Chapter 122: Mom! Are You Sure You Want to Do This?!

Chapter 122: Mom! Are You Sure You Want to Do This?!

Madam Su was in a genuine rage.

When others supported Su Qingying, she had only been shocked. But Chen Lei supporting Su Qingying—that sense of betrayal she simply could not accept on an emotional level.

Chen Lei was not one of Jinfu’s founding veterans, but she had joined Jinfu Group very early all the same—it came to nearly twenty-eight or twenty-nine years now. She had entered the company straight out of university, starting as a financial clerk, entrusted with more and more over time until she reached the position she held today.

The 1.1 percent of equity she held had been given to her a few years after she joined, when the company carried out an equity incentive plan. At the time that sliver of equity hadn’t been worth much. Now it was worth several hundred million.

That Chen Lei had flourished inside Jinfu Group was inseparable from Madam Su’s support and patronage.

In her second year at Jinfu Group, Madam Su married Su Ruiwen, and the two women came to know each other after that. Their friendship ran more than twenty years. Their private relationship truly was excellent, and Madam Su trusted her greatly.

And the better that private relationship, the greater Madam Su’s fury now.

Faced with Madam Su’s demand, Chen Lei avoided her eyes and gave no answer.

She was suffering inside.

She had no choice.

If Madam Su ever learned that after her second divorce Chen Lei had once tried to seduce Su Ruiwen and failed, then she truly would be finished.

Madam Su was on good terms with her partly because she was so capable—and partly because she was plain-looking, which set Madam Su’s mind at ease about her.

In truth Chen Lei bitterly regretted what she had done back then. At the time she had just come through another failed marriage and her life was at its lowest ebb. Su Ruiwen had comforted her as an “elder brother” would, and then, on the strength of the drink in her, she had acted on impulse…

She regretted it deeply. She even carried a sense of guilt over it, because Madam Su had always treated her so well.

But when Wu Chen had spoken with her, he had guaranteed that neither Su Qingying nor Madam Su would ever learn of the matter—provided she supported Su Qingying at the board meeting. It was only after the two of them finished negotiating that Su Qingying entered the private room.

Chen Lei didn’t want to hurt Madam Su.

So she absolutely could not let Madam Su learn of that affair. Supporting Su Qingying was a betrayal too, yes—but only a temporary one. In future they would certainly be able to make peace. After all… Su Qingying would take over sooner or later.

“Chen Lei! I need an explanation from you!” Seeing Chen Lei dodge her gaze, Madam Su shouted again in anger.

Chen Lei said nothing. She was one step from following Yao Honglin’s lead and studying the ceiling.

“Mom! Don’t disrupt the voting!” Su Qingying spoke up.

Madam Su looked at her daughter with the eyes of a woman looking at a stranger.

Because all at once she couldn’t read this daughter of hers. And it wasn’t only her—everyone else was the same. They couldn’t read it. They didn’t know why these people were supporting Su Qingying.

But in this moment they all shared one thought—

this had been plotted for a long time.

Su Qingying had been plotting this for a long time.

Quietly, in secret, she had won a group of people over. She hadn’t rebelled on a sudden impulse. She had made her preparations long ago. She must have.

Madam Su drew a hard, deep breath, her face dark, then slowly sat back down.

“Continue the vote!” Su Qingying turned her head and swept her gaze around the table. “Who else supports my proposal?”

The six people Wu Chen had dealt with had all declared themselves. There was nobody left.

But Wu Chen had told her that not everyone needed to be approached in advance. Setting the fence-sitters aside, there were some men who—so long as Su Qingying could show her attitude and display…