My life is ending, and my aloof CEO wife is taking revenge on me.

Chapter 273 The Cousin's Power Struggle

The night before the board meeting, my grandfather called to remind me and told me that there had been some unusual activity among the board members.

I hope I'm mentally prepared.

Actually, I already knew that without my grandfather reminding me.

"I know, you don't need to worry."

"When you're out, just relax with your grandma. Leave the company matters to me and Uncle Zhao. This kind of pressure is nothing."

My grandfather was very satisfied with my reply.

After giving me these instructions, she handed the phone to my grandmother. She chatted happily with me on the video call, telling me about many things she had seen and heard recently.

Grandma looked very happy; she was completely different from when she was suffering from illness.

Unexpectedly, I actually ran into trouble at the board meeting the next day.

The first person to question me was my maternal uncle, who was my maternal grandfather's nephew and my mother's cousin.

My uncle adopted the air of an elder, speaking in a humble tone, but his eyes revealed undisguised contempt.

"Zhang Tian, ​​if you want to secure your position as president, you'll probably need to demonstrate some real skills, otherwise it will be difficult to gain the respect of the people."

Before the board meeting, my uncle came to my office in person, seemingly to offer a well-intentioned reminder.

But I knew he was just testing me.

Moreover, according to my maternal grandfather and Uncle Zhao, my cousin had long ago lobbied many people by posing as a victim.

Even though I didn't deliberately inquire, a lot of rumors reached my ears.

Some say that after the mother died, the group belonged to the maternal uncle.

I never expected that my grandson would suddenly appear, interfere, and take away what originally belonged to someone else.

Some say that I'm just a good-for-nothing, and that my grandfather only gave me this position because he cared about my mother.

Some even went so far as to say that it was absurd for my grandfather to hand over such a large group to a young upstart like me.

Others said that their maternal uncle often stayed by their maternal grandfather's side after their mother's death, comforting their grandparents, but they never expected to be treated so unfairly.

There are many different opinions, but most of them are negative.

I can understand, but I cannot forgive my uncle for doing such things behind my back.

After all, before I came along, my grandfather had been very good to him.

It just hurt his interests, as if all the good things he did before didn't count.

Moreover, I asked my maternal grandfather, and he said that my cousin was not as good as others described.

Yes, he did those things.

But my grandfather told me that he was a beneficiary of profit; he wouldn't do anything without benefit.

Moreover, this uncle was much more cunning than we perceived him to be.

He only let these words spread the word, and then he positioned himself as the innocent party, letting outsiders point fingers and gossip.

I knew what I was doing, and Uncle Zhao reminded me to be careful.

The moment I walked into the conference room, I could feel the resentment in the eyes of these people, who were all waiting to see a good show.

I overheard their conversation outside the door shortly before I came in.

Because they had already made preparations, as long as the shareholders' meeting was held, they would pull me down for the sake of my uncle.

So when my uncle saw me again, his face was full of smiles, but they were tinged with mockery and disdain.

Perhaps because I had already mentally prepared myself, I was unusually calm and composed when I introduced the company's plans for the second half of the year to all the shareholders.

However, when I proposed to enter the catering industry, I immediately heard voices of opposition from the audience.

"Mr. Zhang, are you kidding me, asking our prestigious Su Group to go into the catering business?"

One person speaks and others immediately agree.

"Mr. Zhang, you should really think this through. Does a large group like ours need to engage in an industry where we have to bow and scrape?"

"Moreover, the profit margin in this industry is very small, but the effort is doubled."

"Yes, that's right. Wouldn't going into the food and beverage industry go against our company culture?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, many people immediately echoed his opinion, like turning on a tap and water gushing out uncontrollably.

I snorted coldly, still maintaining a faint smile on my face.

I gave Uncle Zhao a look, signaling him to open the documents. Uncle Zhao followed my instructions and projected the PPT I had made onto the screen.

"I've never heard anyone say that the restaurant industry has low profit margins before."

"As you can see, I previously opened a restaurant chain called The Green. This is our revenue over the past few years, as well as the evaluation of us by various industries."

"If we consider the company's corporate culture, all we need to do is adjust the restaurant's positioning. If we target high-end customers, everyone should have no objections, right?"

Uncle Zhao kept playing the prepared PPT as I introduced it.

After learning the details, I could see a mixture of unease and approval on the faces of some of the directors.

I wanted to say more while the conversation was still going strong, but at that moment an elderly man with white hair stood up and questioned me.

"Mr. Zhang, even if what you say makes sense, our group is not just a catering business; we need to connect with various industries. I have serious doubts about your abilities."

"However, since Mr. Zhang has made such a good suggestion, for the good of the group, I don't think Mr. Zhang will have any objections to making Director Su the president."

I chuckled softly, not immediately giving my opinion, but instead looking at my uncle, "Uncle, what's your opinion?"

The uncle adopted a troubled posture, and in order to avoid criticism, he even took a step back and stood up to appease the shareholders.

"Please don't joke around. My uncle has his reasons for handing the group over to Mr. Zhang. Please don't make things difficult for me."

“I know you and your uncle built the company together and want it to succeed, but there’s no way you can compete with your nephew for the position; that would only make you a laughingstock.”

What a brilliant move – retreating to advance!

He immediately won everyone's praise, who commended his magnanimity and tolerance.

Some shareholders were even quite indignant and spoke up for their uncle.

"Chairman Su, what are you afraid of! You've been with the company for so many years, are you afraid of some newbie?"

Everyone started talking at once, and the meeting room quickly turned into a noisy marketplace.

But I could also tell that these people weren't questioning my entry into the catering industry; they were just concerned because it was my suggestion.

In reality, they were just saying that I wasn't capable enough and didn't deserve to be the CEO.

Their uncle was the best candidate in their eyes.

My generous and tolerant uncle not only didn't say anything this time, but also sat there waiting to see what would happen.

Perhaps he wanted to see how I would handle it.

If I fail to handle this well, wouldn't that prove their words true and further demonstrate my incompetence?