Xu Juncheng had been driven to the brink of despair and had contemplated suicide several times. But how could a once successful billionaire bear to abandon this glamorous world and leave? What would happen to his family and children?
The other acquirers were truly ruthless. Even if he sold the company, he would still owe more than 100 million, be heavily in debt, and remain penniless. What good would that do?
Until she met Zhou Xuan, of course, she never thought of this at first, but only thought of selling the factory to Zhou Xuan. But when she saw that Zhou Xuan's rough stones had yielded jade worth hundreds of millions, her heart was suddenly filled with new hope.
To be honest, Xu Juncheng was indeed a natural businessman, but he failed because of gambling on jade. When he saw Zhou Xuan's several pieces of top-quality jadeite, he immediately thought that if he could persuade Zhou Xuan to use these pieces of jadeite as collateral for a loan, and then carve them into finished products and sell them, the profits would be enough to pay off the debts and leave a surplus. Besides, he still had a lot of rough stones in his factory. Even if he cut some jadeite out of them, not the best ones, he could still guarantee the supply. After some time, Xu's Jewelry Store would be back to normal, and those who wanted to take over his business would not have a good time!
Xu Juncheng's only selfish desire was to have Zhou Xuan take over all his debts so that he wouldn't be in debt. Zhou Xuan also gave him six million for the factory. Although he couldn't live as luxuriously as before, he could still take care of his family and raise his children if he used the six million in cash sparingly!
When Zhou Xuan agreed, Xu Juncheng was overjoyed. However, Zhou Xuan then made a condition. In Zhou Xuan's words, it was very clear that he not only wanted to take over all of Xu Juncheng's debts, but also to give him an additional 50 million. How could Xu Juncheng not agree to such a condition?
"Boss Zhou, tell me, tell me, what are the conditions? As long as I can do it, I can agree to it!" Xu Juncheng said hurriedly, his face flushed. This period of hardship had completely worn away his former abilities, vision, and courage.
Zhou Xuan nodded and said, "My terms are: First, besides the 300 million loan, the remaining 50 million will not be paid to you in cash, but will be used as shares. I will give you 10% of the shares, which means that although you are transferring the business to me, you will still be a shareholder of this jewelry store. Second, I am not familiar with the jewelry industry, so I will hire you as the general manager of the jewelry store to manage the sales planning and other aspects of the jewelry stores. In addition, I will be responsible for the sourcing, supply, and capital. Old Xu, do you agree to these two conditions?" Xu Juncheng was stunned for a while, then suddenly stood up, knelt down in front of Zhou Xuan, and kowtowed twice.
Zhou Xuan was startled and quickly pulled him up, saying, "Old Xu, what are you doing?"
Xu Juncheng choked up and said, "Boss Zhou, they say a man's knees are worth gold. I've never knelt since I was a child. I'm kneeling to you now because you saved me and my family. If it weren't for me, I think my wife and children would have suffered a tragedy. Your conditions are nothing but a favor to me!"
As soon as Zhou Xuan stated his conditions, Xu Juncheng understood that Zhou Xuan was helping him. Fifty million for a 10% stake—although the Xu family business would no longer be his, he would still manage it, and he would still be managing his children. Moreover, if Zhou Xuan's investment plan was appropriate, and after paying off the debts, with strong supply support, Xu Juncheng was certain that the total profit from the forty-seven stores would be astonishing. Within a year, he could still build Xu's Jewelry's assets to over 1.5 billion. Even with a 10% stake, he would still have 150 million; he would still be a billionaire! How could he refuse such a good deal? Zhou Xuan was simply his lucky star, his savior!
Zhou Xuan had a different idea at the time. No matter what business you do, if you get involved without knowing anything about it, even the most profitable business will lose money. He knew nothing about the jewelry business, but Xu Juncheng did, and he was very capable. If it weren't for gambling on stones, he wouldn't be in this situation now!
Zhou Xuan is not good at management, but as long as a boss knows how to manage employees, that's enough. If you can manage people well, that's success.
The same applies to giving Xu Juncheng 10% of the shares. By binding him firmly to oneself, one can both benefit him and make him work wholeheartedly. Why not do it?
