Chapter 976: Chapter 947:
Indeed, Li Ruo’s death was reported back to the United States and the Tianya Group, causing some internal strife. Some people were even preparing to resign early because they feared that by the time Tianya Group went bankrupt, they might not even get their hard-earned money. So, they submitted their resignation applications early, settled their salaries, and calculated their allowances before leaving.
Consequently, the stocks of Tianya Group plummeted, and many companies ceased doing business with Tianya Group. They were afraid that if they supplied goods to Tianya Group, they might not receive payment. After all, the situation of Tianya Group was evident. If Tianya Group were to go bankrupt, wouldn’t it be disastrous?
“Xiao Bing, I think we should resign. Tianya Group is really not going to make it!” suggested a girl who was on good terms with Xiao Bing. “I saw Minister Liu in his office yesterday; he was also preparing to leave. If he knows it’s not going to work, can we afford not to leave?”
“No!” Xiao Bing shook her head immediately and said, “Mr. Li has been so good to us; how can we leave Tianya Group in times of crisis?”
“It’s one thing to be good, but we also have to think about our own future!” the girl advised.
“Mr. Li brought me from Jianghuai City to the United States and funded my studies at an American university. The company has invested so much in me; how could I be ungrateful?” Xiao Bing shook her head firmly. She was a kind-hearted girl with a sense of justice. Therefore, she would never leave Tianya Group.
The girl beside her tried her best to persuade Xiao Bing, but failed to convince her. Xiao Bing refused, saying, “No way, you can leave if you want, but I’m staying here. Either Tianya Group fires me, or Tianya Group goes bankrupt.”
“Sigh, forget it; I’m done talking to you!” the girl, seeing that she couldn’t convince Xiao Bing, quickly said, “I’ll go write my resignation letter and try to get last year’s year-end bonus. The company can’t deny us our bonus just because we’re leaving, can they?”
“Go ahead, Tianya Group won’t be as heartless as you people!” Xiao Bing snorted lightly.
“That’s true!” the girl replied casually but quickly realized and blushed, then hurried off.
In Jianghuai City, Tianya Group also caused a significant stir. Originally, in this not-so-good stock market of Mainland China, a heavy blow of bad news suddenly came. This was not only a blow to China’s stock market but also a significant setback for Tianya Group’s stocks. The soaring stock price of Tianya Group suddenly seemed to encounter a Waterloo, plummeting sharply.
From a price of over a hundred and fifty, it fell to a hundred, then broke the hundred-dollar mark. At this critical point, Tianya Group’s acting president, Lin Ziwen, had no choice but to announce a suspension and reorganization. As soon as the news came out, those stockholders holding a large number of Tianya Group stocks went crazy. No one knew what Tianya Group was going to do with this suspension and restructuring.
Meanwhile, in the Haitong Securities Exchange of Jianghuai City, a large number of stockholders gathered together.
“Tianya Group swindled our money, and we absolutely cannot let this go!” a middle-aged balding man gritted his teeth and said, “We must unite, go to Tianya Group and demand our money. We can’t just let them get away with swindling our hard-earned money!”
“That’s right!” A man in sunglasses beside him also waved his arm and said, “Unity is strength. We must unite; only through unity can we recover our hard-earned money!”
“Exactly, let’s go together to settle accounts with Tianya Group!”
With that, the crowd surged toward Tianya Group, and along the way, others from different securities firms joined the debt-collecting team. The originally small group of dozens quickly grew to over a hundred people. Naturally, this included some companies hostile to Tianya Group, including some large domestic enterprises. They had been trying to topple Li Ruo since learning about his accident but had always struggled for an opportunity.
Soon, they found a good opportunity to attack Tianya Group’s stocks. Once the stock plummeted, the days of Tianya Group’s downfall would not be far off. This ridiculous scene was born from such circumstances.
“Assistant Lin, it’s bad! Many people are heading towards Tianya Group!” a female secretary who was out handling business rushed back, having encountered the crowd on the way. Initially, she thought they were people causing trouble for the City Government, but soon heard them shouting about settling accounts with Tianya Group. Frightened, the secretary urgently grabbed several passersby to understand the situation, realizing that this group was not targeting the City Government but Tianya Group.
