Chapter 162: Family Ties and Business Deals

Xu Zhiquan brought up the dangerous incident from a few days ago, and everyone grew serious, listening intently.

Xu Zhiquan took a drag from his cigarette and continued:

“This whole thing was a real surprise—I never saw it coming…”

At the time, we needed to scrape together ten million for the principal, but we were still short two or three million with no way out.

“In the end, Xu Chen sorted it out. I didn’t expect East Morning Star Advertising’s account to have over two million just sitting there.”

Yang Congxin looked surprised; he hadn’t heard about this and was amazed that Xu Chen’s advertising company had already earned over two million…

Fang Jun asked, “Does this connect to the recent danger?”

Xu Zhiquan:

“I was scrambling for money everywhere, asking all my business friends I could trust to borrow from, and I’d hit them all.”

“Then there was Boss Huang, an old business partner…”

“Xu Chen knows him—we’ve met before.”

“And Director Yang, you might not know this, but Boss Huang was the one who introduced us initially, though you never dealt with him directly.”

Xu Zhiquan was referring to Boss Huang Furen.

In Xu Chen’s memories from his past life, Boss Huang Furen had run off with the compensation funds after the Mechanical Factory went bankrupt, which led to his father’s downfall…

Xu Zhiquan went on:

“Boss Huang heard I was looking for money.”

“Plus, he had some ties to Bright Factory and knew key people, so he figured out I was planning to buy the Mechanical Factory.”

“Boss Huang brought along his friend, Boss Yu, and they offered to chip in four million to help me out.”

“But they didn’t want to lend it—they wanted to become partners.”

“I’d been burned in business before, so I don’t like partnering with others. Plus, I don’t fully trust Boss Huang, and I didn’t know Boss Yu at all…”

“So I put it off for now.”

“Then Xu Chen came through with over two million, and I scraped together the rest. That got the principal together.”

“I politely turned down Boss Huang and Boss Yu.”

Fang Jun: “So were they the ones behind the attack a few days ago?”

Xu Zhiquan took another drag and exhaled a cloud of smoke:

“From what I’ve heard, the police traced forty thousand yuan from the attackers, and that money led back to a company owned by Boss Yu.”

“Now, Boss Yu and Boss Huang are both ‘invited’ for questioning, and we haven’t heard the results yet.”

Xu Chen frowned; this was more unexpected than he thought.

Yang Congxin said:

“So they wanted in on the profits but got rejected.”

“Then when President Xu took over the Mechanical Factory, they got jealous and struck back?”

“I figured it was one of the competing companies pulling strings!”

Xu Zhiquan frowned and shook his head:

“It’s not settled yet; that’s just the investigation so far.”

“Whether they’ll dig up more on Boss Yu’s side, who knows.”

He paused, exhaled smoke, and added:

“In business, lots of people envy when others make money.”

“But going to such extremes is rare—I feel like there’s more to this…”

“Anyway, they’re both in custody now; we’ll wait for the police results.”

Xu Chen sat quietly in the back, listening, then suddenly spoke up:

“What kind of company does Boss Yu run?”

Xu Zhiquan: “I’m not sure; the police haven’t shared that.”

Xu Chen: “Can you ask about it?”

Xu Zhiquan thought for a moment, nodded, and said:

“Yeah…”

“Good point; it’s worth checking.”

He chuckled and added:

“For now, things seem safer, but stay cautious when going out.”

“Also, the Mechanical Factory has probably gotten the notice by now.”

“We’ll hold off here and wait for the official word from the city on when to take over.”

“Meanwhile, Teacher Fang, you’ll need to get busy with contracts and funding arrangements.”

“I suspect the Mechanical Factory might try some tricks; Xu Chen warned about that last time.”

“So I checked with the city leaders, and they’ll step in as a third party to help us transition smoothly—nothing to worry about!”

He glanced at Fang Jun and Director Yang with a smug grin:

“You two got picked on at the Mechanical Factory before, and I know it.”

“Once East Morning Star takes over, I’ll put you in charge to set those shortsighted folks straight!”

Yang Congxin adjusted his black-framed glasses, gave an awkward smile, but his eyes toward Xu Zhiquan showed more gratitude.

……

……

In the courtyard.

Fang Tao and Cheng Yong set up two large tables.

“Old Wang’s” from town delivered a huge spread on a tricycle.

The table overflowed with all sorts of fish, meat, veggies—a stack of big plates on small ones.

Right in the center were the local “four great dishes,” also called “chicken, fish, meatballs, and pork.”

Whole chicken, whole fish, fist-sized meatballs, and an entire pork knuckle—it all looked bold and hearty.

Yang Congxin was from out of town; he’d been assigned to Bright Factory after college over a decade ago.

Though he’d lived in Tiancheng for over ten or twenty years, he mostly stayed at Bright Factory and had never seen a rural feast like this.

