I'm reborn and I'm an international student again?

"Mr. Xu, Hengxiao already has enough unfinished projects, quite a few in Xinlu City alone. Aren't you afraid that diverting funds to the automotive industry at this time will lead to the collapse of your main business?" Chen Xi asked.

"How much does it cost to build a car? It would cost me almost 200 billion to build a skyscraper. My Xu family can afford to play this game of risking a small investment for a big return."

"Mr. Jia swindled you out of money before, do you still dare to trust him now?"

"Whether I believe him or not is not important, but I believe in you, and in Musk..."

"Let's discuss this matter further."

"Don't take this too long! Let's find a place to talk properly. Driver, start the car!" Xu Jia grabbed Chen Xi's arm to prevent him from getting out of the car and shouted to the front seat.

The car started instantly and drove away from the parking lot.

On the other side, Chen Yifeng was staring at his phone, frowning and cursing, "It's switched off? Xu Dakeng, he insisted on getting me involved in the project back then, and now that the building construction is halted, is he trying to disappear from my life?"

"Knock knock." There was a sudden knock on the car window.

Chen Yifeng looked up and saw a man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. He pressed the unlock button, and the man quickly opened the door and got into the car.

"How's the investigation going?" Chen Yifeng asked expressionlessly.

"Mr. Chen, after following her for a while, Zhang Xuan has met quite a few people..."

"I just want to know whose child it is. Is it Wu Yan's?" Chen Yifeng interrupted impatiently. He didn't want to talk about such a shameful matter anyway.

"It's not certain yet, but it's very likely."

"Unsure? Then why would I spend so much money to have you investigate?"

"This... hasn't been verified yet. However, Wu Yan does meet with Zhang Xuan frequently. Although they don't act too intimately in public, I've recorded their conversations. Wu Yan is definitely involved. He transferred several sums of money through an investment company in Hong Kong, amounts far exceeding his normal income. I suspect Zhang Xuan asked him to do it. In addition, Zhang Xuan also went to an immigration agency to inquire about settling abroad."

"What did they say?"

"Uh... I said some bad things about you."

"for example?"

"Zhang Xuan said you're a Virgo, and you're always making a fuss..."

"Alright, what about the rest?"

"I've been mainly investigating another matter you've entrusted to me recently, those bank managers who swindled you out of money." The private investigator took out several documents and photos from the folder.

"Damn it, these guys are always out partying and keeping mistresses, and they hide when I need money!" Chen Yifeng cursed angrily as he looked at the bank managers in the photo, their faces beaming.

Several hours later, inside a hotel.

"What's the point of us playing if they do this? We already have Tesla taking away our business, and now they're transferring technology to Jia Riting's shell company. Are we even going to be able to sell our domestic new energy vehicles?"

"That's right. At least Tesla's interior is just a bare shell, so we can still take the high-end route to grab market share. But if Ferrari really makes it, all our advantages will be gone."

"It's one thing for Jia Riting to scam financing abroad, but now he's trying to take a bite out of the domestic market. We absolutely cannot tolerate this!"

"This must be stopped!"

Several new energy vehicle bosses gathered together, their faces increasingly grim.

The "chip-display-vehicle integration" project was intended to benefit all new energy vehicle companies, but some domestic brands still lag significantly behind Tesla in overall strength. Even when using some of the same components, the gap in core technologies remains. If we add a foreign-backed company like Ferrari, their products will completely lose their competitiveness.

What worries them even more is that, according to Chen Xi's revelation today, Ferragamo also plans to mass-produce in China in the future. These bosses know that the initial investment in electric vehicle manufacturing is huge, and just when they were about to start recouping their investment, this unexpected competitor suddenly appeared, and their plans to raise funds through an IPO are likely to fall through.

"Well, there's really no need to be too nervous," a boss suddenly chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Everyone looked at him.

“There are countless projects like this in China every year, but how many actually succeed? Aren’t they all just for creating hype and raising money? Think about that so-called world-shaking project from a few years ago, isn’t it very similar to this one?”

