42 Planning
◎You really married a formidable wife◎
When Xue Lu arrived at the suite on the second floor of the Lancheng Hotel, Old Master Xue, Xue Tan, and Song Qinggui had already been chatting for quite a while.
During the first two years of Xue Lu's marriage, Song Qinggui and the Xue family were somewhat incompatible, and even at odds.
But today, she was sitting with her father and brothers in a harmonious atmosphere, and he was very happy.
When Xue Qielu saw his son arrive, he immediately beckoned, "Come and sit down, I have something to tell you."
Xue Lu sat down next to Song Qinggui and looked her up and down at her outfit. She rarely wore such bright and beautiful clothes, and he liked them very much.
"Ahem..." Old Master Xue cleared his throat and said irritably, "Your eyes are practically glued to your wife, you good-for-nothing!"
This remark made Xue Tan and the old housekeeper laugh, and Song Qinggui's ears turned red. Only Xue Lu remained calm and composed: "We only need one successful person in our family. My wife is successful, so I don't need to be as successful as her."
Xue Qielu's old face darkened again. What does it mean to forget your father after marrying a wife? This is what it means to forget your father after marrying a wife.
Song Qinggui's heart softened. The "our home" that Xue Lu spoke of was his and her home. So this is what it feels like to have a home—someone who cares for you, someone who favors you.
Xue Qielu got back to the main point: "I went to the hospital for a check-up a while ago and they found something growing on my liver. I'm worried it might not be a good thing, so the doctor told me to have a biopsy."
"When did this happen?" Xue Tan asked with some concern.
Xue Qielu: "It's been a month, hasn't it?"
Upon hearing this, Xue Lu became somewhat anxious: "You're really being ridiculous. How can something like this drag on for a month? Where did you go for your checkup? Why didn't you go to Jingtian?"
“I didn’t go to Jingtian because I didn’t want you to know. If I had found out there, you would have had to put me on the operating table the next day.” After saying this, Xue Qielu explained in a deep voice, “There is still a business deal in Hong Kong that hasn’t been finalized yet. Everyone is short of money right now. If we agree on something today, we can change our minds immediately if someone offers a lower price tomorrow. We can’t let the business drag on until next year. Besides… if the biopsy results are bad, I’m afraid it will cause trouble for the group.”
Song Qinggui glanced at Old Master Xue and Xue Tan. Before Xue Lu arrived, Old Master Xue had called her in and shown her and Xue Tan the Xue family's financial reports for the past three years.
The Xue family's business empire mainly consists of three areas: real estate, cross-border e-commerce, and game development.
The Xue family started their business in real estate. After accumulating some wealth, Xue Qielu started cross-border e-commerce. He was one of the first big names in e-commerce in China and made a fortune back then.
However, the economic situation has been poor in recent years. The real estate industry is not doing well, and the e-commerce industry is highly competitive, resulting in a significant decline in profits. On the contrary, the game development that Xue's family started investing in in recent years has become the mainstay of the group's profits.
However, Xue's company is currently facing significant problems in the game development sector.
Xue Qielu had a keen business sense, so he realized early on that making games could be profitable, and that's why he invested. But he didn't understand the game industry itself.
Xue Qielu always joked that the Xue family was the "Water Margin Group".
The senior executives of Xue's Group were all brothers who had followed Xue Qielu since he was young, and they were all getting on in years. Game development was completely foreign to these old guys.
Therefore, since Xue Qielu decided to delve into the field of games, he has hired many young and promising professionals to join Xue's company.
However, Xue Qielu's group of brothers, due to their age and seniority, inevitably became domineering. There was only so much meat on the plate, and with the arrival of newcomers, their share decreased. Therefore, they caused a lot of trouble for the game department and even harbored considerable resentment towards Xue Qielu. The young people hired to work on the game development team, unable to tolerate this work environment, often only worked short-term contracts with Xue, leaving after their two-year contracts expired, with very few renewals.
