Chapter 17: The Night Color of Shenzhen

"Go to Shenzhen to follow up?" Chen Zhihua didn't understand what Li Xiaosheng meant. This Shenhui company was already facing bankruptcy and there was nothing to follow up. Unless Li Xiaosheng wanted to liquidate and sell all Shenhui's assets to see how much funds would be recovered, or... Chen Zhihua thought of another possibility and couldn't help but ask thoughtfully: "Mr. Li, do you want to inject funds into Shenhui again?"

Li Xiaosheng was very satisfied that Chen Zhihua could react so quickly. He smiled and said, "The only purpose of our investors is to make money. We had invested 10 million in Shenhui the previous time. Even if Shenhui was liquidated, he could not make up two million. So instead of watching the ten million of dollars lost, it would be better to invest another sum of money to make Shenhui come back to life."

"But Mr. Li, didn't you say that we Qiji lacked cash? Where can we invest extra money? Moreover, domestic real estate has gradually heated up during this period, but Shenhui still got the current land. This shows that there are very big problems in the management of their company. In this case, should we continue to invest money in this bottomless pit?"

Chen Zhihua's words made a lot of sense. Li Xiaosheng nodded and said, "I have considered all of what you said. Now Shenhui can be said to be insolvent. In addition to us, they still owe more than one million debts outside. This time I want to directly ask Shenhui's boss to offset the 80% of his equity in his hands to offset the loan we once had to him. From now on, we will be the largest shareholders of Shenhui. Then I will give you another one million to you. You can go to Shenzhen to see how to revitalize Shenhui!"

"This..." Chen Zhihua understood what Li Xiaosheng meant, but he was still a little hesitant: "Mr. Li, I just came to Qi Ji, I'm afraid... I'm afraid I'm responsible for such a large amount of projects as soon as I come, right?"

"Andai, it's because you just came to Qiji that I gave you this matter." Li Xiaosheng walked to Chen Zhihua, patted his shoulder, and said, "This is an opportunity to test your ability. If you can do this smoothly and if I want to hand over other things to you to deal with in the future, no one will gossip. You have to know, I just let you revitalize Shenhui and prevent the company's ten million assets from being lost in vain. I did not let you make back ten million immediately. Although things are a bit difficult, this goal is still possible. In addition, what I give you is only one million. If you don't have the confidence to operate this little funding project well, how can you participate in other major projects in the future?"

Chen Zhihua thought about it and said that what Li Xiaosheng said was indeed very right. This thing to revitalize Shenhui may not be as difficult as imagined. Moreover, it can also increase his experience in managing enterprises and operating capital. It is really a very difficult training opportunity. So he nodded and agreed: "Okay, Mr. Li, when do you think I will go to Shenhui?"

Li Xiaosheng was very satisfied with Chen Zhihua's answer and said with a smile: "William, go back and prepare first. I will ask someone to hand over the detailed information of Shenhui Company to you later. After you have read it, you can go to Shenzhen at any time. All the expenses you have in Shenzhen will be paid by the company. In addition, call back if you have any difficulties... Well, take your secretary with you, as well. There are some things that you can't take into account by yourself."

Taking this task back to the office, Chen Zhihua thought quietly for a long time. He didn't expect that he had only been in Chiji for less than a week and would immediately transfer his post to Shenzhen. All of this seemed to be a little too fast. But perhaps it would be good to go to Shenzhen to exercise. Chen Zhihua, who grew up in Hong Kong since childhood, has never left Hong Kong. This time he was able to go to Shenzhen to understand what the situation is in China with a huge market. Adapting to the environment there will definitely be great benefits for future development.

After a while, Anna brought the information from Shenhui Company. Chen Zhihua read the information quickly and carefully. It turned out that Shenhui Company was a state-owned cement industry a long time ago. Later, due to poor management during the reform and opening up, it was bought by a man named Duan Weiwen and renamed Shenhui Co., Ltd., specializing in cement production and sales. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Duan Weiwen led Shenhui Company from small to large, and soon became the leading cement factory in Shenzhen. Then he started investing in the real estate industry by raising funds. At the beginning, it did make Shenhui Company develop to a very glorious period. This is why Qi Ji chose Shenhui Company as his first attempt in real estate.

After reading this, Chen Zhihua felt sincerely admired this person named Duan Weiwen, and also saw the hidden dangers of Shenhui Company from the information. That is, the glory of Shenhui Company is completely linked to this person named Duan Weiwen. In some very classic cases of management where companies have gone from small to large, but have also turned from prosperity to decline, a large part is like Shenhui Company. It has an amazing similarity in the early stage. The company developed through one person's decision-making, but after reaching a certain height, it will decline or even go bankrupt due to the person's mistakes in decision-making.

