The film and television city starts from the courtyard

The times are advancing by leaps and bounds, and new talents are emerging in every generation.

Abao didn't want to be a spectator; he wanted to ride the wave of the times, so the clothing company's IPO was a great opportunity for him to turn his life around.

Since leaving, Qiang Mujie has been planning the future of Nanguo Investment's Shanghai headquarters. The Shanghai stock market expansion has begun, with many local and out-of-town companies slated for listing. Nanguo Investment's task for Qiang Mujie is to secure a local company as an underwriter, but Qiang Mujie doesn't want to be a guest; he wants to be the host and obtain the local underwriter qualification.

The local underwriters in Shanghai include Wanguo Securities, Shenyin Securities, and Haitong Securities, but Qiang Mujie only wants to cooperate with top-tier securities firms. He looks down on small companies like clothing companies and plans to cooperate with Lu Bai.

But when he heard that Abao owned the listed shares of the clothing company, he immediately felt a lump in his throat. After all, Abao had previously made money by stealing chickens when they weren't looking, while he himself had taken the risks, so he had always been somewhat resentful.

Li Li also learned that A Bao was going to start a clothing company. The two arranged to meet, and Li Li advised A Bao not to choose the worst clothing company, as it would only be a waste of effort.

Abao is confident in taking his apparel company public, but he feels he can't do it all on his own right now, so he hopes Lili can help him find a securities firm.

Li Li was in the business of brokerage, so she readily agreed. However, she also took the opportunity to suggest that A Bao take over Zhizhen Garden, because she was tired of the disputes on Huanghe Road and was preparing to leave.

Li Li arranged for Qiang Mujie to meet at Zhizhen Garden.

Inside the top-floor private room of Zhizhen Garden.

When Qiang Mujie and Abao met for the first time, they were both a little uneasy.

"Bao won this battle, and Boss Bao made a lot of money!"

"Compared to Boss Qiang, he's nothing."

Qiang Mujie said, "We've made a lot of money, after all, we built this business ourselves. Boss Bao, watching from the sidelines, still managed to make so much money; that takes incredible ability, Li Li, don't you think?"

Li Li remained silent.

Ah Bao said, "The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each displaying their unique abilities."

Li Li said, "I've discussed the general topics that Mr. Bao and Mr. Qiang want to discuss with Mr. Qiang. Mr. Bao will need to elaborate on the specific details. Before we officially begin, I'd like to ask what you two would like to eat?"

"salmon!"

Ah Bao said, "I eat everything, except fish!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Abao proposed that Qiang Mujie act as his brokerage firm to assist the apparel company in its IPO.

However, Qiang Mujie was not optimistic about the clothing company. After all, A Bao and his team only made money by luck, while they made money on Nanjing Road by their own strength. He advised A Bao to give up as soon as possible, otherwise they would be completely crushed.

Ah Bao disagreed, pointing out that Qiang Mujie was no match for Mr. A. He had only learned Mr. A's domineering nature, but not his magnanimity.

Qiang Mujie retorted, not to be outdone, "So it's me standing here today, not him. The truth should be seen from above!"

Knowing that Qiang Mujie would never cooperate with him, Abao stood up and stormed off in a huff.

Qiang Mujie also pressured Li Li to choose between him and A Bao, but unexpectedly, Li Li's answer was Mr. A, who had disappeared.

Qiang Mujie stormed off in anger, growing angrier the more he thought about it. He went straight to Lingzi to confront her, vowing that he would definitely defeat Abao and hoping that Lingzi would be on his side.

Lingzi, however, clearly told Qiang Mujie that Abao had always been very lucky.

Qiang Mujie, however, did not believe in luck, only in strength, so he could only leave dejectedly.

Li Li ultimately recommended Xiguo Investment as the underwriter to A Bao, but still advised A Bao to think twice, since the clothing company was not as financially capable or as promising as Luwan Department Store.

Moreover, Luwan Department Store is backed by the powerful Qiang Mujie. If Abao competes with them, he will face significant financial pressure.

But Abao refused to give up. After all, he already had his own goal: to build the first fashion company in Shanghai, not just a clothing manufacturer. He believed that if he could take the clothing company public, he could double its profits within three to five years.

Unlike A Bao, Li Li wasn't as confident. A Bao could only analyze the recent economic trends in Shanghai for Li Li to give her confidence.

Ah Bao eventually met with Mr. Wang from Xiguo Investment, and the two hit it off immediately.

Mr. Wang immediately began preparing the necessary documents, striving to get the apparel company through the listing review process as soon as possible.

