Not only Zhong Yong and Xie Yuping, but everyone in the lounge was waiting for Xie Jinghu’s answer.
Hearing Xie Jinghu tot up the accounts item by item, the most mortified person was probably Zhuo Chen.
Several times Zhuo Chen wanted to interrupt, to promise in front of everyone that he would repay every gift received over the years and beg Xie Jinghu to stop humiliating the three of them in public. He did not speak because he was not sure he could actually afford to repay such a sum.
When one is poor, one’s ambition shrinks. For the first time in his life, Zhuo Chen understood the full meaning of that saying.
The three of them had spent extravagantly while living abroad.
Jewellery and designer bags are bought at one price and sold at quite another.
The only things likely to sell for more than their purchase price were probably the properties.
And of all the accounts Xie Jinghu listed, he alone omitted the 20 % stake in Silan Biotech. Zhuo Chen’s feelings were complicated.
Daddy did have him in his heart.
Perhaps Mummy and Yueyue too.
Only now, with reason burnt away by anger, did he act so heartlessly… Zhuo Chen did not want to add fuel to the fire. He pressed his lips tightly together and swallowed the urge to speak.
Compared to her son’s unease, Sara Zhuo kept an icy expression throughout.
Though shocked that Xie Jinghu remembered every single transaction, and though she despised his pettiness, she did not seem particularly worried about having to return the gifts.
Even Xie Yuping could not tell what the woman was thinking.
Did she believe she could slowly coax Xie Jinghu into changing his mind later?
Or did she have other backing and simply not care about losing the money? After today’s DNA test, Zhuo Yue was not his, but Zhuo Chen was… Could Sara Zhuo be calculating that once something happened to Xie Qian, everything in Xie Jinghu’s name would eventually pass to Zhuo Chen anyway?
Seeing Xie Jinghu remain silent, the lawyer asked again, “Mr Xie, do you accept this proposed division of the above assets?”
Xie Jinghu’s eyes were bloodshot. In a hoarse voice he asked, “If I accept this part of the division, how will the company shares be split?”
Xie Jinghu was indeed furious and emotionally siding with Zou Weijun, but he had not lost his mind.
He did not mind letting Zou Weijun have the other assets. With Jinhu’s current momentum, he would earn it all back in a few years.
Moreover, the list Zou Weijun had drawn up last time actually missed a few minor investments she knew nothing about. Their present value was low, but they might explode in future.
If Zou Weijun never mentioned them, Xie Jinghu would not volunteer the information.
If she discovered them and wanted half, he would feel reluctant but would ultimately agree.
After all, he was willing to give her every property acquired during the marriage, plus his personal investments and all the cash. Minor details no longer mattered. What he truly cared about was the Jinhu shares. He absolutely did not want Zou Weijun taking too many of those.
The lawyer glanced at Xie Yuping. Xie Yuping gave a slight nod. Thus armed, the lawyer answered confidently, “Naturally, they will be divided equally. Mr Xie currently holds 53 % of Jinhu. 26.5 % of that should go to Ms Zou.”
Equally.
Giving Zou Weijun half the shares would leave her with 26.5 % and Xie Jinghu with 26.5 %. From then on, Zou Weijun and Xie Jinghu would be co-largest shareholders of Jinhu.
Sara Zhuo had said nothing throughout, yet now she quietly exhaled in relief.
She believed she understood Xie Jinghu rather well. Zou Weijun could take the other assets if she liked, but taking half the company shares? Impossible.
Splitting the shares fifty-fifty sounded fair, but it ignored the 11 % already in Xie Qian’s name.
Add those 11 %, and Zou Weijun would instantly become Jinhu’s largest shareholder.
Xie Jinghu would be left with only 26.5 %, no longer holding absolute control, and very possibly ousted from the chairman’s seat by Zou Weijun.
Dividing the company shares equally touched Xie Jinghu’s core interest. He would never agree.
Today it would either end with Zou Weijun compromising, taking little or no shares and achieving her goal of a quick divorce, or the negotiations would collapse and Zou Weijun would have to sue for divorce, dragging both parties into years of litigation. Given Xie Jinghu’s wealth, clearing dividing marital assets could take many rounds and many years.
From what Sara Zhuo knew, Zou Weijun probably lacked the energy for a protracted divorce battle right now.
If a micro-expression expert had been present, they would certainly have caught the trace of smugness at the corner of Sara Zhuo’s mouth.
Sure enough, faced with the demand to split the shares equally, Xie Jinghu fell silent. He was no longer as quick to agree as before.
When his deepest interest was threatened, even the dazed Xie Jinghu refused to yield. Everything else could be conceded; the shares absolutely could not be split equally.
Yet who truly understood Xie Jinghu? Sara Zhuo was not the only one.
Xie Yuping had anticipated that he would refuse to split the shares equally.
Even Zhong Yong had been mentally prepared.
Zhong Yong’s emotions surged higher with every wave. In the end, they would still need Wen Ying’s suggestion to make Xie Jinghu sign.
“Big brother, I wronged Weijun, but I cannot accept splitting the shares equally.”
Xie Jinghu looked up and met Xie Yuping’s eyes. “Jinhu is the work of half my life. I will not hand it over to someone else. I may have done many wrong things, but in Jinhu’s growth I have never once made a major mistake. I will not accept losing management control.”
