Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 226 Malicious and Illegal
"Hmph, is this your answer to me?"

Bank Manager Jia snorted coldly, his face full of displeasure, his voice filled with intense anger.

"You think that if you don't meet the targets, the head office will punish you. These reasons, such as the financial crisis, corporate bankruptcies, and people not saving money, have been repeated since the beginning of the year. Do you think the head office leaders will buy into these old arguments?"

At the end of the year, a vice president of the head office is about to retire. He was originally very likely to be promoted, but the performance of the Beiping branch is so poor that his superiors are reluctant to speak up for him.

Seeing the leader's anger, Vice President Jiang, who was in charge of market development and line operations, glanced at Liu Xiaochen, who was engrossed in writing and drawing, and decided to step in to smooth things over:

"Given the current poor economic climate and the tight timeframe, relying on the meager funds from small and medium-sized clients is like a drop in the ocean. We can only try to find a solution from our large clients."

Upon hearing this, everyone present understood that Vice President Jiang had something in mind. However, there were some things that no one wanted to say first, because saying them would mean lowering their stance and asking for favors, which would make them appear less imposing.

President Jia felt helpless. Vice Presidents Zhang and Li were just slacking off, but he still wanted to advance. So he took the initiative to bring up the topic: "President Liu, I heard that the chairman of Tengda Group is related to you?"

Liu Xiaochen appeared completely unfazed; his relationship with Song Ci was an open secret in the industry, and he was only pretending to be nonchalant now that the top leader had asked about it.
"Yes, Song Ci is my nephew. If we are going to discuss Tengda Group, which involves the principle of avoiding conflict of interest among relatives, should I go out for a while?"

After saying that, he made a move to get up and leave the meeting room.

Vice President Jiang couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking to himself: How come I never realized this young man was such a good actor before!

Why didn't you avoid the topic when you introduced ICBC Capital's investment in Tenda before, and why didn't you avoid the topic when you approved the loan? Now you suddenly seem to have a higher level of awareness.

President Jia coughed lightly, then quickly waved his hand and forced a smile: "No need, no need. It's all for business development. You're in charge of risk and compliance, so you can stay and listen."

During this special period of financial crisis, the entire bank should listen more to the opinions of the risk control department.

Liu Xiaochen knew when to stop, understanding that she couldn't overdo the act, so she went along with it: "Since you put it that way, I'll listen."

Each of his deputies was a shrewd and calculating individual, so President Jia, tired of beating around the bush and playing games, simply cut to the chase:
"Zhang Xing, Tengda has always been a major client that you are responsible for. I saw on Weibo yesterday that Tengda actually has 23 billion yuan deposited in Huaguo Bank. Are you aware of this?"

Facing the imposing presence of the top leader, Vice President Zhang responded in a low voice, "I only found out yesterday!"

President Jia's face changed drastically, and he sternly rebuked him: "Dereliction of duty! Is this how you maintain a major client?"
I won't dwell on the past. Now that you know, has the corporate client department come up with a plan to secure that 23 billion and meet the head office's target?

Vice President Zhang looked embarrassed and stammered, unable to answer for a moment.

This is 23 billion, not 23. Even if Tengda Group wanted to transfer the money, Huaguo Bank would find various reasons to refuse.

Besides, this money is clearly intended for someone's promotion, and he has no say in it.

Bank President Jia shook his head, his gaze falling on Liu Xiaochen. Not wanting to waste any more time, he decided to lay his cards on the table:
"Liu Xing, since Song Ci is your nephew, could you step in and coordinate to transfer 10 billion yuan from Huaxing's account as a temporary measure to help the bank achieve its third-quarter targets?"

Liu Xiaochen looked troubled: "I can only give it a try. My nephew has always been very opinionated."

This sounded ambiguous and uncertain. Knowing that Liu Xiaochen was the type to act without seeing any benefit, Director Jia thought for a moment and then said earnestly:

"Liu Xing, the imperial court and government offices at all levels are now promoting the rejuvenation of cadres, and our Industrial and Commercial Bank is no exception. Among those present, you are the youngest. You should be brave enough to take on responsibilities and contribute more to the bank."

When President Jia said this, it was practically a tacit agreement with the vice presidents: if Liu Xiaochen put in some effort on Tengda's affairs and helped the Beiping branch achieve good results, he would recommend Liu Xiaochen to succeed him if he was promoted.

The other three vice presidents were unwilling and also wanted to take the president's position, but the situation was beyond their control. They had the advantage of having powerful family backgrounds and even more talented and accomplished juniors. They could only take it one step at a time.

Liu Xiaochen was secretly delighted. He and his nephew had been plotting for a long time at the old man's birthday banquet that day, all for the position of head of the Beiping branch of ICBC!

However, he also knew that getting President Jia's recommendation was only the first step towards success, and changes could happen at any time until the final decision was made.

