Chapter 881: Internal Troubles and External Threats

"Shen Ci, look at the parts marked in red."

Su Zheyuan assumed Shen Ci couldn't understand the professional financial reports of such a company. He stood up, walked over, and pointed it out to her: "Look at this trend. The situation last month is even worse than when I was being lazy and reckless!"

Shen Ci glanced up at him, her tone carrying a hint of casual certainty: "I can understand it. Isn't it just that the stock price has fallen a bit too hard? But isn't the ratio of revenue to expenditure in the major districts still within the normal range?"

The aunt explained: "As long as the hotels under the group are operating normally, the expenditure ratio won't change much."

"Then isn't it normal for the stock price to fluctuate? It's just fallen a bit too much." Shen Ci closed the financial report nonchalantly, her expression unchanged.

"You're certainly optimistic." Su Zheyuan slumped back into his seat with a downcast face, let out a heavy sigh, and his brow was full of worry: "A shrinking stock price means the group's market value has evaporated directly. It's only been a month and it's fallen like this; the consequences will be unimaginable if this continues." He turned to look at Shen Ci, his tone carrying a hint of guilt: "You hold the most shares. So much money has just evaporated into thin air."

Yet Shen Ci didn't care at all. She tapped her fingertips lightly on the table, her tone frank: "If it's evaporated, we'll find a way to earn it back. Once the stock price warms up, won't the money naturally return?"

The few of them exchanged glances, knowing clearly in their hearts—the fact that the group had a massive financial deficit could not be hidden forever. Some time ago, it had already been exposed by business media with a keen sense of smell. And behind this, there was clearly someone pulling strings in the dark, wanting to see the Zheyuan Group fall into its current state of internal and external troubles.

And the other party had clearly achieved their wish. Negative news was like a flood or a wild beast, directly impacting the group's stock market. The stock price crash was within reason. Shen Ci had anticipated this long ago, so she was naturally calm now. Whether it fell a lot or a little, to her, it was just a fluctuation of numbers.

Seeing Su Zheyuan in low spirits, Shen Ci softened her tone. There was no blame, only encouragement and support: "The hardest time is right now. Grit your teeth and carry through, and everything will get better. In the past, when the company lost money every quarter, I never saw you frown, and you still played around every day. Why are you losing your cool now?"

Su Zheyuan's handsome face flushed, and he coughed in embarrassment: "Tsk, that was how many years ago? Aren't I worried about you now? You poured so much money in to help me; I can't let the shares in your hands go down the drain, and I certainly can't let you lose."

This was no exaggeration. The shares in Shen Ci's hands were now the heaviest burden on his shoulders. Shen Ci had poured her heart and soul into this for him; even if he exhausted all his strength, he could not let her down.

"Then just go all out. Money is not a problem." Shen Ci's tone was crisp, her eyes full of trust: "As long as the company doesn't collapse or delist, the stock price will rebound one day."

Su Zheyuan felt a warmth in his heart, filled with emotion. He had originally thought that when Shen Ci saw this terrible financial report, she would definitely complain a few times. He hadn't expected that not only would she not blame him, but she would also unconditionally believe in him and cheer him on.

"What about the management issues?" Shen Ci changed the subject and asked another question.

Upon hearing this, Su Zheyuan's expression sank immediately. When he looked at his aunt, her expression was even uglier than when she had seen the financial report.

Shen Ci frowned, her face showing confusion: "Is it that serious?"

This time, the aunt spoke: "The few who left the board of directors were all high-level executives of the company. After they left the group, according to custom, their respective deputies were supposed to step up level by level. As long as they survived the adjustment period, there shouldn't have been any major leaks."

"But most of the employees in the group's management had been working with these people for over a decade or even decades. The friendships between them were deep, and their cohesion was very strong." The aunt paused, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness.

Hearing this, Shen Ci already sensed something and couldn't help but interject: "They took the employees with them too?"

"More than just taking them, they almost hollowed out the group's core!" Su Zheyuan clenched his fists tightly, his tone full of anger and unwillingness: "Now there are huge personnel gaps in the company's internal management. Key positions are vacant, and we can't find suitable people to fill them for the time being. A lot of work has come to a standstill."

Compared to the temporary fluctuations in stock price, the problem of personnel loss was clearly more realistic and thorny—money could be earned back if lost, but once the core team was scattered, rebuilding it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

But what Shen Ci was curious about was: "But these employees followed them, where did they go afterwards?"

Work was the foundation of survival. Just because of feelings and good relationships, they were willing to give up their jobs?

The aunt said with a serious face: "After they left the company, they registered new companies and started over, pooling their capital to continue developing the hotel industry."

"Starting from scratch?"

"It can't be considered starting completely from zero." The aunt shook her head and continued to explain: "The Su family business used to have a rule that had been followed for many years—every ten years, the group would reward an incumbent director with a hotel. Zheyuan's eldest uncle had been on the board the longest and had three hotels under his name, and the others had their own gains. They have now merged these privately owned hotels to form a new group, so they can be considered to have a certain foundation."

Shen Ci's attention was suddenly piqued, and she curiously asked: "Can you pick the rewarded hotels at will?"

"How could that be? It was all decided by drawing lots." The aunt shook her head with a smile: "Hotels under the group nationwide below five stars were drawn randomly. Whichever one you drew, that was the one you got."

Shen Ci curled her lips upon hearing this, and she immediately had a plan in her heart. The Zheyuan Group's hotels were spread all over the country, and small and medium-sized hotels accounted for the vast majority. The probability of drawing this type of hotel was the highest. It stood to reason that the total scale of the hotels in their hands couldn't be that large.

Relying on this little bit of family assets to make a comeback? Earning some small money might not be difficult, but wanting to catch up to the scale of a listed company like Zheyuan Group was simply a fantasy. After all, a lean camel is bigger than a horse; the foundation of Zheyuan Group was there, and it could not be shaken easily.

Su Zheyuan followed up: "The people from the company who followed them are now the leadership of their new company."

"It seems the conditions offered by the other party were tempting enough." Shen Ci's lips curled into a cold arc, her eyes clear.

The ins and outs of the whole matter didn't need to be guessed at all; it was almost obvious. Most people nowadays were very realistic. How much were so-called feelings and loyalty worth in the face of profit? How great an act of kindness would it take for someone in the management of a listed company to be willing to give up a generous salary and a stable position to go to a small startup company and start over?

Shen Ci didn't believe in the "loyal and righteous" rhetoric—the other party must have promised difficult-to-refuse, generous conditions to give these people the courage and boldness to abandon everything they had now. ===== CHAPTER 882 =====