89: Bloodsucking

Time flew by, and half a month passed in a flash.

At the Tianhui Group headquarters, in the chairman's office on the top floor, Ye Xi glanced at her phone, put it in her pocket, and then walked towards the conference room.

Today was Tianhui Group's quarterly board meeting, where almost all shareholders would be present, and it was also Ye Xi's opportunity to remove the bad apples.

"The new Chairman is said to be quite amiable."

"Exactly, exactly, a change is good; someone so young will be easier for us to control."

"This board is still our domain."

Before Ye Xi arrived, the shareholders were already discussing animatedly, clearly indicating that Ye Xi's authority was not enough to deter these old foxes.

"I am very grateful for everyone's contributions to the company over the years. I will reward all the contributions you have made..." Ye Xi's attitude was serious, and she spent a few minutes saying some polite words.

"Not at all, not at all. The company belongs to us shareholders; doing these things is only right."

The person speaking was an old man in his fifties or sixties; he was Zhao Youdao, the company's second-in-command, exuding a sense of calm and composure after enduring many challenges.

"That's right, over the years, Old Zhao has dedicated himself to the company. I don't respect anyone here more than him."

"Yes, yes, for Tianhui Group to be where it is today, Old Zhao's contributions are indeed indispensable."

"Without Old Zhao, there would be no Tianhui Group."

Seeing that Ye Xi was about to reward contributions, the other minor shareholders below were not idle, all recommending Zhao Youdao.

Over the years, they had followed Zhao Youdao and more or less benefited, and they all knew that their current achievements were inseparable from Zhao Youdao's support.

"Where were we just now?" Ye Xi asked expressionlessly.

Zhao Youdao, however, appeared calm and composed. He smiled and replied, "We were just mentioning our long-term partner, Hongtuo Group. This group is one of our most reliable partners; their reputation and strength are beyond doubt..."

"President Ye, you may not know, but when our group faced a serious operational crisis back then, it was Hongtuo Group that extended a helping hand, foregoing cooperation opportunities with other high-quality clients to choose us. If not for their timely support, we might have suffered significant losses, or even been severely weakened."

"The cooperation between our two groups has continued for many years, and it is expected to deepen further in the future, with a possibility of contract renewal."

Upon hearing these words, Ye Xi narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze fixed on Zhao Youdao: "Uncle Zhao seems very familiar with Hongtuo Group."

Zhao Youdao's heart jolted, feeling as if he was being targeted. This feeling of being watched made him extremely uncomfortable.

"As bosses, it's better to have more connections. For the group, it's all necessary." Zhao Youdao chuckled awkwardly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Uncle Zhao, I didn't say anything. Why do I feel like you're a bit nervous? You even seem to be sweating." Ye Xi chuckled softly, a hint of playfulness in her eyes.

"Perhaps the air conditioning in the conference room is set too high." Zhao Youdao scratched his head awkwardly, a flicker of unnatural smile on his face.

Although he appeared very respectful towards Ye Xi on the surface, his heart was filled with disdain and dissatisfaction.

In his opinion, Ye Xi was able to reach her current position simply by being born into the right family.

This kind of unearned success was, for someone like him who had climbed step by step, an immense insult.

"Alright, I've finished with the praises. Now it's time to discuss something else." Ye Xi suddenly changed the subject, her voice carrying a hint of coldness.

At this moment, the hypocritical smiles on the faces of those present gradually faded, and their expressions became solemn.

These people had been in the business world for many years, each of them cunning and experienced, naturally able to keenly perceive what this sudden shift meant.

Especially those shareholders who had done unscrupulous things, beads of sweat began to appear on their foreheads, some regretting their premature declarations, as the Tianhui Group now belonged to the Ye family, not the Zhao family.

"Does President Ye have any insights?" Zhao Youdao asked, feigning composure.

Ye Xi smiled and replied, "Uncle Zhao, as a junior, how dare I offer guidance? I merely have some questions I wish to ask you."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire conference room fell into a deathly silence. Everyone understood that she clearly had an ulterior motive.

