Chapter 46 Dividends, Dividends

The Wang Family's Rickshaw Firm could only be described as tragic lately!

Ever since the incident occurred, the rickshaw pullers had fled in succession, leaving the firm with no choice but to recruit new ones.

Even so, because eighty percent of the pullers had run away, compounded by the firm's terrible reputation (someone had been beaten to death there), it faced a widespread boycott.

Consequently, the Wang Family's Rickshaw Firm even suffered from the rare phenomenon of "rickshaws sitting around with no one to rent them."

At present, only 100 rickshaws remained at the firm, barely kept afloat by Li Yan, Wang Chengyun's primary wife.

Being a woman, however, she frequently encountered deliberate sabotage from thug squads and rickshaw pullers.

That was not all. Recently, Wang Chengyun's secondary wife, Zhang Chunlan, had also frequently begun vying for power, primarily demanding money, which gave Li Yan splitting headaches.

One had to bear in mind that now that the head of the household was in prison, they had spent a considerable sum on grease money and bribes. Coupled with various losses, the entire wealth of the Wang family had dwindled down to just 100 rickshaws complete with licenses (valued at 28,000 silver dollars) and the Wang residence or firm's real estate property (valued at approximately 8,000 silver dollars).

Anything else that could be sold had basically been sold off, including a large portion of their jewelry and ornaments.

During a meal, Zhang Chunlan said, "Elder Sister, I'd like to draw 200 silver dollars from the accounts department to buy some cosmetics and new clothes for the children!"

She was still young and had an active social life, so she naturally placed great importance on dressing up.

Li Yan immediately put on the airs of the mistress of the house and said, "Times are hard for the family right now. Can't you cut back on these expenses? Day in and day out, you dress up like a peacock—what kind of propriety is that?"

As soon as these words were uttered, they provoked Zhang Chunlan's anger.

"What kind of talk is that from Elder Sister? You're already past your prime, so naturally you don't need to care about such things. I still intend to look after myself and dress up nicely, waiting for the master of the house to return."

For a moment, the two women stood facing each other like swords drawn and bows bent.

Li Yan angrily retorted, "Anyway, I won't approve these 200 silver dollars! That's enough to buy two brand-new rickshaws!"

Zhang Chunlan sneered, "Bah! You're the one who single-handedly lost the Wang family twenty rickshaws and their licenses—how is it you didn't feel any heartache over that?"

Li Yan demanded, "What did you say?"

Zhang Chunlan snapped, "Did you not understand what I said?! Hand the money over right now. From now on, my household branch requires 400 silver dollars in expenses every month. What right do you have to make our spending lower than yours?!"

"I simply will not give it to you. Who do you think you are? Don't forget that I am the legitimate first wife of this household; how dare a concubine like you threaten me!"

"Fine, fine! Li Yan, you've got backbone!"

Zhang Chunlan slammed down her chopsticks and stormed straight out of the dining room.

The elderly butler and the servants shook their heads as they watched this scene unfold.

With the Wang family facing catastrophe and external affairs already in utter chaos, internal strife had now erupted as well. The Wang family was truly finished!

***

Meanwhile, after failing to gain any advantage from the first wife, Zhang Chunlan hardened her heart, bribed prison guards to visit Wang Chengyun, and prepared to lodge complaints and usurp power.

In a small room, Wang Chengyun had long since lost his former vigor and ambition, left with only a profound sense of decadence.

Zhang Chunlan began with flattering words: "Master, you must take good care of your health; you'll be able to get out very soon!"

According to the arrangements made by Lawyer Lin, someone had already leaked word that he could be released from prison in a year.

In other words, his sentence would be commuted while behind bars.

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengyun eased his mind somewhat and asked, "How is the family doing?"

Zhang Chunlan immediately began to lament: "Elder Sister has made a complete mess of managing the household. She has no brains and even let Chen Guangliang from the Yangtze Rickshaw Firm swindle us out of twenty rickshaws and their licenses."

Her original intention was to complain about Li Yan so that the master of the house would arrange for her to take power.

Little did she expect that upon hearing this, Wang Chengyun's eyes would bulge as large as a bull's, and he would say in agitation, "Swindled out of twenty rickshaws by Chen Guangliang? How is that possible?"

