Chapter 66 - Deciding Point

Ning Weikai was surprised when he heard that DG corporation became one of New Bori’s major shareholders. Mr.Zhu claimed previously that he wouldn’t sell the shares of New Bori. Now, however, things changed in a short period.

Without much effort, he figured out how it had happened. DG started to buy shares from moderate and minor shareholders, who were the relatives and friends of the Zhu’s. They helped Mr. Zhu build the corporation so they owned part of New Bori. And now? They couldn’t enter the executive suite of Zhu’s corporation. It was difficult for them to resist DG Corporation’s high-priced offers.

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However, it was Zhu Hanchong and Zhu Hancheng who put New Bori into an equity crisis.

Lin Mochen, one of DG Corporation’s representatives, secretly met with the two. After a few days, he bought ten percent shares from them combined, which brought DG’s ownership to thirty percent of New Bori and made DG one of the largest stakeholder in the company.

As for Ning Weikai, the only thing he wanted to say to this was, “F*ck!” After all, New Bori was not the established or “raised” by the Zhu brothers, and thus they did not feel sorry for giving this “step-child” up. Ning Weikai could think of lots of reasons why they were willing to sell their shares. First, Ning Weikai himself had been in charge of New Bori for years and was influential. They didn’t feel assured dealing with a corporation with a large group of people who they had concerns with the loyalty. Second, they had only dabbled in the real estate and finance industries before, while traditional and low-profit industries like the bag industry couldn’t attract their interest. Selling part of their shares rewarded them with a huge sum which they could use the to support other areas of the business owned by them. Of course, it could further build their reputation within the Zhu’s Corporation as well. After all, when Ning Weikai was taken care of, they became the only competitors for the chairman position. Lastly, it would be almost impossible for Ning Weikai to ever turn the tables after New Bori was sold. It was like salt in his wound.

Ning Weikai had to admit that if he were in their shoes, he would also sell New Bori.

Now, the situation was unclear. Mr. Zhu owned twenty percent, and the two brothers sold five percent each, not to mention that they were likely to sell their remaining twenty percent. Zhu Hanyu’s fifteen would be sold while the other fifteen percent was distributed among other minor shareholders, who were loyal to Ning Weikai. Other than everything above, thirty-five percent was owned by DG. There was still a question mark about who would become the controlling shareholder of New Bori.

As for Zhu Hanyu, Ning Weikai could completely understand why she wouldn’t sell her shares. It was said that Lin Mochen had approached her but was rejected.

She was naïve and inexperienced, but she was also stubborn. She might not be able to realize how important her shares were, but she didn’t want to sell what belonged to the Zhu’s in the first place.

Ning Weikai looked at the sky and buildings outside and sighed.

As he was thinking about her, Yuan knocked on the door and walked in. He looked a bit odd and was hinting at him with his eyes, “Mr. Ning, Mrs. Ning is here.” Ning Weikai was a stupefied. He saw Zhu Hanyu, who was wearing a sapphire-blue skirt and a white topper, walk in.

They gazed at each other. Ning Weikai’s face was fixed while Zhu Hanyu was expressive in her look. She held her purse tightly, gazing at him. “Yuan Jun, I need a minute,” said Ning Weikai. And then, he stood up behind his desk and approached her with a smile, “Why’re you here, Hanyu?”

This was the first time she set foot in his workplace after she married him.

Zhu Hanyu somehow lowered her head to evade eye contact with him. “You haven’t been home for three days. I’m here to see whether you’re OK.” Ning Weikai looked at her alabaster neck, resembling a smooth jade of high quality. He had never seen another woman with such a smooth and delicate neck. Today, she was in the most ordinary clothing. However, every one of her moves showed what an elegant and refined woman she was. She was born a socialite, a princess. The princess who lived at the ivory tower like in the fairy tale. The princess once in his dream.

Ning Weikai held her hands and walked back to the desk. Zhu Hanyu followed him stunningly without saying anything. Ning Weikai sat back down and dragged her to his lap. Zhu Hanyu felt a bit uncomfortable, “This is the office.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ning Weikai gave a mild kiss to that delicate neck, “they won’t come in. The acquisition is a huge deal and everyone’s talking about it. I’m busy with the issue so I don’t have time to go home.”

This explanation sounded hollow to her ears. Before, no matter how busy he was, he would go home and be with her as long as he was in Lin City. Zhu Hanyu only nodded her head and handed him a folded paper, “I, I come here to give you this.”

Ning Weikai took it, and was dazed by what he saw, “This is…” It was an equity proxy, which stated that Zhu Hanyu entrusted Ning Weikai with all her fifteen percent of the shares of New Bori, and Ning Weikai would act on her behalf. At the bottom was her signature and seal, slim and frail as she was.

Ning Weikai looked up at her and asked, “Do you know what this means?” It meant the decision of who could be the controlling shareholder of New Bori, either the Zhu’s or DG, was up to him to decide.

