Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

A simple and straightforward business battle ended with a handshake and reconciliation after both sides experienced a thrilling event.

Both sides tacitly agreed not to mention the matter again, and even deliberately downplayed it.

But in Lu Yang's words, "The feud has already been formed. The reason why the Li family is willing to swallow this insult is simply because they don't want to risk their wealthy status against the heads of us nouveau riche, whom they see as peasants from the mainland. It would be a bad deal and would make them look stupid. Capitalists are best at enslaving and exploiting people. They solve problems with capital, not with violence. If violence were effective, what would be the difference between them and those low-level gangsters living in cramped apartments in Hong Kong?"

Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh, "Old ginger is indeed spicier; this Li Ka-shing is not easy to deal with!"

It turned out that a few days ago, the day after Lu Yang and his group learned that Li Zekai, the second son of the Li family, had safely returned to the Li family's Repulse Bay mansion.

Suddenly Shelley called him.

The mixed-race Jewish woman, who is one-eighth Chinese, happily recounted her extraordinary adventure to Lu Yang over the phone.

All the previous troubles have disappeared.

The first task Lu Yang gave her was to rent an office floor in the city center to set up the shell company, Gangcheng Century Investment.

For some time now, she has been working hard to find suitable vacant office buildings, but every time she encountered various problems at the most critical moment, which prevented her from signing a contract and has dragged on until today.

She had thought it was impossible to complete the task and had almost accepted the setback of failure.

But today, the property management of a prime downtown office building that she had previously coveted suddenly called her. They explained that the previous difficulties were just a misunderstanding and that they had now figured things out. To express their apology, they were willing to rent the office building to her at a 20% discount and even generously waived her property management fees for the next five years.

Simply put, this could reduce the company's budget by at least nearly a million dollars.

Where else can you find such a good deal?

It was like a pie falling from the sky. If she hadn't been worried about some hidden traps, Shelley would have signed the contract without even thinking about it. The reason she came to ask Lu Yang and share the good news was out of caution.

Lu Yang nodded. "There are no traps here. Sign it. Sign it for as many years as you can."

"Yes, boss."

Upon receiving Lu Yang's reply, Shelley nodded happily.

Next, all she has to do is wait for the contract to be signed and the company to have an office space, then she can start formally recruiting a group of employees and get the Gangcheng Century Investment Company up and running.

Lu Yang hung up the phone.

He knew perfectly well that this was just a strategic retreat by Li Ka-shing in Hong Kong, a way to save face and stabilize his position first.

Next, all of Li Ka-shing's experiences since starting his own business and all the industries he has invested in will likely be laid out on his desk and casually flipped through by him.

But it doesn't matter anymore. He only offended Li Zekai, the second son of the Li family, not the entire Li family. There's no need to confront this behemoth head-on and fight to the death, unless...

Unless absolutely necessary!

To put it bluntly, the cards are now in Li Chaowen's hands. It all depends on what moves Li Chaowen will make next. If he does, Lu Yang will have no choice but to accept the challenge and grit his teeth to fight against the world's richest Chinese man.

Fortunately, judging from the current situation, the other party has chosen to be tolerant and temporarily refrain from arguing with these newly-made peasants.

I just hung up the phone with Shelley.

Xiao Jun called again, "Brother, good news! That kid surnamed Li called to apologize to me. He said it was a misunderstanding last time, and to express his apology, he's willing to use his connections to help our company with its IPO in Hong Kong next year. Should we agree?"

The allure of listing in Hong Kong is undeniable, given that Hong Kong is a mature capitalist securities market in Asia, with financing caps far exceeding those in mainland China, second only to Wall Street in New York.

Lu Yang was taken aback: What's going on here? Are they trying to lure us in so they can trap us later?
Thinking of this, he shook his head again. 97 is less than three years away from today. According to the timeline, if the little prodigy were to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange through an IPO, including the time spent in between, there would only be 1 to 2 years for this little superman from the Li family to scheme against him. Besides, he himself was not someone to be trifled with. Could this little superman, Li Zekai, really swallow a company that was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange whole?
"Hmph, it would be more like his father would be here. Even if his father came, Li Ka-shing might not have the ability."