Everyone could also see that although President Ye was young, she always spoke so cautiously and thoroughly, making it difficult to grasp her true intentions. To put it simply, she was hiding a dagger in her smile.

"Uncle Zhao, I'm a bit young and don't understand past events very well. I'm very curious to know what the development status of our group and Hongtuo Group was twenty years ago?" Ye Xi asked with a smile in her eyes, her lips curved upwards, and a hint of cunning glinting in her gaze.

The shareholders were all a bit puzzled. Was this some difficult question to investigate? Everyone knew, right?

"Twenty years ago, our group was already the leader in this industry, and Hongtuo was just a newly established small company. Everyone knows this. Does President Ye think there's something fishy here?" Although Zhao Youdao was surprised by the sudden question, he still tried his best to maintain a calm and composed expression.

Ye Xi nodded and retorted, "'Fishy' isn't quite the word, but there's one thing I don't understand. Twenty years ago, our group was the industry leader, so why would we seek cooperation with a new company like Hongtuo? There were countless companies like that back then, weren't there?"

Without waiting for their response, Ye Xi continued, "What was so special about it? Can Uncle Zhao, who personally facilitated this, elaborate a little?"

Hearing Ye Xi's words, everyone also felt that it was indeed a bit suspicious. Under normal circumstances, small companies are born every day, and only a handful truly survive. To carve out a path really requires the right timing, location, and human connections.

"At that time, I felt this company had great potential, and I was very optimistic about it. Facts have proven that my judgment was quite good; Hongtuo Group was able to reach a scale comparable to ours in just 10 years, as everyone has seen." Zhao Youdao rubbed his nose to alleviate his inner tension. This was the first time he had felt this way in decades.

Although the other shareholders didn't speak, they understood clearly that Zhao Youdao's behavior had only two extremes: either he had extremely good foresight, capable of seeing ten or twenty years into the future, or he was truly short-sighted and narrow-minded.

Ye Xi continued to smile, "Uncle Zhao truly has excellent foresight. In this rapidly changing environment, to see ten or even twenty years ahead, I feel that Uncle Zhao is truly being wronged by working here with us, don't you think?"

"You..." Hearing Ye Xi's aggressive words, Zhao Youdao wished he could flip the table. After all, he had been at the group for so many years, and no one had ever dared to speak to him like that.

"Does anyone else have doubts?" Ye Xi smiled, looking at the other shareholders around her.

The others were also a bit bewildered. Since President Ye had spoken to this extent, it meant that this matter was definitely not that simple.

Over the years, Zhao Youdao had been the actual power holder of the group, and there were many things that these newcomers did not know.

Seeing the other shareholders nod, Ye Xi said seriously, "Then let me explain it clearly to everyone."

"How could Zhao Youdao have such long-term vision? He was merely using Tianhui Group as a natural blood bank to transfuse blood to Hongtuo Group."

"To put it bluntly, the reason Tianhui Group has been declining over the years but hasn't completely collapsed is simply because he believed the Ye family would continue to transfuse blood into Tianhui, and he still had profits to make. Zhao Youdao, am I right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gaze turned to Zhao Youdao. Although some shareholders secretly calculated how to profit from the situation, they knew that confronting a business giant like the Ye family was like hitting a rock with an egg. How could they dare to do something like bleeding the other party dry?

Ye Xi also understood that in such an incident, the Ye family indeed bore some responsibility.

In the past twenty years, the changes of the times and the speed of economic development had been dizzying.

However, due to the decline of talent in the Ye family, they had no choice but to concentrate their limited talent resources on core businesses, leading to the neglect of oversight for relatively secondary businesses like Tianhui Group, which were then entrusted to external personnel for management.

If the Ye family had paid even a little attention, someone like Zhao Youdao, even with ten times the courage, would not have dared to bleed the Ye family dry.

"Don't slander me..." Sweat seeped from Zhao Youdao's forehead. This was such a covert matter, and he had taken care of all the aftermath. Logically, only he knew about it, so how did the other party find out?

