"Wait a minute..." Seeing that if the transaction between these two were completed, all the shareholders would inevitably be deceived by Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Zhengrui immediately jumped out impatiently and shouted, "Don't be fooled by him... Our Zhou Group's account is still frozen. Who knows if he can cash a check he signs for you... Besides... if he wants to use Zhou Group's money to acquire the shares of Zhou Group in your hands, this is illegal. If someone reports it, the transaction will be suspended at any time. You should think carefully."
At this moment, the shareholder who had made the deal with Zhou Ziwei had already received the check from Zhou Ziwei's hand. After carefully examining the check, his eyes widened in astonishment. After a moment, he chuckled and said, "Director Zhengrui, I think your worries are unnecessary. Chairman Ziwei didn't issue a transfer check from our group's account. This is a personal account check directly issued by Swiss International Bank for a high-level client. Wow... a high-level client... I heard that such clients can even overdraft ten million US dollars directly... So... as long as I withdraw the money from this check immediately, I don't need to worry at all that it's a bounced check for ten million US dollars... Anyway, my little bit of money is definitely enough for me."
As soon as the shareholder said this, the few people who were still somewhat hesitant immediately stopped hesitating and surrounded Zhou Ziwei, demanding that he immediately transfer his shares to Zhou Ziwei.
Moreover, it seems that they came to this shareholders' meeting today with some kind of plan in mind. Everyone brought their share certificates, so there was no need to waste any time. The transaction could be carried out on the spot immediately. After that, the group company's lawyer would just need to notarize it, and the share transaction would be completely completed.
Seeing that two more shareholders had completed their transactions with Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Zhengrui knew that his plan had completely failed this time, and there was no point in persisting. So he quickly approached Zhou Ziwei, put on his old face, and said, "Since my nephew Ziwei has so much confidence in the Zhou family, why not take my eight percent of shares as well? Sigh... I'm getting old, and all my ambitions have faded. You young people should go and work hard! I should go back home and retire."
After Zhou Ziwei finished dealing with the last minority shareholder's shares, he looked up at Zhou Zhengrui with amusement and said, "Your shares? I don't think I said I wanted to buy your shares... Besides, you also have the surname Zhou, so you're considered an elder in our Zhou family. If I were to buy your shares, I'm afraid people would gossip... Never mind, Uncle, you'd better keep your shares. Maybe in a year or two, the Zhou Group will suddenly become a multinational corporation, and your 8% stake might be worth several hundred million US dollars. Wouldn't it be a waste to sell them now?"
Zhou Zhengrui rolled his eyes in anger, thinking to himself: "You think you can turn my 8% stake into hundreds of millions of US dollars in a year or two? Do you think you're running a money printing factory? Even the most brilliant entrepreneur in the world, who dares to say they can turn such a struggling group into a multinational corporation in an instant? This kid seems to be really not normal. But... I wonder where he got so much money from, that he dared to swallow up all of Zhou's shares in one go."
Zhou Zhengrui, of course, did not reveal these thoughts. He simply snorted softly and said, "Ziwei... you can see it too. I really have no confidence in the Zhou family business anymore. Since these old brothers have transferred their shares to you, then... count me in too. From now on, it's up to you two brothers. Sigh... we are all old and really don't have the same courage as you young people."
Zhou Ziwei seemed quite surprised upon hearing this, then scratched his head slightly and said, "But... I've only prepared the money to acquire their shares. You, sir, hold eight percent of the shares, and I don't have that money here... No, no... Uncle, you should continue to hold your shares! That way, my brother and I will have someone to rely on, and if there are any problems in the future, we can ask you for help, right?"
"I..." Zhou Zhengrui's face turned pale with anger upon hearing this. He thought to himself, "You have money when you acquire their shares, but you don't have any when you get them? Then why did you have to offer five times the price? Would you have to worry about no one transferring the shares if you offered three times the price?"
