Chapter 972
Envy and Encirclement
Trying to cause trouble?
Okay, no problem, I'll cooperate. Let's make this even bigger.
Lu Yang's response was that simple and brutal.
Of course, the price is also high.
The entire Little Genius factory is facing a complete shutdown, but for Lu Yang, the cost is actually the smallest.
First of all.
There are not many frontline workers.
Fewer than 3000 people.
Secondly, products manufactured on factory assembly lines, such as Xiaotiancai VCD players, Xiaotiancai learning machines, Xiaotiancai repeaters, Xiaotiancai computers, etc.
Meal replacements can be found within the group.
The same production line, the same spare parts, the same product categories—anything that Xiaotiancai has, you can find at Xiaoshentong.
Besides the logo label!
Even if necessary, if a retailer only recognizes the three characters "小天才" (Little Genius), it's not impossible to put it on.
As it happens, the two companies have now undergone asset restructuring and are essentially the same company.
This approach avoids any trademark ownership disputes.
So besides these, what other losses were incurred?
Have!
The issue of factory workers' wages during factory shutdowns and production stoppages.
Lu Yang has promised that even if work and production are suspended, the wages of these frontline workers will be paid according to the previous wage standards.
How many exactly?
In fact, the person in charge of Xiaotiancai (a children's online learning platform) has already submitted a report on this matter.
Three thousand people.
The average daily wage is approximately 35 yuan.
If work is suspended for one day, the workers will receive approximately 10 yuan in back wages without compensation. If this continues for a month, the maximum amount would be around 300 million yuan.
This sum of money is not insignificant for local businesses that are struggling or even operating at a loss; for some, it could be the final straw that breaks the camel's back.
But for the young genius, even if Lu Yang doesn't make a promise on behalf of the group headquarters that the group headquarters will advance the money, the group headquarters will still be responsible for the financial burden.
Even after the asset restructuring, Century Electronics, a once-powerful Chinese listed company that had been listed on NASDAQ, is still bigger than a starving camel. Now that it has been delisted and privatized, it would be a piece of cake for them to bear this expense.
No, it's not even a drop of water.
The newly appointed Director Liu asked Meng Wenxian, a retired principal, to pass on a message to Lu Yang, giving him a choice between two options: either abandon the existing asset restructuring plan or use Xiaotiancai as the main entity to complete the asset restructuring. The restructured Century Electronics must be registered in Baoqing City.
They didn't even bother to ask around.
That's just overthinking it.
They don't even consider that the difference between "Little Prodigy" and "Little Genius" is more than ten or a hundred times greater, no matter which aspect you compare them in.
Is the asset restructuring being carried out with Xiaotiancai as the main entity?
What do you think?
Is it an attempt to swallow an elephant whole with a snake?
Unless Lu Yang is out of his mind, there's no way he would agree to such a fantastical request.
"This Director Liu has some nice ideas, but he's ugly. Is he waiting for you to back down so he can continue to pressure you, preferably forcing you to give up some of your shares in your newly formed Century Electronics? As for a pretext, it's easy to find one. Just borrow the name of the local government, or use land use rights as shares, or use a forced sale to acquire shares. In short, once you back down, you'll have to back down again. Damn it, I know this trick well."
Three days later, Mu Qizhong came to visit and heard about the matter.
He immediately slammed his fist on the table and berated the man surnamed Liu.
It’s over.
He then expressed his willingness to help, saying, "Brother, I heard that the situation has escalated. In addition to the factories in your hometown city that have stopped production, even your former stronghold in Zhaoxian County has not been spared. It's not just the electronics factories that have been affected; even garment factories have been dragged in. These are labor-intensive industries. Once they stop production, it won't just affect a few thousand people, not including their families, but also the surrounding supporting businesses, such as zipper factories, washing plants, fabric factories, thread factories... So many factories, won't they all suffer along with us?"
Mu Qizhong stared into Lu Yang's eyes, trying to discern something from them!
It's a pity Lu Yang hid it so well!
After he finished speaking, he just smiled slightly and said, "Brother, your information is indeed very accurate. Is it possible that the temporary shutdown of my garment factory has affected a batch of foreign trade orders of your foreign trade company? If that's the case, I apologize to you in advance."