There was a trace of vague emotions sparkling in Zhu Hanyu’s eyes. She answered, “It means… together with the shares you have of Sha Ying, you can at least make sure Sha Ying, and other brands are safe in your hands, doesn’t it?” Ning Weikai bowed down and kissed her, “Yes. Thank you, Hanyu.”

Zhu Hanyu suddenly burst into tears and put down her fragile dignity. She held his neck and said sobbingly, “Weikai, it doesn’t mean that I side with my father and brothers. I just don’t want you to fall out. I want everything to be exactly the same.”

Ning Weikai felt like his heart was rocked. He held her tightly and said, “I understand…” Before he could finish, he heard someone knocking on the office door and opening it. “Mr.Ning, I’m here to report my work!” she said in a clear tone, and stood there gracefully.

Both Ning Weikai and Zhu Hanyu turned around and looked to the door. It was a young and pretty girl, wearing a white shirt and an office skirt. She was standing holding the door open. Seeing them hugging each other, she blinked. Yuan Jun stood behind her with a straight face and started to scold her, “Lydia, Mr. and Mrs. Ning were talking. Go out immediately.” Before she could react, the door was closed.

Silence was restored in the room.

Ning Weikai and Zhu Hanyu looked at each other. Just when he was about to kiss her again, she pushed him away, stood up and squeezed out a smile, “Do you still have to work? I’ll leave you alone then,” she halted and looked up to him, “Are you coming…”

“I’m coming back,” Ning Weikai interrupted. He stroked her hair and murmured, “Wait for me.” Zhu Hanyu nodded her head, gave him a brief look and left.

Ning Weikai walked her out of the office and all the way to the ground floor. When they passed by the secretary’s desk, he unintentionally peeked at the girl. She didn’t look at the girl and nor did the girl look at her. She got into the private car and waved Ning Weikai goodbye. It wasn’t until the car turned and he couldn’t see her from the back that Zhu Hanyu began sobbing, with her body trembling.

Ning Weikai receiving fifteen percent of New Bori’s shares couldn’t be kept a secret. Everyone in the industry quickly knew about it. Lots of people visited him, while others were waiting for his next move. As for him, he didn’t meet with anyone, including Lin Mochen, who was renowned in the bag industry. He scheduled a meeting with Li Zhicheng a couple of days later.

Both of them had an explicit intention for this meeting. For Ning Weikai, the only brand he had total control on was Sha Ying. Now that he was beset with troubles internally and externally, this could either save him or doom him. What he needed, was a strong back-up. Li Zhicheng knew Ning Weikai’s situation perfectly, and meanwhile, he needed his help.

On a bright afternoon, they met at the teahouse where they had met previously, without Lydia and Lin Qian. This time, it was Ning Weikai who filled Li Zhicheng’s teacup. He asked him with a faint smile, “I heard that DG made its intention clear that they’ll acquire Aida. How’s the process going?”

Li Zhicheng gave a brief but clear answer, “I’ll respond to that in the coming few days.” Ning Weikai nodded his head without further inquiry. He took up the porcelain teacup and swirled it in his palm. Suddenly, he laughed, “It was a bloody war. I always thought you were the biggest challenger of the industry, without realizing we would all become prey of those multi-national corporations.”

“Not necessarily so,” Li Zhicheng tapped the desk and remained unexpressive, “what do you think will happen if all the Chinese corporations resisted buyout?”

Ning Weikai had contemplated the costs and benefits before. He answered with an obscure smile, “In the short term, it’ll be pyrrhic victory. But in the long term, we will lose without doubt.” Li Zhicheng didn’t even raise his eyebrows. He took a sip of his tea and said, “Have you read the report of Chinese appliance industry?”

Undoubtedly, Ning Weikai had read it. He smiled, “We’re not like them. There’ll be both advantages and disadvantages if we want to compete against the foreign companies.”

“I’m all ears.”

“Although technologies are still required in bag manufacturing, unlike appliances, there aren’t huge quality and technology differences between companies. That’s why, unlike the appliances companies, we don’t have to invest into that intensively and only earn a thin profit margin. And that’s our advantage.” He glanced at Li Zhicheng and continued, “However, appliance customers focus more on cost-effectiveness and don’t care as much about the brand name because appliances are about functionality. For bags, they’re personal consumer goods. To put it plainly, choices of bags represent a person’s taste and social status. DG Corporation is now using SMQ’s marketing network to set foot in the Chinese market and once the customers get to know and accept this international brand, we won’t be able to do anything about it, not even price competition and quality rise, because no one will shun the best international brand and go to local brand just because of a two-digit yuan price gap. Even if we want to wage a price war against others, we might not even be able to win it. We’ll still remain second-tier brands behind DG.”

Although he said it frivolously and coldly like always, what he said showed his perspicacity. He put his hands on his knees and looked at Li Zhicheng after he finished talking.

Li Zhicheng looked at the man in front of him of quietly. His eyes were so dark that he couldn’t even see things clearly. After a short while, Li Zhicheng started to talk.

He took the teacup and put it on the middle of the desk, “That’s why if we want to beat DG and preserve our market share, the only way is to prevent customers from knowing this brand in the first place.”