Chen Zhihua continued to read the information. As he imagined, Duan Weiwen made two inappropriate decisions after obtaining the loan from Qiji Group. One was to invest all the funds into the first-level real estate market, which greatly reduced the company's cash flow; the other was that he did not invest in the original main industry, such as cement production. Due to no investment, although the quality of cement remained at the original level, when cement production processes with higher and higher technology appeared, his products were defeated in the market due to lack of competitiveness, which immediately put Shenhui Company in the dilemma of cash flow shortage.

When these two mistakes caused the company to suffer losses, the third thing that was enough to make Shenhui Company difficult to turn things around happened again. Duan Weiwen, who had been tired for many years, fell ill in the deep treatment room, and the company was immediately in a state of being headless. In recent years, the factional competition for power and profits within the company has made Shenhui Company, which was already shaky, even more embarrassing. The entire Shenhui Company was in a situation where bankruptcy could be possible at any time.

Chen Zhihua paid attention to the information of some other creditors of Shenhui Company and found that they were Zhongsheng Bank, which owns Shenhui Company's debts of about one million yuan. It seems that if you want to revitalize Shenhui Company, you must first convince the bank to temporarily let down your willingness to liquidate Shenhui Company to repay the debts, and then you may talk about other things.

Basically, he had a general understanding of Shenhui Company, and Chen Zhihua also decided on a rough idea. He called Anna to run the company, explaining the ins and outs of the matter he was going to Shenzhen this time, and said: "Anna, are you willing to go to Shenzhen with me? If you don't, just say it out, I can understand it."

Anna thought for a moment and replied without any expression: "As Mr. Chen, your personal secretary, if you want to go to Shenzhen, I should naturally go with you. I have no objection!"

After several days of contact, Chen Zhihua has a certain understanding of her beautiful secretary. She looks very mechanical on the outside and will not easily reveal her true feelings that she has concealed well. However, she is a very competitive and strong girl inside. If she continues to persuade her not to go at this time, she will definitely get a counterproductive effect, and it is very likely that her relationship with her will be embarrassing. So Chen Zhihua nodded and said, "Okay, you pack up your things tonight, we will meet at the company tomorrow, and then rush to Shenzhen together!" Although she didn't say anything, Chen Zhihua made up her mind in her heart. No matter what happens in Shenzhen this time, she must try her best to protect Anna's care and prevent her from being hurt.

The next day, Chen Zhihua and Anna, who were carrying a large bag of simple clothes, embarked on the way from Central to Shenzhen.

From Central Hong Kong to Shenzhen, in addition to taking the direct bus from two places, you can also take the Hong Kong subway to Tsim East in Central, and then transfer from Tsim East to Kowloon Railway to the Luohu Port in Shenzhen. This is the first time Chen Zhihua went to Shenzhen, and everything is very fresh for him. He searched a lot of information online and knew that Shenzhen is a window city for China's reform and opening up, and it is also an experimental site for reform and opening up. Compared with many cities in mainland China, Shenzhen's development is so rapid that it is impressive. It is said that the International Trade Building, which was once the highest in China, represents the speed of Shenzhen on a three-day floor. In addition to being slightly inferior to Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, Shenzhen's various indicators are among the best in the country. It can definitely be said to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the whole of China in recent years.

Of course, in the rapid development, there are also many imperfections. These imperfections cannot be solved one day, but need to be improved with the development of the entire environment. Chen Zhihua’s first feeling when he stepped into this special economic zone in China was that there were a lot of people. Although the whole city was still a little different from Hong Kong, it was really incredible that a small fishing village could turn into such a prosperous metropolis in just over ten years.

"No wonder I always see remarks about the huge potential of the Chinese market in those economic information. With this 1.3 billion population, any merchant's eyes can shine." Chen Zhihua thought so secretly, and casually called a taxi and went straight to Shenhui Company in Futian District, Shenzhen.

Along the way, Chen Zhihua watched the tall buildings pass by one by one in front of his eyes. His amazement never stopped. Shenzhen’s development really opened his eyes. He really couldn’t imagine what Beijing, which was described as the center of China’s political and cultural center, and Shanghai, which was respectively described as the center of China’s political and cultural center, looked like on the Internet.

Anna rarely talked to Chen Zhihua along the way, but she kept looking out of the car window. Perhaps Shenzhen also brought her great shock.

