President Xia meets Manager Zhu.
Their mutual flattery and pleasantries left others bewildered.
If Zhu Suizhou weren’t over thirty – Liu Fen couldn’t possibly have given birth to such a grown son – Du Zhaohui would have suspected Zhu Suizhou was Xia Xiaolan’s long-lost brother. Even Xia Dajun’s age didn’t match – there must truly be no blood relation with Xia Xiaolan.
Damn.
How could their speech and actions be so similar?
Du Zhaohui craned his neck, trying to hear what Xia Xiaolan and Zhu Suizhou were saying.
Unfortunately, they stood at just the right distance, and with the wind blowing, the sounds wouldn’t come together. Du Zhaohui couldn’t hear anything.
“Young Master…”
Ah Hua quietly approached. His hearing was good and his footsteps light; he could listen in for the young master.
Du Zhaohui made faces – at times like this, even this useless Ah Hua had his uses. He considered giving Ah Hua a raise but then thought better of it – wait until the Electronics Plaza made money. He was quite poor now!
Among Hong Kong’s unfortunate rich young masters without luxury cars or houses, you couldn’t find another like him.
Ah Hua inched closer bit by bit.
Xia Xiaolan and Zhu Suizhou paid no attention.
They weren’t deliberately avoiding anyone; they just instinctively preferred not to discuss business in front of others.
Share investment was private – before signing the terms, it was better not to let third parties know.
“President Xia, I owe you an apology. My employees’ poor handling caused such a big mess. I’m truly sorry for disrupting your schedule.”
Zhu Suizhou offered deep self-criticism.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t believe a single word, but still smiled warmly:
“Manager Zhu, you’re too formal. I’m also in real estate. Whether businesspeople or ordinary citizens, we must support basic national policies and follow government planning, don’t you agree? An old Chinese is saying: ‘Fighting leads to friendship.’ Without this troublesome matter that challenged us both, we wouldn’t have met.”
Zhu Suizhou nodded.
No wonder Sheng Xuan had suffered at Xia Xiaolan’s hands.
Face to face with Xia Xiaolan, Zhu Suizhou wasn’t fooled by her appearance or age. Speaking so carefully at such a young age – such a person wouldn’t be easy to remove as a shareholder.
Though Xia Xiaolan spoke politely with a gentle voice, her words revealed strength!
Zhu Suizhou had second thoughts, fearing Xia Xiaolan would fight for control of the mall – something he absolutely wouldn’t allow:
“President Xia, I see you’re rushing to cross the border, so let’s be frank. Let’s not discuss who’s right or wrong about Building 45, just its value. It’s not worth $500,000. I bought that land at Erqi Square for only 5 million yuan, and that’s 25 mu of land.”
“Manager Zhu, how about this: you think Building 45 isn’t worth $500,000, but I believe it’s worth more. Since we disagree on this, why don’t you transfer those 25 mu to Qihang for development at the original price? For Building 45, I’ll pay you an extra $500,000. I won’t even ask you to add the $1.5 million investment. What do you think?”
Caught off guard, Zhu Suizhou was outmaneuvered by Xia Xiaolan.
It was like the Jinsha Pool land – when Xia Xiaolan dug gold from garbage, Tang Yuanyue offered 14 million to buy that land.
The land price jumped from 2.78 million to 14 million. If Xia Xiaolan hadn’t wanted a long-term business, selling the land directly would have earned more than developing it herself.
Similarly, Zhu Suizhou could choose to sell the Erqi Square land.
Transferring from Chaoyang to Qihang, in less than a month, Xia Xiaolan was offering him a clean profit of $500,000.
If Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t sell for 14 million then, would Zhu Suizhou accept an extra $500,000?
If Zhu Suizhou were content with small profits, he’d surely take the money and leave.
But Zhu Suizhou was particularly ambitious.
After creating such a big stir, would he settle for just $500,000?
With Xia Xiaolan using his own words against him, Zhu Suizhou hesitated repeatedly before conceding: “President Xia, if everyone did business like you, it wouldn’t be good. However, since we’re becoming friends, I’ll be straightforward. I agree to value Building 45 at $500,000. With your $2 million investment, my mall’s planned investment is 35 million yuan. At the current exchange rate, $2 million converts to 7.3 million yuan… You can have 17.25% of the mall shares. This is my best offer!”
730/(3500+730)≈0.1725 – had Zhu Suizhou calculated this mentally, or planned it?
Xia Xiaolan couldn’t tell.
She just knew Zhu Suizhou was good at prioritizing.
First agreeing to value Building 45 at $500,000, then saying $2 million was worth 17.25% shares, made it hard for Xia Xiaolan to argue about the share percentage.
Zhu Suizhou appeared upright – treating $1.5 million as $2 million, what more could she want?
Actually, with $1.5 million in foreign exchange, Zhu Suizhou could do things even 10 million yuan couldn’t accomplish.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t bother arguing about these details:
“17.25% is too little. I won’t ask for much more, just make it an even 18%. That’s point one. Point two, I want to know who the other shareholders are. I hear your funding sources are a bit messy.”
Chaoyang Real Estate was a shell company.
Zhu Suizhou had borrowed 20 million yuan from banks!
About 10 million came from private capital.
The remaining 5 million probably wasn’t his either.
Though capable, Zhu Suizhou came from an ordinary background. Having quit his government job just months ago, even with magic he couldn’t have earned 5 million so quickly – not that the great boss couldn’t earn such money, ordinary people couldn’t compare, but if Zhu Suizhou had earned it legitimately, Zhou Cheng would have found out.
They just couldn’t trace where this 5 million came from, including how Chaoyang Real Estate suddenly existed!
Zhu Suizhou understood Xia Xiaolan’s concerns:
“President Xia, you misunderstand. The mall now has only two shareholders. Worried about my funding sources? No need – those are my debts. Whether I repay the bank or others won’t affect your interests.”
Xia Xiaolan was surprised: “You borrowed money in Chaoyang Real Estate’s name?”
She had thought Zhu Suizhou had staked the entire Asia Mall project, like when she had mortgaged Jinsha Pool’s land for loans. Without collateral, using Qihang’s name… please, would banks care about Qihang?
Xia Xiaolan’s gaze was meaningful.
Worthy of being the great boss.
He was indeed more impressive than a small fish like her. Even after rebirth, she wasn’t as bold as him.
This trick of getting something for nothing… he hadn’t paid any price and even gained a beautiful girlfriend. Sheng Xuan being with Zhu Suizhou wasn’t to his disadvantage.
But Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t fall for this:
“Then it’s best to write in the investment terms that if you can’t repay bank loans, it won’t affect my 18% shares.”
Before Zhu Suizhou’s downfall, Xia Xiaolan should have successfully escaped, but it was better to be prepared. She felt clearer contracts were better. The more written constraints, the harder for Zhu Suizhou to play tricks and force her out – she would leave, but on her terms, actively rather than passively!