Chapter 654: Harsh Financing Terms!
Guangzhou, Lianhua Pier!
After disembarking from the ferry, Li Yi, fighting off his physical discomfort, immediately led Zhang Ziqiang, Zhou Wen, and the others straight to his father-in-law’s workplace!
After reaching a share transfer agreement with Powell yesterday, Li Yi had also worked out a plan for the equity distribution of New Territories Warehouse with Li Futiao.
With these two matters settled, Li Yi planned to have Old Li work with Lan Xinming and the others to take over New Territories Warehouse first.
As for himself, Li Yi planned to depart for New York as soon as possible to continue his gold short-selling money-making scheme.
However, just as he was about to purchase a plane ticket, he suddenly received a message from Old Huang: his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, wanted to see him.
The message had been specially sent from Guangzhou by Chen Chuhong. Apparently, his father-in-law, Jiang Shiying, had personally contacted Chen Chuhong and asked her to find a way to get in touch with Li Yi.
Although the nature of the matter wasn’t specified, it seemed quite urgent.
Upon receiving the message, Li Yi felt a bit uneasy.
His father-in-law had never contacted him before; even when his own daughter was accepted into college, he had waited until Li Yi returned home to tell him.
Now that he was in such a hurry to see him, it was almost certainly because something had happened—and it was a big deal.
Could it be something to do with Jiang Xue… or perhaps the kids…
Plagued by anxiety, Li Yi couldn’t sleep a wink all night.
Early the next morning, Li Yi changed his plans and immediately took a boat back to Guangzhou.
It was the height of typhoon season, and although Hong Kong Island wasn’t far from Guangzhou, the rough seas made Li Yi feel as if the world were spinning, and he nearly threw up the entire journey.
Compounded by the constant worry weighing on his mind, Li Yi’s face was now a grim, ashen shade.
After driving through the city for a while, they finally arrived at Jiang Shiying’s workplace—the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection!
The car was stopped by the guards on duty the moment it reached the entrance!
“Hello, comrade. Please show your ID and get out of the car to register!”
Before Li Yi could say a word, Zhang Ziqiang, the driver, pulled a small, elegant red booklet from his inner pocket and handed it over.
The guard took the ID, glanced at it, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
After opening it and seeing the contents, he hurriedly saluted Zhang Ziqiang and returned the ID with both hands.
With that, there was no need for registration; the car drove straight into the compound of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Li Yi had been to Jiang Shiying’s office before, so after getting out of the car, he made his way upstairs with ease and soon arrived at the door to his office.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
Soon, his father-in-law’s familiar voice came from inside: “Come in!”
Li Yi immediately pushed the door open and walked in!
As soon as he entered, he saw his father-in-law hunched over his desk, hard at work. The desk was piled high with file folders and papers spread out across it; as expected, his father-in-law was handling a case.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Zhang Ziqiang, and the others enter, Jiang Shiying immediately stood up from his chair and said with a smile, “You’re back today?”
“Yeah, we rushed over as soon as we got off the boat!”
“Have a seat!”
Saying this, Jiang Shiying picked up a thermos from the corner of the room to pour water for everyone.
Seeing this, Zhang Ziqiang quickly exchanged a few words with Li Yi, then led Zhou Wen and the others out of the office.
As special security guards, their mission was not only to protect Li Yi but also to ensure that no information leaked while he was speaking with others.
After Zhang Ziqiang and the others left, Li Yi immediately asked, “Dad, Old Huang said you had urgent business to discuss with me. Has something happened?”
Jiang Shiying didn’t answer Li Yi’s question right away. Instead, he looked at his pale face and asked with concern, “Why do you look so pale? Are you sick? Should we go to the hospital…?”
“Dad, it’s nothing. It’s just that the wind and waves are pretty rough today, and I’m feeling a bit seasick!”
“I’m glad you’re all right!”
Jiang Shiying continued, “I called you back in such a hurry mainly because of a few things. First, Xiaoxue called me yesterday to say your third sister’s wedding date has been set—it’s the 18th of the 12th lunar month. She told you to keep an eye on the date so you don’t miss your sister’s wedding!”