Moreover, Zhou Zhengrui didn't believe that if he continued to stay at Zhou's, he would be treated as some kind of "backbone" as Zhou Ziwei claimed. Just a few minutes ago, this disrespectful Zhou Ziwei was pointing his finger at him and calling him an old man... If Zhou Zhengrui had a group of shareholders cheering him on, he might be able to put up a fight with Chairman Zhou Ziwei. But now, all the other shareholders had withdrawn, leaving him all alone. He had no money, no power. If things continued like this, wouldn't Zhou Ziwei play him to death?
So Zhou Zhengrui could only shake his head frantically and say, "Forget it, forget it... I'm not much younger than your father, and I really can't do anything anymore. You should just take my shares too! Hmm... if you really don't have enough cash on hand... it doesn't matter if you use some from the company's accounts first. Anyway, now besides me, the only shareholders of the entire Zhou Group are you two brothers. As long as Zixu doesn't object, you can use the company's funds to do anything at any time."
"No, no... Uncle, didn't you just say that using company funds to acquire company shares is illegal? If someone reports it, the transaction could be forcibly stopped at any time. I can't do that!" Zhou Ziwei immediately shook his head, turning the tables on Zhou Zhengrui and returning all of Zhou Zhengrui's words to him.
Zhou Zhengrui was so angry that his nose almost twisted. He suppressed the urge to slap the annoying face in front of him and said, panting, "Well... isn't the situation different now? Now you two brothers are the only shareholders left in the company. As long as Zixu doesn't report you, even if you empty the company's accounts, no one will care."
“Still no good.” Zhou Ziwei stubbornly shook his head repeatedly, saying, “I am a law-abiding citizen. Even if no one supervises or reports me, I will still abide by the law and will not do anything that clearly violates the law.”
"You're law-abiding...you little brat, you know how to be law-abiding?" Zhou Zhengrui was truly enraged this time, pointing his finger at Zhou Ziwei's nose and shouting, "What exactly do you want? You just won't take back these eight percent of my shares, is that it?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei rubbed his nose and said slowly, "Well... I didn't say I wouldn't accept Uncle's shares, but... I really don't have that much money... Oh... how about this! If you really want to transfer your shares to me, Uncle, I'll buy them back at the original price. Sigh... that's all the money I can come up with right now, I'm really sorry."
"What!" Zhou Zhengrui roared furiously, "You buy other people's shares at five times the price, but when it comes to mine, you only pay the original price? You...you're...you're not distinguishing between inside and outside the family...Don't forget, I'm your third uncle..."
"Is that so?" Zhou Ziwei coldly glanced at Zhou Zhengrui's ugly face and said, "I think I heard someone outside just now saying that I'm not a Zhou family member... Since I'm not a Zhou family member at all, then what kind of third uncle are you, old man!"
"Uh..." Zhou Zhengrui never expected that Zhou Ziwei had overheard every word he said. After pretending to be polite to him for a few moments, Zhou Ziwei finally couldn't help but call him "old thing" again, a term full of insult. He knew that he had really lost out today. It seemed that Zhou Ziwei now truly hated him. It was impossible for him to sell his shares to Zhou Ziwei at five times the price like the other shareholders. In any case, all the other shareholders had withdrawn, and Zhou Zhengrui could no longer make any waves in front of these two super shareholders.
If he can't sell these shares, he'll be stuck with them like a mute, completely at the mercy of others, and will have no say in the Zhou family anymore.
With a helpless sigh, Zhou Zhengrui's old face seemed to age ten years in an instant. He almost pleaded with Zhou Ziwei, saying, "Nephew Ziwei... I was wrong to say those things earlier. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against this old man. Sigh... I know it's completely unnecessary for you to buy back my shares now, but... please understand your uncle's situation! I've been working hard with the second son at Zhou's for so many years, and I have nothing else besides Zhou's. Unlike those guys, who all have some other businesses to do. Or... if you really don't have enough money, how about you buy my shares at three times the price? You can't let your uncle's hard work of so many years just disappear all at once!"
Seeing Zhou Zhengrui's pitiful state, and considering that he was a senior member of the Zhou family and Zhou Zixu's third uncle, Zhou Ziwei decided not to go too far.
