King of Capital

Chapter 44: Enthusiastic and Polite, but I Don't Know Anything
Since Changbai Energy is a listed company with many years of history, the workload of the historical evolution section is very huge. Qi Tian and the other two had roughly checked the materials provided by the other party through various official websites two days ago.

The remaining parts that require on-site due diligence are strongly related to financial information.

For example, Changbai Energy purchased a natural gas filling station from another company owned by a shareholder for a transaction amount of 888 million yuan. So how did the valuation of this natural gas station come from?

After evaluation by a third-party agency, the two parties decided on the room number in the nightclub while they sang and hugged each other.

The transaction contract stated that the transaction was for 888 million in cash, but in the end, two brand new physical luxury cars were used to settle the debt, and the market value was far higher than the transaction amount. It was also agreed that the payment would be made within three months, but because the luxury car had too many options and the delivery was scheduled for eight months, the transaction was postponed for eight months.

This situation obviously involves huge compliance risks, and is usually outsourced to a third-party accounting firm to do the work in a more professional and worry-free manner. However, when recording a variety show, the details don't matter.

So when Xie Jingxing led a few rookies to a liquefied natural gas station of Changbai Energy on the outskirts of the city, with several cameras following behind them, it was difficult to obtain any useful information using conventional methods.

You have to do some fancy handicrafts.

"What do you do?" asked an ordinary gas filling worker with large oil stains on his work uniform with a vigilant look.

Xie Jingxing didn't say anything. Shen Xin and Feng Shuo stood beside him with their heads down, wishing they could hide their faces in their crotches, and secretly glanced behind them.

"He, tui!"

As the six-handed Toyota Prado slammed the car door, Qi Tian came over, spitting and shaking his legs: "What kind of a place is this? There's no village in front and no shop behind."

"Hey, stop complaining and hurry up and get back to the city after asking questions."

Fan Haonan, dressed up in high heels, black stockings and a tight skirt, hugged her shoulders and complained in a soft voice, looking like she had just worked overtime.

The gas filling worker rubbed his sleeves with his hands, his expression still alert, but his tone was a little weak: "What can I do for you?"

"Didn't Wang Daqiang tell you?"

Qi Tian spoke with a strong Beijing accent, which made the gas worker stunned. He didn't understand who Wang Daqiang was.

Shen Xin had to raise his head and said with shame: "Wang Jianqiang, the general manager of your Changbai Energy Group, your group is going to be sold, we are here to help you solve some transaction issues."

"Oh, that's what happened. I don't understand what you're saying. I'll call our stationmaster over and you can talk to him."

The gas station worker hurriedly went to call for help. A few minutes later, a station manager wearing a suit jacket several sizes too large and slim-fitting casual pants came over. Several ordinary staff members gathered in the small supermarket attached to the gas station and watched through the window.

"Hello, I'm the manager of the gas station. May I ask who you are?" The middle-aged manager with rich social experience asked tentatively.

Qi Tian looked at him with his nose up: "Don't ask nonsense questions, call Wang Daqiang first."

"I'm sorry, we are a subsidiary of Changbai Energy Group. Mr. Wang's rank is too high and I don't have his phone number."

The webmaster was confused for a moment and suggested with a smile: "How about you talk to Mr. Wang in person?"

"Xiao Xie." Qi Tian raised his chin and ordered people around.

Xie Jingxing took out his phone and dialed the number, then walked to the side and said a few words with his hands covering his mouth, then waved to the stationmaster.

"Wait a moment, I'm so sorry."

The stationmaster apologized humbly as he trotted over to Xie Jingxing, took the phone and walked a few steps away, saying "umm" and "ahh" a few times in agreement. After hanging up the phone, he carefully glanced at the phone number.

The local number ends with five eights. Although I have never met Mr. Wang, based on this number, I can't blame him for any problems in the future.

