Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 221 Transformation
For the next period of time, Chen Xuebing continued to study.

Learn the basic knowledge of various industries, mainly sales.

Although the matter involves 127 companies and is about helping the government reduce its debt, Mr. Chen has always been passionate about whatever he does.

What's more, he was also tempted by the gleaming gold license plate.

During that time, Leader Huang called once, saying that obtaining the license was extremely difficult, but he would help him try.

Regarding Mr. Kan's case, the Shenzhen authorities are still hesitant about how to handle it and cannot release him for the time being. Leader Huang has already found an old connection to take care of Mr. Kan's life, and another old leader has spoken up for Kan Zhidong. Even if he is found responsible in the lawsuit, it will only be the leader's responsibility, and he may not be held accountable.

Chen Xuebing always felt that Leader Huang was trying to lure him into working harder, but he had no other choice but to put in his best effort to complete the task.

Fortunately, that supermarket, Pang Donglai, was doing very well, which gave him hope.

To Chen Xuebing's surprise, Pang Donglai had already become a well-known retail company, and there was a lot of media coverage about its development.

In 98, Yu Donglai got into a conflict with a gang of thugs after one of his female employees was harassed. As a result, the Wangyuelou Fatty Shop in Xuchang was set on fire and reduced to ashes.

This incident caused a great stir, and Yu Donglai became the embodiment of justice. Later, with the support of all sectors of society, he reopened his business.

After that, the opening of Pang Donglai Supermarket and the attention it received from society made Yu Donglai pay more attention to the shopping experience of consumers. In 1999, he launched the "money-back guarantee" business concept in seven chain stores for the first time. In the retail era of "money and goods settled, no responsibility after leaving the store", it was undoubtedly a game-changer and established an extremely good reputation.

This is what Pang Donglai looked like back then.

Soon, the Pangdonglai Life Plaza opened, demonstrating the rapid pace of its development and the popularity among local residents.

Pang Donglai has continuously upgraded its services and has also begun to guarantee the re-employment of laid-off workers and pay attention to employee welfare. On September 18, 2002, former provincial leaders gave it high praise during their inspection, and it was reported by many media outlets.

In 2005, Pang Dong opened a store in Xinxiang, creating a 30,000-square-meter shopping mall.

The social response has been excellent, with many posts on online forums praising Pang Donglai's service, such as helping the elderly up escalators, carrying customers' belongings to their cars, ensuring the freshness of the food, and offering no-questions-asked returns.
However, the sales data found was only from 2004, with annual sales of 4 million yuan. At that time, Pang Donglai only had stores in Xuchang.

Chen Xuebing has reason to believe that they already possess the operational capabilities for large stores.

Furthermore, the online rumors that Pang Donglai did not want to expand outwards are not true. In those days, Pang Donglai opened stores very aggressively, and even tried to expand into specialty electronics stores, leather shoe stores, and clothing stores in addition to its supermarket integrated business.

The reason they later stayed in Henan was definitely not just what netizens speculated. At that time, Pang Donglai was already receiving a lot of attention, so it was not easy for them to be targeted. More importantly, the leader was no longer able to continue.

In his previous life, Chen Xuebing visited Pang Donglai's Angel City in Xuchang, and the decor was very beautiful.

The quality of services and products is too numerous to list, and the special provisions for caring for subordinates are so exceptional that they make people feel truly cared for.

Many people come here by high-speed rail to shop and visit, and even something as bizarre as the "Pang Donglai Shopping and Tourism Special Line" has emerged.

A supermarket boosted the city's foot traffic, and countless people called for Pang Donglai to expand beyond Henan, but these calls went unanswered for several years, becoming a regrettable situation.

So much so that Chen Xuebing immediately thought of it.

He didn't want to open a supermarket; it was too complicated. But if he could partner with Pang Donglai, he was confident he could make the store a huge success, revitalize a large number of businesses, and make it a trump card in his hand.

On March 10, a small syndicate of banks, including China Construction Bank, China Everbright Bank, and China Development Bank, held a meeting at the municipal government.

