362 Kicking a Man While He Was Down (1/2)
The call was cut off. Chairman Xu's expression was dark. The entire conference room remained quiet.
Tap tap tap!
Right then, a series of hurried footsteps could be heard. A formally dressed female employee walked in, holding onto a handful of materials.
”Chairman Xu, managers!”
”What's the situation? Give us a report,” Chairman Xu asked with a sigh.
”Yes sir.” The employee nodded, then flipped open the materials and announced in a serious tone, ”As of now, the injured were all sent to the hospital, totaling at 97 people. 21 were seriously wounded. The estimated medical expenses should be within four million. However, apart from this, many family members are coming to us, looking for compensation for their trauma, lost time costs, and others. The grand total is...around 10 million!”
Around 10 million would average out to about 10 thousand per person. Those compensations were compulsory. It directly relates to Wanrong Group's last shred of reputation. Furthermore, they were in the wrong. If they refused to pay compensations, it would lead to the same results when the family members bring them to court.
With that, they needed to payout a total of 14 million!
Chairman Xu took a deep breath, then said with a hoarse voice, ”Continue!”
”After we settle those injured, we still need money on operations to make an announcement on the major news platform to run a series of promotions. The estimated cost would be around 5 million. However, the main issue lies in…”
The employee hesitated for a moment before continuing, ”As this incident caused quite a stir, it attracted the attention of many departments. A lot of our company's rights are frozen and would be faced with various audits. Furthermore, our cars in the market are having trouble with sales and are being returned. Many collaborating companies announced that they would cease collaboration with us. The deal we previously signed with Wanhao Automobile Group for collaboration on autonomous vehicles is now being challenged. They're asking us to pay 50 million in compensation for breach of contract!”
Silence.
Although they had expected this outcome, it was difficult not to feel despair when they heard the news.
”C-c-chairman Xu…”
Right then, a middle-aged man in the conference room suddenly voiced out. ”I would like to withdraw as a shareholder of the company…”
Wanrong Automobile Group adopted the joint venture method. Shareholders would invest in shares, and then dividends were paid at the end of the year according to the company's performance. Under such circumstances, dividends were out of the question. It would be lucky for them to even retrieve their initial investments!
As for the others, a lot of their faces showed signs of eagerness.
In light of profit, they would kick a man while he was down.
”Our meeting ends here. Save your opinions for the next meeting. Dismiss!” Chairman Xu did not wait for the rest to voice out and quickly left the office.
Ouyang Qing finally stood up and massaged her numbed knees. Her face was filled with sadness, looking at Chairman Xu who was walking out of the office.
When she opened the door, Chairman Xu and Ouyang Feng were both there, frowning helplessly.
”Uncle Xu, Dad, I'm sorry.”
”What's the use of saying this now.” Ouyang Feng waved her off, suffering from his headache.
”Actually...this incident was totally avoidable. It was caused by my arrogance.” Ouyang Qing's mind recalled Ye Lingchen's face, the sorrow on her face deepened. ”Xu Nan's master had brought to my attention the issues the autonomous vehicle would face before the exhibition. At that time, I didn't listen to him. After that, the exhibition went exactly as he had foretold!”
”What? There was such a thing?!” Ouyang Feng immediately stood up, his expression was a mix of shock and anger. Finally, he let out a long sigh. ”This world had such talent, yet we rejected him outside our door!”
”Xu Nan's right. I should've listened to him from the start. Sigh, it would seem that she found an exceptional master. Unfortunately, we've been misjudging him. What a joke.” Chairman Xu shook his head as he laughed self-deprecatingly.
”Chairman Xu, do you think it's possible…”