Su Zhong was able to offend the entire board of directors as soon as he spoke up because he carried out a system reform, striking with a single blow and without any foreshadowing.
First, he hired a new CFO to take charge of the group’s finances.
Finance was a very critical position, and the relatives on the board of directors all tensed up when they heard this. “How can the account books be handed over to outsiders?”
As a family business, they were very sensitive to finances.
Since Xin Qianyu had taken care of it, Xin Mu naturally stood on Su Zhong’s side. Xin Mu smoothed things over and said, “Didn’t you say that this CFO will only work for one year? He’s in charge of helping us get listed, and he will leave after the listing.”
The relatives were still not very accepting.
Uncle Xin, who liked to play devil’s advocate, spoke first. “Is it really just one year?”
Xin Mu swallowed, but Su Zhong spoke first. “One year is one year. You won’t be able to afford it if it’s longer.”
“…” Xin Mu choked.
Uncle Xin loved to keep up appearances, so he could not stand this. He slapped the table and said, “What do you mean? You’re looking down on us!”
“Moreover, this is using dividends to lure him. The salary offered by your group is simply not enough. When the project is completed, he’ll cash out and leave. He’ll not stay for a moment longer.” Su Zhong said honestly.
This statement was very telling. What it meant was that the person didn’t like your family at all, and even if you want them to stay, they’ll want to go.
Xin Mu coughed and said, “Then he’s really a talent!”
Su Zhong nodded. “If you can find a CFO who knows how to deal with SEC better than him, I have nothing to say.”
SEC was the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. If you wanted to go public in the United States, you had to deal with the SEC.
For this reason, it was understandable for the group to hire a professional CFO.
Su Zhong’s words were very reasonable. If you wanted to go public in the United States, you had to find a CFO who could liaise with the SEC. The old man nodded in agreement.
After the CFO took office, he made bold reforms and fired a group of relatives, causing a lot of complaints and opinions from the board of directors.
But the old man acquiesced to the behaviour of Su Zhong and the CFO, and Xin Mu also assisted, so the project could still advance.
In the past, when the old man was looking for consulting agencies, the good agencies were unwilling to take Yuzhuo’s case because they felt that Yuzhuo’s internal affairs were too chaotic. The presence of relatives made the company a mess. If they wanted to go public, they had to undergo drastic reforms. Generally, consultants would not want to engage in such dirty work.
It was really a great honour that someone with Su Zhong’s status was willing to do this.
Everyone reluctantly completed some of the early reform work.
However, new problems emerged.
The CFO joined the board of directors and proposed at a meeting, “There are too many internal directors in our company. Generally, it’s best for the number of insiders on the board of directors of listed companies to not exceed 1/3.”
In other words, there were too many insiders on the board of directors of Yuzhuo, and the boards of directors of normal listed companies would not have so many insiders.
This statement completely ignited the anger of everyone on the board of directors. “What does this mean? This is the property of our Xin family. What’s the problem with the board of directors being all members of the Xin family?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“If you don’t go public, there will be no problem,” said the hard-nosed CFO. “Because there are too many internal directors, the board of directors will only support Big Brother instead of serving shareholders.”
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The old man’s temper also rose, so he allowed his relatives to jointly attack the CFO.
These directors and relatives surrounded the CFO yelling and scolding, and for that moment, it was difficult for the CFO to withstand.
Seeing the scene getting more and more chaotic, Su Zhong picked up a folder and slapped it hard on the table.
Everyone was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Su Zhong.
When Su Zhong did not speak, he was cold and prickly from head to toe. His aura was so imposing that the relatives were stunned for a while.
The meeting room fell silent for an instant, and Su Zhong said slowly, “This is why every consulting agency runs away after talking to you and refuses to take your case. Because you have many insiders and don’t listen to advice.”
Uncle Xin was the first to jump out and retort, ”I think you have bad intentions! You just want to exclude our family members so that you, the ‘Great White Shark’, can swallow our company!”
Su Zhong was known as the “Great White Shark”, and Uncle Xin learned about it recently. He also used this name to scare many relatives, saying that Su Zhong looked gentle, but he was actually a carnivore, which was very scary.
