Chapter 42
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: Superclubs2
Within ten minutes, the news spread through the finance and banking industry. The organisations and investors who had always been bullish about the company were all astonished.
Putting aside those individual investors who only purchased a small amount, those organisations holding many bonds were all dumbfounded.
The official announcement by Bo Da Materials was that due to disputes over the product style arising from their sales contract with a machinery production company. The other party was overdue for payment, resulting in the company lacking sufficient cash to pay the interests of the bonds for the time being. They would be applying for deference per the regulations.
Bo Da deliberately chose to publish the announcement during the weekend, most likely to give the investors a bit more time to think through and recover. They did not want the stock prices during the weekdays to be affected; they might even be able to adopt some measures to save the market.
Except, the company itself must have known that once the announcement was published, it was not a matter of whether the stock prices would drop but would be a problem of how much they would fall. They had maintained an upward trend for nearly half a year, but the end was almost decided.
Lu Chuiqing was in a splendid mood. He was initially still a bit worried, afraid that the butterfly effects would cause a significant change. However, judging from the situation, it seemed like certain things we predetermined by fate.
Lu Chuiqing was excited, "Let's see how much they'll drop on Monday."
Lu Chuiqing's eyes were shining with excitement, not at all hiding his anticipation for the opening of tomorrow's market. Looking at such a Lu Chuiqing, Xiao Zhan wrapped his arms around his waist and said, "You never told me why you were so sure they would break their contract."
Lu Chuiqing's eyes drifted. He was afraid Xiao Zhan would ask him about this. He could only answer vaguely, "Didn't I say it before...? I got the information from an experienced senior in the industry."
"That senior of yours must be pretty good if he can obtain such inside information." Xiao Zhan said unhurriedly, "I wonder if he's interested in coming to my company instead?"
Lu Chuiqing, "I... never heard about his intentions of changing jobs."
"Then, how about you give me his contact details, and I'll talk to him?"
"Forget it..." Lu Chuiqing rubbed his nose and slipped away from Xiao Zhan's embrace as he changed the conversation topic, "Auntie is not here today, right? Then, I'll cook for lunch. Let's go grocery shopping!"
And with that, Lu Chuiqing quickly put on his clothes and ran to the shower room as he mumbled happily, "I gotta watch the market tomorrow at nine-thirty sharp."
Xiao Zhan remained seated on the bed, unable to restrain a smile as he watched. He picked up the clothes he usually wore at home that were thrown at the end of the sofa bed and put them on casually. It was then when the phone on the bedside table suddenly rang.
Xiao Zhan glanced at his phone, only to see a string of unfamiliar numbers. He had some idea of who it might be despite the unknown number. He picked up the phone and, as expected, it was Su Weiyu.
Su Weiyu was direct, "Xiao Zhan, I saw the news about Bo Da Materials breaking their contract. Have you sold all the stocks you owned?"
"Are you really not involved in this?"
There was a mixture of disbelief and doubt. He did not really believe it when he heard from Lu Chuiqing about how Bo Da would break their contract. He decided to observe on the sideline because he wanted to know just how capable Lu Chuiqing was, especially given how much he meant to Xiao Zhan.
He did not expect Lu Chuiqing to be right in the situation.
"Xiao Zhan, are you listening?" Realising that he was not getting an answer from Xiao Zhan, Su Weiyu frowned and asked as his voice sank, "Where did Lu Chuiqing get the inside information from? It's not a joke if he actually has contacts in Bo Da or Shuo Zheng! How can a researcher have such connections?! You should consider if he is..."
What Su Weiyu did not realise was that Xiao Zhan had already put the phone beside Lu Chuiqing's ear the second he began asking his second question.
Lu Chuiqing had just finished washing his face when Xiao Zhan suddenly walked in with the phone. Xiao Zhan embraced him and placed the phone beside his ear without a single word.
Lu Chuiqing interrupted Su Weiyu, unhappy, "If I am what? If I'm a spy from another company? Are you delusional?"
Su Weiyu from the other side of the line paused, clearly surprised. He paused for a second before he laughed coldly, "I see that you're answering Xiao Zhan's phone directly now. Aren't you being too controlling?"
Lu Chuiqing said, "So what if I picked up his phone? How is that your business?"
Lu Chuiqing's hands were still wet. However, Xiao Zhan did not find it troublesome at all and even took the initiative to hold up the phone for him while the other arm went around his waist. He bent his waist slightly to rest his head on Lu Chuiqing's shoulder, his expression filled with interest as he listened to Lu Chuiqing speaking on the phone.
Su Weiyu said, "Where did you get such inside information?"
"Sorry, but I don't want to answer this question." Lu Chuiqing answered, "Now that you have seen the result, you can choose to continue to watch on or to collaborate with your father to grasp the evidence of falsification that you mentioned before to bring down Xia Yuanbo and Xia Hao. It's your choice, as long as it does not involve Xiao Zhan. That's all I want to say, goodbye."
And with that, Lu Chuiqing turned his head away, clearly refusing to continue the conversation. Xiao Zhan helped him hang up the phone and put the phone on the side before he began washing up himself.
Lu Chuiqing wiped his face with a towel while watching Xiao Zhan's side profile. He fell silent for a while before he could not help but say, "Xiao Zhan, I seriously didn't want to be too controlling. I don't really need to know who you're having a call with every single time... Will you feel as if you don't have your private space?"
"Not at all."
"...But people like Qiu Nai and Su Weiyu, who had a history with you, are the exceptions!"
Xiao Zhan raised his hand and ruffled Lu Chuiqing's hair, "When do you think is the best time to buy back Bo Da's shares?"
"When the price could not go any lower, of course!" Lu Chuiqing answered without hesitation, "The price will not be the lowest tomorrow. With them breaking their contract, the market will be more alert against them, so their cash flow will most definitely attract some eyes. Their prices will fall drastically when their supervisory board begins questioning them about their bank deposits."