His expression remained impassive, calm as still water: "Since you put it that way, I will definitely try my best to secure these funds and help the bank achieve the head office's targets."

President Jia nodded: "Good! I'll wait for your good news. Once the target is met, I'll report to the head office to commend you."

Comrades, let's learn from this. It's clear that there are still areas where our work is not up to par. After the meeting, everyone should review our clients again.

In the third quarter, Liuhang approached Tengda to resolve the issue, but what about the final targets for the fourth quarter? The work must be meticulous and thorough! Meeting adjourned.

After saying that, he picked up his notebook and teacup and strode out of the conference room.

Liu Xiaochen grabbed her notebook and quickly followed, approaching the top leader: "Jia Xing, I have something to report."

Without turning his head, Jia Xing nodded slightly: "Let's talk in my office."

The two left the meeting room first, leaving the three vice presidents, Li, Zhang, and Jiang, staring at each other in bewilderment.

Vice President Zhang slowly stood up, shook his head helplessly, and muttered, "This meeting was truly a disgrace!"

Seeing this, Vice President Jiang stepped forward and patted his colleague on the shoulder: "Old Zhang, take it easy. Let's not even think about getting this chair at the Beiping branch."

However, a tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. If Liu Xing put in extra effort and achieved the target, it's everyone's achievement, isn't it? With these results, the position of branch manager in another province is still within reach!

He was the oldest among the vice presidents and would retire in two more years. Knowing he had no chance of promotion, he offered advice to his former colleagues to build good relationships.

Zhang and Li's eyes lit up, and their minds instantly became active. They couldn't compete for the position of branch manager in Beiping, but with their qualifications, being transferred to another province was not out of the question.

On the other side, after Liu Xiaochen followed President Jia to the office, she explained the second step of his and her nephew's plan in detail.

President Jia, holding his teacup, had just taken a small sip when he heard the report and was so shocked that he almost spat out his tea: "Cough cough cough! How much? Ten billion US dollars!"

"Yes, at least $10 billion."

Bank Manager Jia's eyes widened in disbelief: "Your nephew earns so much in America!"

Liu Xiaochen looked proud and, in order to gain the bank president's trust, revealed a little information: "He studied finance at Peking University, and his professional level is quite high. He made a lot of money shorting US stocks recently!"

"I see! We must fight for this billion US dollars; we absolutely cannot let Huaxing take it away!"

President Jia's expression was firm and resolute. If he could secure Songci's massive $10 billion in foreign exchange, his promotion would be a certainty.

"That's what I was thinking too, so I'm reporting to you right away."

President Jia stood up, paced back and forth in his office, and after a moment's thought, discussed the matter:

“That’s right. Here’s what we’ll do, Liu Xing, you talk to Song Ci first, and then I’ll ask the head office leaders to visit him again to make sure this matter is settled.” “Okay, I’ll get on it right away and report back to you as soon as I have any news.”

As soon as Liu Xiaochen left the office, President Jia eagerly took out his phone and dialed a number. The call was quickly connected.

"Boss, this is Jia from the Beiping branch. I have an important business to report to you. Is this a convenient time for you?"

Meanwhile, Liu Xiaochen returned to her office and also started a phone call with Song Ci.

"On New Year's Day, you're transferring such a large sum of money to ICBC. Will Huahang agree to that?"

Although Liu Xiaochen was concerned about her own progress, she was worried about her nephew's plans, after all, Huaxing was not an easy party to deal with.

"Don't worry, Uncle! I've already reached an agreement with Huaxing. I've promised to give them 10 billion US dollars in foreign exchange next month."

Liu Xiaochen gasped: "Another billion US dollars? How much did you actually make from this US subprime mortgage crisis?"

"Just a little bit!"

Liu Xiaochen knew her nephew wouldn't reveal the truth, so she didn't press him: "American money isn't so easy to take. Just be careful!"

"I know what's important! President Liu, I'm looking forward to your promotion banquet!"

Liu Xiaochen couldn't help but smile, but she still humbly reminded her nephew, "Don't be too arrogant. There are procedures for promoting cadres at the head office."

Song Ci chuckled and teased, "I get it! Democracy and centralization, you know! By the way, Uncle, you have enough votes, right? Counting Jia Xing's and the two votes of the person after him after his promotion, it should be more than enough."

Liu Xiaochen nodded slightly: "Actually, the key is still the head office president's idea. Now that he is willing to promote me, everything will be easier."

Everything we're doing now is to reduce uncertainty. If no one else nominates me at the governor's meeting, it would be too embarrassing for the head of the bank to personally participate. Uniting all forces that can be united is the right path.

"Yes, yes, you're right. Let's proceed according to the plan, step by step!"

"You kid, you're so young, but you talk like an old man. I'll go to your company tomorrow for New Year's Day, let's go all the way and make it a real show!"

"Welcome, Director Liu."

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, several days have passed, and the golden autumn of September is about to come to an end.

