Extraordinary Genius

Chapter 541 - Multilateral cooperation Part 3 of 6

Li Zekai also expressed his intention to be the General Manager. Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng agreed. In fact, being the General Manager was the most tiring position. Although he would have lots of authority, his authority was not very powerful either. Luckily, he was also one of the directors and can be considered the second in command in the company.

The 3 of them carried on with their lunch and assigned the duties to all parties. Now, they have to wait to see if Superman Li and Fu Rongbing wants to be part of this venture.

……

That evening, at the Li Family’s mansion, Li Zekai stopped Superman Li and Li Zeju: “Dad, Brother, can the both of you go to the study room for a while? I have something to tell the both of you.”

Superman Li looked at Li Zekai puzzled. Earlier in the morning, he had already given him 100 million USD. Could it be that the company had encountered some difficulties? Cannot be. Both Feng Yu and that kid from the Fu Family had invested. Li Zekai’s lawyer, who was also the Li Family’s lawyer had informed him after the contract was signed.

“Brother, your company had run into some problems?” Li Zeju asked concernedly.

Although both brothers were not close, they were brothers after all. Their relationship was not as bad as what the media reported. Also, Li Zeju was already appointed to be the successor, and there was nothing for both brothers to fight for.

“Dad, Brother, I had signed the contracts with Feng Yu and Fu Guangzheng. They had invested 10 million USD each into Pacific Century Group. After that, we had lunch together, and we chatted about investing in China……”

Li Zekai told his father and brother about what was discussed over lunch and hinted that he does not have enough cash on hand. He only has 20 million USD, and it was not enough to invest. Based on what was discussed, Fu Guangzheng, Fu Rongbing, Li Zekai, and Superman Li will invest 30 million USD each for 15% shares. Feng Yu would invest 75 million USD for 35% shares. The remaining 5% of shares will be sold at 50% discount, 5 million USD, to the key employees.

This was why Li Zekai wants to borrow at least 10 million USD from his family and asked his father and brother to invest with 30 million USD into this venture. Also, he needs to select some staffs from their supermarket to be the managers in the company. Most importantly, he wants to use their family’s supplier network to supply Tai Hua Supermarket Enterprise with products.

“The total worth of the shares was only 200 million USD. Why Feng Yu was willing to invest an extra 5 million USD?” Li Zeju asked curiously. 5 million USD might not be a lot to them, but it was also not a small amount.

“He gets to name the supermarket, and he wants to be the Executive Director.”

“He wants to be the Executive Director? Then who will be the Chairman?” Li Zeju was shocked. He thought Feng Yu would want to be the Chairman. Executive Director cannot take on the role of Chairman or General Manager. Feng Yu was giving up his authority!

“Fu Guangzheng will be the Chairman, and I will be the General Manager.”

“Fu Guangzheng and not Fu Rongbing? Zeju, what do you think of Fu Guangzheng’s ability?” Superman Li asked. Fu Rongbing had been managing the Fu Family’s supermarket business for decades. He should be the most suitable person to be the Chairman.

“I do not know much about Fu Guangzheng. However, in the past two years, he has been managing Hong Kong’s Guanghui Trading company and had been doing well. I had also heard of a joke about him. He likes to buy antiques. He attended an antique auction once and said that he had skipped an important meeting just for this auction.” Li Zeju replied.

Li Zeju had pointed out Fu Guangzheng’s capabilities and also his flaws.

“Dad, Brother, let me add one more thing. Feng Yu have lots of businesses in China, and Fu Guangzheng has some shares in those businesses. Fu Guangzheng is also the one managing those businesses.”

Without this reason, would Feng Yu support Fu Guangzheng to be the Chairman? This was also why Li Zekai did not oppose Fu Guangzheng to be the Chairman and opt to be the General Manager.

“Fu Guangzheng is managing Feng Yu’s businesses in China?” Li Zeju was confused. Feng Yu was the major shareholder, and he gives out his authority? Why? He really trusts Fu Guangzheng so much? How long have they known each other?

Superman Li understood why Feng Yu made such decisions, and he looked at his eldest son: “Do you think a 20 years’ old young man can have the energy to learn management while focusing on making investments?”

Many geniuses were talented in one field, but Superman Li have never seen someone who was gifted in all areas! Feng Yu wanted to be the Executive Director and could keep an eye on the company’s finances was enough. No matter who was in charge of the company, their ultimate motive was for the company to make money. Feng Yu, as the major shareholder, will be the one who will profit the most from the company.

Li Zeju finally understood. Feng Yu was not good at managing. But even if he was not good at it, he could still hold on to all the authority over his companies. He was full of respect for Feng Yu for letting go of all his power to others.

“Dad, I think this venture has the potential. But why is the total investment so high? 200 million USD. How many supermarkets are you all going to set up? With China’s current economy, are you sure you can make money? Have you calculated how long will it takes before you can get back the investments?” Li Zeju asked.

200 million USD was equivalent to more than 1 billion HKD. They could set up at least 10 supermarkets. Other than Shanghai and Beijing, were there other areas that were suitable to set up supermarkets?

“Our initial plan was to set up at least 20 supermarkets at once. The funds will be mainly used for the rental, fittings, marketing, and deposits for the goods. We will control the funds for every supermarket to be less than 100 million. I do not know China’s economic situation well, but Fu Guangzheng has been in China for some years. The Fu Family also have a supermarket business. He estimated it will take 3 years to get back our investments.” Li Zekai said.

“100 million for one supermarket and you all are going to set up 20 at once with your current funds? That means you all are going to get loans?” Li Zeju frowned. They were going all out. They did not consider the risks?

“That’s right. We are getting at least 1 billion loans. Our target is to set up at least 5 supermarkets within 3 years and 100 within 5 years!” Li Zekai replied.

“Did Feng Yu say how long he thinks he will get back his investments?” Superman Li asked suddenly.

Li Zekai’s expression suddenly became awkward, but he replied gravely: “Feng Yu said that at most it will take one year to get back our investments and then we can continue to invest in new supermarkets.”

“One year? Stop joking. How can you recover your investments within a year from a supermarket? Don’t you know that supermarkets depend on volume and the profits will not be over than 15%? Most of the time, the profits are only about 10%! To be able to earn back 100 million within a year, then how much must the monthly sales be? 100 million?” Li Zeju shook his head. This Feng Yu was too optimistic. Have you ever managed a supermarket before? Does he think that the profits from supermarkets were very high?

“Zeju, do you still remember that we have analyzed the Fu Family’s first supermarket’s profits?”

“About 30 to 35%.” Li Zeju answered. He still remembers the figures.

Wait, what did dad mean by this? Could it be that the profits from the supermarkets in China will also be so high? This…… Could this even be possible?