Towards Uncle Xin’s accusation, Su Zhong said, “I don’t.”
Uncle Xin sneered. “Saying you don’t, means you don’t? How are you going to prove it?”
Su Zhong looked at him. “How do you want me to prove it?”
Uncle Xin saw that Su Zhong wanted to give in, so he raised his chin and said, “I’ll believe you if you hand over the shares! Just like Xin Qianyu, if you only take 1%, everyone will believe your innocence.”
Su Zhong frowned. “Why should I learn from him?”
When Uncle Xin heard Su Zhong’s refusal, he immediately became hostile, pointed at him and said, “Look, you really have evil intentions!”
Su Zhong looked at him coldly. “You may have misunderstood my identity. Xin Qianyu is the grandson of the chairman, but I’m not. I’m an investor. In fact, I’m your Da Ye.”
Uncle Xin was stunned for a moment as if he could not imagine that a refined man like Su Zhong would say the words “your Da Ye”.
However, Su Zhong was full of “your Da Ye” demeanour and tapped the solid wood table with his slender fingers. “If you want me to hold 1% of the shares, then I will only pay 1% of the money. If you have any more opinions, I’ll withdraw my investment immediately.”
When everyone heard this, their faces turned red, and many could not take it anymore. “If you want to withdraw your investment, then withdraw! We’re going to make a fortune when we go public. Why would we care about your stinking money?”
Su Zhong was expressionless in the face of the scolding and only turned to look at the CFO.
The CFO stood up and said, “You still don’t know the financial situation of the group? If there is no capital injection, Yuzhuo Group will face the risk of a capital chain rupture within three months. If you can find a way for Yuzhuo Group to successfully go public and raise funds within three months, or find an investor more generous than M-global, it can indeed make Su Zhong and I go immediately. If not, please shut up.”
Everyone really wanted to tell Su Zhong to get lost, but they all blushed and chose to shut up, looking at the old man with pleading eyes.
The old man had never been so annoyed by this group of incompetent relatives.
Now that the negotiations were at an impasse, Xin Mu coughed and said with a smile, “To be fair, I think Su Zhong is a good guy and has no intention of taking our property. He really wants to help us go public.”
Everyone could only nod along with these words.
Uncle Xin still held his neck stiff. “Really? I still have doubts.”
Xin Mu gave Uncle Xin a disapproving expression and sneered. “How much is his worth compared to yours? Spending all this effort to deal with you and plan with an idiot like you?”
Uncle Xin became furious. “Didn’t you hear others calling Su Zhong a ‘Great White Shark’? Of course, great white sharks eat fish, shrimp and crabs that are smaller than him. Could they swallow whales?”
Xin Mu nodded and said with a smile, “Okay, you’re right. Su Zhong is a shark, so let’s ask M-global to withdraw their investment. Our group will probably go bankrupt in less than three months. As long as we’re as poor as beggars, we won’t be afraid of others coming to take our property! Don’t you think so?”
Uncle Xin was so angry that he stamped his foot.
Xin Simu said, “Actually, I also think the introduction of external directors is a good thing. I think the proportion of internal directors in most listed companies is 1/3.”
Even Xin Simu said the same thing. Uncle Xin’s eyes widened and he was completely speechless.
Xin Mu said, “To prove my fairness, I’ll be the first to stand up and say that I’ll resign from the board of directors.”
Now that Xin Mu had resigned from the board of directors and Xin Qianyu only held 1% of the shares, no one was in a position to attack the mother and son.
Finally, under financial pressure, the old man agreed. They discussed and decided that the only internal directors to remain were the old man, Xin Qianyu and Xin Simu. And because the law stipulated that the CFO must be a director, the CFO was also on the board of directors. In addition, the outside directors included Su Zhong and two friends invited by the old man. In other words, most of the board of directors were actually still the old man’s people. This way, the old man could rest assured.
On the other side of the ocean, Xin Qianyu was still studying for his MBA at the H Business School.
The courses in the second year of the MBA were not as tight, but Xin Qianyu did not have time to relax, because, besides his studies, he also had to pay attention to the affairs of the company.
