Shameless!
Capital ‘SHAMELESS’, lowercase ‘shameless’, and even in English – ‘SHAMELESS’!
Lu Guangfu didn’t want to dwell on how many ways there were to write the character “hui” in “huixiangdou” (fennel beans), but he could think of numerous ways to write “shameless” – all of which he wanted to stamp on Xia Xiaolan’s forehead.
The negotiations between the Lu family and Xia Xiaolan had reached an impasse.
Xia Xiaolan seemed unhurried – the stock market crash wasn’t over yet. Even if she bought Lu Family Media’s stocks, their price wouldn’t rise in this poor market environment.
When stock prices stayed low, people would sell.
The Lu family naturally wouldn’t buy back shares at a premium from small and medium investors. Xia Xiaolan welcomed all selling orders, whether they were for tens of thousands or just thousands of shares. Accumulating little by little, gathering hundreds of thousands of shares per day wasn’t challenging for her.
As Lu Guangfu remained unyielding, Xia Xiaolan’s position grew stronger by the day, and more brazen too.
With 25 million shares, she dared to offer a 2-dollar premium per share buyback and bid 200 million HKD for the South Harbor Financial Report.
With 26 million shares, the conditions changed to a 3-dollar premium per share buyback, and the acquisition offer for South Harbor Financial Report was reduced to 190 million HKD.
With 27 million shares… no, when Xia Xiaolan’s shareholding exceeded 27 million and approached 30 million shares, Lu Guangfu truly couldn’t maintain his composure. If this continued, he wouldn’t need to worry about buying back her shares at a premium or haggling over the South Harbor Financial Report’s price – Xia Xiaolan would have bought her way into becoming the major shareholder!
Lu Guangfu arranged his third meeting with Xia Xiaolan, not at a restaurant this time, but at the Lu Family newspaper office.
He showed Xia Xiaolan around the South Harbor Financial Report’s office building.
It was a separate three-story office building, owned by the Lu family and counted among South Harbor Financial Report’s fixed assets.
Xia Xiaolan eyed the building, secretly salivating.
This just proved that Hong Kong’s early wealthy had more foundation than she did, a newly crowned so-called “goddess of stocks.”
What a prime location, just for South Harbor Financial Report’s offices?
Once she bought the South Harbor Financial Report, she’d demolish and rebuild this place. As for South Harbor Financial Report, they could relocate – hadn’t she already bought other office spaces?
Ah, this was her uncontrollable occupational hazard.
Seeing buildings and wanting to demolish and rebuild them – she wasn’t sure if it was a developer’s affliction or an architect’s persistence.
“Ms. Xia, why South Harbor Financial Report is worth 400 million – just this building alone is worth tens of millions… Selling the paper for 180 million is impossible!”
Xia Xiaolan turned to look at him, nodding quite approvingly:
“That’s why I’m offering you 200 million. Without this building, South Harbor Financial Report isn’t worth even 100 million! Mr. Lu, I won’t haggle with you bit by bit anymore. My offer for the South Harbor Financial Report remains the same as initially, and I still want the Lu family to buy back my shares at a 2-dollar premium. I’m very sincere about closing this deal – let’s not waste time, let’s both be honest!”
Why did Xia Xiaolan suddenly lay all her cards on the table?
Lu Guangfu had prepared himself to be fleeced.
People could be so frustrated!
These were Xia Xiaolan’s initial terms, but Lu Guangfu had hoped to negotiate better conditions for the Lu family.
Over these days, as Xia Xiaolan accumulated more Lu Family Media shares, her terms became increasingly harsh. Lu Guangfu’s internal anger led him to take it out on his daughter Lu Yunshi, scolding her until she dared not return home.
Lu Guangfu had regarded Xia Xiaolan as an extremely tough bone to chew, preparing for a prolonged battle.
Unexpectedly, Xia Xiaolan suddenly reverted to her initial terms.
Given the contrast, her first proposal didn’t seem so harsh anymore.
