According to market share theory, since Liu Jun was devouring a large chunk, other companies would inevitably go hungry. Naturally, the closest competitor geographically would be most severely affected. That would be Shi Yiji. In March, Shi Yiji encountered an unexpected cold snap, with sales performance plummeting dramatically. As a marketing expert, Dong Qiyang naturally knew how to respond. However, Dong Qiyang’s superior market management skills were up against Liu Shitang’s blood, sweat, and tears poured into his enterprise, which immediately diminished the effectiveness. What Dong Qiyang was powerless against was technology, quality, precise production scheduling, minimal inventory, and the fastest capital turnover rates, because he didn’t understand production, while Shi Yiji’s workers were particularly skilled at cutting corners and fooling around.
Thus, Shi Yiji’s output slid toward a low point, with profits declining significantly. But once the output decline reached a certain level, it plateaued. Based on Dong Qiyang’s experience, this should be a precursor to a rebound. If Dong Qiyang had known that Liu Jun only received three million in loans, if he had known that Liu Jun was using this three million loan combined with high-interest borrowing with meticulous care in rolling investments, still unable to avoid being stretched thin and having to arrange sales according to production capacity, if Dong Qiyang had known that his output stopped declining because of this, then he should have turned his guns around at this moment, focused on developing other products, and avoided the rising momentum. But Dong Qiyang trusted his experience too readily. He also cut prices, hoping to dump products on the market with meager profits to reclaim market share.
At the same time, Dong Qiyang also thought that eggs shouldn’t be put in the same basket. So he proposed to the board of directors: either allocate funds for new product research and development, or allocate funds to buy patents suitable for the market. Shi Yiji must expand its product variety and can’t continue being so singular. The development direction Dong Qiyang proposed was still the complete equipment sets he had suggested when he first came to Shi Yiji. But at that time, Yang Xun was leading Shi Yiji in happily imitating products developed by Liu Jun, making good, quick money, so Yang Xun postponed Dong Qiyang’s suggestions. But this time, the real Li Kui was unstoppable, causing Shi Yiji’s fake Li Kui to retreat steadily, affecting profits. Shen Baotian and Yang Xun, two busy men, had to find time to sit in Shi Yiji’s office for discussions.
But when Yang Xun heard the amounts required for Dong Qiyang’s two proposed schemes, he was greatly dismissive. The technical department was sitting on so many engineers, each receiving deputy section chief-level salaries or above. Since he took over, their salaries and bonuses had already exceeded one million. Were all these years of support for nothing? Let the technical department produce blueprints within a month. Send someone to supervise the technical department, with person-to-person monitoring to get work done.
Dong Qiyang’s proposal budget wasn’t pulled out of thin air but was written after coordination and consultation with various departments, with Yang Li contributing. But he wasn’t an engineering technical person, and he still had doubts about such a large research and development budget – where exactly it would be used and how it would be used – so naturally, he couldn’t provide strong rebuttals to Yang Xun’s opposition. He could only explain that developing a complete equipment set required researching components one by one, and there would inevitably be defective products during the research process… But Dong Qiyang’s explanation immediately touched Yang Xun’s nerve. Yang Xun immediately thought of seeing Liu Jun through the camera two years ago, wasting pile after pile of perfectly good iron in trials, showing no mercy at all. So if they were to develop complete equipment sets, with hundreds and thousands of components all tested this way, and those technicians weren’t testing with their own money, they would naturally be even less merciful than Liu Jun, and he, Yang Xun, would be bankrupted. For instance, he had once decisively stopped a research project that had already consumed 500,000 yuan because he saw that the research could very well be a bottomless pit. Yang Xun threw the problem to Shen Baotian, who came from the manufacturing industry.
Shen Baotian’s attitude was very clear: for an enterprise to establish itself, it must possess its advantages. For manufacturing enterprises, this advantage is embodied in a strong, independent research and development team. The current predicament in the sales market was precisely because Shi Yiji couldn’t produce impressive flagship products. Products bought from blueprints could be bought by others if he could buy them, forming no advantage. The current market had already issued warnings, which was a good thing, reminding Shi Yiji to seriously consider how to walk the future path and where to go. From a long-term perspective, it was necessary to cultivate and make good use of their own research and development team starting now. Shen Baotian rejected the blueprint-buying scheme and firmly supported independent research and development, mastering core skills. Of course, they could spend money on horizontal technology introduction to improve research and development efficiency.
Yang Xun opposed, but at this time the major shareholder’s supporting vote made Yang Xun’s opposition ineffective. Shen Baotian made the decision on the spot at the meeting to proceed with the research and development plan.
