From rejecting the beautiful female CEO to becoming extremely powerful

Before Zheng Duo could hang up the phone, footsteps could be heard inside Jubaozhai.

Manager Chen walked out of the store carrying a file bag, followed by two employees.

He was in his forties, his suit was buttoned up perfectly, but sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Mr. Lu, the documents that Mr. Feng provided have been verified."

Manager Chen opened the file bag and placed the three documents on the counter.

The first document is an authorization letter signed by Feng Dekun, the second is the Kunyu Warehouse handover record, and the third is the operating documents of Jubaozhai Sheng'an Branch.

The scope of authorization is clearly stated.

From today onwards, Lu Yunzhou will make all the decisions regarding procurement, personnel, accounts, and consignment contracts.

Several shop assistants gathered around to verify the seal, and no one dared to mistake him for a young man who had temporarily come to make up the numbers.

Lu Yunzhou finished scanning the documents and reached out to close the paper.

"Drive them away."

Manager Chen immediately turned around and called to the store staff.

Xu Chengan covered his nose and tried to struggle, but Zheng Duo stood still and refused to move.

The men they had brought with them had retreated to the side of the street; no one wanted to cause them any more trouble.

"Lu Yunzhou, do you dare to go too far?"

Zheng Duo gritted his teeth and spoke, his hand gripping the phone so tightly it made a soft cracking sound.

Lu Yunzhou looked up at him, his tone crisp: "You blocked my shop and even had my employees attacked. Get out now."

Zheng Duo's face twitched, and he didn't dare to say anything more.

Several men stepped forward, one of them grabbing Xu Cheng'an's arm and dragging him down the steps.

Xu Cheng'an staggered, blood dripping from his nose onto his shirt, while he continued to curse.

Zheng Duo tried to reach out to stop him, but Manager Chen had already stepped aside to block him.

"From today onwards, Zheng Duo, Xu Cheng'an, and all members of the Xu family will be permanently blacklisted from trading."

Lu Yunzhou handed the file bag back to Manager Chen, "Check the clients they brought as well."

Manager Chen nodded quickly.

The two were herded to the side of the street, and several SUVs were also urged to move by the shop staff.

After the crowd of onlookers dispersed, the shop entrance was finally reopened to traffic.

Ye Zhiwei leaned against the car, her gaze falling on Xu Chengan's disheveled back.

"The Xu family won't let this go so easily."

After she finished speaking, she pressed her palm against her injured leg.

Lu Yunzhou turned around and took the coat from her hand: "If they come, we'll continue dealing with them."

Ye Zhiwei looked up at him and didn't try to persuade him anymore.

The doors of Jubaozhai reopened, and Manager Chen led Lu Yunzhou into the store.

The grand entrance remains impressive, but the goods inside can't live up to the reputation.

The display cases that were originally full of antiques and jade artifacts were mostly empty, with only a few price tags and a few pieces of material that no one was interested in.

The calligraphy and paintings on the walls were removed, and only a few ordinary jade ornaments were placed on the central counter.

Several shop assistants stood behind the counter and lowered their heads when they saw Lu Yunzhou enter.

Manager Chen followed behind, his voice low: "When the Feng family was preparing for the handover, news spread that Jubaozhai had changed hands. The consignors were worried about problems with the goods and accounts, so they removed their items overnight."

"How many were withdrawn?"

"Most of it."

Lu Yunzhou stopped in front of a row of empty cabinets and tapped the glass surface with his palm.

"More details."

Manager Chen opened the ledger and ran his finger across several pages of records: "Originally there were more than a hundred consignment customers, but only more than thirty remain. Jewelry, calligraphy and paintings by famous artists, and high-grade mineral materials have been the most thoroughly withdrawn. The warehouse now only has our own old materials and a few batches of scraps that have been stockpiled for many years."

"What is the value of the self-operated goods?"

"The book value is close to 300 million."

Manager Chen's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke.

"But all these items are stuck in the warehouse, and their condition and age are inconsistent. If we're in a hurry to sell them, buyers will try to lower the price, and less than half of them can actually be converted into cash."

