Chapter 109 The Hundred and Ninth Melon
July 1, 1997.
Early in the morning, the sound of firecrackers could be heard on the street, and the voices of children playing and the smell of gunpowder carried into the house.
"Knock knock—" Lin Yuan knocked on the door, still holding the spatula in his hand, "Sister, get up, you're going to be late."
"It's only half past eight. There's no need to rush."
Gu Xicao yawned and came out of the house. More than five years were enough for Lin Yuan to grow from an elementary school student to a junior high school student, and also enough for Gu Xicao to look more feminine than before.
She didn't have her hair permed, so it was loose. When she walked into the restaurant, she picked up a piece of toast and took a bite.
Lin Yuan looked at Gu Xicao helplessly: "Sister, if someone saw you like this, who would believe in the power of you, Master Gu, or Gu Shensuan?"
As he spoke, he went into the house and poured out two cups of soy milk.
Gu Xicao yawned lazily: "Do I still need people to believe in my abilities? You, I see you like to nag more and more as you get older. Now you don't even know who is the older sister and who is the younger brother."
"Of course I am your brother."
Lin Yuan handed the soy milk to Gu Xicao and was about to speak when the doorbell rang. Gu Xicao lazily motioned for him to open the door. Lin Yuan shook his head helplessly and walked over to open the door. When he saw the person coming, a smile appeared on his face: "Brother Qianshi, you came at the right time. I'll leave my sister to you. I have an appointment with my classmates."
Gu Xicao heard the noise at the door, looked towards it and then looked away.
Lin Qianshi walked in and said, "Then you go first, I'm here."
Lin Yuan smiled, quickly ate his toast and soy milk, and went out with his schoolbag. Before leaving, he said, "Brother Qianshi, I'm leaving now and won't be a light bulb anymore."
In response, Gu Xicao threw out a pair of slippers.
Lin Yuan dodged quickly and just drew his head back, then he stuck out his tongue at Gu Xicao, made a face, and ran away.
Lin Qianshi smiled, picked up the slippers and walked over to hand them to Gu Xicao.
"You know you can't throw it, why do you still throw it?"
Gu Xicao was too embarrassed to put on his slippers and put down the cup. "That kid has been getting more and more talkative since he entered junior high school. I think he hasn't been beaten enough."
"Today is the shareholders' meeting, Shirley. Our hotels in the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand are all up and running. Even though our performance is not as good as Xirang's, it's not shameful."
Yan Qin explained to Wang Xueli as they walked. She had a few white hairs on her temples and her brows were furrowed. She no longer looked as dignified and elegant as she had been a few years ago. "What you need to do is to stabilize the people on our side and don't let them turn to Gu Xicao."
Wang Xueli had a look of resentment on her face. "Doesn't that mean we have to cut our own flesh and give them the profit? Those people have changed their faces in recent years after seeing Fang Dazhuang and his men making money on the mainland. They didn't even tell Gu Xicao to stop fawning on them. I really despise those people!"
"Shirley!" Yan Qin scolded, and seeing several shareholders coming over behind her, she smiled, "Uncle Sun, Mr. Zhou, Mrs. Lin, you're all here. Why are you here so early?"
"Yes, Director Gu said that bonuses will be distributed today, and everyone can't wait."
Mrs. Lin was all smiles, with several brightly colored jade rings on her plump fingers. "Last year, I made nearly 10 million from my investment in the mainland. I wonder how much I can make this year."
Wang Shirley could hardly smile.
In recent years, Xirang has used investments from Hong Kong to set up a number of industries in mainland China, including real estate, plastic factories, electronics factories, etc. The annual profits have increased year by year. It has long since grown from a small workshop into the largest investment company in Hong Kong and the most famous in Asia.
Seeing her daughter's unhappy face, Yan Qin smiled and changed the subject, "That's not bad, Xiao Gu is quite capable, but the hotel industry is a sunrise industry in the future, are you interested in investing?"
Mrs. Lin and the others laughed and joked.
Sun Bo said: "At our age, we dare not take risks. Shirley did a good job, but unfortunately we don't have any money."
No money?
Wang Xueli just felt it was ironic.
This group of people had been chasing Gu Xicao a while ago, saying that they wanted to increase investment. At that time, they didn't say they had no money, but they told her that they had no money.
The shareholders' meeting will be held at ten o'clock.
Gu Xicao and Lin Qianshi were the last to arrive. When they entered the room, Lin Qianshi was a little embarrassed and said, "I was delayed by traffic jam on the way."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It's good enough as long as Mr. Lin and Mr. Gu can come." Everyone started to greet each other.
Wang Xueli couldn't stand everyone's flattery to Gu Xicao, so she sneered, "You live less than ten minutes away from the company, and you're still late. It shows that you don't take today's shareholders' meeting seriously!"
"Shirley!"
Yan Qin turned her head and scolded her, but in her heart she felt that Wang Xueli's words were very pleasing.