After all, there are always outsiders asking questions these days, but I have never seen such a style as today. Toyota Prado and stockings are definitely social people, and they don't look like those people wearing suits, handing out business cards and speaking Mandarin.

"Don't just stand there, start working, hurry up."

Qi Tian took Shen Xin and Feng Shuo directly to the small supermarket to look through the account books. He questioned the staff like he was interrogating a criminal. Fan Haonan rolled his eyes, twisted his hips exaggeratedly, and went back to the car to fiddle with the computer.

The stationmaster's mouth twitched as he watched. He gave his subordinates a look that told them to bear the humiliation for the time being, and asked the young man who spoke with a barely audible northeastern accent, "Brother, what exactly do you do? Can you tell me?"

"How many times have people come here recently?" Xie Jingxing asked back.

The webmaster replied truthfully: "Three groups, there is an accounting firm in Beijing, a company called Juntaizheng in Shanghai, and a company called Xiaoma Pentium... It's a mess and I don't understand it."

“There may be more later, maybe…” Xie Jingxing looked around and took out a box of Nanjing cigarettes.

The stationmaster quickly pulled out a large cardboard box from under the cash register of the small supermarket. Inside was a full range of tobacco. He took out a box of the most expensive soft Zhonghua cigarettes, hooked his arm around his shoulder and said, "Come on, let's go to the back to get some fresh air."

"In the next few days, someone might come to investigate. After we finish investigating, you will know how to deal with others who come to investigate."

Xie Jingxing pulled the stationmaster to the wilderness behind the gas station, lit a cigarette and spoke lightly.

With no one around, the stationmaster relaxed unconsciously and said frankly, "They didn't find anything the last few times they came to investigate, so I sent them away without even showing up."

"That won't work. You still have to sell it in the end, and sooner or later you will have to show the account books to others." Xie Jingxing said meaningfully.

The webmaster blinked his eyes with wisdom and suddenly realized: "So you are actually..."

"What we need to do is to find out no problems. Just tell us what you have to say and cooperate. We are specialized in this. Do you understand?" Xie Jingxing exhaled a puff of smoke.

The webmaster felt that he had touched upon the company's core secrets, and asked mysteriously, "Brother, it's not easy for the higher-ups to invite you here, right?"

Xie Jingxing gestured with two fingers, and the stationmaster guessed from 200,000 to 20 million. Until his eyes almost popped out, he asked: "Where is our boss from from your accent?" "Beijing?!" The stationmaster's Adam's apple moved and he swallowed his saliva.

Xie Jing Xing smiled helplessly: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether there is a problem or not. The key is that we make money by sitting in the office and talking. If your boss feels that the money is not worth spending, it will hurt feelings."

The webmaster deeply agrees with this. There is usually no work, but he feels uncomfortable when he sees his subordinates sitting idle. He secretly sighs that the team from Beijing is different. There is nothing to say - professional!
He took a deep puff of his cigarette and said carefully, "To be honest, there are some problems, but they are not a big deal. The company's department store in the city has a lot of problems."

"No rush, let's talk about your problems first and then talk about the department store. I'll help you apply for some bonuses when I meet with your boss later. Don't thank me, let's give each other face." Xie Jingxing patted his shoulder lightly.

The webmaster was not looking forward to the bonus. The hidden warning in the voice-over really scared him. A bonus of a thousand dollars was at most, and he could be fired with just one word.

Due diligence is often like this. Not to mention the seller's lack of cooperation, even if the seller cooperates extremely well, what does it have to do with the grassroots employees? They won't get a penny after selling the company, and they will be fired if they say something wrong.

Therefore, the third-party agency conducting due diligence not only has to confront the senior management of the seller, but also has to engage in a battle of wits and courage with the grassroots.

The play performed by Xie Jingxing today seemed cliché and bizarre, but it was actually very restrained. When he was trading futures energy products, in order to obtain first-hand production capacity information of a certain iron mine in Australia, he specially hired local Chinese to squat in front of the grain and oil store to check the number of purchasing vehicles for the mine canteen.