Before Zhang Chunlan noticed her husband's trembling, she pressed on with her grievances: "It's true! She wrote a full power of attorney to Inspector Gao, letting him handle the matter... and as a result, they were swindled away under the pretext of paying us for the rickshaws in ten monthly installments..."

Only then did Wang Chengyun realize that so many major events had transpired outside: first, the family had been robbed of 5,000 silver dollars; subsequently, in an attempt to recover those 5,000 silver dollars, his wife had used another twenty rickshaws as bait, only for those too to be swallowed up by outsiders. The empire he had built now only had...

At this thought, the blood rushed to his head, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot!

"Master! Master!... Someone, come quickly!"

Shortly after, prison guards hurried into the room.

"He's stopped breathing."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chunlan was struck dumb with shock!

Her own husband had been frightened to death by her own words!

What should she do?

***

As time entered September, the Yangtze Rickshaw Firm decided to distribute dividends between the 3rd and 6th, a piece of news that electrified all the shareholders.

Chen Guangliang, Li Chao, and He Xiangdong seized every moment to calculate and audit the dividend situations for the "six projects."

As of August 31st:

Project A (3 rickshaws): Operated for 103 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 280 silver dollars in dividends; of which Chen Guangliang received 92.5 silver dollars.

Project B (6 rickshaws): Operated for 72 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 390 silver dollars in dividends; of which Chen Guangliang received 113 silver dollars.

Project C (12 rickshaws): Operated for 50 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 560 silver dollars in dividends; of which Chen Guangliang received 233 silver dollars.

Project D (24 rickshaws): Operated for 37 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 828 silver dollars in dividends; of which Chen Guangliang received 372.5 silver dollars.

Project E (60 rickshaws): Operated for 23 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 1,300 silver dollars in dividends; of which Chen Guangliang received 585 silver dollars.

Project F (20 rickshaws): Operated for 19 days. After deducting expenses, it yielded 360 silver dollars in dividends; these funds would be used to repay the debt owed to the Wang family for the rickshaws.

In total, the cumulative dividends reached an impressive 3,718 silver dollars, with Chen Guangliang personally receiving 1,396 silver dollars.

Naturally, a large portion of the dividends Chen Guangliang received went toward "merchandise procurement," since he had now reclaimed the rights to retail goods.

Fortunately, he had gradually gained the trust of distributors regarding his inventory purchases, allowing him to run on appropriate credit terms; moreover, the rickshaw pullers paid in cash for goods, enabling him to quickly recoup this capital.

"Xiangdong, assist me over the next few days in finalizing the dividend calculations for each project. Specifically, when the pullers collect their dividends, they must press their fingerprints, and the money must be delivered directly into every individual's hands."

"Understood, Boss!"

In truth, Chen Guangliang only needed to supervise; He Xiangdong was fully capable of handling the distribution of dividends to the pullers. He had already grown into a capable manager who could stand on his own two feet.

He Xiangdong had been sharing an office with Chen Guangliang, learning finance and management from him—even picking up English. He cherished this opportunity immensely.

As for his salary, He Xiangdong received only 15 silver dollars, roughly the same as his former earnings from pulling a rickshaw, but far more stable.

Furthermore, he knew that by acquiring more knowledge here, salary increases would naturally follow in the future.

"From now on, dividends for every project will be distributed on the 3rd to 6th of each month, and you will be the core driving force in this regard. In addition, the salaries for you and Zhou Xinggao will be increased by another 5 silver dollars, bringing them up to 20 silver dollars."

He Xiangdong hastily said, "Isn't that being raised a bit too fast?"

It had been raised from 10 silver dollars to 15, and now to 20, all within just a few months.

What he valued more right now was following the boss and learning genuine skills.

Chen Guangliang said nonchalantly, "The faster the company develops, the more the management team naturally earns. There will be further increases down the road; I have my own plans."

"Alright, thank you, Boss."

Chen Guangliang nodded in satisfaction. Both He Xiangdong and Zhou Xinggao were talents capable of running things independently, so he naturally valued them highly. Others like Yang Qingshan, Lin Feng, and Yang Xiuying lagged considerably behind in terms of competence.

He was also keeping an eye out for usable talent among the rickshaw pullers. Anyone who was literate and capable of calculation caught his special attention, and he would promote them given the chance.

If they were going to earn the same amount of money, working as an office clerk was naturally much more comfortable.