Chapter 718 I Decided to Give Up
Looking at the excited families of the deceased, Liu Zongguang cursed in his heart. His eyes turned fierce when he looked at Li Qiu and he said in a deep voice: "You are blackmailing me!"
Li Qiu could clearly hear the threat in Liu Zongguang's tone, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he said cheerfully, "Boss Liu, what you said is wrong. It is you, Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd., who are wrong. You are the ones who are defrauding consumers, and we just want justice. How can it be considered blackmail? You are talking nonsense. I will sue you for defaming my client."
"Nima..."
If Liu Zongguang had not retained the last bit of his sanity, he would have grabbed the chair next to him and let Li Qiu know why the flowers were so red.
This guy is definitely here to cause trouble!
But there is no way. Now Li Qiu is just manipulating public opinion and is completely fearless.
Faced with the burden of gradually losing his mind, Liu Zongguang had to take a tough attitude and said sternly: "He can't win this lawsuit at all. If you don't accept the settlement, you will not get a penny in the end. You can take our company's products to any place for testing. There is no substance harmful to the human body at all."
It's just a bottle of sugar water, there is no way it can contain any harmful substances, Liu Zongguang is confident about this.
After hearing what Liu Zongguang said, many people felt confused.
After all, no one understands the law, so they don't know who is right. They are only interested in money, and if they can't get 1 million, 500,000 is a good deal.
However, as the saying goes, the devil is always stronger than the righteous. Li Qiu immediately seized on the opportunity and said, "Don't listen to his nonsense. If we can't win the lawsuit, why should he give us 500,000 yuan per household to settle it out of court?"
After hearing what Li Qiu said, many people came to their senses.
"Yes, if you are sure to win the lawsuit, why are you willing to pay the money?"
"Okay, it's really a scam company. They even dared to cheat us in front of the court. We are going to fight this lawsuit to the end!"
This logic is similar to the one back then: "Why would you rescue someone if you didn't hit him?"
As long as the quality is low enough, the logical loopholes can be infinitely large.
"Stop talking nonsense. If you want to sue, then sue. I'm not afraid of you. Someone in our family has died."
"That's right, we've all bought your unlimited stuff, don't you admit it?"
"Damn, I almost got cheated by you. If there's nothing wrong with your stuff, why would you want to reconcile? Isn't it because you have something to hide?"
Facing these people's chattering, Liu Zongguang finally understood what it meant to be a scholar meeting a soldier, and he couldn't explain his reason. He had no way of explaining that he wanted to settle in order to save the Infinity brand, because once the lawsuit was filed, the brand would be tarnished, and even if he won the lawsuit, Infinity would be finished.
On July 22, 2003, an announcement shocked the entire Baiyun City.
Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd., which was once rated as one of the top ten local star companies, suddenly announced that it had entered bankruptcy proceedings. Such a large company with an annual turnover of more than 3 billion and thousands of employees went bankrupt inexplicably.
This incident shocked countless people in the investment circle.
You know, everything happened so suddenly. The lawsuit was still going on, but in the blink of an eye, Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. was about to disappear?
Someone also brought this news to the production workshop of Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd.
The busy workers were suddenly at a loss. They looked at each other, and stopped what they were doing, not knowing what to do next.
"What happened? Why did the company go bankrupt?"
“Are we going to be unemployed?”
"What are you doing?"
As a low-level worker, of course I didn't know what happened in the company. Moreover, considering the cultural level of factory workers of that era, I couldn't understand how big a trap this lawsuit was.
Most of them are in their prime, with elderly parents and young children to support. The food, clothing, housing and transportation of the entire family depend on the small salary they earn from the factory.
Now that the company has gone bankrupt for unknown reasons, the whole family has become panic-stricken.
"What should I do if I get laid off?"
"My child is at home during the summer vacation. If I lose my job, I won't be able to pay for the tuition for the next semester."
"I still wonder why they went bankrupt out of nowhere. Is this some kind of joke?"
"Let's go ask the workshop director and find out what's going on."
"Well, I feel relieved now that I have found out."
The workers in the workshop quickly reached a consensus, took off their dust hats, and walked out of the workshop.
Just as I walked out of the factory, someone suddenly called out, "Look, isn't that the company's sales director Shao Tongfeng? We can ask him."
"Yes, yes, yes. Just ask him directly what happened. Aren't our company's products selling well? How did it go bankrupt?"
A group of people immediately surrounded Shao Tongfeng.
"Manager Shao, is the company really going to go bankrupt?"
"Will we get our salary this month?"
“Can I continue to do this in the future?”
Faced with the numerous inquiries, Shao Tongfeng had to stop and patiently explained: "Everyone go back to work with peace of mind. I just came back from another place, and I don't know the specific situation yet. But please rest assured, the company will not fall so easily, believe me."
Within the company, although Liu Zongguang is the founder of Infinity, Shao Tongfeng, who came from a state-owned enterprise but has extraordinary sales ability, is the backbone of all employees.
After all, the company's products , to put it bluntly, have no core competitiveness. The reason why it can succeed is due to the sales team led by Shao Tongfeng.
