"Assistant Zhou, I'd like to visit Hualong Investment Company, but I've never been there. Do you know the address?" Chen Xuejiao asked.

"Hualong Investment Company? Its officially registered address is on Harbor Island, but there are only a few regular staff members there. Why do you want to go?" Zhou Mengdie asked.

"Only a few regular staff members? You can't be serious," Chen Xuejiao said incredulously.

"It's true. Hualong Investment Company only has a handful of people. If you need anything, you can find VP Ding—she's also the vice president of the company. Or you can go directly to the boss. He's the president," Zhou Mengdie explained.

After thanking Zhou Mengdie, Chen Xuejiao found Ding Jing to ask about the specifics of Hualong Investment Company. Only then did she learn that the so-called company was practically a shell corporation. Besides the boss, who was the president, there was VP Ding Jing and herself, another vice president. The only other employees were a few regular staff members on Harbor Island in charge of reception.

"VP Ding, the boss has given me such a monumental task. With no staff to coordinate with, just me alone, how am I supposed to manage?" Chen Xuejiao said with a helpless, wry smile.

"If you don't have anyone, you can go find them. Go recruit people! Did the boss forbid you from hiring?" Ding Jing replied with a laugh.

"In the future, Hualong Investment Company will enter a key development stage, so all departments will need to be established and expanded. This important task has been given to you, which shows the boss's trust in you and is an affirmation of your abilities. You must do a good job and not disappoint him," Ding Jing encouraged.

"You don't have to worry about the money. The company account is more than sufficient. When you need funds, just apply through Assistant Zhou. She's temporarily in charge of Hualong Investment Company's finances.

"You can start by establishing the finance department, then human resources. Recruit people, build up the various departments, and formulate company policies.

"In short, just treat it as if our company is brand new, and you're building it from the ground up."

Chen Xuejiao was rendered speechless. So her so-called vice president role was just a general without an army. With not a single staff member under her command, she had to rely on herself for everything, starting from scratch. The only upside, probably, was that funds were plentiful, so she didn't have to worry about money. Of course, the power she held was also immense—so much so that she could make decisions on her own for anything. The boss only cared about the results, not the process.

Zhuo Weidong arranged to have a meal and drinks with Ou Xiaolong. Besides catching up, they inevitably began discussing the current real estate industry, market trends, and the difficulties both their companies were facing, which naturally led their conversation to Yi Anguo.

"Brother Zhuo, you're the one who showed Yi Anguo the ropes. It's no exaggeration to call you his benefactor!" Ou Xiaolong said. "Now that he's made it big, he wouldn't turn you down if you asked him for help, right? Didn't he help you last time by investing 1.6 billion to take over the Ren Family's properties?"

"Brother Ou, the way you talk, it's as if Yi Anguo never helped you," Zhuo Weidong said, looking at Ou Xiaolong. "The first time, he helped you take over 2,000 units in Qianhai Fashion Garden, solving your urgent cash flow crisis. The second time, he invested billions in your company. Without that, you wouldn't have survived this long.

"Moreover, Yi Anguo has told me more than once that he thinks very highly of you and has a good impression of you. That's why he's helped you on multiple occasions. Now that your company is in trouble, why don't you ask him for help? I think he'd be even more willing to help you."

Ou Xiaolong shook his head with a wry smile. "That might have worked before. If I went to him for help, he would have done me the favor, since you know we're from the same hometown.

"But I was badly duped by that bastard Ren Xingsheng last time. I really didn't expect him to go ask Yi Anguo for help.

"That Ren Xingsheng knew perfectly well that he'd seriously offended Yi Anguo and that Yi Anguo didn't have a shred of goodwill toward him. How could he possibly get his help? Yet he still went and begged.

"It would have been one thing if he'd just shamelessly gone to ask for a favor, not caring about losing face. The problem is, his actions completely ruined things for me. Yi Anguo thought I was the one who told Ren Xingsheng to go and antagonize him.

"So now he blames me. He's angry with me and has been ignoring me. Our contact has basically ceased since then. If I ask him for help now, I'm afraid he won't even give me the time of day.

"But it's different for you, Brother Zhuo. You haven't offended him or made him unhappy. He wouldn't refuse to help you, would he? He'd at least give you that much face, right?"

"Sigh, don't even mention it. You were duped by Ren Xingsheng, and I was duped by his father," Zhuo Weidong explained. "Ren Xingsheng's father came to me asking me to intercede with Yi Anguo on his behalf. I felt it would be rude to refuse, so I agreed. I figured I would just mention it to Yi Anguo. Whether he agreed or not was up to him; I wasn't going to force the issue."

Ou Xiaolong hadn't realized there was so much more to the story.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.