Chapter 45
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: Tata
The words of the anxious assistant echoed in Xia Hao’s head as he continued to stand in the same place, speechless.
He repeatedly said as he shook his head in disbelief, "Impossible... Impossible... How can such a large sum of money just disappear? How can it disappear without anyone on the board knowing about it? Impossible... Xiao Zhan must have tricked us..."
The assistant's voice trembled as he replied, "Young Master Xia, Director Liu and the others have already confirmed with the bank several times that all of this is true! There is not a single cent left in the account! The board is in a mess right now. The Vice President and the Director of Finance are already on their way to look for CEO Xia, and we need you to give us instructions here..."
Xia Hao tried his best to calm down and shouted, "Let me see the bank's response!"
The assistant immediately printed out the email from the bank and brought it over. Xia Hao grabbed it and anxiously focused on the paper— only to read, "The remaining balance of this account is 0. This account is linked to an operation with our bank, with an imputed amount of ¥14,704,371,869.34."
Xia Hao was astounded as he read the message. "Why is the balance zero?hy are they collecting more than 14 billion?! What does that mean?!"
The assistant's face froze as he experienced a wave of helplessness and fear. He could not help but think how ignorant Xia Hao was despite having been the General Manager for so many years. "Young Master Xia, the money in the company's account has probably been frozen by the bank because the mortgage has expired, or the funds may have been transferred to a linked account, which is linked in CEO Xia’s name!So CEO Xia is using the company's money illegally!"
Xia Hao fumbled to unlock his phone, and all the push notifications from his financial news apps reported the contents of the bank's response, with explosive headlines like "The bank's response revealed that 14 billion yuan of cash is unaccounted for; the majority of shareholders are suspected of embezzling the property of the listed company".
Xia Hao's hand shook. His expression was blank as if all of his strength had been drained from him.
It was over. It was all over.
The news that the main shareholders of Bo Da Materials were suspected of embezzling the listed company's property, illegal asset transfer, financial fraud, and illegal mortgage shook the entire market.
For a while, the phones of many of the major finance companies and their managers were flooded with calls from customers who wanted to know if what they had purchased had been affected.
Lu Chuiqing's colleagues discussed the matter all afternoon. The Internet was flooded with financial news reports about the same case. Even the Stock Exchange Centre tried to call Bo Da Materials countless times to question them.
Nobody would believe that 140 billion in cash just vanished into thin air, especially the institutional and individual investors who had invested heavily in Bo Da Materials that year. They were shocked and confused by the sudden news. It was as if it had started as a small flame that spread inconspicuously overnight, burning down all the houses.
Lu Chuiqing sighed deeply. Although he had witnessed this event before, he was still in disbelief despite being closer to the centre of the vortex.
The exchange will certainly start with investigating Bo Da Materials for financial fraud. At this point, with the broken capital chain exposed and the cash missing, there was no way for Xia Yuanbo to recover from this situation.
Bo Da Materials had not responded to any of the stock exchange's interrogations; they were probably worried about the situation. Lu Chuiqing speculated that Bo Da Materials might blame Xia Yuanbo in order to salvage the company's ruined reputation.
As Lu Chuiqing expected, the board members of Bo Da Materials held a discussion. They declared that there was indeed a possibility of improper use of funds by the major shareholders. They stated that they would investigate the case on their own.
Xia Hao did not attend the emergency board meeting this time. When he got wind of it, he immediately went to see Director Liu, extremely worried: "Director Liu! You can't just put the blame on my dad!"
Director Liu appeared tired and haggard as if he hadn't slept all day. He looked at Xia Hao, who had just burst into his office and sighed deeply, "Young Master Xia, we were forced to make this decision. Now that the company is in the spotlight, there is no way we can save the stock price. Since the exchange has asked another company to check our financial reports, we don't even know what will happen. I have been getting calls all afternoon. They are all from the directors who have bought our shares. They are absolutely furious. At this point, it's best that we don't hide it any more."
Xia Hao shouted angrily, "What do you mean by hide? There's no evidence that my father took the company's money for personal use! What if he was tricked by others? What if we're being tricked by Xiao Zhan? And here you are, trying to pin the blame on my father so quickly without doing a thorough investigation! Don't you remember how my father looked after you the last time? Is this how you show your gratitude to my family?"
"Manager Xia!" Director Liu exclaimed. He changed the way he addressed him, as if he wanted to remind Xia Hao that he was still the General Manager and needed to consider how the company should move forward in the future. "We need to talk about this matter alone. Whether Director Xia has used the company's funds and falsified reports, or taken out a mortgage that does not comply with the law; it is all illegal! None of us on the board knew about it, and we've always believed in him, but he could just betray our trust and not care!”
For a second, Xia Hao was stunned before muttering, "What about my father...?"
"Director Xia should have thought about the consequences before doing what he did. The company isn't just his, so it's only expected that he should be held accountable for what he's done! Do you think it's fair for him to drag the entire company down with him?!”Director Liu paused. "Besides, Director Xia agreed with our decision, so there's no need to insist."