Two days later, on the morning of the same day, the audit team arrived at Gu'an.

Chen Xuebing received the team and went to the 46th floor to check the accounts. He then asked He Yue to announce that a board meeting would be held in the afternoon.

This was the first formal board meeting since the group was established.

To be precise, it was an expanded meeting of the board of directors.

The board members originally declared when the group was established were Chen Xuebing, Lu Yiwen, Lu Weibing, Wu Zisheng, and Liang Hui, who were the administrative heads of the various branches at that time.

Later, Yu Chunyin was added.

Generally, the number of board members is odd, which helps to improve the efficiency of decision-making.

But everyone knows it's all meaningless; the group's board of directors exists in name only. The chairman makes his stance clear, and the others are just responsible for being sensible.

However, when the headquarters ordered all branch managers and department heads to attend the meeting and vote on the board members, everyone realized that although the board of directors was still nominal, the first batch of beneficiaries of the company were about to be determined.

They will also be among the first to receive shares.

Just kidding, if the board members don't have any, why should anyone else?

The meeting was not scheduled for the large round table on the 57th floor.

At 3 p.m., the long table in the conference room on the 58th floor was full of people. One end was reserved for the chairman, and on the other end, a Cisco video conferencing system worth 80,000 yuan was mounted on the wall.

A dedicated server supports remote calls, a screen projection device addresses the limitations of screen size development, and there is also a Call Manager solution that supports remote calling.

After some adjustments, the conference room in Shenzhen appeared on the screen.

Chen Xuebing walked into the conference room, and after seeing the screen opposite him, he nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes, we are a company focused on technological innovation. In the future, we need to purchase more of these new types of equipment, especially for senior executives, who need to keep track of the various parameters of cutting-edge technologies."

Smiles appeared on the other side of the curtain.

There was a bit of silence on this side.

The other side is engaged in technological innovation, but we are not.

Chen Xuebing glanced at everyone's expressions and laughed, "Looks like some people haven't realized the industry trend yet. Lao Lu, answer me, is a financial company a technology company?"

Lu Xiaochun pondered for a moment and said, "I guess so. In fact, computer strategies for stock trading have become popular in the West. High-frequency trading quantitative funds and hedge funds that rely on this strategy have their own software teams. Computers are faster than humans and can capture trading information in milliseconds, thereby cashing out small profits. Over the long term, the profits can be quite substantial."

"Yes, quantitative trading is the trend. Soon, we will also have our own quantitative fund. Long March Capital will have its own software team, focusing on the development of trading strategies, and developing our intelligent trading system. I have already thought of a name for it. We will use the abbreviation of Artificial Intelligence, which was proposed at the Dartmouth Conference in 1956, and call it the AI ​​Research Office."

After saying that, he looked towards Gu'an Labor Services.

The moment Yu Chunyin met his gaze, she glanced to the side, signaling: I don't know, don't ask me.

Chen Xuebing coughed and said, "Liang Hui, do you know what my country's most technologically advanced engineering achievement is right now?"

Liang Hui was completely dumbfounded.

After a long pause, he spread his hands and gestured:

"That XCMG crawler crane? It's really big, the 300-ton one."

Chen Xuebing shook his head and chuckled: "General Manager Tang, you're the chief engineer, why don't you explain?"

Tang Qiankun's smile revealed a sense of ease and confidence.

The engineering industry is highly specialized. Dean Zhang is currently resting at home according to the contract. When it comes to engineering, no one can hold his own against him for more than two rounds.

"The chairman is referring to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway plateau section that was reported a while ago, right? It solved three major global engineering challenges: permafrost, high altitude and oxygen deficiency, and fragile ecology, and also achieved zero-pollution construction."

Chen Xuebing nodded approvingly. His sudden question was also a test, to see if the chief engineer was keeping up with the times and paying attention to new information.

