Chapter 267 - Press Conference (1)

The moment DX arrived at Hotel W where the press conference was being held, he was bombarded with questions.

Even with the security guards fending off the crazed reporters who did not manage to get an invitation to the press conference, some of them practically shoved their cameras rudely in front of his face.

It was as if the scorching heat had turned their brain into mush.

Annoyed by the constant flashes and questions, his eyes turned colder and sharper than usual.

"Han Ye..." murmured DX towards his assistant who was walking behind him.

Han Ye immediately shielded DX from the camera.

When they entered into the lobby, he turned and said to the reporters who were blocked by the security guards,

"President Du will only answer the questions that are asked during the press conference and nothing more. You should have worked harder in getting the invitation cards."

As per DX's instructions, the invitation cards to the privately held press conference were opened for bidding last night.

Within an hour, every major news channel bidded for the limited space.

Only the top 30 bidders received the invitation card that was shipped to them last night using the fleet of helicopters that belonged to the Du Family.

As he walked away, there was a lot of groaning coming from the reporters as they complained about having to sit out of such a hot piece of news.

"Are they here?" asked DX tersely as they walked into the hall. The lights from the cameras were starting to get on his nerve.

When Han Ye noticed that DX was shielding his eyes from the flashlight, he immediately told the guards to warn the reporters.

Once the reporters were warned, he turned to DX and said, "They are here, President Du. I've placed them in the rooms and if we need them, they can come here within a few minutes."

"Great. Director Song?"

"He was chatting with the other directors earlier," replied Han Ye before he took a quick around the hall.

When he found Director Song, he pointed out to DX with his chin before lowering his voice,

"There he is, walking up the stage with them. I overheard him earlier trying to convince them that you are beguiled by Ms. Zhen and that you are no longer suitable to be leading the company."

DX followed his gaze and he saw Director Song with three of their directors. He had known all four of them since he was young.

The other three directors were not as ambitious as Director Song but they were too weak-willed to avoid being manipulated by the old snake.

Unlike their fathers who built the company alongside DX's grandfather, they did not inherit their fathers' intellect or their skills.

DX took a quick glance across both sides of the halls before asking, "Song Qiao?"

"She arrived shortly before you, President Du, and I have placed her in the VIP resting room."

"Anyone suspicious?"

"I haven't seen anyone, but I've kept a guard outside her room just in case."

DX nodded as they reached the bottom of the stage.

He then turned to Han Ye and in a lowered voice, he added, "I don't think that the Song Family would do nothing but get your people on standby for any disturbance."

"Noted."

As he walked up the stage, he adjusted his suit while he kept his eyes on Director Song who was smirking as he whispered something to the other three directors.

The moment they met DX's clear and confident eyes, like a turtle, they immediately retracted their ugly necks.

When DX took his seat at the middle of the stage, he gave a nod to the MC who immediately started to talk.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope everyone had a great lunch. If not, the Du Company has prepared some light snacks and drinks at the back of the hall..."

"...As per what everyone knows, a little accident happened during the birthday party of the beloved twins of our President Du..."

He paused for a second to allow the words to sink in before continuing,

"...I'm sure that everyone would have questions but to maintain the order, we'd choose among you guys. Once chosen, please stand up. Please do not ask irrelevant questions..."

There was some grunt of dissatisfaction from the floor but the MC quickly added, "To avoid foul play, each of the 8 directors present today will each choose a reporter from the floor."

Once he said that, someone shouted, "You should have said that earlier!"

Another reported added on, "You made us worried for nothing, Mr. MC!"

The MC laughed as he pretended to press the air down before saying, "Sorry, I love to create a commotion. Quiet down now, please! We should begin the Q&A session now…"

Once everyone quieted down, the MC turned to DX and bowed before asking, "President Du, if you don't mind, can you please step up to the podium so that they can you see better?"

DX agreed and he stood behind the podium while he waited for the questions. The first three directors were chosen from right to left. They picked their choice of reporters from the floor and the questions were simple.

