parentshiftbook Chapter 455 A Fantastic Amputation for Survival
Chapter 455 A Fantastic Amputation for Survival
The emergency board meeting of the Fantasy Group was scheduled for 10:00 a.m.
There were more than a dozen people sitting in the conference room. Some of the shareholder representatives on either side of the long table were flipping through documents, while others were looking down at their phones.
Liu Chuanzhi was the last to enter. He pulled out a chair and sat down without looking at anyone.
Financial data was projected onto a large screen.
The CFO stood up, his voice hoarse: "Ladies and gentlemen, as of yesterday, the group's book losses have exceeded 300 million."
A commotion broke out in the conference room.
"The main losses come from two parts," the CFO turned a page. "First, there's the stockpiling of mobile phone components; the current inventory backlog exceeds 280 million, and the market spot price has already fallen by more than 30%. Second, the group's stock price has fallen for three consecutive days, and it dropped another seven points at the opening today."
"Can these goods still be sold?" asked a shareholder sitting on the left.
No one answered.
The CFO hesitated for a moment, then said, "There's a sudden surge in low-priced spot goods on the market, with prices nearly 40% lower than our purchase price. If we sell this batch now, we'll lose at least 100 million."
The door was gently pushed open, and Secretary Zhou entered carrying tea. Liu Chuanzhi didn't look up.
"Who's dumping their stock at low prices?" another shareholder asked.
"We checked. They are the second-tier manufacturers that Xinghuo previously supported. Lingyun provided them with technology and helped them improve yield rates. Now that their production capacity has increased, they are starting to release more stock."
Someone knocked the folder onto the table.
"Isn't this trying to kill us?"
Liu Chuanzhi finally spoke.
"It was my mistake to make that decision."
The meeting room fell silent.
Everyone looked at him. Liu Chuanzhi leaned back in his chair, slowly twirling his teacup with his fingers. His expression was flat, revealing no emotion.
"I received false information about the Star Core chips. I judged that their mass production had failed, so they increased their stockpiles. Now it seems that Ling Yun deliberately released false information."
"Didn't you say your intelligence sources were reliable?"
"It used to be reliable," Liu Chuanzhi said. "This time, I misjudged it."
An older shareholder took off his reading glasses and slowly wiped the lenses. "Old Liu," he said, "I advised you at the board meeting that stockpiling goods was too risky; 500 million is no small sum. You said Xinghuo couldn't turn things around..."
"Old Zhou, I know what you're trying to say," Liu Chuanzhi interrupted him. "But this isn't the time to bring up old grievances. What we need to solve now is what to do with this batch of goods."
"How do we solve this?" The old shareholder folded the glasses back up. "The market price has dropped by 30% or 40% now. No matter who we sell this batch of goods to, we'll suffer a huge loss."
"We can hold off for a while and wait for prices to rebound," someone said.
"We can't wait." The sales manager stood up. "The warehouse rent and labor costs are burning through cash. Besides, the market has already been taken over by those low-priced spot goods. Every day our goods are stuck in our hands, we lose money every day."
Liu Chuanzhi stood up and walked to the window.
"Then let's clear out the inventory."
"Clearance sale?" The CFO's voice rose a beat. "At the current price, a clearance sale would result in a book loss of over 400 million."
"If we don't sell, we'll lose even more." Liu Chuanzhi turned around. "Consider this money as tuition."
The shareholders in the meeting room looked at each other in bewilderment.
"The stock price of Yuxiang has fallen for three consecutive days." An old shareholder put on his glasses, looked at Liu Chuanzhi, and asked, "How do you plan to explain this to the investors?"
"I'll go."
"What can you do there? The stock price is determined by the market."
Liu Chuanzhi remained silent for a few seconds. Outside the window were the skyscrapers of Shenzhen, the sunlight shining brightly on the glass curtain wall.
At this moment, one of the shareholders who had been sitting silently in the corner spoke up, "Old Liu, someone asked me to pass on a message."
"What did you say?"
"If you resign, someone is willing to take over this shipment."
The atmosphere in the conference room changed instantly.
Liu Chuanzhi stared at the shareholder. "Who?"
"I can't say yet."
"If you don't say, then there's no one here."
The shareholder smiled and said nothing more.
Liu Chuanzhi sat down again. He picked up his teacup and took a sip; the tea was long since cold. He put the cup down, then picked it up again and twirled it around a couple of times.
"I will not resign."
He said this in a very flat tone, as if he were talking about today's weather.
"I built this company from scratch. Over twenty years, I've built it up from a small office to where it is today. Anyone who wants me gone can wait until the stock price drops to the point of delisting."
After the meeting, the shareholders left one after another. Liu Chuanzhi sat alone in the conference room. Xiao Zhou came in to tidy up the documents, his footsteps very light.
"Xiao Zhou."
"Mr. Liu?"
"Go and call the HR manager. Lay off two people—Zhang Hao from the intelligence department, and that contact person surnamed Yang."
"Zhang Hao has been with you for ten years..."
"I know," Liu Chuanzhi said, rubbing his temples. "Go ahead."
