Zhu Suizhou clearly understood that Xia Xiaolan and Second Madam were merely going through formalities by notifying him.
But he wasn’t prepared to accept this reality.
Sheng Xuan’s suggestion to sell the Hainan land was impossible. He didn’t consider himself inferior to anyone; he just hadn’t accumulated enough capital, which left him constrained. Land prices in Hainan were rising monthly – this was his best opportunity.
Even compared to Asia Department Store’s annual profit of ten to twenty million, his 300 mu of land could earn that much in just another year of holding.
Asia Department Store’s annual profits weren’t his alone to claim anyway.
Moreover, he’d heard that once the new year arrived, the Coconut City government would relax land approval restrictions.
The feast in Hainan was just beginning – how could he sell the land now?
Zhu Suizhou wasn’t satisfied with just seven or eight hundred thousand in profits.
Nor was he content to merely go through the motions in Commercial City. When Second Madam and Xia Xiaolan were about to sign the agreement, he objected:
“Second Madam, if you’re selling Chaoyang Real Estate shares, shouldn’t I, the second-largest shareholder, be consulted first?”
Second Madam sneered:
“Mr. Zhu is such a busy man, occupied with your Yangfan Real Estate in Hainan. How could mere Chaoyang Real Estate shares be worth your attention!”
Second Madam harbored resentment toward Zhu Suizhou just as she did toward Xia Xiaolan over the family assets.
Initially, Du Zhaobi had given Zhu Suizhou 20% of Chaoyang Real Estate’s shares to retain him as manager – these shares were essentially Du Zhaobi’s management fee to Zhu Suizhou.
But Zhu Suizhou abandoned his post as soon as he saw the opportunity to make money in Hainan. Second Madam viewed him as a traitor!
Xia Xiaolan found it amusing to prod Zhu Suizhou:
“General Manager Zhu, even if Second Madam wanted to sell you the shares, how would you buy them? I hear you’ve profited handsomely in Hainan – are you planning to withdraw from there?”
Zhu Suizhou simply couldn’t produce 3 million yuan!
This wasn’t Xia Xiaolan looking down on him.
Although Zhu Suizhou had gradually acquired 300 mu of land in Hainan, he’d bought it at high prices. Given Coconut City’s land price increases, he probably hadn’t even made 1 million yuan yet… If he had bought 300 mu before Hainan became a province, he could have made 3 million, since land prices rose from 40,000 to 140,000 yuan per mu – a 100,000 yuan increase per mu, exactly 3 million total.
Zhu Suizhou smiled, “If Second Madam is willing to let bygones be bygones and sell me the shares, I’ll naturally sell the Hainan land. Second Madam, I’m very sincere – I’m willing to pay 3.5 million yuan for your 60% stake in Chaoyang Real Estate, you-“
Zhu Suizhou meant to say “You should seriously consider it,” but he’d barely uttered “you” when Second Madam grabbed the pen from the table and swiftly signed her name on the share transfer agreement.
The speed of her action stunned not only Zhu Suizhou but even Xia Xiaolan.
After signing, she pushed the contract to Xia Xiaolan:
“Are you signing or not?”
“Of course I am!”
Xia Xiaolan quickly recovered. Zhu Suizhou’s attempts to cause trouble when he was only supposed to be a formality were adding unnecessary drama. He couldn’t produce 3.5 million yuan, but he could make Second Madam hesitate and disrupt her intention to transfer shares to Xia Xiaolan.
If things dragged on, who knew what solution Zhu Suizhou might find?
With Second Madam being so decisive, Xia Xiaolan naturally signed promptly as well.
Zhu Suizhou had always known Second Madam wasn’t business-savvy, but this wealthy lady’s complete disregard for conventional practice left him somewhat bewildered.
Was there a dog chasing her?
Why such urgency to sign?
“Second Madam, you didn’t even let me finish. I said 3.5 million, and we could negotiate even higher!”
Zhu Suizhou was exasperated.
Second Madam snorted:
“You think I don’t know your intentions? Why should I dance to your tune!”
Xia Xiaolan glanced at Second Madam – those words sounded familiar. Second Madam was truly learning and applying lessons well.
Zhu Suizhou hadn’t expected Second Madam to be so erratic. Abandoning all pretense of dignity, he stood up and left. The share transfer agreement was signed anyway; his disruption would be useless, and staying would only be frustrating.
Xia Xiaolan extended her hand to the Second Madam:
“Second Madam, your decisiveness is impressive. I’m both surprised and honored!”
Second Madam firmly shook hands with Xia Xiaolan without any pretense:
“So you must make Asia Department Store bigger and stronger to justify my decisiveness just now.”
She hadn’t wanted to be so decisive.
If she were truly decisive, she wouldn’t have lost even to Liu Keying.
If Zhu Suizhou had continued talking, she might have changed her mind… The 3.5 million was very tempting – who wouldn’t want an extra 500,000 yuan for the shares?
But if she sold the shares to someone else, what would keep Xia Xiaolan tied to Asia Department Store?
Selling to Zhu Suizhou was even more absurd. He and Xia Xiaolan were like two tigers that couldn’t share the same mountain. If he became the major shareholder, he would force Xia Xiaolan out – then who would earn her annual dividends?
To avoid wavering, the Second Madam hadn’t waited for Zhu Suizhou to finish his enticing words, decisively signing the contract instead.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t mock Second Madam’s weak resolve. Some people know long-term benefits are more important yet can’t resist the temptation of short-term gains. Second Madam knew she would waver if tempted, so she simply gave Zhu Suizhou no chance – this showed considerable self-awareness!
In cruder terms, she knew her limitations.
Finally, Xia Xiaolan decided to have Qihang Capital buy the 60% stake in Chaoyang Real Estate. She didn’t plan to merge Chaoyang Real Estate with Qihang Real Estate – they would remain separate companies.
While Qihang developed various commercial real estate projects, Chaoyang Real Estate might need a new name and later could be reorganized to form the Asia Group.
With Qihang Capital buying 60% of Chaoyang Real Estate shares, Chaoyang Real Estate now had three shareholders: Qihang Capital, Second Madam, and Zhu Suizhou.
Chaoyang Real Estate still held shares in Asia Department Store, which continued to have only two direct shareholders: Chaoyang Real Estate and Xia Xiaolan!
Xia Xiaolan was already Qihang Capital’s General Manager. With Qihang Capital becoming Chaoyang Real Estate’s major shareholder, it indirectly became Asia Department Store’s major shareholder, holding 49.2% of Asia Department Store’s shares.
So Asia Department Store’s shareholding structure was:
Qihang Capital 49.2%, Xia Xiaolan 18%, Second Madam 16.4%, Zhu Suizhou 16.4%… Considering Xia Xiaolan exclusively owned 50% of Qihang Capital’s shares and controlled Qihang Capital, she naturally controlled Asia Department Store!
Xia Xiaolan didn’t have enough money to personally acquire Second Madam’s shares.
For Qihang Capital, raising this money was relatively easy.
Second Madam’s attitude truly became uninhibited once she let go. Du Zhaohuei held 30% of Qihang Capital’s shares as one of its shareholders, now indirectly holding shares in Asia Department Store… So, Second Madam could actually accept doing business with Du Zhaohuei – wasn’t that shocking enough?
What did this indicate?
Second Madam wouldn’t easily abandon her hostility toward Du Zhaohuei, but under the impact of reality, she had also surrendered to the almighty money.
There was no choice – over the past year and more, Du Zhaohuei had taken complete control of the Chengrong Group. Even if Du Zhaobi were released now, he couldn’t reverse the situation.