And most importantly, Zhou Xuan has an inexhaustible supply of goods, which gives him a greater advantage than other jewelers. Others are not so good at gambling on stones; they rely on real money to buy them. But he can buy the raw materials at extremely low prices, then cut out the jadeite and make finished products to sell at high prices. The profits are unimaginable for ordinary people!
To be honest, although Zhou Xuan hadn't thought about getting into the jewelry business, he was still considering how to sell all the jade he had gambled away. Now, thanks to Xu Juncheng's timely joining, he not only got out of his predicament but also gained another way to expand his business. It was a win-win situation!
Xu Juncheng was already sighing with emotion, he really didn't expect that this trip would save him from the abyss of hell!
Zhou Xuan patted him lightly on the shoulder, then took out a check for six million from his pocket and handed it to him, saying, "Old Xu, haha, I should call you President Xu now. Here, take this six million check!"
Xu Juncheng was taken aback, then quickly waved his hand and said, "Boss Zhou, I can't accept it, I can't accept it. You've helped me so much. This factory wasn't worth much to begin with, and now it's come in handy. Even if I've done my part,..."
Zhou Xuan interrupted him, chuckled, and stuffed the check into his hand, saying, "Old Xu, as the saying goes, people need food to survive, right? Your whole family needs to eat, wear clothes, and use things, right? Besides, as a general manager, you need to take care of your house and car. I'm not talking about luxury, but you still need to maintain a certain image!"
Hearing Zhou Xuan's words, Xu Juncheng accepted the check with red eyes. He couldn't afford to be without money, especially since his family had indeed been in dire straits recently. The bank had already issued an ultimatum to seize the house, and the car had long since been sold. He really needed to use the money Zhou Xuan gave him. After receiving the check, Xu Juncheng stood there dumbfounded for a long time, his mind a complete blank.
Zhou Shi patted him on the shoulder again and laughed, "Old Xu, don't think about anything, go back and rest for the night, we'll talk about it tomorrow!"
Xu Juncheng nodded, then remembered something and quickly said, "Boss Zhou, how about this, we'll transfer the operating rights to you first, and then we can discuss other matters!"
Zhou Xuan shook his head, smiled and said, "Old Xu, I've already told you, don't rush things. Let's talk about it tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep. You need to rest. You don't need to worry about anything now. Money is not a problem. Even if the bank doesn't agree to the mortgage deferral, I have cash. So just go back and get some rest!"
Xu Juncheng did have such concerns. When he heard Zhou Xuan bring it up himself, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, he became curious again. Zhou Xuan was so young and he had never seen him in the capital. He was a complete stranger. It was impossible for someone his age to have amassed a fortune of over 100 million on his own.
Judging from Zhou Xuan's tone, it seemed that a few hundred million was not a big deal. He was really curious, but he also knew that Li Wei was so respectful to him, so he must be someone with a powerful background. He was happy to have such a backer. Doing business would be much safer. Which businessman wouldn't want to find a big backer? Without a very stable backer, trying to do big business is like walking on thin ice. You never know when you might fall into the ice.
Xu Juncheng put the check away and was about to talk to Zhou Xuan again when Zhou Xuan's phone suddenly rang!
Zhou Xuan took out his phone and saw it was a call from the store. He immediately answered and asked, "What is it?"
Old Wu's voice came through the phone: "Boss Zhou, a woman came to the shop. She said she's the mother of the middle-aged man who sold the pen holder. She wants it back, but she doesn't have any money. I have to talk to you about this because the pen holder is your personal property and doesn't belong to the shop. You'll have to come back and handle it."
Zhou Xuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll be right there!"
He turned off his phone and said to Xu Juncheng, "Old Xu, I have something to take care of at another shop. You go back and rest first, and we'll discuss the details tomorrow!"
Seeing that Zhou Xuan had something to do, and that his own matter had been resolved perfectly, Xu Juncheng was overjoyed and bid farewell to Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan also called Li Wei out from the factory. At that time, he also instructed his younger brother and sister-in-law and Zhao Lao Er to recruit people and keep an eye on the stone cutting factory. Personnel were to be managed by Zhao Lao Er and Zhou Tao, financial expenditures were to be managed by Zhou Ying, and technical matters were to be managed by Master Chen.
Right now, Old Chen's four masters and his nephew were all extremely busy, still polishing the pieces of jade they had just cut. They didn't know Zhou Xuan was leaving and didn't have time to come out. Zhou Xuan didn't disturb them, so he asked Li Wei to drive, and he and Fu Ying headed towards Panjiayuan.
