Chapter 205 - 181: The Second-Largest Shareholder of the Xu Family Village Collective Enterprise

Chapter 205: Chapter 181: The Second-Largest Shareholder of the Xu Family Village Collective Enterprise

It was nearly three o’clock when Xu An returned to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant from the Hai City Convention and Exhibition Center. Apart from Tang Wen, all the employees had already clocked out for the day. After resting for a moment in the main restaurant, Xu An remembered he had a meeting at six that evening and decided to quickly wrap up his tasks so he could head back early.

But as he walked around, Xu An was stunned to discover that Lu Ziyue had already drafted the next day’s ingredient procurement list; a quick check revealed no problems. The warehouse inventory and consumption rates had also been tallied, with everything that needed restocking—what, when, and how much—listed with perfect clarity. Wang Fulong was busy organizing materials to follow up with the companies from the convention that were interested in staff meals. As for the minor details Wei had wanted to discuss that morning, a quick look showed Tang Wen had already taken care of them flawlessly. Tang Wen had also launched the pre-opening promotions for Xu’s Braised Shop, and it looked like the results were quite promising...

After taking stock of everything, Xu An realized he had nothing to do! All the tasks were either already finished or currently being handled by his three employees. It seemed all he had to do was sit and wait for them to finish, compile their work into reports, and give them to him for his signature...

He’d thought it would take them two or three days to get the hang of these tasks. But to his surprise, after just one morning, the three of them had already gotten a crystal-clear understanding of the ins and outs of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. All it took was a simple explanation, and they could handle things perfectly.

Xu An silently gave the three of them a thumbs-up. After reminding them to shut off the water and electricity and lock the doors and windows before leaving, he rode his small tricycle back to the village.

When he returned to Xu Family Village, he saw many villagers busy setting up a venue under the large banyan tree at the village entrance. Some were moving tables and chairs, while others were setting up speakers and debugging the equipment; it was a lively scene. The setup looked quite formal, too. There was a red carpet, a raised platform, and even a lectern had been arranged. A banner hung from the large banyan tree: The First Xu Family Village Assembly.

In front of the stage were ten sets of tables and chairs that looked like they’d been borrowed from a nearby elementary school. On each table was a bottle of mineral water and a triangular name plaque. Xu An curiously went closer for a look and was surprised to see a plaque with his own name on one of the tables. However, Xu An had a job to do tonight—he needed to help Uncle Dongliang and the others. He wasn’t sure if he’d even get a chance to warm up the seat.

At six o’clock, the meeting officially began. Second Grandpa stood up from the audience, strode onto the stage in a few large steps, and picked up the microphone. He tapped it a few times with a disdainful expression before setting it aside. He planted both hands on the lectern, his sharp gaze sweeping over everyone seated below. His booming voice rang out, not only reaching the ears of every Xu Family Villager clearly, but also every one of the onlookers from the neighboring villages.

"...After this period of exploration and research, we have found a viable direction for development—tidal flat aquaculture! Furthermore, we’ve invited a team of experts in marine studies, led by Professor Yu, to be stationed in Qianhai Town to provide us with technical support... After professional testing, the tidal flat on the southeast corner of Qianhai Town, in terms of both its size and various conditional factors, perfectly meets our requirements..."

"...Although there is government support, we still need to raise the initial funds ourselves. According to the policy, the ratio for our village collective’s contribution versus the government loan is four-to-six. That is to say, we put up forty percent, and the government provides the remaining sixty percent, interest-free for three years!" Second Grandpa turned a page of the document in his hand and continued, "After a unanimous discussion at the city level, our village’s collective enterprise can be approved for a maximum loan of three million yuan. But the exact amount we can apply for depends on how much money we can raise ourselves."

Hearing about a three-million-yuan loan, before the people of Xu Family Village could even react, the onlookers from the neighboring villages erupted. The noise was so loud it directly interrupted Second Grandpa’s speech.

"Are those Xu Family Village folks out of their minds? Three million! They couldn’t fetch that price if they sold their entire village, land and all."

"You just don’t get it. Xu Family Village has fewer than thirty households. Once the loan comes through, each family gets over a hundred thousand. They can build new houses, buy cars, and head straight for a comfortable life! And later, if they just drag their feet and refuse to pay it back, is the government really going to come and demolish their houses and repossess their cars?"

"..."

Listening to these rumors and malicious gossip, Xu An couldn’t help but frown.

’Do these people really think the government is a fool? Even if Xu Family Village successfully secured a three-million-yuan loan, the money wouldn’t be deposited into the village’s account all at once. After leasing the tidal flat, we’d have to take the relevant documents to the city for approval. Only after passing that review could we get the second installment of the loan. Next would be purchasing equipment and developing the area, after which we’d need a second approval from the city to get the third installment...’

’The whole process is incredibly strict, requiring five or six rounds of approval from start to finish. Even after all the funds are disbursed and the aquaculture project is up and running, the city would still send people for surprise inspections from time to time to ensure Xu Family Village hasn’t misappropriated the funds. The scenario those other villagers are talking about—taking the money to build houses and buy cars—is simply impossible.’

Xu An and Uncle Dongliang glanced at Second Grandpa. After getting his nod of approval, they called over Uncle Guosheng and a few others to drive away the onlookers from the other villages. Seeing Xu An and his group approach, the gossips fell silent and scattered. But once Xu An and the others returned to the meeting area, the crowd swarmed back like flies, and their mouths started spouting all sorts of foul and bizarre nonsense again.

