As noon approached, Qin Chuan and Li Ya politely declined Shang Bingrong’s invitation for lunch and drove away.
Their primary purpose for this visit was to repay the two million loan and retrieve the thirty percent of shares that had been mortgaged. Naturally, they also left behind two shopping cards, each with a value of five thousand yuan.
In addition to this, Qin Chuan had also given Li Ya nearly ten thousand yuan in supermarket gift cards, asking her to distribute them as rewards to the employees of the clothing factory.
On Qin Chuan's side, while Xin Hua Electronics Factory didn't have much cash on hand, the property development project was well-funded.
This was thanks to Qin Chuan's meticulous business practices, where the accounts of each department were kept extremely strict. Unless something catastrophic happened, no one was allowed to arbitrarily use funds from another department.
Therefore, repaying the loan this time was not a strain, and Qin Chuan easily produced the two million yuan.
At a restaurant, Qin Chuan and Li Ya casually ordered two dishes and two bowls of rice, and began chatting as they ate.
"Sister, the year-end accounts for the property development have been finalized. Let's go over them together after lunch," Qin Chuan said.
"Xiao Chuan, what's there to look at? With our relationship, do we really need all this formality!" Li Ya chuckled, "You just handle it as you see fit!"
To her surprise, Qin Chuan slowly shook his head:
"That's not the right way to put it. Even close brothers and fathers and sons need to keep clear accounts. While we are indeed a couple, a couple is a couple, and business is business. These are two separate matters and cannot be mixed."
"It's fine to help each other out on a daily basis, but when the end of the year comes, all matters that need to be settled must be settled clearly."
Qin Chuan paused here before continuing:
"There are countless examples of fathers and sons turning against each other for profit, close brothers severing ties, and couples divorcing. I detest such outcomes the most!"
Li Ya frowned, appearing somewhat unhappy. "Xiao Chuan, why does it feel like you're implying our future won't have a good outcome..."
Qin Chuan waved his hand. "Sister, I'm just stating a very normal social phenomenon. You've misunderstood!"
Li Ya’s full, sensual lips curved slightly. "I was teasing you. Of course, I know that's not what you meant."
"How could we possibly separate? You're more professional and rational in business than I am. Let's proceed according to what you said."
After lunch, the two drove to the property development site.
Qin Chuan pushed open the door to the finance office and asked for the ledger. "Sister, come over. Let's look at it together!"
Li Ya sat down and saw the ledger clearly listing all the expenses and income since the project's inception.
Land, cement, gravel, sand, bricks, steel bars, electrical wires, doors and windows, worker wages, machinery and equipment... and various other miscellaneous expenses.
Every expenditure was detailed and meticulously recorded.
At the end, Li Ya saw the total income.
The first phase of the property development had been completely sold out, with a total income of three million seven hundred and ninety thousand yuan. After deducting all expenses, the net profit was one million seven hundred thousand yuan.
With each person holding fifty percent of the shares, that meant each could receive eight hundred and fifty thousand yuan.
Does this number seem a bit small?
Despite the grand scale of Qin Chuan’s property development, the profit at year-end was only eight hundred and fifty thousand yuan, not even reaching one million.
But the reality was just that. After all, the property development was not solely owned by Qin Chuan; he and Li Ya were equal partners, and their shares were split, leaving them with only this amount.
If one were to further deduct the two million yuan loan and its interest that they had just repaid at the bank, as well as the more than thirty thousand yuan paid in advance for the second phase of construction, the account would actually be in deficit. It would only look better if Qin Chuan and Li Ya chose not to touch their respective profits.
Furthermore, this amount didn't even include year-end bonuses for middle and senior management. If the year-end bonuses for Qin Yang, Qin Gang, Zheng Chengdao, Bai Xiaoguang, Yao Dong, and others were included, the figures would shrink even further.
Qin Chuan had promised that his elder and second brother would each receive a salary of one hundred thousand yuan by the end of the year, which was no small sum.
Of course, this also didn't account for the three million yuan that Qin Chuan had later obtained from Shang Bingrong, which he had used to speculate in Hang Seng index futures.
