?Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Unexpected Turns in the Acquisition   Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Unexpected Turns in the Acquisition                                   “If you dare to utter such words in front of me again, I’ll make sure you pay for it,” Su Cheng sneered coldly, his gaze unblinking as he watched Xia Ning.


    At that moment, the sunny youth had vanished, reced by a man with sharp contours and an aggressive demeanor.


    Xia Ning, despite having a bellyful of words to say, didn’t dare utter a word at that moment. She had a strong intuition that if she were to continue speaking recklessly, Su Cheng’s creaking hand might just strangle her by the throat.


    …


    He Group’s meeting room.


    The theme of the meeting was to discuss the acquisition of Wang Group. The meeting had started at eight in the morning and now, almost four hourster, the room was still aze with heated arguments; tempers red as everyone stubbornly stuck to their own views.


    The mostposed was He Xing, seated in the dominant middle position. He watched calmly as everyone made their cases, only asionally tapping something into hisputer, recording what he deemed useful, while the meeting note-taker’s keyboard tter was deafening.


    Wang Group specialized in electronics. Though smaller than Yang Group and less famous, they had been rooted in the electrical appliance industry for over a decade with a number of their own patented technologies.


    Had it not been for the industry’s downturn in recent years and Wang Group’s untimeliness in reforming, they wouldn’t have found themselves awaiting acquisition.


    But He Group wasn’t the only one interested in acquiring Wang Group;petitors included Xia Group and Yang Group.


    Many industry insiders assessed that if Wang Group was indeed acquired by Yang Group, they would face no rivals in the electrical appliance industry from then on and, to put it bluntly, could even establish a monopoly in the sector.


    He Group also had interests in the electrical appliance industry chain, but that wasn’t the main reason He Xing sought to acquire Wang Group. The principal reason was that he couldn’t allow Wang Group’s patents to fall into the hands of Xia or Yang families, as that would be a blow to He Group.


    There was another reason he hadn’t shared with his staff: Yang Kaitai had once hired people to smear Fu Han online, and despite Yang’s return, he had not forgiven Kaitai.


    Directly in front of He Xing hung an exquisite clock on the wall. Its second and minute hands ticked forward, marking past twelve o’clock. Footsteps resounded outside the meeting room; the staff were heading out for lunch.


    Tapping his pen against the tabletop, He Xing brought all discussion to an abrupt halt. Everyone’s gaze instinctively turned to him.


    “This meeting is adjourned,” He Xing said as he closed hisptop and stood, “Continue with your assigned tasks. ording to my instructions from earlier, attend the acquisition meeting at two in the afternoon. Sess is the only option.”


    “But the budget…” The Finance Director immediately interjected, then silenced himself halfway.


    “I have my calctions for that,” He Xing stated and, without another word, marched out with hisputer.


    After a moment of silence, the vast meeting room descended into frenzy; many were excitedly discussing, but their hoped-for listener had already left.


    The acquisition meeting was set to officially begin at two in the afternoon. At noon, He Xing hadn’t stepped out of his office and had only shared a quick, makeshift lunch with Liang Tao.


    At one o’clock, He Xing and Liang Tao left the He Group Office Building, driving straight to Wang Group, where the final result of the acquisition would be revealed that day.


    Although the Wang Group’s building wasn’t asrge as He Group’s, it was still a majorpany upying ten floors in the city center, an entity none had expected to be on the verge of copse.


    Standing at the bottom of the building, He Xing looked up for a moment and, for a split second, fancied it was the He Group Building.


    By the time they reached the negotiation room, He Group’s personnel in charge of the matter had already arrived. Seeing He Xing gave everyone a sense of backbone, and they started to inform him about the information they had gathered in a mor.


    It turned out that Xia Group and Yang Group had not abided by the spirit of the agreement. The acquisition, scheduled to start at two o’clock, saw their arrivals at one o’clock, and the representatives of bothpanies had even united to meet the Chairman of Wang Group — nearly an hour had passed, and nobody had yete out.


    After listening, Liang Tao muttered incredulously, “Could it be that Xia and Yang families intend to cooperate and acquire Wang Group together?”


    This was exactly what everyone present was thinking, but no one dared to voice it in front of He Xing.


    He Xing’s expression remained unchanged, like the millennia-old ice beneath the Antarctic ciers, radiating inner chillness.


    Normally, this chill would scare the staff into silence, but now they found it immenselyforting.


    “Take me to the general manager’s office,” He Xing said as he retrieved hisputer from his briefcase, and a staff member immediately led the way.


    When they arrived at the general manager’s office, its upant was sitting on the sofa having lunch, a simple meal of two dishes and a soup.


    “Mr. He? What brings you here?” General Manager Wang hastily swallowed his food, a in look of bewilderment on his face: “The meeting is scheduled for two o’clock. It’s not time yet.”


    “I have a few words to discuss privately with General Manager Yang. Please step out,” He Xing didn’t respond to General Manager Wang’sment and instead turned to dismiss the employee who had led the way.


    The door to the general manager’s office was carefully locked by He Xing.


    About ten minutester, the door opened again, still by He Xing himself, with General Manager Wang not bothering to see him out.


    As he emerged, he happened to encounter Xia Guoxiong and Yang Group’s Chairman just stepping out from Chairman Wang’s office, meeting each other unpreparedly.


    Xia Guoxiong wore an embarrassed expression, instinctively distancing himself from Chairman Yang, while Chairman Yang awkwardly touched his nose, almost as if guilt was written across his face.


    Following them, Chairman Wang of Wang Group seemed unfazed as he greeted He Xing: “Mr. He, your arrival is timely. The meeting will start at two o’clock. Please wait in the resting room, and I’ll have someone serve you coffee.”


    “Thank you,” He Xing nodded, his handsome face still impassive, as if he wasn’t concerned in the slightest about the meeting between the Xia, Yang, and Wang chairmen.


    With barely three minutes to two o’clock, an employee came to escort He Xing and his associates to the meeting room. He leisurely finished his final cup of coffee and gracefully ced the cup on the table.


    The acquisition meeting proceeded normally until the final phase, when Xia Guoxiong suddenly dered his intent to give up the acquisition opportunity.


    For a moment, silence fell over the expansive meeting room, then it exploded into chaos, many too shocked to maintain the decorum of the meeting as they discussed fervently.


    Yet a few individuals didn’t change their expression from beginning to end, including He Xing, Chairman Yang, Chairman Wang, and General Manager Wang.