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Chapter 60: Chapter 52: Unlocking the Gene Lock (Seeking Recommendations!)_1
"Not quite, but I have an offer that might interest you," Tang Qing pondered for a second before saying with a smile.
"Oh? What’s the offer?" Qi Yan asked curiously.
"This way, you sell me your factory for 4.5 million, plus you joining in, I’ll reward you with 5% of the shares in the future fashion company," Tang Qing slowly proposed, aiming to save some money and also to win over the beautiful designer in front of him.
After all, he doesn’t currently have the strength to poach top talents everywhere. Moreover, Qi Yan is already in the industry and knows many industry experts. It’s quite a good deal to use her connections and save some hassle.
"Little Brother Tang, wouldn’t I be at a loss that way? Don’t you think I can’t do the math?" Qi Yan immediately stood up angrily upon hearing this.
"What if I promise to inject an additional 30 million RMB within half a year, and your shares will not be diluted for the next three years?" Tang Qing calmly countered, ignoring her anger.
"What?" Qi Yan stared at Tang Qing in shock, her mouth open wide.
Zhang Dongqing and Lu Jianhui were also stunned, the only thing in their mind being the number 30 million. That’s just insane, whoever’s backing Tang Qing is filthy rich. It was 2004, how rich must they be to consider spending so much on a clothing factory?
There are too many things one could do with 30 million. Plenty of investment projects bring returns quicker than this. Brand building in fashion takes a lot of resources, money and time; there’s the distribution, publicity, stores, staff, goods, among other needs.
"Are you serious?" Qi Yan calmed down from her shock and looked hopefully at Tang Qing. 30 million plus 5% of 4.5 million means she would essentially be worth over 1 million. It’s not a spectacular sum, especially as selling the factory would fetch her a pretty penny as well.
However, she saw Tang Qing’s determination. Anyone willing to invest 30 million will certainly be able and willing to invest another 30 million or more. Believing in the adage "large trees provide better shade", Qi Yan was fully convinced by his proposal.
"Of course, if it doesn’t reach 30 million within half a year, I will compensate for all your losses based on the shares," Tang Qing promised. 30 million isn’t that much, especially within half a year. After all, he could earn it in the stock market next month, and it’s possible to make tens of millions there.
He could only choose one stock with the best rising trend that he remembered, just in case something unpredictable happens. After all, the stocks he remembered were all hyped, and it would be a disaster if the big market players decided not to invest in those stocks or to target him.
If there weren’t apparently any companies offering leveraged stock trading now, he would have prepared to invest in stocks with borrowed money.
Qi Yan pretended to think for a moment, saving face rather than agreeing immediately to seem cheap and desperate. She initially wanted to use the factory as part of a stock deal. However, Tang Qing seemingly wasn’t open to compromise. Typically, investors of his caliber would not allow another shareholder of her type to exist, unless he runs out of money.
But clearly, Tang Qing isn’t lacking funds. He is very possessive, and she understood that if it weren’t for his desire to recruit her, an expert like herself, he wouldn’t even entertain the idea of giving up even a bit of his shares.
Even though she had doubts about Tang Qing’s capabilities before, after all, life is a gambling game. If she plays her cards right, she’ll be on the road to success. During her years of studying abroad, she saw many young talents and did not dismiss Tang Qing just because of his age.
"I agree, let’s have a fruitful cooperation," Qi Yan extended her hand and said cheerfully.
"To our fruitful cooperation, tomorrow morning, I’ll request a leave so we can go to look at the factory. If it’s viable, we’ll sign the contract tomorrow morning itself. You can find a lawyer or any other necessary legal aid and handle the procedures for now. After signing the contract, we will register the company tomorrow itself. In the meantime, you can start managing the factory and we can discuss a detailed development plan this Sunday," Tang Qing shook hands with Qi Yan and explained.
Well, her hand isn’t as smooth as my fiancée’s.
"Alright, my little boss," Qi Yan joked, now that they were on the same team, there was no need for formalities.
"Drop the ’little’; I’m almost eighteen," Tang Qing responded, displeased.
"Hehe, alright, alright, so you’re the big boss," Qi Yan teased, covering her mouth as she giggled.
"Well, just call me ’boss’, no need for adjectives," Tang Qing said a bit helplessly.
"Okay, Boss," Qi Yan suddenly said with a serious face, catching Tang Qing so off guard that he was left dazed: her mood switch was so abrupt.
Seeing Tang Qing’s puzzled face, Qi Yan burst out laughing.
Well okay, Tang Qing thought, she has once again had a good laugh at my expense. He touched his nose, trying to hide his embarrassment and planning on getting his own back.
"Come, let’s toast: first, to celebrate Qi Yan resolving her major concern, and second, to wish Little Tang’s company all successful endeavors. Hahaha." Lu Jianhui immediately took over the conversation as soon as they finished talking.
"You’re right, Little Tang, keep going," Zhang Dongqing also stood up and toasted in congratulations. A deal worth millions was made amidst a meal; he was quite shocked. Although the money hasn’t come in yet and it’s claimed to be within half a year, he believes that Tang Qing is not a person to bluff. When he says 30 million, it’s 30 million.
How the money comes in isn’t his concern. He currently has no interest in the source of Tang Qing’s funds, neither does he dare to show any.
About ten minutes later, Li Kai knocked on the door and entered. Tang Qing glanced at the time: it was almost time for class. He hastily gathered his belongings and rushed off, leaving Lu Jianhui and Zhang Dongqing staring at each other in disbelief but used to such behavior. Qi Yan, however, was seeing it for the first time.
One second, he was her boss negotiating a multi-million dollar business deal; the next moment, he was rushing off to class for fear of being late.
