Chapter 120: Crisis

Song Corporation.

Song Qingyou stood before the towering skyscraper, her expression indifferent.

As she stepped inside, the receptionist hurried over. "Ms. Song, the shareholders are all on the 32nd floor."

The receptionist spoke while observing the reaction of the Song heiress. The turmoil within the Song family last night had hit the headlines by this morning; no one expected that a woman who appeared as fragile as a dodder flower could be so ruthless. She had personally sent her own siblings and father to prison. It seemed the tide was truly turning for the Song Corporation.

She sighed inwardly, watching as Song Qingyou turned and entered the express elevator.

A colleague walked over and whispered, "Did Ms. Song go up?"

"Yes," the receptionist replied in a low voice. "She might just be our boss soon."

The colleague shook her head. "It’s not that simple. Do you really think the board members are that easy to handle?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" The receptionist, having only recently joined the company, was unfamiliar with the internal situation. "Didn't CEO Song and the others get locked up? Doesn't that mean the company has to be handed over to Ms. Song?"

"What are you thinking!" the colleague retorted. "If the elder Mr. Song were still in power, then the group would certainly belong to his granddaughter. But it’s been years since he passed away, and Chairman Song had long since replaced the core leadership. Of the eight shareholders, only two are the old man’s former loyalists; the other six belong to Chairman Song’s faction. It’s easy for Ms. Song to enter the building, but taking back control of the group will be extremely difficult."

She paused, then continued, "Besides, the public opinion is overwhelming right now. Everyone in the circle is calling her ruthless and ungrateful, saying she even turned on her own father. Her reputation is in tatters."

The receptionist exclaimed in surprise, "Then isn't today just a trap?"

"Sigh! Forget about the affairs of the wealthy. No matter how strong the wind blows at the top, it won't reach us. As long as the Song Corporation doesn't collapse, we have jobs to put food on the table." The colleague patted the receptionist’s shoulder. Both glanced at the slowly ascending elevator before turning away.

The elevator chimed.

Song Qingyou stepped out and said to Song Chang behind her, "Uncle Chang, has the audio been released?"

"It has," Song Chang replied. He had already coordinated with the media on their way here.

As they spoke, they arrived at the conference room.

Song Qingyou slowly pushed the door open, swept her gaze across the room, and walked straight to the head seat to sit down.

The group of people who had been glaring at her immediately grew restless.

"Song Qingyou, that is the Chairman’s seat! Is that somewhere you should be sitting?!"

Song Qingyou’s expression remained unchanged. She lowered her eyes, appearing nonchalant. "You all are joking. This group was built by my grandfather through his hard work. You are only qualified to sit here because of the graces of the Song family. What is improper about me, a member of the Song family, sitting here?"

Zhang Kai laughed, his tone mocking. "Ms. Song, your grandfather has been dead for nearly twenty years. This is no longer the Song Corporation of the past. Let’s just talk about the shares directly."

Song Qingyou lifted her hand slightly, and Song Chang immediately handed her the documents.

She opened them and tossed them onto the center of the table, her voice detached. "You want to discuss shares? Very well."

Everyone exchanged glances. Zhang Kai reached out to take the documents, but after reading them, he suddenly chuckled. "You think you can sit in the Chairman’s seat with just this fifteen percent? Ms. Song, one should be grounded in reality; wishful thinking is not advisable. Though, it is worth praising young people for their imagination, but sometimes you must consider the facts, otherwise, it’s easy to become a joke."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of laughter erupted.

Li Yan and Yang Fugang exchanged a heavy-hearted look.

They were the most trusted confidants of the late Mr. Song. When he passed away, both were managing critical projects overseas, allowing them to escape when Song Yuanda purged the company. However, over the years, their actual power had been whittled away to almost nothing.

Together, the two of them held only five percent of the shares—a drop in the bucket compared to the other directors.

Yang Fugang spoke up, "The Song Corporation belongs to the Song family. Now that Ms. Song is the only one left, it is only fitting that she takes the Chairman’s seat."

Li Yan immediately added, "I agree with Director Yang’s view."

Zhang Kai sneered, "Directors Yang and Li, don't be ridiculous. Do you think this is child's play, that she can just sit down whenever she wants? Her shares are only on par with President Qin’s. According to company policy, when a Chairman cannot take office, an acting Chairman must be selected by vote. Since Ms. Song has the same number of shares as President Qin, why don't we put it to a vote?"

Yang Fugang and Li Yan sat with grim faces, saying nothing.

Everyone knew that if it went to a vote, they would all vote for Qin Tian.

Qin Tian himself, however, simply sipped his tea slowly, appearing entirely unbothered by Song Qingyou’s arrival.

"Perhaps it would be better if Ms. Song dealt with the public opinion outside before coming to talk to us," Qin Tian suggested.

Song Qingyou’s tone was level, her ethereal voice carrying the chilling clarity of jade and frost. "That is no cause for concern, President Qin. It has already been resolved."

Qin Tian frowned. His assistant, having flipped through something, leaned in and whispered, "Ms. Song uploaded an audio recording of Chairman Song committing domestic violence."

He then handed his phone to Qin Tian.

"—Do you intend to lock me up and beat me like you did when I was a child?"

"—Song Yuan, have you felt even a shred of guilt for my mother all these years?"

Then came Song Yuan’s voice.

"—Song Ning? She was nothing but a stepping stone for me to climb to power, just a woman. Once I become the president of the Song Corporation, what kind of woman can’t I have? She actually dared to hope for exclusivity. If your mother had just been obedient and swindled that old man’s assets, I might have been able to keep up the act for another two years. Unfortunately, she wasn't like you; she was just another disobedient piece of trash."

"Slap!"

The sound of a whip striking flesh echoed.

The assistant whispered, "President Qin, public opinion has completely shifted. Not only are netizens overwhelmingly supporting Song Qingyou, but even the famous investor Baffel has retweeted the audio on his personal Twitter."

Qin Tian’s expression darkened. He lowered his eyes and said, "Ms. Song is truly worthy of being the only real heiress of the Song family. Once you make a move, it is indeed different—even how to handle external public opinion was planned well in advance."

"You flatter me, President Qin." Song Qingyou swept her cold gaze over the group and smiled faintly. "The Song Corporation’s capital chain has already snapped. It can last at most one more week. If the funds aren't in place by then, all factories will have to cease production, leading to a risk of being unable to ship goods, and bankruptcy could happen at any moment. You are all directors of the board—let’s stop the pretense."

She pierced through the current reality of the Song Corporation with a single sentence.

The directors, who had been mocking her, instantly turned pale.

Before arriving, they had conspired with Qin Tian to feign a demand for accountability from Song Qingyou, when in reality, they were forcing her to buy their shares at a high price so they could exit the company safely.

They hadn't expected her to call their bluff before the play had even truly begun.

The atmosphere in the room turned sour.

Qin Tian set his teacup aside and looked at Song Qingyou. "You want to take back control of the Song Corporation? Fine. Use your money to buy us out. As long as you can afford the price, we are willing to sell our shares at any time. To us, the Song Corporation doesn't hold the same significance as it does to you. This is your grandfather's company, after all. You wouldn't want the empire he created to be destroyed in your own hands, would you?"

Song Qingyou narrowed her eyes, her fingertips turning slightly white.

Qin Tian was truly an old fox, having precisely identified her weakness.