Ever since the Canton Fair, Lu Yang deliberately tried to get close to Mu Qizhong.
The two hit it off immediately.
This also allowed Lu Yang's clothing factory to join Mu Qizhong's plan to exchange living supplies for large aircraft.
Mu Qizhong is eating meat!
Lu Yang also got to drink the soup!
Later, although the plan to switch planes was completely shelved after that one time due to the collapse of the northern big brother, the cooperation between the companies under both sides did not end there.
However, as Lu Yang's business grew bigger and bigger, the garment factory had long become the least noticeable of his many businesses. It was also the company for which he first decided on a successor. As early as 93, Lu Yang had completely resigned from all positions at Meister Apparel and handed over the position of general manager of the garment factory to his cousin, Lu Youren.
Before we knew it, it was already the new millennium, so naturally we weren't very clear about many of the business dealings that had taken place.
Mu Qizhong is the sole controlling shareholder of Nande Group.
If this old guy wanted to investigate, he could find out everything about the trade between his foreign trade company and Lu Yang's clothing factory with just one phone call.
at this time,
As soon as Mu Qizhong finished speaking, Lu Yang apologized to him.
He immediately waved his hand.
With a grin, he said, "Brother, I'm not here today to hear your apology. I'm here with sincerity. I can assure you that the orders for your garment factory will not be affected by this shutdown. In the short term, I will try to stabilize the orders and prevent breach of contract. As for the long term, even if it involves breach of contract penalties, as long as it's handled by my Nande Group, my Nande Group will accept it."
"However..."
His eyes darted around.
Lu Yang knew very well that he had more to say; after all, there's no such thing as a free lunch, and golden pies don't just fall from the sky.
"Just tell me your purpose. We're old friends, so let's skip the beating around the bush, shall we?"
Lu Yang crossed his legs, squinted, and stared at Mu Qizhong across the office, looking him up and down with a half-smile.
He had a vague idea of what the other party was planning. Mu Qizhong chuckled, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you, brother. Not bad, I've also got my eye on Century Electronics' shares. But let's be clear, I'm not taking advantage of their misfortune."
He shouted, "Brother, you already owe me, and I'm not asking for much. I'll take whatever you're willing to give, no questions asked. I just want a chance to invest. Brother Lu, you won't refuse me this favor, will you?"
He's right!
He played a part in the asset restructuring of Century Electronics.
The reason is the privatization and delisting of Little Prodigy. During this period, Lu Yang promised him, a board member shareholder of Little Prodigy, that he would acquire less than 7.8% of Little Prodigy's shares at the market price agreed upon in the secret agreement.
Lu Yang has only paid him a portion of this money so far.
There are still less than 70% of the outstanding payments, totaling approximately US$2.5 million.
Mu Qizhong dared to come to his door and make such an impolite request, and that's where his confidence came from.
Lu Yang pondered for a moment.
His fingers tapped unconsciously on the desk for a long time before he said, "It's not impossible, but let me be clear, the most shares I can give you are expected to be no more than 5% of the total share capital. Moreover, even if you want to take that 5%, you will need to raise additional funds. Your mere 2.5 million US dollars is far from enough. You need to think it through."
The establishment of Century Electronics and its asset restructuring path are clearly traceable.
It includes the original Little Prodigy, Little Genius, and Wan Yan Electronics, three technology companies that operate VCD, DVD and other related electronic products.
But this is definitely not 1+1+1=3.
In Lu Yang's plan and vision, the answer should be 1+1+1=infinity.
First, by combining the resources of the three companies, subsequent R&D investment can be more focused, eliminating duplication and waste. Moreover, the R&D personnel in the original product laboratories of the three companies have now been selected through a process of natural selection, and those who remain are the elite of the elite who are willing to work hard and bury themselves in research. Now that they are gathered together and working together day and night, there is every reason to believe that they will create even more brilliant sparks.
For example, Jiang Wanmeng, who ventured to North America alone, met Sun Yansheng, and their passionate one-night stand led to the creation of the VCD, a revolutionary playback device.
Take Champion Brother for example. Back then, this kid was able to scavenge parts from garbage dumps and, under such difficult conditions, piece together radios, televisions, and CD players from all over the world, which shows his talent and ability.
