Chapter 19 - 18: The Boss Transforms into a Stress Monster

"Huh?"

"What!"

"Chairman Zhang ran away?"

"And Director Wang from finance?"

"What the hell is going on?!"

Chen Jue was completely stunned when he heard the news!

Thousands of companies were based in the Binjiang Industrial Park, and usually, the gossip was about some guy from some company who racked up a mountain of debt from online gambling, got socially executed when debt collectors showed up at his door, and then quit on the spot and skipped town.

He never would have imagined that he’d come back to work on Monday after a simple weekend, only to find that his own boss had bolted.

Sure, Taisheng Finance’s performance had been poor this year, and its revenue was so bad that it was on the verge of liquidation and dissolution.

But it was still an auto finance guarantee company, for crying out loud, and it was registered with several provincial banks!

The company had over 50 employees, with physical branches in eight major cities across the province. It had tens of thousands of clients with outstanding car loans, hundreds of vehicles to be processed, and a business volume of at least a billion yuan.

Even if they fired everyone except the post-loan and finance departments, the interest spread from subsequent client repayments alone, without generating any new business, would be enough for the company’s shareholders and bosses to live very comfortably.

How could they just up and run like that?

Most importantly, even the Government Office had been alerted. It seemed this was no small matter!

"The economic crime division is here?"

"This must be a huge mess!" Chen Jue glanced at the uniformed officers by the door, couldn’t help but swallow, and muttered under his breath.

When a financial enterprise collapses, it’s not as simple as a real estate company going under. The larger the scale of the capital pool, the greater the impact of the collapse, and any incident must be investigated and filed by the corresponding specialized division of the Government Office.

"I heard they came a little after 7 in the morning. They’re inside collecting evidence now."

"A few of the bosses are in there being questioned. Looks like it’ll be our turn later."

"Brother Jue! What do you think we should do?" Jiang Lin was a fresh college graduate who had just entered the workforce and had never experienced anything like this.

Seeing his workplace mentor, Chen Jue, appear, he subconsciously sidled up to him, seeking a sense of security.

"What can we do?"

"Just deal with it."

"This is too big for us. It has basically nothing to do with us wage-earners. Don’t worry too much. If they ask you anything, just answer truthfully," Chen Jue said with a shrug.

He had been working in the financial loan industry since graduating from college and had even lived through the crazy wave of online lending a few years back.

Back then, all sorts of predatory loans and "L-loans" were popping up everywhere. The interest rates stacked up scarier than a Killing Book in LoL, starting right at 20 stacks. Any random small loan company you picked could have a business volume in the tens or even hundreds of billions.

The impact was so great that when things went south, the Government Office wiped out all the P2P small loan companies in one fell swoop.

The scale of those collapses was way more impressive than this "tiny" Taisheng Finance!

...

They stood at the entrance as if watching a play. The commotion was so big that even people from the cosmetic surgery clinic across the way kept coming out to gawk.

After waiting at the door for over an hour, the Government Office officials started calling people in one by one from the company roster to give statements and make on-site records.

By the time all the evidence was collected, it was already 1 p.m.

In the meantime, Chen Jue went downstairs with a group of colleagues for a quick meal. Most of them were completely baffled as to why the boss had run off.

Once most of the Government Office personnel had left and the police tape at the entrance was taken down, the employees, full of questions, filed into the company’s conference room.

The remaining shareholders and bosses, including General Manager Zhou Yong, were all gathered together. With grim faces, they held a company-wide meeting.

The meeting had two main points.

First, they briefly explained that Chairman Zhang Chi’an, in collusion with Finance Director Wang Nan, had used illegal means to transfer all the funds from the company’s accounts over the weekend.

These funds included the advance capital pool, security deposits from partner stores, the salary and performance bonus pool, shareholder dividends, advance payments and mid-year rebates from banks, and so on, totaling 120 million yuan.

Second, starting this month, the company would be temporarily unable to pay employee salaries or social security contributions.

The first piece of news was manageable; after all, it wasn’t the employees’ money that had been stolen.

But as soon as they heard their salaries wouldn’t be paid, the entire conference room erupted!

"Holy fucking shit!"

"What about the N+1 severance package you promised?"

"You’re not even paying social security? Is the company completely broke?!"

"My rent is due soon! You want me to sleep on the street?"

"Damn it, I still have a mortgage and car loans to pay!"

The crowd in the conference room was furious, glaring at the bosses and shareholders at the front as if they were a group of raid bosses.

If it weren’t for a Government Office official watching from the side, a full-blown brawl might have already broken out.

"Everyone, please quiet down!"

"Listen to me!"

"The salaries are only being temporarily withheld, not canceled forever. They’re just being delayed for a while."

"As long as the Government Office can track the destination of Zhang Chi’an’s funds and freeze his accounts, the money will be recovered soon!"

"Besides, on the 20th of every month, a batch of profit rebates from client repayments will come in. We also have post-loan vehicles in inventory that can be processed to recover funds. Give the company a few months, and we’ll be able to pay salaries normally again," Zhou Yong said, trying to take control of the situation.

He was the general manager. Although he wasn’t the legal representative, when the company was in trouble, he had to be the first one to step up.

However, he and all the other investors and shareholders in the company had bloodshot eyes, looking like they wanted to skin that great Chairman Zhang alive.

Because out of the 120 million that was stolen, most of it belonged to these bosses and shareholders!

The employees’ salaries only accounted for a small portion, a few million at most.

...

Chen Jue watched his colleagues, all worried and cursing the company under their breath, and felt a wave of emotion.

He had been with Taisheng Finance for over four years and had expected a bright and promising career. He never thought it would end so dramatically.

After the meeting, they dispersed and returned to their desks.

By now, apart from those in the post-loan, HR, and finance departments who still had things to do, no one in the business or risk control departments had any desire to keep working.

All the money on the company’s books was gone, and they couldn’t even pay future salaries or severance. Who would want to keep working for free?

Most people were just chatting and slacking off, discussing why the boss and Director Wang had run away.

Some said it was due to a failed investment that left him with a mountain of debt.

Others said they’d seen on the boss’s Friends Circle that he often traveled abroad and probably picked up a bad habit, going all-in at some casino.

There were even rumors that the boss and the finance director were having an affair. In short, all kinds of gossip were flying around.

Of course, while some were anxious, there were also some nonchalant rich kids and young masters who just started playing games or scrolling through short-form videos at their desks.

Meanwhile, in the stairwell outside the office, a group of chain-smokers were puffing away, discussing their future job prospects.

Chen Jue, for his part, sat at his desk for a moment, chatted briefly with an anxious Jiang Lin, and then tossed him his old phone used for clocking in and out.

"Clock out for me when it’s time."

"If any of the bosses ask, just say I took leave," Chen Jue instructed before packing his things and leaving.

He had been watching for a while and had already seen several old hands slip away.

There was no point in staying any longer; it would just be a waste of time.

"Brother Jue, why are you going home so early? Aren’t you going to wait for news?" Jiang Lin was a bit naive, thinking the Government Office could actually get the money back smoothly.

He didn’t realize that a boss willing to take such a huge risk to abscond would surely have ways to evade capture.

According to Chen Jue’s speculation, Chairman Zhang had probably already "run" abroad and was laughing it up on some beach with a young model or his mistress.

As for why he was leaving early...

He wanted to use this free time to continue his Stone Skimming and Darts practice, of course!

These two fun activities were truly a bit addictive. After just half a day without playing, Chen Jue’s hands were already itching to get back to it.

’Work?’

’Work my ass! Who the hell would work in a situation like this!’