More than that, what he feared most now was that Ye Xi could produce substantial evidence. If she could, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Ye Xi glanced at him indifferently, her voice still as cold as ice, "Everyone, don't be surprised yet, there's even more shocking news waiting for you!"

"Ah!" Everyone gasped, their mouths wide open, their eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

Ye Xi waved her hand lightly and said calmly, "Secretary Lin, please distribute the documents I prepared beforehand to everyone."

"Yes, President Ye." Lin Keke quickly took a thick stack of documents from her handbag and handed them one by one to each director present.

After receiving the documents, the directors all lowered their heads to read them carefully. Their expressions gradually became solemn, their brows furrowed, and their faces grew increasingly grim.

"This..." Some directors were almost speechless, unable to express their shock and anger. They felt deeply deceived.

"What is this?" Zhao Youdao's eyes widened, glaring at Ye Xi with a burning gaze, wishing he could strangle her with his own hands.

"Don't you yourself know about everything you've done before? If you've forgotten, you can personally look at these documents." Ye Xi smiled slightly at him, her smile carrying a hint of mockery.

Ye Xi then turned to the other directors, her tone gentle but firm, "You are not foolish people, I presume you have already noticed the various improprieties, haven't you?"

"I won't keep you in suspense; I'll tell you directly. The reason our group declined is because someone betrayed our interests. He intercepted a portion of our business that rightfully belonged to us and gave it to Hongtuo."

"Not only that, other portions of our business were given to our competitors, like Fengze Group and Juying Group. In the past twenty years of rapid economic development, we didn't advance at all, and even regressed, because a half-dead state was what he wanted to see."

Ye Xi was also very shocked when she first learned about this matter. However, she quickly understood: from Zhao Youdao's perspective, if Tianhui Group developed too well, the Ye family might personally take over. Now, he could gain profits from both Hongtuo and Tianhui, which was the best outcome for him.

Everyone's faces grew increasingly grim. If not for this matter, after twenty years of development, the company's market value would have at least skyrocketed tenfold, and the value of their shares would also have increased tenfold.

Although they didn't say it aloud, everyone was cursing inwardly, blaming this old bastard for cutting off their source of wealth. And to say that the two groups had close business ties? Those businesses originally belonged to Tianhui, weren't they?

"You're slandering me... These things are easily forged. I don't recognize such things, unless you have decisive evidence?" Zhao Youdao's face turned ashen as he flipped through the documents. If he hadn't forcefully suppressed it, he felt he would have spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Ye Xi was silent for a moment, then smiled cunningly, "Although Chairman Zhao, you believe you've handled things flawlessly, leaving no leverage for me, our Ye family is not as simple as you think."

"If I mention a shell company that cooperated with Hongtuo and a name, Zhao Wudao, don't you feel a little uneasy, Chairman Zhao?"

Zhao Youdao was even more shocked. His initial resolve to deny everything and resist to the end slowly began to crumble. He couldn't help but inwardly scream, "Why does she know all of this?"

His younger brother's shell company, which was used for intermediary business back then, was destroyed after its completion. His younger brother had been living abroad for many years; could she really have found that out?

Zhao Youdao dared not think further, only wishing that all of this was not true. He so wished it was all a dream.

He even regretted it a little, regretting his greed. After maximizing profits, he shouldn't have thought about bleeding them dry further; he should have just run away and never returned to China.

"What are you talking about? I don't understand. I don't know the person you're talking about either."

After a short silence, Zhao Youdao felt he absolutely could not admit it. With such a large sum of money, the Ye family would not let him go. Spending the rest of his life rotting in jail would be considered light.

"Don't understand, don't know, haha. You don't know your brother, but your brother knows you, doesn't he? He even said you're too stingy, and the little money you gave him isn't enough to spend abroad." Ye Xi chuckled, shaking her head.

"In short, I don't acknowledge anything you've presented." Zhao Youdao now had no other choice but to stubbornly deny everything.

"I've already laid it all out. Do you think I don't have crucial evidence?" Ye Xi chuckled.