Chapter 585 - The Annual Meeting
Chapter 585 The Annual Meeting
Mengmeng didn’t seem to eat much, but in fact she was full. There were nearly twenty dishes here, and she took a bite of each dish as well as several dumplings.
While it didn’t matter whether Zhang Han ate more or less, Zi Yan ate less at night.
The family of three sat on the dining table and chatted with the others. With the company of Mengmeng, the cute little girl, the atmosphere in the area soon became relaxed and active.
The eyes of the others were lit up. They obviously intended to go there to inquire about the newcomers, but they didn’t dare to do so. Therefore, they sat on one side and watched Zi Yan while drinking or eating fruits.
After chatting for a while, Zhang Han saw that everyone had almost finished, then he checked the time and said, “It’s nearly half past eleven. Let’s go out to see if there are any fireworks. Then we’ll go back to the room to have some rest. Mengmeng is sleepy.”
Zhang Han had been paying attention to Mengmeng, who had yawned two times just then.
Mengmeng usually went to bed at around 10 o’clock in the evening, and at the latest before 11 o’clock. She was dazed and exhausted, since it was nearly eleven thirty in the evening, and she had been playing all day.
Hearing PaPa’s words, Mengmeng nodded and replied seriously, “Well, why hasn’t the fireworks show started?”
Everyone present was amused by her.
All of a sudden…
“Whoosh! Bang!”
A sound of fireworks rang out, and they saw the colorful lights lighting up the night sky.
Mengmeng was cheered up; she turned to look at Zhang Han. “Wow, here we go! PaPa, I want to see.”
“Okay, let’s go and enjoy the fireworks.”
Zhang Han gently touched Mengmeng’s pink face, stood up to carry her in his arms, then he walked to the door of the restaurant.
“MaMa, hurry up,” Mengmeng shouted to Zi Yan, who was grabbing her handbag.
“I’m coming.” Zi Yan quickly picked up her handbag and got up to follow them.
Rong Sheng, Rong Yong, Zhang Li and Zhou Fei also stood up. The new year’s dinner was over, and they all went out to watch the fireworks.
This scene made more than a dozen young men and women a little dizzy.
Many of them looked at each other.
“Did you hear what that lovely girl just said?”
“Yes, she called her MaMa. Damn it! How amazing the news is! Zi Yan has a daughter!”
“She has a husband! It’s amazing that the goddess’ husband is related to our family!”
“I feel as if I have found a scandalous secret!”
“They’re out, why don’t we go and have a look? Let’s go. Hurry up.”
After Zhang Han and the others walked out of the restaurant, those young men and women at the restaurant suddenly couldn’t help but stand up and run to the door one after another.
They followed Zhang Han; he was walking toward the small square in front of the restaurant.
At that time, fireworks were blooming in the sky.
Mengmeng looked at them and felt confused.
“It’s strange.”
“What’s strange?” asked Zhang Han.
“How can the fireworks here be so small? They’re not as big as PaPa’s for MaMa or PaPa’s for Mengmeng. They’re too small,” said Mengmeng, pouting.
“Well…” Zhang Han didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He had prepared those fireworks for Zi Yan for a long time, which were large; they had illuminated the whole New Moon Bay. Even people in the Zhu Keng District could see them clearly. Those fireworks blooming above Mount New Moon were also magic fireworks, and Zhang Han used some magic skills to fill the whole sky with them.
Of course, the two fireworks shows were many times more beautiful than the small-scale fireworks prepared by the Rong family.
But it was better than nothing. The fireworks there corresponded to those from other places in the night sky, rendering the happy atmosphere of the new year.
After a few minutes, at the end of the fireworks show…
“Uncle, aunt.” A 17 or 18-year-old chubby boy ran to them and said hello with a smile. Then he looked at Mengmeng and said, “She’s so cute, I can’t even move my eyes away from her.”
“Of course, do you know who gave birth to her?” Rong Han was familiar with the boy, so he joked.
“Uncle, is this elder brother the son of aunt Jiali?” the boy asked curiously.
“Yes, he is Zhang Han and you can call him brother.” Rong Sheng nodded.
“Nice to meet you, brother Zhang Han and sister Zi Yan. Wow, you both are good looking, and your daughter is pretty, too. What a perfect family, perfect.” The boy smiled while scratching his head.
He looked silly and naive, which made Zi Yan and Zhang Li chuckle.
“Boy, do you have anything to do here?” asked Rong Sheng.
“Haha, uncle, you are clever. I want a CD and a photo with sister Zi Yan’s signature on them. And it would be better if she could sign my T-shirt. By the way, can I take a picture with her?” The boy looked at them expectantly.
“I also want this,” a weak voice came from the side.
It was a 16-year-old girl, a little shy.
“Me too.”
“Clatter!”
All of a sudden, a dozen young men and women surrounded them.
“What are you doing? You can’t take my MaMa away.” Mengmeng was a little confused and waved her small hand to refuse them.
“They’re not trying to take me away,” Zi Yan replied with a smile. She looked at the people in front of her and said, “I didn’t make any preparations. Would tomorrow be ok? I’ll prepare some signed CDs in advance.”
“Okay, thank you, sister Zi Yan.” The chubby boy was overjoyed.