Xin Mu told Xin Qianyu about the progress, but Xin Qianyu’s mind was filled with the appearance of Su Zhong negotiating.
Xin Qianyu really could not imagine what kind of style Su Zhong would have while negotiating.
In Xin Qianyu’s view, Su Zhong seemed like a person who was not good at negotiating at all.
During private interactions, Su Zhong never spoke much. If Xin Qianyu asked for something, Su Zhong would immediately agree without any senseless talking. Therefore, there were no negotiations or discussions between them.
While thinking of these, Xin Qianyu lay on the bed and gradually fell asleep.
There was a street lamp in the centre of the square below the apartment, and Su Zhong always stood under the street lamp waiting for him.
Xin Qianyu said, “It’s very cold here. You can go to the convenience store and wait inside.”
Su Zhong said, “But this is the most conspicuous place. If I don’t stand here, I’m afraid you won’t see me.”
Xin Qianyu was in a daze, not knowing what he was doing, and he hugged Su Zhong in the next second.
Su Zhong’s embrace was so warm, like a quilt that had been exposed to the sun.
Xin Qianyu opened his eyes and woke up. He found that he was really hugging the quilt that had been exposed to the sun, not Su Zhong.
——It turned out that it was just a dream.
Xin Qianyu sat up from the bed with a sluggish expression. Why did he dream about Su Zhong?
He must be too tired, having to study and work at the same time, worrying about Su Zhong’s low EQ and not being able to work well.
Xin Qianyu was so dazed that he was almost squinting as he went downstairs.
There was a streetlight in the centre of the square below the apartment building, and Su Zhong was standing under the streetlight waiting for him.
Xin Qianyu saw Su Zhong’s figure. Subconsciously thinking it was a dream, he muttered, “Why are you here again?”
Su Zhong nodded to him.
Seeing Su Zhong’s “soul lingering” appearance, Xin Qianyu suddenly became angry and kicked him.
Su Zhong was dumbfounded.
Xin Qianyu was also dumbfounded.
With the north wind hitting his face, Xin Qianyu shuddered and sobered a little before realizing that he was not dreaming.
There was a black footprint on Su Zhong’s white pants, which Xin Qianyu had just kicked.
But Su Zhong did not care and just said, “I’m sorry.”
Xin Qianyu was surprised. “What did you do wrong that you’re sorry for?”
“I don’t know either,” Su Zhong said, with a bit of grievance on his face. “So why did you kick me?”
Xin Qianyu could not answer.
Xin Qianyu originally wanted to ask Su Zhong, Why are you suddenly here?
But Xin Qianyu’s mind turned quickly, and soon he was thinking whether Su Zhong would say “Because I miss you so much” or “I want to see you” or other mushy but heartwarming words.
Xin Qianyu was in a daze, but he sensed some danger and realized that Su Zhong’s influence on him was increasing.
He took half a step back and made up his mind that no matter what touching words Su Zhong said, he would never accept the move and would ruthlessly reject it.
After making up his mind, Xin Qianyu said with a stern expression, “What are you doing here? I’m going to the library and I don’t have time to accompany you. Nothing you say will work. I’m going to study today.”
Su Zhong said, “The prospectus has been drafted. I was looking for you to see if there’s anything that needs to be modified.”
Xin Qianyu cracked and said, “Then, let’s go upstairs and talk in the room.”
Although he had made up his mind that no matter what Su Zhong said would not work, when it came to the IPO, it was really more effective than an imperial edict. This was something that could not be avoided.
While going upstairs, Xin Qianyu muttered, “Why did you come over? Couldn’t you just upload and discuss it online?”
“Because I miss you too much,” Su Zhong said. “I wanted to come and see you.”
Xin Qianyu felt as if an arrow had been shot from behind, and his heart was pounding. Damn, I was careless.
Xin Mu : I’m sick of you uncles and old men. My son’s marrying rich I. Don’t. Care. Anymore !
Seriously who wouldn’t fall for that? SZ is such a big baby 🥹
XQY just give up already !!