Later, with the advancement of technology, it was possible to fly drones directly from the outskirts of the mining area to observe the working status of the engineering equipment.

The mine is even more awesome, using anti-drone electromagnetic guns to shoot down planes, while also physically shielding the terrace parking area with a cover.

"We have received news that a due diligence team from Juntai Securities will come this afternoon. Do you know what to do?"

The investigation ended at noon, and Qi Tian, ​​who was addicted to pretending to be cool, wanted to indulge himself one last time before leaving.

The stationmaster nodded and said, "Please trust me. You can show them the account book. As for other matters, I will be warm and polite, but I know nothing."

"…Very good, very energetic."

Qi Tian turned around and looked at Xie Jingxing in admiration. This was too cool.

Several people tried hard to hold back their laughter and returned to the car seriously. After they were far away, Shen Xinxian laughed out loud, and the car instantly became a duck nest, with non-stop laughter.

"Next, let's go to the department store. There was a dispute between the property rights transaction of the two buildings and some departments in the city. Let's check whether the formalities have been completed." Xie Jingxing forcibly ended the happy atmosphere.

Fan Haonan revolted with a droopy face: "I won't do this job anymore, it's too embarrassing!"

"I don't do it anymore. At least you can't spit. It's too disgusting." Qi Tian quickly agreed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Shen Xin raised her phone and said, "This is indeed not okay. The director sent me a message saying that our filming was too vulgar and could not be broadcast. We must promote positive energy."

"You think too much." Xie Jingxing didn't care.

Pretending to be a social person will not fool the general manager of a department store, as this is a middle-level management position in the group. And if there is indeed a problem, then they have to go head-on with cameras and let Tang Man talk to higher-level leaders.

After all, Changbai Energy is the seller, and they represent the buyers. The grassroots employees can act like scoundrels and know nothing when asked, and the middle and senior management are pretending to be stupid, which just shows that they don't want to take the right path.

It is important to be flexible when doing due diligence.

After planning the direction of investigation along the way, they arrived at the department store. Tang Man, who had received the request for support, had arrived there in advance and had been waiting for a long time.

Xie Jingxing briefly reported the situation and reached an agreement with Qi Tian, ​​Fan Haonan and Feng Shuo to share the information obtained from the gas station investigation with Zhao Mengche's team. The department store had some reservations, so they left a hole at the gas station.

Tang Man declined to comment on this. The team that investigates later will inevitably suffer a loss. When Xie Jingxing and his team go to Changbai Energy Headquarters to check the accounts, the other party's resistance and the difficulty of the investigation will definitely increase relatively speaking.

Nothing will stop you from being a good person, but in the end you just have to bear the risks yourself and have the courage to face the consequences.

"Shen Xin and I still have to check other gas stations. They may have risks in terms of compliance approval from relevant departments. Try to come back within two hours so as not to affect your schedule." Xie Jingxing thanked.

Tang Man nodded modestly: "Be careful on the road."

"If there is any situation, please communicate at any time."

Xie Jingxing felt that it would be difficult to make progress on the department store side, and perhaps he would have to transfer Juntai's real working group to the site and ask colleagues from the provincial branch to connect with their personal connections and resources for cooperation.

Only family members know their own business. It is difficult to describe the financial capital investment field in his hometown.

“How should we check?”

Walking on the street without a car, with two cameras following him, Shen Xin felt strange and couldn't help but ask.

The cold wind blew past, Xie Jing Xing pulled his windbreaker tighter, sighed and looked back at the cameraman: "Do I have to follow?"

"Keep the pose, you look pretty handsome. I'll edit it into the trailer later." The cameraman was unmoved.

Xie Jing Xing shrugged, propped up his arms and said, "Dear."

"Huh?" Shen Xin blushed in confusion.

"Get in the car and let's go."

Xie Jingxing waved to stop a taxi and opened the door for her.

(End of this chapter)