章節 244: Chapter 244: Stepping onto the Road of No Return
In a residential house somewhere in Jiulong, an elderly woman was leading a young man, who looked ordinary and was carrying a suitcase and a bundle, up the stairs.
After reaching the third floor, the elderly woman pointed at a row of rooms and said to the man, "Xiao Ma, now the only rooms available are these few: 307, 309, 310, and 311. They are all about the same size and the price is the same. You can choose whichever you like!"
"Grandma, may I go in and have a look?"
The man, named Xiao Ma, asked softly. His smile, which seemed infrequent, looked rather stiff.
"Of course, I'll open the doors for you."
The elderly woman said kindly, then raised a bunch of keys, found the right ones, and opened the doors to all four rooms.
"Xiao Ma, take your time to look around."
After the elderly woman finished speaking, Xiao Ma nodded at her and went into room 307 to start inspecting.
He then looked at the other rooms and, upon coming out, said to the elderly woman, "Grandma, I'll take room 307. I'll pay you six months' rent in advance."
Seeing Xiao Ma starting to take out money, the elderly woman smiled brightly and nodded, "Alright."
"That's right, here's the key."
After counting the money, the elderly woman cheerfully handed the key to Xiao Ma and prepared to go downstairs.
"Grandma, wait a moment."
Xiao Ma stopped the elderly woman who was about to leave.
"What is it? Do you have any other questions?"
The elderly woman asked with curiosity.
"I just want to know who my neighbors are so I can be prepared when we meet."
"Who lives in 306 and 308?"
Xiao Ma inquired softly, and to prevent any misunderstanding, he explained further.
The elderly woman showed a look of understanding, thought for a moment, and then said, "The person in 306 is a girl named Li Qian. She's quite beautiful. She's only been living here for half a month. I heard she just graduated from university and recently found a job."
"Living in 308 is Song Bo. He's been here for more than a year. He's a waiter and a very warm-hearted person. You two should get along well."
Xiao Ma looked satisfied and nodded, saying, "We'll get along well."
"By the way, Grandma, it's already noon. Why haven't they come back?"
Xiao Ma asked casually again, showing a puzzled expression, but the gleam in his eyes indicated that he was very concerned about this matter.
The elderly woman did not notice anything amiss and casually replied, "Song Bo doesn't come back at noon. As for Li Qian, I saw her packing up a few days ago. She said she was going abroad and probably won't be back for a month or two."
Hearing the elderly woman's words, Xiao Ma's eyes deepened with thought but quickly returned to calm. He nodded and said, "I see. It's not a problem. I can meet her when she comes back. Grandma, you can go about your business. I'll tidy up the room."
"Alright, take your time to tidy up. I'll go downstairs first. If you need anything, come find me downstairs."
Watching the elderly woman's hunched back, Xiao Ma looked at the closed door of room 306, frowning slightly and clenching his fists.
"How unlucky that Xiao Qian went abroad and will be gone for a month or two. When will I have the chance to meet her?"
"I've waited for so many years. I don't mind waiting another month or two. I'll just wait."
"However, since Xiao Qian has graduated from university, found a job, and even gone abroad, I need to investigate the background of that company thoroughly to ensure Xiao Qian isn't being deceived."
After another glance at the closed door, Xiao Ma entered his own room and began to tidy it up.
---
At the headquarters of the Xingdao News Group, Chairman Hu Xian saw off two people at the door. As she watched them drive away, the smile on her face instantly vanished, and her expression turned heavy, as if someone owed her several million.
Seeing the chairman standing at the door in silence, the other employees in the company began to feel uneasy. A senior executive accompanying Hu Xian mustered the courage to suggest quietly, "Chairman, should we go in first?"
Hu Xian turned her head mechanically to look at the subordinate who made the suggestion. Her bloodshot eyes and still pallid complexion made her subordinates dare not look at her and involuntarily lower their heads.
After a few seconds, Hu Xian said with a heavy tone, "Gather the senior executives in the conference room. We'll have a meeting in ten minutes."
Soon, the senior executives trickled into the conference room. Seeing the chairman sitting in the high seat, staring blankly, everyone exchanged worried glances and sat down in silence, not daring to speak.
They could guess the purpose of the meeting called by Chairman Hu Xian, considering the company's recent decline.
Especially in recent days, the four newspapers newly acquired by Jiuding Media Group had seen their sales increase day by day after the revamp. For example, the "Daily News," which only had a circulation of 20,000 a few days ago, had doubled to 40,000 yesterday, and the growth rate remained rapid.
With Jiuding Media Group's newspapers advancing rapidly, Xingdao News Group, as the target of the competition, had been declining. The sales of its newspapers, especially the "Xingdao Daily," were heavily impacted. The "Xingdao Daily" faced a combined assault from five newspapers, including the "Nanyang Business News," "Sin Chew Daily," "Fengyun Daily," "Jiuding Daily," and "Daily News," leading to a severe drop in sales. Everyone in the company was on edge.
