many industry partners and investors to come."
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"Especially the Chenguang Business Unit, Yu Chen, your core team needs to prepare a presentation of our technological achievements. It doesn't need to be too long, ten minutes is enough. This is a good opportunity for the outside world to understand our technological strength."
Yu Chen nodded slightly.
"Okay, I will prepare the PPT and samples."
"And another thing," Lin Yusen added, "Sheng Bokai and Sheng Xingjie will also be there on the night of the annual meeting."
The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the conference room quieted down.
Hua Xiangyang frowned. "Don't they have a company called Jiekai Technology? What are they doing here? Are they planning to cause trouble again?"
Lin Yusen said calmly, "The Sheng family's annual meeting is their own business. As senior executives of the group, they have no reason not to attend. You don't need to worry about them. Just do your own thing."
Yu Chen tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Sheng Xingjie had tried to win him over several times before, but he had refused each time. Now that they were going to meet again at the annual meeting, it seemed unlikely that he would give up so easily.
After the meeting, Yu Chen stopped Lin Yusen and asked, "President Lin, has Sheng Xingjie made any moves lately?"
"Nothing major." Lin Yusen handed Yu Chen a document. "He's still keeping an eye on your technology. Jiekai Energy is also working on tandem battery research and development, but they're far behind."
Yu Chen flipped through a few pages of the report, sneered, and said, "A clown jumping around."
"Be careful on the day of the annual meeting." Lin Yusen patted him on the shoulder. "Sheng Bokai is someone who never plays by the rules."
Yu Chen put away the report and nodded.
If Sheng Xingjie and Sheng Bokai dare to pull any tricks at the annual meeting, he wouldn't mind making them look foolish in public.
However... thinking about Sheng Xingjie's cerebral palsy behaviors in the original work, Yu Chen felt a strange sense of anticipation.
After all... he's a true spoiled brat.
Soon, a month had passed.
Before we knew it, it was time for the annual meeting.
The banquet hall of a five-star hotel in Shanghai is brightly lit and dazzling.
The red carpet stretched from the hotel entrance all the way into the banquet hall, with vibrant flowers lining both sides, and flashes from media reporters going off constantly.
The employees of Shengyuan and Shuangyuan, dressed in carefully prepared formal attire, arrived in twos and threes, chatting and laughing.
Yu Chen was dressed in a well-tailored black suit, his posture upright. Nie Xiguang was holding his arm, wearing a light blue long dress that made her skin look as white as snow and her eyebrows and eyes as beautiful as a painting.
The two walked together, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, attracting the attention of many.
"There are so many people." Nie Xiguang was a little nervous, and subconsciously tightened his grip on Yu Chen's arm.
Yu Chen turned to look at her, his eyes full of smiles. "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
As soon as the two entered the banquet hall, they saw Sheng Xingjie and Ye Rong walking towards them.
Sheng Xingjie, dressed in a white suit, saw Yu Chen and Nie Xiguang and put on a fake smile. "Mr. Yu, Ms. Nie, you are a perfect match."
Ye Rong stood beside him, dressed in a red dress, her eyes filled with a barely perceptible hint of jealousy as she looked at Nie Xiguang.
But when she thought about the embarrassing thing that happened to her at Yu Chen's place last time, she silently shut her mouth.
Nie Xiguang frowned slightly but remained silent.
Yu Chen glanced at Sheng Xingjie indifferently, his tone aloof, "President Sheng."
Sheng Xingjie seemed oblivious to the coldness in his tone and continued with a smile, "Engineer Yu, I heard you've prepared a technical demonstration? I'm really looking forward to it. However, I've also prepared a surprise that I'm sure will impress everyone."
His words carried a hint of provocation.
Yu Chen raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then I'll wait and see."
After saying that, he was too lazy to argue with Sheng Xingjie anymore. He took Nie Xiguang's hand and walked straight to the area where Shuangyuan's employees were located.
Not long after she sat down, Nie Xiguang caught sight of a familiar figure. She was so surprised that her mouth opened slightly, and she subconsciously tried to loosen her grip on Yu Chen's hand, but Yu Chen held on even tighter.
Nie Chengyuan was standing side by side with Sheng Xianmin, talking. He was wearing a bespoke dark suit, exuding a calm and sharp aura. When his gaze swept across the room, it landed precisely on Nie Xiguang and Yu Chen's tightly clasped hands, and his eyes instantly darkened.
His beloved daughter, whom he had raised for over twenty years, had become so close to Yu Chen without him even letting him know about such a big thing as dating.
A surge of anger, a mixture of shock and displeasure, welled up inside him. He even forgot to greet Sheng Xianmin and strode over to him.
Sheng Xianmin watched his retreating figure, shook his head helplessly, but a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes.
"Dad!" Nie Xiguang called out, his voice trembling slightly.
