Chapter 401 - Not An Enemy
Days later, the entire Long clan learned that Iris successfully bought 5% shares of Long Industries. Now she was an official shareholder at the company with the right to vote during meetings.
Although her shares might not seem much, she was actually the second biggest shareholder from the Long family after her father. Long Tengfei was the majority shareholder, owning more than 50%.
Before Iris' purchase, Long Jufang and Long Meng were the next biggest shareholders after Long Tengfei. The two elders each owned 3% shares of the company. This was one of the reasons why the two of them became the most powerful elders in the Long clan.
Of course, they tried acquiring more but just 1% was already expensive on its own. The 3% each that they acquired were something their branch families saved up for many years.
For a long time, the main family owned 100% of the company. Despite this, they still shared the wealth to the other branch families so that the entire clan could prosper together. It was only when Long Tengfei expanded the family business into the shipping industry that shares were made available for purchase in order to fund the massive expansion.
That time, nobody among the branch families could afford to buy any shares. So they could only watch wealthy outsiders buy the available shares. Actually, only the branch families saw these first shareholders as outsiders.
To Long Tengfei, these shareholders were his business partners in making Long Industries a truly international company. Most of them held executive positions in the company just like him. For example, the COO was also a shareholder and a friend to Long Tengfei.
It was only later when the elders Long Jufang and Long Meng had saved enough that they were able to buy some shares from the minor shareholders who were willing to sell. Unfortunately, they could only afford 3% each.
That was why the entire Long clan went into uproar when they learned that Iris acquired 5% shares. FIVE PERCENT!!! How much was that?!
The elders and the other relatives immediately headed to the Long ancestral residence. Long Jufang and Long Meng led them to seek an audience with Long Tengfei.It wasn't only them. Long Hui also coincidentally came at the same time to talk to his father about it. He was the only other member of the main family besides Long Tengfei (and now Iris) who owned shares of Long Industries.
He owned 2.5% shares. His mother's family financed the 2% while he bought the 0.5% with his own money after he became the Deputy CFO. Of course it concerned him now that his youngest sister owned more shares than him when she wasn't even working in their family business.
Long Hui joined the elders and the other relatives. The old chamberlain led them to Long Tengfei's study.
It was interesting to note that these people formed their own separate groups while walking. Long Jufang had his own group, while Long Meng and her allies walked together with Long Hui.
As for the other elders and relatives, they either chose Long Jufang or Long Meng's groups or formed their own separate little groups. However, their little groups were not very impressive, unable to compare to the groups led by Long Jufang and Long Meng.
Later in the master study.
The husband and wife, Long Tengfei and Yang Jiahui, sat together. Long Hui sat on a chair near his father, but he was clearly together with Long Meng and her allies. Long Jufang and his group sat on the other side. The other elders and relatives sat on the remaining available spots.
After the customary greetings, Long Tengfei asked them the purpose of their visit even though he already knew.
"Tengfei, did you give your daughter Xiulan the 5% shares?" Long Jufang asked directly, not skirting around the topic.
"No, I didn't give her the shares," Long Tengfei immediately answered. "I stand by my personal policy that I won't give any company shares to my children until I'm dead and they inherit my own shares according to my last will and testament. If they want to own shares before my death, then they have to buy them with their own money. That's what my eldest son Hui did before. And now, my youngest daughter also bought shares with her own money."Long Meng snorted. "Bought with her own money? The Young Miss Xiulan is just a singer. How much can a singer earn? Sure, she has her own business now but it has only been a few months since she started it. How much profit, if any, could her company earn in a few short months?"
"Xiulan is also a translator and interpreter. She did some translation work for Long Industries, not to mention for Jin Corporation. I heard that she has accepted more work from Jin Corporation than from my husband. And I bet they pay her more there," Yang Jiahui couldn't help but defend Iris.
"Madam, I may not know much about the translation field, but I doubt that the Young Miss has earned the millions needed to buy the company shares in the short time that she has been translating and interpreting. I'm guessing that Sir Lu Jianhong provided her with financial assistance for the purchase. That's the only conclusion that I could think of," Long Meng retorted.