Over the years, Xue Qielu has spent a considerable amount of energy trying to balance interpersonal relationships within the group, but with little success.
“You’re afraid…” Song Qinggui was the first to understand Xue Qielu’s meaning: “What if the results of your examination this time are not good, and you need to spend time on treatment? Someone might take the opportunity to cause trouble?”
Xue Qielu nodded: "I've scheduled a biopsy for next week. If the results aren't good, I'd like to hand over the Xue family business to Lao Qi. In terms of public relations, Qing Gui, you'll be fully responsible. Our Xue family is a prominent clan, and we can't let our ancestors' reputation be tarnished in my hands."
Song Qinggui's expression was somewhat solemn.
Xue Lu, on the other hand, remained relatively relaxed and comforted him, saying, "Dad, I think you're overthinking it. Malignant liver tumors usually progress very quickly and have severe symptoms. Given your current condition, there's a high probability that you're fine."
Xue Qielu grunted in response, but his expression did not improve.
After this physical examination, he felt deeply that he was "old," because only old people are afraid of disease and death.
Xue Tan sat down, leaning slightly forward towards Xue Qielu: "Dad, are you really going to hand over the Xue family business to me? You know my style of doing things."
Song Qinggui looked at Xue Tan.
She had heard from Lawyer Xue before that Xue Tan was a tough and decisive man. When his business was first starting to succeed, many of the Xue family's elders wanted to send their children to work under him, but he refused them all. The few who couldn't refuse were later dismissed by Xue Tan after being personally interviewed by him because of their poor work performance.
However, thanks to Xue Tan's pioneering work, Xue Lu didn't have to deal with so many interpersonal relationships when starting his business, making things much easier.
Xue Qielu: "You are my son, of course I know your personality. But your uncles... have followed me for many years, even if they have made mistakes, it doesn't warrant..."
At this point, the room fell into a silence.
"Dad," Song Qinggui broke the silence, "Do you truly feel sorry for them, or do you think that harming them would make you seem heartless and cause a stir within the company and in the public eye?"
The question was too pointed, but Xue Tan raised an eyebrow, his expression one of appreciation.
Before Xue Lu arrived, Song Qinggui spent a long time looking at the financial reports that Xue Qielu had given her.
The four years she dated Yan Fengqian coincided with the four years Yan Fengqian was building his business. To repay Yan Fengqian, Song Qinggui devoted herself wholeheartedly to helping him start his business. Rather than saying Yan Fengqian was starting a business, it was more accurate to say Song Qinggui was, and she naturally learned a great deal from it.
So when she looked at these financial reports, she knew there were big problems.
At first glance, the accounts appear splendid, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are merely a facade to mask the true state of affairs.
This is especially true for cross-border e-commerce. Some companies are reporting poor profits, citing overstocked inventory as the reason, predicting that selling off this inventory next year will significantly improve profits. But it's not that simple.
Two years ago, Xue's e-commerce reports showed profits, and quite substantial ones at that. This year, however, things have deteriorated. Even with massive inventory buildup, it's impossible for such a large group as Xue's to experience such a sudden and severe disruption to its entire sales line. The company's explanations simply cannot support the hole in its balance sheet. Therefore, someone must have tampered with the money.
And this is not an isolated case of a company with such financial statements.
Even a half-baked monk like Song Qinggui could see it, so Xue Tan certainly could too, and Xue Qielu was even more deliberately pretending to be ignorant.
Therefore, Song Qinggui's question can be said to hit the nail on the head.
Some people are already secretly misappropriating Xue's assets. Are these people being kept around out of genuine affection, or out of fear of harming the innocent?
Xue Qielu stared at Song Qinggui for a long while, then looked at Xue Lu and smiled helplessly: "You really married a formidable wife."
Xue Lu also smiled.
Xue Qielu took a sip of tea and answered Song Qinggui's question: "The latter."
