My absurd experiences in North America over the years

Powell held the equity structure document, flipping through it slowly, as if using this action to prolong some moment he had been anticipating.

Joshua clenched his fists; he had waited far too long for this moment.

Powell turned to the first page, his gaze falling on the top few lines of text. He was momentarily stunned, and his fingers paused.

He was incredulous, thinking he was seeing things, so he rubbed his eyes and opened them again to make sure he wasn't mistaken.

Then, he froze on the spot.

Joshua noticed Powell's unusual behavior and stood a short distance away, waiting to hear the number he expected. In his excitement, his fingers began to unconsciously tap the seam of his trousers.

He had rehearsed today's scenario in his mind countless times.

Every time, he was certain it would end the way he expected, and not only him, but most of the team thought so too.

He believed Thomas would remain silent, that Goldman Sachs would acquire shares at a low price, and that Li Fu would be stripped of his outer shell and quickly devoured.

An invincible person?

No, such a person does not exist in this world. If they did, they would be defeated in another way.

The young master of the Kushner family had already planned every step and confirmed every step, just waiting for that page of the document to be opened, and then proceeding with the subsequent processes step by step.

The file should show that number—70%.

It was a sleepless night of excitement for him, with the entire Goldman Sachs team discussing it repeatedly, and his father mentioning the numbers time and again at the dinner table.

At the same time, it's a number that instantly makes the White House staff team sensitive.

As long as that number remains on the document, even if it drops by 10%, which is the limit for the Forrest family's buyback, all their preparations will still be valid, and all procedures can proceed as expected.

Li Fu has nowhere to run today!

However, Powell did not shout out the number as expected; his finger stopped at the edge of the paper, or rather, he seemed somewhat at a loss.

"What's wrong?" Joshua asked.

There was an impatience in his voice that he himself was unaware of.

Has the equity restructuring already been completed?

But how is that possible?

Powell didn't even glance at Joshua, nor did he hand the document to him. He simply turned the document around and placed it on the table so that everyone could see it.

He didn't say a word throughout the entire process.

However, at this moment, silence speaks louder than words.

Joshua looked down and saw the numbers on the table: Li Fu 45%, Lucy 4%, Cole 2%, Forrest Family Trust 39%, Trump Organization 10%.

This genius actually reduced his shareholding to 45%?

The American capital group, including the Forrest family and the Trump Organization, holds a combined 55% stake, far exceeding the company's 51% control.

Joshua was dumbfounded. He reached out to pick up the document, but stopped in mid-air. The words on the paper were clear in black and white. What good would it do to pick up the document?

Can you turn 45% into 70%?

Also, what's the deal with Lucy Forrest's 4% and Cole Forrest's 2%?

Their personal buybacks?

But do the siblings have that much cash?

There seems to be only one possibility: Li Fu sold it at an extremely low price.

That's over a billion dollars in assets!

How could this person treat money like dirt?

Joshua simply refused to believe it.

However, every number on that table was written in its proper place, every percentage was stamped and confirmed, and the entire document was complete and valid, with no loopholes that could be questioned.

他像上小学的时候一样，重新做了一下加减法，45加4加2加39加10……等于100。

None of the items were added on short notice, no column showed any signs of modification, all signatures were dated three weeks ago, and all were legally effective.

The silence lasted for a long time in the office.

The entire investigation team had almost no decent contingency plan, because everyone felt that the Forrest family would never be able to complete the buyback; who would be willing to give up such enormous wealth?

But somehow, it was completed.

Finally, Powell broke the silence, asking Li Fu, "Mr. Li, Forrest Capital's shareholding structure has always been publicly available. Why wasn't this shareholding adjustment announced in a timely manner?"

Li Fu leaned back in his chair, his voice steady, "This adjustment was completed within the internal framework and does not involve any external transactions. Therefore, we have no obligation to proactively disclose it to the public. We have been discussing whether to make minor adjustments during this period... Today, in addition to cooperating with the investigation, we also decided to make it public because we need to complete the filing within the stipulated time limit."

Yes, the moment the investigation team entered the building, Forrest Capital announced the completion of its equity restructuring through the media.

Traditional media outlets such as The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, as well as social media platforms like Twitter, all reported on it at the same time.

Powell was annoyed; they couldn't even make it back for Thanksgiving, and the investigation had turned out to be a complete joke.

No one could find fault with what Li Fu said; internal equity changes did not need to be disclosed to the public, and whether or not the details of the changes were investigated now was no longer important.

Even if the other party sells it for $1, that is a matter of personal freedom, and they have no right to interfere.

However, because Li Fu didn't announce it publicly, they became the laughingstock. All of them flew from Washington to Nashville on Thanksgiving Eve, only to find nothing...

This is absolutely absurd.

The Justice Department personnel were also at a loss for words; they had no reason to intervene!

Goldman Sachs couldn't find anything wrong with the acquisition agreement, and their hasty trip was destined to be fruitless.

The office was quiet for a long time.

The sound of doors opening and closing came from the end of the corridor in the distance. Thanksgiving was approaching, and even the most cold-blooded boss would give his employees a holiday.

Joshua stood by the window, his face ashen. The distance was far enough that he didn't need to see the document on the table, but deceiving himself was useless.

He knew he had suffered another crushing defeat, and that he would probably never have the courage to face Li Fu again.

He didn't understand why this man was always so calm and collected. Why could he make all the necessary adjustments in the face of such a huge crisis?

It was even completed three weeks ago.

Is he a god? How can he be so without desires?

Or did he foresee everything, and could earn back any amount of money from the financial market, or give away a billion-dollar sum as he pleased?

Joshua felt utterly desperate.

This is truly an invincible person!

……

The silence in the office was broken by the ringing of a cell phone.

Joshua's boss called to inquire whether the media reports of Forrest Capital's equity restructuring were true.

However, he didn't have the courage to answer the phone.

Instead, he went to the table like a madman, glaring at Li Fu, "You were prepared all along, weren't you? Your goal was to see us make a fool of ourselves!"