78: Chapter 78 Low-Price Transfer

"Brother, I want to go tomorrow too!" Liu Chang said suddenly.

"Can I even stop you? Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You'd better eat more gracefully tomorrow. Otherwise, don't go at all!" Cao Xiao said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hmph! You always bully me," Liu Chang snorted unhappily.

Cao Xiao ignored her and went upstairs with Yueyou, arranging for her to rest in a guest room on the second floor. After all, the two weren't married yet and weren't intimate enough to live together.

Early the next morning, Cao Xiao took his family to Tianxing Garden to prepare. Actually, there wasn't much major to prepare; the family spent the whole morning busy setting up a large table of sumptuous food.

At noon, He Yueyou's parents and grandparents arrived. Cao Xiao's family received them, and everything went harmoniously. After the meal, both sides excitedly discussed the wedding, but Cao Xiao and He Yueyou couldn't get a word in and could only watch from the side.

Whether it was a wedding or an engagement, it was a solemn matter. The two families discussed until evening before everything was settled. The He family didn't have many demands for the betrothal gift. Neither family lacked money now, so they just set a symbolic amount of 999,999 as the betrothal price. Cao Xiao didn't understand much about other aspects; some were traditional matters, so he just followed the agreed-upon standards. In fact, Cao Xiao knew the main issue was the ten percent stake in Hongdu that He Yueyou was bringing as a dowry. His parents didn't know about this, and Yueyou's family didn't mention it today. Logically, the Cao family should provide a corresponding return gift, but the value of a ten percent stake in Hongdu was a massive fortune to the current Cao Xiao; even if he sold himself, he wouldn't be worth that much. Fortunately, the wedding date hadn't been set yet, so he still had time to plan.

The next day, Cao Xiao received a call from Hao Linger. She didn't say much over the phone, just mysteriously told him to go to Daqiang Steel Plant today. Cao Xiao was puzzled, but since he had nothing to do today, he figured it wouldn't hurt to go, and he could visit Second Aunt on the way.

...

Arriving at Hao Daqiang's office, he found that Hao Linger wasn't there; Hao Daqiang was leisurely brewing tea.

"President Hao, brewing tea? Is Linger here?" Cao Xiao greeted Hao Daqiang naturally. He was no longer the green youth who had first come here to sell Anthracite. The wealth and status of him and Hao Daqiang had quietly swapped, and he spoke much more casually.

"Have a seat first, the tea will be ready soon. I was the one who asked Linger to invite you over today." Seeing Cao Xiao's arrival, Hao Daqiang still didn't put down his tea set, his hands moving continuously as he spoke.

Cao Xiao wasn't formal either, sitting on the sofa watching Hao Daqiang brew tea. He noticed that compared to last time, Hao Daqiang's tea-making skills seemed to have improved significantly, appearing somewhat fluid and natural, without a hint of affectation, and a sense of indifference in his expression.

"Cao Xiao, come taste it. Thank you for your help last time; otherwise, I might be in prison today," Hao Daqiang said after handing over a cup of hot tea.

"President Hao is too kind. What you do benefits the country and the people. Since I knew about it, there was no reason for me to stand by. Besides, Linger and I are good friends, and she's helping me manage my company, so I couldn't bear to see her sad," Cao Xiao said seriously.

Fortunately, the teacup had a saucer this time, so it wouldn't burn his hand; otherwise, Cao Xiao would have put it straight back on the table.

"Alright, great kindness needs no words of thanks, so I won't say more. I invited you here not only to thank you in person but also to discuss something with you," Hao Daqiang didn't mention it further and directly stated his purpose for inviting Cao Xiao.

"If there's anything, President Hao, please feel free to speak," Cao Xiao said.

"Then I'll get straight to the point. Are you interested in taking over my steel plant?" Hao Daqiang asked.

"Isn't the crisis resolved now? Daqiang Steel Plant is currently growing rapidly. Why do you want to sell it, President Hao? Are there other unresolved issues? Feel free to speak up, President Hao, and I'll see if I can help," Cao Xiao was very confused, not knowing why Hao Daqiang wanted to sell the steel plant to him while it was developing so fast.

"The last matter has been completely resolved. Not only did we get the patent back, but we also received a significant amount of compensation from that Japanese company. However, the formula has already been leaked by that company. Others only need to slightly change the material ratio to produce alloys of similar quality to ours, and their costs are lower than ours. We can't compete with them on price. Moreover, more than one company got that formula, so our market share is dwindling. After this incident, I've also come to understand that I don't have the ability to keep the steel plant growing, nor the energy to keep running it lukewarmly. It's better to hand it over to someone capable. Perhaps I'll see it soar one day in my lifetime. So, I want you to take over," Hao Daqiang slowly explained the reason.

"So that's how it is. You think that highly of me, President Hao? If it's because of what happened last time, there's no need to mention it. I, Cao Xiao, am not the type of person who uses favors to demand rewards," Cao Xiao was curious why Hao Daqiang chose him to take over.

"It's not because of your help; it's you as a person that I believe in. You have your country in your heart, you're loyal to your friends, you're steady and know when to advance or retreat, unlike other impetuous young people. Most importantly, you managed to build a business larger than mine in less than a month. Although I don't know how you did it, I believe you have the ability to make it even better. That's enough," Hao Daqiang said sincerely.

Cao Xiao couldn't help but smile. He hadn't had much contact with Hao Daqiang and didn't expect him to speak so highly of him. He thought to himself, 'Could it be that I didn't even realize I had so many strengths? Why has no one ever told me before? Does that mean there might have been countless beautiful girls who had crushes on me that I failed to notice in time?'

After a mess of random thoughts, he came back to his senses and felt he was being a bit neurotic. He really couldn't take a compliment; he'd lost his composure after being praised. Thinking carefully about the matter, he felt it was feasible and spoke up: "President Hao, you flatter me! I know a bit about Daqiang Steel Plant. Under your management, it's considered a rare high-quality enterprise. I'm also in the mineral business, so having my own steel plant would be very beneficial for me. I'll accept your offer then. Let's talk about the transfer price."

"This steel plant of mine has been established for ten years now. The machinery, equipment, and technical personnel are all ready, and there's a strict management system to ensure safe and efficient production. The production capacity reaches five million tons of pig iron, two million tons of crude steel, and 800,000 tons of civilian steel per year. Moreover, personnel and equipment can be added at any time to expand capacity. The industrial land we've been allocated is 1,200 mu, and the current plant area only uses ten percent of it. I won't go into detail about the specific asset breakdown; I'll have someone send it to you later. My asking price is 500 million. All the steel plant's external debts have been cleared, and there's even about 30 million in uncollected payments. Subtracting the payment I owe you and what Linger borrowed from you, you just need to give me 340 million. What do you think?" Hao Daqiang said.

Cao Xiao looked at Hao Daqiang in disbelief. Before getting the Special Alloy, the total assets of Daqiang Steel Plant were around 300 million. Later, more than 200 million was spent on purchasing advanced steel furnaces and bringing in high-end technical researchers. Not to mention the nearly 1,000 mu of industrial land not included. If the added value of intangible assets were counted, someone would buy it even if the price was 700 or 800 million. Now, he was being asked to pay only 500 million, which put Cao Xiao in a difficult position. Even if Hao Daqiang gave this price to repay a favor, it wouldn't be right for him to buy it just like that. If word got out, many people would think he was taking advantage of someone in trouble.