Chapter 162: Zhang Long Defeats Sheng Xin, Lin Yuan Wants to Cry

The severance payout process at Shengxin continued.

Although the implementation was currently limited to the Modu headquarters, the branches in Kyoto and Hangzhou were already well aware of it, knowing full well that once the headquarters completed the process, it would be their turn.

It was a welcome change. After all these years, the company was finally taking substantive action, and a thoroughly commendable one at that.

...

"Our public reputation has rebounded significantly."

During Monday's Shengxin board meeting, someone naturally presented a statistical report on the company's current market brand strength. Compared to the past, it had recovered considerably; the accuracy of the stock recommendation reports had noticeably improved, and the satisfaction ratings of departing employees had risen as well.

As for the current staff, needless to say, their loyalty had deepened.

It must be noted that the retroactively distributed severance pay wasn't just for the most recently dismissed batch of employees, but for all previous ones.

Combining the headquarters and the branches, the total retroactive payout exceeded twenty million yuan, causing quite a bit of financial heartache for the board members.

"Alright, stop agonizing over it."

Looking at the report displayed on the screen, Zhang Long watched Director Xu, who was in charge of finance, wince in pain. He was agonizing even before the compensation payments were fully completed; once everything was settled, he would probably pass out. These funds should have been paid out by the original Shengxin board members in the first place, as they had been wrongfully withheld.

It had nothing to do with Zhang Long, Qian Caiying, or Ling Zhiqing. In fact, the three of them had essentially given their own money away for nothing.

Out of the six million yuan Zhang Long had additionally injected, roughly four million was used for the severance compensation—more than half of it.

"Let's go over last week's performance."

Zhang Long pointed at the projection screen, his gaze flashing. "Compared to the final week of March, there is an increase. Even when compared year-on-year to the first week of March, it is somewhat higher. We still have three trading weeks left this month. Even if we can't quite match the performance volume from last September and October when I was here, it should be pretty close."

"The end of the month brings the May Day holiday. We don't need to dwell on whether a bull market is starting or not; it won't have much impact on us. We should start considering and planning the expansion of the investment department in advance."

"So we aren't caught in a scramble when the time comes."

Although it was a bit early to plan for events two to three months down the line, no one raised any objections.

Putting everything else aside, as long as Shengxin's performance next month replicated the explosive, continuously blooming trading scenes of last September and October, the expansion of the front-end investment department would be an absolute necessity, and the back-end trading department would simultaneously need to increase its headcount.

So what if it was a bear market? No matter how bearish the market, there were always stocks rising or hitting their daily limit every day—you just had to catch them.

With Zhang Long around, there wouldn't be any major issues.

...

"I'm going to borrow someone from you later."

After the board meeting, Qian Caiying came to Zhang Long's office. "Once the operational arrangements here at the headquarters are settled, I'll lead a team to the Kyoto branch to re-audit their overall status. I'm going to have Liang Xue come with me so she can learn and understand the ropes at the same time. That's fine with you, right?"

"Sure, no problem."

Of course, Zhang Long wouldn't refuse an opportunity to promote Liang Xue. Ever since Qian Caiying became the head of the operations department, she had practically never rested. She made it a point to understand every sector related to operations, formulated various development plans and incentive measures, and carried out bold, sweeping reforms.

Ling Zhiqing, in charge of human resources, was equally busy—recruiting people as needed and transferring personnel to Qian Caiying's team.

The most leisurely person among them was probably Zhang Long. He would screen stock recommendation reports, trade foreign exchange or futures, and for the rest, just attend board meetings. It was leisurely indeed.

Compared to Qian Caiying and Ling Zhiqing, he was much more relaxed, yet he remained the pivotal figure driving the company's financial performance.

"What's going on between the two of you lately?"

Once the official business was addressed, Qian Caiying's gossipy side surfaced. "You two have been acting weird lately. It's not like you're intentionally keeping your distance, but something just feels a bit off."

"Let me tell you, women always say the opposite of what they mean. Sometimes, you just have to be a bit domineering."

Hearing this, Zhang Long rolled his eyes inwardly.

Big sis, you don't even have any normal, healthy romantic experience of your own, so please spare me the advice and take a break.

"Keep it up, I'm rooting for you two."