"but..."

"Since ancient times, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. Forget it, let's play it safe!"

Having made up his mind, Lu Yang said to Xiao Jun on the other end of the phone, "Let's play it safe and not let this kid lead us by the nose."

Xiao Jun's slightly regretful voice came through: "Then I'll just reject him like this."

After the company goes public, all shareholders will experience a surge in their net worth.

He thought about it a lot too.

But he also knew full well that this was very likely a trap. That second idiot of the Li family didn't seem like a good person, and besides…

The company is no longer the same as before. Its shareholders are now much more complex than before. In addition to foreign capital, there are state-owned enterprises held by the Pengcheng State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, as well as the Qian and Zhao families. Although my sister and I can be of one mind with this kid, if this Li family idiot deliberately leaks this news and makes it known to everyone, I'm afraid these other shareholders will have other ideas.

Because everyone invests with the goal of going public, but now, including my brother-in-law and myself, we are actively refusing to go public.

Lu Yang shook his head. "No, agree to him, but not now. You can stall for time, right?"

Xiao Jun's eyes lit up.

Lu Yang continued, "The company isn't big enough yet. Rushing to go public now might not get you a good price. I understand this, and I believe Mr. Shen from Shenzhen Investment Holdings understands it too. Foreign companies are even more so; they're all bloodsucking wolves and tigers, pursuing maximum profit. So you don't need to worry. These company shareholders will put pressure on you after they hear about it. Just do as I say." Xiao Jun understood and nodded. "Okay, then I'll do as you say. I'll play along for now and agree to his demands. This kid is probably playing a dirty trick on me this time, figuring we wouldn't dare offend all the major shareholders and oppose the IPO plan. Fine, I'll play along with him."

Lu Yang nodded, and after hanging up the phone, he rested his head on his soft and straight thighs, looked up at a beautiful face and said, "Your brother is getting smarter and smarter. It seems that I made a good move by handing over Little Divine Power to him."

Qian Youyou reached out and stroked the ends of Lu Yang's hair, her face radiating a motherly love as she said, "Thank you. My brother is a reckless person who does things without considering the consequences. If it weren't for you always cleaning up his messes, he wouldn't be where he is today, and my sister-in-law might have divorced him long ago."

Three months pregnant, she was already showing a little, with her lower abdomen slightly protruding. In addition, she had been experiencing severe morning sickness recently, so Lu Yang felt sorry for her and made a point of spending more time with her.

Lu Yang pressed his face close to her lower abdomen, wrapped his arms around her waist, and said with his eyes closed, "What nonsense are you thinking? Even without you, your brother and I are still good friends. Why would I watch him suffer? Besides, your brother isn't as bad as you think. He may not be very smart, but our CEO Xiao here is quite shrewd. Let's wait and see how he deals with this second son of the Li family, who is known as the 'Little Superman' of Hong Kong."

The VCD brand under Little Prodigy has recently enjoyed booming sales.

This is due to the exclusive title sponsorship of the Asian Games broadcast, and the advertising during the opening and closing credits of the historical drama "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," which broke viewership records...

With its unparalleled promotional effect and excellent quality, no VCD brand on the market can compete with Little Prodigy, not even if they all joined forces.

Of course, it's impossible for them to join forces, because there's a traitor among them, and the biggest traitor is BBK Electronics, a VCD brand company that currently ranks among the top three in sales in China, whose second-largest individual shareholder is Lu Yang.

The name Luoyang not only represents the leading VCD player, Xiaoshentong, and the top three, but also, in the equity structure of Wanyan Electronics Technology, a former hegemon that has now fallen from grace, Lu Yang's name is prominently displayed as the largest shareholder.

In just three months, less than four months, from the autumn and winter of 1994 to the early spring of 1995, under the vigorous advance of Chairman and President Jiang Wanli, who was an engineer by training, the company stumbled and fell all the way, and finally it was about to go out of business.