On the way, Li Wei excitedly asked, "Brother Xuan, you're so amazing at magic tricks, but I never expected you to be even more amazing at cutting stones. Just five broken stones, and you managed to cut out two ↑Bs. You must have over a thousand stones in your factory, right? How much money would you have to cut out of those?"
Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "How could things be so good? We've only come across these few good pieces. We probably won't be able to cut them from other stones, and even if we did, they might not be as good as these. You don't know, these are the highest quality jadeite, and they're extremely rare to find!"
"Brother Xuan," Li Wei said with a smirk, turning back, "Since you don't want to teach me magic tricks anyway, why don't you teach me how to play with these stones? I can easily make hundreds of millions of them without having to go through the trouble of begging my mom for tens of thousands every time!"
Volume 1, Chapter 213: Crazy Golden Flower (Part 1)
Zhou Xuan couldn't help but feel both an headache and amusement. Li Wei really knew how to pick people; even if he wanted to teach, there was nothing he could do. Technical skills could be taught, but superpowers couldn't be passed on.
Fu Ying smiled, finding the young man quite amusing. However, she remained genuinely respectful towards Zhou Xuan. After parking in the parking lot outside Panjiayuan, the three of them walked through the flea market and returned to the shop. Inside, they found an elderly woman in her sixties, her clothes faded from washing, clearly indicating that she was not in a good financial situation.
Old Wu said to Zhou Xuan, "Young Master Zhou, this is the old lady!"
Zhou Xuan stepped forward and said to the old lady, "Grandma, I am the person who had the pen holder. Are you looking for me?"
The old lady turned her head to look at Zhou Xuan, and immediately pulled out a handkerchief from her body with trembling hands. She slowly opened the handkerchief, revealing a stack of money inside.
There was a hundred-yuan note, a fifty-yuan note, then several ten-yuan notes, and the most numerous were one-yuan notes, about several dozen in total. The old woman handed this stack of money to Zhou Xuan, her voice trembling as she said, "Boss, this pen holder was passed down from my father-in-law to my husband. He cherished it like his lifeblood. Now that he's gone, I can't bear to hurt him anymore. It's all because of my good-for-nothing son..."
As she spoke, she couldn't help but sob. Fu Ying, feeling sorry for her, handed her a tissue and comforted her, "Mother-in-law, please speak slowly!"
The old woman wiped away her cloudy tears with a tissue, then continued, "There's a construction site behind our old house, a new residential complex construction site. My son, Zhang Sinian, somehow got to know some of the workers there, the foreman, and he gambled with them every day. After my husband passed away, his retirement pension stopped. I only get a monthly allowance of 600 yuan, and my son is idle, though he doesn't eat very well. We mother and son can barely make ends meet, but my son is a gambler, losing more than he wins. At first, when he lost, he would ask me for money. All our savings of over ten thousand yuan were gone..." He lost everything, and then started selling things from home. My late wife liked to collect things, but during the Cultural Revolution, everything was confiscated and damaged. There wasn't much left. I won't go into the other items, but this pen holder is a family heirloom. The elders instructed us that it must never be lost, as it held a secret. My wife has passed away, and I have no other attachments, except that I can't let this small business owner lose my wife's things. I really have no money left, just these two hundred and seventeen yuan. I'll give it all to you, please, please give me back the pen holder.
Zhou Xuan sighed and said to his father, "Dad, take out that pen holder."
After Zhou Cangsong took it out, Zhou Xuan took it and examined it. The base had been repaired by Old Wu, and some paint had been applied, so it wasn't noticeable. Then he handed it to the old woman, saying, "Grandma, please take it back. Be careful and don't let your son take it again. I don't want the money. Please take it back!"
The old woman paused, then shook her head, saying, "Young man, I don't know how much my son sold for, but I know it's definitely more than 217 yuan. I can't take any more, so I can't take this money back!"
Although the old woman was elderly, she was very sensible. Fortunately, the pen holder wasn't worth much money, but as she said, it did contain a secret. It seemed that her husband's ancestors had lost the secret over time, perhaps because they couldn't fulfill it. So, as time went on, the later generations stopped taking the secret seriously!