Then the four hosts went onstage to deliver the opening remarks, introducing the theme of the annual conference, the distinguished guests in attendance, and so on.
The group leaders and the heads of the branch companies rose one after another to greet everyone. When it was Jiang Chuling’s turn, she enthusiastically waved at the camera with a bright smile. Compared with the stern, old-fashioned men who had come before her, she made an especially vivid impression.
After that came the leaders’ speeches.
First, Jiang Yihua, the group president, took the stage to review the past year and outline the company’s strategic plans for the future.
He was followed by the group’s senior executives and the heads of the various branch companies and business divisions. Finally, it was the chairman’s turn.
The former chairman slowly rose and walked to the podium. Looking out at everyone, he solemnly announced that this would be his last time attending the company’s annual conference. He looked back on the past and spoke of the future, occasionally choking up when he became overwhelmed with emotion.
The veteran executives who had worked alongside him throughout the years were unable to hold back their tears.
Qiuyun sat in the assistant’s seat behind Miss Jiang and reminded her to lower her head.
Although there were no media reporters present, the company’s photographers were recording the annual conference. Showing the wrong expression at a time like this would be inappropriate.
After the leaders’ speeches ended, the hosts returned to the stage to announce the awards ceremony.
The group was extremely generous. The Outstanding Performance Award, Innovation Pioneer Award, Master Craftsmanship Award, and Cultural Heritage Award were presented to more than thirty people in total from the group and its branches, with each recipient receiving a prize of two hundred thousand yuan.
There were also the Best Contribution Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Emergency Rescue Award, and Outstanding Young Employee Award, each carrying a prize of one hundred thousand yuan.
Three teams were selected as Outstanding Teams, with each member receiving fifty thousand yuan.
…
At the very end came the Chairman’s Special Award: Jiang Chuling was announced as the Jiang Group’s charity ambassador.
Amid the applause, Jiang Chuling took a deep breath and went onstage to deliver her speech.
“Respected leaders and distinguished guests, good afternoon. I am Jiang Chuling, and I’m delighted to attend the group’s annual conference in my capacity as its ‘charity ambassador.’ Over the past year…”
Qiuyun immediately noticed that Miss Jiang stumbled over her words at this point!
Normally, they had practiced the speech beforehand. Besides, there was a teleprompter positioned at the front of the stage. Even if she stumbled, it should have happened later, when she reached one of the long and complicated sentences.
How could there be a problem right at the opening greeting?
Qiuyun frowned and immediately bent down to approach the control room beneath the stage and inspect the situation.
The moment she saw what was happening, she held her breath. She grabbed the technician at the control console beside her and said, “Where’s the switch for the teleprompter? Turn it off immediately!”
What a vicious scheme!
It would have been one thing if they had simply turned off the teleprompter. But the sentences displayed on it had been carefully cut down and altered!
She only managed to read two lines.
The first originally read: “At that moment, I felt a deep sense of pain and wondered how fate could be so unfair.”
But the teleprompter had changed it to: “At that moment, I felt deeply guilty and realized how extravagant my own life was.”
Another original line read: “I wanted to challenge fate and see whether I could help more people!”
The altered version said: “I want to change their fate and help them live as comfortably as I do, without worrying about food or clothing!”
Although both versions expressed concern for the children at the welfare institution, the meanings behind them were worlds apart.
The first expressed a child’s empathy for others who had suffered similar hardships. The second carried the condescending tone of someone offering charity from a position of superiority.
If Miss Jiang had not memorized the speech so thoroughly at home, she would already have been led into the trap!
To prevent Miss Jiang from being affected later—or from accidentally following the teleprompter and saying the altered lines—Qiuyun sternly demanded that it be turned off.
But clearly, someone was unwilling to cooperate. They kept dragging their feet and refused to deal with it properly.
Without hesitation, Qiuyun bent down at the edge of the stage and swiftly pulled the teleprompter’s power cord from the socket.
Fortunately, the cameras had remained focused on the stage, and the stage lights left the audience below in shadow. Apart from the guests seated in the first two rows, hardly anyone noticed the little incident.
Onstage, Jiang Chuling let out a small sigh of relief before continuing her speech smoothly.
To keep a person’s eyes from darting around on camera, teleprompters were generally positioned directly beneath the cameras. As a result, whenever she looked toward the camera, she was inevitably distracted by the text.
There were so many people, so many cameras—and people beyond the cameras as well!
She had to deliver her speech with emotion while managing her facial expressions and fighting off distractions.
Trying to do three things at once naturally made it difficult to perform well. If she became too distracted later, it would have been all too easy for someone to steer her into the trap.
Now that the teleprompter had gone dark, her vision was finally clear and undisturbed.
“…May we carry love in our hearts and light in our eyes. May we continue moving forward on the path of charity and work together to write an even warmer and more brilliant future! Thank you all!”
When she finished speaking, Jiang Chuling bowed to the audience and the cameras.
Thank goodness Sister Xiaoqiu had made her practice the speech several extra times. She had said that this was her first public appearance and had to be absolutely perfect. If Jiang Chuling had not memorized the speech thoroughly, she could easily have been misled by the nearly identical version.
Applause broke out, and Jiang Chuling came down from the stage with a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.
“Sister Xiaoqiu!” she cried, hurrying over.
Qiuyun shook her head, signaling for Miss Jiang not to say anything.
When she had gone to turn off the teleprompter, the Old Master, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang, and the members of the second branch had all seen what happened from the front row.
Jiang Chuling was only ten years old. Who in the group would bother plotting against a charity ambassador who had no real authority at all?
It was obvious that someone in the family was behind it.
Therefore, it would clearly be inappropriate to expose the matter at the annual conference.
Once the awards ceremony ended, the time was already half past four. The performances began, and the two of them returned to their original seats.
Jiang Yihua naturally did not believe that Qiuyun would unplug the teleprompter for no reason, so he sent Secretary Zhu over to ask what had happened.
Qiuyun shook her head. “We’ll talk about it when we get back.”
At the same time, Ge Furen’s expression grew increasingly ugly.
She had never expected that a ten-year-old child like Jiang Chuling could memorize a speech of more than a thousand words and deliver it so fluently.
She had not fallen into even one of the traps!
It was simply—simply infuriating. She had no outlet for her anger at all!
Ge Furen’s expression stiffened. She could not focus on any of the performances onstage. Then a staff member came over to signal that she should present the awards to the outstanding employees.
After all, she was the chairman’s wife. She could not go onstage to deliver a speech as she had in previous years, but she still had to make an appearance.
And so, the task of presenting the awards was assigned to Ge Furen.
She took a deep breath, composed her expression, and rose to go onstage. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jiang Chuling whispering something in the Old Master’s ear while repeatedly glancing toward the stage. Her expression nearly cracked!
After the photographs were taken, she did not even shake hands with the employees before hurrying off the stage. Jiang Chuling had already finished speaking and slipped away.
Ge Furen gave a sheepish smile as she sat down beside the Old Master. “Old Master, what did Little Seven just say to you?”
The Old Master looked at her in confusion. “She said she was hungry and wanted to go out to find something to eat.”
?
“Really?” Ge Furen relaxed. “Children can’t go long without food.”
The employee performances ended, and by then it was half past six. All the chandeliers in the banquet hall lit up, officially marking the start of the dinner banquet.