Lu Guangfu’s expression fluctuated between light and dark.
“Why?”
Why not follow the standard negotiation playbook?
Lu Guangfu was thoroughly confused by Xia Xiaolan.
At this point, she had the upper hand, and given her demonstrated shrewdness, she should be calculating every cent with the Lu family, absolutely refusing to compromise-
“Mr. Lu, I just find this meaningless. I want to close this deal quickly and return to the mainland. Since October, I’ve been stationed in Hong Kong, not only unable to spend time with my family but also repeatedly postponing my wedding date.”
Xia Xiaolan raised her hand, deliberately showing off her engagement ring – though not large, it had an excellent luster.
“Mr. Lu, do you see? This unresolved deal is delaying my wedding!”
“…!”
Lu Guangfu’s mouth fell slightly open.
Somehow, he suddenly felt a headache coming on!
Perhaps he was getting old and couldn’t keep up with young people’s thinking anymore.
Lu Guangfu suddenly also found it all quite meaningless.
Xia Xiaolan’s actions made him once again marvel at her youth.
Comparing his children to Xia Xiaolan, Lu Guangfu felt a sudden pang of heartache.
Lu Yunshi was several years older than Xia Xiaolan but had achieved nothing, only knowing how to shop endlessly.
Should he continue haggling with Xia Xiaolan for the sake of such children?
Lu Guangfu inexplicably felt urgent too.
He wanted to quickly conclude this business deal, handle the Lu family’s crisis, and then take a long vacation.
Young people knew to put life before business – why was he making himself so exhausted?
“Ms. Xia, is it settled then?”
Oddly, when Ms. Xia had been pushing so hard, Lu Guangfu hadn’t budged an inch, but when she showed urgency, Lu Guangfu became… more agreeable?
Xia Xiaolan leaned against the cushion, her body wasn’t tired, but her spirit was exhausted.
But at least everything was wrapping up.
During this period, all matters were nearly settled!
“Because the Lu family couldn’t afford to drag things out either. When I was forceful, Lu Guangfu refused to lose face and wanted to secure better benefits for the Lu family. When I changed my attitude and gave him a way out, why wouldn’t he take it quickly? Did he want to get more intoxicated with each step up?”
Xia Xiaolan didn’t care either way.
If Lu Guangfu had refused to compromise, she would have simply set the matter aside and returned to the mainland first.
“200 million to acquire South Harbor Financial Report, buying back your 27.5 million shares at a 1.8-dollar premium – you’ve made 49 million from bottom-fishing Lu Family Media… Which means you only need to pay 150 million HKD out of pocket to buy the South Harbor Financial Report?”
You Li didn’t need to judge whether it was worth it or not – Director Xia never made losing deals.
Xia Xiaolan nodded.
She had ultimately compromised on the stock buyback premium.
If she had insisted on a 2-dollar premium per share, she could have negotiated it, earning an additional 5.5 million.
But what was the point?
It was delaying her return to marry Zhou Cheng!
Zhou Cheng had been waiting for her.
After some thought, Xia Xiaolan decided Zhou Cheng was more important than 5.5 million HKD and promptly reached a preliminary agreement with Lu Guangfu. Everything that followed went particularly smoothly – just following procedures, confirming clear property rights, and handling various formalities. In less than a week, South Harbor Financial Report came under Qihang Capital’s ownership, and Xia Xiaolan, as Qihang’s big boss, naturally became South Harbor Financial Report’s big boss as well.
The big boss Xia had no desire to show off her authority with speeches. After signing the agreement, she just wanted to return to the mainland immediately.
Before she could leave, news came that trouble had erupted with the Du family – after the second concubine returned unsuccessfully from the mainland again, she had gathered a group of media and gone to the hospital where Du Zhengrong was recuperating, demanding Du Zhaohui meet her. She threatened that if Du Zhaohui didn’t arrive within an hour, she would jump from the hospital roof-