Chapter 96: Liang Taotao
“I can, I can…” Shou Jiaxun put down his chopsticks and started supporting his neck again. He pinched his brows and glanced at Liang Bo. “Wait for me a little longer. I really am busy lately. By the end of the year at the latest… before the next Spring Festival, I will definitely… give you a title.”
Uncle Guo clicked his tongue, and his palm landed on the table with a thud.
Shou Jiaxun hurriedly corrected himself, “Marriage! I mean, I will definitely get married. I was joking just now…” After saying that, he turned to Guo Ran and nodded solemnly. “Uncle, I promise.”
Liang Bo lowered his head with a bashful smile, appearing very embarrassed, but a hint of bitterness welled up in his heart.
Businessmen are always busy. His grandfather and his father had been busy their whole lives and never seemed to have slowed down.
The first ten years of starting a business are even more of an endless cycle of desk work and toil.
They are like a series of old-fashioned trains without brake valves; if you want them to stop, you have to extinguish the fire in the boiler.
‘Guoran Trading’ was Shou Jiaxun’s boiler.
Shou Jiaxun and Guo Ran were the founders of ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much,’ but they wouldn’t necessarily be its bosses forever.
In an ideal situation, they would go public before seeking financing. Their original development pace was very ideal, but this year they had clearly been “backstabbed” by a villain.
The waves of resignations in the advertising department hadn’t stopped, and the logistics for the fruit stores had started to fall apart as well.
Fresh food transport is a race against time. Today a truck broke down, tomorrow someone fell ill; the ordered goods were crated but couldn’t be sent out, yet the stores couldn’t be left without stock to sell.
The company was losing money by buying from local wholesalers and selling at their original price point, losing hundreds of thousands every day.
By late August, Shou Jiaxun was two months pregnant. He found some time to go to the hospital again.
The doctor said his progesterone levels had risen slightly, but they hadn’t yet reached the expected value, so he couldn’t stop the medication.
Then the doctor asked if there had been any more bleeding during this period.
Shou Jiaxun told the truth: “It happened twice, but I didn’t feel anything. I only found out when I went home at night to change my trousers.”
The doctor’s brow furrowed slightly as he gave a small nod. “Constant bleeding is definitely not good, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the child can’t be saved. Keep taking the medicine. If you find you have bleeding for two or three consecutive days, you must come in for inpatient care to save the baby.”
Shou Jiaxun pressed, “What if it’s just a tiny bit every day, continuously? Do I still have to be hospitalized?”
The doctor was amused and exasperated by him. “A large amount is called a hemorrhage. It would be gone all at once, and you yourself would be in great danger. What do you think?”
Shou Jiaxun touched his forehead and nodded repeatedly. “Right, right, I understand.”
Over the next month, Shou Jiaxun had progressed from merely having the intent to seek financing to the stage of screening investors.
This was because the first-instance verdict for the lawsuit accusing them of unfair competition had been handed down. As a special case with an expedited process, the first instance ordered them to pay a fine of 12,425,631 yuan and 50 cents.
The amount was precise down to the last cent, and the itemized list of penalties was as thick as half a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The day Uncle Guo received the notice of the verdict, he listed two properties under his name for sale through an agency.
He had a total of three properties in the capital: one for self-residence and two for investment, but none of the three had been fully paid off.
Thus, although the two houses could sell for twenty million, after clearing the loans, it would barely be enough to cover the fine.
When Shou Jiaxun heard about it, he said it “wasn’t necessary.” First of all, they would definitely appeal; this wasn’t the final judgment. Secondly, he was already in talks for financing, and the subsequent funds would definitely keep up. One way or another, they could sustain this breath of life. As long as the cash flow didn’t break, the golden brand of ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ would not fall.
Most importantly, Uncle Guo had already been oppressed by poverty for half a lifetime and had finally managed to pull himself up. Shou Jiaxun absolutely could not accept his uncle returning to the era of being a member of the property-less class.
September arrived quickly. Shou Jiaxun and Guo Ran began frequently meeting with various investors for dinner, feeling out each other’s cooperation plans.
The one offering the most money was a multinational supermarket chain. The other party wanted to buy out the ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ brand in its entirety, including the management rights of the flagship store and the small shops.
Uncle Guo and Shou Jiaxun could retire directly with that money, but from then on, ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ would have no connection to them whatsoever.
Based on the typically aggressive tactics of investors, ‘Guoran’ would likely be completely integrated and dissolved in the end.
The second tier of investors came from venture capital firms, including a candidate introduced by Xiao Yu’s father.
This type of venture capital was relatively pure; in the early stages, they would only give you money, money, and more money. However, you had to give them tiered dividends and reach the profit margins they expected—some even required the company to go public within an agreed time frame.
If you couldn’t do it, they would split your company up and sell it to secure the maximum return.
