The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

The greatest fear for the elderly is loneliness.

This is roughly how Chen Pingsheng is now. Since his wife left, there's not much left for him to do in his life.

There are already quite a few spoiled brats in the three generations of the Chen family. No matter how he tries to cultivate them, these people will not be able to inherit the great cause.

When these old folks get together, besides discussing national development strategies and potential political upheavals and policy adjustments, they talk most about the future development of their families' descendants.

Every family has its own troubles, and there are quite a few families that have fallen into danger because of the disappointment of their descendants.

The Chen family is considered to be very good.

After the banquet, the Chen family of Shanghai gave Jiang Wangzhi and Jiang Wangchu the highest level of treatment.

They even went so far as to force the two girls to sever ties with their biological parents and only acknowledge the Chen family as their relative.

Chen Pingsheng still felt indebted to his younger cousin throughout his life, and no matter how much he tried to make up for it, it would only be able to alleviate some of the regret in his heart.

As soon as the banquet ended, he called the two sisters to his side, wanting to ask them about their plans for the future.

Needless to say, the younger sister, Jiang Wangchu, will definitely focus on taking the college entrance exam next. As for the older sister, Jiang Wangzhi, she has already graduated from university and needs to plan ahead for marriage or employment.

"Wangzhi, where do you want to work?"

Jiang Wangzhi thought for a moment and said, "I want to work under Sister An'an's company."

"Hmm... It would be good for you to study with An'an for a while."

Chen Pingsheng then asked, "Do you have any requirements regarding finding a boyfriend and getting married? Do you want to find someone yourself or have us introduce you to someone?"

The family that introduced her to her was definitely well-off, but if she went to negotiate herself, given Jiang Wangzhi's past experiences, it would be difficult for her to find someone truly good.

“I want to negotiate myself,” Jiang Wangzhi replied.

“Hmm…” Chen Pingsheng still fully respected her opinion.

In the following days, major news media outlets began to reprint the speech and published special lectures on it.

The main content can be categorized as the inheritance and significance of a wealthy family. Most importantly, the selection of the next dean of the Economic Research Island is about to take place.

After the election, the Economic Research Island, which had maintained a secretive stance until May, will be open to the public for visits.

This is a very important event for most businesses, including intellectuals.

To talk about the contributions that Jingyan Island has made to the external market and underlying industries over the years, it would take three days and three nights to finish.

On the eve of the selection of the next dean of the Economic Research Island, An An had already arrived on the island and delivered various speeches.

He also gave a detailed introduction to the changes and development directions he would make after taking office.

All nine vice deans have powerful backgrounds, and the companies behind them have a market value of more than one trillion yuan.

The selection of the dean involves not only the nomination by the former dean, but also requires the participation of the advisory group and the entire senior management team of Tencent Pictures in a vote.

As for the previous dean, Zhang Wanyi, she always supported Chu Qiuyan.

When the ten-year term was up, she was selected for the Seven Elders Association of Jingyan Island.

They have the right to vote on important decisions made on the island, including those of the Tencent Group.

In mid-April, Mu Qingqing and a group of well-known domestic journalists boarded a ship at a port in Guangdong. After sailing for nearly five hours at sea, they finally landed on the long-mysterious Jingyan Island.

The reason this group of people were able to land on the island is inseparable from Chen Pingsheng's previous speech, including his qualification to open the Economic Research Island.

Mu Qingqing was also very fortunate to be one of the first members of the press corps to land on the island.

"I had long heard that Jingyan Island was a beautiful place, like a paradise on earth. But now that I've seen it, I realize that the rumors are not even a tenth as good as the reality."

A reporter from a state-owned enterprise remarked.

"After all, those who can live on the island long-term are all exceptional individuals. Even we are only qualified to visit."

"You're already lucky to have the right to visit, what more do you want?"

"We still have to thank Professor Chen. If it weren't for him, I probably would never have had the chance to visit our Economic Research and Development Center, which can influence multiple industries around the world and provide crucial assistance to domestic development."

"Reporter Mu, I heard that you and Old Chen have a special past?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over curiously.

Mu Qingqing also became the focus of attention in the crowd. "I did have a past with Old Chen, but he didn't reveal his identity at that time, so I naturally couldn't ask him anything."

"So what kind of person do you think Old Chen is?"

"Him?" Mu Qingqing recalled, "As you can see, if there is a truly perfect person in the business world, it can only be him."

"Old Chen's character is recognized by the entire business community. His vision and perspective are truly unmatched by ordinary people."

"Let's focus on our own tasks. The most important thing about this trip to the island is to document the selection of the next dean of the Economic Research Island."

"Moreover, the selection process on the island is different from that of other companies, where the chairman or a single individual directly appoints candidates. Here, the selection of deans must be approved by multiple parties and require exceptional personal insights into industrial development in order to stand out."

"I heard that three members of the Chen family in Shanghai are now serving as vice presidents. One is Chen An'an, who is well-known as the world's richest woman. Another is Chen Xinyi, who has long held the titles of investment queen and financial queen globally. The other is Su Xiaoxi, the daughter-in-law of the old Chen family."

"Among these three, Chen An'an was originally the most likely to be elected as the dean. It's just a pity that the former dean, including several senior executives of Tengying Group and the remaining six deans, all agreed that since the Chen family already occupied three vice dean positions, if they were to occupy another dean position, it would be tantamount to turning the research island, which had finally broken away from family-style development, back into family-style development."

"That's why most people on the island won't support Chen An'an taking office."

"Moreover, there is another crucial point: the former dean, Zhang Wanyi, also did not support Chen An'an. During her ten years as dean, she did an excellent job in developing and supporting industries related to people's livelihoods, including the talent relocation plan. Her opinion was extremely important."

The selection of the next dean is a matter of concern not only for journalists like them, but also for everyone both domestically and globally.

Chen An'an was originally the one with the best chance, but because the Chen family had too many vice-presidential positions, and because of Chen Pingsheng's public speech at the family reunion banquet, she was eliminated.

She is likely to fail.

The two people most likely to succeed him are either Chu Qiuyan, the former president of the Dream Foundation.

One is the chairman of Tengfei AI, representing the traditional industry, and the other represents the technology industry.

It all depends on which direction the highly educated people on the island, including the Tencent Group, will favor in their future development.

Anyway, Zhang Wanyi has always supported Chu Qiuyan.

(End of this chapter)