Chapter 262 - 189: Face Slapping (2)

Chapter 262: Chapter 189: Face Slapping (2)

’It was a show of sisterly solidarity, but also a way of taking credit!’

Chen Xiao smiled faintly and said, "Have them quickly gather information on which major malls Four Seasons Clothing has stores in. We’ll make those a priority for acquisition."

Gao Yue’s jaw dropped. ’A man tattling to his fiancée was already a rare specimen, but this guy was on another level—having his girlfriend acquire shopping malls to ruin someone’s business just so he could get even!’

’And from the sound of it, he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about being a kept man. He was so brazenly self-assured, he almost radiated an air of domineering power!’

’And the crucial part was, judging by their conversation, Xu Wu was actually going along with his suggestion!’

’Oh, Miss Xu... I always thought you had no weaknesses. Turns out you’re a maniac when it comes to spoiling Chen Xiao!’

Gao Yue’s mind raced. Today had been a real eye-opener! ’Looks like I’ll have to be nicer to Chen Xiao from now on. He must be Miss Xu’s "reverse scale"—her one untouchable spot.’

Four Seasons Clothing exclusively dealt in high-end brands, so its stores were highly concentrated. Although it boasted annual sales of over a billion yuan, it did so by placing six or seven of its brands within a single major mall.

This strategy yielded incredibly high revenue per location, with annual sales from its stores in each mall approaching 100 million yuan.

Junxiao Group had been making one move after another recently. Ganglong International had already removed three of Four Seasons Clothing’s brands, and the five brands in Junxiao Square were also on the verge of being kicked out.

On top of that, Huang Guangyuan had previously thrown a fit, forcing several of these top brands to pull out of malls under the Wansheng Group as well.

These actions alone had already cost him over 100 million yuan in annual sales.

Then there was the Sa Mo brand, which was intervening with its own direct-operation stores, not to mention the loss of the distribution rights for Ledi.

With Sa Mo already stepping in to run its own stores, could losing the distribution rights be far behind?

When you added it all up, half his empire was gone.

In business, it’s not like you can lose half your territory and expect the other half to remain perfectly stable.

It’s a domino effect; there would be a chain reaction.

Once your market share drops and you have fewer brands, your company’s standing in the industry vanishes.

You can no longer secure prime locations or low rents in malls. This cascade of setbacks was likely enough to bring Four Seasons Clothing to its knees.

This was also why Xia Bin had hastily arranged to meet Lin Ya today.

Of course, if it hadn’t been to discuss work, he might not have been able to get Lin Ya to meet him at all.

Their families had arranged for them to be engaged when they were children, but Lin Ya had never acknowledged it and had never once gone on a private date with Xia Bin.

Xia Bin had originally wanted to ask her out for a candlelight dinner today. It was only because she refused that he settled for the next best thing: inviting her to discuss work over coffee.

Gao Yue’s slap had shattered his pride as a man and extinguished his confidence.

It made him even more insecure in front of Lin Ya, but for the sake of his business, he steeled himself and relocated to another teahouse with her.

"Xiao Ya, about your job... have you decided what you’re going to do?"

The acquisition of Tianlong Square by Junxiao Group was a done deal, and the handover was already proceeding quickly. It was said that Xu Jun had dropped everything else to personally oversee the transition.

And Lin Ya, as the "Eldest Princess" of Lifan Business Management Company, was torn between staying on at Tianlong Square and returning to her family’s corporate headquarters.

After Junxiao Group acquired Tianlong Square, they certainly wouldn’t partner with Lifan, as they had their own management company, Junxiao Business Management. If Lin Ya wanted to stay, she would have to leave her family’s enterprise and join the new management.

Xia Bin guessed that Lin Ya would find such a move unacceptable. This was his biggest worry. If Lin Ya left, what would happen to his seven stores in Tianlong Square?

’If he couldn’t save those seven stores, he was truly finished!’

The thought had been keeping him up at night for days.

"I’m planning to stay at Tianlong Square. I’ll be meeting with President Xu in the next two days to discuss it."

Lin Ya knew he wasn’t actually concerned about her, but from a business perspective, they were still very important partners. She had an obligation to inform him of her next move.

Xia Bin breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face for the first time. "Xiao Ya, that’s the right choice. For a major venue like Tianlong Square, the general manager position carries more weight than being a vice president at Lifan Business Management. The resources are better, too!"

Lin Ya nodded. She wasn’t interested in the family business anyway. Besides, she had a younger brother who was currently being groomed by the group to take over.

This was a good chance for her to strike out and make a name for herself. She always felt that living under the shadow of her family’s influence was more of a psychological burden than a blessing.

"Xiao Ya, since the handover is happening now, do you think you could just go ahead and process the lease renewals for my stores? We could sign a long-term contract."

Lin Ya gave a cold laugh. "President Xia, our partnership is a purely professional one. Everything will be handled according to procedure. You are an important client, but I can’t compromise my principles just because of that."

"So what are you saying? What will happen with the lease renewals?"

Taking an elegant sip of her tea, Lin Ya looked at him calmly and said, "We can discuss it after I’ve been approved by Junxiao Business Management and officially reappointed as the general manager of Tianlong Square."

Xia Bin was deeply disappointed. He knew Lin Ya was a woman of principle, but ’their families had been friends for generations! Couldn’t she bend the rules just a little?’

Thus, a person without principles can never understand just how seriously a principled person takes matters of principle.

Peng Yu was also on edge. Junxiao Business Management’s recent moves were just too aggressive. Xu Jun was out negotiating acquisitions from morning till night, a feat that had become the talk of the business world in Hanjiang Province.

Junxiao Group’s financial might was staggering. Even some of the more well-informed people in automotive industry circles were beginning to doubt their initial assessments.

They had always believed that Junxing Auto investing in its own R&D for smart cockpits and autonomous driving was a suicidal move, as it required an astronomical amount of capital.