Chapter 39 - The corporate release.

Li Diu nodded and replied with tears, "Yes, I want to see my son. Let us go."

As they walked out of the morgue and reached the room of Bao, Li Diu fainted at the sight of her son in bandages.

Huang Fan immediately called for the doctor, and they took her to one of the restrooms for the relatives and laid her on the bed down there.

The doctor checked on her, and said, "I think she fainted with shock. She should be fine with this medicine."

After about an hour Diu gained consciousness, and said, "Do not inform Enlai, that I fainted. I want to stay back in the hospital with my son till he gets back home. Fan, please convince Enlai to oblige to my request."

"I don't think it is appropriate for you to stay here. He is under the care of the finest doctors available. If you are not at the Li mansion throughout the day, the in-house staff might feel suspicious."

Huang Sying touched her head and added, "I think you should go home and take a rest. Let us not add up to the mental stress of Li Enlai."

Huang Fan nodded and continued, "He has a shareholder's meeting scheduled at ten o'clock in the morning, and there will also be a corporate announcement at eleven o'clock in the morning to avoid any form of incorrect information being passed on to the media. I forgot to tell you, Mr. Chen had called up Liqin, and informed, that there is a piece of news floating in the local newspapers of Cervinia about a couple sacrificing their life for each other. They have also coined them as the Romeo and Juliet of Cervinia, and also mentioned, that the boy belongs to an influential Chinese family. It will not be long before the Chinese media pick up this piece of information, and check on the heirs of all influential families, and break this news out to the media."

Li Diu looked around and asked, "What time is it?"

Huang Fan looked at his watch and replied, "It's already nine in the morning. We should reach home before he leaves."

Li Diu got up, and went to Bao's room, and sat beside him for five minutes before they left for home. As they touched the Li mansion, they were greeted by Liqin, Jia, and Enlai who were preparing to leave.

Li Enlai held the hands of Li Diu, and said, "He's going to be perfectly fine. You stay back home with Sying. Huang Fan will join us as we have some announcements to make."

As the vehicles left the mansion Bai walked unto Diu, and said, "Hope, that things turn out well."

Diu shook her head and replied, "How can things turn out right when my daughter-in-law died in the ambush mom?"

Bai hugged her, and said, "Let us not make it difficult for Enlai with all those responsibilities. If you break down, you will not be able to console Bao when he wakes up. Now do not cry as you enter the mansion, you might alert the maids, and motivate their inquisitiveness."

As the vehicles came to a halt at the corporate office of the Li Empire, there were whispers amongst those few employees on being called to the office on Christmas. Some even discussed the reason behind Bao being missing, on the arrival of Jia, and Huang Fan with Li Enlai, and Liqin.

As they walked into the conference room, the shareholders were surprised at the absence of Li Bao and exchanged gestures amongst themselves.

Li Enlai stood up, and welcomed everyone, and said, "I have some important announcements to make."

One of the shareholders asked, "Is Bao not joining for this important announcement?"

Li Enlai looked at them, and said, "One of the announcements concerns his absence."

"I first want to introduce my daughter-in-law to you all. Jia, and Liqin will you guys come ahead?"

As Jia and Liqin walked ahead, Enlai said, "Let me welcome the daughter of the Huang family who is now my daughter-in-law, and the wife of Liqin. She will be assisting Liqin till Bao joins back."

As they all welcomed the newly married couple, and Jia into the office, Li Enlai continued, "There is another announcement, that I need to make, that concerns Bao. Bao met with an accident while he was abroad. He is out of danger, and stable, but the recovery of a fracture in the leg, and concussion will take some time. After his concussion heals, he will start working from home. However, till he completely does not recover he will not be resuming the corporate office."

As he made the announcement, the whole boardroom became abuzz with whispers. A shareholder finally asked, "Is he fine?"

"Yes, he is stable now, and recovering speedily. His fracture and concussion will take time to recover. We have arranged for a conference with the reporters to avoid any rumors spreading, and impacting the business adversely."

One of the shareholders turned to him and asked, "Is it necessary to go public about this accident?"

"Once we announce. it might stop any speculation about this matter. I will always be available till he recovers well."

"On the business front the projects, that we were already working on we will continue. For any new projects, we will surely get in touch with you all."

As the announcements were over each one came over personally, and extended their concerns to the family, and enquired about Bao's well-being.

As they were talking the secretary of Enlai walked in, and said, "Sir the conference room for the media briefing is ready, and the invitees have started pouring in."

"We will start the briefing exactly at eleven in the morning. We still have twenty minutes left."

Enlai then looked at the shareholders, and asked, "It would be an honor for me if some of you could join us for the briefing."

As he completed the statement, three of the board of directors showed their solidarity with the family and said, "We will join you guys for the conference." The rest expressed the inability due to prior commitments and conveyed their continued support, and commitment to the family. As they all left Li Enlai, Liqin, Jia, Huang Fan, and the other three shareholders moved to the conference room for the media briefing.

As they walked in, the secretary guided them to their respective seats. She walked up to Enlai before he walked to the podium, and whispered, "Sir, I have ensured, that we have full attendance of all the invitations sent."

Enlai smiled, and said, "Thank you, you have done a great job."

She then clipped the microphone to his coat, and said, "Kindly check if it is working."

