Liu Mei felt a flicker of panic.
She sensed that things were spiraling out of her control.
How could this have happened!
Only three major shareholders remained: Fan Hao, Du Jin, and Wan Jie.
If two of these three supported her, she would smoothly secure the positions of Chairperson and President, especially with the support of over a hundred thousand minor shareholders.
She still held a dominant advantage.
However, the sudden reversals from two major shareholders had indeed unsettled her.
Meanwhile, Zhang Xinyan clenched her fists, a growing confidence blooming in her heart.
She believed in Chen Jie's capabilities.
Since these two individuals were willing to support her, she was confident Chen Jie could sway the remaining three.
With this thought, she cast a grateful glance at Chen Jie.
"Don't just stand there; next!" Chen Jie announced.
All eyes turned to Fan Hao.
Liu Mei held her breath.
Fan Hao tidied his documents and then stood up.
"Esteemed colleagues, in my opinion, Zhang Xinyan is Zhang Cheng's true kin! I believe that the bond of blood is far stronger than a relationship formed later in life! Therefore, I think Zhang Cheng would have wished for his position to be given to Miss Zhang!"
"Thus, this vote goes to Miss Zhang!"
Zhang Xinyan was taken aback, then her face lit up with emotion.
Zhang Mu murmured with excitement, "Heaven has eyes, heaven has eyes..."
Yang Shan and Yang Lihuan looked as if they had lost their entire world.
Liu Mei’s body trembled violently, nearly causing her to faint.
At this moment, overwhelming panic surged through her.
Everything had slipped from her grasp.
These three individuals had explicitly pledged their support to her, and now they had all switched allegiances.
After a moment of disarray, she suddenly declared, "Adjourn! We will temporarily adjourn. This board meeting will reconvene tomorrow!"
Although she was confident that the remaining Du Jin and Wan Jie would support her, she dared not take that risk. She needed to speak with them privately first.
Otherwise, if even one more person supported Zhang Xinyan, she would be finished!
She needed to buy time to secure her position as Chairperson and President of the company!
"Adjourn? I object!" Zhang Xinyan said with a confident smile.
"You're an outsider; what right do you have to speak here?" Liu Mei retorted angrily.
"Excuse me, we are both candidates. You have the right to speak, and so do I! Moreover, you are not yet a member of the board, so you have no right to call for an adjournment!"
Although Liu Mei held a high-ranking position in Zhang Cheng's company, she had only been working there for a little over a year.
Before that, Liu Mei had been nothing more than a decorative vase with no understanding of the business.
Zhang Xinyan, however, was different.
She had been immersed in her family's businesses since childhood and was well-versed in company regulations.
She immediately stated, "If you call for an adjournment now, it will be considered a withdrawal from the election! According to the relevant regulations, you will be disqualified!"
"When did the company enact such a rule? I don't agree! We can just change it!" Liu Mei demanded.
"Someone as ignorant as you, who doesn't even understand the relevant regulations, is attempting to run for Chairperson and President? Let me enlighten you: this is a legal provision, not merely a company rule," Chen Jie said calmly.
Liu Mei's face darkened.
Being publicly belittled by Chen Jie made her feel a burning shame.
Indeed, for the past year, leveraging Zhang Cheng's influence, she had thrived in the company and was ignorant of many relevant regulations.
Even her own responsibilities were handled by others, as she knew nothing about them.
"Birds of a feather flock together; a rat's son knows how to dig holes! Some people are born parasites who love to steal, while others are born managers!" Chen Jie taunted without mercy.
"Don't spout nonsense! I am Zhang Cheng's wife, and I have the right to be Chairperson! You want to continue? Then let's continue! I'll see how long your smiles last!"
Liu Mei shouted, "Du Jin! Vote for me!"
She had cultivated an image of a devoted wife in front of Du Jin, as he and Zhang Cheng had a close relationship and often called each other brothers.
Furthermore, she had consistently fed Du Jin the narrative that Zhang Xinyan's family intended to seize Zhang Cheng's assets, instilling in him a strong dislike for Zhang Xinyan.
She was certain Du Jin's vote would go to her.
"Vote for you? You must be dreaming! How could I possibly let Zhang Ge's assets be plundered by an outsider!"
Du Jin said mockingly, "My vote goes to Miss Zhang, Zhang Xinyan!"
What!
Liu Mei's mind reeled.
She pointed at Du Jin, "You, you lied to me! You explicitly said you would vote for me! You broke your promise!"
"And I'll turn into a turtle when I die! Do you believe everything I say?" Du Jin retorted coldly.
"Why, why are you doing this! Why betray your big brother!" Liu Mei cried out.
"Heh, I'm not betraying my big brother. You know very well what you've done. If Big Brother were still alive, he wouldn't have entrusted all his assets to you to manage! I advise you to give up this foolish idea and go home to grow sweet potatoes!" Du Jin said sternly.
"You..."
Liu Mei's expression shifted. She quickly realized that someone must have spoken to Du Jin.
She pointed at Chen Jie, "You cheated! You colluded with these people beforehand to have them vote for Zhang Xinyan!"
At this moment, not only Liu Mei, but also Zhang Xinyan and her parents realized that all of this was Chen Jie's doing.
They didn't know what Chen Jie had done to persuade these individuals, but they knew it couldn't have been easy.
For a moment, all three looked at Chen Jie with gratitude.
Chen Jie smiled and said, "Cheating? What do you call cheating? Is prior communication with them considered cheating? They aren't fools who do whatever I say."
"If you really want to talk about cheating, you just admitted yourself that you colluded beforehand to have Du Jin vote for you! I believe the one who truly cheated is you!"
"You, you..."
"Shut up, all of you!"
Yang Shan suddenly boomed, "The voting isn't over yet! I don't believe the last person will vote for you too!"
"It's already over!"
Chen Jie stated calmly, "Zhang Xinyan has already won!"
"Country bumpkin, stop talking nonsense! If anyone wins, it's my daughter! Several people voted for my daughter earlier! My daughter's votes are definitely higher than yours!" Yang Lihuan declared angrily.
Chen Jie retorted, "If you don't understand anything, don't call others country bumpkins! Ask everyone here who the real country bumpkin is?"
"What did you say?" Yang Lihuan raged.
Someone nearby coughed and explained, "The shares of the three old chairmen already exceed fifteen percent. Excluding Zhang Cheng's seventy percent, they have already secured more than half the votes. Therefore, even if the last person votes for Liu Mei, it will be futile."