Old Mrs. Luo was in a small room reconciling accounts with her asset custodian, Old Fan. It took them from the afternoon until around seven or eight in the evening before they finished.
The old clock in the room ticked away. Old Mrs. Luo took off her reading glasses and said, "It's a little hard to see the current situation. It's better to be conservative."
Old Fan smiled and said, "We are spreading our eggs in different baskets now, so you can rest assured, old lady."
Mrs. Luo: "You just said that Chiwuju is for sale, right?"
"Yes, the Xu family bought it at a high price before, but no one has moved in yet. Now they are in a hurry to sell it at a low price."
"Chiwuju was designed by a famous French architect at the request of the famous Ji family. It has a great location, yet is quiet in the midst of a bustling city. It is a good place to live in. Xu Yan and I went there once before, and we both liked it very much. Unfortunately, I found out too late that it was for sale, and the Xu family bought it. How much is it for now?"
Lao Fan said, "68 million Hong Kong dollars, urgent sale, full payment in cash."
Old Mrs. Luo smiled and said, "I didn't expect it to be so cheap."
"Yes, it is said that the Xu family spent 80 million to buy it, and now they are selling it at a loss of more than 10 million. Should we buy it?"
Old Lady Luo said without hesitation: "Take it down. Xu Yan will be back soon, she will definitely be very happy when she knows about this."
"Okay, I'll do it tomorrow." Lao Fan asked again: "Whose name should it be put on when it's bought?"
Mrs. Luo hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me think about it. You buy it first and then ask me when the ownership transfer is over."
"I see."
"By the way, what's going on with Xiao Xu's family? Why are they in such a hurry to sell the property?"
"I heard that Xu Guangrong and Zhong Limin suffered huge losses in futures trading and are now in urgent need of cash to cover their margin."
Mrs. Luo is also an experienced businessman. She said, "They must be in urgent need of the money. There are not many people who can afford to buy Chiwuju in full. So, you can lower the price. At 50 million, he will definitely sell it."
Lao Fan smiled and said, "Isn't fifty million a bit too much? Let me try it first."
"You give him room to bargain, around 60 million is fine."
After Lao Fan left, Sister Hong secretly talked to Old Lady Luo. Old Lady Luo asked, "Did Zhong Lini agree to lend him?"
Sister Hong whispered, "I agree. I'll lend you 50 million."
Old Mrs. Luo snorted coldly. She was happy to see the Zhong family become penniless. However, Zhong Lini had been subsidizing her parents' home for many years, so how could she have 50 million in private money? She must have embezzled funds from her son's account.
"Tell Lao Fan to withhold the money that the family fund gives to the Second Young Master every month. This money cannot pass through her hands again in the future."
"Okay, I'll tell Lao Fan later."
Before going to bed at night, Zhong Lini took a shower and called her eldest brother again. After transferring the money, she felt confused and insecure.
This world is very realistic, and only money can bring a sense of security.
Luo Jiaming came over from the study, glanced at her, and said coldly: "You gave your eldest brother 50 million?"
The relationship between Luo Jiaming and Zhong Lini has been in name only for many years, and Luo Jiaming usually does not ask about Zhong Lini's affairs.
But this time the amount was too large, so he had to ask: "Did you embezzle the money from Felix's account?"
Zhong Lini knew she couldn't hide it, so she said, "My elder brother needs it urgently, and I don't have enough money. I will make up for it when he pays me back."
"Be careful, the old lady might find out and cause trouble for you."
Zhong Lini said: "I am Felix's biological mother and guardian. He is a minor now, and I can embezzle his money."
"You want to reason with my mother? Can you make sense?"
"Then what should I do? Give me 20 million first, and I will pay it back." Zhong Lini directly threw the problem back to him.
Luo Jiaming: "I'll give you 20 million, and you'll give it to your brother?"
Zhong Lini felt guilty when she heard this. This clearly meant that she was giving away money to her parents. The more guilty she felt, the louder she said, "Luo Jiaming, what do you mean? My brother is in urgent need of money, not begging. No matter how poor our Zhong family is, we are not at the point of begging."
"Can you speak louder?"
Zhong Lini impatiently combed her freshly dried hair, which became tangled and hurt her hair roots.
"Don't you know what the situation is with your Zhong family? The bank won't renew the loan for the Zhong Group. If you lend money to your brother now, it's like throwing money into a fire. In a few days, only a handful of ashes will be left..."
"Do you really want to see our Zhong family suffer? If you push me too far, I will expose your scandal to the media!"
Luo Jiaming grabbed Zhong Lini's collar and said fiercely, "Don't keep using this to threaten me! If you push me too far, I'll make sure you die and no one will know!"