Uncle knew that Ah Bao was going his own way, but he couldn't really watch his apprentice fail. So he gave Ah Bao some advice, telling him that Ah Bao should not only consider the company's profits, but also think about the issues from the perspective of the imperial court.

At the promotional event, Abao publicly stated that his clothing company would use its products to lead the trend of the times and solve the employment problem of laid-off workers.

A Bao's speech was approved by the reviewers, so he successfully obtained the listing quota, which made both General Manager Wang of Xiguo Investment and General Manager Cai of the apparel company praise A Bao highly.

After all, their competitors were much stronger than the apparel company, and their advantages were negligible. Yet, Abao ultimately defeated its powerful rivals and became the first company to go public.

Qiang Mujie, however, was not optimistic about A Bao's operation, because the clothing company's conditions were too poor. Even if it were to go public, the underwriters would need to provide 200 million yuan in funding to back it up.

He simply didn't believe that Abao could raise 200 million yuan. If he couldn't raise the money, even if the clothing company went public as scheduled, Abao would be in dire straits because he couldn't provide a safety net.

A Bao naturally knew that his most important problem right now was funding. He had been raising funds, not only the money he and the fleet earned during the Battle of Baoying, but also the funds he had secured from Ningbo.

But this amount of money is not enough. He has 30 million yuan in funds at his disposal, and Xiao Ningbo has raised more than 30 million yuan. Even if Nanguo Investment can use a leverage ratio of 1:2, he still has a shortfall of more than 40 million yuan.

Abao wanted his uncle to help him figure out what to do next, but his uncle refused, telling him to do it himself. His uncle's priority right now was the foreign trade business, which was Abao's fallback plan; he couldn't let Abao put all his eggs in one basket with the clothing company. Zhao Shucheng also knew about Abao's plans to help the clothing company go public. Logically, this should be good for Abao, as he could become a shareholder in the company later.

This is also a good thing for apparel companies, since going public allows them to raise more funds, expand their scale, and thus grow stronger.

Zhao Shucheng, however, felt that things couldn't be as easy as A Bao thought, since everyone had their own ulterior motives.

Ah Bao was only thinking about helping the clothing company go public, but he overlooked the fact that the clothing company might not be on his side. Once the clothing company obtained the listing quota, Ah Bao's abilities became insignificant to them, thus reducing his usefulness by more than half.

In order to raise funds, A Bao happened to be in November when the macro-control measures began to show results, and the Shanghai stock market also passed through a period of stagnation of more than half a year, with the Shanghai Composite Index breaking through to a new high.

Taking advantage of the market rebound, Abao decided to rely on his own efforts to make a quick and easy profit, and small-cap stocks happened to become the target of investors' pursuit.

Without his uncle's guidance, Abao could only rely on his own guesses to see which stocks could make him a quick and easy profit, and Qiang Mujie was the one he focused on.

After all, Qiang Mujie made a fortune at Yingzhou Industrial, and they even opened a branch in the financial district of Shanghai's Bund, focusing on developing high-profile clients.

Abao analyzed Qiang Mujie's operating habits and learned that Qiang Mujie recently liked to use numbers ending with "248", and Lingzi's Night Tokyo happened to be number 248, Jinxian Road.

Abao finally confirmed that Qiang Mujie would buy the stock of 653 Shenhua, and immediately instructed Commander Cai and others to buy it in large quantities in batches.

Unfortunately, Abao only saw the current booming stock market but lacked a macro perspective. The Shanghai stock market had been extremely volatile lately, so relevant departments were preparing to introduce policies to regulate institutional operations after entering the market. Therefore, after the announcement, the Shanghai Composite Index plummeted, the market cooled down rapidly, and Abao's investment shrank by a third.

Nanguo Investment also found itself in the eye of the storm due to Qiang Mujie's aggressive style. As the market cooled down, Nanguo Investment's funds shrank by 40%, and the company faced a life-or-death test.

Qiang Mujie is currently in a state of utter chaos, not only dealing with the China Securities Regulatory Commission's investigation but also facing accountability from the head office. Ultimately, Nanguo Investment was severely warned for suspected irregularities, and the head office also suspected Qiang Mujie of acting rashly, requiring them to send someone to assist him.

Zhao Shucheng had been paying close attention to the stock market during this period and knew that a market downturn was inevitable. Therefore, apart from holding shares in Yingzhou Industrial, he had not made any other moves.

Zhao Shucheng knew that the chaos in the domestic stock market was only temporary. As the market became more standardized and the market size increased, that would be the time for him to truly enter the market.

