Linfengchun

Kapitel 132

Cheng Chong felt ashamed and lowered his head.

She glanced at the employee who seemed about to speak but hesitated, and sneered, "Don't tell me you haven't even bought the processing equipment!"

The employee hurriedly replied, "I bought it, I bought it a long time ago."

"I bought it, and I'll just leave it there. I'll sell it when the machine rusts. How much has the price of scrap metal gone up in the last few years?" she asked sarcastically.

Lofty ambitions and unrealistic aspirations can be forgiven. After all, Cheng Chong and Jiu Chong Ge are still young, energetic, and eager to strive, which is understandable. Not everyone has lived two lives like her and has a firm grasp on market developments. However, their double-dealing with her decisions is unforgivable.

Cheng Chong, despite his hard work and high achievements, was flattered and swayed by his subordinates, becoming arrogant and unaware of his own limitations. Many of his former veterans, talents promoted by Shang Lin, had either been squeezed out by him or relegated to the fringes of power. She hadn't been involved in the company's day-to-day affairs for a long time, and when she sat down at the company leadership meeting, she realized she didn't recognize most of them.

The emperor himself is not scary; what is scary is that the emperor is surrounded by sycophantic ministers who only know how to flatter him, turning him into a dictator who is oblivious to the suffering of ordinary people.

Every cause has its effect.

She didn't know whether to blame Cheng Chong or herself for being too careless and trusting him too much.

Living a life of ease for too long makes us forget the wickedness of human nature and the unpredictability of life.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"—how could we forget this famous saying? Sugar-coated bullets can even bring down an old revolutionary who braved the Long March and risked his life, let alone the spirited Cheng Chong.

When you've had a happy life for too long, you forget that it can rain, thunder, and lightning, and you think it's always sunny and bright!

"Immediately process usable flower buds into flower tea and distribute it to the market free of charge," Shanglin decided.

The employee persisted, arguing, "We're already facing cash flow problems. Starting up the herbal tea equipment again, and even providing it for free, will only exacerbate the company's financial difficulties..."

She sneered, "Don't worry, you don't need to worry about the company's finances. If you're worried about your salary and year-end bonus, I advise you not to worry either—from now on, you're fired."

The other person was shocked: "What?"

Holding a rose in her right hand, she gently tapped it against her left palm, petals fluttering down. She wore a pink chiffon babydoll dress, the hem flowing in the mountain breeze. With delicate features and a serene expression, she seemed like a fairy descended from the heavens—if one ignored the cold smile on her lips and the hatred in her eyes.

After naming several people, he turned to Cheng Chong's secretary and asked, "Have you written them all down?"

The other party was stunned: "They..." are all high-ranking executives in the company.

Kindly, he slowly repeated it again, watching as the secretary wrote it down in her notebook. Shang Lin instructed, "Take a red pen and circle it. Tell the finance department that they will only pay the company for this half month, and there will be no severance pay."

Seeing that she wasn't joking, the employee became angry: "Why are you firing me? Labor law stipulates..."

Shang Lin interrupted him: "The labor law doesn't say that you can take someone's salary and then betray them, you great commercial spies!"

The other party was stunned.

Cheng Chong was bewildered by the series of changes and stood there dumbfounded until Shang Lin mentioned "commercial espionage," at which point he looked at his most trusted and capable assistant in recent years with surprise and suspicion.

The other person exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't!"

Shang Lin ignored him and went straight to Cheng Chong, saying, "I told you long ago that you have no eye for people, but you insisted on doing it anyway—it's easy to let a wolf into the house, but it's not so simple to get rid of it, is it?"

They always have to be bitten hard by wolves before they can be sent back to the mountains.

From the moment the crisis began, she had her doubts. How could Xu Mi have such a thorough understanding of everything about Bougainvillea Company? The bidding contracts and funding were almost at the company's bottom line. Even a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner can't tell whether a patient ate dumplings or noodles for breakfast, can they?

There was no doubt that someone within the organization was betraying them, but she was still shocked by the investigation results.

Cheng Chong recruited and promoted a total of eleven people who were at or close to the center of power, five of whom were bribed by Xu Mi.

With collusion from within and without, it's no wonder that Bougainvillea suffered such heavy losses this time.

Five brilliant corporate spies—first, they must be dismissed; second, they must be held legally accountable; and third, their reputations in the industry must be ruined. Shang Lin decided to be ruthless and merciless.

She stared at the guilty-looking but stubborn employee and said, word by word, "Not only will the flower tea be given away for free, but we will also contact our domestic customers and other distributors. Once the No. 5 roses are harvested, they will all be given away for free. If you want them, come and get them yourself. Consider this our way of giving back to our customers this year, a big rebate promotion!"

The staff who followed were all shocked.

Millions of shares, all as a special offer?

Shang Lin smiled and said casually, "Spread the word that the Kunming base is open for sale. Whoever wants it, as long as the price is reasonable, we'll sell the base to them."

Even Cheng Chong was dumbfounded.

Sister, this is the company's biggest project in recent years. The whole company depends on it for its livelihood. You're just going to sell it like that?

She said in a very relaxed tone: "If there are financial problems and the business can't operate, then employees either have to resign or sell their houses and land. If the Kunming base can't continue, we need to explain to the employees here that it's not that we don't want to continue, but the government doesn't support us, and God isn't cooperating. What can we do? We must make sure to pay them enough severance pay. If they're not happy about it, let them go and make a scene with the government."