They were mostly about the financial outlook of the company following the accusation that DX protected "the woman" instead of handing her over to justice.

DX managed to answer the questions by focusing more on the growth of the company and the issues on the volatile share prices.

He convinced them by showing them a chart of the company's growth since he took over the management of the company from his father.

In addition, given the current global economic crisis, he showed them that the fall of the share prices was in fact affected by the sharp decline in commodity prices the day before.

Given that Du Conglomerate had 10% of its equity in the United States, it was expected that such a fall in the Dow would have a flow-on effect on its local share price.

When it was Director Song's turn, the reporter that he chose went straight for the kill.

Like the others before him, he held up the invitation card before asking, "President Du, I'm Zhou Lun from Star Report. I think the main question in everyone's mind was whether Ms. Zhen did in fact pushed Ms. Song down the stairs?"

"No."

Zhou Lun glanced at his little notebook before asking, "How would you know that, President Du? According to my sources, you arrived at the scene after the poor Ms. Song had fallen down the stairs."

"Because I said so."

"I'm sorry, President Du but given your connection to Ms. Zhen, we find it hard to take your word as it is. How can you be so sure that she did not do it when Ms. Song is still recuperating at the hospital because of the injuries she sustained from the fall?"

"Because Ms. Zhen is not the kind of woman to push someone down the stairs for no reason," replied DX.

He glanced at Han Ye who was standing behind the curtains at the side of the stage. The latter mouthed, "She's on the way."

DX then turned back to the reporter and said, "I've known Ms. Zhen for a few years and she is the kindest person I know. There must be some sort of misunderstanding behind it."

Zhou Lun took out a stack of photos from his sling bag before holding it up high for the cameras to zoom into so that it would show up on the large screens at both sides of the front of the hall.

It was a series of photos that showed Song Qiao tumbling backward and Kai Xin standing over the banister with a horrified look on her face.

Zhou Lun looked around the room before he raised his voice and asked,

"President Du, these photos have clearly shown that Ms. Song was pushed down the stairs and that Ms. Zhen was the one who pushed her! How can you still defend her over your own fiancee?"

His tone of voice caused unease among the reporters. After all, Zhou Lun was talking to President Du about his woman!

All of them were afraid to ask directly because of the repercussions. Even though DX had a few girlfriends before, he had never bothered to protect them. This was the first time he organized a press conference to settle an issue caused by a woman by his side.

"It must be nice to have Director Song backing you up..." murmured one of the reporters from a rival media company to his friend.

"Ssshh... He's a relative of Director Song. If he heard you, he's going to create trouble for you!" warned his friend in a hushed tone. Zhou Lun was a revengeful man and using his uncle's backing, he had stepped over many people in order to reach where he was today.

DX stared at Zhou Lun sharply before replying,

"Mr. Zhou, as a reporter, I'd hate to say this but you are wrong. What I can tell from these photos are Ms. Song falling down the stairs and Ms. Zhen rushing out from the room. There was no pushing. Did you see any hands doing the pushing motion?"

"No, but based on the circumstantial, anyone would have guessed that Ms. Zhen pushed her down," said Zhou Lun as he tried to defend himself.

There was a collective nod from most of the reporters. It was what they were thinking about as well when they saw the photos that were circulated anonymously online.

As he watched the reactions from the reporters, DX scoffed, "Did you get to your position by guessing the news? If you are the person who stumbled upon a fresh corpse and someone took a photo of you, can everyone assume that you are the killer?"

"President Du, that is different!"

"How is it different!" snapped DX as he slammed his hand down on the podium. His action startled the reporters who were seating and even Zhou Lun fell back onto his seat.

As he narrowed his eyes at Zhou Lun, DX asked in a threatening tone, "Mr. Zhou, without any concrete evidence, you dared to accuse my woman. Do not think that I have not read the rubbish that Star Report released yesterday. Do you seriously think that I would not sue you and your company for defamation?"