284: Chapter 284 Shareholder Proposal! Prohibit Lin Chen and Su Qingyu from Being Alone.

Ten seconds after The Silencer became the second-largest shareholder of SQL-EMO, the first shareholder proposal was submitted to the exchange's "Major Emotional Decision-making Committee".

Proposal Number: SQL-EMO-2025-001

Proposer: The Silencer (17% stake)

Proposal Content:

"Given that the stock price stability of SQL-EMO (Su Qingyu's emotional assets) is highly dependent on the interaction frequency between Lin Chen and Su Qingyu, in order to protect the interests of all shareholders and prevent market information asymmetry caused by the private behavior of the two, the following proposal is hereby made:

1. Lin Chen and Su Qingyu are prohibited from being alone together in any undisclosed setting.

2. All interactions between the two (including but not limited to dialogue, eye contact, and physical contact) must be conducted in the presence of at least three independent shareholders.

3. The content of interactions must be documented in a written report within 24 hours of completion and disclosed to all shareholders.

4. Those who violate the above regulations will be penalized by a deduction of 0.1% of the total share capital of SQL-EMO per occurrence, with that portion of stock being canceled by the exchange."

There was also a note at the end of the proposal:

"This proposal aims to enhance the transparency and tradability of emotional assets and falls within the scope of normal corporate governance. shareholders are requested to vote prudently."

Lin Chen looked at this proposal and fell silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed.

That kind of smile made Arrogant Dragon's back go cold—the last time he saw this smile was when Lin Chen shorted The Silencer's warrants.

"It wants to use corporate governance rules to manage my private life," Lin Chen said. "Very well. Then we'll play by the rules of corporate governance."

He pulled up the shareholding structure chart of SQL-EMO:

Lin Chen himself: 23% stake (original allocation + market accumulation)

The Silencer: 17% stake

Golden Abacus (Universe Bank): 8% stake

Morgana: 5% stake

Alpha: 5% stake

Arrogant Dragon: 3% stake

Other retail investors: 39% stake in total

The proposal requires the approval of more than half of the shareholders to pass.

The Silencer's 17% plus any votes it could win over; if it exceeds 50%, the proposal takes effect.

"It's definitely collecting votes privately." Golden Abacus's emergency communication came through. "I just received a message from The Silencer. It's willing to trade 'First Epoch Rule Immunity' for my 8% voting rights—as long as I vote in favor."

"Are you going to?" Lin Chen asked.

"Nonsense, of course not." Golden Abacus paused. "But other shareholders might not be so firm. On Morgana and Alpha's side, The Silencer also offered terms—helping them repair their star domain cores."

Lin Chen immediately contacted Morgana.

The communication connected, and Morgana's icy blue eyes looked at him without any expression.

"Are you voting in favor or against?" Lin Chen asked directly.

"Haven't decided yet," Morgana said. "The price The Silencer offered is very high—repairing the frozen core and returning my star domain to its state before the Zeroing Storm. You know what that means to me."

"I know," Lin Chen said. "But I also have terms."

"What terms?"

"If you vote against it this time, I will do three things for your star domain in the future: First, repair the frozen core for free. Second, establish a Free Trade Zone in the Icebound Star Domain, with all tax revenue belonging to you. Third, have Arrogant Dragon personally serve as your bodyguard for a hundred years."

Arrogant Dragon muttered quietly on the side: "Boss, you—"

"Shut up." Lin Chen held him down.

Morgana was silent for five seconds.

"Deal." She hung up the communication.

One down.

Lin Chen then contacted Alpha.

Alpha's data stream flickered: "The offer from The Silencer is higher than yours."

"How much higher?"

"It said it could give me access to the original database of the first epoch—where the lowest-level code logic of the Narrative Layer resides. If I can analyze that code, my computing power can increase by at least thirty times."

Lin Chen was silent for a second.

"I have original databases too," he said. "In the Resurrection Files of the Yixie Civilization, Aka Civilization, and Light-Speaker Civilization, there are data older than what The Silencer possesses. If you vote against it, I can open these archives for your analysis."

Alpha calculated for 0.03 seconds.

"Deal."