She looked back at her employees and said, "Don't be discouraged. Bougainvillea originally developed by growing Chinese cabbage and radishes. At worst, we'll go back to where we started. I'll just go with you to grow radishes and Chinese cabbage again!"

Damn it, you want to swallow me whole? I'll make sure you don't get your way.

The highest bidder wins. I don't believe that in such a large flower market, you, Xu Mi, would be the only one to monopolize the market!

Two major news stories are circulating in the domestic flower wholesale and retail market.

As an industry leader and benchmark enterprise, Bougainvillea Company offers free No. 5 roses. As long as you provide all the necessary wholesale and retail flower certificates and hire a truck to go to Yunnan, we guarantee to bring back a truckload of fresh, high-quality No. 5 roses.

The market was in an uproar, and flower vendors of all sizes were thrilled.

In all these years, I've never heard of any company giving away cars for free, let alone giving them away as a gift!

Transport vehicles from all over the country kept arriving in Kunming. Some people acted early and managed to snag a bargain, leaving triumphantly amidst the envious glances of others.

Some arrived late but didn't leave; they stayed in Kunming, queuing up for a number and waiting for the next batch of roses to be harvested. They said it was first-come, first-served, until they were all gone—look at this vast sea of flowers, who knows where they'll end up giving them all away?

Since we're here, we might as well take a stroll around their base.

Oh, a new variety of tulip?

Wow, what beautiful calla lilies!

Oh, a precious lily?

Damn, even the little daisies are more beautiful than the others!

Since we're just idling around anyway, and waiting is pointless, let's load up a truckload of other flowers, send the driver back to sell them...

People say that in the future, the flower market will not only be popular with fresh flowers, but the dried flower market will also gradually become popular.

The dried flowers were half price, and there was still some space in the car, so I decided to pack some to take back and try it out...

The second news item is also related to bougainvillea.

The Kunming base is going to be sold.

Those in the flower industry, and those interested in it, inquired about the selling price, conditions, annual profit, and return on investment...

Some people hesitated, while others were eager to act.

Yin Xunzong sat on a sandalwood chair in the main room, swaying his head and listening to the Peking Opera on the radio, its lyrics clear and melodious. A section of "Borrowing the East Wind" was fluent, smooth, powerful, and elegant, with meticulous attention to the pauses and phrasing. He swayed his head and sang along.

Learning the Heavenly Book of Military Strategy is as easy as turning one's hand; setting up an altar and borrowing the east wind to help Zhou Yu.

Cao Mengde had the advantage of favorable timing, with a large army and many generals. He led his troops south of the Yangtze River and established a foothold there.

Sun Quan was unable to make a decision and was unable to resist. The ministers and generals of Eastern Wu wanted to fight, while the civil officials wanted to surrender.

Lu Zijing went to Jiangxia to investigate, both feigning and feigning an effort, and invited Zhuge Liang to cross the Yangtze River to discuss how to defeat Cao Cao together.

...(omitted).

Zhuge Liang ascended the altar to survey the four directions. He looked at the warships lined up in a row on the north bank of the river and sighed that the east wind was blowing and the warships were burning. Cao Cao's soldiers had nowhere to hide.

This is the time when I cannot escape being caught. I, Zhuge, feign a prayer to Heaven...

(omitted)

Seeing that the east wind has risen and great success is assured, I will seize this opportunity to temporarily return to Xiakou, mobilize my troops, and then seek further gains from the masses. At that time, Zhou Yu, oh Zhou Yu! I'll teach you a lesson for all your scheming!

His subordinates had been waiting outside for a long time. After listening to a segment, Yin Xunzong turned on the radio and squinted.

The subordinate respectfully said, "Third Master, the hilltop is lined with vehicles from all over the country that come to buy flowers. Many people can't wait and have bought other flowers to take back first. The bougainvillea shows no signs of collapsing at all."

Yin Xunzong tapped his fingers lightly on the table: "What a clever trick of borrowing the east wind."

I wanted to take advantage of Xu Mi's connections, but you, a mere young girl, ended up using those connections instead. The younger generation surpasses the older; I underestimated this girl.

"So, should we buy it or not..." the subordinate hesitated.

Yin Xunzong chuckled: "Acquire?" She thought sarcastically. Let alone Xu Mi and herself, even if several companies joined forces, they probably couldn't afford to acquire the bougainvillea base! She had already planned it out in her mind. She would give away the No. 5 roses for free. Whether they had cooperated with her before or not, all the flower merchants, big and small, would flock to her base, looking at this and buying that. In any case, she would make a profit!

"This girl is forcing me to make a move..." I had intended to wait it out and wear down Qiu Shanglin's temper before making a high-profile intervention to gain the greatest benefit. Who would have thought that Qiu Shanglin would outmaneuver me?

"Then we..."

He waved his hand: "Go make the arrangements. Invite Director Zhang to play ball tomorrow, and while you're at it, ask Cheng Chong if he has time to grace us with his presence."

The subordinate hesitated: "Third Prince, is it necessary for us to help her with this?"

Yin Xunzong spat: "Help? Don't underestimate the flower market. There's not much profit to be made. Do you think Xu Mi is just bored and would use this to threaten Qiu Shanglin? Bougainvillea is easy to kill, but it won't hurt the girl's strength. Xu Mi has been scheming for a long time and wants a share of the pie."

The subordinates left in awe.

Cheng Chong stared at the steadily rising numbers on the profit statement, unable to believe his eyes.