Chapter 1668: Unfathomable
As they talked, Xu Ke suddenly remembered the thing he discovered this morning.
Originally, he planned to go back and ask his grandfather first, but since he ran into Wang Cuixia, he decided to ask his mother first.
Although he wasn’t sure how much Wang Cuixia knew about it, she had been in the company for so long, she must’ve heard about it to some extent.
"Mom! Do you remember the company lending money to many companies years ago, as grandpa did?"
Lending money to many companies? Xu Ke’s words left Wang Cuixia momentarily stunned.
He’s been in the company for many years, so this kind of matter seems quite ordinary.
In other words, this should be a business within the Xu Group. Companies lacking funds could get loans from them, but they needed to mortgage some of their assets.
Once they repaid the debts, the company would return their assets to them.
This could be said to be a mutually beneficial scheme, and Xu Group continues this business to this day.
"Son, what you’re saying is too generic. Our company has always had this business. It’s not just your grandfather; I, myself, have lent money to other companies. Every loan we issued is backed by collateral, and during the period when they borrow, we use their mortgaged assets to do various businesses."
Wang Cuixia’s words left Xu Ke speechless for a moment.
After all, the revelation was too shocking for him. He had been managing the company for so long and hadn’t heard of such a business existing.
Logically, he had investigated all the company’s departments and hadn’t found one like this at all.
And even if it existed, he should have discovered it immediately.
"Mom, are you deceiving me? There’s no such department, and there’s no such business in the company. I’ve personally visited every department but didn’t find anything like what you said."
Xu Ke was convinced Wang Cuixia was lying; if it existed, he would have discovered it by now.
At this moment, Wang Cuixia looked at Xu Ke as if she were showing care to someone dim-witted.
She never thought her son would be so clueless one day.
"I mean, son, did you become foolish after becoming chairman? Have you forgotten what our company mainly does?"
Of course, Xu Ke knew the answer.
He knew their company primarily engaged in trade across various sectors, covering almost every field.
As long as it’s within the legal limits, there’s almost nothing they won’t try to do.
"Mom, don’t test me with such easy questions. Anyway, as long as it’s legal, our company does it."
Just as Xu Ke uttered these words, he suddenly felt something amiss.
What Wang Cuixia mentioned just now wasn’t explicitly prohibited by law, meaning they could conduct business in this area.
At this moment, Xu Ke suddenly felt that Wang Cuixia wasn’t deceiving him, and perhaps he had missed some critical points.
"Mom, are you saying that we do have this business? But these businesses are not on the surface and are hidden elsewhere."
Seeing Xu Ke finally having an epiphany, Wang Cuixia helplessly shook her head.
"I thought you were really foolish, didn’t expect you to be pretending. Such an important business couldn’t possibly be within our Headquarters. Moreover, if we conducted financial business under Headquarters’ name, it would undoubtedly be illegal. Your grandfather had registered a separate company a long time ago specifically for these businesses, and it directly reports to your grandfather. In other words, it operates directly under his leadership."
After hearing Wang Cuixia’s words, Xu Ke finally understood.
No wonder he hadn’t discovered these in the company, as his grandfather had long separated these out.
However, he had to admire his grandfather’s foresight, for these businesses were indeed reasonable back then but would certainly be illegal now.
After all, with a company growing so large, the state surely wouldn’t allow one to dominate the field.
But as long as they split up their business divisions, they wouldn’t draw the state’s attention or invite much resentment.
Yet, Xu Ke still felt puzzled; why did his grandfather not hand over these matters to him in the past and still hasn’t revealed the existence of this company?
Could it be that his grandfather kept this company for another purpose, or perhaps he never intended to involve him?
These were merely conjectures Xu Ke had, only when he asked his grandfather could he uncover the truth.
But now the problem is the company having such a business, so how did that bad debt arise?
According to what his mother said, the company must frequently engage in such business.
And those assets should still be within their company; why haven’t they thought of a way to reclaim them?
After all, compared to money, assets are relatively easier to maintain.
In other words, the assets currently controlled by Xu Group are worth far more than their liquid funds.
His grandfather must have set up this department for a surefire lucrative business.
Since it’s a guaranteed profit, those companies are perpetually at a disadvantage.
Surely no one is foolish enough to hand over their assets outright to others.
If Xu Ke were in a situation where funds weren’t circulating, once he had money, he’d undoubtedly reclaim his things.
This is similar to running a pawnshop in ancient times; you pledge your items here, and I give you some money. Once the term is up, you return the money plus interest, then I return your items.
Unlike in ancient times where they earned interest, now they could leverage those big companies’ pawned assets for many kinds of deals.
For instance, if you get a restaurant or a shopping mall, you can entirely pocket all the mall’s income and various promotional costs during this period.
These dealings are legally and contractually justifiable; no one would raise any doubts.
Xu Ke increasingly couldn’t comprehend why these people would do this, and why his grandfather would separate these documents alone.
All of it seemed suspicious, and Xu Ke always felt there was something more to it.