In another suite not far away.

Xu Jia leaned back on the sofa, smoking a cigar. Not long ago, he had boasted to Chen Xi about his abundant funds, but now he looked worried.

Hengxiao's current financial hole is enormous. In the Jianghuai Province alone, there are more than 30 projects, and the current rate of work stoppage has reached 30%. At this rate, more than half of the projects will be suspended within one or two years.

He holds nearly 80% of the shares, making him the absolute controlling shareholder of Evergrande, with a market value of approximately HK$2600 billion. Such a massive stake cannot be liquidated in any stock market in a short period; there simply isn't enough capital to absorb it.

The Xu family's controlling stake is the cornerstone of Hengxiao's credit and operations. Losing it would trigger a devastating chain reaction. Banks and creditors would immediately withdraw loans and demand repayment, as the core guarantee of the massive financing is the Xu family's personal credit. Suppliers and homebuyers would lose confidence, and a run on the bank for refunds would lead to a complete shutdown of business. The company would quickly fall into debt default and bankruptcy liquidation, with its stock price plummeting to zero.

This situation might be manageable if it happened to a small company, but given Evergrande's small size, once it collapses, the authorities will inevitably intervene and investigate.

Moreover, the Xu family had already blocked all their escape routes. To raise funds for the company, he and related parties provided unlimited personal guarantees for a large amount of Hengxiao's debts. Even if they sold their shares, the guarantee liability would still remain. If the company collapses, creditors will directly pursue all of his personal and family assets.

This year alone, bond and equity financing has reached nearly 2000 billion yuan, not including banks and trusts.

For most companies using a "loan-to-loan" model to turn things around, the only way is to rely on one last highly profitable project to cover financing costs. But the Xu family understands that Hengxiao has no chance of turning things around this way. Financing costs are too high, and the amount of capital required is too large. Where in the world are there so many highly profitable projects? Even dealing in contraband wouldn't fill this hole.

He now has only two paths: one is to enjoy life while securing a future for his family; the other is to take a gamble, expand the business further, and hope for help from stakeholders, ultimately leaving others to foot the bill.

His two sons also gave him a headache. The eldest son was in charge of real estate development in Guangdong Province, while the second son was in charge of landscape design and property management. Their positions in the group were not high, which was originally a deliberate arrangement by the Xu family.

Both men wanted to take over, and although their positions were not prominent, they secretly interfered in key aspects of fund outflow and business execution.

The Xu family couldn't stop them; they simply couldn't.

In other words, if Heng Xiao's scandal breaks, his two sons will also be implicated in the investigation.

He glanced at the document on the table and shook his head dismissively.

This is a proposal submitted by Thomas suggesting that funds be transferred out of the country through grey channels such as cryptocurrency.

The Xu family had contacted the other party, but felt that this young man was not worth cooperating with at all, as his mind was full of opportunistic and crooked ways.

Every businessperson has their own set of methods.

In terms of the quality of Hengxiao's properties, they are indeed significantly better than those of their competitors, which shows that the Xu family is not the type to cut corners on small matters. However, this does not mean that they are not cunning. The Xu family's philosophy is to go big or small; they look down on petty squabbles.

The transfer of funds also needed to be presented as legally and compliantly as possible. Therefore, he decided to use methods such as investment, issuing high-interest dollar bonds, related-party transactions and supply chain payments, domestic guarantees for overseas loans, and inflating import trade to gradually move the money out of the country.

"Buzz!" The phone suddenly rang.

Xu glanced at the name on the screen, immediately put on a smiling face, and answered the call: "Hello, Mr. Chen, is there something you need?"

"Nonsense! How many times have I called? You're deliberately ignoring me, aren't you? Are you avoiding me?" Chen Yifeng's voice was filled with anger.

"How could that be! I just finished a meeting with my boss, why would I avoid you? Look at what you're saying," Xu Jia explained with a grin.