Nie Chengyuan didn't respond, his gaze fixed on Yu Chen holding Nie Xiguang's hand, his eyes as cold as ice, making Yu Chen's scalp tingle.
Yu Chen quickly released his hand and nodded respectfully, "Chairman Nie."
"When did you and my daughter get together?" Nie Chengyuan's voice was low, but his tone was aggressive. "How come she didn't tell me a single word about something this big?"
Nie Xiguang lowered his head guiltily and tugged at Nie Chengyuan's sleeve, "Dad, it's just that we haven't had time yet."
"Didn't have time?" Nie Chengyuan snorted coldly, his gaze still fixed on Yu Chen, filled with scrutiny and warning. "Yu Chen, I'm warning you, Xi Guang is my daughter, Nie Chengyuan's daughter. If you dare to bully her, I won't let you off the hook."
Yu Chen straightened his back, met his gaze, and said sincerely, "Chairman Nie, I won't bully Xi Guang. I will treat her well."
Nie Xiguang looked up at Yu Chen, then at her father whose face was ashen, feeling both panicked and warm inside.
Because her father didn't object to her relationship with Yu Chen.
The main stage of the banquet hall was brightly lit.
As chairman, Sheng Xianmin stepped onto the stage and first warmly welcomed the guests and employees present. He then introduced the achievements of Shengyuan and Shuangyuan over the past year.
When the technological breakthroughs of the M&G Battery Division were mentioned, enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.
Yu Chen took a deep breath, straightened his tie, and prepared to go on stage.
Nie Xiguang looked at him, her eyes full of encouragement, "Keep it up!"
Nie Chengyuan stood to the side, his expression still unchanged, but the sharpness in his eyes had faded somewhat.
He received information that Sheng Bokai's son might cause trouble for Yu Chen at the annual meeting, but he did not stop him.
Putting aside the fact that his relationship with Sheng Bokai was barely acceptable, he also wanted to know if Yu Chen had any abilities beyond technical skills.
Yu Chen smiled at Nie Xiguang, then turned and walked onto the stage.
The spotlight shone on him, and he stood calmly and confidently in front of the microphone. He first gave a brief introduction to the establishment of the Chenguang Business Unit, and then showed the core data and samples of the tandem battery.
"Our perovskite/crystalline silicon tandem solar cells have a stable efficiency of 29.2% in the laboratory, and their stability test shows no degradation after more than 500 hours. The mass production cost is 15% lower than that of traditional cells."
"The research and development funds for this technology are all supported by special appropriations from Shengyuan Group. Every expenditure is traceable and subject to full supervision by the Group's audit department."
The clear data and solid results drew nods of approval from the guests in the audience, and many investors' eyes lit up as they whispered among themselves.
Just then, Sheng Xingjie suddenly stood up, interrupting Yu Chen's speech.
"Wait, Mr. Yu!"
His voice was particularly jarring in the quiet banquet hall.
All eyes turned to him.
Yu Chen was prepared and looked at him with a hint of amusement. "President Sheng, what are your thoughts?"
Sheng Xingjie smiled smugly, slowly walking onto the stage with a document in his hand. "I wouldn't presume to offer guidance. I simply wanted to ask Engineer Yu, does the Chenguang business unit you lead truly have the capability to push this technology into mass production?"
He brandished the document in his hand, his tone arrogant, "I have an internal assessment report here that shows more than half of the core technical team in Chenguang's business unit are industry newbies with absolutely no mass production experience. If we let them take over the latter half of production, it's just throwing the group's money down the drain!"
These words caused an uproar in the room.
Nie Xiguang suddenly stood up, his face pale. "You're talking nonsense! Although our team is young, everyone is fully committed to research and development, and the stability test data is the best proof!"
Hua Xiangyang slammed his fist on the table in anger, "Sheng Xingjie, don't go too far! You can't develop the technology yourself, so you come here to slander others!"
The banquet hall erupted into chaos as reporters' flashbulbs went off wild, all trying to capture this explosive scene.
Sheng Bokai sat in the audience with a cold smile on his lips, clearly having known about this for a long time.
Nie Chengyuan's face darkened completely. He had considered all sorts of ways to make things difficult for Sheng Xingjie, but he never expected that Sheng Xingjie was such a complete idiot.
That old fox Sheng Bokai, how could he have given birth to such a son?
He looked at Sheng Xianmin beside him, his tone cold and hard, "Chairman Sheng, is this the successor you've chosen?"
Sheng Xianmin said calmly, "Cheng Yuan, this is a matter of the Sheng family."
Nie Chengyuan's expression changed slightly: "Hmph, although this is your family matter, don't forget that I also own a share of Shengyuan."
Sheng Xianmin didn't speak, but just looked at the table.
He was more interested in seeing how Yu Chen would respond.
Because Shuangyuan... he will eventually hand it over to Lin Yusen, and he will be more at ease if Yu Chen is capable.
