BF Chapter 57

Zhuosheng, He Mingzheng’s office.

Zhan Shili waited outside for nearly an hour before he was finally invited in.

He Mingzheng was lounging on the sofa, leisurely smoking a cigar. It wasn’t because he was busy with work.

Zhan Shili knew perfectly well that he had deliberately put on airs and made him wait, but didn’t expose it, calmly greeting him: “Big Boss.”

He Mingzheng lifted his chin slightly, gesturing for him to sit.

“The proposal for you to join the company’s board has already passed. It’ll go through the shareholders’ meeting in the next few days.”

Zhan Shili thanked him in a formulaic manner.

What He Mingzheng had spoken of so off-handedly had not been easy to accomplish. He had delayed several times with one excuse after another, and Zhan Shili could only patiently deal with him, refusing to give ground on the matter of Zhaoqi until He Mingzheng finally had no choice but to nod and let him onto Zhuosheng’s board first.

He Mingzheng asked him, “What’s the attitude of those two young masters of the Xu Family now?”

Zhan Shili stopped being evasive: “Xu Zikang has already agreed. He also went to the correctional facility to see Xu Ziren and has persuaded his Second Brother. Xu Ziren will authorize the exercise of his shares to his wife, and when the time comes, his wife will vote on his behalf at Zhaoqi’s shareholders’ meeting. Besides that, we can also do our best to win over the other shareholders on Zhaoqi’s board. The condition is that after Xu Shiji is removed, Xu Zikang will take over as Zhaoqi’s chairman.”

He Mingzheng frowned slightly, not particularly satisfied. He hadn’t been very pleased before when Zhan Shili proposed using Xu Zikang as a puppet either. What he wanted more was to swallow Zhaoqi outright.

“Does it have to be this way?”

“This is the most feasible method,” Zhan Shili said. “Only if Xu Zikang becomes Zhaoqi’s chairman will Xu Ziren agree to stand on our side, and it’ll also be easier to persuade the other shareholders. As long as you become a major shareholder of Zhaoqi, Big Boss, you can directly demand at least two seats on Zhaoqi’s board. After that, we can gradually take control of the board and eat Zhaoqi away piece by piece. Once Zhaoqi is reduced to nothing but an empty shell, it won’t have any value left to you either.”

He Mingzheng took a deep drag from his cigar and thought for a moment before saying, “All right. I suppose this is the only way. But I heard that illegitimate son of the Xu Family has been getting very close to Lin Bingsheng’s daughter lately. Is he planning to ask the Lin Family for help? If Lin Bingsheng enters the game, I’m afraid things could change.”

Zhan Shili nodded: “Given Zhaoqi’s current situation, most people are still watching from the sidelines. Saving them would require an astronomical amount of money, and there’s no guarantee of getting much benefit in return. As long as we can make the Lin Family give up on the idea, it should be very difficult for them to find a second party within a short period of time.”

He Mingzheng asked, “You have a way?”

Without blinking, Zhan Shili said, “Although the Lin Group moved its headquarters back, most of its investment projects are still overseas. They were hit quite hard by the fallout from Silicon’s bankruptcy before. If we create some trouble for them and leave them too occupied with their own problems, naturally they won’t have the spare capacity to save Zhaoqi.”

“You brat, you really are clever,” He Mingzheng knew all of this, of course. He had only meant to test Zhan Shili. Changing the subject, he continued, “These past few days, some people have come out to compete with us for shares, using different brokers and accounts to buy up goods in the market. They are all backed by the same offshore company. I estimate that they have already bought at least 3%. I had people investigate, but they couldn’t find out who the real owner was. What do you think?”

Zhan Shili said calmly, “It doesn’t matter who it is. As long as our total shareholding can exceed half, the chairman of Zhaoqi’s board will definitely have to be replaced.”

He Mingzheng looked at him scrutinizingly and flicked his cigarette ash one last time, saying, “It had better be that simple. I’ll send people to lobby those Zhaoqi shareholders again. If we can persuade them to directly transfer their shares to us by agreement, even better. If not, we still have to win them over to our side.”

