98: Chapter 98 Income Not Enough

Shen Yan responded with an 'Mm' and then grabbed his keys to head to the company.

Upon arriving at the company,

he noticed the atmosphere today was a bit different.

Unlike the usual clamor, everyone was remarkably quiet today.

He walked over to Wu Ya and Chen Guangke and asked the two of them, "What's wrong with everyone? Why is it so quiet today?"

Hearing Shen Yan's question, Wu Ya and Chen Guangke exchanged a look before replying, "Isn't there a major company holding a bid? They increased their offer again today, saying that whoever wins the bid will receive an investment of fifteen million."

"Everyone thinks this project is quite good and is contemplating whether or not to participate in the bidding for it."

Increased the offer?

Shen Yan frowned.

It was just a project bid; was it necessary to add another five million to the price?

No, there must be a trick to this.

He Yunri was right; this company has a problem!

With that thought, he patted Chen Guangke and Wu Ya on the shoulder and said, "Tell them to quiet down a bit and focus their attention on the projects they currently have in hand."

Chen Guangke and Wu Ya had no objections.

Meanwhile, on the other side,

Chen Ling had also received the news.

"Increased the offer?"

"Why?"

The secretary had no idea why. He nervously replied, "Perhaps because there aren't any good projects available..."

Chen Ling frowned in thought.

No...

It was already a huge move to publicly put up a ten-million-dollar bid in the first place.

Adding another five million at this crucial juncture, there must be something fishy about this!

She wanted to make money, that was true, but she wasn't a fool.

She couldn't take on a project that so clearly had issues.

With that in mind, she told the secretary, "Have everyone gather in the conference room in half an hour."

The secretary sighed inwardly.

Another meeting...

Was there ever an end to it?

Although that was what he thought, he didn't dare say it.

After all, Chen Ling was his boss; whatever Chen Ling said, he had to do.

Half an hour later, in the conference room.

"I called everyone here today mainly to discuss this matter of the public bidding project."

Hearing this, the managers from various departments exchanged glances.

"Are we starting work on this?"

Chen Ling shook her head.

"I have a different idea regarding this matter."

"That major company has added another five million as the investment capital."

As soon as this was said, they immediately began whispering amongst themselves.

"Five million?!"

"Doesn't that bring the total to fifteen million?"

Hearing the murmurs, Chen Ling clapped her hands on the table.

"Everyone, quiet down. It is true that the total project funding is fifteen million, but I don't think this matter is that simple."

"A fund of fifteen million is simply too large. Any smart person would not choose to spend that much money to buy software."

"They could completely establish their own project team."

As soon as she finished speaking,

everyone hesitated to speak.

It wasn't as if an Employee hadn't brought this up before.

But Chen Ling hadn't listened at the time.

Now that they were preparing to work, Chen Ling was turning around to say the project was problematic.

Wasn't this like her left and right brains fighting each other?

"CEO Chen, ten million and fifteen million aren't that different. Since we've already decided to do this, why worry so much?"

The person who spoke was the manager from the Finance Department.

"Do you really think the budgets of ten million and fifteen million are similar?"

"As the Finance Department manager, you should be very sharp when it comes to budgets, shouldn't you?"

The Finance Department manager pursed his lips.

He said sincerely to Chen Ling, "Yes! I admit that fifteen million as a budget to buy software is indeed too high, but the company is currently operating at a loss."

"If we cannot immediately launch a project that can generate revenue, the company will certainly face a liquidity crisis soon."

Chen Ling was stunned.

"Operating at a loss?"

Not only Chen Ling was surprised, but the Finance Department manager was also surprised.

"Yes. I have already compiled and submitted all the financial reports from the past three months. Didn't you see them?"

Chen Ling was struck dumb.

She truly hadn't looked at them.

For the past few months, she had been busy opposing Shen Yan and hadn't even looked at the mountain-high pile of financial reports on her desk.

"Whether I looked at them or not aside, tell me why our company is currently operating at a loss!"

"Aren't those software programs constantly running and making a profit?"

The Finance Department manager sighed.

With so many people in the company,

personnel costs and operating costs all required money.

Relying solely on the old capital wasn't enough.

"It's true those software programs are making money, but the money they earn isn't nearly enough. Our company is currently spending more than it earns, and we must create new, profitable software."

If the company's situation wasn't so dire, he wouldn't have brought this up in the meeting.

"How much capital does the company currently have on its books?"

The Finance Department manager pulled out a document from the materials he brought and handed it to Chen Ling.

"This contains my calculations..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ling interrupted him directly.

"I am standing right in front of you. Why are you giving me documents? Just tell me directly how much capital the company currently has on its books!"

The Finance Department manager sheepishly took back his documents.

"The total capital currently on the company's books is three million five hundred sixty thousand."

"If we cannot become profitable within the next two months, our company will face a capital chain rupture."

"Slap!"

Chen Ling fiercely slammed all the documents in her hand onto the desk.

"Such important information, why are you only reporting it to me now? Where were you before?"

The Finance Department manager silently rolled his eyes.

He had already compiled all this information into documents for Chen Ling; wasn't it her fault for not looking at them?

Of course, he definitely wouldn't say that.

"I apologize, CEO Chen."

Chen Ling also knew that some of the fault lay with her, so she didn't continue to vent her anger on the Finance Department manager.

She cleared her throat and said to the Employees, "Regarding the bidding matter, I need to discuss it with the other shareholders. Everyone, don't make any rash moves for now."

"That's all. Meeting adjourned!"

With that, she walked out of the conference room in her sky-high heels.

...

As soon as she stepped out, the secretary rushed to catch up with her and said, "CEO Chen, CEO Wang is waiting for you in your office right now."

Chen Ling turned her head, raising an eyebrow.

"Perfect timing. I was planning to look for him too. Let's go back to the office together."

A few minutes later, she returned to her office with the secretary.

"CEO Wang, long time no see."

Wang Tian looked at Chen Ling with a half-smile.

"It has indeed been a while. It seems you've been doing quite well these past few days. Yang Jin has taken good care of you."