Chapter 115 - I'm afriad, I must decline.

"Why would I expect you to show up? You have a big conglomerate to look over. How would you ever have time to show up here?" Qian He made sure to blame her the best. He had to use the other director's grievance at her for his ulterior motives.

And his words were effective. Because with his words, people suspicious gazes stopped being pointing at him. Instead, their resentment now faced Jing Lihua.

'Interesting' Jing Lihua thought. This Qian He was smart with words. But too bad. He had greatly underestimated his opponent. Fine then.

"I really didn't want to do that but you leave me no other choice, Mr. Qian. Then, you shall have it." Jing Lihua acted best like a generous President who cares for her subordinates. Her expressions looked pained for revealing Qian He in front of everyone. She signaled Wang Yi and he brought in Shen Lei.

"What is the meaning of this?" Qian He sensed something wrong.

"Shen Lei, kindly tell us what did Mr. Qian instructed you this morning." Jing Lihua put her kindest expression. She had a board of directors to win.

"H-He asked me to keep an eye on the visitors. Director Qian asked when President Jing enters I must inform him at once." Shen Lei wanted to cry. She didn't want to be in any such drama. Her head was ducked as low as possible.

Another deafening silence followed after Shen Lei's words. Shen Lei felt like she was standing above a ticking bomb.

"No one is trustworthy nowadays."

"He ensured us our job's safety claiming he would keep the meeting a secret. I didn't expect him to trick us like that."

"He must have ulterior motives. Just as I speculated. His rising against President Jing is not for our good. It is for his own profit."

Another chain of whispers started.

Qian He slammed his hand on the table and rose. "Lies. All lies. Jing Lihua, how have you threatened her to make her say that? Even if she says that it doesn't prove anything!" He sounded angry. And he must be. He couldn't lose the confidence of directors or it was the end for him. And it was happening because suspicious looks were back at him.

Jing Lihua sighed. "Let's be more reasonable and respectful towards each other Mr. Qian, shall we? We have some misunderstandings and you decline to call me President. I can understand that. But dropping honorifics can ve taken as an insult." Jing Lihua looked back at Shen Lei. She rose and sided her. "So Shen Lei, are you certain that Mr. Qian asked 'When' I'll arrive and not 'if'?"

Shen Lei nodded without understanding what Jing Lihua wanted to know. A sudden hush dominated.

"Well, that proves everything. Shen Lei you can leave. And don't fear. I won't let anyone harm you. Mr. Qian here knew that I would arrive and he hid it from all of you for whatever his mysterious motive." Jing Lihua took back her seat with apparent triumph in her manner. In her words, she let everyone know someone threatened Shen Lei who couldn't be anyone else than Qian He in the situation. The way she was cool and respectable even after being slighted, won respect in people's hearts.

"This is not it. It doesn't matter anyway. We are no here to discuss this nonsense. We have some serious questions we want you to account for. If you are here then that's a good thing. Because as I said before, we are not here for anything unrighteous."

Jing Lihua almost rolled her eyes. "Does that mean you deliberately set this and wanted me here without telling your accomplices?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Yes." He admitted but quickly explained. "But only because we are in the right position."

His speech the righteousness went into waste because many directors were baited into this by being told that the President wouldn't even get an air of it. And hence their jobs would be safe. Now they felt betrayed. Qian He wasn't trustworthy. They held resentment towards Qian He. And that was Jing Lihua's opening.

"Ms. Jing, we demand clarification for the company's past investments. We all have invested a lot in your company. But as we see, the contracts you sign with this company are for your private benefits. You do not take other shareholders in regard. You do not care if the company is provided with better contracts or not. You reject them outrightly." Qian He took the liberty to talk on the shareholders' behalf. "Even after all of our directors' disapproval, you signed the 5-year contract with Fu Jianguo company. Has it gotten us anywhere? His company will be bankrupt soon. We fear if we continue to follow you we will also end up in bankruptcy."

Jing Lihua sighed. "All of you must recall that since I bought off the shares this company was going to be bankrupt soon too? All of you were struggling to sell off your shares at the maximum possible price and save as much money as possible. No one cared for this company. This is especially true for you Mr. Qian, the ex-President who sold his fifty-two percent shares to me. I was being laughed at by others for investing in it and you were among one of those who laughed at me. But now look, where is it. Compare the company's standing in the stock market from then and now. You all are profited more than you expected."

Qian He sold the shares and that was the worst mistake of his life. Only if he had waited a little more, all the profits would be his. He held his resentment towards Jing Lihua. 'That vixen somehow knew about the government policy or why else would she buy shares on a whim?'

"Are you trying to take credit for the construction company rise in the stock market? That was a nationwide rise because of new government policy and it hadn't anything to do with you."

"You don't want to admit it, then don't. It won't change the facts. Just compare the rise in share prices with other companies who stood beside us in the beginning. We are at least twice more worth than them. And that's a lot." Jing Lihua frowned. "Between, what is the point of this discussion? What are you trying to get at."

"We want you to terminate the contract with Fu Jianguo company immediately. Instead, we want you to sign the preposition by Su empire. We see greater prospects for collaborating with the Su empire than the group of those novices. We wouldn't settle for anything else."

Jing Lihua's lips slowly curled up. It had been the Su empire from the beginning. She knew it. "I'm afraid, I must decline, Mr. Qian."