After saying that, he pushed Zhong Lini away and turned to leave.
Zhong Lini stumbled and bumped into the wall, feeling a chill in her heart.
If the Zhong family really fell, and without the protection of her mother's family, I wouldn't know how that bastard Luo Jiaming would treat her.
In the past week, oil prices have not seen the same sharp drop as before, but if they fall by one or two points every day, it would be like cutting your flesh with a blunt knife, and watching yourself die before your eyes, the effect would be more painful and more terrifying.
After several days of continuous decline, if you don’t cut your losses and leave the market, you will most likely have to pay the margin in the near future.
Xu Guangrong frowned in Zhong Limin's office, "Where is Qi Lian'an? Is this bastard missing now?"
Zhong Limin said: "He has suffered a lot of losses and doesn't even dare to come to see us."
"They say he is our lucky star, humph, I think he is our unlucky star!"
As he was speaking, someone knocked on the door.
The door was pushed open, and Qi Lian'an walked in with a fever-reducing patch on his forehead. He said in a hoarse voice, "It's going up today."
Zhong Limin asked: "Has it gone up? I just checked and it's still going down."
"In just this short period of time, it's gone up by nearly 2 points!" Qi Lian An came in and sat down dejectedly. He had been ill recently and lived in a state of fire and ice every day.
When Zhong Liming and Xu Guangrong heard the good news, they seemed to see hope again.
But Qi Lian'an changed the subject and said, "You should be mentally prepared. The market has not fallen to the bottom yet. Many analysts say that it will fall by at least 15 points before reaching the bottom."
Xu Guangrong nodded and said, "My analysts here also said so. It will continue to fall by about 15% before it reaches the bottom and then slowly rebounds."
Will it fall another 15 points
That means a deposit of 100 million yuan is required.
Qi Lianan: "Or, you can just cut your losses now and leave with a loss of more than 200 million."
"That won't do!" Zhong Liming couldn't accept leaving with a huge loss, otherwise he would be really close to bankruptcy.
Xu Guangrong is a person with a strong gambling nature. He usually seems more rational than Zhong Limin, but at this critical juncture, facing the loss of hundreds of millions, he is unwilling to cut his losses.
Because they saw the bottom was just around the corner, both of them chose to continue holding on.
Zhong Limin asked Xu Guangrong: "How much money does your company have in its employee fund?"
Xu Guangrong: "About 60 to 70 million. This money cannot be touched. If it is touched, it will be the end of us."
Zhong Limin sighed and said, "Yes, this money cannot be touched. But if there is really no other way, it is not impossible to borrow it."
Xu Guangrong shook his head: "Let's think of another way."
Qi Lianan glanced at them and said, "I also borrowed money from relatives and friends. I plan to increase my position when the price is close to the bottom to spread the cost."
Zhong Liming and Xu Guangrong didn't say anything. Who doesn't want to increase their holdings at the bottom? The key is that they have no money.
We chatted until the evening, and after that, everyone went to raise money.
Xu Guangrong had transferred his Song Rongji shares to someone else a long time ago, and he started selling various assets. Zhong Liming only had Song Rongji shares left to pledge.
Originally, as oil prices fell, Song Rongji, who bought a large number of short positions in crude oil futures, should have made a lot of money and the stock price seemed to be about to rise. However, some media reported that Song Rongji was scolded by shareholders in the early stage and was under tremendous pressure, so he closed his futures positions before the oil price fell.
After seeing the news, investors were so angry that they smashed Song Rongji’s stock price by 12%.
Zhong Liming originally held more than 10 million shares of Song Rongji. When the stock price was at its highest, it was worth nearly 100 million yuan. Now it has shrunk to less than 70 million yuan.
If you pledge stocks worth 70 million, you can get a maximum of 35 million yuan. The procedures are complicated and time-consuming.
Zhong Liming had no choice but to reluctantly give up and wanted to transfer Song Rongji's shares, but the shares he held were restricted shares, which would not be released for another few months, so he could only transfer them by agreement, but not everyone was interested in transfer by agreement.
In the end, the only one who could take over was the Xu family. Da Xu was also an old fox. He pushed the price very low and was only willing to give 40 million. Zhong Liming was unwilling to pay 40 million.
The oil price was about to drop a few points further. If the margin was not paid, the futures company would forcibly close the position.
Just when Zhong Liming was in a state of panic, he received a call from Ye Zhao.
Zhong Limin was very annoyed, but he had to pretend that nothing had happened. He said, "Oh, Mr. Ye, why did you think of me? Look at what you have done to Song Rongji's stock price. Just wait for me to settle the score with you later."