Ning Weikai lifted his eyebrow.

When talking to Li Zhicheng, Ning Weikai felt pleasure like he’d never experienced before. These were the thoughts ingrained deeply in his mind. Now after inspecting this complicated industry and looking into the core issues of the situation, he came up with the boldest conclusion and most precise deciding point, and Li Zhicheng hit the mark with a single comment.

Is this what is like to meet your rival?

He grinned in his heart. “What’re your plans then?” he said, cutting to the chase.

Li Zhicheng was apparently well-prepared. He took the other two teacups and put them in front of him one by one, “There are two steps.” He looked up at him solemnly and went on explaining, “At the first stage, you’re the lead and I’ll cooperate with you. We’ll pressure them from the outside, and make sure that they’ll have a hard battle when trying to enter the Chinese market.”

Ning Weikai immediately understood what he meant. “Outside” meant all the sales channels, suppliers, retailers, logistics operators and more. He was still the president of the Bag Industry Association and had a large network in the industry. It was ironic that he had thought about using the same trick on Aito in the past, but now Li Zhicheng was asking him to use it on foreign corporations.

Li Zhicheng continued, seeing Ning Weikai remain silent, “I’ll give you all the resources Aida has.” This was immense support. What Li Zhicheng meant was integrating all the resources of the two companies and entrusting them to Ning Weikai, so that the pressure and potential losses faced by the two companies were equal. Meanwhile, he could accumulate more connections and build a mightier reputation, thus preparing for his comeback. Ning Weikai weighed the pros and cons in his heart without giving an explicit response. Instead, he asked, “What’s the second step?”

Li Zhicheng looked at him, leaned back in his chair, and answered, “The first step will disappoint DG, but it will be just a feint. I’ll take charge at the second stage, to build a wall against foreign brands in customers’ hearts.”

It was sunset when Li Zhicheng arrived back at Aida. Almost all the people in the building were gone while Jiang Yuan was still sitting in his compartment. He stood up seeing Li Zhicheng, “Ms.Lin is here.” Li Zhicheng nodded his head and said, “OK. You can head home.”

He saw Lin Qian reading Master Sun’s “The Art of War” beside the shelf under the dimming light. She turned around and twinkled at him. She took out the paper where his third scheme was pulled from the book. “Can I keep this?” she asked.

Li Zhicheng had no problem with that. She folded the paper carefully and put it in her purse. She pretended to look at him tensely and said, “I need to be extra careful because it’ll be the end of the world if someone gets it. And of course, I’ll never show this to my brother.”

Li Zhicheng chuckled, walked to her and sat down holding her in his embrace. “Are you going to Changsha next week?” he asked.

“Isn’t that early next month?” Lin Qian was a bit surprised. The original plan was Lin Qian heading to Mind’s subsidiary in Changsha, taking charge of operations of Mind in mainland China and quitting Aida from now on.

“The war’s drawing near.” Li Zhicheng held her in his arms and said gravely, “Stay there until it’s finished.” Lin Qian remained silent. Li Zhicheng couldn’t make himself clearer, and she understood that it was appropriate for her not to participate in this acquisition like Lin Mochen. Though she made herself clear that she wanted to be his deputy, it was all talk. She had prepared to stand aside, except that she didn’t realize she had to leave so soon.

“Well,” he must have his concerns since he made this plan. Lin Qian flung her arms around his neck, “how long do you need?”

“Three to five months.”

Lin Qian opened her eyes widely, “Three to five months?” Without seeing each other? Seeing her worried, smiles waved in his eyes. He put his hand on her head and kissed her. “I’ll come every week no matter what happens.”

After a few days, Lin Qian flew to Changsha.

Lin Qian was more keen than reluctant for this relocation, although her eyes were wet when she said goodbye to Li Zhicheng at the airport. After a long time of cohabitation, it was fresh and relaxing for her to live alone again. She was also certain that he would keep his promise and visit her every week.

Lin Qian called Li Mochen from the airport and told him that she was leaving. Lin Mochen was surprised, “Wasn’t it next month?”

“You avoided the acquisition. Don’t you think I should do the same thing?” Lin Qian sighed. Lin Mochen said, “That might be a good thing. You’re Li Zhicheng’s only weakness. It’s better for you to leave than stay.”

Lin Qian was dazed. What does he mean that I’m Li Zhicheng’s only weakness? I’ve always been his Man Friday? When did I become his weakness? Does Li Zhicheng think the same thing?

She felt uncomfortable as she stepped onto the plane. However, with the plane flying across the clouds and the sun blazing, she stopped thinking about it. She appreciated the majestic scene outside while taking the piece of paper out of her wallet. This had been was written by them together when she was discussing a strategy with Li Zhicheng at his home. The handwriting was a bit poor, but it didn’t affect reading.

The first step, to lure the enemy into a trap.

Lin Qian read it a few times, then folded it and put it back in her purse. This was the first time that she knew all about his plans, and right now, she thought that there wouldn’t be any problems ahead.

We will win.