The third tier of investors came from the internet giant ‘Fanrong Technology.’ Liang Yu, the group’s COO who had contacted Uncle Guo before, proposed that they hoped to cooperate with ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ through an equity stake.
Fanrong’s investment plan appeared the most cautious and most complete among the many investors.
They would acquire 51% of ‘Guoran Trading’ through a combination of cash, equity, and dividends at market price.
The initial amount of money Uncle Guo and Shou Jiaxun would receive wouldn’t be too much, but it would be just enough to help them get through their current difficulties. The advantage was that they could continue to manage the company according to their own ideas.
However, what attracted Shou Jiaxun and Uncle Guo the most was that ‘Fanrong’ had formulated a sufficiently complete long-term development route for ‘Guoran,’ most of which coincided with Shou Jiaxun’s vision of a “Digital Guoran.”
To put it simply, it was a bit like finding a “godfather” for ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much.’ Although they would become a subsidiary of ‘Fanrong’ from then on, the starting points and goals of both sides were consistent. Theoretically, there would be no issues of mutual interference.
If they did well, they could even use the other’s strength to their advantage, allowing ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ to step into the digital era one step faster.
The “buyout” plan was discarded by Shou Jiaxun and Uncle Guo in the first round of comparison. Although it offered a lot of money, they truly couldn’t bear to let go of the ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ brand.
After the two bosses repeatedly compared the venture capital firms and ‘Fanrong’s’ plans, they eventually leaned toward the forward-looking vision of ‘Fanrong Technology.’
In late September, with the support of the large company’s “blood transfusion,” the business lines of ‘Guoran’ and ‘Yunfeng’ gradually returned to normal. While Shou Jiaxun was handling the trivialities of the company’s change in equity, he was also quietly scouting for a wedding house.
He figured that once they officially reached a cooperation with ‘Fanrong Technology’ at the end of the month and received the cash from the equity, it would be just enough for him to buy a good house in the capital.
After two months of renovation for the new house, it could be used for his marriage with Liang Bo at the end of the year.
However, after the wedding, they would still have to live in Liang Bo’s school-district apartment for a while… because the new house would need to “air out.”
By next April or May, when he gave birth to the child, they could just move in.
Although he and Uncle Guo were about to be demoted from big bosses to partners, everything was developing in a good direction, and there was nothing worth being too conflicted about.
On the last day of September, ‘Fanrong Technology’ held a signing ceremony for ‘Guoran Loves You Very Much’ at the group’s headquarters.
Shou Jiaxun and Guo Ran attended in formal attire. On ‘Fanrong’s’ side, the elder Chairman Liang was present to oversee the proceedings, and several local media outlets were even invited to record the event, giving plenty of face to the newly-joined subsidiary.
Shou Jiaxun and Uncle Guo started with complex emotions, but after the signing, their feelings gradually settled.
As the group’s COO, Liang Yu was specifically responsible for supervising the work of the general managers of various subsidiaries. Looking at it now, he was exactly Shou Jiaxun and Uncle Guo’s new superior. After the signing ceremony, he naturally invited his two new subordinates to his office for some tea and small talk.
Shou Jiaxun and Guo Ran had been here several times before. Today, as soon as they sat down, Shou Jiaxun’s gaze was drawn to a family portrait on the coffee table.
Seeing him pick up the photo to examine it, Liang Yu immediately gave a warm introduction to the family members in the portrait. “You met my father just now… This is my mother. The one beside her is my younger brother, Liang Hui; he currently handles the group’s marketing work.
The one behind him is my eldest brother’s widow, the current CEO of ‘Little Red Flower.’
Beside her is my nephew, Liang Taotao.
Taotao is still studying abroad, but he is very smart. The cooperation plan with your ‘Guoran’ was actually written by him independently while he was abroad.
Don’t look at how young Taotao is; he is very capable. I must introduce you to each other when there’s a chance.”
Uncle Guo leaned over to examine the photo with Shou Jiaxun, then looked up in confusion, asking the question that was in the depths of Shou Jiaxun’s heart, “You said he is called Liang Taotao?”
Liang Yu raised his eyebrows with a smirk. “Of course, he’s my biological nephew. Do you also think his name is a bit funny?
When he was born, my father—that’s his grandfather—personally went to a temple to find a monk to ask for a name.
That monk said he lacked ‘Water’ in his Five Elements, so he was originally named Liang Bo.
Later, for some reason, this kid started growing incredibly tall. The family suspected he had gigantism, and they sought medical help everywhere, but they couldn’t find the problem.
So my father found a Taoist priest to come and ‘look for the ailment.’ The priest still said it was a problem with the Five Elements, saying that one ‘Bo’ (Wave) might not be enough, and to change it to ‘Taotao’ (Surging).
And just like that, he was given a rather funny name. Fortunately, after the name change, he finally stopped growing.”
Recommended Reads
