My boss betrayed me

Zhang San's eyes turned red with anxiety, and he explained loudly:

"The situation of Wang Long and I is really terrible!"

"With that little money, if I move my wife and children to a place with better conditions, the cost of buying a house and a car will be astronomical, plus there will be a lot of taxes to pay."

"The cost of three meals a day and the high cost of my children's schooling is just a drop in the bucket! I can barely make a living by opening a restaurant."

"But you can't be stuck cooking in front of a three-foot stove for your whole life. You have to compare yourself with those successful people who have achieved success and fame."

"Who doesn't want to climb higher? There's no such thing as making enough money. Who doesn't want to make a great development that will shake the world and do something that will go down in history?"

Xia Muchu responded thoughtfully:

"Then you are looking in the wrong direction this time."

"You are obsessed with grand development, but I am currently facing the difficult problem of survival. We are not on the same level at all, and our starting points are even more different. We cannot be compared at all."

Wang Lung stood up suddenly and interrupted eagerly:

"Brother Muchu, please don't say that! Although I am not good at speaking, I know some profound and complicated truths clearly in my heart. And you know them clearly like a wise man who can see through everything."

"I actually discussed this with Zhang San privately the last time I came, but I was too embarrassed to voice out my real and urgent request at the time. If I don't speak out this time, it will be too late. I will miss the last straw to save my life."

"We came to you because we admire your extremely smart and unparalleled mind, and we also believe that you would never harm your brothers. You are a man who values ​​friendship and loyalty."

"Who else can we look for if not you?"

"We really don't want to drag it on like this, and we just want to follow you to do something earth-shattering. Please don't refuse, we can't refuse, we can't call you brother for so many years in vain."

A hint of hesitation flashed in Xia Muchu's eyes, and he asked doubtfully:

"What kind of logic is this?"

Zhang San blushed and shouted:

"This is the truth that the bond between us brothers is stronger than gold and indestructible!"

Xia Muchu was silent, drinking tea and smoking silently, and did not speak for a long time.

His eyes were wandering, and his mind seemed to be entangled with a myriad of thoughts, as if he was racking his brains to think about how to answer.

After a long silence, Zhang San finally couldn't help but stamp his feet anxiously and asked:

"Brother Muchu, you are not looking down on us and are unwilling to lend a hand, are you?"

Xia Muchu shook his head firmly and denied:

"No. I'm just curious. You guys were doing so well in Hanzhou before, how come you suddenly feel like you're at a dead end and have no way out?"

Zhang San looked desperate, sighed heavily and said:

"The letter of intent for the joint venture in Hanzhou has already been signed, and the negotiation of the agreement has basically been completed. All that's left is the signing of the formal document."

"The factory invested a lot of money in this joint venture. They demolished more than 1,000 square meters of old factory buildings without hesitation and sold 64 old machines."

"But we have tried everything but still can't find a reliable foreign investor willing to invest, and the factory is very anxious and pressing us. If this matter is not handled properly, it will definitely get out of control and we may even go bankrupt."

"After much thought, we decided that we had to get out of this situation before the formal agreement was signed, so as not to fall into an irreversible abyss."

"I've reluctantly sold my restaurant in Narnia. Now we each own half of Wang Long's restaurant. This way we can keep our residency and lose as little money as possible."

"How could the factory be so reckless and impulsive that they demolished the factory without saying a word and sold the machines in a hurry when the formal agreement has not yet been signed?" Xia Muchu asked with a frown, full of suspicion.

At this moment he folded his hands upon his chest, and stared at Wang Lung with a sharp gaze, as if he were trying to read the answer from his face.

"Who knows!" Wang Long looked miserable and waved his hands helplessly.

The wrinkles on his forehead formed a deep "川" character.

"We clearly stated at the time that the old factory buildings and old equipment were of no use at all and must not be included in the joint venture shares. We must create favorable conditions for investing in building new factories and installing new machines."

"We were very confident that they would not dare to act rashly if they could not meet the investment conditions we proposed."

"Who would have thought that they would just do it without caring about anything? This is so stupid!"

Xia Muchu muttered to himself: It's not the factory that's stupid, it's clearly you two who are hopelessly confused!

He almost instantly grasped the key point: the factory was obviously complying with the request of foreign investors and using this seemingly not-so-loss loss to put pressure on them.

If the joint venture is successful, everyone will be happy.

But if they fail, those losses will immediately become powerful bargaining chips and a fatal handle to restrain foreign investors. Do you think they can get away with it so easily?

That is simply a foolish dream!

Unfortunately, these two guys who were trying to practice karate didn't realize the huge risks hidden in it.

However, Xia Muchu felt too lazy to explain all this, as it would be a waste of words and meaningless.

So he continued to ask: "You two know nothing about the leather industry, so what is the basis for negotiating cooperation with the factory?"

"We hired several technicians and college students from China, and also hired an engineer from Austria," Zhang San replied hastily.

There was a barely perceptible hint of guilt in his eyes, and his hands kept rubbing back and forth.

"So how big is the area of ​​this factory? What is the asset valuation? What is the share of your joint venture?"

"The factory covers a large area," Wang Long said as he tried to recall.

He raised his head slightly, looking towards the ceiling, as if trying to search for the numbers in his memory.

"I don't remember the exact number, but it's probably around 50 acres."

"Taking into account the existing factory buildings, machinery, office buildings, etc., the converted assets are RMB 24 million, accounting for 40% of the joint venture shares."

"This means that you have to invest 36 million Longteng coins?" Xia Muchu couldn't help but sneered and said.

At the same time, he leaned forward and tapped his fingers rapidly on the table, as if venting his dissatisfaction.

"You really treat this factory as your own kitchen. You are so generous! So how much did each of you lose?"

The two looked at each other and laughed awkwardly. Zhang San gritted his teeth and said:

"We rented two suites at the Hanzhou International Hotel. Adding in salaries, travel expenses, and the losses in Narnia, the total is about 400,000 Dragon Teng coins."

"The factory said that they spent more than 200,000 Dragon Teng coins on the reception fee for the joint venture. I don't think it was that much. Most likely, the officials pocketed the money."