Chapter 414

Jiang Su watched helplessly as his wife spread out his son's embarrassing photos one by one.

Jiang Liangjin instinctively turned his head toward Mu Youyu beside him; she was covering her mouth, shoulders shaking, clearly trying hard not to laugh.

He understood in an instant, helplessly asking, "You still have this photo?"

Mu Youyu laughed even harder, blinking innocently, "It wasn't me who gave it; Auntie found it herself."

?

Seeing his disbelief, Mu Youyu continued to explain, "You insisted on wearing it yourself, saying the crown looked nice, and you cried when I didn't give it to you."

?

"I didn't cry."

"You did cry, loudly, and even said you wanted to swap with me." Mu Youyu wouldn't budge.

Mu Xin's eyes flickered; hearing that made him want to pull up the footage from then, "Really?"

"Really."

"Fake."

Mu Youyu tugged her second older brother to vouch for her, "Brother, you say."

Mu Xi blindly went along with her sister's rumor, "Really."

Song Lujing raised his hand, half the credit for this goes to him too, "I'll also testify for my sister!"

Mu Nian: "When did this happen? I had no idea."

Regardless of his ignorance, the parties involved didn't know either; Jiang Liangjin didn't argue further, "Just be happy."

Jiang Ye Ye beside them was laughing doubled over, slapping Jiang Su's arm, "How long has she been holding that in?"

Jiang Su gave an awkward smile twice, "Ten."

Jiang Ye Ye laughed even harder.

Yu Ci sat at the neighboring table, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up; Gu Xingnan tugged his sleeve several times, but couldn't make him compose himself.

He pointed at the photo on stage, laughing intermittently, "No, look at his expression—Jiang Princess hahahahaha——"

Gu Xingnan's lips also curled up, more restrained than Yu Ci's.

The photos on the screen kept playing, almost every one featuring Mu Youyu's figure, plus some solo shots of her.

The two stood together, from a tiny blob growing gradually into their present appearance, occasionally blended with the silhouettes of Yu Ci and Gu Xingnan.

The guests downstairs watched with great interest.

"These two kids have been close since childhood."

"Madam Jiang put thought into this; the photo collection is really thorough."

"Indeed, the daughter-in-law gets more screen time than the son."

"Must be from raising a daughter."

"……"

Photos played one after another; Jiang Liangjin's facial expression had completely given up on being managed.

When the photos on stage finally finished, Shen Ningmu cleared her throat, still wanting more, regaining some composure: "Besides celebrating my son's birthday today, there's something else to announce."

As soon as she said that, the media reporters downstairs perked up, flashbulbs blinking in succession.

Shen Ningmu locked eyes with her brother below, got an affirmative response, her presence fully opened, voice clear: "From now on, my 34% stake in the Shen conglomerate, plus Shen Director's—that is, his uncle's—another 34%, will all be transferred into Jiang Liangjin's name."

"Effective immediately, he will assume the chairmanship of the Shen conglomerate, holding the largest controlling stake and full authority over all its decisions."

The whole venue gradually grew as quiet as it had been in the morning.

In the morning the Jiang side had a president; this afternoon the Shen side directly becomes a chairman?

68% of the shares, plus the Jiang side's 72%, that amount……

More impressive than when Mu Nian took over back then!

"This is truly what it means to be young and accomplished, formidable for the future."

"All right, from now on Jiang Corp is Jiang CEO, Shen Corp is Jiang Chairman—say those two names and everyone knows it's Jiang Liangjin."

"Both the Jiang and Shen clans are now in his grip; at sixteen he's standing in this position—what more could he achieve?"

"This life is basically cheat mode."

"Ah, just talking about this makes me angry—my son was lured away by that Song family young master to compete in a match, and now he doesn't care about the family business at all!"

"……"

Jiang Su finally understood why his wife didn't want him to give away the chairmanship as well.

Shen Ningmu didn't care about those details, continuing: "From now on, all Shen family affairs will be handed over to him."

She looked earnestly at her son, "Son, come up."

Mu Youyu gave Jiang Liangjin a shove; only then did he rise, take his place on stage, and receive the thick document from his mother's hand.

Shen Ningmu stepped back, leaving the stage center to him, and whispered, "Here's your speech; say a couple lines, or a few more."

Jiang Liangjin lowered his eyes to the slip of paper thrust at him, densely packed with characters—clearly his mother's handwriting.

It began: 【Respected elders, friends, and acquaintances: Hello everyone, I am Jiang Liangjin.】

He skipped over it expressionlessly and read on: 【Today is my sixteenth birthday; thank you, elders and friends, for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend.】

How similar this is to the self-recommendation letter I once wrote from a template.

Jiang Liangjin lifted his gaze over the crowd—a sea of heads, mostly businesspeople, with genuine friends filling less than two tables.

He didn't read from the script, continuing: 【Standing here, I first want to thank my beautiful, kind, great mother and father, who gave me life, raised me, and educated me into adulthood.】

These words came from the heart, yet saying them before so many people felt odd, so he still didn't speak them.

【Thank my uncle for his years of contribution to the Shen family and his care for me……】

He didn't continue reading, withdrew his gaze, and turned back to the microphone: "Thank you all for coming to my birthday banquet. Since the elders trust me with the Shen conglomerate chairmanship, I'll take it—I'll do a good job."

Shen Ningmu: "? What does 'doing a good job' mean? This is taking over as chairman, not going to a construction site to move bricks."

Jiang Liangjin said in a calm tone: "As for how to do it, I haven't figured it out yet, but one thing is certain—I won't run the company into the ground."

The uncle's mouth twitched—where on earth did this kid learn that?

About half the company's employees had already started smiling to themselves, feeling that this new chairman really ought to be a bit cute.

Shen Ningmu didn't worry too much; since she didn't follow the script, she didn't follow it—at least she said a few sentences! It was much better than she had expected.

The applause downstairs faded, and Jiang Liangjin's gaze swept over the crowd again; this time his lingered longer, his sight passing through the crowd without wavering—"Finally, I still want to thank someone."

Upon hearing that, Yu Ci became excited and raised their phone to start recording.

Jiang Liangjin's gaze openly fell on that light‑gold figure in the front row downstairs, and they pressed their lips together.

"From childhood on… every year on my birthday she's been with me; this year is no exception. Without her, I wouldn't be who I am today. So this year's wish also includes a share for her."

The whole audience's gaze continued to swish toward the front row downstairs.

Mu Youyu was caught off guard meeting that gaze from the stage; in the boy's brown eyes lay an emotion only she could read.

"Thank her for being with me from childhood on, always by my side; thank her for not minding when I, at five, insisted on wearing her crown."

Mu Youyu quickly lowered her head, "What… what is this?"

"Also thank her for looking so gorgeous today—she almost made me forget my lines on stage."