Because the group had too many issues and its main businesses were not in industries Ding Yun was interested in, she was too lazy to bother with it. Thus, she directly summoned the shareholders who had previously helped her obtain the inheritance.
She asked them if they were willing to take over the group.
She could sell them her shares at a low price.
If they didn't have enough cash, they could pay in installments.
In any case, she didn't want to deal with this mess. She neither lacked money nor had the conviction to carry on the Li family's legacy.
Why bother with this?
Those shareholders were all quite old; the youngest was forty-eight, and the oldest was nearing the grave.
Therefore, they had little ambition to strive further.
For a time, the Li Group became like a hot potato. Despite its considerable assets, no one was particularly eager to take it over. All the shareholders hesitated.
While they didn't directly refuse, it was clear they were not enthusiastic. They only stated that they needed to go back and discuss it.
Faced with this situation, Ding Yun immediately appealed to their emotions and reason, beginning her persuasion. For example, she suggested that since they were getting old and lacked the energy to manage the company, they had descendants. Didn't their descendants want to strive and develop their families further?
Minor shareholders were not as comfortable as major shareholders. Many ideas could only be implemented if one became a major shareholder.
Ding Yun said many such things, which gradually made the shareholders feel tempted. However, due to financial concerns, they were still undecided.
Ding Yun then quickly played her trump card: she could split the group. After all, the Li Group had more than one business sector. Dividing the various business segments would not only make the operations more focused but also reduce the capital they needed to invest.
Coupled with Ding Yun's willingness to offer discounts,
for them,
this would be less detrimental.
After Ding Yun's persuasion, the remaining shareholders were largely swayed, especially when Ding Yun promised to sell her shares to them at a 30% discount based on the current stock price. This made them even more eager.
Thus, the biggest issue soon shifted from whether to buy Ding Yun's shares to who would acquire which subsidiary. Everyone wanted the profitable subsidiaries with high returns.
No one wanted the loss-making ones.
So, the shareholders had to continue to bicker amongst themselves.
Fortunately, this had nothing to do with Ding Yun. She specifically gave them a few days to argue and only proceeded with the subsequent transactions after they reached a concrete agreement.
For shareholders willing to take on the loss-making subsidiaries,
Ding Yun offered even greater discounts.
This way, it could be considered a happy outcome for everyone involved.
However, after the division, there was still one subsidiary that no shareholder was willing to take: the gold jewelry branch. They all claimed they lacked gold channels and wouldn't be able to make much profit from it.
In the gold industry, without trickery and deception,
it truly is about channels.
It is difficult to sustain, let alone develop and expand, without one's own stable channels. Furthermore, in recent years, people have been more inclined towards diamonds and platinum, and even luxury brands use 18k gold. The sale of gold is genuinely not as lucrative as it once was.
The unit price of 24k gold cannot even match that of luxury brands made with 18k gold. Who would have thought?
But this is reality.
Coincidentally, Ding Yun was not short of gold, so she didn't insist on selling it. She decided to keep the subsidiary specializing in gold trading and reorganized it.
She would continue to engage in gold trading, and she would supply the materials.
As for the source of the goods, it would naturally be handled by professional accountants. While the source of gold in China might be difficult to explain, it was much simpler to claim it was imported.
After paying the taxes, no one could question the legality of the source.
Often, the illegality of many things stems from a failure to pay taxes. As long as taxes are paid, and it's not an illegal or prohibited item, there are generally no issues.
Gold, by its nature, is not a prohibited item. If you were to sell large quantities abroad, the government might intervene to understand the situation. However, if you were to import large quantities, the country would absolutely welcome it.
After all, it's similar to oil.
No one would complain about having too much.
Having more in circulation among the public is also good.
Thus, after this series of maneuvers, Ding Yun not only gained a large amount of capital and assets but also found a sales channel, a stable and legitimate one, for the gold she obtained through her Midas touch.
However, to avoid appearing too conspicuous, Ding Yun did not dare to set prices too low. She followed market prices, perhaps being slightly more honest than other stores.
She would often hold promotions, offer discounts,
or give away free gifts.
Coupled with Ding Yun's Midas touch, which could easily create gold crafts that only top masters could produce, her jewelry store quickly established a foothold.
And continued to grow and expand.
As for how top-tier crafts were made, some items might be difficult to forge with gold, even requiring significant effort and skill. However, when made with other materials,
it was much easier and simpler.
What Ding Yun did was that no matter how difficult the craftsmanship, as long as it was designed, she could create the item with other materials and then transform it into gold. However, to avoid arousing suspicion, Ding Yun only produced a small number of high-end gold crafts as a gimmick and as display pieces.
She did not mass-produce them.
This way, there were no issues, and no one found anything amiss. Even competitors would at most sigh and remark that true masters were among the common folk.
Seeing that the gold trading was on track,
and the original owner's wishes were largely fulfilled,
Ding Yun naturally decided to focus on expanding her own influence and completing her tasks.
Everything would proceed as originally planned.
Firstly, by herself, and secondly, through her son.
In terms of relying on herself, Ding Yun's main strategy was to first promote her skincare and health products internationally, ideally selling them worldwide. Then, based on this foundation, she would gradually expand into the pharmaceutical industry. At that point, she would emulate a certain chili sauce brand and print her own portrait on all products, confident that her influence would increase.
Ding Yun firmly believed that if every household had a few items bearing her portrait, her influence would be considerable. If there was still a slight gap, a little stir-up would be enough.
It should be enough to directly engrave her mark.
As for relying on her son,
Ding Yun no longer held much hope. Because her son was her son, and she was herself. Her son's influence was unlikely to transfer to her. It was probable that her son would have to become a being like a God of Light for her to gain enough influence to engrave her mark into the world's origin.
What hope was there for that?
She couldn't possibly lead her son to practice the path of incense and divine power.
So, Ding Yun let him be, no longer interfering excessively, allowing him to develop freely in the entertainment industry.