Chapter 776: Brother-in-Law, Help Me Calculate!
“Knock knock knock!”
The urgent knocking interrupted Li Yi and Li Yunbao’s conversation!
Li Yi paused mid-sentence, then immediately called out to the door, “Come in!”
As the reception room door swung open, Li Yi saw Lan Xinyi walk in with a businesslike air, though a hint of worry was visible on her face.
Noticing Li Yunbao was also present, Lan Xinyi nodded at him in greeting.
Li Yunbao knew her personality well and understood that Lan Xinyi must have something very important to discuss with Li Yi. He immediately stood up and said, “Brother Yi, you go ahead. I’ll step out for now!”
“Alright!”
After Li Yunbao left, Lan Xinyi immediately said, “Boss, there’s something from headquarters I need to run by you!”
“What is it? Speak up!” Li Yi said.
“It’s like this,” Lan Xinyi explained. “We just received word today that our idle funds on the headquarters’ books have reached over 17 billion Hong Kong dollars. Currently, there are simply no investment projects there capable of absorbing such a massive sum, yet every day, a large number of investors continue to entrust their funds to us for management. The situation is getting a bit dire!”
“17 billion Hong Kong dollars? That much?” Li Yi said, somewhat surprised.
He recalled that after the dividend payout two months ago, the company’s account balance had been less than 3 billion. After deducting the land tax owed to the Hong Kong government, the available funds on the books were definitely no more than 500 million Hong Kong dollars!
He never expected that in just two short months, the balance on the books would exceed 17 billion.
That meant the company had raised 16.5 billion in such a short time—a pace that was downright staggering!
Lan Xinyi immediately explained, “Ever since we distributed dividends to the company’s shareholders and investors in January, it caused quite a stir. Everyone is willing to entrust their idle funds to us for management. In the less than two months that followed, we’ve raised a massive sum of nearly 8 billion Hong Kong dollars!”
“Furthermore, after receiving their dividends, the Li, Bao, and Luo families have re-invested half of their dividends with us. Combined with your funds and those of Mr. Huang, the company’s idle funds on the books have now reached over 17 billion!”
“More importantly, this amount is still growing. If we continue to be unable to find suitable investment channels, these funds will become a massive burden on the company!”
Li Yi naturally understood everything Lan Xinyi was saying.
For an investment firm, the ability to raise capital must be directly proportional to its profitability.
Simply raising capital isn’t a feat; raising substantial capital and using it to generate profits—that’s true skill.
Otherwise, the raised capital would become a burden on the company, and the more money raised, the greater the pressure on the company.
After all, no one lends you money for free—you have to pay interest on it!
Consider Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in 2008. Their ability to raise capital was by no means weak; the reason they went under was that their investment channels were flawed.
They could only invest the borrowed money in the overheated real estate market, using massive loans to boost returns, and they recognized the losses later than other companies, ultimately dragging the entire company into the abyss.
“Is all of the company’s capital in Hong Kong dollars?” Li Yi asked calmly, showing no sign of panic.
“Mostly Hong Kong dollars, but Mr. Huang has 400 million in US dollars!”
“Hmm. Contact headquarters immediately and tell them to set aside a small portion for their own use, then convert the rest into British pounds as a contingency fund!” Li Yi instructed.
“Yes!”
Lan Xinyi then added, “Also, Vice President Huang wants you to return as soon as possible to take charge of the situation; he’s having a hard time handling everything on his own!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Tell Old Huang that I still need to stay here for a while. The earliest I can head to Hong Kong is late March, so tell him to hang in there a little longer!”
“Yes…”
After that, the two chatted a bit more about the branch office, and only then did Li Yi leave the Jianguo Hotel…
………
By the time he left the Jianguo Hotel, it was almost noon.
Li Yi immediately decided to go home for lunch first and deal with the other matters in the afternoon.
But just as his car pulled up to the entrance of the alley, Li Yi spotted a Jeep parked brazenly right in front of his house, nearly blocking the entire alley.
Even without looking at the license plate, Li Yi knew there was an eighty percent—no, at least a ninety percent—chance that the car belonged to Jiang Longcheng.
Sure enough, as soon as he pushed open the door, he could hear that guy’s booming voice coming from inside the house from a distance.
The people inside heard the commotion at the door and immediately got up to investigate.
Seeing that it was Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang returning, Jiang Longcheng immediately strode out.
“Hahaha, brother-in-law, you’re finally back!”
