Chapter 64: Butt Your Chest
That night, Ren Yan emailed Chu
Qianmiao about his business trip, along with documents about the acquirer and
the target. The acquirer was a publicly listed company.
The listed company was Yilai
Pictures, a film and television company primarily engaged in film and
television production. It wanted to acquire Taoye Cinema, thereby acquiring its
own cinema chain.
Ren Yan also mentioned in the email
that Qin Qianyu would be traveling to Shanghai with her on Monday. If she had
any questions about the merger and acquisition project, she could ask Qin
Qianyu directly; if she still didn't understand, she could ask him.
Chu Qianmiao replied to the email
and began reading the materials. She didn't finish them all night, so she
continued the next day at the office.
Her workstation was next to the
aisle. After looking down at the documents for a while, she felt as if someone
had stopped in the aisle. She turned her head and saw that the person whose
gaze, like a tentacle, was fixed on her computer screen, was Kan Qingzhou.
Chu Qianmiao was becoming
increasingly impressed by Kan Qingzhou. He seemed to be able to automatically
filter out the events of the previous day. As soon as the sun rose the next
day, he would completely forget how annoying he had been the day before, and
would continue to cultivate new annoyances today.
Kan Qingzhou stared at Chu
Qianmiao's computer screen and suddenly smiled, a sinister smile. "Hey,
isn't this the project I'm not working on? You, Mr. Ren, picked it up and took
it on."
A little further from Chu
Qianmiao's workstation was Ren Yan's office. His office door was open, and Kan
Qingzhou's voice was just loud enough for Ren Yan to hear.
Chu Qianmiao knew Kan Qingzhou was
deliberately provoking him.
"Why do you, Mr. Ren, always
pick up projects I'm not working on?" Kan Qingzhou's voice rose a little,
so that people in other departments could hear it.
Chu Qianmiao counted in her head.
After counting to five, Ren Yan still didn't say anything. She knew then that
he truly didn't take the provocative person in front of him seriously.
She almost felt a little
sympathetic towards Kan Qingzhou. He was like a demon on the pilgrimage, trying
his best to flirt and act like a scoundrel, hoping to attract the attention of
Tang Sanzang through his antics. Unfortunately, Tang Sanzang only had the
Buddha in his heart.
Since Ren Yan ignored him, she
ignored Kan Qingzhou, gave him a formal smile, and turned back to reading the
materials. Kan Qingzhou left, bored.
After the weekend, on Monday, Chu
Qianmiao arrived at the airport just in time.
She met up with Ren Yan and Qin
Qianyu before security and separated after boarding. She and Qin Qianyu were in
economy class, while Ren Yan was in first class.
After fastening her seatbelts, Chu
Qianmiao and Qin Qianyu began chatting.
She hoped to learn something from
Qin Qianyu.
"Brother Qin, last weekend Kan
Qingzhou saw me looking at project materials and said he didn't want ours. He
also said President Ren is always picking up projects he doesn't want,"
Chu Qianmiao said.
Qin Qianyu immediately got excited.
"Bullshit! How shameless is he? This project was clearly his to take, but
he didn't get it. He's really good at twisting right and wrong." After
calming down, Qin Qianyu explained the origins of the merger and acquisition
project they were about to undertake. "This project was actually
contracted by Ye Haorong, a leader at Litong headquarters, and assigned to our
Beijing investment banking department. Kan Qingzhou volunteered to take it, but
when President Ye compared his approval rate with our President Ren's, he
immediately gave him the thumbs-down." After a pause, Qin Qianyu's face
lit up with pride. "Our President Ren has a 100% approval rate. Who else
would he choose if not us?"
Chu Qianmiao felt even more
sympathetic towards Kan Qingzhou. He was talking nonsense and making a lot of
fuss, but Ren Yan ignored him or argued with him, letting him ramble on. So,
how frustrated and twisted and resentful he must have felt inside.
Chu Qianmiao asked Qin Qianyu,
"Is this headquarters leader, Ye Haorong, the one who sent those two
female employees to our department?"
