134: Chapter 134 When I asked him, why did he say no?

Chapter 134: Why Did He Say No When I Asked Him?

Liao Mingjun believed that Fengyuan's valuation should be around nine million.

He was willing to accept Jiuxiang's controlling interest; as long as Jiuxiang invested four million, he would yield fifty-one percent of the shares.

Of course, this valuation was only what Liao Mingjun claimed.

As for whether it was actually worth that much, Ji Guoxiong would certainly have to send people to conduct an assessment.

But Liao Mingjun was undoubtedly showing quite a bit of sincerity!

The two companies willing to accept investment from Jiuxiang Catering were likely both eyeing Jiuxiang Hotpot Restaurant.

The outside world might not be clear on the development status of Jiuxiang Catering, but the companies supplying ingredients to them should have a general idea.

Su Yang frowned and asked, "Can we just buy it outright?"

The approximate valuation of Fengyuan happened to fall right within Su Yang's most acceptable range.

If a company were any more expensive, it wouldn't be easy for him to make a move right now!

Moreover, Fengyuan's ingredient processing plant also piqued his interest.

"I mentioned it to Liao Mingjun, but he refused!" Ji Guoxiong felt he had still underestimated his boss's desire for control. "Liao Mingjun is very career-driven. He hopes that after Jiuxiang invests, Fengyuan can still maintain a relatively independent state, with him still in charge of the entire company."

"That won't do!"

Su Yang shook his head.

Su Yang didn't mind having other shareholders in the company; he actually didn't have that much of a desire for total dominance.

But he had to have the controlling stake and operational control.

He liked giving employees raises, which inherently damaged the interests of other shareholders.

Even if he were the majority shareholder, it would easily cause dissatisfaction among the others.

Just like with Jiuxiang Catering.

If they followed the management style of most catering chains on the market, he could lay off a quarter or even a third of his hotpot restaurant employees.

He could also reduce each employee's salary by one or two thousand...

If he were ruthless enough, saving twenty million in labor costs over a year wouldn't be a problem!

If the company's net profit increased by twenty million, how much would the shareholders get?

No one would complain about having too much money!

Therefore, even if shareholders wanted to join, they had to agree with Su Yang's "management philosophy"!

He didn't want to have unpleasant friction with shareholders!

Even more, he didn't want to have to "give an account" to all the shareholders at every turn.

Su Yang thought for a moment and asked, "What kind of person is Liao Mingjun?"

"He's relatively reputable, treats his employees well, and is very strict about ingredient quality!" Ji Guoxiong thought for a moment before evaluating, "He's still a bit young now, but he should be able to achieve something in the future."

"Then I'll meet with him!"

Su Yang felt that as long as the price was high enough, nothing in this world was truly not for sale.

When it came to negotiation, he was definitely stronger than Ji Guoxiong.

Moreover, he wanted to cut through the mess quickly; this matter had to be settled as soon as possible!

Since Fengyuan was willing to be controlled, it showed that it was inherently quite weak.

Liao Mingjun clinging to power felt more like... a show of strength to hide his weakness.

"Alright!"

Hearing that Su Yang wanted to see him, Liao Mingjun became excited upon receiving the notice.

He had seen the frantic development of Jiuxiang Catering over the past few months with his own eyes.

He believed this was a golden opportunity for Fengyuan to rise!

Fengyuan had already missed many opportunities; he didn't want to miss this one.

So, at 1:45 PM that day, he arrived at the headquarters of Jiuxiang Catering.

At 2:00 PM, led by the secretary Jiang Yuzhen, he arrived at Su Yang's office.

Upon first meeting Su Yang, Liao Mingjun was slightly surprised.

Although he had heard that the boss of Jiuxiang Catering was very young, he didn't expect him to be this young!

He seemed even younger than himself.

However, he didn't hesitate for long and took the initiative to extend his hand to Su Yang:

"CEO Su, I've heard so much about you!"

He really had heard of Su Yang for a long time.

He truly admired Su Yang's ability to develop over twenty Jiuxiang Catering stores in Rongcheng in such a short period.

The business was booming everywhere!

With Su Yang's ability and vision, he wouldn't be able to match him in this lifetime.

He had done catering business before and nearly lost his father's entire fortune!

In fact, he didn't know that Su Yang also thought he was very young; Liao Mingjun was actually only twenty-five!

"CEO Liao, please have a seat!"

Su Yang shook hands with Liao Mingjun with a smile, giving Liao Mingjun a feeling as refreshing as a spring breeze!

The two sat on the sofa and chatted casually, and Liao Mingjun gradually relaxed.

They were both young people in the catering industry, so they had many topics in common.

Liao Mingjun even took the initiative to ask Su Yang some questions, and Su Yang was able to answer them all one by one.

In terms of practical operation, Su Yang might not be an expert.

But when it came to theory, that was his forte!

Liao Mingjun's first impression of Su Yang was that he was young and handsome.

The feeling he gave off was very friendly; it always felt like Su Yang was an old friend of his.

Coupled with his existing admiration for Su Yang, the more they talked, the more harmonious the atmosphere became.

When the topic turned to company development, Liao Mingjun couldn't help but pour out his grievances to Su Yang.

Liao Mingjun's father, Liao Xiong, came from an ordinary background and later followed relatives into the vegetable wholesale business.

He spent almost his entire childhood in the North District Vegetable Wholesale Market of Rongcheng.

Later, as Liao Xiong's business grew, he founded a company with two close friends specifically to supply ingredients directly to some hotpot restaurants and eateries in Rongcheng.