"What exactly did you say? My father agreed?!" Fear was written all over Xia Hao's face. He couldn't help but shout, "Where is my father now? Let me see him!"
"Director Xia has already gone home." Director Liu gave him a long look and said meaningfully. "Young Master Xia, you must have been shocked by today's event. You should go back to rest."
Xia Hao didn’t have time to think about it and left the company straight for his home.
Xiao Hao could hear his mother sobbing as soon as he entered the house. He wasn't sure when his older sister, Xia Xuanrou, had returned, but she was sitting next to their mother, gently comforting her. Like everyone else's, her make-up-free face was filled with anxiety and worry.
Xia Hao had no time to talk to them. He ran up the stairs and went straight to his father's study. Xia Hao pushed open the door without knocking to find a full smoking tray on the tea table and Xia Yuanbo on the sofa.
The stubble on Xia Yuanbo's face was obvious; his eyes were sunken, with a pair of very noticeable dark circles underneath. He sat with a hunched back and appeared to have aged ten years in a single night.
"Dad!" Xia Hao shouted uncontrollably. "How could you agree to let Director Liu and the others publish such a statement? They are pushing you over the edge! And why did the money disappear from the company's bank account? Dad, how can you be in so much debt? Please explain!"
"Shut up!" Xia Yuanbo roared in anger before taking another swig of his cigar. His expression was becoming a bit dazed again for a while, "There have been problems with the company's funding chain for two years now. I've tried to raise funds... mortgage loans... borrowing money... That didn't get to the root of the problem."
"How is this possible? The company was doing well, how can it be... Dad, have you been tricked by anyone?! Also, why didn't you tell me when Xiao Zhan sold all the shares right before we broke the contract? He must have had something to do with it!"
"And what would be the point of me telling you?! You always think you're all that, but do you think anyone would take you seriously without me?" Xia Yuanbo was enraged. He pointed his finger directly at Xia Hao, "Xia Hao. You're my son. I'd rather you be cunning and hide it from me than hide behind my back and have no backbone! Why did I allow the board to publish that statement, you asked? It was obviously to save what was left of the company! The reason I sacrificed myself to do all this was to make sure the company continued! The company means everything to me. How can I leave something I've spent half my life building to you? You're just a good-for-nothing. I'm too disappointed in you!"
Xia Hao stood stunned; his father's words hovering in his mind and felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
Xia Yuanbo shouted—his face flushed and his breath ragged—, finally threw himself heavily onto the sofa and said hoarsely. "Call your mother and sister. I have something to tell them."
About half a month later, another accounting firm announced the results of its audit of Bo Da Materials' financial reports, indicating that Bo Da Materials was suspected of repeatedly using forged contracts from subsidiaries to inflate profits. It was also found that Shuo Zheng Accounting Firm had failed to provide proper audit results and was suspected of being complicit in the falsification.
Over the past twenty days, Bo Da Materials' share price has fallen more than a dozen times, from around RMB 20 to around RMB 5.
Shortly thereafter, Xia Yuanbo, the actual perpetrator, was removed from his position and placed under investigation for allegedly embezzling the property of the listed company and authorising the accounting firm to commit financial fraud, with a prison sentence awaiting him once all the evidence was confirmed. At the same time, the Shuo Zheng Accounting Firm was suspended and placed under investigation, and Su Rende, a senior manager of the firm who worked with Xia Yuanbo, was also suspended for further investigation.
In mid-December, Xiao Zhan bought back 0.1% of the shares for RMB 5.20. This buyback by Xiao Zhan resulted in the share price of Bo Da Materials finally crossing the red line for the first time in many days.
Shortly after Xiao Zhan bought back the shares, Xia Yuanbo was arrested, and Boda Materials was suspended from trading indefinitely.
After deducting the commission and the buyback cost, the net profit from the short-selling scheme was more than 96 million. After the money was finally transferred to Xiao Zhan's account, Lu Chuiqing counted the zeros and could barely keep the corners of his mouth from turning up.
The chain of explosive news stories triggered by this incident came to an end at this point, and the market value of Bo Da Materials dropped by 90 billion.
The Xia family had lost their backbone and fallen overnight with huge debts. Who would have guessed that the upper-class family, which had thrown a lavish birthday party for the youngest son in September, could fall into such a state in such a short period of time?
All things in the capital market are no secret, and it didn't take long for Xiao Zhan's bold bet of 100 million dollars on the short sale of Bo Da to spread throughout the circle.
Most people were impressed, saying that Mr Xiao had really seen through the situation and chosen the right time and place to do it; many were jealous as well, but had no choice but to look at their shares and sigh.
At this very moment, Xiao Zhan, the man at the centre of this maelstrom, is sitting comfortably on the sofa in his bedroom, watching with interest as Lu Chuiqing examines the details of the bank account and rolls around happily on the bed.
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