Chapter 621 - 443: One Billion? Heaven Doesn’t Reward the Diligent! Wrong Direction, Wasted Effort

’He can barely save himself, and he’s worried about others?’

Chen Yansen scoffed inwardly, but his impression of Qin Shangzhi improved slightly.

Although Qin Shangzhi was incompetent and couldn’t seem to do anything right, he was still a damn sight better than those bastards who targeted employees over 35 for layoffs.

No one understood the fucked-up lives of those born in the ’80s and ’90s better than Chen Yansen.

Just as the ’80s generation graduated, the state job assignment system was abolished. Before they could even find work, the financial crisis hit. They barely scraped by, and then housing prices began to skyrocket.

The ’90s generation had it even worse. When they were in middle school, elementary school became free. When they were in high school, middle school became free. By the time they got to college, housing prices were going insane. And after they slaved away for ten years to finally buy a home, the fucking prices started to plummet.

For those born in the ’90s, the more ambitious you were, the more miserable your life often ended up.

Chen Yansen had never placed age restrictions on hiring. His companies, including Feiyu Technology, all had a number of older operations staff and programmers.

’And it was absolutely not because they were cheap and effective!’

"Mr. Qi, President Qin, to be frank, I’m not very interested in Xinke. It’s too old and run-down," Chen Yansen said bluntly.

"Mr. Chen, Xinke has a twenty-year history in Luoyang Town. The surrounding ancillary businesses are very well-developed. If Senlian Capital were to start from scratch, the preliminary work alone would take a year or two."

Qi Siyang urged patiently.

As the highest-ranking official of the Changzhou Central Bureau, he naturally hoped to make this acquisition happen.

Given Senlian Capital’s track record, promotions and raises for the employees would be standard procedure. The real priorities would be upgrading production lines, injecting more R&D funds, and boosting industrial output.

Xinke could go under, but Changzhou couldn’t afford to lose the economic output, much less stand by and watch over five thousand people lose their jobs.

To borrow a line from the movie *Let the Bullets Fly*, Qi Siyang didn’t care who owned Xinke, as long as the jobs, tax revenue, and industrial output stayed in Changzhou.

"President Qin, what’s the current valuation of Xinke Air Conditioner?" Chen Yansen asked after a moment’s silence, a deliberately troubled look on his face.

The implication was clear: he only intended to acquire the air conditioning business.

He considered the production lines for their other products—LCD TVs, DVD players, electric fans, air purifiers, and the like—to be complete junk.

"One billion. That includes the land, factory buildings, production equipment, and the brand and patent assets." Qin Shangzhi gritted his teeth and quoted a package price.

"I don’t want the brand. You can keep it," Chen Yansen replied.

’He doesn’t want the brand?’

Qin Shangzhi froze for a second.

He had assumed Chen Yansen was acquiring Xinke Air Conditioner primarily for its brand.

"Five hundred million. But there’s also two hundred million in debt that Senlian Capital would have to assume," Qin Shangzhi said after a moment of thought.

"President Qin, five hundred million is fine, but the debt belongs to Xinke. I’m buying Xinke’s land, factory, and production lines. Why on earth should I be responsible for its debt?" Chen Yansen stated his disagreement clearly.

Besides, the land didn’t even belong to Xinke. Based on the average price of 410 yuan per square meter for industrial land in Sujiang, the 300,000-square-meter plot was worth 123 million yuan.

The factory buildings covered 220,000 square meters. With construction costs between 900 and 1,200 yuan per square meter, their total value was between 198 and 264 million yuan. After factoring in ten years of depreciation, even 180 million would be a generous offer.

The production equipment was worth even less—80 million at best. These old clunkers were about as old as Chen Yansen himself; he’d probably have to haul them off to India or Africa to find a buyer.

As for the patents, even though Xinke was in decline, just a few years ago its R&D team had numbered over four hundred. They had built up a decent patent pool in technologies like vortex noise reduction, swing mechanisms, and multi-fold high-efficiency evaporators, on top of owning numerous foundational patents.

Some things you might never use, but you have to have them. Otherwise, you’re just asking for an infringement lawsuit from your competitors.

A quick estimate valued these patents at barely one hundred million. Regardless of their actual utility, they represented over a decade of accumulated work.

Chen Yansen’s offer of five hundred million was based purely on liquidation value, without a single cent of premium.