Two down.

As for the retail investors, Lin Chen sent out a mass push notification directly:

"Dear SQL-EMO shareholders, the essence of The Silencer's proposal is to interfere with private emotions. If it can prohibit Su Qingyu and me from being alone today, it can prohibit you from watching our paid live streams tomorrow. Please think carefully: do you want transparent 'emotional assets,' or 'puppet stocks' controlled by a major shareholder?"

After the push notification was sent, the retail investor groups began to stir.

Voices opposing The Silencer gradually drowned out those in favor.

The voting channel opened.

Three hours later, the results were out:

Votes in favor: 17% (The Silencer's own holding)

Votes against: 83% (all other shareholders)

The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected.

The Silencer's first shareholder proposal was a crushing defeat.

But it didn't show an expression of disappointment—if it had an expression at all.

It just stood quietly in the void, looking at the voting results, and then sent a message:

"Lin Chen, do you know? This proposal was just me testing the waters."

"Testing what?"

"Testing your reaction speed," The Silencer said. "Now I know: you can mobilize all shareholders in a short time, you can offer prices higher than mine, and you can even use emotions to kidnap retail investors."

"So?"

"So for the next proposal, I will strike in an area where you won't have time to react."

The message dissipated.

Lin Chen frowned.

"What does it mean?" Arrogant Dragon asked.

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He stared at The Silencer's last sentence, feeling like something was wrong.

An area where he wouldn't have time to react...

What area was it that he wouldn't have time to react to?

Su Qingyu suddenly spoke: "It wasn't saying 'where you won't have time to react'."

"Then what?"

"It's 'where I won't have time to react'." Su Qingyu pointed at herself. "The subjects of the proposal are you and me. But what it just tested was only your reaction speed. It hasn't tested mine yet."

Lin Chen's pupils constricted.

He understood.

The Silencer's true target had never been him.

It was Su Qingyu.

Because it knew that Lin Chen was invincible in the commercial field, but Su Qingyu was not a businessperson.

If the next proposal wasn't targeting "the relationship between Lin Chen and Su Qingyu," but rather Su Qingyu's personal rights—

For example, requiring Su Qingyu to periodically disclose "emotional fluctuation data."

For example, requiring Su Qingyu to undergo "emotional inquiry" by shareholders.

For example, requiring that Su Qingyu cannot "unilaterally reduce emotional output."

Su Qingyu would have no idea how to deal with these proposals involving personal privacy.

And The Silencer was waiting for that moment.

"I have to teach her," Lin Chen said. "Teach her how to protect herself in shareholder meetings."

Su Qingyu was stunned: "Learn what?"

"Learn business," Lin Chen said, looking at her. "From today on, you are my proxy in SQL-EMO. You need to learn how to read financial reports, learn how to lobby for votes, and learn how to use rules to fight rules."

"But I..."

"No buts," Lin Chen interrupted her. "The Silencer won't give you time to learn slowly. The next proposal might be tomorrow."

Su Qingyu fell silent.

She looked down at her hands—those hands that had once held Lin Chen during the Zeroing Storm, once trembled during betrayal, and once clenched into fists during memory extraction.

Now, they had to start holding onto share certificates.

"Okay," she looked up. "I'll learn."

Lin Chen opened the system and pulled up the real-time data for SQL-EMO.

On the K-line chart, the stock price was still rising, already breaking through 800,000 points.

With its 17% stake, The Silencer's floating profit exceeded 13 quadrillion.

It didn't need to do anything; just by holding the stock, it had already earned back the losses from shorting the warrants last time.

"It truly wants this emotional asset to increase in value now," Golden Abacus said over the comms. "Because the more it rises, the more it earns."

"So it won't actually destroy this emotion," Lin Chen followed up. "But it will constantly use shareholder proposals to interfere, until..."

"Until what?"

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He looked at Su Qingyu and suddenly thought of a question—

If one day, Su Qingyu herself no longer wanted her love to be watched by 100 million people and wanted to exit this market, what should be done?

Stocks can be delisted.

Can emotions be withdrawn?

He didn't know.

Because that question wasn't written in SQL-EMO's prospectus.