With a hearty laugh, Qian Caiying left, knowing full well that Zhang Long wouldn't be receptive to her words. Still, between a man and a woman, it was really just a matter of piercing through a thin layer of paper; once broken, all the coyness and barriers would vanish. It all came down to how one chose to pierce it.

That was something Qian Caiying couldn't teach since she had no experience herself; Zhang Long would just have to figure it out.

"Buzz, buzz～"

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. Zhang Long glanced at the screen to see a WeChat message from Luo Xin. Opening it, she didn't say much, simply asking if he would be free to come over next week.

The previous Saturday and Sunday, Zhang Long hadn't gone to the Luo family home for dinner and stayed overnight, and he had felt something was a bit off.

Of course, it was just one week of absence, so it was nothing major.

: If I'm not busy, I'll go.

Having no other excuses for the moment, Zhang Long casually replied to Luo Xin and then sent a WeChat message to Luo Man. If all else failed, he would visit the Luo family this Saturday. Once the Luo family's shop opened next month and got on track, whether or not to break off the relationship could be left for Luo Man to handle.

Though they would break up, their affection would remain intact, and they would still be friends.

...

Zhao Hui, the general manager of the Tenda Home Improvement Department.

Before the New Year, he had taken all the blame upon himself, embezzling and misappropriating public funds—such as the final payments owed to companies like Zhan Yi, all of which he had pocketed.

And the facts were indeed as such. Zhao Hui used that money to support mistresses and lovers, as well as for various financial investments.

The stock market, spot commodities, futures, foreign exchange, and everything else had resulted in massive losses, making him even more reckless than Chen Youwei, the group's CEO.

Every single transaction record could be traced.

He had already been criminally detained by the public security bureau and had spent the Chinese New Year behind bars. The crux of the legal battle since the conclusion of the holiday was whether Tenda should be held vicariously liable.

The money was embezzled by Zhao Hui, yet the Tenda company was also a victim; this point alone provided plenty of room for endless legal wrangling.

A lawsuit like that could easily drag on for two or three years without resolution.

Consequently, Zhan Yi's lawsuit was not proceeding smoothly. Coupled with Tenda's formidable legal team, to be honest, the hope of pointing the spearhead directly at Tenda itself and achieving ultimate victory was extremely slim. If they targeted Zhao Hui instead, they would win one hundred percent.

However, Zhao Hui was already penniless. His assets had long been mortgaged when his investments suffered losses, and he had thrown even more borrowed money into the abyss—otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to embezzling public funds to plug the financial holes and driven himself to a dead end.

"We can only cover half of the repayments as a substitute!"

In the office of Tenda's general manager, Zhan Yi and several other peers who had been similarly defrauded came to negotiate.

Chen Youwei said in a calm, measured tone, "As for the remaining half, you'll have to rely on future contracts to slowly recoup the funds. To be honest, Tenda itself is also a victim. Offering to substitute for Zhao Hui by compensating you for half of the payments is already our limit. After all, this money is essentially given away for free as an extra expenditure."

"Or, you can wait until Zhao Hui finishes his prison sentence and slowly repays you over time. I'm not forcing you."

You could say the proposal offered the best of both worlds.

However, receiving half of the compensation came with a condition: they had to drop the lawsuit and completely join Tenda's home improvement subsidiary, becoming part of the corporate family.

It wasn't necessarily a bad deal—sometimes leaning against a big tree made for good shade—but doing so meant relinquishing their independence.

They would be disguised as laborers working for Tenda, a result that Zhan Yi and the others found completely unacceptable. There was nothing left to discuss.

...

"Uncle, will they agree?"

"No."

After Zhan Yi and the others left, Lin Yuan walked up to discuss the development of the home improvement department. Zhao Hui was locked up, but the subsidiary still had other veteran executives. Since Lin Yuan had just joined the company not long ago, he couldn't step into that position yet; he needed to gain experience for a year first.

By the end of this year, he would be able to take the seat.

"We'll slowly lower their expectations."

Chen Youwei knew that while half of the compensation might be acceptable, they certainly wouldn't want to become a branch company under Tenda Home Improvement. If they had been willing, Zhan Yi and the others would have settled long ago instead of continuing to make a fuss.

The lawsuit was impacting Tenda's brand, and Zhan Yi and the others occasionally came knocking to demand payment, even hiring debt collectors to stake out the premises. Such petty antagonists were thoroughly troublesome.

