Seeing Sandy’s hesitant expression, Li Yi said calmly, “Sandy, from now on, you’re my representative in the company. If you have any concerns, please speak up!”
“Boss, 2 billion pounds is really a bit of a waste for our company. We don’t need that much money. The more we borrow, the higher the cost of capital, so I think 100 million pounds at most would be enough!” Sandy said honestly.
“I just mentioned that one hundred million is for the company to resume production. I have other uses for the rest—it has nothing to do with the company. I just need you to help find a suitable bank to secure a loan against it. That’s all!”
Li Yixue continued, “As for the cost of capital, you needn’t worry about that—I know exactly what I’m doing. Now, can you get this done?”
“No problem. Although the company’s stock price has plummeted, it’s still a high-quality stock on the market. Mortgaging 30% of the shares for 2 billion is absolutely no issue!” Sandy said confidently.
Li Yi nodded and said again, “Of course, if you can secure more funding, that would be even better. However, there are two points that must be specified in the loan contract!”
“What are those two points?”
“First, the loan term is three years, but as the lender, we reserve the right to demand early repayment. Furthermore, interest will accrue until the moment we actually repay the loan!”
Li Yi continued, “Second, when we make repayments, we shouldn’t be limited to transactions in pounds sterling—US dollars, Japanese yen, or even gold are all acceptable!”
Sandy thought it over and decided there was nothing wrong with these two points. He immediately said, “Alright, I’ll take care of this as soon as possible!”
“Hmm, it’s already so late. Let’s discuss anything else tomorrow!” Li Yi said.
“Alright!”
With that, Sandy stood up from his chair and headed toward the door.
But just as he was about to reach the door, he suddenly stopped.
He turned back to Li Yi and said, “Boss, you knew the plane was going to crash, didn’t you?”
“Are you talking about the air crash reported in the news today?”
“Yes, that plane crashed, but I don’t know what the current situation is!”
Sandy had been rushing all the way and hadn’t had time to contact his father after arriving in Sheffield, so he didn’t know what had ultimately happened to the plane.
Li Yi replied immediately, “We already have news. It was reported on the radio two hours ago—the plane made a successful emergency landing on an island, and there were no casualties among the passengers or crew!”
Hearing this, Sandy breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a chill ran down her spine.
He remembered very clearly that when this new boss had made that terrifying prophecy, he’d said Sandy would be frightened, but wouldn’t lose his life.
The plane had made a successful emergency landing, and no one had been killed or injured—hadn’t that just come true?
With that in mind, Sandy asked again, “So, Boss, did you foresee all of this?”
Li Yi shook his head and said, “No, but I could tell from your facial features that you shouldn’t travel far right now; otherwise, something very bad would happen.”
Hearing this, Sandy finally let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that this new boss’s so-called mysterious prophecies were merely general predictions and couldn’t accurately foresee every single event—an outcome he could accept.
“I understand!”
With that, Sandy turned, opened the door, and walked out!
Watching Sandy’s retreating figure, the corners of Li Yi’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up slightly.
This steel tycoon and financial giant from his past life had actually become an employee under him, Li Yi… no, a business partner. Life was looking up more and more!
……….
The next day. Early morning!
Li Yi got up early again. After a quick breakfast, he arrived at Sheffield Company, surrounded by his entourage.
When they arrived at the company, Sandy was already there and had gathered all the remaining management staff together.
Along with the employees waiting for negotiations, everyone had arrived at the main entrance early, awaiting the arrival of their new boss, Li Yi.
After a grand welcome ceremony, Li Yi and the entire management team, surrounded by the crowd, made their way to the company’s conference room, while the rank-and-file workers waited outside for news.
Li Yi promised them that he would negotiate with them once he had resolved the company’s personnel issues.
After presenting the company’s share certificates, Li Yi immediately announced Sandy’s appointment, while also naming Wood and Ward as deputy general managers.
Li Yi did not interfere with the remaining positions; Sandy and the others were left to decide them among themselves.
After an hour of intense activity, the basic framework of Sheffield Steel’s senior management was finally established. Li Yi then instructed Sandy to represent the company in negotiations with the workers.
The negotiation process went relatively smoothly. With the red lines Li Yi had drawn, Sandy did not haggle over every detail with the miners.
Not only did they agree to pay all previously owed wages in full, but they also decided to give all employees a 10% pay raise starting next month.
In addition, the workday was reduced from 11 hours to 8 hours.
The workers were very satisfied with the company’s concessions and immediately indicated they were ready to return to work at any time.
With that, the matter was brought to a successful conclusion.
However, this merely resolved the internal conflicts within Sheffield Company; it will still be some time before the company can truly resume production and operations.
Most importantly, the British government’s investigation into their company was still ongoing.
But these matters were no challenge for Sandy. He instructed Wood, the production manager, to immediately lead the staff in inspecting and cataloging all damaged equipment, while he himself returned to London with Li Yi.
Upon returning to London, Sandy first used his family connections to meet with the investigator in charge of the case. After guaranteeing that production would resume within a month, the authorities suspended their investigation.
Of course, the fact that this matter was resolved so easily was largely due to the Henry family’s considerable influence in both the Empire’s political circles and the military.
More importantly, during their investigation, the officials discovered that the Sheffield Company case was extremely complex, involving not only the Sassoon family but also numerous political families.
If the investigation had continued, it was unclear how many people would have been implicated.
Since Sandy had already revealed part of the truth to them and guaranteed that Sheffield Steel would resume production within a month at the latest, they were more than happy to let the matter rest.
After settling the official investigation, Sandy resubmitted an application to the exchange to resume trading, and Sheffield Steel’s futures contracts reappeared on the London Metal Exchange.
Moreover, to secure cash flow as quickly as possible, Sheffield Steel’s current sales consisted entirely of short-term short positions!
With very few sellers left in the steel market, trading volumes had been stubbornly low recently, though the market remained reasonably active.
Consequently, as soon as Sheffield’s short-term short positions were listed, they were quickly snapped up by investors and large enterprises in urgent need of steel.
Seeing this, Li Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as these short positions were sold, it meant the steel in his possession had been sold, and he only needed to wait for delivery to settle the funds.
In addition, thanks to Sandy’s connections, Li Yi’s efforts to secure a loan by pledging company shares were proceeding smoothly.
However, just as everything seemed to be going smoothly, urgent news arrived from Hong Kong: those foreigners had made their move…
………