"Your 3.5 wife is here," Taozi reminded me. "When did I get a 3.5 wife again?" Taozi continued sending brainwave signals: "Isn't that right? If you rank them by the order of intimacy, you already have three ahead of her.
This one is halfway through—what else would you call it but 3.5?" I was speechless... "Brother Zhao Qian, Brother Zhao Qian, ha, you really are here.
Little Raindrop guessed exactly right.
Looks like I owe her another favor." Xu Jing quietly asked me, "Is she your sister?" I didn't hide it from Xu Jing: "No, she's my girlfriend." "Ah," Xu Jing expressed great confusion, "Isn't Sister Xiao Rou from the hospital the other day your girlfriend?" "Both of them are," before I finished speaking, Fang Yanmeng had pounced forward. "Brother Zhao Qian, Sister Fangfang said you caught a ghost last night...
This older sister is so pretty! Is she your new girlfriend? Great, Brother Zhao Qian, you're in trouble.
I'm going home to tell the other sisters..." I clapped a hand over Fang Yanmeng's mouth: "Don't talk nonsense.
Call her Sister Jingjing.
This is Sister Xu Jing, the Financial Minister of our Iron Bull Tofu Company and Red Dragon Security.
Jingjing, this is Fang Yanmeng.
She acts like a child who never grew up all day long." Fang Yanmeng politely extended her small hand: "Nice to meet you, Sister Jingjing.
Don't listen to my Brother Zhao Qian talking nonsense; I'm starting my senior year this year, I'm not a kid." Xu Jing took an immediate liking to Fang Yanmeng's delicate charm, and Fang Yanmeng found Xu Jing's gentle beauty equally appealing.
The slight initial hostility vanished instantly.
Looking at the time—two-thirty—I needed to call the manager of the People's Shopping Procurement Department. "Manager Leng, this is Xiao Zhao from Iron Bull Tofu Company.
You remember me, right? I wanted to ask if the cooperation between our Iron Bull Tofu and your company can continue?" The manager on the line replied, "I think it will be difficult, CEO Zhao.
I wouldn't lie to a brother, but your product has significant quality issues.
Customer feedback has been extremely strong.
I have to cover my back." I countered, "Is that so, CEO Leng? Iron Bull Tofu products have a sanitary license.
What I heard was that you took a bribe from Golden Bull Tofu Company and removed our products from the shelves." "CEO Zhao, I don't appreciate you speaking to me like that.
You are the one seeking my favor now, not the other way around! Since you lack sincerity, there is no need for us to continue this discussion." The procurement department manager position was a lucrative one—not only did it involve kickbacks, but every supplier fawned over him; everyone tried to curry favor.
Back in the day, I had to exert considerable effort just to meet with Manager Leng to discuss business.
Manager Leng's attitude annoyed me greatly.
Did he think we were still the same people who were easily manipulated? So, before he hung up, I said, "Leng, listen carefully: have Yu Qinghai come to the company to see me at eight tomorrow morning.
Don't be late!" Slamming down the phone, Xu Jing advised me, "Big Brother Zhao, you should try to negotiate with him properly.
Acting on impulse is useless." I nearly slammed the desk: "Negotiate properly? He has absolutely no sincerity.
If that's the case, let's not waste any more effort.
Taozi! Bring out the acquisition plan.
When the US NASDAQ opens tonight, we'll take over his company!" "Got it, boss! I haven't had a chance to play around with a hostile takeover yet.
Let me check his stock quotes first," Taozi said, jumping onto the desk and fiddling with the computer.
Xu Jing broke out in a cold sweat: "Big Brother Zhao, the cat...
can that cat use a computer?" Fang Yanmeng was unfazed: "What's so strange about that? We've even eaten 'human' meat before.
Brother Zhao Qian, don't be angry.
Summer vacation is starting soon; do you have any plans? How about we go on a travel adventure?" I yawned: "Fine, let me explore in my dreams first.
I'm exhausted.
I have to pull an all-nighter tonight.
Let me find a place to sleep first." Fang Yanmeng knew I hadn't slept last night.
After exchanging a few words with me, she drove to the company herself.
Xu Jing led me to her room, and I slept soundly for the entire afternoon in her bed.
When I woke up in the evening, it was past seven.
After dinner, Li Tieniu, Xu Jing, and Taozi were all sitting in front of the computers waiting for the US stock market to open.
The other family members were cooling off in the yard. "Xiao Zhao, I am truly sorry for letting the company get into this situation," Li Tieniu apologized to me more than once. "Village Chief, don't be like that.
I already said this is an inevitable competition during the company's development.
We still have a long road ahead; you can't lose your fighting spirit." Truthfully, Li Tieniu had been full of confidence, but now he realized that enthusiasm alone wasn't enough in business; it involved conspiracies, tricks, and deceit.
The more the company developed, the fiercer the external struggles became.
The company's growth process was also a process of management growth.
Li Tieniu had benefited immensely from this incident.
Xu Jing asked hesitantly, "Big Brother Zhao, are we really going to acquire the People's Shopping chain? Its total capital exceeds 700 million.
