My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 458: The Unexpected Instant Camera Result

Of course, he had considered whether Zhang Yonghao’s core competitiveness might lie in Headline Technology.

But just like Zhang Yonghao kept telling him, Headline Technology is a tech company, and the most important thing is their core algorithm.

Zhang Yonghao isn’t a programmer and does not handle the company’s software development.

So, Chen Yan felt it was most likely not the case.

Of course, he didn’t confront Zhang Yonghao directly out of arrogance due to trusting his judgment, tearing their relationship apart.

Strategizing before acting was always his preferred approach.

So, he merely talked superficially with Zhang Yonghao for a bit longer, pretending not to be upset by Zhang Yonghao’s refusal.

Though his words harbored no issues.

His expression, however, clearly changed.

Thus, after hanging up the call, Yang Rou softly asked, "Is the situation not good?"

In front of Yang Rou, Chen Yan didn’t see the need to hide anything.

He nodded and said expressionlessly, "Holding a 3% stake in a company makes one a partner, able to participate in board meetings and propose their own solutions."

"Holding a 10% stake qualifies as a significant shareholder and partner, with the right to convene shareholder meetings, greatly influencing company decisions and supervising operations, and even proposing executive changes at critical moments."

"All domestic venture capital firms and investing entities can involve themselves in the affairs of the invested companies."

"Only we cannot!"

Chen Yan’s tone was somewhat cold, "I own more than 20% of Headline Technology, a significant portion of it belongs to me."

"I’m entitled to participate in its daily operations, decision-making, and selection of the management team. And to enjoy the company’s profits and benefits."

"Yet, I’ve been outright excluded from the company’s power center."

"Now, the entire Headline Technology has become his autocracy."

"My billions invested are as good as waste paper, with no feedback from Headline at all."

"What’s the use of my investment then? Merely to make money?"

Yang Rou fell silent upon hearing his words.

Then, she stood up, pulled Chen Yan to sit down, and consoled him, "Every large company founder, though temperaments differ."

"In general, they’re somewhat conceited. They think the company belongs to them."

"So, his reluctance to interfere in our affairs is also normal."

"When his shares continue to dilute, and he can no longer control the company with his stake, he’ll need the help of other shareholders. He’ll realize that since he sold the shares, he must let others share in the company."

With that, Yang Rou asked, "But he said he wouldn’t be biased towards the Zhao Family, and that it’s up to our abilities, right?"

Chen Yan nodded.

He then said, "Let it go for now."

He instructed, "Contact the PR team and have them release some news on Headline as a test."

"Even without support, given our copywriting level and the sensational nature of this matter, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Yang Rou nodded.

She and Chen Yan were of the same mind: this matter inherently carried a sensational nature, and with the PR team’s copywriting prowess, it was bound to generate buzz even without official support from Headline.

With these thoughts, she stood up, went to the balcony, and made a few calls, arranging the matter.

While Yang Rou was on the phone, Chen Yan was sitting on the sofa, plotting his next move.

Zhao Qingtian’s swift response, admittedly, had caught him off guard.

He thought it would take Zhao Qingtian at least a couple of days to react.

To his surprise, within just a few hours, Zhao Qingtian had suppressed all public opinion.

It allowed him to gauge the Zhao Group’s capacity for risk oversight and response.

However, no matter how strong the Zhao Family was, Chen Yan couldn’t stop the fight now that it had started.

Putting aside whether Zhao Qingtian would let him off the hook after finding out, just the fact that Zhao Qingtian targeted the women around him was enough reason for Chen Yan not to let it go!

But with the entire internet now being censored, the next steps became all the more critical.

Chen Yan needed an appropriate angle to get the message out again...

And as he was contemplating this,

Yang Rou came back in from the balcony.

Chen Yan initially paid no attention, just glanced up at her.

But that glance revealed Yang Rou’s particularly troubled expression.

Her face frosty, she said to Chen Yan, "President Chen. Zhang Yonghao played you."

A question mark involuntarily popped over Chen Yan’s head: ?

Yang Rou explained, "I just called a few PR companies. They said they’ve been posting the relevant information on Douyin and Headline all along."

"But it’s either being audited or demoted."

"No different from other platforms!"

"Zhang Yonghao wasn’t impartial after all but had leaned towards the Zhao Family from the start."

Upon hearing Yang Rou’s words, Chen Yan’s face went completely expressionless.

Evidently, Zhang Yonghao’s choice infuriated him.

Seeing him like that, Yang Rou originally wanted to say something but held back.

After hesitating, she said, "You need to stay calm. Don’t be rash."

"When I got the scandalous information for you, I suspected it wouldn’t be simple."

"Now, it’s just confirmed my thoughts."

"We still have opportunities."

Hearing her words, Chen Yan smiled and looked up at her, "Don’t worry, Sister Rou. I am calm."

After speaking, he stood up, glanced at his watch, and said to Yang Rou, "Alright, Sister Rou. I have some other matters to handle first."

"It’s getting late, you should head back and rest."