Because of Black Monday, the restaurants on Huanghe Road were deserted.

Qiang Mujie went to find Li Li, only to learn that Li Li wanted to rent the restaurant and even planned to hand over Zhizhen Garden to him. However, Qiang Mujie had no interest in running a restaurant at all.

Li Li advised Qiang Mujie to leave himself a way out, just like A Bao always walked on two legs. Even if he failed in the stock market, he could make a comeback through foreign trade.

But if Qiang Mujie fails in the stock market, he will really lose everything, and he might end up like Mr. A.

Qiang Mujie didn't mean he didn't want to leave himself an out, but he felt that Li Li's asking price was too high.

Li Li told Qiang Mujie that he wasn't the only buyer of Zhizhen Garden.

The stock market crash caused A Bao's funds to shrink. A Bao was unwilling to admit defeat, so he sought help from Li Li, wanting to borrow 30 million yuan of entrusted funds to invest in the stock market as an agent.

Li Li readily agreed.

When Uncle learned that Abao was planning to borrow money to speculate in stocks, his expression immediately changed. He advised, "Abao, you dare to lend money to this kind of person? You're courting death. What do you mean by 'own funds', 'entrusted funds', and 'one-to-one leverage'? Don't treat the funds entrusted to you for management as your personal assets. The truth is, your personal funds plus the fleet's assets are only thirty million. Borrowing one hundred and twenty million, how can that be called one-to-one? That's one-to-four! Everyone knows Nanjing Road is good. Take a step back, don't be the host, be the guest, and guard your little corner of foreign trade, okay?"

"Uncle, don't get so angry. The worst time is the best time. Three years ago, there were only eight stocks in Shanghai, a dozen or so member companies, and tens of thousands of investors. But now? There are more than a hundred stocks in Shanghai, hundreds of member companies, and millions of investors. The market will only get better and better in the future."

Ah Bao said confidently, "Uncle, there's an opportunity to issue stocks now, we're just one step away from it. You got this ticket back for me, why should I give it up?"

Uncle didn't expect that Abao was so determined to take the clothing company public, and even borrow money to do so. He had made Abao rich through the stock market back then, but now Abao was also addicted to the stock market, which made Uncle feel that it might be time for the two of them to go their separate ways.

Moreover, Abao doesn't care about foreign trade at all now, and has no idea that their shell company has almost no business left. Especially after Wang Mingzhu secured the Walmart foreign trade order, although there's no news of any manufacturers cooperating with them yet, those manufacturers who previously worked with them are now starting to get restless and preparing to switch partners.

Uncle was not optimistic about A Bao's operation this time, because A Bao had too few chips. If the competitors withdrew the funds that A Bao had borrowed, A Bao would lose miserably.

The stock market downturn not only affected Huanghe Road, but also Fan Xinhua's Sanyang brand T-shirts, whose sales have been declining day by day.

Fortunately, Fan Xinhua was prepared for the worst and bought a piece of land for the company in Shenzhen when the company was at its peak. So now this land can be used as some compensation for the factory.

Before leaving, he brought gifts to visit Wang Mingzhu. Seeing that the IKEA supermarket was still crowded with people as usual, he couldn't help but look envious.

The Three Sheep were once so popular, but when did they start to decline?
Wang Mingzhu hadn't expected Fan Xinhua to contact her at this time, assuming it was about Sanyang's entry into IKEA. She smiled and said, "Mr. Fan, you're a rare guest. This is your first visit since we opened, isn't it?"

"Yes, I didn't dare to bother you before, but now that I'm leaving Shanghai, I've come to say goodbye to Miss Wang."

"So eager? Then I'll treat you to a nice meal today. Let's go to Zhizhenyuan on Huanghe Road."

Fan Xinhua said, "No need, no need, we can just find a place to eat."

"That won't do, Mr. Fan. You started your business on Huanghe Road. Even if you leave now, you should still eat on Huanghe Road. It's a good way to end things properly."

Before Wang Mingzhu and Fan Xinhua could leave, they ran into Zhao Shucheng, who happened to be inspecting the supermarket.

Seeing the two men preparing to leave, Zhao Shucheng asked curiously, "President Fan, President Wang, are you getting ready to go out?"

Wang Mingzhu rolled her eyes at Zhao Shucheng and said, "Yes, Mr. Zhao, Mr. Fan is leaving Shanghai, and I'm planning to treat him to dinner. Would you like to come along?"

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "Of course, a chance encounter is worse than a planned meeting!" (End of this chapter)