“Oh, it’s already set?”
“Yes, Xiao Xue said it was set by the mother-in-law!”
“Did my mom go to Beijing too?”
“Yes, she has. Your second sister is there too—it’s been almost two weeks now!” Jiang Shiying said.
“Well, with my mom and Xiaoxue helping with the wedding preparations, I’ll have peace of mind!” Li Yi said.
Jiang Shiying nodded and continued, “Also, Longcheng called me a few days ago, asking when you’d be coming back. He mentioned that you and his group organized some kind of trade show. Why are you getting involved in that sort of thing?”
“It’s nothing much—I just wanted to make some money with Third Brother and Jianhua,” Li Yi replied.
“Can you really make money from a trade show?” Jiang Shiying asked, looking skeptical.
In his mind, trade shows were just places where companies on the brink of bankruptcy sold off their unsellable products—shopping there was like hunting for bargains at a junk yard.
“Of course you can!”
Li Yi continued, “I’ll call Third Brother back in a minute and tell them to just follow the plan. They don’t need to wait for me to get back.”
“I don’t know much about this, so you guys figure it out!”
Then Jiang Shiying added, “The main reason I called you back this time is that Long Yin has an urgent matter to discuss with you!”
“Second Brother?”
“Yes. About two weeks ago, Long Yin called me and said he wanted to discuss the Yanjing TV Factory with you.”
Jiang Shiying continued, “But I didn’t put him in touch with you right away. Instead, I told him to work out a solution with the district and city authorities first, and to contact you only after they’d reached a consensus internally!”
“The day before yesterday, he called me again, saying they’d reached a consensus internally and now urgently needed to discuss it with you, so I had Mrs. Huang pass the message on to you!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “So that’s what it was. I thought something had happened at home and worried all night!”
“There have indeed been some developments at home, but nothing bad. First, call Long Yin and Long Cheng back. Once you’ve done that, we’ll talk,” Jiang Shiying said.
“Alright!”
With that, Li Yi walked over to Jiang Shiying’s desk, picked up the phone, and quickly dialed a number!
“Ring ring…”
Soon, a woman’s voice came from the other end: “District Party Committee Office, who’s this?”
“This is Li Yi, Secretary Jiang’s brother-in-law. Please put me through to Secretary Jiang,” Li Yi said.
“Please hold on a moment!”
After about half a minute, Jiang Longyin’s familiar voice finally came through the receiver: “Brother-in-law, I finally got through to you!”
“Second Brother, I heard the district and city authorities have reached a consensus on the Yanjing TV Factory matter. What are your plans?” Li Yi asked straight to the point.
Jiang Longyin replied immediately, “We’ve decided to accept your financing!”
“Are you sure? Has the State-owned Assets Department agreed?” Li Yi asked immediately.
The reason he asked this was mainly because Li Yi knew just how stubborn and difficult the people at the State-owned Assets Department could be; many of them were strongly opposed to state-owned enterprises accepting external financing.
Of course, nothing is set in stone, but the enterprises approved by the State-owned Assets Department to accept external financing were either struggling to stay afloat, on the verge of bankruptcy, or lacked the necessary domestic technological capabilities.
Yet now, Yanjing Television Factory had not only turned a profit but was performing exceptionally well—a company like this clearly did not meet the SASAC’s “criteria” for accepting investment.
“It’s been approved. The district has shared the current situation and future projections for the Yanjing Television Factory with them. After multiple rounds of negotiations, they finally made a concession, but…”
“But what?”
“But the conditions set by the State-owned Assets Department are a bit harsh!” said Jiang Longyin.
“What conditions?”
“The financing amount is 200 million RMB. We can offer up to 49% of the shares, but foreign investors are not allowed to interfere in the company’s management and operations!”
Upon hearing this, Li Dxmbangyi’s brow immediately furrowed.
“Second Brother, is the State-owned Assets Department serious? I think those bigwigs must still be half-asleep.”
“Um…”
Jiang Longyin was completely taken aback by Li Yi’s remark. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say, and the atmosphere on both ends of the line instantly turned awkward!