The 38 billion yuan figure revealed by Song Ci in recent days has stirred the hearts of countless people. Various factions have taken turns making their moves, creating quite a stir and a lively scene.

Seeing that Tengda Group had demonstrated its strong capabilities and promised a salary increase next year, many outstanding programmers from other internet companies, dissatisfied with their own companies' layoffs and salary reductions, simply resigned and jumped ship to Tengda.

Those who dare to resign and apply for jobs at Tengda are basically skilled and experienced industry professionals. As long as they pass the professional assessment, Tengda Group will accept all applicants.

This has greatly alarmed major internet companies like Tencent and Alibaba. Tenda's aggressive recruitment of talent, attracting away skilled programmers, is shaking the foundations of their companies. They can't swallow this insult.

Alibaba's Jack Ma took the lead in criticizing Song Ci for "maliciously raising wages" and disrupting the order of the domestic internet industry on several public occasions.

Penguin Maboli also joined in the chorus, bitterly denouncing Tenda Group's various "misdeeds" and accusing it of eroding the healthy development of the internet industry ecosystem with "illegal high salaries".

Before Songci and Tengda Group could even respond, netizens were already in an uproar. The internet was abuzz with ridicule, pushing the two new terms to the top of trending searches.

"Amazing! Absolutely amazing! Malicious salary increases and illegal high salaries—the two Mr. Mas are truly business geniuses, creating two groundbreaking new business terms."

"I'm shocked. Their own company is poorly managed and can't provide good treatment for its employees, yet they accuse their competitors of being malicious and illegal. It's ridiculous."

"Damn it, everything I bought on Taobao is fake. Ma Jie, you should worry more about the company's affairs. Whether the company raises salaries or not has nothing to do with you."

"The employees weren't sold to Alibaba and Tencent. It's only natural for people to seek better opportunities and move to a better-paying job. The ugly capitalist faces of the two Jack Mas are disgusting."

It's fortunate that Ma Jieke and Ma Boli didn't register Weibo accounts, otherwise Song Ci's million female fans would have cursed them to death.

Despite being maliciously slandered, Song Dynasty poetry is not a pushover to be manipulated or attacked without resistance.

Today, Tenda ranks first in revenue and profit among all internet companies, and Song is the real leader in the internet industry!
Although she didn't directly confront Ma Jieke and Ma Boli, Song Ci had her own clever trick: she posted a very interesting picture on Weibo with a caption.

The image is taken from a scene in the TV series "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," where the scholar Sima Hui recommends talented individuals to Liu Bei, saying that acquiring either the Crouching Dragon or the Young Phoenix would bring peace to the world.

The accompanying text is even more enigmatic: having both allows one to entrust their orphan to another in Baidi City.

The meaningful caption and picture sparked a lot of discussion among netizens, who flooded the comments section of Song Ci's Weibo post with questions about its meaning.

"What does Boss Song mean by this? Is he praising the two as a sleeping dragon and a young phoenix?"

"The first of the two can secure the world, and the second of the two can be entrusted with the care of the young emperor at Baidi City. This is clearly a Song poem mocking that even if Ma Jieke and Ma Boli joined forces, they would not amount to anything."

"The big shots really know how to do it. The two Mas created new terms, such as malicious salary increases and illegal high salaries. Today, Boss Song is using the past to satirize the present. It feels like the titles 'Sleeping Dragon' and 'Young Phoenix' will lose their original meaning from now on."

Faced with overwhelming public opinion online, the two Mas were helpless. They had no way to speak out, nor did they dare to. They could only passively endure the criticism in frustration.

"You brat, Song Ci, you've gone too far!"

At Alibaba Group headquarters in Hangzhou, Jack Ma stared intently at the barrage of insults and sarcastic remarks directed at him by netizens on the screen, burning with rage.

Sitting across from him, CFO Cai Zhongxin earnestly advised, "Jack, I've been telling you for a long time not to mess with Song Ci. There's no business conflict between Alibaba and Tenda, and they might even cooperate in the future. They're just a few programmers; there's no need to get too worked up."

Upon hearing this, Ma Jieke tried to calm himself down and forced himself to remain composed: "It was my oversight. Let's leave it at that."

Cai Zhongxin nodded. One of Ma Jieke's great strengths is that he listens to advice and can correct his mistakes in a timely manner.

“Jack, I’ve found out about that. The central bank does indeed plan to issue third-party payment licenses next year.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Jie clenched his fists excitedly: "Great! Great! Ali must get a license no matter what."

Cai Zhongxin, however, frowned and said worriedly, "Jack, don't be too optimistic. The competition is fierce. Alibaba has too much foreign ownership. If we don't handle the Alipay issue well, we might not be able to get the license."

After listening, Ma Jieke fell into deep thought. After a long while, he slowly said, "I will talk to Masayoshi Son and make sure to persuade him to make Alipay independent, no matter what the cost."

(End of this chapter)