Yang Li, as one of the directors, attended the meeting, but had no speaking rights except for explaining the plan. She felt very conflicted inside. The plan was discussed between her and the technical department, and she had long awaited the day of independent research and development. But her big brother’s lack of support made her attitude somewhat ambiguous. She couldn’t very well speak in opposition to her big brother. She could only remain silent. Looking at Shen Huadong, who was even more silent than her, her mind felt slightly balanced. She didn’t know what Shen Huadong was thinking as he watched his father: brilliant, truly brilliant, ginger is indeed spicier when old. Consuming the cash flow jointly owned by Shen and Yang in Shi Yiji, improving the company’s most core technical research and development team standards, using lengthy research and development to delay Shi Yiji’s product transformation time, artificially delaying the fleeting opportunity for a comeback, achieving the goal of creating and expanding losses while not damaging the core. Much better than his idea of seeking external help from Liu Jun, with complete initiative in his own hands, and the benefits not flowing to outsiders.
Liu Jun didn’t understand why a smart person like Dong Qiyang, facing a crisis, wouldn’t take quick-acting measures. He called directly to ask. Dong Qiyang gloomily told him that the two major shareholders couldn’t reach an agreement. Liu Jun immediately realized that Shen Huadong must have made a move. He suddenly felt very sympathetic toward Dong Qiyang’s predicament of being kept in the dark. At a time like this, even if Dong Qiyang had three heads and six arms, he couldn’t display them; he only felt inexplicably depressed.
Liu Jun watched from across the river. He was too busy with his affairs. At the beginning of the year, there were many matters. The most important were tax settlement and annual reporting for local tax, and annual inspection by the industrial and commercial bureau. As for inspections from other departments, they were just paying money and getting stamps, with no suspense. In the local tax annual report instructions, there was a clause requiring auditing by designated tax accountant firms. The administrative manager knew at a glance that this wouldn’t pass with Liu Jun, so he had the finance department consult with the local tax office about whether audit reports made by other accounting firms and signed by registered tax accountants would count. Finance came back saying that the local tax window staff had dark expressions, but still nodded and approved.
But the industrial and commercial bureau’s annual inspection wasn’t so easy to talk to. The annual inspection method given by industrial and commercial also includes auditing, capital auditing, and designating an accounting firm. When the office clerk went to inquire, industrial and commercial weren’t as accommodating as local tax. The industrial and commercial bureau window staff had a firm attitude: only audit reports made by this specific accounting firm would be accepted. The clerk was thorough in handling affairs and made a detour to the neighboring accounting firm’s temporary office to ask, only to be scared back by the audit fee. She hurriedly reported to the administrative manager that they quoted 8,000 yuan based on Tengfei’s scale. They also said coolly, showing no worry about business, that annual auditing was good, helping bosses summarize and review the year’s capital flows.
The administrative manager knew Liu Jun’s temperament well and knew that Liu Jun would not be willing to pay this additional unjust fee. But the annual sticker for the annual industrial and commercial inspection had to be applied – not applying it would be equivalent to automatically terminating the company’s operations. There were regulations that business licenses must be displayed prominently in companies for visiting merchants to confirm whether the company’s existence was legal. The importance of annual inspection lies in this. The industrial and commercial bureau came up with a new trick every year. The administrative manager understood this well. In his previous private enterprise job, if you didn’t obediently pay to join the private enterprise association, the industrial and commercial wouldn’t be stamped for annual inspection. The so-called joining of the private enterprise association meant paying membership fees to get a small souvenir, with the association having nothing to do for the entire year. His previous boss would accept such schemes, but he believed Liu Jun would never acknowledge them. Moreover, this audit cost 8,000 yuan.
Sure enough, when the administrative manager told Liu Jun, Liu Jun rejected it outright. But how could they avoid duplicate auditing while still participating in and passing annual inspection? Neither could see any other path ahead, as the industrial and commercial window staff had already made the final decision. During their discussion, Liu Jun also remembered that they had already been audited once last year, saying that only newly established enterprises needed auditing, and at that time, they said the second annual inspection wouldn’t require auditing. So why was it required again this year? Liu Jun called the municipal industrial and commercial bureau for consultation. The municipal bureau said this wasn’t the case and encouraged Liu Jun to confidently negotiate with the district industrial and commercial bureau. Liu Jun no longer had the temperament to slam tables and rise. With a pragmatic attitude, he asked whether the municipal bureau could investigate and withdraw the original method, issuing a new one. The municipal official on the phone said he needed to report to leadership.
Liu Jun noted down the surname of the official who answered the phone and asked again the next day. That official changed his tune and encouraged Liu Jun to confidently negotiate with the district industrial and commercial bureau. Liu Jun then knew that complaints within the system were useless, so he called the discipline inspection hotline published in the newspaper. If the administrative manager had been present, he would have tried his best to stop this call.
The voice of the discipline inspection hotline operator was so amiable that it didn’t match the serious impression that discipline inspection consistently gave people. This attitude encouraged Liu Jun to speak without reservation. After recording, the operator repeated it once and amiably asked Liu Jun to fax over the industrial and commercial annual inspection method, waiting for a reply within half a day. This time it wasn’t Liu Jun chasing on the phone asking for the other party’s surname, and when he could know the news. Liu Jun was very surprised by the discipline inspection attitude and looked forward to what the reply would be within half a day.