“When did you get here? Why didn’t you give me a call beforehand?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“I just got here a little while ago. You’re the one who should’ve called. If I hadn’t gone back to the old house today for some business and seen Auntie San there, I wouldn’t have known you were back!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Well… I got back a bit late last night, so I didn’t want to disturb you guys,” Li Yi said.
“That excuse is barely plausible…”
The group chatted as they walked and soon made their way back inside.
As soon as they walked in, they heard Jiang Xue say happily, “Third Brother said he wants to hold a full-moon celebration for the baby and asked us to come over then!”
Li Yi said with a hint of surprise, “Huh? The full-month celebration already? No way!”
“No, there’s still about ten days to go!” Jiang Longcheng said.
“Then why are you in such a hurry?”
Jiang Longcheng grinned and replied immediately, “I just wanted you guys to set aside some time in advance so we don’t end up dropping the ball at the last minute!”
Li Yi shot him a look and said, “Don’t talk like that—when have I ever let you down?”
Jiang Longcheng scratched his head and said, “Come to think of it, you haven’t. Never mind that. I actually came over today to ask you about something else!”
“What is it?”
“Let’s go to your study and talk,” Jiang Longcheng said.
Realizing that Jiang Longcheng might not feel comfortable discussing it in front of so many people, Li Yi nodded immediately and said, “Alright!”
Then, the two walked one after the other into the study at the back of the house!
After sitting down, Li Yi poured Jiang Longcheng a glass of water and said, “So, what’s this about? Can you tell me now?”
“Well, I’d like you to do some calculations for me!”
Li Yi was taken aback for a moment; if not for Jiang Longcheng’s reminder, he would have forgotten that he also had the identity of a charlatan.
Although he really didn’t want to be labeled a charlatan all the time—after all, telling one lie requires countless others to cover it up—it was best not to pretend if he didn’t have to.
But since Jiang Longcheng firmly believed in this side of him, he really couldn’t just brush him off.
With that in mind, Li Yi immediately asked, “Third Brother, what are you planning to do?”
Jiang Longcheng replied immediately, “The organization called me in for a talk a few days ago. Given my achievements at State Cotton Mill No. 2 over the past two years, they want to transfer me to the State-owned Assets Department, with a promotion in both administrative rank and salary!”
“But I don’t know much about the work at the State-owned Assets Department, so I’m a bit torn. I wanted to ask you to help me figure out whether it’s better to stay at the Second State-owned Cotton Mill or go to the ministry.”
Li Yi glanced at him and said, “You mentioned you went to the old family home earlier—did you happen to ask the old man about this?”
“Yeah, but the old man didn’t say anything. He just told me to come ask you!” Jiang Longcheng replied.
Hearing this, Li Yi fell silent.
The old man was a shrewd man; he had already seen through the higher-ups’ true purpose in transferring Jiang Longcheng to the State-owned Assets Department—they had ulterior motives.
To put it bluntly, they weren’t interested in Jiang Longcheng himself—they had their sights set on Li Yi.
Everyone knew the two of them were close; with Li Yi’s backing, Jiang Longcheng had managed to turn the Second State-Owned Cotton Mill from a loss into a profit.
If Jiang Longcheng were to be placed in a ministerial-level position, then whenever anything came up in the future, all he’d have to do is send Jiang Longcheng to come find him—and how could he possibly say no?
That’s exactly why the old man had Jiang Longcheng come to him—to let him decide whether to help him or not!
With that in mind, Li Yi immediately asked, “Third Brother, let’s not go through with this. After all, fortune-telling is revealing the secrets of heaven—it’ll shorten my lifespan.”
“Besides, we don’t need to consult a fortune-teller for such a trivial matter. Let me break it down for you—doesn’t that make sense?”
“Alright, brother-in-law, go ahead!” Jiang Longcheng said.
Li Yi gathered his thoughts and said, “If you take a job at a ministry, you can raise your administrative rank, earn a higher salary, and it’ll be good for your career!”
“If you stay at the cotton mill, the pay might not be as high, but you’ll have more freedom. Plus, you’re the boss there—it’s entirely up to you which path you choose!”
Jiang Longcheng thought for a moment, then said, “I think I’ll just stay at State Cotton Mill No. 2. I’m not interested in a political career, and I’m not short on money. Why put myself through all that trouble?”
“Alright, as long as you’ve made up your mind…”
Just as they were talking, Jiang Xue pushed open the door and walked in, then said to Li Yi, “Director Zhou is here. He’s waiting for you in the living room!”
Hearing this, Li Yi immediately stood up and headed toward the living room…
………..