At 2 PM, news spread that Yixiang was clearing out its stockpiled inventory. The market reacted immediately—several middlemen who had previously stockpiled goods were still observing, but when they saw Yixiang itself starting to sell at a loss, they panicked and dumped their stock.
By 4 p.m., the spot price of screens and cameras had dropped another five points.
Financial news headlines started popping up: "Yixiang Group's inventory backlog may result in losses exceeding 400 million yuan" and "Stock price falls for three consecutive days, market value evaporates by more than 4 billion yuan".
Ling Yun saw these news reports in the Xinghuo office in Jinan. Zhao Hu stood beside him, holding a photograph in his hand.
"We've found out who Gray Sparrow met last night."
Ling Yun took the photo. The photo showed two people standing in a parking lot, one tall and thin with his back to the camera, and the other's profile illuminated by a streetlamp—it was a deputy director of the administration department of the Yixiang Group.
"His name is Zhou Kai, and he's worked at Yixiang for eight years," Zhao Hu said. "He was in charge of arranging the Grey Sparrow's travel."
"Where's the recording?"
"They were talking outdoors, and the wind was too strong to hear clearly. But I could make out a few words—'chip data,' 'patents,' and 'Qualcomm.'"
Lingyun placed the photo on the table, stood up, and took a few steps.
"What about Degui's side?"
"The materials have been submitted to the Public Security Bureau, and the Economic Crime Investigation Division is reviewing them. If all goes well, the case can be filed this week."
"Okay." Ling Yun picked up his coat. "Let's go to Xinghuo Internet Cafe."
Zhao Hu was taken aback. "What are you going to the internet cafe for?"
"Let me see." Ling Yun opened the door. "I'll call Sophia again on the way."
As the car drove out of the Xinghuo Group's underground parking garage, it started to drizzle in Jinan. The windshield wipers swept across the windshield.
Lingyun dialed Sophia's number.
"Sophia, double the short positions on the Fantasy side."
Sophia's voice on the other end of the phone was calm, "Mr. Ling, doubling the investment would be too large, what if..."
"There's no 'what if'," Ling Yun said, looking out at the rain-soaked streets. "They're going to cut their losses and clear out their positions; the market will continue to dump shares. The stock price will continue to fall in the next few days."
"clear."
After hanging up the phone, Ling Yun called Chen Zhongming again.
"Zhongming, increase the shipment volume of those second-tier factories we've been supporting by another 20%. There's no need to lower the price; the current price is already lower than the unrealistic expectation of stockpiling. Release more stock to push the prices from the middlemen even lower."
"Mr. Ling, this will leave us with very thin profit margins."
"I'm not going to make a profit this time," Ling Yun said. "What I want is for Yi Xiang's batch of goods to be stuck in his hands, something no one can buy."
Chen Zhongming paused for a moment, then said, "I understand."
The car stopped in front of Xinghuo Internet Cafe. Ling Yun went inside; it was about 80% full, mostly young people playing games. A few people were using older desktop computers, operating the Xinghuo system interface.
A young female internet cafe manager recognized Ling Yun and nervously dropped her rag on the ground.
"Mr. Ling... Mr. Ling."
"It's nothing, I'm just taking a look." Ling Yun walked to a row of display stands with sample devices. On them were two StarPhone laptops and a sign that read, "StarPhone 1 pre-orders are now open."
When was this sign put up?
"It was arranged by General Manager Zhao last month. Many people have come to ask about it."
Ling Yun nodded. He took out his phone and checked the time: 4:30 PM.
Zhao Hu walked over. "President Ling, where shall we go next?"
"Back to the company, there are still a few documents to sign." Ling Yun put his phone back in his pocket. "Oh, and tell Li Mo to come to my office tonight. I need to go over the mass production plan for Star Core with him again."
The two walked out of the internet cafe. The rain was still falling, pattering finely on the street.
Before getting into the car, Ling Yun paused. He glanced back at the internet cafe's sign—the two large characters "Spark" shone brightly in the rain.
"Zhao Hu".
"exist."
"Compile a report on Gray Sparrow's matter and give it to me. Include his entry time, the people he met, and everything else. I need it by tomorrow morning."
"it is good."
The car started moving, heading towards Xinghuo Group. Rain fell on the car windows, blurring the street scene.
Ling Yun opened his phone's contacts, found Liang Mengsong's number, and dialed it.
"Mr. Liang, let's go over the Shenzhen factory matter again tomorrow. There can't be any mistakes in the mass production of StarPhone."
Liang Mengsong's voice was loud on the other end of the phone, "Don't worry, President Ling. I'll keep an eye on the chips, and I guarantee the yield rate."
"it is good."
Ling Yun hung up the phone and leaned back in his seat. The windshield wipers swung back and forth, scattering the rainwater from the car window to both sides.
The road ahead was blocked by a red light. The car stopped.
"Mr. Ling, Sophia just sent me a message." Zhao Hu turned around from the front row, "The stock price of Yixiang has fallen another six points at the close."
Ling Yun didn't speak.
The red light turned green, and the car started moving again.