The morning rush hour traffic always seems to get inexplicably jammed.
At the intersection leading into the underground parking lot of the Yong Xing Building, Lin Yushu steered his car with one hand, sandwiched in the slow-moving traffic. Despite the constant blaring of car horns, he tried his best to remain calm and composed.
“There are too many work-related problems to deal with; it’s not worth getting worked up over traffic,” he thought.
After moving forward about ten meters, the cause of the traffic jam finally became visible. A small car had rear-ended a commercial vehicle, and the two drivers were examining the damage. It appeared that the accident had just occurred.
Lin Yushu had originally planned to take a detour around the accident with the flow of traffic, but when he saw that the driver of the small car was his colleague, he turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction and parked his car behind the small car.
“I’m telling you that it’s better to handle this privately,” the middle-aged man said impatiently. “If you file a claim with insurance, your premiums will increase next year, do you know that?”
The woman in professional attire appeared confused and looked at her phone with furrowed brows. “Wait for me to ask,” she said.
“Everyone is rushing to work,” the middle-aged man became even more impatient. “Can you stop wasting time?”
Lin Yushu walked over to Zhan Tíng’s side, took a quick glance at the scratches on both cars, and saw that they were not serious.
“Do you need any help, Manager Zhan?” he asked proactively.
When Zhan Tíng turned her head and saw that it was Lin Yushu, she immediately felt as if she had encountered a savior, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed. “Manager Lin, you arrived just in time. Can you help me figure out how to handle this?”
Most rear-end collisions are the fault of the trailing vehicle, and all Zhan Tíng could do was file an insurance claim and pay more premiums next year, or pay for the damages privately, thus maintaining the same premium for next year.
Lin Yushu had already heard the middle-aged man’s intention and asked, “How much do you want for a private settlement?”
The middle-aged man glanced at the emblem on the small car and quoted a figure, “Two thousand.”
“Then let’s file an insurance claim,” Lin Yushu said.
“Wait a minute,” the middle-aged man’s displeasure was written all over his face. “If we file an insurance claim, we have to wait for the traffic police to determine who’s at fault. Do you really want to deal with that hassle? My car is worth a million, isn’t two thousand a fair amount for a private settlement?”
“Is the car yours or your boss’s?” Lin Yushu retorted. “Five hundred. If you don’t agree, we’ll file a claim.”
“You…” Perhaps feeling exposed as just a driver, the middle-aged man instantly became nervous and gritted his teeth, “A thousand.”
Lin Yushu’s tone remained unchanged: “Just five hundred.”
As the clock neared punch-in time, the drivers rushing to work became more and more impatient, and the roads were filled with the sound of incessant honking. The middle-aged man seemed to know that Lin Yushu couldn’t be cheated, so he finally accepted a five hundred yuan transfer from Zhan Ting and drove away in his business car from the congested street.
“Manager Lin, thank you so much. Without you, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
While waiting for the elevator in the underground parking lot, Lin Yushu ran into Zhan Ting again. Zhan Ting thanked him again, but Lin Yushu didn’t think it was a big deal. However, from the look on Zhan Ting’s face, it seemed that she hadn’t fully processed the accident just now.
“You could have just called the police. In any case, don’t believe whatever the other party says.”
Lin Yushu’s voice was clear and cold, but not fast-paced. Although Zhan Ting was on the same level as him and was older than him, these words coming from his mouth did not give the impression of being condescending.
Zhan Ting nodded, as if suddenly remembering something, and asked, “Did that car really cost one million yuan? It looked just like a Wuling Hongguang to me.”
“It did,” Lin Yushu said. “It’s a Toyota Alphard, which costs around eight or nine hundred thousand yuan when bought new. But since he’s a driver, he must have a repair shop he knows well. Five hundred is enough. From the way he looked, he probably didn’t want to delay his boss’s use of the car.”
“But he still wanted two thousand from me,” Zhan Ting grumbled discontentedly. “I should have reported him to the police for extortion.”
There are all kinds of people on the road. Lin Yushu was already used to it and said, “He probably saw that you were driving a Mercedes and that you’re a female driver, so he wanted to cheat you.”
“Hmph,” Zhan Ting suddenly became embarrassed. “It’s not like my car is some kind of luxury car.”
Zhan Ting’s car was a Mercedes A-Class, costing around two hundred thousand yuan, and was indeed not a luxury car. Most people who buy this car are attracted by the Mercedes logo and don’t really consider its performance.
“Oh, Manager Lin,” Zhan Ting changed the subject directly. “How did you know that guy was a driver?”
“I heard him say he was rushing to work,” Lin Yushu said, “and most people who drive that car are drivers.”
“I see,” Zhan Ting nodded. “It’s said that investors need to be able to read people well. Manager Lin, no wonder you have such good investment insight.”
“No,” Lin Yushu said politely. “I just happen to know a lot about cars.”
This statement can be considered quite humble.
Lin Yushu not only knows about cars, but he is very knowledgeable about them.
He drives a Honda himself, which looks like an ordinary grocery car, and he even had a colleague joke with him, saying that a Honda is not worthy of his income. But in reality, Lin Yushu’s car is a red-label Honda Civic Type R, a little steel cannon that is rumored to “be faster than the sky, the earth, and the air” on the racetrack.
Lin Yushu may seem easy-going and agreeable on the surface, but only those who truly know him understand how decisive and ruthless he can be in the capital market.
The elevator finally stopped at the 37th floor, the executive office of Yong Xing Group.
Strictly speaking, Lin Yushu was not an executive of Yong Xing Group, but the office where he worked, the Shao family office, was the most important branch of Yong Xing Group.