He had made money later and immediately returned it to the account.
Shang Bingrong, that old fox, kept a very close watch on these funds, which could only be used for real estate development.
Currently, although Qin Chuan had repaid Shang Bingrong two million yuan in loans and interest, he still owed him a substantial five million yuan in loans. This was a deal they had privately agreed upon.
At that time, they had agreed on a ten million yuan business deal. Shang Bingrong, that greedy old man, had directly taken a twenty percent commission, leaving Qin Chuan with only eight million yuan.
Shang Bingrong had fulfilled his promise for the five million yuan loan, leaving a remaining loan balance of three million yuan.
"How could this be..."
Li Ya was visibly surprised after seeing the final results.
"This result is almost identical to my clothing factory's situation."
Qin Chuan also showed a wry smile. "Because this is the stark reality of being a businessman!"
"Others only see our apparent glory, being chauffeured in luxury cars, frequently attending various high-end dinners and banquets, living an incredibly carefree and prosperous life every day."
"However, the truth is, when year-end comes and we meticulously tally the accounts, we find that after a year of hard work, we haven't actually earned much money at all."
Li Ya resonated deeply with this. "Isn't that the truth? Taking my clothing factory as an example, this year has been the best year of development since I took over! The net profit was a whopping seven hundred and fifty thousand yuan."
"However, when I asked the finance department to list the total accounts yesterday, I discovered that all the money earned this year had gone into those branch stores!"
"After paying the workers' salaries, there was hardly any money left in the account!"
Qin Chuan put his arm around Li Ya’s shoulders, with a shared sentiment of being in the same predicament. "Sister, our situation is still considered good, because you and I both know where the biggest expenses lie."
"On your end, it's because of the continuous opening of new branches, which consumed a large amount of capital, so it's no surprise that the account is empty at year-end settlement."
"On my end, there are loans, because, at the very beginning, we had almost no capital at all; we were essentially leveraging nothing."
"Actually, when you think about it carefully, our year-end results are really quite good!"
Qin Chuan counted on his fingers, calculating the total accounts for Li Ya.
Currently, all the balance in the property development account was actually profit.
In the environment of 1998, where the average annual income was less than three thousand yuan, earning over eight hundred thousand yuan in a year was already incredibly impressive.
Such an income, even in later years, would still surpass ninety-nine percent of people.
Additionally, they also had the Meitehao Supermarket as an additional investment project.
Although Li Ya only held ten percent of the shares, she could still receive some money from it. Qin Chuan hadn't personally checked the accounts there, but he had a rough estimate.
Li Ya might not receive a large sum, but she would get tens of thousands.
Similarly, Qin Chuan, holding ten percent of the shares in Butterfly Clothing Factory, would also receive tens of thousands of yuan.
With Qin Chuan holding the majority of the supermarket's equity and Li Ya holding the majority of the clothing factory's equity, when converted, their combined annual income was well over a million.
Of all the investments this year, the biggest was the Xin Hua Electronics Factory, the last project they took on.
Despite being taken on the latest, it incurred the largest investment. Seven million of the ten million yuan Qin Chuan earned from speculating in Hang Seng index futures were poured into it.
If not for the burden of Xin Hua Electronics Factory, Qin Chuan would have had a very comfortable year-end.
"Xiao Chuan, I suddenly remembered. You also gave me one million yuan to buy all the shares of the clothing factory from that woman."
"I'm afraid I won't be able to repay this money anytime soon..." Li Ya suddenly said.
Qin Chuan smiled and gently stroked Li Ya’s black, smooth hair. "Sister, I never intended for you to repay that one million yuan, just like I never expected you to repay me for the Audi car I bought you."
"While I said earlier that we needed to settle accounts clearly, that only referred to business expenses and income. Anything extra I gifted you is not included."
"You are my woman. Buying you a car and helping you buy back shares are my responsibilities as a man, and things I should naturally do."
After Qin Chuan finished speaking, Li Ya's eyes shone with irrepressible joy, and she slowly leaned her delicate body against the man's chest.
At this moment, her heart fluttered, filled with emotion.