Xue Qielu felt that the second piece of evidence of his aging was that he was becoming increasingly concerned about his face and reputation.
If I showed these reports to myself twenty years ago, I would have fired all the leaders of these companies. Those who should go home would go home, and those who should go to jail would go to jail. I would have been ruthless.
But now he was afraid. He was afraid they would reminisce about the past, afraid they would point fingers at him and say that he, Xue Qielu, was ungrateful and could only share hardship, not happiness. He was afraid of making headlines, afraid that this once-powerful figure would end up being scorned by everyone in his old age. He was afraid of growing old and dying with people pointing fingers at him.
"Then you should rest and recover for a while," Song Qinggui said, "regardless of whether there is actually a problem with your health."
Xue Qielu frowned, puzzled.
Song Qinggui explained, "Seventh Brother has a tough style, everyone in the industry knows that, and many people in the group have run into trouble with him. If you can't bring yourself to do it, just let Seventh Brother handle it."
Upon hearing this, Xue Lu lowered his head and smiled, Xue Qielu was stunned for a moment, and Xue Tan was even more astonished.
"Qinggui, back when you married Xiaosi, there were so many people in the Xue family, but only I sided with you." Xue Tan laughed, "So this is how you repay your seventh brother?"
"With great power comes great responsibility." It was rare for Song Qinggui to be so relaxed in front of the Xue family: "Seventh Brother, you can do it, I believe in you."
Xue Tan looked at Xue Lu: "Your wife is indeed formidable."
Xue Lu said smugly, "That's right, you don't even know who picked it."
...
The banquet officially began at 6 p.m.
Xue Qielu led his younger relatives, Manman, down the spiral staircase to the center of the hall.
"Dear old friends and young friends, thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here and attend the birthday party that I, Xue Qielu, am hosting for my son, Xue Lu." Xue Qielu's voice was as loud as a bell. "Those who are here today are all my relatives and friends from the Xue family's business and life. Without your care and support, I, Xue Qielu, would not be where I am today. On this occasion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone."
The crowd applauded, and bursts of "Mr. Xue, you're too kind" and "Mr. Xue, you're too polite" erupted from the crowd.
Xue Qielu continued, "Besides that, I also have something I would like to say to all my old and young friends. I am getting old and my energy is not as good as before, so from now on, Xue Tan will gradually take over the business of Xue's Group, and Tianlan Group will be merged into Xue's Group in the future."
Everyone nodded and congratulated Xue Tan.
It has long been an open secret in Lancheng that Xue Tan is the future head of the Xue family.
"And..." Xue Qielu smiled and looked at Song Qinggui: "Qinggui, come here."
A polite smile appeared on Song Qinggui's face as he walked to Xue Qielu's side.
"My daughter-in-law, Song Qinggui," Xue Qielu formally introduced to everyone. "In the future, she will serve as the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Xue's Group, participating in the group's decision-making. We will inevitably run into each other in the business world, so please take good care of her."
Song Qinggui nodded to the crowd.
However, the crowd did not show the same enthusiasm they had for Xue Tan earlier; there was only scattered applause, and mostly discussion.
Old Master Xue has always forbade his children, other than Xue Tan, from interfering in the group's affairs. How did Song Qinggui manage to win over this tycoon? His methods are truly remarkable…
In the crowd, Chen Fangqi gripped her skirt tightly with both hands, her hands almost drawing blood.
Why...
Why is it that, despite both using their looks to serve men, Song Qinggui was able to marry Xue Lü, gain Xue Qielu's approval, and even join the Xue family?
She could only secretly and shamefully sleep with a fat pig!
On what grounds?!
But it doesn't matter, Chen Fangqi's lips curled up, her smile revealing a sinister edge.
She turned her head and looked at a dreadful figure in the corner.
It doesn't matter……
The Xue family and Song Qinggui, you're about to make headlines.
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