Today, the situation worsened as representatives from Henglong Bank arrived, clearly to remind the company about the bank loan given the state of Xingdao News Group.
Everyone saw the dire situation but felt helpless, as if there were solutions, they would have been implemented already. They had held at least ten such meetings, but no effective measures had ever emerged.
"Is everyone here?"
Hu Xian forced herself to ask.
"Chairman, everyone is here."
The editor-in-chief sitting to Hu Xian's left replied.
"Then close the door and start the meeting!"
After the last person closed the door, Hu Xian sighed and said, "Now we are truly at our most dangerous moment. This time, we must come up with a solution no matter what."
Although Hu Xian's spirit was extremely depleted, her tone was resolute. She had reached the point of desperation and had to come up with a solution. She could not afford to waste time in meetings like before without producing effective measures.
The ten million Hong Kong dollar loan, the large-scale recruitment, and the establishment of Xingdao News Agency had all turned out to be a waste of money.
Not only that, but the partially completed Xingdao News Agency was now in a difficult position. Continuing to build it meant not having enough funds, but if stopped, the current Xingdao News Agency was a useless entity, and the massive new personnel's daily wages and expenses were a huge burden.
Unfortunately, the company only had the "Xingdao Daily" and the "English Tiger Report" to generate income. However, the sales of these two newspapers had been declining, and advertisers were canceling their contracts, leading to a sharp drop in revenue. With the current trend, the income was insufficient to cover the company's expenses, and they were losing money every day.
She had completely given up on competing with Jiuding Media Group. She only wanted to preserve the legacy left by her father, Hu Wenhu, and keep the company running without disappearing on her watch.
"If we can't come up with a solution, everyone will stay here overnight. I'll stay with you!"
After a long time, seeing everyone still deep in thought without offering any suggestions, Hu Xian's face grew darker. She had resolved to get a workable solution, even if it meant staying overnight in the meeting room to prevent the company from closing.
Upon hearing Hu Xian's words, everyone's expressions changed. They realized that the chairman was genuinely losing her composure, and her pressure was clearly overwhelming.
"Zhang Feng, speak!"
Seeing Zhang Feng, who was in charge of finance, with a constantly changing expression, Hu Xian ordered.
"Boss, the situation is severe. To solve the problem, it's either about increasing revenue or cutting expenses. Increasing revenue is too difficult, so let's start with cutting expenses."
Zhang Feng said plainly and unceremoniously.
The moment Zhang Feng spoke, everyone was startled. Cutting expenses? Cutting what expenses?
Were they planning to reduce their salaries? How could that be acceptable?
Seeing everyone staring intently at Zhang Feng, Hu Xian guessed their thoughts and hurriedly asked, "How do we cut expenses?"
Zhang Feng was not crazy. Cutting their salaries would also mean cutting his own salary, so his idea of cutting expenses referred to something else.
"Our news agency is just a useless burden. My suggestion is to sell Xingdao News Agency. If we can recover some costs, that's good. If no one wants it, we should disband it directly. Losing those two hundred plus people and various offices would significantly reduce our expenses."
Zhang Feng said expressionlessly, not even looking at the very pale-faced An Yubin, who was in charge of Xingdao News
Agency.
The moment Zhang Feng's suggestion came out, it was as if a heavy hammer had struck everyone. They looked at each other in disbelief. The plan to dismantle the news agency was an extremely harsh measure and was not something they were willing to do. After all, it was their pride and effort for so long.
"Cutting expenses? How can we cut expenses? What do we cut? Our news agency is already a burden, but if we dismantle it, we lose our main battle force. How do we compete with Jiuding Media Group then?"
A senior executive interrupted loudly.
"Then do you have a better solution?" Hu Xian asked coldly.
"I…"
The senior executive who was interrupted had nothing to say. The situation was too serious, and they could not come up with a solution at the moment.
Seeing this, Zhang Feng's expression turned serious as he continued, "If you have a better suggestion, speak up. But if not, this is our only solution for now. We should try to sell the news agency and keep the remaining company operational."
"Okay. If there are no other opinions, let's proceed according to Zhang Feng's suggestion. We'll sell the Xingdao News Agency and reduce our expenses as much as possible."
Hu Xian, feeling exhausted, announced the decision with a heavy tone.
Everyone fell silent, feeling that the situation was beyond their control. The meeting finally came to an end with a dejected mood.
The days after this meeting were filled with tension and anxiety. The senior executives, including Hu Xian, were busy contacting potential buyers, valuing the news agency, and preparing to sell it. However, they were met with multiple setbacks, including no buyers showing interest and the sales price being far from their expectations.
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