Chapter 114 An Unexpected Encounter

The board meeting began.

There wasn't much of a face-slapping scene. Su Yehao and the representative from the second-largest shareholder, the Beilaide Group, arrived together.

Armed with authorization agreements from several other major shareholders, they amassed about 36% of the voting rights, directly and forcefully rejecting the nominations submitted by the three shareholders and immediately dismissing them from the meeting.

Fortunately, Apple's performance had been good in the past two years, earning a large sum from selling iPods. Securities firms and institutions, following Su Yehao's lead, invested in Apple with a try-and-see attitude, increasing the number of shares held by major shareholders compared to previous years.

Otherwise...

Gathering over 33% of the voting rights from a group of retail investors and small shareholders would have been as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

This was probably why the three shareholders had been acting a bit arrogant lately.

They probably never imagined that Su Yehao would personally take action before the meeting, contacting other major Apple shareholders through his connections. They were caught off guard, and their expressions were ones of astonishment as they were escorted out of the conference room by security.

The three newly appointed board members were from KOKO Venture Capital, Beilaide Group, and Tim Cook, who was responsible for overseeing operations and sales.

After Su Yehao announced the list of candidates, he voted first.

After raising his hand and having it recorded, he didn't even ask anyone else before immediately passing it.

Although he wasn't usually the controlling shareholder, he now had temporary authorization, which was like holding a supreme command. If he disliked Jobs, he could even make him pack his bags and leave again.

Perhaps that was why.

Upon noticing that Su Yehao had glanced at him several times, Jobs felt uneasy. It wasn't that he was worried about Su Yehao going back on his word, but rather that he was worried about being forced to put down his work and go to the hospital for treatment.

Whether or not to seek treatment was Jobs' personal matter, and Su Yehao couldn't interfere, but he did have the power to force Jobs to take a leave of absence.

Rarely did they have a "controlling shareholder" in charge, so the meeting proceeded exceptionally quickly.

Jobs seized the opportunity to propose some issues that he considered necessary but had previously been rejected by the board.

Su Yehao had already discussed them with Jobs in his office, so he was only responsible for raising his hand. The new independent directors, who were about to take office, sensed that something was off.

When they gradually came to their senses, they realized that since Su Yehao could obtain authorization this time, he could probably do it again next time.

Everyone in Silicon Valley knew how tempting the unicorn companies under Google and Yanwenzi Group, with valuations exceeding $1 billion, were. As long as Su Yehao gave the word, securities firms and institutions would probably not refuse him.

In Silicon Valley, startup founders who could make investors money had always been the most popular...

Su Yehao couldn't persuade Jobs.

After visiting Apple's research and development labs, he saw the prototype of the iMac all-in-one computer.

There was also an ultra-thin laptop computer, planned to use a tightly integrated aluminum alloy body, adopting a new design style.

To this, one could only say that Old Jobs' aesthetic sense was as good as ever.

After seeing the Apple MacBook Pro prototype, Su Yehao only wanted to throw the Huang鑽 (Huang Zuan) Computer-produced laptops directly into the trash.

Unfortunately, the Apple brand didn't have such a strong appeal yet. Due to the exclusive closed operating system, it was destined to only attract the attention of a few buyers. Office documents and the like were generally used with Microsoft products, which were not interoperable, greatly affecting the user experience.

In a state of severe sleep deprivation, Su Yehao left Apple headquarters, ate some sandwiches at home, and went back to his room to put on an eye mask and catch up on sleep.

He was sleeping soundly, and time seemed to have passed without him noticing.

He suddenly noticed someone tickling his nose with their hair, and he couldn't help but sneeze. He subconsciously thought that only Vera would be so bored.

So he pulled the person over, his hand landing exactly where it shouldn't have.

In a daze, Su Yehao was still thinking about how they turned into big steamed buns when he heard a woman's voice, shouting, "Su Yehao! Ah ah ah ah! I'll bite you to death!"

His hand was grabbed, and Su Yehao subconsciously retracted it.

He hurriedly took off his eye mask, squinting to adjust to the light, and asked blankly, "Miss Zhao, why are you in my room... That's not right, this is America, not Hong Kong!"

The person who came was none other than Zhao Yimeng.

She crossed her arms in front of her, both ashamed and annoyed, and said:

"Didn't I listen to you mention how good the opportunities are here? I really believed your nonsense. I've been wandering around Silicon Valley for over a month, and there are thousands upon thousands of startups, how am I supposed to know which one is good and which one isn't?"

Su Yehao's fingers had just moved when a pillow immediately smashed into his face.

Bodyguards nearby heard the commotion and wanted to come in and see if something had happened, but Linda Yun peeked in, her expression mysterious, and told the bodyguards to disperse.

Su Yehao, now fully awake, explained, "I thought I was dreaming, or that Jiang Yu and the others had suddenly come to find me, who knew you would be so bored, it's really not my fault."

Zhao Yimeng knew it was just an accident, so she skipped over it, got up to tidy up her clothes and hairstyle, and stood there saying:

"Just pretend I was bumped into by a pig, it's okay. I'm too magnanimous to hold a grudge. Seeing it this way, you really are a born hooligan. Your first reaction to being tickled is actually... this."

"..."

Su Yehao couldn't possibly tell her that he thought Miss Vera had come.

Pretending nothing had happened, he changed the subject and said:

"Instead of running around looking for projects yourself, why not invest your money in my 5S Asset Management? But running into me is like running into a benefactor. Do you have any investment intentions? I can help you as a consultant and advisor."

Zhao Yimeng nodded and said:

"I am indeed in contact with a few teams. I've already discovered the difference between you and me, which is that even if I invest my money, I can't find promotion channels like Google and Yanwenzi. Advertising will quickly burn through all the money. I happened to hear the news of your arrival today, so I came to find you. When are you planning to return to Hong Kong? Can I catch a ride on your plane?"

"... Your family isn't short of money, why don't you buy one yourself, or rent one? Is my plane particularly fragrant?"

Su Yehao was a little speechless. It wasn't that he minded giving her a ride, but if nothing unexpected happened, Vera would be coming over in the next few days, and Zhao Yimeng was her good friend.

Once Zhao Yimeng saw Vera, the consequences were unimaginable.

Moreover, it was a rare opportunity for a rendezvous, and if Zhao Yimeng, this third wheel, disturbed them, the original plans would all be ruined. Su Yehao had originally planned to take two days to go camping and picnicking in Yosemite National Park.

He'd just been taken advantage of, and now he was being disliked.

Zhao Yimeng's teeth itched with hatred, thinking, was she really that unattractive now?

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a little deflated...