After opening the lid, a flattering smile immediately appeared on Zhao Linger's pretty and cute face.
She scooped up two spoonfuls, gently held them to Chen Xueer's lips, and said softly, "Sister Xueer, try this, it's delicious!"
After Chen Xueer took two small sips, Zhao Linger finally began to enjoy it herself, feeling satisfied and at ease.
Seeing this, Jiang Cheng helplessly opened the lid and pushed it in front of Chen Xueer.
Watching this scene, Chen Xueer didn't say anything, but the slight upward curve of her lips couldn't hide the joy in her heart.
However, after just a moment, she quickly adjusted her emotions, turned to look at Zhao Linger, and cleared her throat slightly to mask her feelings.
"Chairman Jiang, I'll continue. At that time, porsche was just a tiny bit away from obtaining 75% control of the Conglomerate. But this matter caused such a massive stir that the Conglomerate's market value was even hyped up to be the highest in the world, and Germany's stock market completely collapsed because of it."
"When they were just one step away from a hostile takeover, the stock exchange personally interviewed porsche. In the end, porsche had to release 5% of its equity to close positions. After such a fierce game and hedging operations, to ensure profitability, porsche eventually had to sell another part of its equity, leaving them with only 50% in the end."
Seeing that they were talking about this, Zhao Linger, who was nearby, spoke up: "So you were talking about this, the Conglomerate and porsche?? I'm familiar with this too. Although porsche seemed to make a huge profit in that takeover attempt, it was a pyrrhic victory. The Conglomerate options held by porsche were just rights; those stocks didn't fully belong to porsche yet. Many were borrowed from the stock market. To fully own them, they would have needed to spend real cash to buy them back."
Based on the market value of the Conglomerate at the time, 50% equity was not a trivial amount.
If they couldn't flow that equity back into the market, porsche would have had to provide a massive amount of actual cash flow for the acquisition.
Jiang Cheng followed up: "So porsche lost because they ran out of money??"
Chen Xueer nodded slightly, her eyes showing approval, and said softly: "Chairman Jiang guessed right. It happened during the 2008 financial crisis. At that time, porsche still wanted to further increase its holdings in the Conglomerate's stock, so they started borrowing from banks."
Jiang Cheng put on an expression of sudden realization.
2008 was the year with the highest suicide rate from jumping off buildings globally.
Especially for various financial lending companies and securities firms.
They were closing down and going bankrupt one after another.
In such a situation, porsche still borrowed from banks??
That was pure gambling.
"Affected by the financial shock, porsche's sales also began to drop sharply. Their cash was extremely tight, and they could no longer pay the high interest on their bank loans on time. It was then that porsche started to panic and bowed their heads to the Conglomerate."
Zhao Linger took over the conversation: "Exactly. Although the Conglomerate was shorted for a while, their sales volume remained very stable and they had a lot of cash flow. At that time, they were the only ones who could save porsche. So in this acquisition game, the Conglomerate ended up spending 4 billion Euros to buy 49.9% of porsche's automotive company."
Chen Xueer continued: "By 2012, the Conglomerate spent another 4 billion-plus Euros to buy the remaining 50.1% of porsche's equity. So now, the Conglomerate has completed its 100% holding of porsche."
After finishing the conversation with Chen Xueer, Zhao Linger hurriedly walked out of the office and followed closely behind Jiang Cheng.
"Chairman Jiang, please wait for me~~" A soft voice came as Zhao Linger quickly caught up and entered the elevator with him.
She reached out and pressed the button for the first floor.
Jiang Cheng asked, "Didn't drive today??"
Zhao Linger shook her head gently, her waterfall-like long hair swaying as she replied softly: "I took a taxi here."
"Where are you going? I'll give you a ride?"
Seeing Jiang Cheng ask this, the corners of Zhao Linger's mouth curled up slightly into a playful smile as she said sweetly: "It's finally a holiday, so of course I'm going on a date~~ Hee hee hee~~"
After saying that, she even winked at Jiang Cheng, looking incredibly cute.
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng deliberately sized Zhao Linger up: "Oh, no wonder you're dressed so beautifully today."
Perhaps because today's outfit was more casual, or because she was in vacation mode, her current demeanor was relaxed, completely different from her rigorous and serious image at work.
She seemed much more relaxed when facing Jiang Cheng than usual.
In response to Jiang Cheng's joke, Zhao Linger raised her chin and asked with feigned anger: "Does Chairman Jiang mean I'm not beautiful usually??"
Such a slightly coquettish question was no challenge at all for the battle-hardened Jiang Cheng.
He calmly raised an eyebrow, smiled, and answered unhurriedly: "While you're beautiful normally, that kind of beauty has a sense of distance. I like you better today. Even without the miniskirt and high heels, you look very comfortable, like we're just two friends going out to have fun together."
Sure enough, after Jiang Cheng said this, Zhao Linger's already beautiful face instantly bloomed with a smile as brilliant as spring flowers.
Her large, bright eyes also sparkled with joy; she was clearly in a very good mood.
Zhao Linger parted her red lips and asked casually: "Where is Chairman Jiang going next??"
Jiang Cheng didn't answer but instead asked: "What about you?? Are you really going on a date??"
Just then, the elevator arrived smoothly at the first floor. Jiang Cheng quickly reached out to press the close button, and the elevator then slowly headed toward the first basement level.
Zhao Linger didn't decline. Instead, she winked mischievously, a sly smile appearing on her face as she replied: "What if I say yes??"
Seeing this answer, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but chuckle softly, then said with a serious face: "If you are, then I'm afraid it's a pity. You might receive a notice from the company to work overtime in a moment."
After hearing this, Zhao Linger curled her pink lips and kept muttering: "This... isn't Chairman Jiang being a bit too inhumane? An employee finally gets a holiday, and you want to call them back."
Jiang Cheng shrugged and said: "Who told your boss that he has no one to date and is all alone? I can't stand seeing my employees out having a good time."
Zhao Linger covered her mouth in disbelief: "Wow~~ Chairman Jiang, doesn't your heart hurt saying that?? After working for so long, employees also need to find a man to fall in love with and relax a bit."
Jiang Cheng nodded: "I actually agree with that. You and Xueer have both worked hard lately. Look, your boss is also a man. He can also fall in love with you and let you relax properly."