Of course... the most important thing is that Zhou Ziwei is confident that he can make the market value of the Zhou Group rise rapidly in a short period of time. After a year, let alone five times, it is not impossible for the eight percent equity to rise to fifty times.
Zhou Ziwei naturally wouldn't let Zhou Zhengrui take advantage of this easy opportunity, so no matter what, Zhou Ziwei would still take back the shares that Zhou Zhengrui had.
However, this old guy was deliberately causing trouble here. If Zhou Ziwei hadn't returned in time, who knows what kind of mess Zhou Zhengrui would have made of the Zhou family. So we can't let him off too easily.
After a slight hesitation, he said, "Alright! Let's each compromise a little further and sell me your shares for double the original price. This is my bottom line. It's not that I can't afford more money, but I don't think it's worth it. Do you understand?"
"I……"
Zhou Zhengrui remained silent for a long time after hearing this. Seeing Zhou Ziwei's ashen face and no sign of softening, he could only sigh helplessly and reluctantly accept Zhou Ziwei's conditions, transferring his 8% stake to Zhou Ziwei at double the price.
At this point, all the shares of the Zhou Group were completely concentrated in the hands of the brothers Zhou Ziwei and Zhou Zixu, with Zhou Ziwei holding as much as 79%, making him the absolute and unshakeable leader of the company.
Back at the Zhou family compound with Xiao Mei, Zhou Zixu immediately grabbed Zhou Ziwei's hands impatiently and asked, "Brother... tell me quickly, what's going on with the Black Market Assassin Network? How could they suddenly erase all the names of the Zhou family members overnight? This... this has never happened on the Black Market Assassin Network before... even if the employer who put the bounty on the head died, even if their entire family died, the Black Market Assassin Network would never easily remove the bounty... tell me quickly, this... was this something you orchestrated?"
Volume 2 The Assassin's Nightmare Chapter 296 New Project
Looking at Zhou Zixu, whose face was full of excitement, Zhou Ziwei frowned and smiled wryly. He gently patted Zhou Zixu's shoulder and said, "Those things are not for you to worry about. You just need to know that we have now basically eliminated the pressure from the outside world and can focus on developing and expanding our Zhou Group with peace of mind."
Seeing that Zhou Ziwei seemed unwilling to talk about these matters, Zhou Zixu had no choice but to suppress his curiosity for the time being. However, he then remembered the checks Zhou Ziwei had just written, totaling tens of millions, and asked with some concern, "Brother, those checks you just wrote to those shareholders... where... where did you get so much money?" Actually, Zhou Zixu wanted to ask if those checks would cause Zhou Ziwei's account to be overdrawn, but he thought that Zhou Ziwei would not incur a large debt to the bank in order to acquire those people's shares, so he asked this question.
Zhou Ziwei smiled faintly and said, "Of course I earned it all, don't worry... I didn't rob a bank!"
That money was, of course, the money Zhou Ziwei earned from the assassin missions he took on under the alias "Reincarnation" some time ago. He was worried that using this money would expose his identity.
However... since his past has already been thoroughly investigated, Zhou Ziwei naturally no longer needs to act secretly.
He even had Vincent open a high-end client account for him at a Swiss bank and used the black market assassin network to launder the money, legally obtaining it through inheritance. He even got him the inheritance certificate and the receipt for the inheritance tax.
The sum of money was over 150 million US dollars. After obtaining the legal procedures, Zhou Ziwei was finally able to use the money openly and no longer had to worry about having money but not daring to spend it.
One hundred and fifty million US dollars... That's more than a billion yuan in RMB. The Zhou Group is now worth less than a few hundred million. It's no problem for Zhou Ziwei to use this money to buy the scattered shares held by those minority shareholders.
In order to avoid being hindered by the shareholders in his future endeavors, Zhou Ziwei was willing to pay several times the price.
Moreover... if he spends a little more money now to buy back those scattered shares, he can save money on dividends when the Zhou Group flourishes in the future.
Zhou Ziwei had complete confidence in his future group company. If those minority shareholders were honest people, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't mind sharing some profits with them. But since those guys had started plotting against him, Zhou Ziwei naturally wouldn't be polite to them anymore.
