Sunlight streamed through the window, casting onto Wu Zhiming's face.
After a moment of silence, Wu Zhiming smiled and said, "To put it bluntly, it's still my prowess."
"At first, I thought the person backing you would directly inject capital into the company to tide over this crisis. But it turns out there's no need for that. With the ten billion spent on land acquisition, conservatively estimating, the value after development will exceed fifty billion. With these lands, coupled with other assets of the company, we can easily secure loans of tens of billions from banks... Use the money from the bank to pay the fines, and you almost don't need to sell any assets. As a result, you hardly need to bear any compensation costs. Moreover, because of these lands, more businessmen will come to you, and you can even find better partners! I have to say, this operation is quite impressive, impressive enough to give people goosebumps," Yao Jing said.
"This is the advantage of information. In this era, having information means having the initiative. If there were no fines, I could have made the Wu Group earn a fortune. But now, the Wu Group can ensure its current market value is already sufficient," Wu Zhiming chuckled.
"As long as we get through this rough patch, the Wu Group will inevitably generate more value. And the latent strength you've displayed will make people even more bullish on the Wu Group... I think my grandfather will probably call you later," Yao Jing said.
Wu Zhiming smiled. The Yao family's Tianjiao Group mainly deals in building materials and real estate development, but on a small scale. Previously, because Yao Jing joined the Wu family, all of the Wu Group's real estate projects' building materials were handled by the Yao family, which earned them a considerable profit. Now that the Wu family is developing school district housing on such a large scale, it far surpasses any previous real estate development. For the Yao family, this is definitely a great opportunity to make money, which is why Yao Jing mentioned that Yao Shanchuan would call him later.
"How do you want me to handle it?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"Do you think I can handle it however I want?" Yao Jing asked back.
"In the Wu Group, I have the final say," Wu Zhiming said.
Yao Jing smiled and shook her head.
"Now you have the final say," Wu Zhiming added.
"Me?" Yao Jing was somewhat surprised.
"As the assistant to the CEO of the Wu Group, how do you feel about that?" Wu Zhiming asked.
"You want me to be your assistant?" Yao Jing asked.
"Well... is there anyone more trustworthy than my own wife?" Wu Zhiming chuckled.
"Can you really make decisions?" Yao Jing asked.
"On this matter, I can still make decisions," Wu Zhiming nodded.
"Good!" Yao Jing nodded and said, "I'll take care of the Wu Group's affairs for you! But you have to give me enough authority."
"I'll give you all my authority!" Wu Zhiming said.
"Very well." Yao Jing smiled, revealing an extremely self-assured expression.
For her, if she really had the power of the CEO, then she had the confidence to take over the entire Wu Group in the future! At that time, even the person behind Wu Zhiming would have no easy way to kick him out!
Outside the Wu Group building.
A bus parked at the entrance of the group.
On the bus, the original high-level executives of the Wu Group, Wu family members, and former shareholders of the Wu Group walked down from the bus together.
Their purpose in coming here was simple. They wanted to see with their own eyes the expression on Wu Zhiming's face when facing this sky-high fine.
There were about twenty to thirty people in the group, all wearing triumphant smiles as they walked towards the entrance of the Wu Group building.
At the entrance, the head of the security team, Li Tiegen, stopped them.
"What are you doing?" Li Tiegen blocked the path of Wu Yuwei with a stick.
Wu Yuwei was originally a marginal figure in the Wu family, but this time he took the lead, hoping to gain favor from the Wu family members and ascend to the peak of life in the future. Therefore, at this moment, Wu Yuwei fully demonstrated the potential of being a good lackey.
"Get out of the way quickly! Do you know who's coming? These are all Wu family members, and former shareholders of the Wu Group!" Wu Yuwei arrogantly exclaimed.
"Wu family members? Shareholders?" Li Tiegen sneered and said, "Our group doesn't welcome people like you now."
"Don't welcome? Haha, your group is probably going bankrupt in a few days. This entire building is going to be sold to someone else. What are you pretending for? Let us through. We might buy this building if we're in a good mood. By then, whether you can still work here will be up to us!" Wu Yuwei shouted.
"Bankrupt? You're the one who's bankrupt! Get out of the way and stop blocking the entrance of our group!" Li Tiegen shouted back.
"Hey, you lousy security guard, think you're tough? Do you dare to fight me?" Wu Yuwei pointed at Li Tiegen and shouted excitedly.
"I don't believe you. Do you have the guts to hit me?" Li Tiegen sneered.
"You!!" Wu Yuwei pointed at him, wanting to rush forward, but seeing several security guards around, he hesitated. He had neither money nor power. He used to be able to bully Wu Zhiming, but when it came to a tough opponent, he had no way out.
