"This chairman fellow is truly damned!" Huang He clenched his fists, his anger reaching a peak after piecing together the final truth. It had been a long time since he had felt this enraged.
Initially, Boss Huang had suspected internal strife, as all pressure seemed to originate from GH, leading him to consider darker possibilities and established practices.
However, as the truth unraveled, Huang He's fury intensified. It turned out to be a betrayal, a collusion with foreign companies to harm their own national industries.
Upon discovering Jiangnan Group's incredible advancements in storage chip technology, the five foreign companies, being no fools, had keenly perceived the immense threat this technology posed to their future markets. They were determined to acquire this novel technology for themselves.
But they soon found that Jiangnan Group was an impenetrable fortress. Huang He was not short of funds and was certainly not foolish enough to sell a technology that could keep the industry ahead by more than a decade for mere money.
They had tentatively sent invitations to Jiangnan Group for technology licensing or sharing, all of which Huang He politely declined.
After that, there had been silence. Huang He had assumed these entities had given up. Now, it seemed, they had not abandoned their intention to acquire the storage chip technology but had given up on pursuing it through normal channels and instead aimed to seize the entire Jiangnan Group.
Somehow, they had discovered Jiangnan Group's issues with loan funding and identified a loophole that allowed for the direct acquisition of Jiangnan Group.
Consequently, they had unhesitatingly contacted the chairman of GH, demanding his cooperation in taking over Jiangnan Group, and subsequently acquiring its related technologies. After all, these technologies and patents were under Jiangnan Group's name; once Jiangnan Group was acquired, these technologies and patents would be theirs.
It had to be admitted that this was a perfect, insidious, yet effective strategy, provided GH cooperated with their technological ambitions. Thus, they found a way to ascertain the chairman's weakness: his desire to become the president of the World Bank.
In fact, for most bankers, the position of World Bank president was not particularly prestigious; many career bankers actively avoided it, seeing it as a mere figurehead role.
The World Bank was governed by a board of directors composed of representatives from various countries. The World Bank president, on a daily basis, was at most responsible for handling routine affairs. When it came to making decisions on specific investments or aid to certain regions, they had no say.
These decisions were made by the countries behind the World Bank. The presidents of these banks were merely instruments for executing plans, hence, true bankers were unwilling to undertake such a subservient role.
However, this chairman was clearly different. After over twenty years of indoctrination by foreign influences, he likely viewed the World Bank presidency as the pinnacle of the banking industry.
In the perception of most Chinese people, the World Bank president was undoubtedly the most impressive, as it sounded like the president of all banks in the world, which was incredibly magnificent.
Therefore, if a Chinese person were to become the World Bank president, and the news reached China, this chairman's status would soar. The media would extensively publicize it, essentially making him as famous as Mo Yan, who had just won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He would become known throughout the country overnight, the most renowned financial figure in China, eclipsing all domestic economic personalities. This was far superior to being an obscure GH chairman and retiring quietly.
If you don't believe it, try naming a former GH chairman within three seconds; most people wouldn't be able to.
Thus, these chairmen were tempted. When the four companies actively expressed their willingness to promote his appointment as World Bank president, even directly adding his name to the nomination list to assure him it wasn't a scam, this chairman abandoned many principles and rules. He moved against Huang He, cooperating with them in the embezzlement of Boss Huang's assets.
However, whether this chairman's aspirations would be realized remained a big question mark, given the Americans' questionable credibility.
Moreover, based on Huang He's own understanding, Americans always appointed their own lackeys as World Bank presidents.
Among the past presidents of the World Bank, there had only been one Asian, a South Korean named Kim Yong.
Well, although his name sounded identical to that of a famous Chinese martial arts novelist and even looked similar, his name had an extra radical "钅" (gold), proving he was genuinely in finance.
As for this GH chairman, Huang He believed his dream was likely just a dream. If he truly became World Bank president in the future, Huang He would donate 1 billion yuan to support the civil rights movement of African Americans in the United States, as a gesture of praise and support for America!
