Chapter 357 - 221: Overseas Market

Chapter 357: Chapter 221: Overseas Market

The phone rang. Xia Bin glanced at the caller ID.

He forced himself to rally. This person was his only lifeline now, his last remaining hope.

Miao Lei from Wanhong Square!

He was calling to discuss promotional events. Normally, his VP or manager of operations would handle this sort of thing, but this time, Miao Lei was calling him personally.

On one hand, Four Seasons Clothing was still one of their major tenants. On the other, the pressure was simply immense, and Miao Lei hoped a personal appeal would convince the tenant to do him a favor.

Miao Lei’s call was good news for Xia Bin. Wanhong Square was planning to follow Junxiao Square’s lead and invest two million into a month-long sales promotion. This would be a huge boost for the performance of the brands in the mall.

Xia Bin had six stores in the mall, and since it was the month before the Spring Festival, this was a great chance to recoup some losses and bring in a wave of cash.

He was, of course, extremely cooperative. He readily agreed to all of Miao Lei’s requests and stated frankly, "President Miao, we’re in the same boat now. I promise Four Seasons Clothing will give Wanhong Square our full support!"

In return, Miao Lei promised to offer some concessions on next year’s lease renewal terms.

This finally gave Xia Bin a glimmer of hope. He refused to believe his bad luck would last forever. Surely, the tide had to turn eventually.

After hanging up, Miao Lei sighed. He knew Four Seasons Clothing was struggling. Part of the reason for his call was to let Xia Bin know he was offering a lifeline.

He never thought the day would come when he and Xia Bin would become brothers in misfortune.

What he didn’t know was that Xia Bin had another brother in misfortune: Peng Yu.

These days, Peng Yu was beset by problems the likes of which he had never seen before.

His malls were bleeding tenants. On average, each location had over twenty stores on the verge of collapse, all confirmed to be pulling out after the Spring Festival.

In the past, there might have been a few closures, but he could always just pressure some brands from his premium malls to fill the vacancies.

But now, he didn’t have a single premium mall left. The brands were pulling out without a second thought. ’Your Wansheng Group Hanjiang Region has no good locations left,’ they seemed to say. ’Why the hell should I care what you think?’

The only reason it wasn’t worse was that some brands were major national partners of Wansheng Group and couldn’t easily pull out.

On top of the closures, tenants were refusing to pay rent. They all had security deposits with the malls and worried Wansheng would withhold them upon their departure. So, many proposed using their deposits to cover the rent—something absolutely forbidden by Wansheng Group.

The big boss of Wansheng Group was short on cash, so he couldn’t allow any delinquent payments. That pressure was passed down to the regional level.

Then came the issue of rent increases for post-New Year renewals. Tenants were already struggling to stay afloat, yet the regional office was still saddled with a mandatory 10% rent increase demanded by the group.

That 10% was already a special concession, lowered only after the region had sold off five malls. Otherwise, according to Wang Jun’s original directive, the overall rental income target would have remained unchanged, meaning rents would have had to double.

Of course, back then, only Qingyun Wansheng Square had been sold. After three more were sold off later, Wang Jun had found an opportunity to report to the Wansheng Group’s chairman and managed to get the region’s burden partially reduced.

But even so, it was an impossible task...

Peng Yu was so anxious he couldn’t sleep at night. He’d even cut back on his trips to business KTVs lately.

With a melancholy sigh, Peng Yu scrolled through his phone. He remembered a call from a few days ago and dialed the number.

A headhunting firm had recommended a position to him: Group Vice President at Minghan Business Management Company.

He hadn’t been interested at first. The "Group Vice President" title sounded impressive, but Minghan Business Management wasn’t a large company. It was entirely an asset-light operation with an annual net profit of less than 100 million.

It was a far cry from the Hanjiang Region he used to manage. In his glory days, he wouldn’t have given such a position a second glance.

But now, his position as the head of the Wansheng Hanjiang Region felt like sitting on hot coals.

Meanwhile, Miao Lei received a message from Xu Jun.

"President Miao, are you free to chat sometime?"

Miao Lei’s spirits lifted. It was obvious what Xu Jun wanted to talk about.

He had met Xu Jun on many occasions in the past and they had always gotten along well. After all, they were both general managers of landmark commercial properties.

He never expected Xu Jun to extend an olive branch at a time like this. Miao Lei quickly realized this was his turning point. This could be a golden opportunity.

The ship of Junxiao Business Management had only just set sail, but anyone with eyes could see it was about to ride the winds and make some serious waves.

"It would be my honor, President Xu. You name the time; I’m available whenever."

Conversations between smart people were always so efficient.

Not a single word was said about a partnership, yet every word conveyed the desire for one.

Miao Lei’s attitude was sincere, his tone suggesting he was ready to follow President Xu’s lead. Xu Jun knew he had him.

Wanhong Square was already in obvious decline. If it were to lose another key general, it would be doomed beyond recovery.

Xu Jun thought back to when Wan Chao had rejected him. ’That old man’s face will look absolutely awful when he finds out,’ he mused.

’You didn’t want the 1.7 billion I offered? Fine. I’ll just save a few hundred million and crush your mall instead.’

Xu Jun fully endorsed President Xu Wu’s strategy: negotiate while attacking. Using pressure was the easiest way to get the results you wanted.

When Chen Xiao received Lin Ya’s message, he felt like laughing. ’She’s just trying to find an excuse to talk to me.’

"Boss, thank you for the year-end bonus. When are you coming by to check on our work?"

’Why is she thanking me for the year-end bonus? Shouldn’t she be thanking President Xu Jun, or President Xu?’

’You’re just looking for an excuse to get spanked... no, that’s not right. Just an excuse to talk.’

"Yes, I should come take a look," he replied. "And speaking of last time, thanks for taking that hit for me. Were you hurt?"