“Why?” Lin Ziwen was taken aback.
“They said they’re demanding Tianya Group to pay back. They lost a lot of money in the stock market!” the female secretary hurriedly explained.
“Losing money, how is that related to us?” Lin Ziwen was dumbfounded and quickly said, “Let them go to the securities exchange! We’re not the ones who swindled their money!”
“But they’re already on their way here!” the female secretary said anxiously.
“Quick, have the security guards stop them!” Lin Ziwen quickly ordered.
“Okay, okay!” The female secretary hurried towards the security department. Upon hearing that people were coming towards Tianya Group, the staff urgently set up barricades, notified the police, and rushed to defend, preparing to engage in a protracted battle with the troublemakers.
Soon, the large crowd finally arrived in front of Tianya Group and unfurled their banners, as if they were well-prepared. Several men wearing sunglasses mixed within the crowd waved their arms and shouted, “Tianya Group, give us back our hard-earned money!”
“Give us back our hard-earned money!” the crowd shouted along.
Unable to contain his anger, Lin Ziwen went down, and Little Mei, along with Milking Girl Xingxing and others, gathered at the entrance. Xingxing was no longer just a simple department employee; she had been promoted to department manager, in charge of the entire department’s work. At this moment, Xingxing was not the same as a few years ago when she had just graduated. Back then, she was just a Huang Mao girl who couldn’t control her emotions when faced with Ye Chen’s teasing.
If it were today, she could undoubtedly hide her emotions well, despising Ye Chen harshly in her heart, and then making things difficult for him at work. As Li Ruo’s little cousin, she naturally stood on Tianya Group’s side. Seeing so many people coming to confront Tianya Group, Xingxing immediately rushed out and said coldly, “What exactly do you people want?”
“Want what?” The middle-aged balding man leading them laughed, “After Tianya Group swindled so much money from us, they’re asking what we want? Everyone, tell them what we’re here for!”
“We’re here to get back our hard-earned money. Tianya Group, give us back our money!” The men in sunglasses among the crowd clamored. The rest joined in the heckling, and the atmosphere on-site immediately became heated. Most people didn’t even know why they were there; they merely came to join the excitement, as is the nature of the Chinese.
The act of joining the excitement was not inherently wrong, but it fueled the bad guys’ arrogance. Hence, these people were effectively aiding the bad guys. Milking Girl laughed, “What a global joke. You people have neither kinship nor ties with Tianya Group. Since when did Tianya Group owe you money?”
“Uh…” The crowd was taken aback; many didn’t know how to answer. The stock market itself has risks, so how could they trouble a company when suffering losses? Even if they wanted to, they should trouble the institutions, or the speculators. While the crowd hesitated, the man in sunglasses waved his hand, “Folks, don’t be fooled by this little girl. How does Tianya Group not owe us money? We toiled all our lives to put our hard-earned cash into the stock market and bought your Tianya Group’s stocks. Now look, it fell to the lowest point; our hard-earned money is gone!”
“Hmph, you are all adults. Didn’t anyone tell you that there are risks in the stock market and you should exercise caution before entering when you registered your securities account?” Milking Girl snorted coldly and cursed, “Shame on you adults; was your brain eaten by a dog? When you opened the account, the contract clearly stated: the stock market has risks, caution is required. The responsibility lies with yourself. Now that you’ve lost money, you come to us; so whom would Tianya Group turn to if we incurred losses?!”
Milking Girl Xingxing’s words shocked everyone present, not because of the volume or her imposing presence suppressing the crowd, but the straightforward, irrefutable logic in her words. The crowd fell into silence.
The balding middle-aged man then said again, “Hmph, no matter what, it’s natural to repay debts. If Tianya Group doesn’t pay us back, we won’t leave here today!”
“That’s right, pay back the money! Pay back the money!” The men in sunglasses in the crowd yelled loudly again.
Lin Ziwen hurried over and asked Milking Girl, “Xingxing, now… what should we do?”
“Let me think!” Milking Girl, being ever-clever, always had a knack for coming up with a way to tease the other party. Her eyes spun around, and she coldly laughed, “Alright, you want your money back? That’s fine.”