As Zhan Shili walked out of He Mingzheng’s office, he turned his head and glanced at the cityscape beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Zhaoqi building was not far ahead. The greenery of the sky garden on the roof could faintly be seen. The scene of him and Xu Shen standing there together watching the sunset that same hour at dusk still seemed like only yesterday.

Cai Lihao knocked and entered Xu Shen’s office. His secretary had just finished reporting and left.

“Has the Hong Kong Stock Exchange already approved Zhaoqi’s application for a trading suspension?” Cai Lihao dropped into the seat across from his desk and asked immediately.

Xu Shen nodded: “Just approved.”

“That’s good,” Cai Lihao breathed a sigh of relief for him. “At least stop them from continuing to increase their holdings for now. He Mingzheng really has a lot of cash on hand. Zhaoqi’s share price has already been driven up this high, and he’s still continuously buying. If you let him keep going, he’ll soon surpass your old man and become Zhaoqi’s largest shareholder.”

Xu Shen glanced at his computer screen and said, “An offshore company that suddenly appeared has been competing with him for shares, which has helped us too. Otherwise, his shareholding would’ve already surpassed my dad’s last week.”

Cai Lihao raised an eyebrow: “Who are they? Can you get in touch with them?”

“Don’t know,” Xu Shen said. “We tried. All we know is that it’s an offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands. We can’t find out who the owner behind it is.”

Cai Lihao found that somewhat unfortunate: “What about the Lin Family? Have you settled things with them?”

“More or less.” Xu Shen said calmly, “First suspend trading to stop He Mingzheng from increasing his holdings. After that, carry out a private placement to bring the Lin Family into the game and dilute He Mingzheng’s stake. For now, that’s the only option.”

Cai Lihao asked, “Doesn’t a private placement also need approval from the shareholders’ meeting? What if He Mingzheng joins forces with those two brothers of yours and vetoes it?”

Xu Shen explained, “No need. At Zhaoqi’s annual general meeting, the board was already authorized to issue new shares amounting to no more than 20% of the existing share capital within one year. It only needs board approval. Right now, Zhaoqi’s board is still under my control.”

Hearing that, Cai Lihao relaxed: “Speaking of which, you really have no interest in that precious young miss from the Lin Family? You can’t be incapable of getting it up for women, can you?”

Xu Shen answered without hesitation: “Not interested.”

“Okay.” Cai Lihao grinned wickedly and teased him. “We know you’re only interested in Nic, but unfortunately, he’s going after you. I heard Zhuosheng has already passed the proposal for him to join the board. I told you long ago his ambitions were huge, no wonder he didn’t even want the CEO position you offered him.”

Xu Shen was silent for a while and only said four words: “Then congratulations to him.”

Two days later, Xu Shen once again brought people to the Lin Group to discuss the details of the private placement.

His side handed over the agreement. Lin Bingsheng accepted it without flipping through much of it and looked troubled: “Young Master Shen, the matter we agreed on before, about us investing in Zhaoqi, may have to be put on hold.”

Xu Shen’s expression changed slightly as he asked, “Is Mr. Lin still dissatisfied with some of the details in this agreement?”

The other man waved a hand and told him the truth: “The terms you’ve offered are already very favorable. There’s nothing I’m dissatisfied with. The problem is on our side. The Lin Group’s financial company in Europe has come under a short-selling attack from an international hedge fund, and they’re coming at us aggressively. We can only protect ourselves first. I’m truly sorry.”

Xu Shen frowned slightly and asked, “Which hedge fund?”

Lin Bingsheng said, “Fox Hunt.”

As the car drove away from the Lin Group building, Xu Shen’s secretary had already found the relevant information and turned around to tell him: “Fox Hunt is a well-known short seller in Europe with countless financial ties to Silicon. For them to short the Lin Group at a time like this, there’s a good chance they’re actually coming after Zhaoqi, deliberately creating trouble to help Silicon delay redeeming that euro bond debt owed to us. Also, Fox Hunt’s current Asia-Pacific president is Gao Yongcheng, the one who resigned from Ryder Fund before.”

