Chapter 391

Chapter 391 Please Forgive Me!

Everyone present was stunned. Where had this foreigner come from? Was he one of Su Rui’s people?

After a brief moment of shock, someone in the crowd recognized him. The man drenched in sweat, his suit soaked through, was none other than the man at the helm of Gaoqi Investment Bank — CEO Smith!

Smith had actually crossed the ocean to attend a financial summit in Huaxia?

Many people present were baffled. Top investment banks would typically send a regional head to attend such events at most. How could someone of Smith’s caliber just show up out of nowhere in Ninghai?

Fine, showing up unannounced was one thing — but why did he look so disheveled and out of breath?

Gaoqi’s stock had just taken a nosedive. Instead of holding down the fort on Wall Street, this CEO had come running to Huaxia. Did he really think that would somehow make Gaoqi’s stock bounce back?

Everyone found the whole thing far too strange and melodramatic — yet the real reason turned out to be almost exactly what they had guessed.

The traffic had been absolutely brutal, so Smith had thrown all dignity aside and sprinted the rest of the way, barely making it to the banquet in time.

Just as he arrived outside the banquet hall and was about to lean against a pillar to catch his breath, he happened to overhear Xu Wenjie’s “declaration.” It nearly drove him mad. Without even bothering to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he launched straight into a furious outburst.

Seeing Smith arrive, Su Rui turned and offered a faint smile.

Bai Wangchuan’s eyes narrowed, his brow furrowing as he muttered to himself, “Smith, CEO of Gaoqi? What is he doing here at a time like this?”

In the eyes of the so-called elites present, Smith was one of the few figures who stood at the very pinnacle of the financial world. His arrival sent a considerable ripple through the crowd. Even someone as composed as Bai Wangchuan was caught off guard.

“Mr. Smith? What brings you here?”

The moment Xu Wenjie spotted Smith, he rushed over with a wide smile plastered on his face, and with practiced attentiveness, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the other man’s sweat. This same person who had been cold and arrogant toward his Huaxia compatriots now wore a fawning, sycophantic expression in front of his American superior.

But this time, Xu Wenjie’s warm advance was met with a cold shoulder.

Smith ignored the handkerchief entirely and fixed Xu Wenjie with an icy stare. “Who told you that you could speak on behalf of Gaoqi Bank?”

“I… well…” Xu Wenjie hadn’t expected Smith to come at him with such a pointed question right off the bat. What he had said earlier was nothing more than empty bluster, borrowing someone else’s authority to intimidate Bikang. In truth, even Smith himself couldn’t truly speak on behalf of Gaoqi Bank in any absolute sense — let alone a mere regional investment director for Asia.

Xu Wenjie was already breaking into a cold sweat, stumbling over his words. “Mr. Smith, there’s a bit more to this situation. Please let me explain it to you slowly…”

“Do you think I need your explanation?”

Smith pointed to the ground beneath his feet. “Right here, I heard it with my own ears — you declared on behalf of Gaoqi Bank that it would never cooperate with Bikang Group. Is that what you said?”

Xu Wenjie still hadn’t figured out Smith’s true purpose in being there. He laughed awkwardly. “Mr. Smith, here’s the thing — before all this, I discovered some issues with Bikang’s new project. On top of that, the person in charge of their project was incredibly arrogant and overbearing, which made me very concerned about the prospects of our cooperation, so…”

“So you thought that gave you the right to make decisions on behalf of Gaoqi Bank?” The coldness in Smith’s eyes made Xu Wenjie shudder involuntarily.

“I misspoke. Please forgive me, Mr. Smith…” After reading Smith’s demeanor, Xu Wenjie finally stopped making excuses and admitted that what he had done was a slip of the tongue. What had gotten into Smith today? Why had he come storming in and gone off on him like that? Was it because the stock drop had put him in a bad mood?

Still, Xu Wenjie wasn’t too worried about what Smith might do to him. Since joining Gaoqi Bank, his performance had been consistently recognized. It was just one careless remark — surely Smith wasn’t going to fire him over that.

Smith glanced over at Su Rui and noticed the latter watching the scene with an expressionless face. His heart lurched wildly. The look he turned back on Xu Wenjie grew even colder.

Xu Wenjie had sabotaged Bikang’s financing plan, and Smith had to answer for that. Not only did he need to help Bikang restore its reputation in the financial world, he also had to give Apollo a satisfactory explanation.

Thinking back on it now, Smith truly felt that his earlier decision had been recklessly, unforgivably foolish. Who was Apollo? One of the few figures who stood at the very top of the pyramid in the shadow world. When Apollo had come to him for help, he had actually refused over a minor inconvenience? He must have had his head kicked in by a donkey.

If Smith could go back and make that choice again, he would never do the same thing.

But there were no second chances in this world. The Temple of Apollo had swiftly struck back against Smith for backing the wrong side, and in the eyes of those in financial circles, what the Temple of Apollo had done could only be described as ferocious.

This financial counterattack had been so overwhelming and devastating that it completely shattered everything Smith had previously believed.

So when Su Rui had done nothing more than glance in his direction just now, it had already sent Smith’s heart pounding wildly.