Just as Lu Chuiqing predicted, Bo Da's stock prices fell continuously for two days. Along with the company's statements about guaranteed repayment and details of the contract, the price drop only gradually stabilised on the third day. When the market finally closed, the price drop stabilised at about eight per cent.
This price drop was still far from Lu Chuiqing's expectations. Bo Da Materials' crisis had only just begun. All he had to do was to wait and see what happened.
And at this very moment, a board meeting had just finished in a conference room at the headquarters of Bo Da Materials.
The company had many consecutive meetings recently. The supervisory board was aggressive, requesting the company to self-investigate. The board of directors had to appease the supervisory board and keep an eye on the stock market simultaneously, so they were swamped.
The payment deadline of one of Bo Da's downstream clients was approaching. Once they receive the payment, they will be able to pay the financing and interest this time.
The company intends to undergo a significant restructuring and acquisition in the first half of next year, and most of the cash was stored in the company's account at Feng Hui Bank. The company had also signed a safeguard agreement with the bank, making it clear that the purpose of the cash was only for acquisitions. If they decided to use the money for any other purposes, the application procedures to do so would be more troublesome. As such, the Chairman affirmed that cash stored in the bank would not be moved for the time being.
After the meeting, the board of directors left the conference room one after another. Xia Yuanbo remained seated at the chief seat, his fingers clutching a cigarette. The ashtray on the conference table in front of him was already stuffed with cigarette butts.
Xia Hao walked to the door and looked back at Xia Yuanbo. His dad had been particularly haggard these two days, his demeanour was always tinged with exhaustion, and the beard on his face looked as if it had not been shaved in days.
Xia Hao could not help but say, "Dad, there's no need to be so discouraged. Didn't Director Liu say just now? That it'll be fine as long as we get the payment. That's the stock market for you. Whatever those investors and organisations say will affect the market, regardless. As soon as we get the bond redemption, everything will get back in order."
Xia Yuanbo's expression dimmed. He lifted his head and stared at his son, a hint of malice in his eyes. He took a puff of his cigarette and thought silently to himself about how he had yet to tell Xia Hao about Xiao Zhan selling their company's shares. The other directors probably thought that Xiao Hao already knew, so they did not mention anything to him too. Given his son's personality, he would have already made a scene if he had known of the news.
His son had been the general manager of the company for several years, and yet, there were no outstanding contributions from him thus far. He probably thought that due to his identity, no one dared to criticise him. Therefore, many complex things that needed brain power were all thrown to the other vice-manager and assistants.
The company had come so far, and Xia Yuanbo was there from the start. He started off being conscientious and gradually became ambitious later on. He was desperate enough to make risky decisions and even done things he should not have, leaving a footstep each time. There was no way back for him anymore.
The capital chain has had problems since a long time ago. It was not the first time Xia Yuanbo had concealed these problems from the members of the board of directors and supervisory boards by asking his trusted secretary and Su Weide to tamper with the fake contracts and financial reports while he tried to get financial resources from all everywhere he could, pledging equity, as well as used much of his personal funds to maintain the company's seemingly prosperous image.
This time, only one customer failed to pay on time, and the company was already struggling to pay the two billion dollars (RMB) of debt. It would not be a surprise if the market already had an idea of what was happening behind the scene.
Not to mention how a person like Xiao Zhan chose to sell all the company's shares on Friday. It made everyone else think about the reason behind his decisions; had he known about the company's problems regarding its capital? Or could he have even prepared a short-sell report?
Xia Yuanbo was still unsure whether Xiao Zhan had already bought the shares at a low price and sold them at a high price or did he intended to short-sell his company. The thought of him already having a piece of paper; merely a scrap of paper if unpublished, but worth tens of billions of dollars if published as a short-selling reportー
Xia Yuanbo's palms broke out in cold sweat; a chill went down his spine. He did not even notice when the cigarette ash fell on his finger.
He had thought it through a long time ago. If all of these were revealed and it did fall apart in the end, he would give his everything to protect his son, or at least let Xia Hao sit on his positionー only, Xia Yuanbo was disheartened and despondent. Given his son's capabilities, was he worth his final, desperate bet worth decades of hard work?
Seeing that Xia Yuanbo was not speaking, Xia Hao frowned and said, "Dad, stop looking so miserable. You might as well go and rush Director Liu-"
Xia Yuanbo jerked out his hand and grabbed the ashtray, smashing it heavily onto the wooden conference table.
With a loud bang, most of the ashes spilt from the ashtray, giving Xia Hao a shock and making him stop mid-sentence abruptly.
Xia Yuanbo said gloomily, "Go and tell my secretary to call Su Rende. Tell him to come and see me!"
Xia Hao felt resentful. He was uncomfortable with how his father ordered him around as if he were an ordinary, small employee. Since his father was obviously still angry, he did not dare to say anything more; he could only push the door open and leave.
Xia Hao did not know that at the moment he stepped out of the door, his position in his father's heart, who had always been partial to him, had changed. The change was accummulated over time, a qualitative change which could not be undone.
What was even more unexpected for him was that the whole company was about to face a major change a few days later.
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Author’s note:
Don’t worry everyone, this novel is actually very sweet. This is only a sweet reincarnation love story where the characters earns loads of money! Although it’s not clear… but it really isn’t going to be heartbreaking!!
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Translator’s note:
The chapters are just getting longer and longer… T-T
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEEEEEE.
Love the translation, because its one of the best i've seen in a while. Please don't drop this novel, Sleepy! Im dying for more updates! uwu
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your patience and support! I'm getting really busy with irl, so I'm extremely slow with my updates, but I'll not drop the novel! <3
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