For now, it seems like those small shareholders have come out on top. Right now, they're probably at home counting their colorful banknotes while cursing Zhou Ziwei as the biggest fool in the world... But... who's really the fool will be revealed after a while.
Not long after Zhou Ziwei returned home, he saw Luan Yuqing wearing a blue and purple floral dress, rushing towards him like a beautiful magpie.
She seemed about to throw herself into Zhou Ziwei's arms, but then abruptly stopped, her face slightly flushed, pouting. She glanced at Xiao Mei, who was following closely beside Zhou Ziwei, her face full of innocence, before chuckling and saying, "You're back... Really... I'm your personal assistant... the kind that earns a million a year, and you just left me here all alone... You haven't even paid me yet..."
Zhou Ziwei laughed and said, "Alright! You'll get your share!" Zhou Ziwei is now a wealthy man with a net worth exceeding one billion, so a mere million a year is really nothing to him...
"By the way, how are you doing with the things I asked you to do?" After laughing, Zhou Ziwei gently patted Luan Yuqing's shoulder and said, "As long as you do a good job, I will immediately pay you the one million annual salary."
"Really... Haha... Then hurry up and pay me! I'm rich now..." Luan Yuqing rubbed her hands excitedly and said, "The day after you left, I started ordering the raw materials you wanted. A truckload just arrived yesterday, and after unloading, it filled all of Zhou's large warehouses in the East District. I also applied for the patent, and... I've already found someone to customize the machine based on the blueprint you gave me. It should be ready for delivery in the next couple of days. I've kept all the accounts and receipts, and I'll show them to you later. I haven't embezzled a single penny from you!"
Zhou Ziwei nodded and said happily, "Well done... As expected of a personal assistant with a million-dollar annual salary, your work efficiency is really high!"
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei immediately took out his checkbook, signed a check in a few quick strokes, and handed it to Luan Yuqing, saying, "This is your salary for this year... I think your family probably needs the money, right? You should send this money to your family! You probably don't have many expenses with me, um... If you do well, you'll get a bonus at the end of the year!"
Luan Yuqing took the check and stared blankly for a long time before exclaiming, "You...you really gave me a million...I thought you were joking with me..."
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes, somewhat speechless, and said, "Even if I was joking with you before, I am now the chairman of the Zhou Group... I must fulfill the promise I made to you, otherwise I will have completely disgraced the entire Zhou Group!"
"Zixu... how's the health supplement business going? Can production resume?" After exchanging a few more jokes with Luan Yuqing, Zhou Ziwei immediately turned to Zhou Zixu to discuss serious matters.
Upon hearing Zhou Ziwei's inquiry, Zhou Zixu frowned and said, "The matter at the health product factory is almost resolved now! The accident mainly occurred in the purchasing department. The former head of the purchasing department, tempted by kickbacks from the sellers, purchased a large batch of substandard raw materials. These substandard raw materials contained many impurities and were somewhat toxic, which led to the serious quality incident in the finished product. However... alas, the main responsible parties, including the factory manager and the head of the quality inspection department, are now dead. On the surface, it's an accident, but it's obvious without asking that it was done by the Xiao family."
"The official decision has been made. After rectification, the health product factory can, in principle, resume production. However... Brother, I think some of Uncle's words make a lot of sense. That health product factory's reputation is completely ruined. Resuming production will only result in losses and won't lead to anything. Moreover, even our Zhou Group has been greatly affected. Perhaps... dissolving the group and then undergoing a reorganization would be a good solution!"
Zhou Ziwei shook his head slightly upon hearing this and said, "There's no need for that. I've seen the original reports. That health product factory invested a lot, but it never had a strong flagship product, and the profits weren't very good. So even if the factory suffered some negative impact due to the accident, the impact wasn't very widespread. Now, as long as we can launch a good product and create a certain buzz in society, then... that past incident will soon be forgotten by most people."