Long Hui opened his mouth, about to defend Iris as well, but immediately stopped himself. It was a different situation now. He was aware of the growing support for Iris within the clan. He had already lost the support of Long Jufang, the most powerful Long elder.
And now Iris had acquired 5% shares of Long Industries, surpassing what he owned. Before he even realized it, his youngest sister who he didn't think much of years ago had now become his biggest rival.
If he defended her now and sang her praises in front of the elders and relatives, he was certain that he would lose more supporters. Long Meng was the second most powerful elder in the clan, and he couldn't afford to lose her support.
So he remained silent, not daring to defend Iris from the barely veiled insults in fear that he might really lose his position as successor to her. He surely would never reveal that she was a Cross Academy student and that her fiancé was the most powerful man in the country's business world of his generation.
Jin Liwei certainly had a higher status than Lu Zihao. Almost everyone knew that he was the current head of Jin Corporation.
In contrast, nobody really knew what Sir Lu Jianhong's flesh and blood grandson did for work. All they knew about him were the rumours that he was a happy-go-lucky fellow who liked dangerous and thrilling stunts. In fact, they already wrote him off as a good for nothing especially after the incident when he almost died in a mountain skiing accident. People assumed that he just lived off of the wealth of the Lu family built by his grandfather.
If Long Meng and the others learned that Iris' real fiancé was Jin Liwei, they would certainly support Iris because she would immediately become the wife of Jin Corporation's current head once they were married. Her children would become the direct successors of the number one company in the country. This kind of connection to Jin Corporation would just be too irresistible for the elders and relatives.Long Hui's eyes darkened. The threat of Iris' growing influence within the Long clan weighed heavily on him. His emotions were warping, starting to treat Iris as an enemy.
Then an image of Iris doting on his son Little Jun flashed in his mind. She was always loving of Little Jun and a good friend to Jiang Ying Yue.
Guilt immediately flooded him.
We're siblings. She's not an enemy, he told himself.
She's not an enemy…yet, a small part of him whispered.
The conversation continued while Long Hui was preoccupied with his own thoughts. The elders asked Long Tengfei many questions about Iris' purchase of the shares. Long Tengfei answered as best as he could.
Fortunately, nobody really insulted Iris other than Long Meng. The most powerful elder, Long Jufang, had already changed his tune and was now obviously championing Iris.
As a result, nobody dared insult Iris in front of him, lest they anger Long Jufang. There weren't many people in the clan who had the courage to go against him, except for the next powerful elder, Long Meng, who clearly supported Long Hui.
Iris' purchase of the 5% shares made Long Jufang want to support her even more. Despite this, he also didn't believe that Iris bought the shares using her own money. He had the same thought as Long Meng that Sir Lu Jianhong must've given Iris financial assistance. Nevertheless, Long Jufang didn't think this as a negative. In fact, he was delighted because it meant that Sir Lu Jiahong cared enough for her that he was willing to spend a fortune to buy shares just for her.
Long Jufang had no love for Iris. He certainly didn't like her. Then why was he suddenly so adamant in supporting her? He had his own ulterior motives for doing so.After the meeting, Long Jufang and his allies were in great spirits. In contrast, Long Meng and her allies were clearly displeased. Long Hui also wasn't in the best of moods. As for the other relatives who were supporting other people besides Iris and Long Hui, they also began really feeling the pressure of Iris' recent rise to prominence in the clan.
When the elders, the relatives and Long Hui were gone, Long Tengfei and Yang Jiahui were the only ones left in the master study. They sighed in relief after the meeting was over.
"Tengfei, who do you want to succeed you? Your eldest son or your youngest daughter?" Yang Jiahui suddenly asked.
Long Tengfei was caught off-guard by his wife's question. However, it made him think deeply.
Who did he personally want to succeed him? Before, he would've immediately replied that he wanted his eldest son to succeed him. After all, he spent so much time and effort training Long Hui to become the next head.
But now?
He couldn't give an answer right away.