Seeing that the chairman seemed to be gesturing for him to continue, Tang Qiankun picked up the only teacup on the table, took a sip, and then slowly said:
"Actually, the research direction in the engineering industry is quite simple; it's nothing more than a few 'mosts': the largest construction machinery, the most microscopic engineering material technology, the widest construction range, the most extreme engineering environments, and the greenest energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies. What Mr. Liang said earlier is also correct. I was the one who told him about XCMG's 300-ton crane, as well as Zoomlion's QY70, Shantui's SD42-3 bulldozer, LiuGong's GL888 loader, etc. These are all engineering technology breakthroughs our country has made in recent years in the direction of 'largest'."

An expert's expertise is immediately apparent.

Liang Hui immediately picked up Tang Qiankun's teacup to get hot water, and gave the old man a thumbs up: "Master is awesome."

Chen Xuebing was quite pleased to hear this.

"Oh, Mr. Tang has taken on an apprentice? You'd better teach him well."

Tang Qiankun chuckled and said frankly, "Xiao Liang has three parts comprehension and eight parts patience; he's good material for engineering."

"Good, good, good."

Chen Xuebing said "good" three times in a row, and the other brothers secretly cheered him on.

“I haven’t paid much attention to the engineering company these past few months, and I’ve even been taking money out of your company. Mr. Yu even called to ask if I didn’t want to continue with the company. Today I want to make it clear that it’s not that I don’t want to continue, it’s that I’m saving money for you. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it big. The money will come soon. Your tasks will be very heavy from now on, but I will assign them from light to heavy and give you the opportunity to develop talent. Each project involves a group of people. We need to carefully select and train our team while working on projects, promoting technical and leadership personnel to meet the growing challenges.”

Chen Xuebing's speech became increasingly authoritative, and everyone's posture became more and more upright.

“I’ve been handling the work at Singularity Technology, so I won’t go into details. Mr. Lin’s negotiations in the US are going very smoothly. We’re about to make the payment to reserve TSMC’s production capacity. I know about that. Mr. Lu, please don’t keep calling me about the funding. Let’s put that aside for now.”

"In addition, the syndicated audit has been at the group company for the past few days. Everyone needs to cooperate with Finance Director Xiao. If Finance tells you what materials are needed, submit them immediately."

After Chen Xuebing finished speaking, he looked at someone who had never appeared at the company before.

A fat man wearing a suit.

"Zhang Hang, our Deputy Chief Financial Officer, has been studying abroad for more than half a year. Today he is finally back in his position. Everyone, please welcome him."

Everyone applauded, with the older brothers being particularly enthusiastic.

Zhang Hang stood up, bowed to everyone, and sat down quietly, without making eye contact with Yu Yi, who was winking at him from across the room.

She's completely lost the shyness she had six months ago.

He's been drawing a deputy director's salary without ever actually working at the company, yet he's the one who matured the fastest among the group. After six months of learning, he's come to understand the meaning of finance—the weight of responsibility, and the fact that he can only be the boss's trusted confidant.

Chen Xuebing was initially wondering if it was inappropriate for this kid to become the deputy director right after returning, and whether he should be given some training first. However, when Zhang Hang returned to report for duty, he seemed like a completely different person, much more composed. On his first day at work, he worked overtime until 3 a.m., reviewing all the company's core documents and accounts, the branch's procurement and sales chain, bank statements, and tax declaration policies, and wrote a report for him.

I simply made a summary, highlighting some important points in red, without offering any unfounded suggestions.

Ren Ying put a lot of effort into training this young man, and right from the start, she found a working method that Chen Xuebing found very satisfactory.

He also changed his mind.

It's a bit of a shame that I gained a competent subordinate but lost a kind, easy-to-bully, and chubby guy with a pinchable face.

"There is another important matter today: announcing the new board system, namely the changes to the company's articles of association."

After Chen Xuebing finished speaking, Ren Ying walked in from outside and placed a ballot box on the table.

There were no ballot boxes in Shenzhen because Chen Xuebing hadn't notified anyone beforehand.