Enlai then walked up to the podium checked for the microphone, and said, "Greetings to all of you who have supported us throughout our journey, and we are glad to have full attendance of all the invitations extended."

"Well, we called you to introduce our new family member to you all. You guys are already aware of the wedding of Chang Liqin to the daughter of the Huang family. Today we are here to formally introduce her to you guys as a family member, and business associate."

He then welcomed Liqin and Jia, and the crowd cheered them with full joy.

Enlai turned to Liqin and asked, "Liqin, would you like to say a few words?"

Liqin and Jia walked hand in hand near Enlai, Liqin picked up the microphone, looked around, and said, "Thank you for the joyful welcome, that we received. Do shower us with your blessings and prayers."

He then gestured to Jia to speak, and she said, "We hope to live up to the expectations of all of you gathered here, our families, and investors in the future."

As they bowed and took their respective seats Enlai continued, "In the future, we will chalk out the responsibilities, that the company plans to extend to Jia and Liqin. In fact, myself, and Mr. Huang are already in our early rounds of discussions for the way ahead for both of the businesses."

"We might in the near future see Liqin and Jia heading new responsibilities and roles. We are looking forward to expanding the jewelry business of the Huang family with fresh investments."

Li Enlai then took a short breath, paused, and then continued, "I have another important piece of information to be shared. My son, Li Bao, will not be seen in action for the next few months."

As he completed the statement, the crowd was shocked and started whispering amongst each other. One of them asked, "Why would junior Mr. Li be out of action Mr. Li? Is he getting married, and taking a leave?"

"Well, he was already elusive and reserved. What's special this time around Mr. Li?"

"If he gets married, you guys will be the first to be notified. This time around it is not because of a joyful event though. He happened to have met with an accident abroad. He has fractured his leg and has some concussions, that need healing, and is recuperating in the hospital."

As he completed the statement, a reporter asked, "Is it serious, Mr. Li?"

"No, it is not something serious unless you guys decide to make it into one. He is completely stable. We have some of the shareholders with us in solidarity, whom we had briefed today morning about the accident. We did not want some grapevines making the rounds, and declaring a war on his well-being. Hence, we decided to hold this conference to clear the air about any confusion, that could arise."

A reporter who was sitting in one of the middle rows asked, "Mr. Li there has been a piece of news doing the rounds in the Swiss villages of a Chinese couple dying to save each other. Does this have something to have with Mr. Li?"

Li Enlai narrowed his eyes and replied, "This is the very reason I called this briefing to avoid any misunderstanding. I would not want you guys to slaughter my son when he is perfectly alive and stable. The Li family would not take any slander to its members lying down. It is advisable to refrain from talking ill of him. We as a family are already in pain. Any slander in the media will not be taken lightly. We all have individual privacy rights. As a listed company we have responsibilities, and hence we held the briefing to convey our stand. I am pretty sure, that none of you guys will go about announcing hospitalizations of your family members, just because you guys are working in the media. Any misinterpretation of information will not be taken lightly. Once outside the conference room please ensure, that your pens are put to the right use, and not to slander anyone. We have been very transparent in matters concerning public interests; however, our privacy is not for public display. This has been our stand since the company has been established. I would also like to know the source of this piece of information young man."

The young man looked at Mr. Li tensed, and said, "Well we had some informer call up our office to inform us about the accident."

Mr. Li Enlai tilted his head, fixed his gaze on the young man, and asked, "May I know which company you are working for?"

"Global outreach."

Li Enlai looked at him, and then turned around, gestured to his security officer, and said, "Well did the informer murder, my son, in his piece of information?"

"I need to confirm that."

"Does the media speak out without confirmation and evidence? We have not been asked for any briefing or confirmation from your company on this matter. It would be advisable for the health of your company not to slander my son before his time."

"We as a family are already in pain, and would not want you guys piercing our grief with slander. I hope you guys put yourselves in our position, and then speak out as responsible citizens."

"I am sorry Sir."

Another journalist sitting beside the young man pulled his hand and gestured him to sit quietly.

"I am extremely sorry for being harsh with the young man, however, no father would tolerate any form of harmful wishes to his son. Please put yourself in our position, and talk empathetically. If you guys have any other questions please proceed. We have finished with our briefing for the day."

As Li Enlai and the group walked out of the conference room, the secretary rushed to get the microphones back and gestured the team to switch off the speaker system to avoid any unwanted conversations being aired out.

As Enlai walked out the shareholders asked, "Is there something, that we are kept in the dark about Mr. Li?"

Li Enlai turned to them and replied, "Let's talk in the conference room."

As they gathered in the conference room he replied, "My son is very stable, and he has nothing to do with those rumors, that were discussed in the conference. If you guys need, we can arrange a visit to the hospital for your satisfaction."

"We take your word as an honor, Mr. Li. We do not require evidence in this matter. With regards to the visit to the hospital, we would like to give him a visit, but that is only to wish him our well-being, and not because we do not trust you."

Li Enlai then gestured to his secretary, and said, "Kindly arrange a visit for them after discussing with Mr. Yang. Can we arrange for this visit two weeks down the lane as he needs complete rest now?"

"Oh, sure we can wait. We will now take our leave, Mr. Li."