Dragging things out indefinitely wasn't a solution either, and in a society governed by the rule of law, they couldn't resort to other methods. The only option was to negotiate.

First, pitch a condition the other party could never accept, and then gradually negotiate and lower it step by step.

Before long, the issue would be resolved.

"Uncle, did you make money playing the stock market?"

Lin Yuan was clearly very concerned about whether his uncle's stock investments at Shengxin were profitable or not. It directly reflected Zhang Long's competence; if he had made money, he wanted to open an account too.

A man needed his own channels of income; chasing women and girls was an expensive endeavor.

"What? You want to trade stocks?"

As soon as Lin Yuan brought it up, Chen Youwei knew what he was getting at. His face darkened as he reprimanded, "You've got food on your table and money in your pocket—don't go getting any wild ideas. Focus on the home improvement department and get familiar with all the procedures as fast as you can. In the future, a group subsidiary will be handed over to you to manage."

"That'll make you a lot more money than stock trading."

"But that's in the future," Lin Yuan muttered inwardly, though he dropped the subject of stock trading for the moment.

Naturally, the thought of trading stocks hadn't faded away. Since his uncle trusted Zhang Long's skills so much, hehehe...

Well, he would just go directly to Zhang Long in private.

...

"You bear your own profits and losses; I won't interfere."

Lin Yuan was a man of action. The next day, he took some time to make an appointment with Zhang Long. After listening to his request, Zhang Long nodded noncommittally. "There is no market in investing where you're guaranteed a hundred percent profit. I won't stop you if you want to trade stocks."

"However, as long as you take a loss, don't stubbornly hold onto a losing position. Acknowledge your losses when they happen, and you'll still manage to make some money in the end."

"Alright, don't worry."

Lin Yuan had dabbled in investments before. Which wealthy second-generation heir didn't have a few investment accounts these days? However, his previous operations had essentially yielded zero profits—they were all total losses.

If all else failed, he could just find a trader to handle the transactions on his behalf and strictly execute scientific trading without letting any personal whims interfere.

Either way, Lin Yuan had his own strategy.

Just like that, Lin Yuan opened an account, and Zhang Long handed him over to Qin Miaotong to receive him—considered a special favor of sorts.

"Hey beauty, do you have a boyfriend?"

However, as a lustful second-generation heir who found Qin Miaotong's figure and looks quite appealing, Lin Yuan couldn't resist flirting with her, though he wasn't desperate enough to aggressively pursue her.

"Yes, he's dead."

Qin Miaotong joked back, knowing that Lin Yuan was Zhang Long's friend, so she responded with a cheerful smile.

Anyway, this client was practically guaranteed.

"Uh, cough, cough..."

Choked up by Qin Miaotong's deadpan reply, Lin Yuan coughed dryly and found himself unable to say much more. Still, it seemed this beautiful consultant didn't have a boyfriend after all. As for whether the dead boyfriend story was real or not, he could take it with a grain of scale—he was certainly capable of telling truth from fiction.

"Brother Lin, how much capital are you depositing to activate the account?"

Qin Miaotong asked. Originally, Lin Yuan had wanted to casually toss in 500,000 yuan just to mess around, but under the gaze of Qin Miaotong's captivating eyes, he instantly gritted his teeth and blurted out: "One million."

One million—neither too much nor too little.

He had to remember that he was only a faux second-generation heir; the pocket money given to him by his mother and uncle wasn't that generous.

Gathering one million yuan hadn't been easy for him.

"Alright, sounds good."

Qin Miaotong's tone remained flat, without any special reaction. Having seen Zhang Long operate accounts worth tens of millions under her supervision, a mere one or two million was just a light drizzle.

Still, every little bit helped, and since this was a second-generation friend of Director Zhang with one million in capital, it would do.

"Phew, so infuriating."

Inside Zhang Long's office, Lin Yuan felt like crying.

When that woman Qin Miaotong heard him say he was investing one million in capital, she didn't show the slightest hint of excitement or joy. Damn it, it was so frustrating—he hadn't attracted her attention at all.

"Amen, my condolences."

The corners of Zhang Long's twitching mouth betrayed his amusement. Qin Miaotong had witnessed his accounts continuously making profits and reaching tens of millions.

Your little one million just wasn't impressive enough.

Oh Lin, anger hurts the liver, you know.