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Boss Zhong, you are quite calm. Shouldn't you be banging your head against the wall at this moment?"
"You!" Zhong Limin was furious. "What do you mean? You called me at this time just to make fun of me, right? I tell you, I, Zhong Limin, will not fall so easily. You are still too young."
Ye Zhao on the other end of the phone still smiled and said, "Mr. Zhong, you think too much. I don't want to laugh at you. I'm here to save you."
Zhong Limin: "What do you want to do? Just tell me."
Ye Zhao: "I heard that you want to transfer your shares in Song Rong Ji."
"So what? You want to buy it?"
Ye Zhao said: "Yes, I think there are not many people interested in Song Rongji at this time, and I am the more reliable one among them."
"You can't sell your Song Rongji shares. Where do you get the money?" Zhong Limin knew that Ye Zhao had no other large assets besides Song Rongji. He didn't believe that she could really buy the shares.
Ye Zhao deliberately boasted: "I borrowed 100 million to buy a short position in crude oil futures and made a little money. I can just buy the shares you have."
Today, when Zhong Liming suffered heavy losses, he heard that Ye Zhao made a lot of money in crude oil futures. It felt like cutting his flesh!
He is old and ignorant! Zhong Limin cursed secretly, but he didn't dare to curse out loud. Maybe Ye Zhao was the only one who could save him now.
Zhong Limin asked curiously: "How much did you earn?"
Ye Zhao hissed and said modestly: "Not much, four times leverage, only 30%!"
100 million yuan in capital, four times leverage, 30%, that means a profit of 120 million yuan
Zhong Liming's heart was bleeding, as if Ye Zhao had made money from him.
Seeing that Zhong Limin didn't say anything, Ye Zhao said, "But I haven't sold my futures yet. I feel that the oil price will continue to fall, so I'm a little reluctant to sell."
So why did she call? Was she trying to piss him off
Last time he called her to piss her off, this mainland girl is here to get revenge?!
Zhong Liming was so angry that he gritted his teeth, his whole face was distorted, and he hung up the phone directly!
Unexpectedly, just after he hung up the phone, it rang again. At this critical moment, a life-saving call could come in at any time, so how could he dare not answer it.
Zhong Liming picked up the phone and heard it was Ye Zhao calling.
Ye Zhao smiled and said, "Boss Zhong, don't be so anxious to hang up. What's the point of being angry with me? Last time you called me to show off, I didn't hang up on you, right?"
Zhong Limin said angrily: "What do you want?"
Zhong Limin suddenly realized: "You want to use Song Rongji's money to buy back my shares?"
Song Rongji has not yet closed his crude oil futures position, but there are tens of millions of funds lying around in the company's account. Why not pick up the bargains
Ye Zhao said: "Name your price."
Zhong Limin thought about it. Since Ye Zhao came to him on her own initiative, it meant that she really wanted to buy. So he certainly couldn't sell it to her at a low price. He said, "My stocks were originally worth more than 100 million yuan. Now I only want 70 million yuan. You know very well that the company's stock price is seriously deviated from its actual value."
Ye Zhao: "Who knows how the stock price will go in the future. It's a large transaction, you have to give a discount anyway, 70 million is too high."
Zhong Limin: "Why is it so high? If you don't buy it, there are others who will. Da Xu is also interested, but I didn't sell it to him for 70 million!"
Ye Zhao asked: "Big Xu offered 70 million?"
"Yes, we just finished the discussion. If you don't want it, I'll sell it to him."
Ye Zhao smiled. "I heard that they were only willing to spend 40 million to buy it."
“…” Zhong Liming didn’t expect Ye Zhao to be so well-informed.
Ye Zhao added: "Mrs. Xu said that the cost of Song Rongji in your hands was 20 million, and you sold it for 40 million, which is double the price."
Zhong Limin: "You want to buy it for 40 million? That's impossible."
He might as well sell it to the Xu family for 40 million. Although they are not good things, Da Xu is at least a businessman in Gangcheng.
He despises mainland girls from the bottom of his heart.
Ye Zhao: "I can offer 50 million."
Zhong Limin's heart was moved. This was 10 million higher than what the Xu family offered, but he felt that it was not enough, so he said, "It's too low."
Ye Zhao didn't waste any more time talking to him and said directly: "Mr. Zhong, please think about it. Call me when you are done. I will give you two hours. If you exceed this time, I will have to think about it again."
After saying that, without waiting for Zhong Liming to answer, Ye Zhao hung up the phone.