Yang Rou gave Chen Yan a measured look, asking, "Are you really okay?"

With over a decade of experience in the workplace, Yang Rou had seen betrayal and deceit aplenty.

She also had been booted out despite significant contributions to the company by her own boss without a second thought.

She understood this feeling and empathized with Chen Yan’s emotions.

She knew Chen Yan valued Headline Technology greatly.

That’s why he went to great lengths to invest in it. But unlike other venture capital firms, he didn’t appoint directors or supervisors, meddle in company affairs, or restructure business operations.

Instead, he renounced a series of rights and fully trusted Zhang Yonghao, acting as a mere investor without intervening in any company matters.

In the end, there was almost a forcible reclamation of shares, an expulsion, followed by this stab in the back at such a crucial time for Chen Yan.

If someone who didn’t know the details looked at how Headline treated Chen Yan and the Zhao Family in these two instances,

they’d probably think the Zhao Family held 20% of Headline Technology’s shares.

It was a true case of taking the money without doing the work.

Even with her extensive business experience, Yang Rou found Zhang Yonghao’s actions to be excessive.

She genuinely felt as if an honest person was being scammed.

Had it been a more aggressive gold-medal investor, they’d probably demand a board election on the day the contract was signed, aiming to become a director of the company.

Then appoint supervisors, station their own personnel in the finance department and other key divisions.

Or even, under the guise of providing guidance and help, interfere with business operations. Perhaps when finding another suitable company later on, they would opt for a split or merge between the two companies.

These were all commonplace in the investment world.

Thus, someone like Chen Yan, who only invested money and didn’t exercise their rights, while also enduring constant exclusion and repression, was exceedingly rare.

She felt somewhat indignant on Chen Yan’s behalf.

Of course, if Yang Rou had been like He Mengxue, she probably would’ve offered to stay and give Chen Yan a warm, comforting embrace at this moment to soothe his wounded spirit.

But she was Yang Rou.

So even though she thought a lot, she just looked at Chen Yan once more and said softly, "Then make sure to rest. Contact me if you need anything."

Chen Yan smiled and nodded.

After seeing Yang Rou off, Chen Yan’s face became utterly expressionless.

He felt Zhang Yonghao had truly gone too far this time.

The company might not be solely Chen Yan’s, and he might not be able to freely utilize its power. But neither was it solely Zhang Yonghao’s domain. Chen Yan was also a major shareholder, holding over 40% of the shares with veto power!

So Chen Yan didn’t want to look for any breakthrough anymore.

He was going to break through from Headline Technology!

Breaking through Headline Technology would make everything else incredibly simple!

Thinking so, Chen Yan went straight back to his study.

He opened his safe and took out the Headline Technology financing proposal and the "Instant Camera photos" of the due diligence materials.

Then, he went to his desk, searched for and found the related materials of Headline Technology, which included the list of all the executives.

After finishing all this, he crossed out Zhang Yonghao’s name, wrote his own, and took a picture with "Xiao Ha’s Instant Camera."

Momentarily, the back of the photo revealed the company’s future development forecast.

Previously, Headline Technology’s valuation in 2 years was around 180 billion RMB.

Now, it had become 130 billion, a decrease of 50 billion.

Previously, Headline Technology’s valuation in 4 years was around 700 billion.

Now, it had become 600 billion.

Previously, Headline Technology’s valuation in 7 years was around 12 trillion RMB.

Now, it had become about 13 trillion RMB.

Seeing the system’s projections for Headline Technology after his own intervention, Chen Yan was somewhat surprised.

He analyzed carefully.

At first, due to his takeover and the shake-up in the company, plus his lack of understanding of the business, the valuation would decrease.

That was normal.

Then, the valuation gap widened further, suggesting there might be a considerable gap between his capabilities and Zhang Yonghao’s, leading to the company’s business competencies not improving.

But the miracle came last, at the 7-year mark: under Chen Yan’s control, the company’s valuation actually exceeded Zhang Yonghao’s.

To be honest, even if Chen Yan was confident, he didn’t think he could surpass Zhang Yonghao in capability.

So the result was pretty clear.

If it wasn’t his improved abilities, then it likely meant something was wrong with Zhang Yonghao.

Perhaps he got carried away after getting rich, or he directed the group’s development down the wrong path, or due to him, some incidents occurred, impacting the company...

But this all meant that even if Chen Yan took over Headline Company, it would still develop smoothly, and because of Chen Yan, the company might even do better than before.

With this in mind, Chen Yan felt reassured.

As long as Zhang Yonghao wasn’t the core competitive force of Headline Technology, then Chen Yan could boldly execute his plans!

Thinking thus, Chen Yan continued his experiments.

Since he had plenty of Instant Films, he crossed out the executives of Headline Technology one by one, testing who was indeed the core competitive force of the company’s development.

Then he found a real talent: Pang Wenbo.

The company’s CTO, one of the partners, with 1% of the original company shares in his hands and unvested options worth 1.5%.

He was one of the top five executives of the company.

But when Chen Yan crossed his name off the list, the company’s valuation plummeted.

