Chapter 787: Wishful Thinking

Xiao Lingyu had been paying attention to the news of the Phoenix Farm Villa.

Gong Tianhao said that he would do something. However, before they did anything, the news of Phoenix Farm Villa’s death came on the internet. Their scandals were exposed one after another. For example, they continuously squeezed or delayed the wages of their employees. After the incident where the Phoenix Farm Villa attempted to frame Taoyuan Village, a large number of employees left their jobs.

In order to save costs, the services of Phoenix Villa had obviously decreased by a lot. For example, the food was not good and the attitude of the waiters was extremely bad. At the same time, they also raised various fees.

After that, it was revealed that Phoenix Villa had evaded taxes, and the tax authorities had stepped in to investigate.

The sudden appearance of Taoyuan Village had already impacted Phoenix Villa’s business. However, they were an established brand. There were still tourists who came to visit. The daily turnover of the Phoenix Villa was still a little profitable.

However, after the scandals broke out, the business at Phoenix Villa was gone.

In the past, its daily turnover was still a little profitable, but now it was losing money every day. Moreover, the number of losses was getting bigger and bigger every day.

In less than half a month, it was said that Phoenix Villa had suspended its business.

At first, there were around ten shareholders behind Phoenix Villa. Director Zhang was only a small shareholder, but he was responsible for the management of the villa.

The current situation at Phoenix Villa was an unprecedented crisis. The shareholders naturally wanted to punish him. However, the punishment was not going to solve anything. They needed an extremely capable person who could turn the tide in this situation.

However, where could they find such a person in such a short time?

“What do we do now? Are we going to watch helplessly as Phoenix Villa falls into bankruptcy?” In the shareholders’ meeting, all the shareholders were frowning.

“Then what do you think we can do?” Another shareholder retorted, “If it wasn’t for someone who was courting death and wanted to set up the Taoyuan Village, would our villa fall into such a dilemma?”

“Director Li is right. If someone wasn’t so dumb to set up Taoyuan Village and was caught on the spot, this wouldn’t have happened. The whole thing was recorded and uploaded to the internet. Everyone is mocking us!”

“What a fool! If he wants to do a frame job, he should at least do it well. Now, even our weakness has been captured. He has helped raised Taoyuan Village’s reputation and lowered our own.”

“Enough. Stop complaining.” The largest shareholder, Zhang Da, who was sitting at the highest position, stopped them. “We need to think of a way to bring back the reputation of Phoenix Village, not to complain and blame!”

Director Zhang was the son of Zhang Da, so he naturally did not want to hear these directors constantly blaming his son for not doing his job properly and so on. Even though he was also very dissatisfied with his son’s bad move.

“Chairman Zhang, now that Phoenix Villa’s reputation is ruined, what can we do?” Someone said in a very dissatisfied and somewhat intense tone, “Chairman Zhang, this matter was caused by Director Zhang. The responsibility must lie with him. This matter must be resolved by him. Otherwise, he will have to compensate us for our losses.”

“That’s right, chairman Zhang. Director Zhang is young and impetuous,” A shareholder said, “But that is no excuse. If he does something wrong, he must bear the consequences. Therefore, all our losses must be compensated by him.”

That was what they said but Director Zhang had no assets. To put it bluntly, the shareholders wanted the Zhang family to bear the consequences.

Director Zhang was so angry that his face turned green and purple when he heard the shareholders demanding compensation and belittling him.

In the past, when he was making money for the Phoenix Villa, everyone smiled and praised him. Now, just because of his one mistake, they trampled on him endlessly. It was simply ridiculous.

At this shareholders’ meeting, he had become the one who had the least right to speak. He could not argue for himself.

Zhang Da glanced at his son who was livid with anger. His face wrinkled as he said, “Directors, Director Zhang has already realized his mistake. As for the compensation issue, we can talk about it in the future. The most crucial issue now is to solve the current problem. Don’t worry, I promise everyone that the losses of all the shareholders will be calculated as they wish.” He said ‘calculated’ and not ‘compensated.’

The shareholders were not fools, but they knew in their hearts that now was not the time to make trouble, but the time to solve the problem.

If the problem really could not be solved, then it would be a really big problem. It was only a matter of time before Phoenix Farm Villa went bankrupt.

The various shareholders immediately started discussing again.

In the end, one of the shareholders suggested, “We need to go back to the core. Since the source of this matter is Director Zhang, then please ask Director Zhang to directly apologize to Taoyuan Village.” Speaking up to this point, he deliberately paused and emphasized it again, saying, “The best thing is that Director Zhang personally went to Taoyuan Village to apologize in person, showing more sincerity.”

After he said this, someone else chimed in, “That’s right. If Director Zhang apologizes in person at the Taoyuan Village, we can save our reputation. After that, if we do some publicity, our popularity will naturally rise. At least, we won’t be losing money every day.”

“This proposal is not bad. I agree!”

“I agree as well!”

..

Out of the ten shareholders, eight agreed. The only two who disagreed were the father-and-son pair.

When one of the shareholders saw their hesitant expressions, his expression immediately became somewhat angry as he spoke, “Chairman Zhang, is face more important now, or is it more important to save Phoenix Villa’s reputation? If there’s no apology, we’ll just wait for bankruptcy.”

“That’s right. If you want face, then you’re just looking for trouble. Just wait for bankruptcy.” Another shareholder said unjustly.

Phoenix farm villa was about to go bankrupt, but this father-and-son pair still valued their face.

Director Zhang was so angry that his face was both green and purple. He said very angrily, “Right now, it’s just a rumor on the internet. If I really go out and apologize, wouldn’t it prove that we did those things? Wouldn’t this be a greater blow to our reputation?”