How much operating capital will we need for this?" Although Xu Jing had seen the platinum card holding 100 million RMB in the National Bank, acquiring a company valued at 700 million RMB would be impossible without billions in capital.
I stated firmly: "We are going to acquire it, absolutely.
This isn't just me acting on impulse; it's because we genuinely need such a chain sales company in reality.
The prospects for bean products have always been limited.
We chose this industry initially because of financial constraints.
But things are different now.
If we have the ability to hunt a rabbit, why bother catching sparrows everywhere? Village Chief, you and Xu Jing need to put the Tofu Company's operations aside and quickly familiarize yourselves with the supermarket's operational model.
I can't spend all my time on this.
In the future, People's Shopping Chain will primarily rely on you two." Seeing that they were a little doubtful, I opened the bank account on my mobile phone network: "Taozi and I have prepared 1 billion US dollars to acquire this company valued at 700 million RMB.
Are we confident?" "1 billion US dollars!" Xu Jing exclaimed in shock, "That's over 7 billion RMB!" I patted Taozi's cat head: "Remember the 100 million RMB I deposited in the National Bank? This is all generated by that.
Of course, the main credit goes to our Comrade Taozi.
She worked late every night wrestling with those devils in the US and finally achieved a return of 10 billion US dollars, just as expected." "10 billion!" I said calmly, "Yes.
There are other accounts too.
You don't expect me to use that much money to acquire a company worth 700 million RMB, do you? It's not worth tapping into those big accounts." For over half a year, Taozi worked tirelessly every night, battling wits and courage against the US devils.
Relying on her forward intelligence, she finally accumulated the capital required to establish a financial investment company—a requirement I had set.
Li Tieniu said to Xu Jing, "I told you not to try to save money for Xiao Zhao.
Spend the money as it needs to be spent.
The main thing is to get the job done well, so Xiao Zhao doesn't have to worry and get burned up over our end." Xu Jing nodded.
The world's richest man might only have fifty billion in assets, some of which were non-liquid fixed assets.
But turning 100 million RMB into 10 billion US dollars in just over half a year—what kind of concept was that? It was unimaginable.
Comrade Tieniu will certainly be a good cadre in the future.
Even if there are minor setbacks in his work now, they are unavoidable.
Who can be flawless? Even the great Chairman Mao couldn't avoid them, let alone us.
(This younger brother doesn't understand stocks, so please just treat this part as entertainment and don't scrutinize the process.
Thank you.) "The market is open," Taozi notified me calmly. "How much should we put in first?" "Let's not be too hasty.
We should push the price up first to make those speculators reveal themselves, and then we can start acquiring a controlling stake.
I have something at 1:00.
Oh, and you must come with me; there might be a fierce battle tonight." "Do you need our help?" Xu Jing asked.
She was referring to the stock market; she couldn't know the exchange between me and Taozi. "That works too.
Use my phone.
Tomorrow, I'll have Zhu Da deliver two platinum limited edition network phones for you and the Village Chief.
It'll be much easier to stay in touch, and the internet access will be fast and convenient." Xu Jing took my phone and asked, holding the stylus, "How should I proceed?" "Keep submitting buy orders, pushing the price up according to the exchange's required increase." Backed by massive capital, the People's Shopping stock price surged all the way.
After dozens of transactions, the price was pushed up to 26 yuan in 10 minutes.
In the time that followed, more shareholders came online; seeing a chance to profit, they started selling People's Shopping, causing the price to accelerate like a speeding train. "It's already pushed up to 40 yuan, and we hold about thirty percent," Taozi reported to me. "Some greedy retail investors are still watching, but none of the major holders have moved." I ordered: "Sell! Sell hard! Ideally, smash the price down to one yuan per share!" Xu Jing cried out in distress, "How much money will we lose then?" I have money, but I don't have time.
Losing more or less doesn't matter.
What I value are the existing employees and sales network of People's Shopping.
Money, no matter how much, is just a pile of paper, but with the People's Shopping chain as a foundation, any future product can be radiated out through its sales network.
I said to Xu Jing, "It's fine.
Once we take over, you can help Big Brother Zhao earn it back." By 9:50 AM, the stock price had been smashed down to around 4 yuan by us.
This price was close to the par value, but it had broken the initial offering price of 6 yuan.
Many onlookers who had been waiting were now green with regret.
Some who couldn't bear it started banging their heads against the wall, muttering that if heaven gave them another chance, they would definitely say, 'Sell! Anyone who doesn't sell is a grandson!' During this period, a small amount of capital tried to support the market, but after several tug-of-war rounds, that fund rapidly shrank to nothing, sinking into the sea without creating a ripple.
Some investors saw the intention behind the manipulation; they knew this sell-off was just preparation for the next round of buying.
They believed that if they endured, the chance to get rich would eventually come.
I told Taozi and Xu Jing: "Hold the price at 4 yuan until 10:40 AM.
Then, Taozi, you release the news through the internal contacts you made in the stock market.
Start sweeping up shares at 10:45 AM—take everything you can.
Officially end at 11:00 AM.