Because Xinke didn’t deserve a premium!

"What about the five thousand-plus employees at the factory?" Qin Shangzhi asked, neither agreeing nor refusing.

"I’ll do my best to retain all operators below the supervisor level. Everyone else can either take an ’N+1’ severance package and resign, or re-interview for their positions," Chen Yansen replied.

Qin Shangzhi and Qi Siyang exchanged a look, and both could see the conflict in the other’s eyes.

On the one hand, Senlian Capital was willing to take on all of Xinke’s rank-and-file employees. On the other hand, he was driving a ruthless bargain, only willing to pay three hundred million after deducting the debt.

"Mr. Chen, why don’t we head to President Qin’s office for some tea and discuss this further?" Qi Siyang suggested again.

It would be difficult for Qin Shangzhi to make a decision so quickly. After all, this was a deal worth hundreds of millions, and it concerned the livelihoods of over five thousand employees.

"Alright." This time, Chen Yansen agreed readily.

The group stood outside the production workshop, many of them wiping the sweat from their brows.

July in Sujiang was just as oppressively hot and humid.

Three minutes later, they entered Qin Shangzhi’s office. The room was decorated in a classical, antique style. Everything from the desk to the chairs was made of mahogany. Directly ahead hung a piece of calligraphy that read "Heaven Rewards the Diligent," the characters bold and powerful.

’Heaven doesn’t reward diligence!’

’If your direction is wrong, all your effort is for nothing!’

Qin Shangzhi himself was living proof of this principle. The harder he thrashed about, the faster Xinke died.

"President Chen, Mr. Qi, please have a seat. Xiaosun, go make a pot of Longjing tea," Qin Shangzhi said, giving instructions to his assistant.

Chen Yansen remained unhurried, making small talk with Qi Siyang and Qin Shangzhi. He casually let slip Senlian Capital’s planned investment in the large home appliance sector.

This made Qi Siyang and Qin Shangzhi exchange a look of mutual astonishment.

Qin Shangzhi was filled with envy.

Qi Siyang, however, was thinking, ’How can I keep this Senlian Capital investment here? It could stimulate Changzhou’s economic growth and boost the entire industry chain.’

"By the way, who owns the factory next door? Its campus looks to be no smaller than Xinke’s," Chen Yansen asked casually.

"That’s Xinyuan Sheet Metal Co., Ltd. They used to supply casings and brackets for Xinke Air Conditioner. But as Xinke’s business dwindled, their owner moved the factory to Ningxiang to become a supplier for Gree," Qin Shangzhi explained slowly.

In fact, during Xinke’s heyday, seven of the ten factories in the vicinity were its ancillary suppliers, producing motors, air conditioner vents, buttons, foam packaging, cardboard boxes, and other components for them.

"How big is it? Is it currently in use?" Chen Yansen asked, feigning ignorance.

"It covers 280,000 square meters, with 200,000 square meters of factory space. The core production area—which includes sheet metal, heat exchanger workshops, final assembly, and the finished goods warehouse—is 120,000 square meters. The R&D area is 30,000 square meters. The administrative building, employee cafeteria, dormitories, power center, and logistics plaza take up the remaining 50,000 square meters."

Qi Siyang glanced at his assistant, who immediately rattled off the details as if reciting them from memory.

He then added, "Two months ago, Aux expressed interest in building a production base in Luoyang Town. They’re projected to need 500,000 square meters of industrial land, and the old Xinyuan Sheet Metal site falls right within their target area."

Chen Yansen smiled. From the glances and subtle movements exchanged between Qi Siyang and his assistant, he shrewdly deduced that their statement was likely half-truth, half-bluff.

Judging from his experience, Aux’s investment was real, but the chosen location was a lie.

"Oh, then never mind," Chen Yansen said nonchalantly, raising his teacup for a light sip.

’Trying to rip me off?’

’Not a chance!’

Qi Siyang gave an awkward smile and shot his over-eager assistant a harsh glare. Then he turned back, still smiling. "If President Chen is interested, I can step in and handle it."

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Qi," Chen Yansen replied with a placid smile.

Qin Shangzhi, who had been sitting to one side, finally spoke up after some deliberation. "President Chen," he began tentatively, "Six hundred million. I’ll handle the debt myself."