A few years ago, Liao Xiong felt that the profit from direct ingredient supply was too low and wanted to move into ingredient processing.

The plan was to process ingredients into semi-finished products before providing them to hotpot or catering shops.

If possible, the company could also engage in research and development to provide finished ingredient products directly to catering shops.

However, at this critical moment, due to years of overwork, Liao Xiong fell bedridden.

After nearly a year of illness, he passed away, and Liao Mingjun took over his father's company.

He also agreed with his father's philosophy, believing that if Fengyuan wanted to move forward, it couldn't just be a simple ingredient supplier!

If they didn't change, they would sooner or later be eliminated by other, more powerful supply chain giants!

But with Liao Xiong gone, the company's other two partners were unwilling to invest in building a factory.

They didn't trust Liao Mingjun much either, because he had lost a lot of money when he started a catering shop.

They felt that following Liao Mingjun was simply too risky!

However, Liao Mingjun still gained the support of most of the company's employees. Withstanding the pressure from the two partners, he invested in building an ingredient processing plant and then looked for sales channels everywhere.

He was under immense pressure now, with a group of people depending on him for their livelihood.

But the business just wouldn't expand.

Firstly, the market happened to be in a bit of a slump.

Secondly, market competition was extremely fierce!

Most large catering chains had their own supply chain systems.

Or they simply had supply chain companies they controlled.

It was hard for them to get a foot in the door.

Those small-scale catering chains were more willing to cooperate with well-known local suppliers.

Their Fengyuan could only squeeze profits as much as possible to compete with low prices, resulting in very thin margins.

This created a vicious cycle with no hope of development in sight!

Jiuxiang Catering was an important partner for Fengyuan; although their orders weren't massive yet, they were growing very fast!

He also paid quite a bit of attention to the development of Jiuxiang Catering.

Of course, Fengyuan's supply to Jiuxiang Catering wasn't much either; they were just one of the hotpot restaurant's suppliers.

Ji Guoxiong was keeping his options open with several suppliers at once!

This time, wanting to accept Jiuxiang's control was also because Liao Mingjun had come to terms with it.

He wanted to find a powerful catering chain to act as a backer.

This would secure a stable sales channel and allow the company to grow.

"Sell the company to me," Su Yang said after thinking for a moment. "I can buy it at a slight premium, so your pressure won't be so great!"

"Uh..."

Liao Mingjun was stunned for a moment, only then remembering that they were here to talk business today!

Thinking about what he had just chatted with Su Yang about, Liao Mingjun's face turned red with embarrassment.

But he quickly came to terms with it; if Jiuxiang wanted to value Fengyuan,

these things wouldn't be secrets; the accounts would have to be checked sooner or later.

But he still felt Su Yang's determination—he wanted to buy the company outright!

Liao Mingjun said helplessly, "But if I don't run the company, I don't even know what I could do!"

"You can serve as the company's Vice President and continue to participate in its development. I can also give you a 3% stake in dry shares for dividends."

Su Yang noticed that Liao Mingjun actually had some talent for managing and operating a supply chain company.

Entry-level, Ordinary-level, Proficient-level, Expert-level... Liao Mingjun had already reached the Ordinary-level.

Having such ability at twenty-five was indeed quite good.

After all, this was a supply chain company, not some ordinary small shop!

Moreover, through Business Deduction, he found that Liao Mingjun's desire for control over the company wasn't actually as persistent as Ji Guoxiong had said.

If he accepted Ji Guoxiong's guidance, his abilities could also be greatly improved.

"This..."

Su Yang said softly, "A small company like yours has thin profits. With even a slight disturbance in the market, you might not be able to pay salaries!"

Liao Mingjun admitted it quite candidly: "That is indeed the case!"

"Sell the company to me. The company name won't change, and I will increase investment," Su Yang continued to persuade. "As long as the employees work hard, I won't touch them!"

Liao Mingjun wavered a bit: "Can you let me go back and think about it carefully?"

Su Yang nodded with a smile: "Of course you can!"

As Liao Mingjun walked out of Jiuxiang Catering, Su Yang's words filled his mind.

He shook his head, feeling that his performance just now was like a workplace novice!

Su Yang seemed to have a unique charm that made it easy for people to let down their guard.

To be honest, thinking back on it now, he felt a bit embarrassed as a grown man.

But Su Yang's words also made a lot of sense.

Selling himself directly to Jiuxiang might be a good choice.

He didn't have much capital left!

After becoming the company boss, he finally felt the pressure his father had endured!

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about letting go, but he was just a bit unwilling!

Moreover, Su Yang also promised not to fire employees randomly and would keep the Fengyuan brand.

These all hit Liao Mingjun where it mattered!

The company employees were quite supportive of him, and he didn't want to let them down.

He also had a lot of affection for the name "Fengyuan"; it was his father's life's work!

And perhaps only by handing "Fengyuan" over to a genius like Su Yang could it truly develop.

After Liao Mingjun left, Ji Guoxiong came to Su Yang's office.

He asked curiously, "Boss, how did the talk go?"

"It's pretty much settled!"

Ji Guoxiong was surprised: "He's really willing to sell the company?"

Su Yang nodded: "He definitely should have the intention!"

Ji Guoxiong took a deep breath: "Then why did he say no when I asked him?"

Su Yang laughed!

Jiang Yuzhen smiled from the side: "Perhaps the boss just makes people feel more at ease!"