"From now on, our group will have an eleven-member board of directors. In addition to myself, President Cai Zhijian, and the general managers and presidents of the three subsidiaries as permanent members, the other six seats will be filled by four candidates elected by the directors of the subsidiaries or above. That is, all of you here today are on the election list and you are the voters. The other two seats will be employee representatives, who must be front-line employees. Each branch will organize its own vote and nominate three people, and the group company will also nominate three people. The final decision will be made by the permanent members of the board of directors."

“The board of directors is not a fixed group. It is elected every March. The status of board members does not affect their job rank or job responsibilities. They are only responsible for proposing and voting on the company’s development. They also receive a six-month salary allowance based on their job rank and are given priority consideration for stock awards from the company’s talent incentive equity pool.”

"The board of directors shall meet at least once a quarter. In special circumstances, the meeting shall be convened at the suggestion of the chairman, the president, or five or more board members."

"Singularity Technology now has more than 300 employees and has set up a separate board of directors for its branch, with a total of 7 members."

"In addition, everyone has heard about the company's recent loan. The company's scale will soon see a huge increase. I know everyone is concerned about the equity issue. The financial situation of each subsidiary will be adjusted soon. After the adjustment is completed, there will be a result on who should receive shares and who should receive options. Don't be discouraged if you don't receive them. Starting this year, there will be an annual evaluation. The company is still small now, so you have more opportunities. Work hard, and I'm sure my 5.2 eyes can see it. At least, I can see all of you here."

Everyone laughed.

Chen Xuebing also smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Let's begin. One piece of paper for everyone, and we'll vote anonymously."

……

The board of directors has been selected:

Besides Chen Xuebing, Cai Zhijian, Yu Chunyin, and Lu Weibing, there are also Lu Yiwen, Xiao Haidong, Zhang Hongbin, and surprisingly, Liang Hui.

It was probably because the chairman said "good" three times that everyone assumed it was the chairman's intention.

Chen Xuebing didn't mention Lu Yiwen's name as a permanent member of the board of directors, which meant there was no need to mention his brothers.

In fact, Chen Xuebing kept a brother in the group and each branch. In the early stages, his purpose was to monitor the finances. After the group's finances were formalized, his purpose was to deal with unforeseen circumstances. If he was not there, or if something happened, he would have eyes and a seat to keep an eye on others. Chen Xuebing did not intend for them to have much power.

Lu Yiwen got in, that's good, at least he's the group's vice president.

As a result, Liang Hui also joined the board of directors. Chen Xuebing was speechless. He wanted to hold a re-election, but felt that it was not serious enough. He could only find a suitable excuse to do so.

Three days after the board meeting, representatives of the grassroots employees were also elected.

A man named Ma Yongsheng was a courier in the mobile phone export business.

One of them was named Chen Peilin, a new technology technician in the IC department.

Both candidates were from Singularity Technology, and both were chosen by the chairman. Everyone now understands the focus of this year's work.

No matter how much the chairman talks about valuing the engineering company at the meeting, it's useless; in the end, actions speak louder than words.

On March 15th, Chen Xuebing and Yu Chunyin were having tea in their office on the 46th floor.

Ren Ying sat in Chen Xuebing's seat, organizing the latest management systems submitted by various companies.

"Didn't you put together a group management system a few months ago? Why do you need to put together another one for each of them? The labor service company has been working like crazy these past few days to put together this. There's one set of rules for the company office and another set for the construction site. I see that Xiao Liang and the others are working on it with great enthusiasm and passion."

Yu Chunyin took a sip of the Pu'er tea that Chen Xuebing had brewed and asked.

Chen Xuebing looked at the four characters "Adaptability" that had just been hung on the wall and slowly said:

"The company is at a different stage now. At first, everyone was clueless and needed an authoritative management system to keep them in check. Now, the personnel structure is more complex, and everyone is becoming more familiar with their work. They feel that some management methods are not suitable for their departments and have opinions. At this time, it is appropriate to let them discuss it again, so as not to let everyone simply develop the habit of ignoring things in order to improve work efficiency and engage in small-area self-governance. Since we have asked them to change, they should abide by it. Regulations and management structures are different for companies at different stages. They are not static and need to be constantly changed."