Zhou Zi said somewhat dismissively, "But...it's not that easy to innovate and create a flagship product! Our group's research team does have some new product proposals, but after reviewing them, I think they're all very ordinary. If we launch them again, they'll just be the same as before...There are all sorts of health supplements these days, and the prices are outrageously expensive, but almost none of them are truly effective. Now, people associate the word 'health supplement' with words like exorbitant profits and deception. I think it's better to invest our energy and money in pharmaceutical companies than to waste it on these..."
Zhou Ziwei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You don't need to worry about the new product. I've already chosen the project, and Assistant Luan has been helping me with the preparations. We can officially start production in a few days. The main issue now is expanding sales channels... that's the most important thing right now. I heard that most of the companies and distributors that previously cooperated with Zhou's have terminated their contracts with us, which makes things a bit difficult. My principle is to try to salvage what we can, and if it's really unsustainable, we shouldn't force it. Terminate the cooperation. Although it will cause us some trouble in the short term, in the long run, they'll be the ones who suffer. Since they don't want to seize the opportunity, we don't need to waste our energy on them anymore..."
"The new product is ready."
Zhou Zixu glanced at Luan Yuqing beside him with some surprise and said, "The Chinese medicinal herbs that Assistant Luan bought in large quantities recently are for the raw materials of new products? This... I feel that those are just some very ordinary Chinese herbs. What good products can be developed from those... Brother... this matter... should we study it more carefully and not make a decision so hastily!"
Zhou Ziwei chuckled and said, "Who says you can't make a flagship product with ordinary ingredients? Hmm... Zixu, you haven't experienced it yourself, so you naturally don't know how amazing it is. I'll cook a sample for you myself later. Hehe... Once you've tasted it, I guarantee you'll be full of confidence in our Zhou family's newly launched flagship product."
"Cooking?" Zhou Zixu was even more confused by this, and said inexplicably, "Didn't you say you were developing a new product? Why do you need to cook it... Are you talking about food or health products?"
"Haha... What's the rush? You'll find out soon enough."
Zhou Ziwei mysteriously kept everyone in suspense...
When Zhou Ziwei used his various talents to personally concoct the green, fragrant drink that could boost excitement and keep people energetic, and then served it to the table in the small restaurant, Zhou Zixu was already utterly astonished by the extraordinary aroma before he even lifted the lid of the soup bowl.
After Zhou Zixu, as if he were a starving ghost reincarnated, gulped down three large bowls in one go, and truly experienced the strange vitality that the drink brought him, which instantly revitalized his nerves, which had been exhausted by today's board meeting, he finally understood the confidence that Zhou Ziwei possessed.
Yes... as long as you have this amazing product, you'll never have to worry about not being able to sell it.
It's truly hard to imagine that such ordinary-looking ingredients and Chinese herbs could produce such amazing effects after being prepared and cooked by Zhou Ziwei.
Zhou Zixu believed that even though the Zhou family had fallen to the point of having nothing, as long as they mastered the recipe for this beverage, they could easily make a comeback. Moreover, although the Zhou Group had suffered a severe blow in the last incident, its foundation was still intact. Now, with such a powerful project in hand, it would be even more just around the corner to restore or even surpass the scale and influence of the Zhou Group at its peak!
"Big brother... what... what's this drink called... how can it have such amazing effects, oh... and taste so good... it's a pity you're so stingy, you only made so little at once, I haven't had enough yet..."
After Zhou Zixu finished speaking, he glanced at Luan Yuqing and Xiao Mei, who were sitting at the dining table slowly drinking the emerald green liquid. He couldn't help but lick his lips, feeling somewhat unsatisfied.
Hearing this, Zhou Ziwei smiled wryly and said, "You really think this is a beverage... You drank three bowls in one go, you'll probably have insomnia tonight... This stuff is much more energizing than coffee or anything like that... As for the name of this stuff... I was in a hurry to have Assistant Luan apply for a patent, so I didn't think about it much. Anyway, this stuff can not only replenish people's energy, but long-term consumption can also replenish qi and blood to some extent, so I called it—Fountain of Life, what do you think!"
Zhou Zixu nodded repeatedly and said, "Fountain of Life... What a great name, and a truly great name. It evokes a sense of closeness and curiosity in people as soon as they hear it. Indeed... Our Fountain of Life will surely amaze the whole world."
