Chapter 34: 34: The boss motive.
After a few more discussions, they finally settled on a direction for their investment.
From everything Benny had heard during the meeting, one conclusion stood out clearly.
It was highly unlikely that the project would generate any meaningful profit within the next three months.
That was equivalent to the sound of the gospel ringing in his ears.
To make up for the commissions the employees would likely miss out on during that period, Benny informed them that everyone would receive an additional ten percent on top of their contracted salary.
The announcement was met with immediate excitement.
More importantly, the system also offered no objection which meant the expense was apparently within the rules.
Of course, even if the system did object, he could still pay out of his pocket.
Benny silently nodded.
It was an excellent plan.
With the matter settled, he left the office and headed toward the place with the greatest profit potential in his portfolio.
Golden Spoon Café.
It was about time he spoke with Sarah about expansion.
A smile slowly spread across his face as he made his way out of the office.
The moment Benny left the meeting room, the atmosphere noticeably relaxed.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke before Li Na suddenly leaned forward.
"I think I know why the boss wants to invest in livestreaming."
The room instantly became interested.
"Oh?"
"What is it?"
Li Na lowered her voice dramatically.
"Perhaps he’s a simp for one of the streamers and this is his way to flex his wealth."
There a brief second of silence before everyone immediately scoffed at her.
"Impossible."
"That’s ridiculous."
"How old are you?"
Li Na folded her arms.
"What’s ridiculous about it?"
Chen Wei shook his head.
"Our boss just allocated five million yuan and gave everyone a salary increase. You’re telling me a man like that is chasing streamers online?"
Li Na pointed at him.
"Exactly! Rich men are the most likely to do that."
Everyone burst out laughing while Xu Ming merely pushed up his glasses.
"The probability is next to impossible."
Li Na looked unconvinced.
"How would you know?"
"Because if the boss wanted to impress a streamer, there are far cheaper methods than building an investment strategy around an entire industry."
The room nodded as that was a fair point.
Wang Jie joined in.
"Maybe he’s simply optimistic about the sector."
Li Na immediately shook her head.
"Then why did he keep asking whether we could lose all our money?"
Xu Ming sighed.
"This is exactly why I dislike working with younger people."
Li Na immediately narrowed her eyes.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Xu Ming folded his arms.
"The boss wasn’t asking for himself. He was asking for us."
The room became quiet and Xu Ming continued calmly.
"He repeatedly brought up losses because he wanted to reassure everyone that if the investment underperformed, we shouldn’t blame ourselves."
Li Na stared at him and then she burst out laughing.
"How would you know that? You’ve known the boss for what? Two hours?"
Xu Ming adjusted his glasses.
"Experience."
"Or perhaps," Li Na replied immediately, "you’re just using that explanation to mitigate your own risk considering you’re the risk analyser."
Xu Ming’s expression twitched.
"The boss paid special attention to me. Whenever I spoke, the boss listened with complete attention."
The room stared at the delusional man.
"Look."
He pointed toward the conference room.
"We should review the security footage."
The room immediately became interested.
"The footage?"
"Why?"
Xu Ming pushed his glasses up.
"I’ll show you."
Several employees exchanged amused looks.
Even those who thought he was being ridiculous were curious.
Even Lucy hesitated before she sighed in agreement.
"...Fine."
Everyone immediately moved.
A few minutes later, the meeting footage appeared on a monitor.
Lucy folded her arms.
Truthfully, she was curious as well.
She wanted to know what the boss was thinking.
The recording began playing.
Xu Ming immediately paused the footage.
"Here."
Everyone looked.
The screen showed Xu Ming standing during introductions.
"My name is Xu Ming. I’m responsible for risk analysis."
Pause.
Xu Ming pointed directly at Benny’s face.
"Look."
Everyone leaned closer and noticed that Benny’s smile had indeed become noticeably stiffer.
Xu Ming nodded.
"You see?"
Li Na squinted.
"See what?"
"The concern."
"The concern?"
Xu Ming tapped the screen.
"The boss heard that I handle risk analysis and immediately became worried."
Zhao Lin tilted her head.
"Or perhaps he was worried because you don’t look qualified."
Xu Ming sighed, he continued.
"He was concerned that I might shoulder too much responsibility if future investments failed."
The laughter became even louder as Li Na nearly fell out of her chair.
"You’re unbelievable."
Xu Ming shook his head.
"You laugh now."
Then he resumed the recording.
"Allow me to present additional evidence."
The employees exchanged amused glances.
Nobody believed him.
But everyone was suddenly very interested in seeing what kind of nonsense he would come up with next.
The recording continued until the discussion about investment strategies.
On the screen, Xu Ming was speaking.
"I would prefer diversification. Several smaller investments would reduce concentration risk."
The footage played for another second.
Then Benny gave a nod.
Pause.
Xu Ming pointed at the screen.
"There."
Li Na stared.
"...There what?"
"He nodded."
Confused , Zhao Lin spoke.
"So what? He just nodded his head. What’s the big deal?"
Several others nodded in agreement.
Xu Ming was about to explain when another voice interrupted him.
"No."
Everyone turned to see Chen Wei staring at the screen.
"He’s got a point."
The room immediately became interested.
Chen Wei pointed at the monitor.
"Look carefully."
The footage replayed under everyone’s watchful eyes.
"This time don’t look at Xu Ming. Look at the boss."
The recording continued, several suggestions passed.
Benny listened politely, he nodded occasionally as well.
It was nothing unusual but the moment Xu Ming began speaking.
"I would prefer diversification. Several smaller investments would reduce concentration risk."
The room watched Benny and saw his eyes immediately shifted toward Xu Ming.
His attention became noticeably more focused.
After Xu Ming finished speaking, Benny nodded.
Then the footage froze as Chen Wei has paused it.
The image showed Benny sitting there.
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
Li Na leaned closer.
"...Huh."
Another employee blinked.
"Wait."
"I kind of see it."
Xu Ming immediately folded his arms.
"As expected."
Chen Wei nodded.
"The difference is subtle."
"But it’s there."
"The boss listened to all of us."
"Yet when Xu Ming spoke, he paid noticeably more attention."
Li Na replayed the section herself.
A few seconds later, she frowned.
"...You’re right."
Xu Ming’s smile widened.
"Naturally."
"Thank you for speaking up for me, Chen Wei."
Chen Wei didn’t even look at him.
"I’m not speaking up for you, I’m simply stating the facts."
The footage certainly suggested that Benny had reacted differently when Xu Ming spoke.
Of course, nobody knew why.
Unfortunately, that only made everyone more curious.
Li Na rubbed her chin.
"So what does it mean?"
Xu Ming adjusted his glasses.
"It means exactly what I said. The boss was concerned about me."
Zhao Lin immediately groaned.
"There he goes again."