Hearing that name, Xu Shen couldn’t help frowning. When they had been acquiring those two old industrial buildings in Mong Kok, they had bypassed Gao Yongcheng and gone directly to Ryder Fund’s headquarters, and there had already been bad blood between him and Gao Yongcheng. For Fox Hunt to target the Lin Group at this time, it really was probably aimed at Zhaoqi.

When it rained, it poured; when it snowed, it poured—one disaster piled on top of another.

The secretary said worriedly, “Now that the Lin Group has refused to invest in Zhaoqi, we can only look for someone else. But finding another party in such a short time that can either put up enough capital all at once or has the strength and willingness to do a share swap with Zhaoqi will probably be very difficult.”

Xu Shen said nothing. Leaning back against the seat, he watched the streetscape rush past outside the window and remained silent for a long while.

By the time he returned to the company, it was already after five in the afternoon. An unexpected guest had come to see Xu Shen—it was his aunt-in-law, Chen Ping, who had specifically waited for him in his office.

“Aunt, what brings you to the company today?” Xu Shen composed himself and sat down with her.

Chen Ping said flatly, “Came to have a cup of coffee at your place.”

Xu Shen instructed his secretary to make coffee and commented, “There’s nothing particularly good about the coffee here. Aunt, you came to see me about something, didn’t you?”

Chen Ping studied his expression for a moment: “So much has happened at the company lately. I heard Zhuosheng has been biting at you and refusing to let go, but you still look rather calm.”

Xu Shen smiled: “I can’t exactly walk around looking miserable every day.”

Chen Ping said, “Ever since your father had that sudden heart attack and was rushed in for emergency treatment last time, none of us have been able to see him. We don’t even know whether he’s alive or dead, so I am rather curious: what exactly have you, his son, done to him?”

“Nothing,” Xu Shen said, not particularly wanting to talk about this. “My dad just doesn’t want to see outsiders.”

Chen Ping gave a mocking smile: “Young Master Shen, you’re no simple character, otherwise, you wouldn’t be the one sitting here today. But ultimately, you still came in from outside, and you have too few chips in your hand. Even after sending your Second Brother to prison, once those brothers join forces, you’ll still have a hard time fighting them.”

Xu Shen didn’t deny it: “That’s true, and there are so many people outside eyeing Zhaoqi like prey; it would indeed be quite difficult.”

Chen Ping said, “It would be boring if this show ended just like that, and I don’t want to see Zhaoqi fall into an outsider’s hands either. I don’t hold many shares, only two percent, so I can’t help you much there. However, I can give you one useful piece of information.”

Xu Shen looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

After Chen Ping left, it was almost time to get off work. Xu Shen instructed his secretary: “The driver asked for leave and got off early today. I don’t feel like driving myself. Go see if Old Chen is still at the company and have him drive me back.”

Old Chen was Xu Shiji’s driver and had driven for him for more than thirty years. Ever since Xu Shiji was hospitalized and no longer needed him, he had been given an idle post in the company’s logistics department and occasionally drove for other people.

Ten minutes later, Xu Shen went downstairs. Old Chen was already waiting in the car. Seeing him come down, he enthusiastically got out and opened the rear door for him: “Young Master Shen, please.”

After the car left the company, Old Chen, being a talkative man, chatted with Xu Shen the entire way.

Xu Shen occasionally responded with a few words before suddenly asking, “Uncle Chen, you’ve been with my dad for so many years. I heard you used to drive for my grandfather too?”

Old Chen immediately became animated: “The Old Master was actually the first person I drove for. Back then, the Old Master was still Zhaoqi’s chairman…”

Once he started talking, there was no stopping him. Xu Shen had met this Old Master once when he was a child. He had looked even more stern and harsh than Xu Shiji, and the way he looked at Xu Shen had been like looking at a piece of trash. Only when facing that cripple Xu Zikang would his face show the gentle affection of an elder.

Xu Shen had actually always found it strange. Xu Shiji clearly didn’t value Xu Zikang that much, yet when he and Xu Zikang had been kidnapped back then, Xu Shiji had not only produced a hundred million to ransom Xu Zikang, but had even been willing to deliver the ransom personally. In retrospect, it was most likely the Old Master’s decision.