"I'm just asking you, is this building still going to be built or not? You begged and pleaded with me to get you resources, and now you're abandoning me halfway through? Are you playing me for a fool? If this building is abandoned, who will dare to cooperate with me in the future? I paved the way for you with my own reputation!"

"I understand, I understand! I stopped all other projects to specifically allocate funds for building this building, so don't worry. By the way, I just ran into Chen Xi, and he specifically advised you and your son to get along. You, too, need to change your temper. You yell at everyone else, so you must be even more so with your son..."

"Dudududu!"

Before he could finish speaking, the phone was hung up.

The Xu family members wore triumphant smiles.

Xinlushi Pedestrian Street.

Zhanzhan, the most famous pastry brand in Jianghuai Province, is hailed as one of the four major specialties of Xinlu, and its chain stores have expanded to East and Central China. The stores, which usually have long queues, have been deserted these past few days.

Customers flocked to the entrance of a new store next door called "KURIMU".

"Business has been really bad these past few days; all the customers have gone over there," one of Zhan Zhan's employees muttered quietly.

Another employee chimed in quietly, "Their desserts look much better than ours. I even want to buy one. Look at our main product, it's still the old-fashioned sponge cake from decades ago. Only older folks like it, who would buy it if they were young?"

Just then, the store manager, who had secretly gone to scout the situation, coughed twice: "Ahem, what are you chatting about at work! That trendy shop next door won't last. People these days are just after the novelty wears off; once that happens, it'll be gone. Our focus is on value for money, affordable and generous portions. Pretty and expensive things are just gimmicks! I just asked; it's a foreign brand from Australia. While foreigners may be good at making desserts, they might not suit Chinese tastes. Look at that name, 'Kurimo,' it's not as memorable as our 'Zhanzhan.' And that Parisian dessert shop next door too, it's clearly a Chinese brand, but they insist on giving it a foreign name—it's like sticking green onions in a pig's nose. Alright, those of you who aren't busy, go out and shout a few times, bring back some customers!"

Meanwhile, the "Parisian Dessert Shop," hailed as one of the four specialties of Xinlu, was also deserted.

"Their cakes are prettier than ours, and they're cheaper. We're not competitive at all," the store manager complained to the regional manager with a worried look on his face.

The regional manager scoffed, "I just went to check it out. The two women in the shop are both the owners and foreigners. As far as I know, they opened their first shop in Shanghai, selling a cheesecake for fifty yuan, making twenty-four per batch, only one of which had their logo printed on it—a little blind box lottery to attract customers. Consumers always complain that our cakes are expensive, costing hundreds of yuan each, but that's because we use high-quality ingredients! That Kurimo claims to be from Australia, but I've never even heard of it. It's either a small foreign brand or something packaged by Chinese people themselves. With that kind of background, how could their supply chain be better than ours? Although their cakes are priced higher than Zhanzhan's, one is a regular sponge cake, while the other is a multi-flavored cheesecake. The cost of imported ingredients is obvious. Are they opening the shop at a loss? You know how expensive the rent is on this street; even KFC couldn't stay afloat and had to close down a few days ago. What does that mean? It means that Kurimo's ingredients are simply subpar! As long as we spread the word, customers will naturally stop going there."

The store manager's expression softened slightly, but he frowned again: "But Zhan Zhan has also taken away a lot of our business... We used to be the leader in Jianghuai desserts, but now we've been squeezed to second place."

"What do you mean second place? We've always been number one! Zhanzhan focuses on value for money, while we target the high-end market. Our product designs and materials are superior, and we're aimed at customers with purchasing power. The company has already launched a new trendy product. We'll have people queuing up at the door, and then we'll hire scalpers to inflate the price. Won't that generate buzz? Chinese people love to join in the fun and chase new things. What's there to be afraid of? Do you think our local brand can't compete with two foreign brands?"

He smiled and patted the shop manager on the shoulder, his face full of confidence. (End of Chapter)