Qin Qianyu waved his hand.
"No, he's a higher-ranking head of headquarters than those two. Let me put
it this way, he only listens to the chairman."
Chu Qianmiao nodded. She then
asked, "Is Ye Haorong more familiar with the acquiring listed company,
Yilai Pictures, or the acquired company, Taoye Cinema Line?"
Qin Qianyu replied, "He's more
familiar with the acquired company, Taoye Cinema Line."
Chu Qianmiao nodded again.
Qin Qianyu pondered for a moment,
then almost solemnly instructed Chu Qianmiao, "Qianmiao, we must complete
this project successfully, otherwise our boss, Ye Haorong, will be blamed, and
blame is the easiest thing to turn into tampering. If you have any questions
about the project in the future, just ask me. Tell me immediately if you have
any questions. Don't hold them back, or they'll delay things."
Chu Qianmiao nodded solemnly,
"Okay."
After the plane landed, the
acquiring listed company sent a car to pick them up. Chu Qianmiao followed Ren
Yan and Qin Qianyu directly to the company, where they met with Hu Li, chairman
of the listed company Yilai Pictures, and Ling Wuyi, owner of the acquired
company, Taoye Cinema Line. In addition to their brokerage, lawyers,
accountants, and appraisers were also present.
The various parties gathered in the
conference room and held a meeting.
Chu Qianmiao had already learned
the basic information about the two companies from emails, and after listening
to the project overviews from the two bosses, she had a general understanding
of the situation.
After the meeting, representatives
from several intermediary agencies arrived at the target company, Taoye Cinema
Line, to begin due diligence.
Taoye Cinema Line provided Ren Yan
with a separate car, but at his request, no driver.
In the afternoon, Chu Qianmiao
accompanied Ren Yan and Qin Qianyu to the Taoye Cinema Line office to
familiarize themselves with the environment. They arranged follow-up due
diligence matters in the due diligence office. It was almost five o'clock. Ren
Yan said to Qin Qianyu and Chu Qianmiao, "Let's go to the hotel."
Qin Qianyu raised his hand and said
hesitantly, "Hey, Boss, I can take a taxi to the hotel later. I won't be
going with you." After a pause, he explained, "A classmate of mine
knew I was coming to Shanghai today and made a dinner appointment with
me."
Ren Yan nodded.
Chu Qianmiao turned to him and
said, "Brother Qin, give me your suitcase. You're going to scare them to
death carrying a suitcase to a meal. You're really going to pack a lot!"
Qin Qianyu laughed and said,
"How can I possibly let a girl like you lug two suitcases?"
Chu Qianmiao raised an eyebrow at
Ren Yan with her back to him and whispered, "Then let your boss help you
with the suitcases?"
Qin Qianyu chuckled, handed the
suitcase handle to her, and whispered, "Then you should do it. Your boss's
status is too high, I wouldn't dare use him."
Qin Qianyu left first. Ren Yan
picked up the car keys the company had given him, dragged his own suitcase, and
said to Chu Qianmiao, "Let's go."
He walked out first. Chu Qianmiao
followed behind, a suitcase in each hand, dragging them noisily.
To get to the elevator, you had to
turn a corner in the hallway. Ren Yan was tall and had long legs, so he
disappeared in a few steps. As Chu Qianmiao was dragging two suitcases around a
corner, perhaps due to a lack of coordination or the suitcases being too
fidgety, they collided, and Chu Qianmiao's suitcase slipped out of her hand and
fell flat on the ground.
With a loud thud.
Chu Qianmiao quickly steadied Qin
Qianyu's suitcase and was about to bend down to pick up her own. An arm reached
down before her, and with a flick of its long, white fingers, it hooked the
handle of her suitcase. With a single lift, her suitcase stood up.
Chu Qianmiao watched Ren Yan, who
was bending down to pick up her suitcase, his other hand still in his trouser
pocket.
Dressed in a suit and tie, he
looked like he'd stepped out of a cartoon just trying to pick up a suitcase.
