Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 373 Huijin Building
The result of negotiation is equivalent to no negotiation at all.

Not a penny less.

But Chen Xuebing still signed the contract and bought it on the spot.

As they left the coffee shop, Rong Xianwen noticed Chen Xuebing's displeasure and said somewhat nervously, "Chairman, it's my fault. I didn't choose the right target, and I didn't know you were in the US with Goldman Sachs."

Chen Xuebing laughed and shook his head, saying, "You're overthinking it. Since I've already signed, there's no problem. This apartment will appreciate in value."

He maintained a warm attitude towards talented and well-connected people like Rong Xianwen, while inwardly comforting himself with Masayoshi Son's "go with the flow" values.

"Do you know why I asked you to choose this building?" Chen Xuebing suddenly asked.

"do not know."

"Because this building is reserved for you. Starting today, you are the general manager of Changzheng Trust Company. The trust you will be in charge of is our group's gold mine, and it will be put into use soon. The nature of the trust dictates that you must maintain a certain degree of independence. I plan to allocate three floors of this building for your expansion department. Gaoteng Building will only serve as our headquarters building temporarily. After the headquarters moves, it will become an independent office building for Changzheng Trust."

As Chen Xuebing spoke, he patted Rong Xianwen on the back, genuinely happy: "We finally bought an apartment! We're landlords in Shanghai now! Let's go take a look!"

Rong Xianwen was also quite excited. He quickly went to the back seat of the Maybach and opened the car door for Chen Xuebing.

"Chairman," Goto Miki followed with some concern, glanced at the Goldman Sachs employees tidying up documents in the coffee shop, and whispered, "Are you really going to seek Goldman Sachs as an overseas strategic partner?"

Chen Xuebing paused for a moment, then glanced at Goto Miki, smiled, and did not answer.

Goldman Sachs missed its chance at the very moment it needed dollars, and further negotiations were no longer an option.

In particular, his brief conversation with Hu Zuliu reminded him once again that Goldman Sachs was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and he wouldn't feel at ease even entrusting his back to them for a moment.

The kind of overseas collaborator he needs is definitely not like this.

His loosening of the rules towards Hu Zuliu was merely a ploy to bring Goldman Sachs in to boost his own position; the more big names involved in Singularity's fundraising meeting, the better.

Of course, Hu Zuliu would never follow his own rhythm after just a few words of conversation. He left in a hurry, perhaps to reassess the singularity, or perhaps because he realized that his attitude was rather tough and that he had some means to use.

In any case, starting today, we need to be wary of Goldman Sachs.

After all, Goto Miki was a foreigner. Although Chen Xuebing was optimistic about her comprehensive work ability in law and finance and believed that she could be trained, he would never reveal a word to her on key matters before a long period of observation. For example, when negotiating with Masayoshi Son in the UK, Goto Miki was clearly the most suitable translator, but Chen Xuebing preferred to speak broken English with Son rather than let her participate.

Goto Miki realized something from Chen Xuebing's silence, and she also kept quiet. She sat in the passenger seat, looked back at Rong Xianwen, who had a warm smile on his face, and felt a little envious of her old colleague who had been in the same team.

Her half-Japanese heritage and international education made her work at a multinational corporation very easy, but in this rising country of her other half, she seems to have to work much harder to prove herself.

A hint of confusion flashed in her eyes, but then her expression hardened.

Although the country is still somewhat backward, it is full of opportunities that she cannot see elsewhere.

She seemed to see the shadow of Oda Nobunaga in this young president.

Full of ambition.

It took more than an hour to explore only half of the building.

A 24-story building, with an average floor area of ​​2166 square meters, is too big.

Chen Xuebing made some plans as he strolled around.

The renovation is already in place, but the partitions are a bit too close together. Gu An needs many large offices, so a lot of walls will have to be demolished.

Another slight inconvenience is that the building already has a mature property management company, Colliers International, with more than 300 leases, meaning that almost half of the building is rented out.

Regarding the property management issue, Gu'an Construction actually has a shell company called Licheng Real Estate with property management qualifications. However, after considering the situation, Chen Xuebing decided to temporarily retain the original property management company and asked them to communicate with the tenants immediately, compensate them for a certain amount of rent, transfer the tenants to odd-numbered floors, and give Gu'an the even-numbered floors. The elevators would require card access.

Those leases are actually a happy problem, as they can solve the vacancy rate issue. The rent for Grade A office buildings in Shanghai is very high. The rent for Gaoteng Building was previously 6.8-8.5 yuan/㎡/day, averaging 2600 yuan per square meter per year, which could generate nearly 60 million yuan in rent annually.

The remaining 12 floors are enough.

The average net office space per person in the finance and legal industries is only 10-15 square meters. Even with this configuration, excluding the public area, it can accommodate a thousand employees.

