All The Villain Wants Is Money - Chapter 6
Yu Qiao stared at Xie Gu, utterly incredulous.
No, this doesn’t make sense, he thought. When Xie Gu had approached for help just a few days ago, he had seemed perfectly normal. How had he ended up like… this? Had he suffered some kind of trauma?
At this point, Xie Gu had already walked over, extending a hand smudged black with coal dust to Jiang Caijie. The brightest thing about him at the moment was his gleaming teeth. “Hello,” he said.
Jiang Caijie stared at Xie Gu’s beaming face, unsure whether he should actually shake the hand.
Thankfully, Yu Qiao stepped in to defuse the awkward moment. “What on earth happened to you?” he asked.
“Just integrating with the grassroots,” Xie Gu replied, waving his dirty hand dismissively.
Realizing it was indeed a bit too grimy, he casually withdrew it and turned to Jiang Caijie. “This is the expert you brought in?”
Yu Qiao nodded. “Jiang Caijie is a specialist in the field of asset valuation and an old acquaintance of mine.”
Xie Gu gave Jiang Caijie a nod. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jiang.”
Then, he pivoted back to Yu Qiao. “You’re here to draft the contract?”
Yu Qiao said with some exasperation, “Yes, though you didn’t give me the full picture of what this is about. I’m here to take a look first. If it’s beyond my expertise, I’ll bring in someone more specialized.”
Yu Qiao, while technically a commercial lawyer, did not specialize in mergers-and-acquisitions. However, he was a jack-of-all-trades in the legal world. It fully fit his image as the kid every parent brags about who was skilled in everything he learnt and did.
Xie Gu had looked into the background of this world, and Yu Qiao was originally just a side character. He and the original antagonist had been high school classmates and were once close friends. However, a major falling-out over differing values caused them to part ways.
However, Yu Qiao was the only one who visited the original villain during his downfall—though their meeting hadn’t gone well either.
Still, such details revealed a lot about Yu Qiao’s character: he was trustworthy and upright.
So, Xie Gu felt completely at ease entrusting this matter to Yu Qiao and had full confidence in his abilities.
Xie Gu smiled upon hearing Yu Qiao’s question. “I’m just in a hurry, that’s all. I’ve already gone through the accounts here today. There aren’t any major bad debts. Mr. Jiang can confirm the finer details, which shouldn’t take too long. The payment is negotiable, the priority is speed.”
Yu Qiao seemed a bit surprised. “You can understand financial accounts?”
Xie Gu gave him a meaningful look. “Sometimes people grow up overnight.”
He rolled his neck and finally felt that being covered in dirt was too uncomfortable. He waved the secretary over. “Xiao Qin, take good care of Lawyer Yu and Mr. Jiang. I’m going upstairs to take a shower and change.”
The secretary nodded. After watching the young master leave, he turned respectfully to greet the two guests.
He had already known about Yu Qiao, but had also heard of Jiang Caijie. Jiang Caijie wasn’t just an asset appraiser—he was a rising financial expert with an impressive reputation in recent years. Known for his expertise in corporate asset planning, and asset appraisal was only one of his many skills. The secretary couldn’t help but tread carefully.
“Mr. Jiang, were you invited here to assess our coal mine for a potential transformation?” Secretary Qin asked cautiously. “We’re just operating on a small-scale here. Our boss mainly focuses on his chain restaurant business now. Perhaps you could…”
Before he could finish, Yu Qiao interrupted him. “Xie Gu didn’t invite Mr. Jiang to provide transformation advice.”
Secretary Qin froze, suddenly recalling that the young master had asked Yu Qiao on drafting contracts earlier.
His heart skipped a beat, and, sure enough, Yu Qiao continued, “He invited us here to prepare the coal plant for a transfer in ownership.”
“???” Secretary Qin’s smile stiffened. “Is-is that so?”
He desperately wanted to find an excuse to step away and call the boss. “The young master has truly lost it—he just got here and he’s already planning to sell the family’s property!!!”
But with Xie Gu and Xie Wentang both absent, he was the only one left to receive the guests. Forcing an awkward smile, Secretary Qin led the guests upstairs while following Xie Gu’s earlier instructions to bring the account books for Jiang Caijie to review.
As Yu Qiao and Jiang Caijie began analyzing the accounts, Secretary Qin quickly pulled out his phone to send a report on the current situation to Xie Wentang.
After a while, Xie Gu came back downstairs in fresh clothes, finally looking presentable. Jiang Caijie even thought he looked better now than in the entertainment news photos—perhaps because he now exuded spirit and vitality.
With water droplets still clinging to his hair and a towel draped over his head, Xie Gu glanced at the secretary furiously typing away on his phone but made no comment. Instead, he answered questions from Jiang Caijie and Yu Qiao.
Secretary Qin half-listened while typing and grew increasingly alarmed.
He had spent many years managing the coal mine, but the young master’s familiarity and understanding of the mine was on par with his own!
How did he achieve such a clear understanding? Was it all from just two days of cramming?
The more he listened, the more astonished he became, to the point that he even forgot to finish his report and ended up just staring at Xie Gu.
Meanwhile, Jiang Caijie gained a general understanding of the coal mine’s situation. “I think I’ve got the idea. The accounts here are relatively straightforward. If all the documentation is complete, the calculations can be finished in about two weeks. However, the workload is too much for myself alone. Mr. Xie, you could hire a specialized firm to handle the bulk of it and I’ll assist from the side. That said…”
He hesitated for a moment. “What’s the status with the potential buyers?”
“Oh, no rush,” Xie Gu replied. “First, we need to clean up the accounts and make them look presentable. That’ll make it easier to sell.”
The way he said it was oddly reminiscent of a brothel madam instructing her staff to clean up the girls well so that they could be sold for a higher price.
Which, in essence, held the same principles.
Yu Qiao’s lips twitched, sensing trouble. “Xie Gu, don’t tell me you haven’t found a buyer yet?”
Xie Gu didn’t answer directly. “That’s not important. Anyway, I didn’t just bring you here for this.”
He rubbed his hair with the towel draped over his head and casually said, “Are you perchance interested in formally establishing a partnership?”
Yu Qiao froze, unsure of what Xie Gu meant. Before he could ask, Xie Gu’s phone rang.
Xie Gu glanced at the caller ID, then gave Secretary Qin a strange look before answering. He held the phone slightly away from his ear.
Secretary Qin was puzzled, but the next second, a thunderous roar filled the office: “You little brat, what on earth are you trying to do?!”
Mind you, Xie Gu hadn’t even put the call on speaker.
But Xie Gu had anticipated this response. He waited until Xie Wentang finished yelling before calmly bringing the phone back to his ear and replying, “I’m planning to sell the mine.”
His tone was so composed that it left Xie Wentang momentarily speechless. When he finally gathered himself to demand more answers, Xie Gu spoke again. “Old man, don’t you realize how tough things are right now? Holding onto this mine is like holding onto a ticking time bomb. If someone’s interested in buying, why not sell?”
Xie Wentang wanted to ask who the buyer was, but before he could, Xie Gu added, “At this very moment, the Li family should already be paying you a visit, right?”
“…” Xie Wentang glanced at the Li family’s manager sitting across from him and fell silent.
“Boy, you planned this?”