Therefore, everyone is still willing to believe what Shao Tongfeng says.
"I feel relieved if Manager Shao says so."
"Since Manager Shao has said this, I won't say anything more. Let's get back to work."
"Manager Shao, if there is any news, you must broadcast it immediately."
"I'll leave this matter to Manager Shao. I have parents and children to take care of. If I get laid off, I'll be finished."
After finally getting rid of all the people, Shao Tongfeng, who was originally going to his own office, went directly to Liu Zongguang's office.
"Boom boom boom."
"Come in."
Hearing Liu Zongguang's voice inside, Shao Tongfeng pushed the door open and said, "When I first came to the company, many people were saying that our company went bankrupt. What's going on?"
Today's Liu Zongguang has lost his former glory and looks much more haggard. His originally thick black hair is now dotted with white hair.
He sighed and said, "Have you heard about the lawsuit?"
Shao Tongfeng was even more confused: "I know, I've read some of the information. If this lawsuit really goes to court, won't we definitely win? As for those family members of the patients, they can't produce any strong evidence to prove that the deceased died because of our product."
Although the health supplements produced by the company are useless, it is really impossible for them to kill people!
Shao Tongfeng is still very confident about this.
Liu Zongguang said helplessly: "The key is that people outside don't think so. Now public opinion is overwhelming and we have no way to defend ourselves."
Things are different now than they were ten years ago. In the 1980s and early 1990s, advertising was really effective in Xiaguo.
After all, it was just the beginning of reform and opening up, and advertisements were broadcast on TV programs, so people were willing to believe them.
But with the progress of the times, especially after being deceived by various false advertisements for more than ten years, even a pig knows to be alert, so advertisements are not very effective now.
Especially in the health care product industry, there have been many cases of failure in recent years, and the situation is extremely pessimistic.
It is said that if you stand at the forefront of the times, even pigs can fly.
Liu Zongguang was like a flying pig, but the wind was not sustainable after all. Now that there was no wind blowing from below, he suddenly became a pig that was about to fall to the ground.
What's worse is that things happened so suddenly that Liu Zongguang didn't even have time to prepare a parachute for himself.
Shao Tongfeng frowned and thought deeply, then asked Liu Zongguang, "Boss Liu, what are you going to do now? The whole company is in a panic now, and few people are willing to continue working properly. They are all worried that Wujixian will not be able to pay next month's salary."
Although it has not officially gone bankrupt, it has already entered the bankruptcy process. If nothing unexpected happens, bankruptcy is a foregone conclusion.
Liu Zongguang collapsed on the sofa and started to act like a rogue: "What can I do? Now I can only spread the news of bankruptcy and let the employees make a fuss, forcing the city to rescue us."
Shao Tongfeng was frightened by this crazy idea and looked at Liu Zongguang in surprise: "This will offend people, and there are tens of thousands of employees. If a mass incident occurs, it will be difficult to resolve."
Liu Guangzong sneered, "It is because we have tens of thousands of employees that I am not afraid. Don't you want to mess with me? Come on, single, I will go bankrupt directly, and tens of thousands of employees will enter the society. I want to see who can beat who!"
After a few days of thinking, Liu Guangzong's mindset has changed. Since someone wants to run Infinity, let them do it and see what benefits these people can get after Infinity goes bankrupt.
At this time, he was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was not afraid of those wearing shoes. Faced with a situation where he was sure to die, Liu Zongguang no longer thought about asking anyone for help. Instead, he planned to drag a few people with him even if he died. In this way, he wanted to force his secret opponents to stop, or let the bank renew the loan to Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd.
At this point, Shao Tongfeng knew very well that the news that Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. was going to go bankrupt was deliberately released by Liu Zongguang himself.
Shao Tongfeng thought about it for a moment and agreed with Liu Zongguang's approach: "If someone is indeed interfering, then whether we win or lose the lawsuit, Wujixian will be no different from bankruptcy. We might as well just stop struggling. This is also a solution."
At this time, Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. still owed the bank hundreds of millions of dollars. If it really went bankrupt, the money would directly become bad debts.
Although he was in charge of the sales department, Shao Tongfeng had dealt with bank personnel before and was well aware of the unspoken rules of the financial industry - when you owe a bank a few hundred yuan, you will be in trouble. But when you owe a bank hundreds of millions, the bank might be in trouble.
Shao Tongfeng didn't believe that the bank would really dare to cut off the loan. After all, the money owed to Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. had not yet been repaid.
At 6pm, Shao Tongfeng got home from get off work. His virtuous wife Zhao Simeng had already prepared dinner. When she saw Shao Tongfeng coming into the house, she quickly greeted him, "Husband, you're back."
Shao Tongfeng took off his coat, answered, and took the cup to the water dispenser to drink.
Seeing this, Zhao Simeng asked, "Why, you don't seem happy? Did something happen at work?"
Shao Tongfeng didn't like to bring company matters back home, so he said, "Nothing, maybe I've been traveling a lot lately and I'm a little down."