The taxi driver was a very "enthusiastic" guy, especially when he was talking to a beautiful woman like Anna. He talked about himself how he came to Shenzhen, how he borrowed wallets and rented taxis everywhere, and how he stayed up late in the past few years to pay off all his debts and earned a little money to build a house in his hometown. At the end of the story, the driver's elder brother had to express his meaningfulness that he had not married yet, and that he would nod immediately as long as Anna waved to him.

Farewell to the straightforward Northeastern man, Chen Zhihua and Anna came to Shenhui Company. Perhaps because Qi Ji was already in Hong Kong and the people in Shenhui, when Chen Zhihua walked into the office building built in the old cement factory in Shenhui, several people immediately came to help them carry their bags and welcomed them warmly.

Through the introduction, Chen Zhihua learned that one of those people is the current business department manager of Shenhui Company, and the others are also employees of Shenhui Company's business department.

Chen Zhihua previously learned from the personnel information of Shenhui Company that because Shenhui's cement factory went bankrupt very early, Shenhui Company now has only two departments, one is the business department and the other is the development department. The manager of the business department is called Zhan Xiaoming, and the manager of the development department is called Chen Mubai.

In front of Chen Zhihua, Zhan Xiaoming was a thin man in his thirties. He wore a pair of glasses with thick lenses and a flattering smile on his face. While he was socializing with Chen Zhihua carefully, he also intentionally or unintentionally inquired about what Chen Zhihua would do when he came to Shenhui this time: "This time it's finally done. With Mr. Chen coming to lead our company, it will definitely get out of the predicament... Well, the most important thing about our company is to have no extra funds to develop new projects. However, after Mr. Chen came, it seems that this problem can be solved."

Chen Zhihua said nothing about Zhan Xiaoming. Chen Zhihua naturally knew this trick of trying to slander his words. At the same time, his impression of Zhan Xiaoming began to become very bad. This guy looked like an extremely sinister villain.

When he came to the office of Shenhui Company, Chen Zhihua saw that there were only a few people in the office, which seemed to be different from the information. At the heyday of Shenhui Company, all employees, including the cement factory, had reached more than 1,000. Even after Duan Weiwen fell ill and the cement factory went bankrupt, there were still hundreds of employees of Shenhui Company. However, today, only seeing such a few people could not help but make Chen Zhihua depressed.

"Manager Zhan, where are the other employees in the company?" Chen Zhihua asked calmly, and said, "Please give me all the employee registration forms of the company to see them, and then call them back for a meeting. I want to meet you."

Zhan Xiaoming's eyes rolled and he smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, you know that our company is really in trouble recently, especially in finance, so many employees have left because they have no salary. The only ones left are those who are still devoted to the company."

A few hundred people left, which really made Chen Zhihua a little unbelievable, but at this time he thought about it and said, "This is how you take all the information of employees and show me. Well, from now on, you call them one by one and ask them to come back to the company, just say I asked them to come back to receive their salary!"

"Get salary?" Zhan Xiaoming and the guys behind him showed joy on their faces. After a few of them looked at each other, they quickly agreed in unison, and then called them separately.

Chen Zhihua sat quietly in an empty seat and looked at the stack of employee information handed to him by Zhan Xiaoming. He found that there are only more than 300 employees currently recording, and most of them are concentrated in their thirties to forties. It should be said that these employees should have been at the peak of their careers, but reality has made them miss this period.

Time passed without realizing it. After a while, someone finally appeared in the office, and there were more and more people. Although there were not many people coming back, there were more than 200 people in total. Fortunately, this office converted from a factory building was very spacious, and it was not cramped at all for 200 people inside.

Seeing that it was almost done, Chen Zhihua put down the employee information in his hand, stood up and said, "Please be quiet!"

In fact, from the beginning when the employees of Shenhui Company came to the office, they had already seen Chen Zhihua and Anna. They looked at them with confusion throughout the process, and whispered a few times from time to time. At this time, when they heard Chen Zhihua stand up and talk, everyone immediately calmed down.

"My surname is Chen, and my name is Zhihua. I am a person sent by Hong Kong Qiji Group to deal with Shenhui Company... Well, I believe that Shenhui Company's current situation is better than me, and I am not going to say more. This time I came because our Qiji Group has reached an agreement with Mr. Duan Weiwen, that is, he will sell 80% of the shares to repay the debts owed to our Qiji Group. Therefore, our Qiji Group has become the largest shareholder of Shenhui, which means that from now on, I will exercise all administrative power and property control over Shenhui on behalf of the Qiji Group."
Chapter completed!