"Huh?"
"Huh!"
"Chairman Zhang ran off?"
"And Director Wang from Finance?"
"What's going on?"
Chen Jue was stunned when he heard the news!
Thousands of companies had set up shop in Binjiang Industrial Park. Usually, all you heard about was some genius at one of the companies getting buried in online gambling debt, then getting hounded by debt collectors until he was too ashamed to show his face and quit on the spot, running off with his belongings.
He'd never imagined that he could simply go home for a quiet weekend, only to come back on Monday and find that his company's boss had run off.
Taisheng Finance had performed poorly this year. Revenue was low, and the company was on the verge of liquidation.
But it was still an auto finance and guarantee company, one registered with several provincial banks!
The company had more than fifty employees, physical branches across eight major cities in the province, tens of thousands of outstanding auto loan customers, and hundreds of vehicles awaiting processing. Its business was worth at least a billion yuan.
Even if they fired everyone and kept only the post-loan and finance departments, the margins from customer repayments alone would be enough for the company's shareholders and executives to live very comfortably. They wouldn't even need to take on new business.
How could the boss just run off like that?
Most importantly, even the authorities had been called in. This had to be a serious mess!
"The economic crimes unit is here too?"
"How big a bomb did they set off?" Chen Jue glanced at the uniformed officers by the entrance and muttered under his breath, swallowing nervously.
When a financial company blew up, it wasn't as simple as a property developer going under. The bigger the money involved, the greater the impact. If something went wrong, the relevant authorities had to open an investigation.
"I heard they got here a little after seven this morning. They're collecting evidence inside now."
"The bosses are all being questioned. Looks like we'll have to take our turn later."
"Jue, what do you think we should do?" Jiang Lin was a fresh graduate who'd only just entered the working world. He'd never been through anything like this.
As soon as he saw Chen Jue, his workplace mentor, he instinctively moved closer, hoping to feel a little safer.
"What can we do?"
"Just sit tight!"
"This is way above our pay grade. It has basically nothing to do with employees like us. Don't worry too much. Just answer honestly if they ask you anything." Chen Jue shrugged.
After graduating from college, he'd gone straight into the financial lending industry. In his early years, he'd even lived through the mad online lending boom.
Back then, all kinds of predatory loans and shady lending schemes had sprung up. The interest piled up faster than stacks in League of Legends, hitting twenty stacks right away. Even the smallest loan companies were worth tens or hundreds of billions.
The fallout had been so serious that when the trouble hit, the authorities had swept away all the P2P lending companies in one fell swoop.
That blowup had been far worse than the "little" mess at Taisheng Finance right in front of them!
They stood by the entrance, watching the commotion like it was a show. It was so loud that employees from the cosmetic surgery clinic across the way kept coming out to look.
After they'd waited at the entrance for over an hour, the authorities began calling employees in one by one, using the company roster to take statements.
The evidence gathering was finished by one in the afternoon.
During the wait, Chen Jue had gone downstairs with a group of coworkers for a quick lunch. Most of them were still baffled by the boss's disappearance.
Once most of the authorities had left and the cordon outside the company was taken down, everyone headed into the conference room, still full of questions.
The remaining shareholders and executives, including general manager Zhou Yong, had gathered there. With grim expressions, they held a meeting for the entire company.
There were two main points.
First, they briefly explained that Chairman Zhang Chi'an and Finance Director Wang Nan had conspired to illegally transfer all the money in the company's accounts over the weekend.
The money included the advance funding pool, deposits from partner branches, the salary and performance bonus pool, shareholder dividends, bank prepayments, and mid-year rebates. The total came to 120 million yuan.
Second, starting this month, the company would be unable to pay employees their wages or social insurance contributions on time.
The first bit of news was still bearable. After all, the money they'd taken wasn't the employees' money.
But the moment people heard their wages wouldn't be paid, the whole conference room erupted!
"Fuck!"
"What happened to the promised severance?"
"You're not even paying social insurance? Does the company have no money at all?"
"My rent's due soon. You expect me to sleep on the street?"
"Fuck, I still have a mortgage and a car loan to pay!"
The employees were furious. Looking at the executives and shareholders seated up front, they saw nothing but a bunch of pressure monsters.
If an official hadn't been keeping an eye on them, they might have already started throwing punches.
"Everyone, calm down!"
"Listen to me!"
"The wages are only being withheld temporarily. We're not saying we'll never pay them. They'll just be delayed for a little while."
"Once the authorities trace Zhang Chi'an's money and freeze his accounts, we'll get it back soon!"
"And on the twentieth of every month, we'll get profit-sharing from customer repayments. We can also sell the vehicles held by the post-loan department to bring in funds. Give the company a few months, and we'll be able to pay everyone again." Zhou Yong tried to take charge of the situation.
He was the general manager. He wasn't the company's legal representative, but when something went wrong, he had to step up first.
He and the company's other investors and shareholders had bloodshot eyes. They all wanted to tear Chairman Zhang limb from limb.
Because most of the 120 million yuan that had been taken belonged to the executives and shareholders!
The employees' wages were only a small part of it, no more than a few million yuan.
Watching his coworkers fret and curse the company behind its back, Chen Jue couldn't help feeling wistful.
He'd worked at Taisheng Finance for more than four years, thinking he had a bright career ahead of him. Who could've guessed it would end in such a farcical way?
After the meeting, everyone dispersed and returned to their desks.
Aside from the post-loan, HR, and finance departments, which still had work to do, no one in business or Risk Control had the heart to keep working.
The company's entire balance had been taken, and it couldn't even pay out the compensation owed. Who would want to keep working for free?
Most people were killing time and chatting, speculating about why the boss and Director Wang had run off.
Some said they'd made bad investments and racked up huge debts.
Others said the boss was always traveling abroad, according to his social media posts. Maybe he'd picked up a bad habit and gambled everything away at some casino.
There were even rumors that the boss and the finance director had been having an affair. In short, all kinds of gossip were flying around.
Of course, while some people were anxious, a few rich young heirs couldn't have cared less. They played games at their desks and watched short videos.
The stairwell outside the company was also full of old smokers, puffing away and discussing where they'd work next.
Chen Jue sat at his desk for a while. After chatting with the restless Jiang Lin, he handed him his old phone, the one he used to clock in and out.
"Clock out for me when it's time."
"If one of the bosses asks, tell them I took the day off." Chen Jue gave him a few instructions, grabbed his things, and left.
He'd already noticed a few old hands slipping out earlier.
If he didn't leave now, he'd just be wasting his time here.
"Jue, why are you going home so early? Aren't you waiting for news?" Jiang Lin was a little naive. He thought the authorities might be able to get the money back.
He had no idea that if the boss had been willing to take such a risk and run, he must have had a way to evade the authorities.
From Chen Jue's perspective, Chairman Zhang had probably already fled overseas, lounging on a beach somewhere with a young model or mistress.
As for why he was leaving early—
Of course he wanted to take advantage of the free time to keep playing Stone Skipping and Darts!
Those two fun little activities were seriously addictive. Even after only half a day away, Chen Jue was itching to play again.
"Work?"
"What's the point of working when things are like this?"
First update~
I spent the last few days writing at high intensity, so I took it easy this morning. The update was a little late~
Please keep voting for me~
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