Zhao Simeng didn't mean to ask any more questions, so she said, "Then I'll boil some water for you to take a hot bath after dinner. Oh, by the way, when I was buying groceries just now, I seemed to hear someone say that the Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. was going to go bankrupt. I think it was your company, right? How come it suddenly said it was going to go bankrupt? You're not going to lose your job, are you?"
Shao Tongfeng smiled and patted the back of Zhao Simeng's hand, saying softly, "It's okay. Infinite Health Products Co., Ltd. has 70,000 to 80,000 employees and owes a large sum of money to the bank. How could it collapse because of a lawsuit? Don't worry, I won't ."
After hearing what Shao Tongfeng said, Zhao Simeng's heart, which had been hanging in the air, was immediately relieved.
At that time, Shao Tongfeng left the state-owned enterprise in anger and joined Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd., where he increased the company's turnover from three million to three billion. For Shao Tongfeng, this was no longer just a job, but had become a part of his life.
He now lives in a villa and drives a luxury car. Not only does he have an annual salary of one million, but more importantly, within the company, apart from the founder Liu Zongguang, Shao Tongfeng can be said to have the final say and is very powerful.
So no matter what outsiders think, Shao Tongfeng is absolutely willing to live and die with the company.
After dinner, the couple snuggled on the sofa and watched TV for a while, but Shao Tongfeng suddenly received a call from the community security guard.
"Mr. Shao, there is a man named Li Qiu who wants to visit you. Do you want to let him in?"
"Li Qiu?"
Shao Tongfeng felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere, but he had no clear impression in his mind, and he frowned immediately.
He thought for a moment and said, "I'll go down and take a look."
Shao Tongfeng arrived at the gate of the community and saw Li Qiu. A puzzled expression appeared on his face because he was sure that he had never seen this person before.
When Li Qiu saw Shao Tongfeng coming out, a kind smile appeared on his face and he said, "Hello, Mr. Shao, I am Li Qiu from Mingcha Legal Consulting Company, and this is my business card."
"Mingcha Legal Consulting Company?"
When Shao Tongfeng heard this, the confusion on his face deepened.
He thought Li Qiu was here to promote his business, so he immediately said, "I'm sorry, I don't need this kind of service for the time being."
This answer seemed to be within Li Qiu's expectations. He smiled and said, "Mr. Shao, this is the case. Didn't Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. get involved in a civil lawsuit recently?"
Shao Tongfeng thought Li Qiu wanted to take the case and serve as the defense lawyer for Wujixian Health Products Co., Ltd. Unfortunately, Liu Zongguang had already decided to lie down, so he didn't need this service. So, he said, "Sorry, we don't need a defense lawyer."
Li Qiu grinned slightly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth: "Mr. Shao, you are wrong, I am the plaintiff's lawyer."
Shao Tongfeng: “???!!!”
He looked around and said, "Let's go to my house and have a seat."
Li Qiu did not refuse and made a gesture of invitation: "Please."
Zhao Simeng was washing dishes at home. When she saw Shao Tongfeng and Li Qiu coming back, she quickly washed her hands, came out of the kitchen, and started to boil water to make tea.
Shao Tongfeng said expressionlessly: "Let's go to the study and talk."
Shao Tongfeng led Li Qiu to the study. Li Qiu looked around and saw that the study was elegantly decorated. In addition to a wall of books, there were also several calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. He smiled and said, "Mr. Shao has good taste."
If a friend came, Shao Tongfeng would naturally show off the calligraphy and paintings he found, but unfortunately Li Qiu was now his enemy, so he was in no mood to chat and laugh with Li Qiu. He said with a dark face, "Why did you come to see me today?"
Li Qiu was not a person who liked to talk nonsense, and he immediately said seriously: "I think that Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. is destined to be a sinking ship, but Mr. Shao Tongfeng, you don't have to be buried with it."
Shao Tongfeng snorted coldly: "Lawyer Li, do you think that a lawsuit without any evidence can bring down Infinite Health Products Co., Ltd."
Li Qiu shook his head slightly and said, "The lawsuit was just the trigger. The key is that the health care product market is not as good as before. How can Infinity Health Care Products Co., Ltd. be immune to this industry-wide decline?"
The reason why Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd. collapsed with just a slight push was that it was a rotten ship to begin with.
Although it looks shiny on the surface, it is inevitably flawed underneath.
People outside may not know the details of Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd., but it is different for banks. Whenever money is involved, banks are always the most informed.
In the past, Infinity Healthcare Products Co., Ltd. might have been a high-quality asset in the eyes of banks, but now it is obviously about to become a money-losing asset.
If Lu Yiming had not intervened, Liu Zongguang might have been able to enjoy his glory for a few more years before slowly exhausting his last bit of connections and favors, and then being kicked out by the bank out of tolerance.
But the appearance of Lu Yiming directly accelerated this process.
Shao Tongfeng actually knew what Li Qiu said better than anyone else. After all, he was in sales, and no one had a better say than him on whether the company's products were selling well or not. It was just that everything he had now was given by Infinity Health Products Co., Ltd., so no matter what, he was trying to find a way to save the company.
Until Li Qiu appeared.