Fang Jun clearly came from a well-off family, probably used to finer foods, so this rustic setup felt fresh to him too.

Xu Zhiquan called everyone over, and they all sat down.

Li Rui, Fang Tao, and Cheng Yong sat on the side, still a bit stiff.

Maternal Uncle Zhang Yongqing washed his hands and squeezed in with them.

Among the group, aside from Xu Zhiquan, Yang Congxin was the oldest, so he took the seat of honor.

Xu Chen and Fang Jun sat next to each other.

Xu Zhiquan came out of the house, grinning, with two bottles of liquor.

Yang Congxin glanced over: “Oh, it’s the good stuff!”

Xu Zhiquan laughed:

“Too bad my fourth brother is out of town, so only Director Yang and I can have a drink.”

Fang Jun suddenly raised his hand with a straight face:

“I can have some too.”

Xu Zhiquan paused, remembering how chatty Fang Jun got after drinking the other night, and felt a bit wary.

But he still chuckled and handed Fang Jun a glass:

“Go ahead, you two; Li Rui can drive you home later.”

He opened the bottle, and a rich aroma filled the air.

As he poured into the decanter, he said with a smile:

“Me, I can’t stand that sauce flavor; I always prefer this strong liquor…”

Xu Chen suddenly recalled a time at a gathering when his fourth uncle mentioned that at his father’s wedding years ago, they drank Luzhou Laojiao Special.

Over the years, Old Xu’s favorite had always been that old special brew.

Once the factory started making money, and this distillery released the premium version, Old Xu switched to that.

……

As everyone was about to dig in, noise came from outside the courtyard.

They looked up to see two people hurrying in.

Xu Chen glanced over—it was his paternal aunt, Xu Zhiyan, and his eldest uncle’s son, Xu Xin.

Xu Zhiquan stood up:

“Yan, Xu Xin, what brings you here?”

On the surface, Xu Chen acted very well-behaved and quickly called out “Aunt” and “Brother.”

Xu Zhiquan hesitated:

“Perfect timing; we’re just starting. Join us!”

Xu Zhiyan smiled:

“No, thanks, second brother; we already ate.”

Xu Zhiquan: “So what’s up?”

Xu Zhiyan and Xu Xin exchanged glances, seeming hesitant.

Finally, Xu Zhiyan spoke:

“Second brother, we heard you bought the Mechanical Factory, right?”

Xu Zhiquan was taken aback; the announcement had just gone out, and he didn’t expect them to know already.

Xu Zhiyan smiled:

“We regretted not jumping in on your Seedling Company, me and big brother’s family…”

“We talked it over and can put together about three hundred thousand. Could we get in on it somehow?”

Xu Zhiquan’s expression shifted; clearly, they only showed up for a reason.

He exchanged a quick look with Xu Chen and said:

“Come on, let’s talk inside!”

“Alright, second brother…”

With that, the two followed Xu Zhiquan into the house.

Fang Jun kept a straight face and glanced at Xu Chen; Director Yang did the same.

Xu Chen said quietly:

“Don’t worry; my dad looks kind and straightforward, but he’s sharp about business.”

“He won’t mess things up.”

……

A little later, Xu Zhiquan opened the door and called:

“Teacher Fang, come here a second.”

Fang Jun got up and headed over…

A few minutes later, they all came out of the office.

Xu Zhiquan walked out smiling, seeing off Xu Zhiyan and Xu Xin.

“Why not stay and grab a bite?”

“No, second brother; I need to get home and make dinner for the kids!”

Xu Zhiquan thought for a moment:

“Hang on; I’ll pack you some food!”

He grabbed a couple of food bags, filled them with dishes from the table, and handed them over to Xu Zhiyan and Xu Xin.

“Thanks, second brother.”

“Thanks, second uncle…”

Xu Zhiquan grinned and saw them off.

Xu Chen sat at the table and turned to Fang Jun, who had just returned:

“What did they have you do?”

Fang Jun: “Just run some numbers—mostly how much we’re owing and how much more we need from the bank.”

Xu Chen laughed.

Director Yang looked a bit confused.

Soon, Xu Zhiquan came back with a cigarette in his mouth.

“You all go ahead and eat; don’t wait for me!”

But once President Xu sat down, everyone picked up their chopsticks.

Director Yang raised his glass and toasted Xu Zhiquan first.

Xu Zhiquan took a bite of food and explained what had just happened.

Since it involved company business, he needed to keep Fang Jun and Yang Congxin in the loop.

Of course, Xu Zhiquan had sent his relatives away; there was no way he’d let them join the company, especially as partners.

He couldn’t refuse them outright, so he used the old tactic: said that joining meant sharing the debts.

Xu Zhiyan and Xu Xin didn’t think much of it at first, but when Fang Jun crunched the numbers and they heard those astronomical debt figures, they backed off fast and dropped the idea.