Now they are all working together, and they have academicians like Liu Guangnan from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering to provide guidance.
What reason did Lu Yang have not to believe that they wouldn't give him a satisfactory answer?
Closer to home!
According to Lu Yang's own estimate, the amount was 2.5 million US dollars.
At most, they could only hold less than 2.5% of the shares in the newly established Century Electronics.
This is only because we're friends.
Otherwise, he wouldn't sell to anyone else, no matter how much money they offered.
At least for now, we won't sell.
Mu Qizhong lowered his head and pondered for a moment before raising his head to look at Lu Yang and saying, "How about I go and raise another 10 billion RMB for you, brother?"
10 billion RMB, converted to US dollars, is roughly less than 1.3 million USD at the current exchange rate, which is still quite a distance from Lu Yang's target of adding another 2 million USD to complete the transaction.
Lu Yang frowned, hesitating slightly, and said, "To be honest, I'm still not quite satisfied. However, you're one of us, and you've promised to help me resolve the production stoppage at Fumeister Clothing, try your best to prevent the loss of existing orders, and even cover the breach of contract penalties. If I still stubbornly refuse to budge, it would make me seem petty."
In the expectant gaze of Mu Qizhong across from him.
Lu Yang smiled and said, "Well then, in principle, I agree to your investment, but it will have to wait until this incident is over and all the troubles are completely resolved."
Mu Qizhong was overjoyed: "Yes, yes, I'll listen to you, brother. I'll go back right now and find my old connections to help you get revenge. What a piece of trash, acting like a big shot. He's just a small local bureau chief, yet he acts like he has the power to command. Just wait, brother, I guarantee you'll hear good news in no more than three days."
Lu Yang remained noncommittal, smiled, got up, and escorted her to the door, instructing his secretary, Lu Nini, who was guarding the door, to help deliver it.
"Brother, it's settled then. I'll be waiting for your good news."
Before leaving.
Lu Yang shook hands with Mu Qizhong and did not refuse the other party's kind offer.
Although he had already placed a heavy bet and used some shady methods, it seems that the other party is still gritting their teeth and holding on, refusing to back down!
Well, as the saying goes, if you don't kill a snake, it will cause endless trouble later!
That being the case...
Then we should use multiple methods to completely subdue the opponent and ensure they can never recover.
Lu Wang walked back to his office, closed the door, pondered for a moment, and then took out his phone.
He made the call to Xu Changping.
The other party had served as the vice mayor in charge of the economy for many years in Baoqing City, a prefecture-level city.
Now, he holds an even higher position as a leader of a prefecture-level city in a provincial capital, where he oversees daily work within the municipal party committee.
With this identity as a support, there's no issue of being forgotten once someone leaves.
Some of the old connections from back then can still be useful today.
"Hello Uncle Xu, I am Lu Yang."
"Well, I have something I'd like to report to you. Is now a convenient time for you to listen?"
"..."
Lu Yang and Xu Changping are old friends.
The two sides used to get along even better than they do now, but now there is Xu Siqi between them. She is Lu Yang's woman and also his biological daughter.
Now they even have children.
Lu Yang also tried calling the other party "Dad", but was rejected, saying that they should call each other by their own names to avoid being overheard by some people and affecting each other's future.
"...That's how it is!"
“Uncle Xu, it’s not that I want to argue with this Liu guy, but he’s really gone too far. If I give him some leeway, he might continue to run his dye shop, and then it will be even more troublesome to deal with.”
"Moreover, to be honest, Uncle Xu, I'm also worried that if I back down this time, even more sharks that smell blood will pounce on me. At that time, no matter how thick the blood of my Century Group is, it will be sucked dry and skinned alive."
"Yes, I understand, Uncle Xu. Thank you, Uncle Xu. I'll wait for your good news."
Now, because of this one sentence from someone surnamed Liu, more than 5000 frontline workers in the city and county have lost their jobs and could lose them at any time (if Lu Yang wants to). Such a mess is left here.
If this isn't resolved in a day!
The man surnamed Liu won't be getting away for a single day.
I'm afraid they're living in constant fear right now, aren't they? (End of Chapter)