Gu Xicao glanced at her and sat down below Gu Zhizhang. "Ms. Wang, it's been a while since we last met. I heard that you recently invested in a hotel in Thailand?"
"Although the hotel chain is not large, didn't your great man say that a single spark can start a prairie fire? Maybe it can develop into a multinational hotel chain in the future."
Wang Xueli said carefully: "Moreover, this time we also met a few American tycoons who are also interested in cooperating with our group. Their investment industry is much larger than Xirang."
Gu Xicao propped up his chin, crossed his hands, and had a thoughtful look in his eyes. "If I remember correctly, the Thai currency has been depreciating in the past few months, and the local economy of Thailand has been severely impacted. You are building a hotel in Thailand at this time, which is similar to joining the national army in 1949."
In recent years, with the rising returns on investment in the mainland, Gu Xicao's prestige in Xuanyuan Group has also been growing day by day.
As soon as she opened her mouth, several shareholders on Wang Xueli's side could no longer sit still.
Even Wang Xueli's aunt asked anxiously: "Boss Gu, what do you mean by this? Do you mean that those hotels will go bankrupt?"
"Bankruptcy?"
Gu Xicao thought about it and shook his head. "No, it's not just bankruptcy. Thailand is different from other countries. It has a monarchy. I think those hotels will be nationalized and become assets of the King of Thailand."
"Oh, what should we do? We invested millions of dollars in those hotels! It seems like we are just giving money away to others!"
My aunt was so anxious that she couldn't sit still.
Several other relatives also became anxious and looked at Wang Xueli and said, "We want to withdraw our shares. We don't want to invest anymore!"
Wang Xueli was so angry that she almost died.
If I withdraw my shares at this time, where will I find the money to give them?
"Gu Xicao, don't exaggerate. Do you really think you are a fortune teller and that everything you say is accurate? You said before that the hotels invested in the Philippines and Malaysia would go bankrupt, but now, those hotels have been open for several years and are still doing well."
Gu Xicao leaned back and said calmly, "That's because it's not the right time yet, but now, the time is almost right. If I'm not mistaken, there's a call for you."
Almost as soon as Gu Xicao finished speaking, the Motorola phone next to Wang Xueli started ringing.
Everyone on Wang Xueli's side was startled and their faces changed suddenly.
Wang Xueli stared at the phone in a daze and didn't dare to answer it for a moment.
Gu Zhizhang coughed and cleared his throat, "Shirley, since someone is calling, it must be something important, answer it quickly."
My aunt also urged, "That's right, Shirley, answer the phone quickly and see what happened! Don't let Mr. Gu's words really come true!"
Wang Xueli's palms were sweating and her heart was beating fast. Just as she was about to pick up the phone, the caller hung up.
She breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could relax, the phone rang again.
Yan Qin couldn't sit still, so she grabbed the phone and answered it. When she heard the Malay voice on the other end of the line, her expression relaxed a little. She covered the phone and said to Wang Xueli, "It's from Malaysia."
Wang Xueli breathed a sigh of relief, "What's going on in Malaysia?"
She looked at Gu Xicao with disdain and said, "Some people are really good at exaggerating." She picked up the phone and said a few words in Malay to the person on the other end of the phone. No one knew what was said on the other end, but Wang Xueli suddenly stood up with a face as black as the bottom of a pot.
After hanging up the phone, my aunt and the others couldn’t wait and asked hurriedly, “What happened in Malaysia?”
Wang Xueli raised her head and stared at Gu Xicao. Before she could say anything, the phone rang again. This time it was from Thailand.
After hanging up the phone this time, Wang Xueli's face looked extremely pale, with beads of sweat running down her cheeks. Almost everyone could see that she was in a very bad condition.
Even Yan Qin couldn't help but feel nervous, "Shirley, what's going on in Thailand and Malaysia?"
Wang Xueli didn't hold the phone tightly in her hand, and it slipped to the ground. With a "pop" sound, the phone worth thousands of dollars fell heavily to the ground.
"Malaysia said that the ownership of the land was in dispute and the hotel was closed. Thailand, Thailand..."
She couldn't say any more, so she turned around and rushed out of the meeting room.
Aunt Yan and the others were stunned as if they were struck by lightning.
Fang Dazhuang was holding a cigar in his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Mr. Gu said a long time ago that it's not good to invest in hotels in these places, but you didn't listen. Now the hotels are closed and embezzled. It's like helping others build a building in vain. It's better to throw the money into the water. At least you can hear a sound."
Yan Qin's face looked very ugly, but she couldn't say a word to refute.
Sun Bo and others said, "Boss Gu, we all know that you are going to retire this year. We say that no one other than Boss Gu is suitable to replace you!"
Gu Zhizhan nodded slightly and said nothing.
The people on Yan Qin's side felt like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, unable to express their pain.
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