A shareholder was so angry that his face turned red after hearing his excuse. He said angrily, “What rumors? They have pictures and videos! Director Zhang, stop deceiving yourself. Director Zhang, if you really can’t bring down your face to apologize, then fine. You can compensate us with millions and tens of millions of losses first.”

Millions and tens of millions of dollars in losses were not a small amount at all. Yet, the pair still wanted to save faces.

“I agree! If director Zhang already has other solutions that can restore the reputation of Phoenix Farm Villa, I will not care whether you apologize or not. But if you don’t have other solutions, and you still don’t want to help the villa, then fine. You can compensate us for our losses. We are not like the Zhang Family, which has many big businesses. It doesn’t matter at all if you lose millions or tens of millions. It’s a big deal for us.”

“Well, since Director Zhang is not willing to apologize, then do you have any other solutions?”

All of a sudden, Director Zhang provoked all the shareholders to turn on him.

In an instant, Director Zhang’s face turned green, red, and white. He looked at his father with a terrified expression.

Zhang Da coughed twice and then said indifferently, “Director Zhang, since the shareholders want you to apologize, you should go.”

Director Zhang immediately cried out in shock, “Dad!” His eyes were filled with disbelief.

Zhang Da shouted sternly, “Since you’ve made a mistake, you have to bear the price of your mistake! Just like what the other shareholders have said, if you personally go to Taoyuan Village to apologize, with sincerity, as long as we do our work properly, we can instantly restore a large portion of our reputation. After all, all of our current bad reputations were basically caused by you scheming to frame Taoyuan village.” Speaking up to this point, he said earnestly, “Director Zhang, you have to see the big picture!”

Director Zhang’s heart jolted. Then, he lowered his head and felt very humiliated as he replied, “Yes, chairman Zhang. Fine, I will do it!”

Looking at his appearance, one of the shareholders frowned and said with slight dissatisfaction, “Director Zhang, if you apologize with this attitude, then it’ll only make things worse.”

All the shareholders were also very dissatisfied with director Zhang’s attitude.

When director Zhang heard this, he took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry. I know what to do!”

..

Xiao Lingyu was in her office reading the documents when the secretary came over to report, “Director Xiao, the general manager of Phoenix Farm Villa, Zhang Yunkui, wants to meet with you.”

Xiao Lingyu looked up. “The general manager of Phoenix Farm Villa, Director Zhang?”

The secretary nodded. “Yes, President Xiao!”

Xiao Lingyu frowned slightly and asked with some doubt, “Why is he here?”

The secretary said, “He said he’s here to apologize to us.”

“Oh, is that so?” Xiao Lingyu sneered. “Alright then, tell him that he can make an appointment with me. You can make the arrangements!” She wanted to teach Zhang Yunkui a lesson first.

The secretary immediately understood and said, “Okay, I got it.”

After the secretary went down, she said to Zhang Yunkui, “President Xiao is very busy now. You need an appointment to meet her. How about I arrange one for you?”

Zhang Yunkui frowned and asked with dissatisfaction, “Didn’t you tell him who I am? I’m the General Manager of Phoenix Farm Villa. I’m here to apologize to Taoyuan Village. Do I still need an appointment for that?” He almost said that ‘I’ve already given you a lot of face by coming to apologize to you.’

The secretary said with a smile, “I’m sorry, Director Zhang. President Xiao is really very busy. Without president Xiao’s instructions, no matter which big boss or general manager comes to see President Xiao, they must make an appointment. You see…” The secretary was very polite. She didn’t say anything demeaning, but Zhang Yunkui felt so insulted.

Zhang Yunkui’s expression was unusually ugly.

He really wanted to turn around and leave, but when he thought of the task on him, he could only gnash his teeth and ask, “Then when is your latest appointment?”

The secretary flipped through the book and said with a smile, “It’s three days later, Director Zhang.” Then, she asked again, “Director Zhang, do you want to make an appointment? If you need an appointment, I’ll register it for you.”

“Three days later?” Zhang Yunkui’s expression changed again and became even uglier. He asked, “Are there no more immediate appointment times?”

The secretary shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, Director Zhang, there aren’t any. Because you’re the general manager of Phoenix Villa, I’ve already moved your appointment forward. This is the best I can do for you.” The secretary had many ways to deal with this person.

Zhang Yunkui couldn’t control his temper anymore. “Is this the best you can do? The latest appointment is in three days? Do you know how much Phoenix Villa will lose every day I’m staying here? If your president doesn’t want to see me, just tell me so. Why all this fanfare?”

When the secretary heard this, she seemed to be a little stunned as she asked, “Director Zhang, don’t tell me that after you leave Phoenix Farm Villa, the villa can no longer open for business?”

Director Zhang, “…”

Then, he left in a huff.

Seeing him leave, the secretary just curled her lips and then went to report to Xiao Lingyu.

Then, the secretary asked with some doubt, “President Xiao, why did you refuse to see Zhang Yunkui?”

Xiao Lingyu curled the corner of her mouth and asked, “Why would I see him? He said he came to apologize, but he still acted arrogant and bossy. Who would apologize like that?”

The secretary nodded and then asked with some doubt, “President Xiao, why did the general manager of Phoenix Farm Villa suddenly come here to apologize to you?”

Xiao Lingyu said, “What else could it be? Of course, it’s to save their reputation. Apologizing to us is the most direct way. Once they apologize and they do good enough PR, a large part of their reputation can be saved in an instant.”

“Ah, is that so?” The secretary was stunned.