I'm back in 1990

Chapter 684: Countermeasures

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The matter is not very complicated. Back then, Ge Changli listened to Huang Xiaochuan's advice and acquired a piece of land in the Suzhou Industrial Park to open a precision mold processing factory, mainly undertaking overseas processing orders. He was originally in the foreign trade business, so he naturally had no shortage of customers in this area. In the past, when he was in foreign trade, he connected factories with overseas customers. Now that he was working independently, he could directly connect with foreign businesses.

With strong overseas demand and Ge Changli's proficiency in foreign trade procedures and English, his business is thriving and going smoothly all year round. He never worries about orders.

However, something happened this year. A batch of orders destined for the United States were returned due to a problem where "excessive mold tolerances caused short circuits in the entire batch of motherboards." The customer for this order was a well-known computer company in the United States. Because the order was relatively large, Ge Changli mortgaged his factory and other fixed assets to obtain a loan from the bank to expand production.

As a result of this incident, he is about to face a huge claim. The contract is not something to be taken lightly; it contains detailed liabilities for breach of contract and compensation amounts, which is a very large sum! Already burdened with debt, Ge Changli was at his wit's end and, with a "nothing to lose" mentality, sought help from Huang Xiaochuan.

Upon hearing this, Huang Xiaochuan's first reaction was to suspect that someone was trying to frame Ge Changli. This was too similar to the mistake he had made in his previous life. However, since the other party was a well-known international company and had no grudge against Ge Changli, the possibility of them conspiring together was not high.

Then another possibility occurred to him, and he asked, "Who's in charge of product quality at your factory? I refuse to believe he has nothing to do with this."

Ge Changli shook his head: "It shouldn't be. Yan Jianhong is the second largest shareholder of the factory, and he has invested a lot of money in it. He would suffer a great loss if something like this happened."

Huang Xiaochuan, however, did not think so. Having lived two lives, he had learned a bloody lesson from the past. In his previous life, the person who had tricked him was an acquaintance, so he still suspected this man named Yan Jianhong.

Putting that aside for now, Huang Xiaochuan asked, "How much is the penalty for breach of contract?"

Ge Changli struggled to state a figure: "Three times the order amount as compensation, totaling approximately 13 million US dollars."

Huang Xiaochuan calculated that, according to the current exchange rate, this amount of money was equivalent to a little over 100 million RMB. This was indeed a huge sum for Ge Changli. Such a high penalty for breach of contract mainly consisted of various fines in the contract terms. Since failure to deliver on time would cause certain losses to the ordering party, this penalty for breach of contract also had a punitive meaning.

This amount of money was nothing to Huang Xiaochuan, but even if he lent it to Ge Changli, it would only change Ge Changli's creditor status, and the debt would not disappear. So Huang Xiaochuan made up his mind that if he was going to help, he should help thoroughly.

He quickly came up with an idea. He checked the time, estimated the time difference, and then picked up the phone to call Zhang Sui, who was far away in the United States.

"It's me. I have something to ask you!"

Zhang Sui replied on the phone, "Boss, please speak!"

"I remember Changhong Capital has a partnership with IB, right?"

"Yes, we have invested in IB and also have joint investment projects."

Huang Xiaochuan then asked, "Are you familiar with the senior management of IB?"

"Very familiar, boss!" Zhang Sui gave an affirmative answer.

After hearing Zhang Sui's affirmative reply, Huang Xiaochuan said on the phone, "Here's the thing, there's a domestic company called Changbo Mould that signed a contract with IB for computer mold parts. Due to quality issues, the parts were returned, resulting in a penalty of over ten million US dollars. You should negotiate with IB to see if you can postpone the deal for a while and give them some more time."

Huang Xiaochuan did this because he knew that the United States is also a society that values ​​human relationships, unlike what some public intellectuals claim, where officials are so impartial, selfless, and incorruptible.

Corruption in the Western system is all out in the open. In his later years, Huang Xiaochuan knew many examples. For instance, some senior executives in the US military-industrial complex almost all had experience serving in high-ranking positions in the military or government. This, combined with the exorbitant costs incurred by the military in overseas operations, could be linked together. For example, it cost tens of thousands of dollars to transport a sheep to Afghanistan, which was simply an international joke. Yet, this bill was considered reasonable and legal. And this kind of thing was just the tip of the iceberg.

Therefore, the unspoken rule in the United States is to do the work first and then receive the benefits. For example, when a high-ranking official is in office, he can help several major companies secure a few big deals, such as government orders worth billions or even tens of billions of dollars. After his term is over, he can suddenly become a senior executive of a military or commercial giant, legally and legitimately earning an annual salary of several million dollars and tens of millions of dollars in stock.

And what are all those lobbying firms around Capitol Hill for? It's obvious! They're just pulling strings and using back channels. They do it openly, everything is done within the law. Huang Xiaochuan spent money doing this for the acquisition of Sun Microsystems back then, and it was very effective.

Zhang Sui was well aware of the ins and outs, so she readily agreed: "Okay, I'll arrange to talk to Blake from IB tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Huang Xiaochuan frankly said to Ge Changli, "Old Ge, you've been in business for so many years, I don't think this matter is that simple. If you trust me, then follow my arrangements. You go back to Suzhou first. The production order in the factory cannot be disrupted. It's precisely at times like this that we need to manage it well. Wait for my next steps."

Given that Ge Changli still blindly trusts those around him and his partners, there are some things Huang Xiaochuan cannot tell him yet. In order not to alert Ge Changli, Huang Xiaochuan also instructed Ge Changli not to mention to anyone that he had come to see him after returning home.

Although Ge Changli wasn't entirely sure what Huang Xiaochuan wanted to do, he could tell that Huang Xiaochuan genuinely wanted to help him. So he followed Huang Xiaochuan's advice. Before leaving, Huang Xiaochuan had Gao Song and Ge Changli exchange phone numbers, instructing them to stay in touch. He also told Ge Changli to provide Gao Song with all the information, and that Gao Song should contact him directly if needed anything else.

Zhang Sui acted quickly, and the next day she called Huang Xiaochuan back: "Boss, I've talked to Blake, and we've agreed to give them an extra three percent of the investment in the near future. He's negotiated with the legal department and they're getting a two-month grace period."

"Very good, two months should be enough." Huang Xiaochuan was very satisfied with the result.

He then instructed, "Find me a top-three business investigation firm in the industry and investigate which competitors Changbo Mould has. Focus on a shareholder of Changbo Mould named Yan Jianhong. I suspect he has connections with their competitors. I'll have Gao Song send you the specific information later."

"Understood, boss!" Zhang Sui replied readily.

After hanging up with Zhang Sui, Huang Xiaochuan dialed the number of his legal advisor, Chen Mingyuan.

Chen Mingyuan soon appeared in his office.

"Mr. Huang, what can I do for you?"

Huang Xiaochuan instructed, "I'll have someone send you some information later. It's about a company in Suzhou that was returned and sued by IB due to product quality issues. Contact Gao Song, study the contract, and see if there are any loopholes. Also, prepare to sue them and try to minimize the losses. I'll also have someone lobby in the US. Be prepared for both scenarios."

Chen Mingyuan nodded and said, "I understand!"