It's a pity that Yusen's surname isn't Sheng!
On stage,
Looking at the documents in Sheng Xingjie's hand, Yu Chen not only didn't panic, but smiled instead.
He walked up to Sheng Xingjie, his gaze sharp as a knife. "President Sheng, are you sure you want to use this so-called evaluation report as a pretext?"
To be honest, he was somewhat disappointed.
Sheng Xingjie felt uneasy under his gaze, but still forced a confident tone, "Of course!"
"Okay." Yu Chen nodded, picked up the microphone, and his voice clearly echoed throughout the banquet hall, "Then I'll show everyone what it means to be all talk and no action."
He raised his hand, signaling the staff to switch the large screen.
On the screen, a comparison chart of the team composition of Chenguang Business Unit and Jiekai Energy appeared, along with experimental progress charts for both parties.
"Look, everyone," Yu Chen said, pointing to the screen. "Although our team members are young, they are all professionally trained in photovoltaic materials. In the past three months, we have completed twelve rounds of stability iteration tests, and each round is supported by complete data."
He paused, then continued, "On the other hand, the team at Jekai Energy consists mostly of people who switched careers mid-way through their professional lives. In the past three months, they've only produced a theoretical proposal; they haven't even produced a lab sample!"
After saying that, he showed a letter of intent for cooperation, saying, "These are letters of intent from three leading photovoltaic companies. They have all clearly stated that they are willing to cooperate with Chenguang's business unit to promote mass production. This is the best recognition of our team's strength!"
Sheng Xingjie's face turned deathly pale instantly, and the documents in his hand fell to the ground.
He never expected that Yu Chen would know their lab's data.
How is that possible!
There's a mole!
The guests in the audience also realized what was happening and showed expressions of disdain.
"So Sheng Xingjie was just jealous!"
"What a disgrace! They have no ability themselves, so they slander other people's teams!"
"Although Chenguang's team is young, they are truly capable. Sheng Xingjie has brought this upon himself!"
Sheng Bokai's face was extremely ugly. He suddenly stood up, glared at Sheng Xingjie, and turned to leave.
Looking at the composed and confident Yu Chen on the stage, Nie Chengyuan's tense lips finally relaxed, and the coldness in his eyes faded considerably, replaced by a hint of approval.
Sheng Xingjie stood on the stage, at a loss, enduring everyone's scornful gazes, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Looking at his disheveled appearance, Yu Chen said coldly, "President Sheng, in life and work, you still need to be down-to-earth. Relying on tricks to suppress your opponents will not get you far."
After saying that, he ignored Sheng Xingjie, picked up the microphone, and continued to complete his technical demonstration.
This time, the applause from the audience was even more enthusiastic and lasted for a long time.
Nie Xiguang looked at Yu Chen, who was confident and composed on the stage, his eyes filled with pride.
As the banquet began, everyone raised their glasses in celebration, filled with laughter and joy.
Lin Yusen walked over to Yu Chen, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Well done."
Yu Chen smiled and said, "Thank you, President Lin."
"Chairman Sheng is very satisfied with you," Lin Yusen said in a low voice. "He said you are someone he can entrust with his affairs."
Yu Chen nodded slightly without saying a word.
As night deepened, the laughter and chatter in the banquet hall continued.
Yu Chen and Nie Xiguang stood side by side by the window, looking at the myriad lights of Shanghai outside.
Nie Chengyuan walked over, carrying two glasses of red wine. He handed one to Yu Chen, his tone much gentler, "Kid, not bad."
Yu Chen took the wine glass and lightly clinked it against his. "Thank you for your recognition, Chairman Nie."
Seeing the two of them smiling at each other, Nie Chengyuan sighed inwardly, but finally relented, saying, "Treat Xiguang well from now on, and don't let me down."
"I will," Yu Chen said earnestly.
Nie Xiguang took Nie Chengyuan's arm, her eyes crinkling with laughter, "Dad, I knew you were the best. Don't tell Mom about this yet, I want to tell her myself."
"Hmm." Nie Chengyuan glanced at her with annoyance, then looked at his daughter's hands, which were linked with his arm, and was slightly stunned.
How many years has it been since his daughter has been this close to him?
It seems that Xiguang was only five years old at that time.
Have I...owed her too much?
-
I've been so busy these past few days, and I saw you guys saying my writing style is like a female-oriented novel, so I had to rewrite the whole thing from the first chapter. It's really tiring.
The reason I didn't eat in the previous chapter was to spread positive energy. Drinking alcohol and then going to the toilet is called being addicted to drugs, which does not conform to the core socialist values.
If no one is designated as the number one in monthly votes next, it will probably be Liu Haocun's passionate romance.
I'm going to readjust my writing style.
I've written too many romance novels before, and I haven't really changed my mindset yet.
wipe.