Exactly what kind of person is he?
Looking in the direction Tang Qing had left, Qi Yan became lost in thought.
Tang Qing didn’t dare to take hundreds of thousands in cash to school, so he put it in the system when they left the box and only left 20,000 in his bag. Once in the taxi, he took out the money and put it in his pocket because Li Kai was still there, and carrying an empty bag would look suspicious.
Li Kai didn’t understand why such a big bag only contained twenty thousand, but he didn’t dare to ask. Personal matters were personal matters. He wouldn’t be interested if he knew Tang Qing’s strange behavior after asking. Tang Qing’s bizarre actions during this period were also in his sight, with a few more that were not unacceptable.
That evening, Tang Qing came here again. It was the turn of the customer recommended by the system to repay the money. Again, it was the old routine and process. Even though it was tedious, Tang Qing did not slack off. He still needed to foster relationships.
Just because one makes money, it doesn’t mean looking down on such friends. That would be really stupid. Who knows if these guys could help with the remaining loan tasks? None of them can be let go.
Tang Qing subtly asked if the other party still needed a loan. They didn’t need one at the moment as their financial problems had been solved, but they also expressed gratitude to Tang Qing. They had never come across such low-interest loans aside from banks and promised to go to Tang Qing if they needed money in the future. Tang Qing also reminded them to let him know by the end of each month as it might not be available after the start of the new month. Although they found this weird, they didn’t question further.
When Tang Qing heard that they didn’t need a loan, he was quite disappointed. The business people he knew only included a few names, Zhang Dongqing, Lu Jianhui, Liu Qian, Li Jianguo, Qi Yan, and this person in front of him. None of these people needed money now, which posed a significant challenge to his remaining loans this month.
After reaching Level 2, the system could grant loans for as long as two months. But he wasn’t ready to lend for so long—the utilization of capital would be too poor, the cycle was too long, and it would affect later upgrades.
Returning home, Tang Qing was still worried about who to loan the nearly 400,000 to this month. Although he thought about it for a while, he couldn’t figure out a good solution. As for fraudulent loans, he dare not do it in case the system registers a penalty—not a laughing matter.
Damn it, it’s useless to worry. Let’s unlock that gene lock first and worry about this tomorrow. Damn, there’s a mountain of things to do tomorrow. Thinking about this, Tang Qing didn’t want to think about it further. It was too troublesome.
Lying on the bed, Tang Qing looked at his personal information. The entire information panel had turned dark purple.
Host Name: Tang Qing
Level: Level 2
Experience: 110/200
This month’s loan quota: 0/1 million
This month’s personal quota: 20/20,000 (Overdrafted until the end of December.)
Withdrawable Assets: 518,000
Spirit: 51+55
Physical Fitness: 49+55
Origin Qi Value: 55
Exchangable Foreign Currency: US Dollars.
Gained fifty experience points from the recovery of all loans.
Gained ten experience points and five Origin Qi Value from completing Achievement Task Two.
With the addition of the over 200,000 that Lu Jianhui returned to him, his funds had now reached 518,000.
Well, no problem, his math was indeed taught by a math teacher. As for whether it was impersonated by a P.E teacher, he didn’t know about that.
"System, how do I unlock this gene lock?" Tang Qing asked, as he couldn’t find any buttons or anything. Thus, he could only ask the system.
"Conditions for the First Level Gene Lock have been met. Do you want to unlock it now?" The system asked.
"Yes... Wait, are there any precautions?" Tang Qing was about to agree but then remembered how the protagonists in novels were tortured during upgrades, which scared him. So, it was better to ask clearly first.
"Unlocking the gene lock will cause severe pain, but the system can block the host’s senses. This will take ten minutes. The default option is unblocked. Does the host choose to block his senses?" The system explained.
Upon hearing, Tang Qing breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he’d asked, otherwise, he might have been in serious pain. But, wait...
"System, will blocking senses affect the effects?" Tang Qing asked. This was his biggest worry, as didn’t all the protagonists in novels endure it?
"No, this drawback has been fixed in the Third Generation Level 1 Gene Unlocking technology. The host is using the 98th Generation Level 1 Gene Unlocking technology, which doesn’t have these side effects." The system responded.
"Holy! You’re really serious about this, aren’t you? How many years has this been researched? How long does each generation need to research?" Tang Qing couldn’t help but gossip. The difference between three and ninety-eight was too vast. How bad must the effects be to need updates for every generation?
"Sorry, authority is insufficient, unable to answer." The system replied.
"Are there any side effects? With so many generations of development and no perfect product, wouldn’t there be a problem?" Tang Qing questioned. Without getting this cleared up, he wouldn’t dare test it.
"Since Generation Six, the gene unlocking technology has had no side effects. Each generation of research is only for perfection and improvement of the body’s foundation. For example, the 98th generation product’s First Level Gene Unlocking technology can let the host unlock up to 98 levels of gene locks. The lower the technology, the lower the bottleneck. Like the 6th level of gene unlocking technology, it can only let the body unlock up to the 6th level. If you want to break through this bottleneck, you’ll need to use a higher level tech, at least thirty-six levels, thus 36th generation technology, to increase the base limit to thirty-six. Otherwise, you won’t be able to break through the sixth level bottleneck for the rest of your life." The system explained slowly.
"Am I using the highest level of technology?" Tang Qing asked again. This was what he cared most about. Given the nature of this technology, it’s clear that the 98th level of gene lock isn’t the limit. He naturally wanted to use the newest version.
"Sorry, authority is insufficient, unable to answer."
"Can this technology be used on others?"
"Sorry, authority is insufficient, unable to answer."
...