Chu Qianmiao quickly reached out to
take the suitcase, but Ren Yan didn't give it to her. He turned around and
continued walking forward, dragging the suitcase.
One hand still in his trouser
pocket, tall and long-legged, dressed in a suit and tie, he strode with an
upright posture, dragging the pink suitcase.
He threw the words behind him,
"Follow me."
Chu Qianmiao hurried off. Turning
the corner, she saw Ren Yan's suitcase propped up at the elevator door.
Before entering the elevator, she
quickly reached for her own suitcase.
Ren Yan didn't let go, turning to
look at her.
Chu Qianmiao also pressed forward,
raising her gaze to meet Ren Yan's. "Leader, you're the leader. Don't give
me special treatment. Let me carry the suitcase. You don't have to carry it, so
it's not heavy."
Ren Yan glanced at her for a
moment, then handed her suitcase back. He then took Qin Qianyu's suitcase. He
carried both suitcases by himself and entered the elevator.
Chu Qianmiao watched him from
behind, sighing silently.
Why does this man have to be so
gentlemanly? Isn't it better to just be a good leader?
After leaving the office building
and finding the car, Ren Yan packed the three suitcases in the trunk and told
Chu Qianmiao, "Wait a minute. I'll have a cigarette."
Chu Qianmiao nodded.
The car pulled into a spot on the
side of the road. Ren Yan and Chu Qianmiao both stood by the curb.
Ren Yan pulled out a cigarette
case, flicked out a cigarette, and between his slender fingers, brought it to
his lips.
The lighter clicked, lighting the
cigarette.
Ren Yan exhaled a small white puff,
and through narrowed eyes, asked Chu Qianmiao, "This is your first M&A
project. How's the preparation going?"
Chu Qianmiao watched him puff away,
stunned for a moment, and said, "Not bad."
Ren Yan, holding the cigarette
between his fingers, raised his hand and slashed his eyebrows with his pinky
finger. The gesture was lazy and a little sexy.
Chu Qianmiao didn't look.
Ren Yan said, "When you were a
lawyer, your due diligence efforts focused on legal issues, such as whether the
equity structure was clear, and whether the company's business, tax, and
environmental regulations were legal and compliant."
Upon hearing this, Chu Qianmiao
immediately turned her gaze back to Ren Yan's face, listening intently.
"But now you're a securities
broker, an investment banker. Investment banks play a central role in a
project. In addition to fulfilling our responsibilities, you must also
communicate, guide, and verify the work of other intermediaries to ensure the
quality of the entire project."
Chu Qianmiao listened to Ren Yan's
instructions. He stood there, tall and slender, in a suit, smoking a cigarette,
his eyes narrowed. He looked a bit nonchalant, a mix of elegant and unruly.
She lowered her gaze to the button
on his collar and asked, "Mr. Ren, I've never done due diligence on an
M&A before. Is there anything I should pay special attention to?"
"Yes," Ren Yan replied
softly. "The focus of due diligence on M&A is indeed different from
that of IPO."
A delivery truck sped toward them,
sidestepping the curb.
Ren Yan, quick-witted, grabbed Chu
Qianmiao's shoulder and pulled her aside. The space between them instantly
shrank to zero. The delivery truck creaked past.
Chu Qianmiao stopped and looked up,
asking, "So, what exactly is the difference?"
Ren Yan glanced at her and slowly
removed his hand from her shoulder.
Chu Qianmiao looked at him
intently, waiting intently for his answer.
"IPO due diligence focuses
more on determining whether the listed company's principal entity meets the
CSRC's review requirements. However, in mergers and acquisitions, the focus is
more on the cost-effectiveness and security of the transaction."
After saying this, he turned
around, put out his unfinished cigarette, and tossed it into the trash can's
cigarette extinguisher.
"Let's go. Get in the
car."
Ren Yan unlocked the door and got
in first.
Chu Qianmiao raised her hand and
quickly, a little forcefully, tapped her chest.
Her heart, which had been beating a
little faster than usual, returned to normal, and she opened the door and got
in as usual.
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