When Mike returned to King's Building by car, the celebration banquet had already largely concluded, with only a dozen or so beautiful women eager to advance remaining in the hall.
These curvaceous and lightly dressed beauties were very pleasing to the eye.
However, it was quite unfortunate; Mike was certainly prioritizing comforting the disheartened Caroline tonight, and he probably wouldn't have time to interact with other beauties.
Therefore, after Needy parked the car, Mike waved to her, signaling her to "clear out" the beauties in the building.
Caroline, who had been leaning against the side and sleeping the whole way, was already uncomfortable due to her sleeping posture, and at this moment, she was finally startled awake by the sound of Needy opening the car door as she got out.
The girl first looked at Mike, who was holding her, in a daze, and a hint of sweetness arose in her heart.
But when she turned her head and saw the many beauties in the lobby of King's Building, she immediately became alert.
Previously, as a rich young lady, Caroline might not have been so sensitive, but now, as her dependence on Mike deepened, she naturally developed a sense of crisis.
It must be said that women's talent in this regard is always astonishingly strong.
In no time, Caroline roughly guessed the intentions of those women in the building.
Perhaps because her heart was already heavy, the girl, in a moment of urgency, directly jumped out of the car like a "fighting chicken" and followed Needy's steps towards the group of women in the building.
Subsequently, sounds like women cursing in the street echoed from the hall.
Although Caroline was down on her luck now, her proud personality, cultivated over the past decade or so, meant that not many women were her match.
Before long, the dozen or so beauties were glared at by her and fled in disarray, leaving King's Building.
On the contrary, Needy, who had initially received the task, stood by and didn't help much.
"How are you feeling? Better?" Mike appeared beside the still-angry Caroline at some point.
"After cursing people out, I do feel much better." Caroline, whose mindset had already shifted, was much more open-minded, and even had the mood to tease, "My behavior just now, didn't it disturb your good deeds?"
Indeed, the drastic changes in her family had made the girl mature a lot in an instant.
Her current state looked truly both cunning and aggressive.
But this was also quite good.
"Don't think about them anymore; I'm not familiar with them," Mike took the opportunity to put his arm around the girl's slender waist and said, "You probably haven't had lunch yet, right? I'll have someone prepare something for you to eat. What do you want to eat?"
Strictly speaking, it was already well past lunch hour.
However, considering the girl's previous situation, she probably hadn't eaten anything all day today.
As the professional butler team went to prepare the meal, Mike unexpectedly saw Chris in the building.
Because their previous conversation hadn't concluded, Chris had specifically stayed here to wait for Mike.
In just this short while, this group director seemed to have already formulated a rough plan for the group's future based on the overall economic situation outside.
Mike quickly scanned the impromptu proposal Chris had put together; the content was largely consistent with his previous instructions.
It was a very valuable proposal.
"Let's talk while we eat!" Mike gestured for Chris to relax as well.
As a private building, King's Building was not only luxuriously scaled but also equipped with every conceivable internal amenity.
The service team also had quite a few members.
There were dozens of chefs alone, so preparing a meal didn't take long.
Soon, Mike, Caroline, and Chris were seated in the dining room filled with delicious food.
Unlike Caroline, who was genuinely hungry and eating heartily, Mike and Chris both only tasted a little, then picked up their red wine.
It was clearly a rhythm indicating the start of a conversation.
"Based on your previous suggestions, I plan to further reduce the group's investment in high-end and light luxury goods by half, but this is already the limit. In the future, unless it's absolutely necessary, I personally do not recommend further cuts in the group's luxury goods investment..." Chris spoke his thoughts.
For King Investment Group, luxury goods resources were indispensable; this was equivalent to the group's face.
In other words, King Investment Group could take a populist approach, but the necessary level of prestige still needed to be maintained.
Mike nodded, indicating understanding.
King Investment Group had now reached a stage where it wasn't short of money, so even if it lost money maintaining a few luxury brands for appearances, it was no big deal.
"As for industrial investment, I suggest reducing the amount of each investment, thereby increasing the number of investments to support more small and medium-sized enterprises..."
The reason Wall Street was so popular with businessmen was precisely because information spread very quickly there, often allowing them to obtain first-hand economic news.
Chris had already learned through his own information channels that banks were no longer issuing housing loans to the public.
With Channing, a large enterprise, declaring bankruptcy, the real estate bubble that had been inflated had already burst.
It was foreseeable that soon after, banks would likely vigorously recall mortgage taxes and mortgages to cut their losses.
As for those who couldn't repay, they could only mortgage their houses to the bank.
This approach would undoubtedly lead to a sustained economic downturn.
Therefore, to mitigate risks, Chris also simultaneously adjusted the group's investment model.
Venturing capital in small, frequent amounts would facilitate the group's capital turnover and enhance its risk resistance.
"Your plan for dealing with the economic downturn is very mature and can be implemented directly. If there are problems, we can adjust them then..." Mike had no major objections to Chris's plan.
"Then I'll go back to the company now to hold a large meeting and announce this plan," Chris picked up the proposal and stood up.
Time was money, especially at such a delicate moment in the current situation.
"Go ahead," Mike smiled as he saw him off, then suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, if you meet Jessie at the company, tell her that the new album's sales plan needs to be accelerated."
The upcoming economic depression would affect all aspects of society.
When that time truly came, the public would probably no longer be in the mood to care about albums or anything else.
Therefore, whether The Plastics could achieve platinum album status would depend on racing against the economic downturn.
"I will convey your instructions to Jessie and the others," Chris responded and quickly left King's Building.
...
"What are your thoughts?" After only two people remained in the restaurant, Mike asked Caroline, who had stopped eating.
As a top-tier rich second generation, coupled with her economics major in university, under such circumstances, her economic acumen would naturally not be too bad.
Previously, Caroline might not have been interested in this aspect, but after the drastic family changes, she wanted to start a business and prove herself, so she naturally had to pay attention to these matters.
"It will become increasingly difficult to make money in the future, does that count?" Caroline thought for a moment and replied.
This wave of real estate dividends had ended, and before the next dividend industry emerged, it would indeed be much harder for ordinary people to accumulate wealth.
"That's one, anything else?" Mike asked again.
In his plan, the girl had the ability to become a group economic consultant, so he could appropriately cultivate her foresight in advance.
"Anything else?..." Caroline unconsciously fiddled with the loose strands of hair by her ear and said, "The other thing is, I think you two were very un-serious when discussing the group's future plans. Who chooses to talk about these things while eating...?"
Evidently, although Caroline had begun to intentionally pay attention to economic knowledge, it was still a short time and the information she had access to was limited.
Therefore, she had not yet formed her own set of thinking patterns.
With nothing in her head, she naturally couldn't offer many useful insights.
Her current demeanor was completely just clowning around, trying to change the subject.
"Did Mr. Channing never discuss company matters at the dinner table before?" Mike asked curiously.
Cultivating the girl was just a whim for Mike; it wouldn't matter if it didn't succeed. Therefore, he didn't mind her changing the subject.
"Of course, my dad never discussed company matters at home," Caroline, who was favored, even had a hint of haughtiness.
"Alright, maybe my approach is different from your dad's; it's a bit more casual here. You'll get used to it..." Mike said as he walked to the girl's side and, like a gentleman, invited her, "You must be full, right? I'll take you to get some exercise—"