After hanging up, Lucy lowered her phone and rose from her desk before glancing around the office.
The employees she had recruited over the past few weeks were already arriving.
So were already chatting with each other.
Lucy took a deep breath.
How she wished she had soone she could complain to.
Soone she could tell about the company’s finances.
Soone she could tell that their investnt company had sohow managed to spend over half a million yuan while producing almost nothing that resembled profit.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t.
As the boss’s assistant, it wasn’t her job to spread rumors.
If anything, it was her responsibility to keep the company’s affairs confidential.
So she put on a smile and walked over.
"Good morning, everyone."
The conversations gradually quieted as they all turned their attention to Lucy.
Lucy maintained her professional expression.
"The boss will be coming in today. I’m sure you’ve all morized his face from the photo I sent."
A few nodded, one even pulled out her phone to double-check.
Lucy continued, "And rember that we’re here to work."
Her gaze swept across the room.
"Not to judge."
It was her subtle warning as to not make a fuzz when the boss ca and tell them that there won’t be any funds to invest.
The employees exchanged puzzled looks but nodded anyway.
"Understood."
"Good."
With that, Lucy returned to her desk.
The mont she sat down, the office slowly beca lively again.
A young woman near the coffee machine grinned.
"Hopefully he’s rich, like filthy crazy rich."
Another girl imdiately chid in.
"And handso too."
One of the older male employees shook his head.
"Being handso doesn’t pay salaries."
He continued calmly.
"What’s important is whether he’s willing to invest. If the company doesn’t have enough capital, our investnt returns won’t amount to much."
The others nodded.
That was true.
Investnt firms lived and died by money.
No capital ant no projects.
No projects ant no commissions.
anwhile, at her desk, Lucy slowly lowered her head.
Her smile twitched.
Rich boss? You want a rich boss?
Wait until you find out the company survived its first month by borrowing money.
Wait until the boss starts talking about loans again.
The thought alone nearly made her cry.
Just then, the office door opened.
Lucy’s body imdiately stiffened.
He’s here.
She quickly sat upright and straightened her expression.
But the person who entered wasn’t Benny.
An elderly man slowly walked inside, dressed in an impeccably tailored suit.
Behind him followed a middle-aged butler carrying a leather briefcase.
The pair moved with the ease of people accustod to being welcod wherever they went.
The receptionist imdiately stood.
A bright, professional smile appeared on her face.
"Good morning, sir. Welco to Autumn Investnt."
The old man didn’t respond.
He continued walking as if he hadn’t heard her.
The receptionist’s smile visibly paused for a fraction of a second, then it returned.
"Sir?"
She quickly stepped around the desk and followed him.
"I’m sorry, but this area is restricted to company personnel."
The old man remained silent.The butler rely glanced at her before continuing forward.
The receptionist’s fingers tightened slightly around the tablet she was holding.
For a brief mont, Lucy thought the young woman might lose her temper.
After all, being ignored to her face was hardly pleasant.
Instead, the receptionist maintained her smile.
She matched the old man’s pace and continued speaking.
"Sir, if you’re looking for soone, I’d be happy to assist. This floor requires authorization. If you have an appointnt, I can help verify it for you."
The old man still didn’t answer and now the atmosphere gradually beca awkward.
More and more employees began sneaking glances in their direction.
Lucy sighed inwardly as she stood back up.
It was ti to intervene, the receptionist had been more than patient enough despite the arrivals being rude.
Leaving her desk, she quickly walked over.
"Good morning, sir."
Unlike the receptionist, Lucy’s tone carried a subtle authority that ca with being the boss’s assistant.
The old man finally stopped as his gaze shifted toward her.
Lucy offered a polite smile.
"My na is Lucy. I’m the assistant manager here. If you’re looking for soone, perhaps I can help."
The old man studied her for a few seconds.
Before he could answer, the receptionist quietly stepped back and released a small breath of relief.
Lucy pretended not to notice.
The young woman had handled the situation surprisingly well.
Much better than most newcors would have.
Now all that remained was finding out who exactly this elderly gentleman was and why he had walked into the company as though he owned the place.
The old man studied Lucy for a mont before nodding slightly.
"I heard a new investnt firm opened in this area."
His gaze wandered around the office.
"So I thought I’d co and invest a little."
Lucy nearly choked.
Invest?
For a brief mont, she imagined what a normal investnt company would say.
Then reality returned.
Autumn Investnt was not a normal investnt company.
Maintaining her professional smile, Lucy answered politely.
"I’m sorry, sir, but there appears to be a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?"
"Yes."
Lucy nodded.
"Our company doesn’t accept outside investnt capital."
The old man’s eyebrows rose slightly.
Lucy continued.
"Autumn Investnt is a private investnt firm. We don’t manage client funds. We don’t pool investor capital and most importantly, we don’t provide wealth managent services."
The old man beca visibly interested.
"Then how do you operate?"
Lucy was silent for half a second, then she gave the only truthful answer she could.
"We use the boss’s money."
The old man blinked.
"The boss’s money?"
"That’s correct."
Everything was funded by Benny after all, and technically, because he hadn’t gotten the proper papers for it, they can’t legally accept outside fund or manage others fund.
The old man looked around the office once more.
Then he slowly asked, "So you’re telling this entire company operates solely on the owner’s capital?"
"Yes."
"And you don’t accept outside investors?"
"No."
"And you don’t manage external funds?"
"No."
The old man was quiet for several seconds before he suddenly chuckled.
"Interesting."
Very interesting.
In all his years, he had t countless investnt firms.
So were large, so were small but most of them were fraudulent.
But this was the first ti he had encountered a company that openly refused investnt and insisted on using only the owner’s money.
For so reason, that made him even more curious about the mysterious boss behind it.
User Comments
0 comments from readers