Uncle Dongliang grew agitated listening to them and was about to get up to shoo them away again, but Xu An held him back. "Just ignore them," he said. "Once we’ve made money, we’ll build a proper assembly hall in the village. From then on, all our meetings will be held inside. We’ll close the doors, and they won’t be able to see or hear a thing!"

Just then, Second Grandpa also reached for the microphone he so despised, pressed the power button, and brought it to his lips. This time, his amplified voice completely drowned out the chatter from the other villagers.

"Without further ado, we’ll move on to the investment portion. There’s a slip of paper at each of your seats. Everyone, please write down your name and the amount you wish to invest. In two minutes, Dongliang and Anzi will come down to collect your slips." After speaking, Second Grandpa was about to put down the microphone, but he seemed to remember something. He brought it back to his mouth and added a reminder, "Although our target is two million yuan, I hope everyone here will act within their means and not be reckless."

Second Grandpa’s added remark sent the surrounding onlookers into roaring laughter. They all started mocking him, wondering if the Xu Family Village chief, a big shot in Qianhai Town for years, had gone senile. He kept talking about two or three million as if it were as cheap as cabbage by the roadside. If Xu Family Village could really cough up two million in one go, why would every family still be living in tile-roofed houses and getting around on electric scooters?

The surrounding laughter didn’t affect the people of Xu Family Village. Everyone picked up their pens and, without hesitation, wrote down their family’s name and investment amount, then quietly waited for Xu An and Xu Dongliang to collect the slips.

’When he heard the two-million-yuan fundraising target, Xu An had made his decision without a second thought. He would invest the entire nine hundred sixty thousand yuan from his Hai City Bank loan into the village’s collective enterprise! As for the storefronts on Zijing Road and Qianjin Street, he could look again next month. If worst came to worst, he’d just take out another loan. Given the current performance of Xu’s Fast Food, securing another loan wouldn’t be difficult.’

While Xu An was lost in thought, he suddenly felt someone nudge him. He looked up to see Uncle Dongliang, reminding him it was time to go collect the filled-out slips. Xu An immediately got to his feet and walked straight toward where Uncle Guosheng and the others were sitting.

Taking the slip of paper from Uncle Guosheng, Xu An glanced at it quickly, a look of surprise crossing his face. The slip neatly read: Xu Guosheng, 260,000 yuan. This was tens of thousands more than the investment amount he’d mentioned during the meeting at Second Grandpa’s house.

Before he could say anything, Aunt Hong handed her slip to Xu An—Li Xiudie, 170,000 yuan. Next was Uncle Guoqiang—Xu Guoqiang, 90,000 yuan... As Xu An continued collecting, he found that among the ten people in the first two rows, not a single person had contributed less than seventy thousand yuan...

After Xu An and Xu Dongliang had collected all the slips, they took out a calculator and, with a flurry of button presses, tallied up the total. They wrote the final number on a blank notecard and handed it to Second Grandpa.

Although Second Grandpa had already estimated that they would reach the two-million-yuan mark—after all, Xu An had let him know beforehand that he alone could contribute one million—he was still astonished when he saw the actual number on the notecard. Astonishment was quickly followed by gratification. ’Even in this restless era where people’s hearts are fickle, everyone in Xu Family Village is still united.’

Second Grandpa’s surprised expression lasted less than two seconds, but under the bright lights, the onlookers caught it completely. They instantly burst into another round of laughter.

"HAHAHA, the total must be too low."

"Not necessarily, not necessarily! Maybe he was shocked by how high it was."

"No way! If Xu Family Village can actually cough up two million, I’ll... I’ll... I’ll eat that pile of dog crap at the village entrance!"

"..."

’Although Xu An wished Second Grandpa would just announce the total amount raised by Xu Family Village and mercilessly slap these onlookers in the face, he knew that if the number were made public, the village would be swarmed the very next day by a horde of distant relatives they hadn’t seen in a lifetime, all looking for a handout...’

Second Grandpa had clearly considered this as well. Instead of announcing the final amount, he mischievously had Xu An pass the notecard down to the audience, starting with Uncle Guosheng, for them to circulate. The first reaction of every person who received the card was to hold their breath, their eyes widening, before letting out a huge "Whoa!" and quickly passing it to the next person.

This uniform reaction from the Xu Family villagers made the crowd of onlookers intensely curious. Many wanted to edge closer to find out what was going on, but they were all frozen in place by Second Grandpa’s sharp glare, not daring to move.

Running their mouths and mocking Xu Family Village was one thing; there was no pressure there. After all, in all these years, no one had ever been beaten up just for having a foul mouth. But if anyone dared to step forward now and snatch the slip of paper being passed around by the villagers, the consequences would undoubtedly be dire...

Listening to the continuous gasps of amazement from the villagers, the onlookers felt as if a hundred claws were scratching at their hearts—an unbearable, itching curiosity that was pure torture.

After the notecard made its way around the entire venue, it finally returned to Xu An’s hands. Second Grandpa then called out two words, "Meeting adjourned." The first Xu Family Village Assembly was officially over.

Back home, Xu An closed the courtyard gate and turned to meet his grandmother’s curious gaze. Granny Xu beckoned him closer, leaned in, and whispered in his ear, "Anzi, how much did the assembly raise? And how much did you put in?"

"The village raised a total of 2,286,300 yuan. I invested nine hundred and sixty thousand, which gets me sixteen point eight percent of the shares in the village’s collective enterprise." As he spoke, a smug look appeared on Xu An’s face. "In other words, I’m the second-largest shareholder in the Xu Family Village collective enterprise."