Zhong Limin thought about it and immediately called Da Xu's family. He wanted to use the 50 million as a backup to bargain with Da Xu, but Da Xu was in a meeting, and when he contacted him, it was already evening.
Da Xu still insisted on 40 million and refused to give in. He seemed not to believe that there were other buyers.
Zhong Liming sat in the office chair. He hadn't had a good rest during this period, and his head was swollen and his eyes were dizzy. He felt like the ceiling was about to fall down.
He took a long breath, picked up the phone and called Ye Zhao.
Ye Zhao was playing mahjong with Aunt Qiao and the others when her cell phone rang. She quickly picked it up and said with a smile, "Boss Zhong, after taking a look around, did you find that I am the most kind person in this world?"
Zhong Limin said: "Okay, fifty million!"
Ye Zhao picked up a card and put it away, saying, "Look at the time, it's been more than two hours."
Zhong Limin was anxious: "You don't want it anymore? Are you kidding me?"
Ye Zhao: "Don't worry, I reminded you just now, give me a reply within two hours. If it's more than two hours, I will reconsider it."
"So do you want it or not?" Zhong Limin was so angry that he clenched his fist and hit his thigh!
The more anxious the other party was, the calmer Ye Zhao became. She smiled and said, "You can ask for it, but it's not 5,000, it's 4,500! Hey, three of a kind, I'll take it!"
She laid down three of a kind and played a card.
Zhong Limin asked in surprise: "What are you doing?"
"Play Mahjong!"
He was discussing a life-and-death business with her, while she was playing mahjong leisurely!
It was probably still 50 cents a game of mahjong. Zhong Liming's clenched fists loosened. He knew that it was useless to get angry at this time because the situation was not in his favor.
He had no choice but to say, "Okay, 4500 is 4500."
"I'll ask Mr. Liao to contact you. Hang up."
Ye Zhao hung up the phone, and Fatty Ying asked her, "What are you buying that costs 4,500?"
Ye Zhao said: "Song Rongji gift bag."
A few days later, as the US military won victory after victory, oil prices plummeted and the margin that had just been paid was about to collapse.
Zhong Liming and Xu Guangrong were sitting in the conference room outside the trading room, smoking and not saying a word.
George ran in and said, "Boss, the market is falling sharply today. Do you want to pay the margin? If you don't, in order to ensure the safety of our funds, we may have to forcefully close our positions in the night session."
Zhong Liming rubbed his brows, regretting that he should not have been so greedy. If they had not added four times the leverage and had not borrowed money from the futures company, they could still have continued to hold on.
Xu Guangrong stood up and said calmly, "We will pay the deposit."
Zhong Limin looked at Xu Guangrong. They could only transfer money from the employee fund.
Xu Guangrong was even more ruthless. It had come to this point, and he was so desperate that he could only fight with all his might. He said, "Use the employee fund and all our properties as collateral, borrow usury, and go in now to buy at a bargain price. Do you dare?"
Now only loan sharks can lend them money quickly.
"Why shouldn't I?" Zhong Limin smoked a cigarette. "How much can you lend me?"
"I can borrow at least 200 million yuan by mortgaging all my assets."
Almost all of the Zhong family's assets have been mortgaged to the bank. Zhong Limin doesn't have many assets to mortgage for loan sharking, except for the two Zhong family mansions and the employee fund. "I should be able to borrow 150 million."
At this point, if all the money they made up for was lost, there would be no turning back for the Zhong family and the Xu family.
But if the trend reverses, they can make their money back faster.
Xu Guangrong had been thinking about this before and had also contacted a loan shark. The two of them took immediate action and raised more than 300 million yuan in funds and invested it all in crude oil futures.
The result is predictable. Two days later, the US military drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait, and oil prices collapsed, instantly wiping out all the money they had invested.
When George was about to close his position, he called Zhong Liming, who was in a meeting with senior executives at the company at the time.
Because the news was too shocking, Zhong Liming calmly walked out of the meeting room, returned to his office, and sat alone in his office chair in a daze.
Liquidation!
Zhong Liming could not accept such an outcome.
Originally, I was planning to buy Song Rongji’s old factory at a low price, and then use Song Rongji’s money to buy the land in Shoal Point. Why did things end up like this
He thought of Mr. Liao, Qi Lianan, and Ye Zhao...
Did the mainland girl predict that oil prices would plummet long ago? And then she teamed up with everyone to set a trap for him
impossible?!
She has this ability?!
Zhong Limin picked up the phone and called Qi Lianan, asking him: "Qi Lianan, have you been liquidated?"
Qi Lianan said calmly: "It was closed. Didn't George tell you?"
“How much money did you lose?”
"More than two million."