He owed the bank a mountain of debt.

They spent a fortune trying to advertise on CCTV, only to run into companies like Xiaoshentong, BBK, and Xiaotiancai, whose advertising was even more aggressive.

Under the current circumstances, major brands are lowering prices, and counterfeit manufacturers are springing up like mushrooms after rain, all wanting to grab a share of the VCD market, which has only been around for two years. Faced with this situation, Wan Yan Electronics had no choice but to get caught up in a price war, and in the end, it gradually became the former market leader that was devoured.

Although it won't lead to immediate bankruptcy.

But he's only hanging on by a thread, it's just a matter of time before he finally dies.

"Jiang Wanli recently contacted me, wanting me to act as his guarantor so that his company could get another loan from the bank for working capital. He still seems a bit reluctant!"

Lu Yang released his arms from his lover's, rested his head on her soft, straight thighs, and said softly with his eyes closed.

Qian Youyou's eyes narrowed, and her hand that was stroking his face tightened as she asked, "You agreed?"

She knew very well how important Wan Yan Electronics was to her man. She had coveted it before, wanting to include it in her business empire, but had always been blocked by the founder, Jiang Wanli. Now, the other party actually had the nerve to ask for help, which was utterly absurd and extremely shameless.

The saying goes, "A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, whether he's a chicken or a dog." Although she wasn't married yet, she was already pregnant with his baby, so naturally her heart was with him.

Lu Yang closed his eyes and said quietly, "I have to help him this time. After buying the King of the House on Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, I don't have much cash flow left. And the branch offices in various places all need money. Tianfu Cola needs to set up new product production lines and develop new cola beverage formulas that are more in line with the taste of Chinese people."

"Currently, its competitors are Coca-Cola expanding its production line in Beijing with a total investment of 9000 million yuan, and PepsiCo adding two new cola production lines at its Pengcheng branch... Both of these companies have adopted the approach of cooperating with domestic state-owned enterprises to open up the cola beverage market for Chinese people. I can't let their evil scheme succeed."

"As for the little prodigy, I plan to launch the third round of financing soon, and after the third round of financing, I will arrange for it to be listed in Hong Kong or Shenzhen."

"We need money for everything!"

"Moreover, to take control of Wan Yan Electronics without any losses, I need a considerable sum of money to buy back all the remaining shares from Jiang Wanli and his good friend Mr. Sun Yansheng."

Since Lu Yang couldn't take it all at once, he could only let Jiang Wanli continue to manage Wanyan Company for a while to prevent someone from stealing the spoils while he himself wouldn't have the money.

"oh, I understand now."

As the next successor whom the Qian family was grooming, Qian Youyou naturally wouldn't be unable to see through Lu Yang's scheme.

If Mr. Jiang were to withdraw now, he might be able to receive a substantial sum of cash. However, if he continues down this path and continues to lose money, he will owe the bank the most money, and the debt will snowball. When he can no longer hold on and wants to get out, he might not be able to take much money with him, and he might even lose it all.

"Let's not talk about him anymore."

Lu Yang suddenly sat up. "The Tianfu Cola formula lab has just finished testing a batch of new-tasting cola. I'm going to try it out and have a taste. Do you want to come with me?"

Since Mu Qizhong integrated 108 joint venture factories under Tianfu Cola in Rongcheng.

Turn off some of them.

Lu Yang then focused all his energy on developing a new Tianfu Cola flavor formula.

To make it easier for him to have a sip, since he was reborn from the future and knew very well the formulas and tastes of some cola brands from that era, he even moved the Tianfu Cola taste formula laboratory to Pengcheng.

Qian Youyou was somewhat tempted, but after stroking her belly for a moment, she shook her head. "I think I'll pass. It's not good for the fetus if pregnant women drink too much cola. Besides, there are various instruments in the laboratory that emit radiation. I'm afraid I might accidentally touch them, which could be bad for our baby."

Lu Yang didn't press the matter.

He bent down and planted a quick kiss on her little lips, then laughed heartily and turned to leave. (End of Chapter)