"Zhejiang Wenzhou, Zhejiang Wenzhou, the biggest leather factory, Jiangnan Leather Factory has gone out of business! Boss Huang He, that scumbag, gambled all his money away, and ran off with his sister-in-law. We have no choice, so we're taking wallets as payment. Original prices were over three hundred, over two hundred, over one hundred yuan for these wallets, all for twenty yuan, all for twenty yuan! Huang He, you scumbag, you're no human! We worked our sweat and tears for you for half a year, yet you didn't pay us. Give back my hard-earned money, give back my blood and sweat money!"
The familiar tune seemed to echo in his mind as Huang He, sitting in his spacious 240-square-meter mahogany office, stroked his chin, lost for words.
"I've actually become Huang He, and I really am on the run!"
Huang He was indeed named Huang He, but this Huang He was not that Huang He.
The original Huang He was a miserable marketing planner for a general agent in China in 2021. The current Huang He, however, had become the chairman of Jiangnan Leather Factory, with fixed assets reportedly exceeding one hundred million yuan... if one didn't count the three hundred and fifty million yuan in debt Huang He still owed.
In his previous life, Huang He detested the "guichu" (a type of internet meme/parody) and jokes surrounding Jiangnan Leather Factory. This was because it subjected him, a namesake, to a lot of teasing, with people constantly asking where his sister-in-law was.
Heaven knows, Huang He didn't even have a girlfriend, let alone a sister-in-law!
"Huang He, pay up!"
"Huang He, pay up!"
"Huang He, give us back all our money!!"
Suddenly, earth-shattering sounds erupted from below his office building, startling Huang He. He looked down from the window and, good heavens, saw over a thousand people gathered below his office, holding various banners, their faces ferocious. Huang He felt his pants about to dampen.
"Brother-in-law, what should we do?" a somewhat flustered voice sounded by Huang He's ear. Huang He looked over and involuntarily swallowed.
What a captivating woman. Even though she was just wearing a plain OL uniform and ordinary light makeup, she exuded a captivating charm. Especially under the overly tight embrace of her uniform, her perfect S-shaped, devilish figure was revealed.
"Gulp!" Huang He swallowed, then instinctively asked, "What did you call me?"
"Brother-in-law!" the beauty said in a panic. "Brother-in-law, don't scare me, you haven't been scared silly, have you?"
"Good, good!" Huang He finally understood why the Huang He of his previous life had run off with his sister-in-law. It was because he himself now wanted to elope with this captivating sister-in-law. Staying any longer at Jiangnan Leather Factory was a dead end; escape was the only way to survive!
"Brother-in-law, the security guards can barely hold back the angry workers downstairs. Quickly think of a way to appease them!" the sister-in-law said.
"Alright, go and tell the security guards that I'll be down to communicate with the workers in ten minutes!" Huang He nodded. The sister-in-law breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left.
"Let me think... let me think!" Huang He patted his head, trying to devise a way out of this predicament.
At this moment, a large amount of Huang He's memories merged into his mind. Based on these memories, Huang He pieced together the life of the original owner of this body.
This Huang He could be considered a half-second-generation rich kid.
He had a rather difficult childhood. However, starting from 1988, his parents began operating a leather business, and his family's situation gradually improved. By 1998, Huang He reached the peak of his life. Under his parents' management, Jiangnan Leather Factory had assets exceeding one hundred million, and he became a true second-generation heir.
However, 1999 marked a turning point in his life. That year, his wife, whom he had married for only a year, passed away from acute leukemia. To make matters worse, his parents also died in a car accident.
Thus, the entire Jiangnan Leather Factory fell into the hands of Huang He, who was then only 22 years old.
At that time, Huang He was still full of spirit and intended to make a grand move. He was not satisfied with the wallet product line established by his parents. He successively launched three different production lines for leather shoes, belts, and bags. He also took out a loan of 350 million yuan to expand production, recruit more workers, and create his own Jiangnan Leatherware brand, intending to make a big splash.
In fact, Huang He's actions were not wrong. After all, China was about to join the WTO, and orders from all over the world would pour in. Jiangnan Leather Factory might even soar and become China's Chanel.
But Huang He did not live to see China join the WTO. By the end of 2000, almost all products manufactured by Jiangnan Leather Factory were in a state of unsaleable inventory, with market reviews being overwhelmingly negative. Many cooperating dealers also stopped their partnerships.
More importantly, Jiangnan Leather Factory's main business was OEM production for some well-known fashion brands. However, because Jiangnan Leather Factory intended to promote its own brand, the brands that had contracted them for OEM production all canceled their orders. After all, they couldn't foster a competitor for themselves.
Consequently, Jiangnan Leather Factory fell into dire straits. It had no orders for six consecutive months, but products continued to be produced and piled up in the warehouse like mountains. Until now, the workers had not received their wages for over three months.
What was even more critical was that the bank was now pressuring Huang He to repay the loan, but Huang He had less than 100,000 yuan in cash left in his bank account.
Therefore, to put it bluntly, Huang He was doomed. Besides running away, there was no other way out.
"Run quickly! Take these 100,000 yuan and your sister-in-law and run!" a tempting voice echoed in his mind. Huang He almost couldn't resist and just ran away.
"No, I can't repeat this life. Am I supposed to sell Gundam lucky bags on Taobao like in my previous life? At the very least, this world must not have that damn 'Jiangnan Leather Factory has gone out of business'!" Huang He clenched his fists and stood up. He was unwilling to repeat a life that was a joke in some guichu lyrics.
"Calm down, the biggest problems now are two: one is the rioting workers downstairs, and the three months of wages owed to them, totaling about 5 million yuan."
"The other is the bank loan. According to the agreement, I must repay 40 million yuan to the bank tomorrow, otherwise it will be a loan default, and the bank has the right to confiscate all my mortgaged assets!"
"As long as I can find a way to solve these two problems, my Jiangnan Leather Factory can continue to survive!" Thinking of this, Huang He felt it would have been better not to calm down.
Because solving these two problems combined would require 45 million yuan, and there was less than a day left.
As for borrowing money, everyone in Wenzhou now knew the predicament of Huang He and Jiangnan Leather Factory. No one would be willing to lend money to Huang He to be thrown into the water.
Huang He thought for less than a minute before his head began to throb. It was better to run than to suffer.
But at this moment, the downstairs, which had been quiet for a while, began to clamor loudly again.
"Brother-in-law, it's been ten minutes!" The sound of the sister-in-law's high heels, rapid and crisp, echoed.
"I know, leave everything to Brother-in-law!" Huang He took a deep breath, pushed open the office door forcefully, and strode out.
However, the sister-in-law's face turned bright red because her small hand was currently being held by her brother-in-law.
Brother-in-law... you're so mean...