Yu Chunyin was speechless.

“You’re such a talented kid, you’re born to be a boss. But I don’t get involved in these administrative management things, you know, I can’t handle them. I can help you run some connections and keep an eye on bidding and construction sites.”

Chen Xuebing slowly nodded and said:

"Liang Hui learns quickly, so let him handle these matters for now. I will personally take over when a big project comes along."

Yu Chunyin chuckled: "Easy for you to say. Once you set these rules and regulations, and you've been going to inspect the floors every day lately, I, as the general manager, can't not come to work on time. I have to set an example."

Chen Xuebing smiled and said, "Just get through this. The company is getting back on track. I'll find you an executive vice president when I have time, so you can enjoy life."

The bank's audit team has left, and the funds will be approved soon.

Since establishing the company, he has always been planning the next steps in advance.

Even before he had any money, he was searching for talented people everywhere.

Once he had acquired some talent, he began looking for projects in advance.

With the project secured and funding fast approaching, he began managing it.

He initiated many things on his own initiative, leaving some of the management team bewildered, as he had no time to explain. Yet, in less than a year and a half, he had almost built a large company with money, projects, and talent.

Guan has reached a critical juncture of transformation.

The cell phone on the table suddenly rang.

He picked up his phone, glanced at it, and immediately answered with a smile.

"Leader Huang."

"Hmm." The voice on the other end hesitated slightly: "The CBRC has replied to me that issuing a trust license is basically out of the question. They haven't issued one for two years, and they might not issue one in the future."

"Huh?" Chen Xuebing was somewhat taken aback, and felt a sudden emptiness in his heart, remaining silent for a moment.

"Is this license very important to you?" Director Huang then asked.

Chen Xuebing stopped talking about the project and let out a slow sigh.

"Ah."

"It's not like there's nothing we can do."

".Um?"

"Xinhua Trust, you know it, right?"

“I know Xinhua Insurance.”

Not only did they know, but Cai Zhijian and Lu Xiaochun were also in talks with them about fundraising, wanting to give them the remaining 4 million yuan of BOE's fundraising shortfall, thus saving them a channel fee from securities firms and banks.

"It's not one company. Xinhua Trust is Xinhua Trust, formerly known as Chongqing Trust and Investment Co., Ltd. of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. It obtained its trust license in 2001 and was later restructured into a joint-stock company. It was then controlled by a private enterprise called Shenzhen New Industry Investment Co., Ltd. This New Industry Investment is currently involved in a lawsuit over a loan, and its shares are almost frozen. They want to sell their 60% stake in Xinhua Trust. They want to sell it for 120 million yuan. If you really need it, you can buy it."

"One hundred and twenty million?" Chen Xuebing leaned back on the sofa, thought for a while, and said, "I'll buy it."

"You should think carefully. There's another company vying for this equity stake. It's an Inner Mongolian company called Tomorrow Holdings. They also have a stake, and there might be some disputes."

"Tomorrow Group??"

Chen Xuebing paused for a moment when he heard the name.

Tomorrow Holdings, isn't that the parent company of the Tomorrow Group?
A financial empire.

It seems to have been among the Fortune Global 500 a few years ago, but then it went bust, killing a whole bunch of people.

Chen Xuebing scratched the back of his head, and without much hesitation, said, "Buy it, I definitely want to buy it."

Let's fight it out, what's there to be afraid of?

I still hold shares in Tomorrow Group.

After hearing Chen Xuebing's resolute voice, Leader Huang remained silent for a moment before saying, "You can buy it, but not now. You must settle your debts first and not use this loan to make the purchase."

"Didn't you say he was in the middle of a lawsuit and urgently needed money? What if he gets bought out? Mr. Huang, this company is very important to supporting businesses."

Chen Xuebing started trying to use someone else's name again, but Leader Huang no longer believed in such nonsense.

"Hehe, do your job well. I promise I'll keep this company for you. It's a Chongqing company, so the lawsuit will be fought in Chongqing. If it gets lost, I'll replace it with another one."

(End of this chapter)