In 2 years, 50 billion, in 5 years, 800 million, but by year 7, it had dropped to about 30 billion.

This showed that relying on its original advantages, the company had become a unicorn enterprise. But without the core competitive force, it started to gradually lose its capacity to reach the summit.

However, Chen Yan experimented, and if he was dismissed after three years, the company’s development was almost unaffected.

This implied that according to the normal "world line," Headline Technology’s core algorithm should continue to be optimized over the next few years until it is formalized in three years, and only minor adjustments are made afterward.

This was a real tech mogul.

Although Chen Yan had not met him before and didn’t know much about him, he still memorized this person silently and planned to investigate and study him.

If in the future, Chen Yan truly joined Headline Technology, then Pang Wenbo would be the one he would need to soothe and retain.

Afterward, Chen Yan tested other combinations of people.

He was then surprised to find that without Pang Wenbo, the company wouldn’t do well. But if other executives and Chen Yan were removed, leaving only Pang Wenbo, the company would still decline.

It seems that this person was not a management talent but a tech maestro dedicated to his field.

Chen Yan gradually got a sense of who he was.

What was more surprising to Chen Yan was this.

When he inadvertently added Qin Ming to the list, the company’s development was only slightly worse than Zhang Yonghao’s.

And by the last year, the 7th, it surged past him, reaching a terrifying valuation of 16 trillion RMB.

It was a third higher than the original Headline’s market value.

Hence, Chen Yan had roughly determined the subsequent development plan for Headline Technology...

That night, Chen Yan called Qin Ming and He Mengxue, asking them to gather the company’s legal, financial, and negotiation teams to head north to Tiandu the next day.

Suddenly receiving the call from Chen Yan, Qin Ming and He Mengxue immediately sensed the arrival of a storm.

So, they urgently began to arrange for the trip north the next day.

Early the next morning, after Chen Yan freshened up, he arrived at the company. He Mengxue, Qin Ming, and the company’s team were all waiting there.

A group of them made an impressive departure to the airport.

Upon arrival at the airport, Chen Yan learned that because of the sudden event, they couldn’t book tickets, so He Mengxue directly requisitioned the He family’s private jet and had applied for the flight path in advance.

On the private jet, Chen Yan and He Mengxue sat together, the rest of the people, all a row or more away from them, leaving plenty of space for the two.

Due to this event, Chen Yan suddenly felt that maybe he should buy a private jet. This way, he could take off directly in any emergency.

According to He Mengxue, domestic control over private and official business jets used to be strict. It was very inconvenient since applying for a flight path had to be done a week in advance.

But now, the normal process had shortened to one day.

Even, as those who could afford such planes were the wealthy from various places, sometimes a phone call could get a permit in just a few hours, which was extremely convenient.

Chen Yan silently noted this and planned to select a plane after he came back and cashed out He Mengxue’s profession’s forecast...

Meanwhile, at the same time in Tiandu.

Zhang Yonghao also received news that Chen Yan was arriving at the company with a huge team.

He knew why Chen Yan was coming.

So, he called a small executive meeting too.

There were six attendees in total: all company co-founders and senior managers who later received shares.

Receiving an unexpected meeting notice, these executives were a bit puzzled.

In the meeting room, it was Zhang Yonghao who spoke first.

He said, "Let’s talk about why we’re holding this meeting."

"Our company’s shareholder and partner, Mr. Chen from Qin Island, is on his way to Tiandu. I reckon his intentions aren’t good."

Hearing his words, his loyal strategic investment director asked, "Why do you say Mr. Chen has ill intentions?"

The two obviously complemented each other.

Zhang Yonghao sighed and said, "Because I refused his unreasonable demand yesterday."

He explained, "Last night, Mr. Chen called me, saying he wanted to hype up news."

"But he has no evidence, and the rumors are hearsay."

"However, because he has some business competition with the other party, he wanted to use public opinion pressure to influence them."

"That’s why I flatly refused him."

"After all, business is business, and personal matters are personal; we can’t mix the two."

Hearing Zhang Yonghao’s words, the company’s executives all whispered to each other, clearly discussing.

Obviously, they trusted what Zhang Yonghao said, so they also had some objections to Chen Yan.

Among them, only the heads of the operations and technology departments looked at each other, catching a glimpse of doubt in each other’s eyes.

Because yesterday, they actually received a call from Zhang Yonghao, who instructed them to reduce the traffic pool for a certain keyword, commonly known as "suppressing popularity."

For the company, this wasn’t a rare occurrence, so they did it.

But linking it with the current incident seemed a bit off...

Still, now that Zhang Yonghao, the boss, had defined the situation, they obviously couldn’t disagree, so they remained silent without speaking out.

After a discussion among several executives, the strategic investment director spoke again, "However, even if Mr. Chen rushed to the company, it doesn’t seem to make much difference, right?"

"This situation is his own doing."

"And... although he holds a significant number of shares, he only owns 20%. Our management team owns far more than him, so he can’t do much."

"So, it seems we don’t have much to worry about, right?"