"The incompetent factory director, perhaps that refers to me."
Wang Yu muttered to himself, but still knocked politely on the door. The voices in the reception room immediately stopped, and after a moment, a low and gentle voice responded.
"Please come in."
Wang Yu pushed the door open and saw people sitting on opposite sides in the meeting room.
On one side sat a middle-aged man with a gentle and refined appearance, who was the county secretary Yang Xiaoqing. Wang Yu, having had to approach many leaders to settle the factory's debts before, naturally knew him.
On the other side, he didn't recognize anyone.
In the middle sat a young man with a slovenly demeanor, lounging in a relaxed posture in a guest chair.
Beside him stood two middle-aged men, one of whom had a lecherous and arrogant expression, with a look on his face that was inherently irritating.
This was none other than Fang Zhongtian, whom Wang Yu had met before, now acting like a sycophantic lackey to the young man.
What kind of gathering is this?
Wang Yu mused. Secretary Yang Xiaoqing, seeing Wang Yu, greeted him.
"Little Wang, you're back."
"I'm truly sorry, Secretary," Wang Yu quickly greeted Yang Xiaoqing. "I had some business out of town this morning and wasn't at the factory. Secretary, you came for an inspection without prior notice? I could have arranged for proper hospitality."
Wang Yu approached with a forced smile, then shifted his gaze to the young man beside him.
"This is Xu Guangping from the Metallurgical General Factory," Secretary Yang introduced with a smile.
"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet..." Wang Yu politely extended his hand for a handshake.
However, the other party seemed uninterested in acknowledging him, making no move to extend his hand, nor even bothering to lift his eyelids.
"This..."
Such blatant disregard and disrespect, coupled with the unconcealed disdain on his face, made it obvious to anyone that this person was looking for trouble.
An ordinary person would have likely lost their temper by now.
But Wang Yu didn't say much. His expression remained unchanged as he smoothly withdrew his outstretched hand and walked forward to pick up the thermos from the side table in the reception room.
"Secretary, have some water." He refilled Secretary Yang's cup with hot water and then poured one for himself.
Throughout this process, the other party still paid him no attention, and Wang Yu remained calm and collected.
All of this was observed by Secretary Yang Xiaoqing, who couldn't help but nod in approval. Not getting angry, not flustered – this young man was good, very good!
"I wonder if this Mr. Xu..."
After finishing, Wang Yu turned his gaze back to the Secretary. "What is Mr. Xu's relationship with the former director of the Metallurgical General Factory, Old Director Xu?"
"This is our old director's only son," Fang Zhongtian interjected eagerly.
"And he is also our future factory director."
"Low-key, low-key! I can't claim to be the future director, after all, the factory belongs to everyone, not just us," Xu Guangping suddenly reprimanded Fang Zhongtian, though his tone lacked any semblance of humility.
"Oh, so you're the young director," Wang Yu nodded with understanding.
The Metallurgical General Factory had undergone privatization reforms last year. Although it was nominally a joint-stock company, the majority stake held by the Old Xu family meant it was practically theirs.
With this status, it was no wonder that Fang Zhongtian was fawning over him. This fellow was usually arrogant and dismissive of others.
"I'm saying, Little Wang, I'm aware that your factory nearly depleted its entire resources during the recent earthquake relief efforts."
After some pleasantries, Secretary Yang revealed the purpose of his visit. "Your factory has been through a lot. Previously, the Agricultural Machinery Factory wanted to merge with you, but I felt that wouldn't be of much help.
So, I used my connections and approached the Metallurgical General Factory to facilitate a deal, hoping they would acquire your factory.
They are the ones sent by the Metallurgical General Factory to negotiate the acquisition."
Secretary Yang said this to Wang Yu with a warm smile. It was evident that the automotive factory's selfless contribution during the earthquake relief, despite its internal and external difficulties, had deeply moved and satisfied him, prompting him to personally intervene and seek out the Metallurgical General Factory.
The Metallurgical General Factory was a key enterprise supported by the province, possessing immense wealth and strength. For Secretary Yang to personally go out of his way to help a small factory like theirs was truly a significant effort!
In essence, seeing their dire situation, he was trying to find a buyer to take over.
Wang Yu understood and looked at Secretary Yang with gratitude.
"Thank you, Secretary, I..."
"Don't thank me so quickly, we haven't agreed yet!"
Xu Guangping interjected sarcastically, "This little broken factory, with nothing and a mountain of debt, we're only considering acquiring it out of respect for Secretary Yang."
"However, we do have a few conditions."
"First, we don't want the factory's existing workers. As for their owed wages, they can chase whoever they need to. Of course, some technical backbones might be considered, but they will have to undergo assessment. After all, the Metallurgical General Factory is not a garbage dump, we don't take in all sorts of trash.
Second, that incompetent factory director, Wang Yu, must be fired. Such a useless fool who only bullies those beneath him is a waste of resources. He's ruined a perfectly good automotive factory and still has the nerve to cling to the director's position. Why doesn't he follow his predecessor's example and commit suicide to atone to the world?
Third, I heard that Wang Yu was involved with a young girl before, causing a mess. That girl was supposedly a partner with significant orders? Before bragging, at least draft your words! We will not acknowledge that so-called partner or any previous supposed orders!
Additionally, we also do not acknowledge Wang Yu's foolish agreement to increase prices with the parts suppliers. If they want to supply, fine. If not, the Metallurgical General Factory will produce everything in-house, we have enough production lines.
With a rapid-fire delivery, Xu Guangping spoke fluently, clearly having considered these conditions beforehand.
After finishing his string of demands, he glanced at Wang Yu with a smug look, expecting a response, confident he had the upper hand.
"I say, Little Factory Director Xu, aren't these conditions a bit harsh?" Secretary Yang frowned slightly. He was a secretary, and this person was showing him a lack of respect.
However, from the perspective of self-interest, these conditions were understandable. New management often disregarded old policies; this was a universal truth.
It wasn't surprising that the Metallurgical General Factory would impose such terms if they were to acquire the automotive factory.
"Not harsh at all. After all, for such a small, dilapidated factory on the verge of collapse, my old man is willing to pay 600,000 yuan for it, and that's only because of Secretary Yang's influence."
"600,000 yuan?" Wang Yu raised an eyebrow slightly.
"That's right, 600,000 yuan! You kid probably haven't seen so much money, have you? Can your automotive factory's accounts even produce 10,000 yuan right now? I doubt you, as factory director, even know how much money is in your own factory's books?"
Fang Zhongtian seized the opportunity to interject, his contempt undisguised, but also revealing a smug sense of triumph. He had been humiliated by Wang Yu during the earthquake relief efforts in Jianglin City, not to mention the previous incident involving his nephew.
It was a case of old grudges and new ones combined.
"Oh, you're talking about our factory's accounts?"
However, Wang Yu didn't consider this person an enemy. Instead, he mused, "Come to think of it, I really don't know how much money is currently in our factory's accounts!"