In less than an hour, a different official contacted Liu Jun. This official should have been a middle-aged man with a very professional attitude. He started by stating his surname and contact information, even telling Liu Jun his mobile phone number. Then the official began patiently and thoroughly inquiring about the matter. In such a good atmosphere, Liu Jun was also very frank, saying that although he was reporting, he dared not avoid anonymity because he feared future retaliation. The official expressed understanding. After ending the call, Liu Jun felt somewhat incredulous – was this the legendary government work style?
Liu Jun listened to his words and observed his actions, holding back for three days. Seeing the annual inspection deadline approaching day by day, he still waited. On the third day, the middle-aged discipline inspection official called to inform him of the handling results – the unreasonable audit was cancelled. The official also kindly reminded Liu Jun that if enterprises had any dissatisfaction with local government work in the future, they could contact him directly. When Liu Jun told the administrative manager the results, the administrative manager stared wide-eyed in disbelief. Liu Jun thought to himself that he also couldn’t believe it. When he made the complaint call, he had the attitude of treating a dead horse as if it were alive. Moreover, if the opponent had been the local tax rather than the relatively unimportant industrial and commercial bureau, Liu Jun would have resigned himself to paying the audit fee. Who dared offend the local tax? Previously, he had educated his father about dishonest accounting, which was why he saw tax officials like a mouse seeing a cat. After two years of hands-on experience, he had long understood that even if he outsourced finance to professional accounting firms, the difference between offending and not offending was huge.
For safety, the administrative manager dared not go for the annual inspection the next day, fearing being identified by the industrial and commercial sharp eyes as the anonymous complainant. He waited until the annual inspection deadline and confirmed that other foreign enterprises in the district had indeed been exempted from that damned annual audit before personally going to the district industrial and commercial bureau. All procedures went smoothly until the final step of retrieving files from the archives for comparison, when the window staff said coldly that there were missing registration application materials in the file folder, not meeting requirements, and the annual inspection would be denied.
The administrative manager could only call Liu Jun, who had originally handled the industrial and commercial registration, asking if he remembered whether such a document had been submitted back then. Now they were being denied annual inspection and faced investigation for false registration. After two years, Liu Jun naturally couldn’t remember clearly, especially since all the registration procedures had been handled by that enthusiastic investment promotion officer running back and forth – he only needed to sign and pay. But last year’s annual inspection hadn’t found this problem – why were there suddenly missing materials this year? Liu Jun was stunned and asked the administrative manager if the anonymity had been for nothing. The administrative manager said the possibility was high. Liu Jun cursed “Damn!” and rushed to the industrial and commercial bureau.
In the window hall, the window staff still coldly told Liu Jun, without even lifting their eyelids, that certain procedures were missing. Liu Jun then asked: “I handled the complete set at the time. If materials were missing, how could it have been processed then?”
The window staff said neither warmly nor coldly: “Many people don’t go through proper channels when handling registration. Think carefully about how you handled the procedures back then.”
Liu Jun thought this was indeed his weak point – the investment promotion officer had indeed taken application materials to go through direct channels everywhere. The window staff was professionally skilled and hit the mark precisely. But Liu Jun naturally wouldn’t admit it: “So you mean that one of your people didn’t properly check back then, and now your sharp eyes have uncovered the good deeds done by that person who abused their position for personal gain, is that right? Please tell me who handled it back then – I’d like to ask what crooked path I took in front of him. The files are in your hands – please check exactly who signed back then and who was that irresponsible specific handler.”
The window staff’s face immediately turned red, probably not expecting that there would be subordinate enterprises so reckless as to dare slam tables aggressively in public, with the spearhead turning back on themselves. “If it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist. No matter how much you make noise, it’s useless. This is a government office…”
“Right, I know this is a government office, so I’m certain that every word you say represents the government. Then, please tell me whether my reasoning is correct or not. Who exactly was that specific handler back then? Please answer – it’s very simple, please answer.”
The window staff turned around and ignored him, using the usual trick of leaving people hanging. Liu Jun then slammed tables in the hall, demanding an explanation, threatening to fight to the death, and reporting the specific handler from back then. Finally, someone quietly came out with a smile, persuading Liu Jun to calm down, pulling him to an adjacent room to have tea and resolve the problem. Someone else came out to pull the window staff away. Not long after, someone came in with papers, explaining that the bureau had moved the archives once at the end of last year, and some materials might have been lost. Of course, the bureau couldn’t possibly let registration pass with incomplete enterprise materials. They asked Liu Jun to just sign a supplementary document right then.
After all the commotion, it was already past closing time. The administrative manager walked outside and smiled: “Liu Jun, you had quite an imposing presence just now.”
“What are you talking about? Fortunately, it’s currently a quiet period, otherwise, if my mother-in-law knew about my behavior, she’d immediately blow out the lamp and pull the wick. I won too undignifiedly, acting like a shrew all afternoon.”
“I wonder if they’ll play other dirty tricks in the future.”
“Not afraid. I understood today – compete in being base, compete in being a rogue, make a scene, and create influence – that works. But no matter how much I understand, I wouldn’t dare make trouble with tax authorities.”
Liu Jun was excited from the argument, driving with his neck stiff all the way. When he reached the company, his eyes were still bloodshot and his whole body tense.