Chapter 289 I Will Give You The Opportunity

Ted looked livid. "You..." "That’s enough!" Master Harris slammed the table abruptly and roared, "Shut up, all of you!" Luna sat down with a deadpan look on her face but Ted refused to take it lying down. "Dad, just listen to what Luna has just said..." "You too, keep your mouth shut!" Master Harris cut him off sternly and snapped, "Sit down!" Ted glared at other Harris family members, especially Charles, then sat down with a sullen look on his face. Master Harris’ gaze swept around the table, focusing on several shareholders who were not from the Harris family, and asked with a dark expression, "Do you guys want Charles to be the president too?" They exchanged glances with each other. No one responded. "That's what Mr. Fredrickson thinks." The secretary who replaced Mr. Fredrickson said in neither humble nor overbearing way, "Compared to Mr. Justin, Mr. Fredrickson trusts in Mr. Charles' ability more." "If you insist on handing over the president position to Mr. Justin today, chairman, then Mr. Fredrickson will withdraw the investments he has made in Harris Corporation and will start reselling Harris Corporation shares after the meeting." Actually, using this opportunity to retrieve Mr. Fredrickson’s shares would be an excellent choice for the Harris family as this could effectively strengthen the Harris family’s power of speech in Harris Corporation. Unfortunately, the Harris family was now divided as they each had different ideas in mind, hence it would be difficult to gather sufficient funds to buy these shares. If these shares fell into the hands of Harris Corporation’s rivals such as Phillips Enterprises, then it could be a fatal blow to Harris Corporation. Dark clouds were looming over Master Harris’ face. He said in a deep voice, "Are you sure that was what Mr. Fredrickson said?" "I’m certain." The secretary said, "These were his exact words." Luna crossed her arms around her chest and sneered. "Even if you’re not afraid of Mr. Fredrickson’s divestment, Dad, the accumulated shares between you and Ted’s family still won’t add up to ours, right?" "What you guys said earlier was right. Changing the president can have a detrimental impact on Harris Corporation. Besides, the truth about the embezzlement of public funds has also been revealed, hence Charles will continue to serve as president. The meeting is over!" Master Harris finished his sentence with a livid look on his face, then glanced darkly at Charles before striding out. Justin stood up and looked down at Charles. "Well, congratulations, Charles." "Thank you." Charles leaned back in his chair and said, "Don’t be too discouraged. Someday when I don't want to be the president anymore, I will give you the opportunity." Justin smiled. "There’s no need for that. You’re too polite, Charles. Actually, now that I think about it, Grandpa has always said this, give a dog a bone so it will hunt more prey for us. We’re the ones who have gotten it easy." "Hopefully what you’re raising isn’t a wolf," Charles said. Justin's expression stiffened, then laughed and said, "There’s nothing to be afraid of even if it’s a wolf. Like a dog, they’re both domestic animals." "So you think that domestic animals with the same ancestry are all domestic animals, whereas humans are worse than pigs or dogs?" Charles said in a calm and composed manner as he crossed his slender legs together. A sinister look flashed across Justin’s eyes. "I advise you not to sound so arrogant, Charles." "It’s too noisy." Charles said, "I heard that if a dog is too noisy, just toss a dog bone to it. Do you think that will work, Justin?" Justin's expression changed unpredictably and left without answering his question. Charles got up and walked to Mr. Fredrickson’s secretary and said, "I owe Mr. Fredrickson one this time." “It’s not easy to make you owe anyone a favor, Mr. Harris.” The secretary said with a smile, “Mr. Fredrickson knew you would say this, that’s why he asked me to tell you that he was only doing this for the sake of profit maximization. He wasn’t helping you on purpose, so you don’t have to feel like you owe him anything." Charles smiled. “If that’s the case, I must have basked in Marie’s glory this time." The secretary flashed a meaningful smile but did not comment. After saying that she still needed to return to report it to Mr. Fredrickson, she then left in a haste. Almost everyone in the meeting room had left except for Oscar and Mr. Dennis. Seeing that Charles was done talking to Mr. Fredrickson’s secretary, he walked over with a smile. "Congratulations, you’re still the president." "Thank you, Uncle Oscar." Charles said, "Please convey my thanks to Aunt Luna and Aunt Lena too." Oscar waved his hand. "We’re a family. Don’t be so polite." "To be honest, when your grandpa used the shares to cajole me into supporting Justin as the president, I was honestly in a tight spot. But after thinking carefully about it with Luna and Lena, we agree that we’re closer to you." After hearing what he said, a very faint trace of irony flashed across Charles' eyes. He then thanked him in a much more sincere manner and said a bunch of things to show his gratitude. "Charles, you’re honestly too polite." Oscar said, "We don't ask for anything else. We just hope that you will work hard." Charles agreed without any hesitation. Oscar then feigned civility and said a bunch of things before asking in a seemingly natural manner, "When did you start getting so close to Mr. Fredrickson?" "Mr. Fredrickson is a man who appears at one moment and disappears the next, how could I possibly get close to him?" Charles sighed. "You heard it yourself just now. His secretary said that he was simply doing it to maximize profits. In fact, he supported me with the same reason you supported me, Uncle Oscar." Oscar pretended to look angry. "We support you because we can't stand seeing your grandpa being so biased. What does it have anything to do with Mr. Fredrickson and the rest?" The two exchanged a few more words before splitting up. "Now that this is solved, you should be able to relax for a moment now." Mr. Dennis unscrewed his bottle of mineral water, drank the remaining left, and put it on the table. Charles dropped his eyes. His thick and curled eyelashes cast a dark shadow on his face. "I don't even own a single share. How can I possibly relax when I’m just working for someone else?" It was really difficult to continue with the conversation from here. Mr. Dennis pondered for a moment and said, "One step at a time. Wait until no one is backing Mr. Justin anymore, that’s when you will find it much easier to act." Actually, apart from Ted, no one in the Harris family was easy to deal with. He was only saying so to comfort him. Charles did not continue with the topic and asked, "How are things in Jones Group?" "The public is furious, hence their stock continues to hit a limit down over and over again. However, with Mr. Jones, Master Lewis, and the other Lewis and Jones family members taking the initiative to apologize, Jones Group’s stock continues to fall today but not to the extent of hitting the limit down," Mr. Dennis explained. Charles nodded. "What did the person we sent over say?" Mr. Dennis said, "A major shareholder was planning to divest at first, but Mr. and Ms. Jones have promised him something hence the shareholder did not mention anything about divesting anymore." "On the other hand, several minor and short-sighted shareholders haven’t gained any assurance. Worried that the stock will continue to fall, they all have plans to sell their stocks." "With Ms. Jones, Mr. Jones, and Master Jones around, there is little chance that the stock will continue to fall. If you have plans to buy Jones Group’s stock, now will be the best time to do it. Charles disagreed. "Are you aware that Grandpa has given Leah a warning?” "I heard," Mr. Dennis replied. Charles said, "The Jones family using the Harris family to enter the electrical appliances market has made Grandpa very upset. He will not let the Jones family off so easily.” "Are you saying that we should buy the stocks from the minor shareholders when Master Harris acts?" Mr. Dennis asked, "What if Master Harris has no plan to take any action?” Charles said resolutely, "Grandpa will definitely take action. When the time comes, we’ll try our best to buy Jones Group’s stocks from individual investors.” They would be discovered very easily if they purchased from minor investors.