Xu Shen asked curiously, “Father said last time that back then, only he and Grandfather came over here, and Grandmother died of illness in the countryside back home when she was still young. After Grandfather became successful, did he never remarry?”

Old Chen laughed: “There were plenty of women around the Old Master. Why would he need to marry any of them and bring them home?”

“My dad married quite a few, though,” Xu Shen’s tone was light, as though they were simply chatting. “I heard my Second Mother used to be a nurse who looked after Grandfather?”

Old Chen’s expression stiffened almost imperceptibly before he laughed it off: “The Second Madam did work as the Old Master’s nurse for a period of time.”

The “Second Mother” Xu Shen was referring to was Xu Zikang’s biological mother, and also the woman Xu Shiji publicly claimed to be Xu Shen’s nominal mother. After Xu Shiji’s first wife passed away, she became his official wife and spent nearly twenty years as the wealthy madam of the Xu Family before dying of illness a few years ago.

Xu Shen seemed very interested in her: “Really? I heard this Second Mother of mine was quite favored by Grandpa back then?”

Old Chen said awkwardly, “The Old Master did indeed like this daughter-in-law more than the others…”

“Was that all?” Xu Shen’s tone became inexplicable. “Do you know anything else?”

“N-…”

Old Chen instinctively wanted to say he didn’t know, but Xu Shen interrupted him: “I heard your grandson will be graduating from secondary school in another year, Uncle Chen. Hasn’t your son always wanted to send him abroad to study? I can have someone help him apply to some better schools in the US and cover his tuition and living expenses. What do you think?”

Old Chen froze, then was overjoyed: “Young Master Shen, how could I possibly accept…”

“It’s nothing,” Xu Shen said. “You’ve served our family for so many years, you deserve it. As long as you can be as devoted to me in the future as you were to my dad and my grandfather, that would be best.”

After driving Xu Shen home, when the car stopped, Old Chen finally gritted his teeth and said, “Young Master Shen, I don’t know much else. But several times in the past, the Old Master had me drive him and the Second Madam out alone. The way they spoke and behaved with each other was very intimate. Once, I even saw the Old Master put his hand under the Second Madam’s skirt…”

There was no need for him to say anything more.

This was exactly what Chen Ping had told Xu Shen at the company earlier. Xu Zikang’s parentage was questionable. He very likely wasn’t Xu Shiji’s son at all, but the bastard born from an affair between Xu Shiji’s father and his wife.

When Xu Shen entered the house, he ran into Xu Zikang again.

Xu Zikang hadn’t gone to the company at all lately. He was just about to head out, holding his phone and speaking into it.

“I’m leaving now. I can be there in half an hour. Nic, you guys order first when you get there. See you in a bit.”

After hanging up, Xu Zikang saw Xu Shen. Still shaken by how Xu Shen had nearly strangled him to death last time, he didn’t speak to him and directly instructed the housekeeper to push him outside, leaving without another word.

Xu Shen rubbed the gold coin in his pocket for a moment, then chuckled to himself.

He had no appetite for dinner. After night fell, he made himself a cup of coffee and stood on the terrace outside his room looking at the night view.

He had no appetite for dinner. After night fell, he made himself a cup of coffee and stood on the terrace outside his room looking at the night view.

Cai Lihao called and said he had heard the news that the Lin Group was giving up on investing in Zhaoqi, then asked what Xu Shen planned to do now.

Xu Shen said, “Don’t know. Haven’t figured it out yet. I’ll see how things go.”

“…If there’s really no other way, why don’t you go beg Nic? Maybe he’ll soften his heart?” Cai Lihao threw out a wild suggestion.

Xu Shen: “I’m hanging up.”

[My stomach hurts. Can you come with me to the hospital?]

[Nic, I want to see you.]

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t/n: Aiyo aiyo Nic choose your next steps wisely… Proceed carefully. Xu Shen is hinting at you as to what he wants you to do ah!

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