Previously, Gu An would rent offices that were several hundred square meters in size.

Each floor is now over 2,000 square meters. The remaining 12 floors, excluding the corridor area, are also over 20,000 square meters. He has always wanted to build an employee restaurant, and he could even build supporting facilities such as a coffee shop, reception room, lounge, and gym.

Even if the group headquarters were to expand, it would only have a maximum of 200 employees.

Currently, not many people from Gu'an Construction can come over; most of them are in Sichuan.

Changzheng Capital only has a few dozen people, and they still need to leave a working group in Chongqing to handle that corporate debt.

Changzheng Trust
The trust industry is still underdeveloped. The largest trust companies in the country, Ping An Trust and CITIC Trust, have only about 300 employees each. Even with overseas channels, Changzheng Trust can only allocate a maximum of 150 employees.

Moreover, trust companies need to have a high-quality workforce rather than a large one, and recruitment and selection take time.

However, since trust companies need to accommodate clients, they can be given more space.

By this calculation, this war is far too wealthy; renting out two more floors wouldn't be a problem.

When Chen Xuebing reached the 24th floor, he had already made up his mind and made a phone call to Ren Ying.

"Notify the key leaders of the group and its subsidiaries to arrange their most urgent work as soon as possible and come to Shanghai."

Three days later, in the afternoon, on Fuzhou Road.

Lu Weibing got out of the taxi after receiving a phone call.

"Tell Factory Director Qi that the production capacity of electroplated casings must be increased by 10%! Our electroplating production line must become an advantage, not a drag on production!"

"What? A wet chemistry process expert? Can't we ask Foxconn for support?"

"Okay, I understand! I'll ask the chairman for a favor! I'll bring the expert back! If the electroplating capacity still can't be increased, I'll hold you responsible!"

When I hung up the phone, I had already arrived at the entrance of the square building.

A group of workers were busy at the entrance, tearing down an advertising banner for "Gaoteng Building" and installing silver lettering for "Guan Huijin Building" at the lobby entrance.

"Huijin Building." Lu Weibing smacked his lips, smiled, looked around, and entered the lobby.

As the elevator exited on the 24th floor, the sound of a cutting machine piercing the air filled the air.

There were more than twenty workers in the corridor, which was filled with renovation materials. Some rooms were being filled with workers carrying things, while others were having their wallpaper re-applied.

Lu Weibing clicked his tongue; the chairman was quick on his feet.

"President Kan!" He spotted a familiar face and waved in greeting. Kan Zhidong was talking with several people when he noticed him approaching. He simply nodded, pointed to the room at the far end of the corridor, and continued speaking to the others: "The Shanghai government strongly supports the relocation of Gu'an. We've also communicated with the city leaders, and the Housing and Construction Committee has given us the green light for the property registration. It should be completed by the day after tomorrow at the latest. President Chen, now is the time for us to spend money. You need to think of more ways to include future accounts receivable in the credit line assessment."

The man who looked like a leader stroked his chin and pondered, "Here's the thing, our branch's maximum authorized limit is 20 billion. If you want to increase the limit, you'd better contact the Pudong branch of ICBC. They have a pilot policy and recently completed a 56 billion Yangshan Deep-Water Port project. We can cooperate in the form of a syndicate. We'll process the 20 billion for you first, and the document reserves 25% of the limit for them. Once you get it done, the total limit can reach 26.6 billion."

Lu Weibing overheard this as he passed by the two of them, and his mind began to race with calculations.

26 billion!
Long March still has a large net profit at the end of March!

Sent!

He raised his head, adjusted his smile, walked to the office at the far end of the corridor, and knocked on the door.

"Chairman."

The door was ajar. Lu Weibing pushed it open, revealing a neatly furnished office inside.

There were many people, and it was quite noisy.

Two men wearing hard hats were gesturing and talking by the window.

Ren Ying sat on the sofa, pointing to a drawing and explaining it to someone.

"The tenants on the 22nd and 18th floors must be evicted tomorrow so our workers can move in. We can offer a 100 yuan discount on the rent, and the rent will not increase next year, but only for these two years. The lease expires at the end of next year, and the rent for renewal will be based on the original contract. Please keep this confidential."

The administrative director next to her, He Yue, was also making a phone call with her arms crossed, looking quite proud.

"Don't worry, our leaders have already instructed that we must meet the highest standards. This includes not only employee meals but also small dining tables for client receptions. As long as the chefs your company sends can cook Sichuan and Cantonese dishes well and keep the place clean, we will not deduct any agency fees. We will pay the chefs for as long as they are employed."

"Local cuisine? Yes, definitely! Oh, and we also need four pastry chefs. We usually have at least two or three hundred people eating, and at most four or five hundred, but there shouldn't be many people eating breakfast."