Xie Yuping was actually rather surprised.
So third brother had grown a little after all. He now even dared to pound the table at him.
Xie Yuping’s face remained frosty. “First listen to the lawyer finish explaining the additional conditions attached to the equal share split.”
Xie Jinghu turned to the lawyer. The lawyer kept his professional smile. “Although Mr Xie is the party at fault for the breakdown of the marriage, after so many years together, Ms Zou still cherishes old feelings. The reason Ms Zou proposes these divorce terms is primarily to protect the interests of your only son born during the marriage, Xie Qian. As the saying goes, a new wife means a stepfather. If Ms Zou does not plan for her son now, no one knows what may happen later. I say Ms Zou cherishes old feelings because, apart from securing what is rightfully due to your son, she has no intention of destroying the business foundation you have built over decades.”
At the words “a new wife means a stepfather”, Xie Jinghu had no particular reaction, but Xie Yuping gave a cold snort, the frost on his face thickening.
Sara Zhuo lowered her head and said nothing.
Seeing how determined Zou Weijun was to divorce Xie Jinghu, Sara Zhuo no longer publicly claimed she “did not want to break up his family”.
Evidently, if Zou Weijun truly divorced Xie Jinghu, Sara Zhuo would be more than willing to take the wife’s position.
A mistress receives money according to the man’s mood.
A wife is different. A wife can divide the man’s assets and inherit his estate.
If Sara Zhuo and Zou Weijun swapped places, even if Xie Jinghu kept ten mistresses and fathered ten illegitimate children, Sara Zhuo would never choose divorce.
Zou Weijun was simply too proud, too unused to hardship.
The lawyer’s earnest speech fell on deaf ears where Xie Jinghu was concerned. He did not respond, clearly dissatisfied.
The lawyer smoothly changed tack. “To demonstrate good faith, Ms Zou has voluntarily proposed the following additional clauses regarding the equal share division:
1. Until 1 January 2020, Ms Zou Weijun and her son Xie Qian may not transfer or sell their Jinhu shares to any third party, nor may they transfer shares to each other.
2. After 1 January 2020, should Ms Zou Weijun or Xie Qian wish to transfer their Jinhu shares, Mr Xie Jinghu shall have the first right of refusal. They must notify Mr Xie Jinghu in writing. The thirty-working-day consideration period begins the first working day after Mr Xie receives notice. If Mr Xie has not replied by the thirtieth working day, he is deemed to have waived the right, and Ms Zou Weijun or Xie Qian may then sell to a third party. Should Mr Xie wish to exercise his right, Ms Zou Weijun and Xie Qian shall allow him ninety working days to raise the funds.
3. Until 1 January 2020, neither Ms Zou Weijun nor Xie Qian may assume the position of Jinhu chairman or any role that can exercise the powers of chairman.”
These three additional clauses showed genuine goodwill.
Although Xie Jinghu would give Zou Weijun half the shares, Zou Weijun was voluntarily locking up both the 26.5 % she would receive and the 11 % already in Xie Qian’s name.
For the next thirteen years, until 1 January 2020, the mother and son would neither sell nor transfer those shares, nor would they challenge Xie Jinghu for the chairman’s seat.
If Xie Jinghu himself had demanded such terms, Xie Yuping would have cursed him to death.
Asking to divorce yet still guarding against one’s ex-wife and own son, how despicable would that be?
Yet the terms came voluntarily from Zou Weijun’s side, presented as her concession. Xie Jinghu was stunned.
Not only Xie Jinghu but Sara Zhuo too failed to understand.
Locking the shares like this, what benefit was there for the mother and son?
They would hold the shares yet only be entitled to dividends. Jinhu would remain firmly in Xie Jinghu’s hands.
And dividends? As the person in actual control, Xie Jinghu could choose to pay them or find an excuse to reinvest the profits. Zou Weijun and Xie Qian could only watch helplessly.
These conditions did not serve the interests of Zou Weijun and her son at all, yet they gave Xie Jinghu an enormous sense of security.
Sara Zhuo suddenly had a bad premonition: with these three additional clauses, Xie Jinghu was very likely to accept the equal share split.
Xie Jinghu struggled to keep his mind clear and asked the same question Zhong Yong had. “Why wait until the end of 2019?”
Not five years.
Not ten years.
Thirteen years.
Xie Jinghu did not know what was special about that date.
The lawyer shook his head. “Only Ms Zou herself can answer that question. Based on these three additional clauses, Mr Xie, do you agree to Ms Zou’s proposal to divide the company shares equally?”
Xie Jinghu’s attitude softened. He neither accepted nor refused; he was clearly weighing the decision.
Zhong Yong, who had watched the entire divorce negotiation from the corner, felt wave after wave of emotion crash over him.
On the surface it was the lawyer driving the talks, but every word came from Wen Ying’s suggestion.
The three seemingly conciliatory clauses were actually paving the way for the fourth.
Thinking of Xie Qian still lying in the ICU, and of the precise content of that fourth clause four, Zhong Yong suddenly felt he understood Wen Ying’s true intention.
Giving Xie Qian ample time to grow was only the excuse.
Hidden behind these four additional clauses was Wen Ying’s love for Xie Qian, as vast and deep as the sea.
She was protecting Xie Qian.