Those who can manage to sell in time will make a profit; those who can't will be stuck with them." Most people buying this stock were citizens of Great Dragon Country; they usually bought when prices rose and sold when prices fell—which is why many people lose everything in the stock market: they are afraid to buy when the price drops, and afraid to sell too early when the price goes up.
We started sweeping up shares exactly at 10:45 AM.
Several test buy orders placed at high prices were all eaten up by us.
Then, record-high prices were broken again and again.
The shareholders who had been banging their heads against the wall pushed the price up rapidly.
Many who received inside information sold frantically, just wanting to break even if they couldn't profit.
At 10:48 AM, a large sell order unexpectedly appeared, offering 65 yuan per share.
Taozi bought it without hesitation.
At 10:49 AM, another large sell order appeared, offering 70 yuan.
But after calculation, factoring in the large buy order just placed, our holdings already absolutely exceeded fifty percent.
We didn't need this order; I wasn't going to waste money unnecessarily.
The acquisition was successfully completed.
Tomorrow would be another fine day; we just had to wait to see what Yu Qinghai had to say.
That night, Yu Qinghai was entertaining the Mayor's secretary when a sudden phone call startled him into a sweat. "What! Someone is maliciously driving up our stock price! Impossible! Foreigners wouldn't even look at a small company like ours.
Besides, what use would acquiring People's Shopping be to them? Compared to those giants, our small stake is nothing." That's what he said, but the stock price had genuinely risen.
In the first 10 minutes of trading, it had already shot up to 26 yuan per share.
Yu Qinghai certainly knew what that implied: once a falsely inflated price dropped, even an immortal couldn't save it without strong capital to support the market.
Yu Qinghai lost interest in continuing the entertainment, apologized hastily to the Mayor's secretary, prepaid all the bills for the evening, and rushed back to the company to convene an emergency shareholder meeting. "Everyone, according to our agent in the US stock market, a powerful fund is maliciously speculating on our company.
In the first 10 minutes of trading, our stock price was pulled up to 26 yuan per share.
Statistics show that thirty percent of the retail shares have fallen into the opponent's hands.
We must take action to defend our company.
I implore everyone to hold tight to your shares at this critical moment to ensure the board's absolute controlling stake.
That way, even if the opponent acquires the remaining forty-nine percent of retail shares, they can do nothing." But when the stock price climbed to 40 yuan, many shareholders wavered.
A thirteen-fold increase! If they cashed out their shares immediately, it would be enough money for a lifetime.
Holding them for unknown future appreciation and dividends was a long and painful prospect.
However, Yu Qinghai was prepared; he stayed in the conference room, watching the shareholders closely, not even allowing them to make phone calls.
The stock price hovered around 40 yuan for a short time before plummeting.
Yu Qinghai raised fifty million to support the market.
After buying and selling for less than half an hour, the fifty million dwindled by a third, and the downward trend continued.
The old men on the board finally couldn't take the strain and collapsed, one after another.
At 9:50 AM, the stock price dropped to 4 yuan, and even Yu Qinghai fainted.
Ambulances quickly took away the elderly members of the board.
As soon as these old fellows left the company premises, they got out of the vehicles.
They agreed to take a taxi to one of their homes to go online, hoping a miracle would happen.
As long as the stock price rebounded later, they were determined to sell.
People are inherently selfish; making a steady profit is better than losing money.
As expected, the stock price soared wildly during the final 15 minutes.
At 10:45 AM, reliable insider news spread: this was the opponent's final sweep, and once this chance passed, there would be no other.
Even though the stock price might not fall back to 4 yuan after the late-night trading session started, one shareholder couldn't resist the temptation of enormous profit and sold off his 3 million shares, instantly becoming a billionaire and going off to dream sweetly with his mistress.
Subsequently, another shareholder who followed suit sold 2 million shares, but that order was abandoned by the opponent.
The old man, whose dream of instant wealth vanished, actually fainted this time—and it wasn't pretend.
On such a night, a squeaking rat sound suddenly came from the Golden Bull Tofu production workshop.
Workers busy making tofu were chased by a swarm of rats out into the courtyard.
Then, they heard a loud boom behind them.
When they turned back, the entire workshop had collapsed into a deep pit, completely destroying the tofu production equipment imported from Japan.
The next morning, Ibe no Iki was stunned when he heard the news.
He had no idea how powerful the person he was dealing with was, but he felt an intense fear now.
Just then, the television suddenly broadcast shocking news: overnight, Iron Bull Tofu Company had successfully acquired the People's Shopping chain.
Ibe no Iki certainly knew that People's Shopping had refused to stock Iron Bull Tofu.
But now his factory was gone, and the defensive alliance he built with high bribes had been acquired.
In this confrontation, Ibe no Iki was the complete loser.
The factory could be rebuilt, but Ibe no Iki wasn't an idiot.
He knew the so-called ground collapse incident last night was no accident.
If he rebuilt the factory, a similar situation was likely to occur.
However, Ibe no Iki was no saint.
Reality forced him to abandon his original plan, but an even more sinister conspiracy was brewing.