"We'll see about that!" Huang He finally closed his eyes gently. Since the intelligence was gathered and he had grasped the entire situation, the next steps would be straightforward. Huang He would give them an unforgettable experience.
---
"The new investigation team has successfully infiltrated Jiangnan Group to conduct their investigation!" On a golf course in Hong Kong, several individuals were conversing while playing golf.
The first to speak was a stern-looking middle-aged man, one of the chairman's most trusted confidants. He had been stationed in Hong Kong, responsible for communication with the other party.
"Was this smooth? Will there be any new complications?" the head of HSBC inquired with some concern.
"No, this was very smooth. Our leader specifically instructed the investigator not to give the opponent any excuses, to adhere to all precious rules, and to prioritize clarifying the facts!" the representative stated.
"Although Jiangnan Group set some traps for him, he ignored them all, so Jiangnan Group could do nothing to him and could only let him investigate all relevant materials!"
"That's right. The previous person was simply too foolish. When someone dug a trap, he jumped right in, wasting a lot of time and alerting the snake, giving Jiangnan Group time to prepare. It's unlikely we'll achieve our intended goals this time," another person sighed, complaining in English.
This was the China region head of HP-Compaq, an American.
"Yes, I imagine Huang He must be desperately raising money during this time. He might even sell off some assets prematurely to get 1 billion US dollars. After all, his company's actual value exceeds 3 billion US dollars. Selling 1 billion US dollars shouldn't be difficult," the Compaq representative said worriedly.
"We don't need to worry about that for now," the head of Citibank interjected. "Our bank, in conjunction with HSBC, and after notifying several other friendly banks, has been monitoring the flow of US dollar funds we control. We haven't found any large amounts of US dollars flowing into Jiangnan Group's accounts. At the same time, we've maintained close contact with other financial institutions in the US and haven't discovered any intelligence about Jiangnan Group selling assets."
"Then this is even more suspicious!" the Samsung representative frowned. "Based on our understanding of Huang He, he is by no means someone who would passively wait for his doom. He must be finding ways to raise this 1 billion US dollars. If he shows no outward signs of seeking funds, it implies he is secretly contacting companies to sell assets and obtain 1 billion US dollars. Once they reach an agreement and secure the funds, our plan will fall through!"
"..." Hearing the Samsung representative's words, the atmosphere in the room turned solemn. None of them were fools, and that Boss Huang was exceptionally shrewd. He would absolutely not sit idly by at this moment. He would do everything in his power to get the money, unless he secretly held billions of US dollars in cash.
But that was utterly impossible. They had thoroughly investigated all of Jiangnan Group's investments, and it was highly unlikely that Jiangnan Group currently had 1 billion in cash.
"Latest news, our investigator has emerged and has taken a large amount of intelligence and data from Jiangnan Group!" the chairman's representative suddenly announced. He had just received a phone call, seemingly about this development.
"How are things?" the others asked impatiently.
"Not great, but not terrible either!" the representative nodded. "Huang He has indeed been busy these past few days. He has transferred a large volume of data, making it impossible to find or verify any records proving his expenditure of the 1 billion US dollar loan for purchasing investments in American companies. Either they are missing, non-existent, or have been accidentally destroyed. In any case, no evidence was found within Jiangnan Group; he cleaned up very thoroughly."
"Heh, this is all thanks to your clever colleague who gave Huang He five precious days, allowing him to conveniently dispose of all the evidence!" the HP-Compaq representative snorted coldly.
"Enough, let's not argue about this anymore. After all, we had anticipated such a situation, and we thank our gentlemen from HSBC and Citibank."
"With their help, we obtained the transaction details of Huang He's acquisitions of several companies in the United States. Although the funds were transferred through several banks before reaching the transaction accounts, Huang He didn't expect us to trace them all the way to confirm they originated from GH's accounts."
"This is decisive evidence!" the Citibank representative declared with great authority, as if victory was already assured.