“Jeremy, who gave you the authority to question Bikang Group’s new project? And who gave you the authority to unilaterally reject Bikang Group’s financing plan?” Smith stared at Xu Wenjie and asked coldly.

With those words, even a fool could tell — Smith was standing up for Bikang.

Everyone present was quietly shaken. What on earth had caused this internal rift at the top of Gaoqi Bank?

“What a load of nonsense.” Bai Wangchuan muttered those words, then turned and walked toward the restroom with a dark expression — it seemed he needed a moment to collect himself.

He wasn’t the only one who needed to. Xu Wenjie was equally stunned. He could see it too — Smith’s every move was tilting in Bikang’s favor.

“Mr. Smith, I am the head of investment for Gaoqi’s Asia region. I have the authority to decide whether or not to proceed with this kind of investment…”

“So you’re gambling with the company’s future?” Smith’s face remained cold, his words coming like rapid fire. “Do you have any idea that a major project like Bikang must be brought before the board of directors at headquarters for deliberation? How could you make that call on your own?”

“I…”

How did one Bikang project end up being tied to the company’s entire future?

Xu Wenjie, who was usually so sharp-tongued, found himself at a complete loss for words. This man who had long since considered himself American suddenly had a Huaxia idiom flash through his mind — if you want to condemn someone, you’ll never lack for a charge.

It was clear now — Smith had come today with the deliberate intention of targeting him. No matter what explanation he gave, the other man would find a way to turn it against him.

“Jeremy, there’s no need for further explanation. I’ve already discussed this with the board. Given the serious error in judgment you made in this matter, the company has decided to relieve you of your position as regional director. The termination paperwork has already been processed.”

With that, Smith reached into his briefcase, pulled out several sheets of paper, and tossed them directly at Xu Wenjie.

Just like that, he was fired?

Everyone present found it almost impossible to believe.

A senior executive dismissed so casually?

Everyone there understood the basic procedures for personnel changes — and it was precisely because they understood them that they were quietly stunned.

Xu Wenjie had single-handedly torpedoed Bikang’s financing plan and made an enemy of the entire Bikang Group. Then, almost immediately after, Gaoqi’s stock had plummeted. And now CEO Smith had flown overnight to Huaxia to fire Xu Wenjie, the head of the Asia region. What… what did that say?

Could it be that Smith was doing this as a gesture of goodwill toward Bikang Group? And that Gaoqi Bank’s stock decline had been caused by Bikang all along?

At the thought of that possibility, some of those present couldn’t help but start to tremble.

Su Rui narrowed his eyes and let out a cold smile.

While everyone was quietly reeling, Bai Wangchuan walked into the restroom, turned the tap on full blast, and splashed handful after handful of water onto his face.

Everyone present had arrived at that same possibility — there was no way the second young master of the Bai family hadn’t reached the same conclusion. The reason he had muttered “what a load of nonsense” was rooted in exactly that.

He had thought he could completely derail Bikang’s financing plan. But he hadn’t expected Smith’s arrival to turn the entire situation on its head.

“Where did things go wrong? What is it that doesn’t add up?”

The cold tap water did nothing to quench the fire burning inside Bai Wangchuan. Through the mirror, he could clearly see three words written in his own eyes — not willing to accept this.

It had all been going so smoothly. So why had this variable suddenly appeared?

“I’d like to see what tricks you still have up your sleeve.” Bai Wangchuan said in a low voice, wiped his face, and headed back toward the main hall.

After he left, a figure slipped out from one of the bathroom stalls, eyes fixed on Bai Wangchuan’s retreating back with a deep, unreadable gaze.

It was Zhou Xianwei.

…………

Xu Wenjie looked down at the papers, and the fury inside him finally erupted. He roared, “This doesn’t follow proper procedure! This doesn’t follow proper procedure! I’m a senior executive of this company. Dismissing me requires the approval of the shareholders’ meeting. And I haven’t signed anything!”

Having fought his way to where he was today, Xu Wenjie knew clearly what he wanted and how much grueling effort it had taken to climb to his current position, step by step.

These few sheets of paper were nothing less than a complete negation of everything he had achieved. He had clawed his way up to where he stood, only to find that someone had pulled away every rung of the ladder above and below him.

Xu Wenjie’s expression had turned vicious.

He knew that if he lost his position today, the man standing behind him would lose faith in him as well.

Which meant that, as far as that man was concerned, he would have absolutely no further use.

“Did you hear what I said? I haven’t signed anything. This termination agreement cannot take effect!” Xu Wenjie screamed hysterically.

Smith gave him a contemptuous look and said, “A forced termination agreement doesn’t require your signature to take effect. The company will pay the full penalty in accordance with the contract. You’ll receive an additional compensation of two hundred thousand US dollars.”

“Two hundred thousand dollars in severance?” Hearing that figure, Xu Wenjie let out a hollow, bitter laugh. “All those years of effort, and in the end it comes down to two hundred thousand in severance?”

Smith stopped looking at him and walked over to stand before Su Rui. He gave a deep, respectful bow and said with great deference, “Gaoqi Bank was in the wrong in this matter. Please accept our sincerest apologies.”