bookrandom Chapter 646: Still, it has to be sold at a low price?
Chapter 646: Still, it has to be sold at a low price?
Wang Ergou walked onto the stage and scanned the employees below.
"As everyone knows, the factory has been facing some difficulties recently," Wang Ergou said bluntly. "The cooperation with Hualian has indeed run into problems, and the bank loan is still under review; these are all true."
As soon as he finished speaking, a murmur arose from the audience, and many people showed expressions of disappointment.
“However,” Wang Ergou raised his voice, “I believe Xiangyang is never one to give up easily. Of course, I also understand that everyone comes out to work to make a living. Therefore, the factory will pay everyone here three months' wages in advance.”
The audience fell silent instantly, everyone staring wide-eyed.
"Some might ask, if the factory is struggling so much, why pay so many wages?" Wang Ergou's voice echoed in the conference room. "The answer is simple: because you are all veterans of the factory. Whether the factory continues to exist or not, we can't let you suffer losses in vain."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces: "Of course, the factory won't force anyone to stay. Those who have received their three months' wages and wish to leave will not be retained. Those who wish to stay, we'll work together to overcome this difficult time."
The audience was completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.
Old Master Zhang, the veteran worker, was the first to stand up: "I've worked for Xiangyang for so many years, what haven't I seen? This little difficulty is nothing, I'm not leaving!"
"I'm not leaving either!" Workshop foreman Lao Liu stood up. "Our factory's product quality is among the best in the province. What reason do we have to go bankrupt?"
"Yes, we're not leaving either!"
One by one, more and more employees stood up. In the end, almost everyone in the conference room was standing.
Amidst the crowd, Li Xiangyang felt a surge of warmth in his heart, never expecting so many people to support him.
"Alright, since everyone is willing to stay, let's work together to find a solution. The current difficulties are temporary. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to get through this," Wang Ergou said, dismissing the meeting.
After the meeting, the finance department got busy and began distributing salaries to each employee.
The news quickly spread like wildfire, naturally reaching the ears of those who were secretly observing.
That evening, Zhang Xiaowei received a call from the mysterious man.
"I heard your factory paid out three months' wages early today?" The man's voice sounded excited.
"Yes, they said they were afraid the factory would go bankrupt and everyone wouldn't get their wages," Zhang Xiaowei answered, following Li Xiangyang's instructions. "But I heard that would further reduce the factory's working capital."
How many employees have left?
"Not yet, but I've heard some people are considering it." Zhang Xiaowei deliberately lowered his voice. "In my opinion, we're really facing difficulties this time. Everyone looked grim during today's meeting."
Whispers came from the other end of the phone. After a while, the man asked again, "Do you think the factory can hold on?"
"It's hard to say," Zhang Xiaowei replied, "but judging from the situation, it seems there's no hope for things with Hualian."
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Xiaowei let out a long sigh of relief. Although he knew it was all an act, he still felt nervous every time he spoke with those people.
Meanwhile, Li Xiangyang was in his office discussing the next steps with Wang Ergou.
"I'll be 'back from Guangzhou' tomorrow afternoon. When I am, have a few reliable employees discuss this at the factory gate, saying that Hualian has really cancelled the cooperation and our cash flow has completely dried up."
As Li Xiangyang spoke, he wrote on a piece of paper, "Then I'll 'receive a call from the bank' in my office, saying that my loan application has been rejected."
Wang Ergou nodded: "That way, those people should come knocking on our door."
“That’s right.” Li Xiangyang put down his pen. “They’ll definitely take advantage of the situation and try to buy us at a lower price. We’ll just go with the flow, pretend to agree to negotiations, and find out their true intentions.”
"What if they actually come up with the money to buy it?" Wang Ergou worried. "We can't really sell the factory."
Li Xiangyang sneered, "Don't worry, they won't really offer a high price. I've seen their tricks many times; they just want to buy the factory at a very low price and then resell it."
The next day at three o'clock in the afternoon, Li Xiangyang drove back "from the county town". He deliberately parked the car at the factory gate, and when he got out of the car, his face was gloomy and he looked preoccupied.
The security guard, Xiao Wang, immediately went to greet him: "Boss, you're back."
"Okay." Li Xiangyang responded simply and walked straight towards the office building.
As arranged beforehand, several employees were chatting at the factory gate.
"I heard that Hualian really went under?" an employee said loudly on purpose.
“Yes, Mr. Li had a dark expression on his face the whole way back from Guangzhou,” another employee chimed in. “Looks like this is really troublesome.”
"Sigh, I wonder how much longer our factory can hold on."
These conversations quickly reached the ears of those hiding in the shadows.
At four o'clock, the sound of "answer the phone" came from Li Xiangyang's office.
"What? The loan application was rejected?" Li Xiangyang deliberately raised his voice. "Why? Our credit record has always been excellent!"
"The collateral isn't enough? But our equipment is worth at least three million!"
"Okay, I understand."
After hanging up the phone, Li Xiangyang let out a heavy sigh that carried far, audible to all the employees in the office building.
Half an hour later, Wang Ergou received a call from Huasheng Investment Company.
"Deputy Factory Director Wang, I heard your boss is back?" The middle-aged man's voice sounded urgent.
"Yes, I just got back," Wang Ergou said, feigning helplessness. "But the situation isn't good. Hualian did cancel the cooperation, and the bank loan was also rejected."
"So what's your boss thinking now?"
"What else could we be thinking?" Wang Ergou gave a wry smile. "We're already considering selling the factory. But Boss Li said that even if we're going to sell, we have to get a good price; we can't let someone else profit from it."
"A good price?" The man's voice carried a hint of sneer. "In this situation, what's the point of talking about a good price? We're lucky if anyone's even willing to take it."
"That's true, but Boss Li built his factory from scratch, so he's a bit emotionally conflicted," Wang Ergou explained. "But I think he's just being stubborn. When things really get tough, he'll just have to sell it at a low price anyway."
“Alright, we’ll go over tomorrow morning to have a formal talk with your boss,” the middle-aged man said. “Time is of the essence; the longer we delay, the lower the factory’s value will become.”