After settling Xiao Mei in the Zhou family compound, Zhou Ziwei immediately called Wu Di and asked him to send the brothers Yelü Xiao Su and Yelü Hua Ge, as well as A Da and A Er, and the children rescued from the Storm Mercenary Group to Dangyang as soon as possible.
These people will all be Zhou Ziwei's trusted core members in the future. Once Life Spring is officially put into production and launched on the market, it will inevitably cause a sensation. Driven by huge economic interests, there will inevitably be some commercial spies who will do everything they can to steal the formula and technical information of Life Spring.
At that time, the company's security tasks will become very heavy, and the Yelü brothers are the perfect candidates to take charge of these matters.
In addition, we need to find an opportunity to bring Su Yan and her brother over as well.
After all, Zhou Ziwei had promised to cure Su Miao's illness. One should not break one's promises. Once a promise is made, Zhou Ziwei will try his best to keep it.
He originally thought that he would have to rely on his soul power to gradually strengthen the withered muscles and nerves in Su Miao's body. In that case, he really didn't know when he would be able to cure him.
However, with the miraculous Reincarnation Water, Zhou Ziwei believed that it would only take two or three times at most for Su Miao to be able to say goodbye to the wheelchair and stand up again.
However, at this moment, Zhou Ziwei suddenly received a call from Li Yifeng, who told him that the house there had been completed and that trade in jadeite rough stones in Myanmar had reopened. However, after all this turmoil, the price of jadeite rough stones had increased by at least 50% compared to before.
However, the domestic consumption of jadeite rough has become increasingly insufficient due to the blockade imposed by the Myanmar authorities during this period. Therefore, even though the price of jadeite rough has skyrocketed, jewelers in various regions still have a large demand.
So a jade association in Tengchong took the opportunity to hold a jadeite rough stone trading conference, inviting jewelers from all over the country, as well as individual jadeite enthusiasts, to gather in Tengchong.
Any merchant with a jadeite rough stone trading license is qualified to join the exhibition and become a seller.
However, this qualification is not easy to obtain. Any jadeite rough stone merchant who applies to join the exhibition must possess jadeite rough stones worth at least 50 million yuan in order to participate.
Zhou Ziwei and Li Yifeng's jadeite rough stone exchange, which they established at the old house of the Gu Dongfeng family, had already obtained its business license and other permits long ago, so they received an invitation from the organizers this time.
Although the houses there are now completed, not a single raw stone has been imported from Myanmar. That's why Li Yifeng immediately called Zhou Ziwei to ask if they should hurry up and import a batch of goods from Myanmar, otherwise, they would miss this great opportunity...
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei was immediately intrigued. Although he was already quite wealthy, no one in the world was afraid of having too much money and then spending it recklessly. Gambling on stones was definitely a good project that could make Zhou Ziwei rich quickly.
The rough stone trade fair held in Tengchong this time is estimated to be quite large. We should be able to find some fine pieces among those rough stones. Even if Zhou Ziwei doesn't want to put much effort into this area anymore, and he has lost interest in entering the jewelry industry.
Even if it's just to find one or two pieces of top-quality jade so that they can be made into pendants to give to one's future wife, this trip shouldn't be missed.
Volume 2, The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 297: The Flying Car
The thought of finding one or two pieces of top-quality jade to give to his wife as a gift gave Zhou Ziwei a headache.
Who will be his future wife? Logically speaking, Wang Xuewei is his only legal wife now. Although Wang Xuewei may still have some misunderstandings and estrangement with Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Ziwei believes that these are not problems. Moreover, Zhou Ziwei also has a feeling of admiration for that extremely beautiful woman.
However, the one who has the deepest feelings for Zhou Ziwei is undoubtedly Yu Xiaoru. Although Yu Xiaoru loves his past life, Zhou Ziwei is not Zhou Ziwei in essence, but Yang Hongtao from his past life. That's why he is so moved by Yu Xiaoru's seemingly unforgettable love.
Because no one had ever forced Zhou Ziwei to make any choices, he had been tolerating the turmoil in his emotions and subconsciously avoiding the issue.