"The daily meal allowance is 40 yuan per person."

"The second floor will be a restaurant, about 2000 square meters. You'd better send someone over to plan the layout for us. However, we'll have to purchase the kitchen equipment ourselves."

Lu Weibing was astonished. A meal allowance of 40 yuan a day!

This is the procurement cost.

He heard from a friend that the meal allowance for Air Force pilots was only 30 yuan!
40 yuan, and some people don't even eat at the company cafeteria... They must be eating lobster and abalone!

He recalled the technicians and engineers at Qidian who called downstairs every day to order fast food, and the factory workers who ate communal meals, all with their minds filled with "asking the chairman for welfare benefits."

When Spreadtrum's chairman, Wu Ping, saw him come in and greeted him, he didn't even have time to pay attention. His eyes found the chairman sitting behind the large desk, and he hurriedly stepped forward to speak.

The chairman raised his hand at him, then mumbled "uh-huh" into an earphone cord.

He then noticed that the chairman was wearing headphones and talking on the phone in a low voice.

"Director Liu, we will definitely make up the 10 billion yuan capital of Changzheng Trust this year. However, we need to use the overseas product channel immediately. As you know, the CDS contract has been signed, and we have contacted almost all the investors. There is no problem with their willingness to invest. Everyone trusts us and is just waiting for the China Banking Regulatory Commission to open the channel. Please be sure to make an exception."

"Well, everything else is fine, but Tomorrow Group is causing trouble. I suggest we thoroughly investigate their controlling stake in Baoshang Bank; there's a lot of shady stuff going on."

"Hehe, okay, okay, that's settled then."

After the call ended, Lu Weibing was about to speak when the chairman raised his hand again and dialed another number.

"Xianwen, I've already discussed things with Director Liu. We can postpone the capital issue for now. Go to the Trust Supervision Department of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and submit the trust product information there."

"Hurry, go now."

“I know it’s almost time to get off work. Someone is waiting for you. His name is Xia Qiang. You can call him Section Chief Xia.”

Who's in charge of the company's recruitment these past few days?

"I understand. Get things done in Beijing. Mr. Cai will be back soon. I'll have him take care of this for you."

After hanging up another phone call, Chen Xuebing took off his earphones and looked behind Lu Weibing.

"Where are Cai Zhijian and Wu Jiesi? Didn't they come with you?"

Lu Weibing was taken aback: "Oh, I already asked. They're leaving from Zhuhai Sanzao Airport, around the same time as me. They're flying from Hongqiao Airport, so they should get here faster than me, right? They're almost there, aren't they?"

"Oh." Chen Xuebing nodded, put on his headphones again, and made a phone call.

"Mr. Wang! How much longer will it take for your equipment to be integrated and tested?"

"General Manager Lu and General Manager Wu have arrived here. We're about to discuss the first batch of Huaqiangbei orders! Give me a specific time!"

"Process verification? Personnel evaluation? Don't give me any of that nonsense, I just need specific timelines!"

"March 20th! Okay! It's a deal! I've guaranteed to the Beijing State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission that the 4.5-generation line will generate 5 billion in sales and 400 million in gross profit! If it can't start production on time and this year's performance falls short of expectations, it's your responsibility! The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and I will definitely hold a meeting to criticize you!"

"A sixth-generation production line? Of course we'll do it! We're incredibly busy right now! We're currently organizing our technical staff! The team will definitely arrive by the beginning of next month! Don't worry, we'll guarantee quality, quantity, and speed!"

"You'd better pay me the project payment on time!"

Lu Weibing watched as another phone call ended, then waited hesitantly for someone to speak.

Unexpectedly, Chen Xuebing picked up another phone on the table, looked at it, and then made another call.

"Hey! Mayor Yan! I was busy just now and didn't see you!"

"Haha. Thank you, thank you! Let's develop together with Shanghai!"

"Oh, by the way, I heard that a piece of land in Lujiazui will be developed in the second half of the year, and it can be used for land swaps?"

"Yes, that's right. My next plan is to build a larger headquarters."

Chen Xuebing's voice grew softer and softer as he spoke. Looking up at all the people in the office, he simply got up, covered the microphone, and left.

Lu Weibing stood there, stunned.

Wu Ping, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but laugh. He patted the seat next to him and said, "President Lu, sit and wait. I've been watching him make phone calls for over an hour since I arrived here. Every single one of them is a big deal. If you want to report your business, you'll have to wait a while."

Lu Weibing had no choice but to sit down next to Wu Ping, rubbing his forehead and sighing, "With the headquarters moving to Shanghai, there will be even more things to do for the group. If you want to see the chairman, you'll have to go to Shanghai often."

Wu Ping smirked slightly: "With Chairman Chen here, the landscape of Shanghai's business community is likely to be shaken up."

(End of this chapter)