Lu Yunzhou walked towards the back warehouse.

The warehouse door opened, revealing more than a dozen rows of wooden shelves inside.

Dust settled on the wooden frame, the ore was wrapped in burlap, and most of the labels were curled at the edges.

The pieces of material were quite large, but their surfaces were covered with cracks and signs of age.

Lu Yunzhou picked up a fist-sized piece of gray leather, placed his palm on it for a moment, and then put it back in its original position.

These materials can be sold, but they need to be appraised, marketed, and buyers found. Then, we have to wait for the buyer to inspect the goods and make payment.

It won't be of much use in the short term.

How much working capital does the store have left?

Manager Chen flipped to the last page of the ledger, his face darkening. "There's less than 30 million in usable funds. Employee salaries, store maintenance, insurance, and equipment upkeep at the Donggang subsidiary warehouse all require monthly expenses."

Lu Yunzhou turned to look at him.

"How much would it cost to bring the consignment dealer back?"

Manager Chen had already calculated the costs and immediately replied, "First, we need to replenish the high-end goods in the display cases, then use the deposit to appease the consignment customers, and we also need to bring back the customers who withdrew. The warehousing can't be shut down either; if the testing equipment stops operating, subsequent material receiving and shipping will be affected."

He pulled out another budget sheet and placed it in front of Lu Yunzhou.

"A conservative estimate is at least 800 million."

Upon hearing this number, the shop assistants all stopped what they were doing.

Eight hundred million yuan in working capital is enough to buy several large shopping malls.

The empty counters at Jubaozhai will need this money to be filled again.

Lu Yunzhou stared at the budget sheet, tapping his fingers twice on the paper.

Eight hundred million is just the beginning.

The Nanwan Old Port project is underway, and Yuanchuan Construction needs to pay wages, purchase equipment, and advance payment for materials.

The project payment will take several months to process, including acceptance, settlement, and approval.

Another huge hole has appeared at Jubaozhai.

The cash in my hand, spread out, couldn't fill either side.

Seeing that he remained silent, Manager Chen tentatively suggested, "Mr. Lu, how about downsizing the store and focusing only on the core business?"

Lu Yunzhou closed the budget sheet and looked up at him.

"I've taken over the shop, and I won't back down."

Manager Chen shut his mouth, suppressing the thought of closing the store to save his own life.

Lu Yunzhou walked to the counter, his gaze sweeping over the empty exhibition area.

The signboard of Jubaozhai is still hanging outside the door, but customers are already starting to doubt whether they can actually produce anything genuine.

Reputation is built on goods, and goods are bought with money.

This money needs to come quickly.

"All existing employees will remain."

Lu Yunzhou pushed the ledger back to Manager Chen, "Compile a list of the withdrawing consignment customers and categorize them by the value of their goods. Contact those who can be contacted today."

Manager Chen immediately took out his phone and wrote it down.

"What about the source of the goods?"

"First, separate out the old materials from the warehouse."

"Those materials will be hard to sell in a short time."

I said, "Let's separate them."

Lu Yunzhou's tone remained unchanged, but Manager Chen dared not continue to persuade him.

Ye Zhiwei stood by the door, her gaze sweeping over the account book before landing on Lu Yunzhou.

She knew that after Lu Yunzhou took over Jubaozhai, the troubles he had were now three.

Nanwan Old Port, Yuanchuan Construction, and this newly acquired Jubaozhai.

Every single thing is burning through money.

Manager Chen called over the staff and began to inventory the display cases and back warehouse.

Lu Yunzhou walked alone to the innermost part and reached out to pull open a dusty wooden cabinet.

Inside were more than a dozen pieces of ore that had been sealed for many years.

The labels indicate the date the items were stored, with the earliest dating back more than five years.

Lu Yunzhou picked up the top piece and pressed his palm against the rough outer skin.

The internal energy circulated along the meridians, and the minerals in the cabinet emitted subtle vibrations of varying degrees.

He put down the fabric in his hand and looked into the depths.

With a shortfall of 800 million, the project payments couldn't be made up in time, and bank loans couldn't be processed in time, so they had to look for faster sources of funding.