The arrival of the group of young people made Zi Yan and Zhang Li feel much better. It seemed that they were very popular among the young generation of the Rong family, although the attitude of the patriarch and his followers was a little disgusting.
After another two minutes, Zhang Han looked at Mengmeng and said, “My daughter is sleepy. Let’s head back to get some sleep.”
Mengmeng nestled in Zhang Han’s arms, leaned on his shoulder and mumbled, “I want to listen to PaPa’s story.”
Rong Sheng guided Zhang Han and his family back to their residence. The conditions there were not so satisfying and there wasn’t a single villa for Zhang Han’s family of three. So they lived on the second floor, while Rong Jiaxin’s family stayed downstairs.
Mengmeng wanted to hear the story, but she fell asleep on the way back.
Back in the bedroom, Zhang Han gently laid Mengmeng beside him, then he hugged Zi Yan and fell asleep.
It was a quiet night.
The next morning, they had breakfast at Rong Sheng’s villa once they got ready.
After breakfast, Rong Sheng hesitated and said, “At ten o’clock later, the annual meeting of the Rong family will begin. There are a few members in our branch and only a few people came to support us. Would you like to attend the meeting with us, now that you are back this Spring Festival?”
“Our branch has not prospered for a long time,” Rong Yong echoed and sighed.
“Okay, we’ll go with you,” Wang Ming replied.
Wang Ming was willing to help Rong Jiaxin’s relatives.
After a little discussion, they decided to attend the annual meeting together. Once it was 9:50 in the morning, Zi Yan and Zhou Fei put on sunglasses before they went out. Many strangers would surely be there, and they didn’t want to be recognized. Besides, they had decided to sit in the back row, and even if they were recognized, they wouldn’t encounter great trouble, because some rich businessmen and powerful families would not be surprised if they saw superstars; they even had prejudice against them.
The Rong family’s residential area was neither too large nor too small.
The villa on Rong Sheng’s side was to the right. After walking out of the villa along the cement road toward the center, they crossed several flower beds along the way. Tens of meters away from the front of the old house, there was a villa built in the period of the Republic of China, characterized by a very large hall and a relatively wide gate. There was a small square on both sides of the gate, with many tables and chairs set up.
They were for the rest of the family’s younger generation and their collateral children, as well as those who would visit the Rong family later.
At that time, there were more than twenty people sitting there, chatting in groups. After seeing Zhang Han and the others arrive, the crowd turned their gazes at them, showing a kind smile and waving hello at them.
There were a few people with unfriendly expressions who shook their heads. They were Wang Sibei’s followers.
Zhang Han and his friends entered the hall while everyone looked at them.
Inside, there were five rows of small sofas, centered on the doorway, extending inward in a fan shape.
In centermost position, Rong Zhenxing, Wang Sibei, Rong Zhenmao and about seven strangers were sitting there. There were several vacancies at the back. Sitting on the left and right sides were Rong Fan, a major, Rong Jin, a wealthy businessman, and all their close friends and followers.
Obviously, the seats were also ranked according to a certain strength level.
Rong Sheng was used to this, so he took the lead to sit at the back row without hesitation. Their arrival made Wang Sibei feel uncomfortable, because she still remembered what had happened the night before.
Next to Rong Sheng’s area, there were family members of the fifth master’s branch, who had the same strength as the branch of the sixth master, not at the core level.
A few minutes later, when it was ten o’clock in the morning, the other family members arrived one after another.
Mengmeng was quite curious about all this. “What is an annual meeting?”
She didn’t understand, so she sat behind with Zi Yan and Zhang Han and whispered to them.
“It’s time for this year’s annual meeting to begin.” Rong Zhenxing looked at his watch, and at ten o’clock he said, “Let’s make a summary within the family first.”
Then he looked at Wang Sibei and others followed him. Wang Sibei took out a document and read it out loud, “Let me start with last year’s performance. First of all, under Zhenxing’s leadership, the overall performance of the family group is 30% higher than the previous year, and the net profit is 57% higher than the results of the previous year. That is to say, the dividend you’ll get tomorrow will be 50% higher than what you made last year.”
Her words made many people smile.
“As the director of transportation, Zhenmao has brought 39 personal connections to his family in one year, which is an intangible and important investment.”
“Then Rong Fan, as a major, he also brought a lot of benefits to the family. With the help of his identity, we have signed seven contracts, five of which are business with the military, which is worth encouraging.”
“Rong Jin’s company is getting larger. Its net profit is 190% more than the previous year, and he has signed 19 cooperation contracts for family businesses, with a profit of 400 million yuan. He has made a great contribution to the family, which is obvious to all.”
“Besides…”
Apart from the key personnel, everyone else nominated by Wang Sibei was smiling proudly.
This showed that they had been recognized by the family, and they might be able to make great progress in the future.
When someone was happy, of course, someone was worried.
At the end of Wang Sibei’s speech, all the six members in the branch of the fifth master were a little depressed.
They weren’t praised, so they felt that the annual meeting had nothing to do with them.
But what they didn’t expect was that after announcing the list of commendations, Wang Sibei changed her face and looked at Rong Sheng.
“Now I’m going to talk about those who are holding back the family,” she said.