More than two million is an astronomical figure for a wage earner. Zhong Limin asked him, "Why are you so calm?"
Qi Lianan asked back: "Boss Zhong, you are so calm even though you lost hundreds of millions, so what does it matter if I lose two million?"
Zhong Limin raised his voice: "We are the same, we have all lost everything. I am not calm, I am very angry!"
Qi Lianan smiled: "We are different. I lost my boss's money, so I don't feel bad."
Zhong Limin was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean? Whose money did you lose?"
"Luo Shen and Ye Zhao's money."
"They asked you to set a trap for me, didn't they?" Zhong Limin's head exploded, and he finally couldn't calm down, "Really? You idiot! You're trying to have it both ways? You bastard!"
After Zhong Limin finished scolding, Qi Lian'an said in a calm tone, "Want to cause trouble to me? Come up now. I'm on the rooftop of your company."
Zhong Liming hung up the phone and rushed out. He had to wait for the elevator, so he took the fire escape stairs and climbed nearly 10 floors before reaching the top floor.
When they reached the top of the building, they saw that, as expected, there was not only Qi Lian An on the rooftop, but also Luo Shen and Ye Zhao.
Ye Zhao saw him, looked at his watch, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhong, the media news will be released in another hour. I think this should be your last hour of peace."
Zhong Limin panted and asked, "Why did you set a trap to harm me? What good will this do you?"
Zeng Xiang stared at him and said coldly: "What do you think?"
Zhong Liming looked at Luo Shen's obscure and indifferent eyes, and suddenly realized that Luo Shen was seeking revenge.
To avenge the kidnapping!
Who would have thought that this guy had been hiding it for more than ten years? !
Zeng Xiang said: "Zhong Limin, I will never forget the shadow you left on my childhood."
Zhong Limin also tried to defend himself: "What does it have to do with me? Luo Jiafei and Zhong Lini were both confused at the time. I went to rescue you, so I did a good deed."
Zeng Xiang glanced at him with contempt: "Why did you rescue me? It was because my aunt found you. You rescued me to protect yourself. You even wanted to kill me at first, but I was playing dumb and pretending to know nothing. You didn't kill me because you didn't have enough time. You thought I was too young to know, right?"
"So, you are deliberately trying to make me lose everything?"
"What else? Do you think you can really be my uncle?"
Zhong Limin wiped the sweat off his face and said, "So many years have passed. I am a good person now. You still come to harm me! You are just like your father, a worthless person! I should have been ruthless and killed you back then!"
Zeng Xiang directly exposed him: "It's not that you are not cruel, you just didn't kill the hostage because you didn't have enough time. Don't say you are so kind."
Zhong Limin started to make a fuss: "You want revenge, why are you only targeting me? And Luo Jiafei! Why don't you look for him?"
"Luo Jiafei at least paid the price of a pair of legs. What did you two brothers and sisters pay? For more than ten years, you have lived a carefree life. If I don't seek revenge on you, is there still justice in this world?"
Zhong Limin pointed his finger outwards: "Luo Jiafei is the mastermind. Your grandmother just had him beaten up. His legs were broken in a car accident. How can that be considered a price to pay? He is much more ruthless than me. We agreed at the beginning that after kidnapping, we would kill him after getting the money. In the end, you only know how to bully people with different surnames like me."
Zeng Xiang nodded and said, "It's okay, I'll send him to see you." After that, he turned and left.
Send Luo Jiafei to see him
Zhong Limin was puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Ye Zhao said, "Boss Zhong, if I were you, I should jump off the roof today to apologize. This would still leave some dignity. Otherwise, the storm that will follow is bloody enough. Your employees whose employee funds were misappropriated, loan sharks, bank creditors, relatives and friends who borrowed money from you... Bankruptcy is a road of no return. Oh, your house is mortgaged. You will have no place to live in a few days, right? Do you know how to apply for public housing? If not, let Uncle Qi teach you."
After Ye Zhao went out, Qi Lian An closed the rooftop door.
Qi Lian'an said coldly: "Zhong Limin, there are only two of us left now."
Zhong Limin was still thinking about what Ye Zhao had just said. He stared at Qi Lian'an and cursed, "You idiot! What are you doing?"
"I want to tell you, I'm not Lai Da, I'm Xiao He." Qi Lian'an came forward. He looked thin, but he had muscles all over his body. "I'm not just Xiao He, I'm also Wu Zixu."
Xiao He? Wu Zixu? Zhong Limin didn't understand: "Did I have a grudge against you before?"
"You don't remember, do you? Do you think you can get out of here today? I'll give you a chance to see if you can escape."
(End of this chapter)