Yong Xing Group was founded by Shao’s grandfather and its wealth can be roughly divided into four parts: the core automobile business, which accounts for more than 60% of Yong Xing Group’s revenue; non-core businesses such as real estate and entertainment, which are diverse but still valuable; overseas trusts used to safeguard wealth inheritance; and the family office, which increases family wealth through capital operations.
Of course, since it’s a family office, as the name suggests, they have to deal with all kinds of family matters. Recently, a family member wanted to start a company, and tax manager Zhan Ting had to provide advice and strategies.
As for Lin Yushu, who is responsible for investment, anyone in the family who wants to buy a large asset has to ask for his opinion first.
The size of the Shao family office is not large, with only about ten people, but they are all elites.
When Shao’s grandfather established the family office, he invited Lin Yushu’s teacher to be the CEO of the office, and the teacher brought Lin Yushu along when he joined. Now, Lin Yushu has been working for the Shao family for five years.
“Okay, everyone is here, let’s start the meeting.”
Shao Guangjie, sitting at the head of the table, clasped his fingers and pressed them against a stack of documents, looking at everyone seriously. “The acquisition negotiations are scheduled for next Friday. Everyone please review the plan again to ensure that there is no risk.”
The elites sitting around the conference table looked at the documents in their hands seriously, and Shao Guangjie emphasized again, “I want to emphasize once again that we absolutely cannot let Song Qiming participate in the company’s management.”
Lin Yushu knew it was about this matter, otherwise this young master wouldn’t have come to the family office in person for a meeting.
Shao Guangjie is Shao’s grandfather’s grandson, the rightful heir of Yong Xing Group, and the current CEO of the company. Song Qiming, whom he mentioned, is Shao’s grandfather’s grandson from another daughter, who lives with his mother in Germany and is a cousin of Shao Guangjie.
Originally, no one compared the two cousins, since Song Qiming’s mother had left the family a long time ago and had no interest in the company’s operations.
But in recent years, Song Qiming, as an automotive engineer, has attracted more and more attention from the public. It’s no wonder that Shao Guangjie is guarding against him like a wolf.
Song Qiming first came into the public eye a few years ago during the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, where he was photographed with a male European movie star on a trip.
It was revealed that he was the founder of S-power modification factory, and the cars he modified not only set lap records at the Nurburgring circuit, but also achieved excellent results in major international competitions.
Later on, someone uncovered his relationship with the Yong Xing Group.
Interestingly, Song Qiming’s car factory only modified Yong Xing cars, giving a feeling that “the Yong Xing modified by him is better than the original Yong Xing.” This is worth pondering.
Yong Xing is an established domestic car brand, focusing on comfort and luxury. Due to the impact of emerging car companies in recent years, sales have gradually declined.
Perhaps to perform well in front of his grandfather, or to suppress his rising cousin, Shao Guangjie made a decision to acquire Song Qiming’s S-power modification factory.
Examples of car factories specializing in modifying a certain brand of car, achieving good results in various major competitions, and then being acquired by the original factory are not uncommon.
The acquired car factory will become the high-end line of the car brand, and the price of the car is usually several times that of ordinary cars. However, Yong Xing’s business line lacks this kind of high-performance car, so acquiring Song Qiming’s modification factory can just make up for this shortcoming.
If the acquisition is successful, it will be a win-win situation.
Yong Xing Automotive will inject fresh blood, and the stock price is bound to soar. As for Song Qiming, his modified cars can be mass-produced and face a wider audience, which is naturally a good thing.
But the problem is that Shao Guangjie only wants the modification factory, not Song Qiming.
This is difficult to handle.
If Song Qiming is foolish enough, this acquisition can be easily negotiated. But…
Lin Yushu looked at the acquisition plan in his hand, which was close to a hegemonic clause, and silently evaluated the possibility of Song Qiming being a fool.
“Manager Lin.” After the meeting, Shao Guangjie stopped Lin Yushu, who was about to leave, and said, “Do you have any ideas about the acquisition plan?”
“The current plan,” Lin Yushu said tactfully, “may not be able to be negotiated in a short period of time.”
In other words, Song Qiming is definitely not satisfied.
“I believe in your abilities.” Shao Guangjie smiled, not as serious as before, “Do you have any plans this weekend?”
Lin Yushu suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. In the eyes of the boss, an employee’s personal life is not a big deal. Seeing that tomorrow is a day off, he probably has to work overtime this weekend.
“Do you have any arrangements, Mr. Shao?” Lin Yushu asked.
“Accompany me to Singapore tomorrow,” Shao Guangjie said matter-of-factly.
Lin Yushu thought about the date, plus the destination of Singapore, and immediately had an answer in his heart: “To watch the F1 race?”
“Right,” Shao Guangjie said, “while we’re there, let’s also visit some friends.”
Lin Yushu didn’t immediately respond.
As someone working in the “big family,” Lin Yushu naturally knew that Shao Guangjie bringing him to Singapore wasn’t just about watching a race. But as his job was to serve the members of the Shao family, he couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, since the teacher fell ill, Lin Yushu had almost become the temporary CEO of the family business. The bosses of the Shao family liked to find him for all sorts of reasons, and his work had changed from investment analysis to attending charity dinners with the bosses.
However, Lin Yushu still didn’t want to go alone with Shao Guangjie.
Just as he was thinking of excuses to decline, Shao Guangjie spoke again: “Don’t want to go? I’ve got grandstand tickets in the starting grid.”
… Alright.
As a veteran racing fan, Lin Yushu could only smile professionally and say, “Of course I’ll go, Mr. Shao.”
The core of this piece is about business wars, but it will involve some racing culture and car modification culture. It won’t be very difficult to understand.
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