Fortunately, at this moment, a man in a suit walked out of the building.
"Tiegen, what are you doing? These are the original shareholders of our group, who are now all multimillionaires. And these people, they're all from the Wu family, they're Chairman Wu's people. Why are you stopping them?" Wang Hai reprimanded as he walked.
Li Tiegen looked somewhat puzzled at Wang Hai.
"At last, someone sensible has arrived!" Upon hearing Wang Hai's words, Wu Yuwei smiled triumphantly and said, "Since you know our identities, let this security guard step aside. We want to go see Wu Zhiming."
"Mr. Wu is already waiting for you on the top floor!" Wang Hai said with a smile.
Waiting for us?
Wu Yuwei was taken aback for a moment, then smiled, "I understand now. Lead the way!"
"Sure!" Wang Hai nodded and then turned to walk inside.
"Wai, what's going on, Ah Wei?" Wu Maocai asked quietly.
"Can't you see? Wu Zhiming is scared. The company is on the verge of bankruptcy. He will lose everything soon. He has to quickly flatter our Wu family members." Wu Yuwei said smugly.
"So that's it. We can't forgive him for this. Let's go up later and humiliate him as much as we can! After humiliating him, we leave. The Wu Group has nothing to do with us!" Wu Maocai said.
"Of course. That bastard Wu Zhiming has offended our Wu family members miserably. He's dreaming if he thinks he can return to the Wu family!" Wu Yuwei gritted his teeth.
Under Wang Hai's guidance, the group took the elevator to the top floor.
For those shareholders, this top floor was not unfamiliar. They used to hold shareholder meetings here, and just a few days ago, many of them still had their own offices here.
Looking at the familiar surroundings, many couldn't help but smile. Fortunately, they sold early and managed to recoup some losses. Otherwise, even if they sold these, it wouldn't be enough to pay the fines!
"Where's Wu Zhiming?" Wu Yuwei looked around. Not seeing Wu Zhiming, he asked.
"Mr. Wu has some matters to attend to, so he asked me to greet you!" Wang Hai said with a smile.
"He has something to do? Could it be that he's borrowing money from the sugar mommy who's sponsoring him behind his back?!" Wu Yuwei joked.
"Mr. Wu is wealthy on his own. He doesn't need to borrow money," Wang Hai shook his head.
"Wealthy on his own? You mean drowning in debt, right?" Wu Yuwei said.
Wang Hai smiled and said, "Among you are members of the Wu family and former shareholders of the company. Chairman Wu knows that you are concerned about the company's development, so he specially prepared something for you."
With that, Wang Hai picked up a remote control and pressed a button. Soon, the TV displayed the previous press conference held by the planning bureau.
The people present looked at the press conference in confusion. When the spokesperson of the planning bureau mentioned the plan to build a key high school near the Flower Pond Stadium, the faces of those Wu Group shareholders changed. They remembered that before the new year, the company had spent a lot of money to acquire several pieces of land near the Flower Pond Stadium. If the Flower Pond Stadium was planned to be a key high school, then... those pieces of land could be developed into school district housing?
Wu Yuwei and the others didn't understand the situation of the company, so they didn't feel much about all this.
"Why are you showing us this? Where's Wu Zhiming? Is he hiding?" Wu Yuwei asked.
Wang Hai smiled and said, "I suppose the former shareholders of the Wu Group among you have already understood, right?"
Those shareholders' faces turned pale.
Wang Hai continued, "Our Wu Group acquired several pieces of land around the Flower Pond Stadium before the new year. Next, we will develop those pieces of land and build a batch of school district housing. Conservatively estimated, the total value of that land and the houses to be built on it will exceed one hundred billion... At the same time, we will create a student pedestrian street, food court, and more around the entire school district... In the next three years, the development of the Wu Group will enter the fast lane. Currently, several banks have approached us, willing to provide loans totaling over fifty billion... At the same time, we are preparing to deepen cooperation with our existing partners..."
"That bastard Wu Zhiming! Did he know that a key high school would be planned there?!" one shareholder exclaimed excitedly.
"Wu Zhiming is a businessman. Businessmen don't make losing deals. Did you really think he had so much money? The reason he let you into the group and told you all this is mainly to show you how foolish you are. You sold a property worth over a hundred billion for ten billion in cash to the person you despise the most. This might be considered the most loss-making deal of the century... Well... the current situation of the company has been explained. You... can leave now," Wang Hai said, clapping his hands.
Li Tiegen and the group of security guards approached aggressively from the side.
"Do you want to leave on your own, or do you want me to throw you out of the group? You Wu family members and former shareholders?" Li Tiegen asked viciously.