Chapter 553: Bankruptcy
The same bar as always, the same two people as always, the same wine as always, but the mood was different. Usually, Eric had a lot to say, but now he was just drinking to drown his sorrows, and he had a lot more to consider. Running a company, especially a large one, was not a simple matter. In this day and age, the way of running a business was much clearer than in the past, far from being as simple as in the past.
“Eric, are you troubled?”
“Mmm, a little.”
“Don’t be so troubled. Here, have a drink. Forget about those things. Everything will be alright.”
“Thank you, Kevin.”
The two of them started to drink. Although they didn’t confide in each other, they understood each other. Because they had known each other for a long time, there were some things that they were clear about in their hearts even if they didn’t say them.
“Eric.”
Yu Jiayang called his name.
“Although I can’t be of much help, if you have any troubles, you can tell me. I can help you with things besides work. Although we have always been rivals, I also see you as my friend.”
Eric’s hand trembled for a moment, and then he showed a wry smile.
To have such a rival in life, he felt very lucky.
Yu Jiayang was a very good person. Although he was a rival, Eric could not hate him, let alone hate him. Besides the conflicts at work, the two of them basically did not have any major conflicts in private. This was also the reason why their relationship had always been so good.
Eric treated Yu Jiayang as a friend, at least for now.
And when the world financial crisis had swept in, the American economy had been affected. Under such circumstances, it was quite difficult for Eric to support his company. The setbacks at work, the many problems within the company, Eric was very tired after a day. After he got home, he had no mood to eat.
“Eric, you’ve been coming home so late recently. What on earth have you been doing outside? Your daughter has been clamoring to see you every day. By the time you get back, she’s already asleep.”
After he got home, his wife would always complain to him, saying that he was often not at home. And Eric was also often working overtime for work, and sometimes he would just sleep at the company. But after a long time, his wife would always be dissatisfied.
“I’m tired. I want to rest for a bit. I won’t be having dinner.”
“That won’t do. You have to eat. I made it for you. The nanny is already asleep at this hour. I made this meal. you can’t not eat it.”
“Alright then, I’ll eat. The children are all asleep, right?”
“Of course they are. Eric, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been coming back so late recently.”
Eric didn’t really want to answer, nor was he in the mood. He was just perfunctorily answering her. This made his wife very dissatisfied.
He also wanted to get better soon. That way, his work and life could get back on track. He had always thought so.
…
A period of time passed. Eric had gone to the Yu family with a gift after a long time, wanting to sit down and chat with Yu Jiayang. Because there were too many things at his own home, the matters of his wife and children had made him very troubled. He wanted to come out and clear his head.
“Eric? Why are you here? Are you looking for Kevin? He’s out. I’ll give him a call.”
When he had come to the Yu family, only Catherine was there. Yu Jiayang seemed to be out. Eric had said that it was no matter, that he could wait. Catherine had had him go and sit in the living room for a while, and she had called to have her husband come back. Eric had sat on the living room sofa, had put down his things, and had prepared to wait for this old friend of his.
“Uncle…”
The very young Linna had come over, had hugged his thigh, and had even rubbed against it. Eric had smiled. Seeing this child, he had felt that the fatigue in his heart had been swept away.
“Little Nana, how did you know it was uncle who had come?”
“I, I saw.”
“I see. You’re so smart. You’re also speaking more and more fluently. Will you play with uncle when you grow up?”
“Mmm.”
“So good.”
Eric patted this child’s head and smiled.
Catherine had brought the fruit over. She had also smiled when she saw this scene. She had put down the fruit and had picked up her own daughter.
“You seem to like my daughter very much, but my daughter is mine. You’d better not have any bad thoughts.”
“Hahaha, how could that be? I can’t dote on her enough. Kate, you and he are so happy, to have two daughters, and they are both so well-behaved and cute.”
“Haha, actually, it would be better if they were a little more mischievous. After Jiayang and I had Nana, we have slowly shifted our focus to our family. I will also try my best to find time to go home more often. Although the work outside is very important, the time with the children is also very important. I want to watch my own children grow up.”
Catherine was holding her own child, her eyes full of doting.
“My two children, one was born in summer, and the other was born in winter. So one is named Xiayue, and the other is named Linna. In the Chinese language, this has the meaning of summer and winter.”
“Then I’m really envious of you.”
“I’m very happy that you say so.”
Eric was really very envious of this family.
He seemed to have never seen this family have any troubles, any disputes. The current economy was not good. It was quite difficult for Eric to run his company, but it was also impossible for Yu Jiayang to have a smooth sailing. He also had his own difficulties. But the good thing about Yu Jiayang compared to Eric was that his family would always understand him, support him, and share the pressure for him behind his back. And Eric, he had to bear the pressure of the company, and also had to accept the complaints of his family when he got home.
So he was very envious. This was true.
Yu Jiayang had come back from outside after a long time. Eric had sat here for not long and had said his goodbyes. After that, he had also reduced the number of times he had come here as a guest.
…
With the financial crisis, the world economic crisis, the American economy was a little sluggish. Eric and Yu Jiayang were at the cusp of the storm, unable to move an inch.
To be able to hold on and get through the financial crisis, Eric had taken out a lot of loans from the bank. And this year was the hardest year.
Even for Catherine, an actress who had been in Hollywood, she could also feel the sluggishness of the economy, the increase in the number of unemployed people. The situation in America was indeed very complicated.
In this one year, Catherine had taken on many film offers, and was busy on the set. Although she would still go home, the heavy work had also made her feel exhausted. And with that, the number of times the two children at home could see their parents had also decreased.
Little Xiayue was a little older and a little more sensible. She knew the hardships of her parents. But she still had to take good care of her younger sister. When her dad and mom were not around, she would play with her younger sister. If they were hungry, the nanny at home would prepare food.
“Young miss, it’s time to eat.”
“Alright, Grandpa Butler. I’ll leave my younger sister in your care.”
“Alright, please rest assured.”
The butler had picked up the child, had coaxed this little baby girl, and had shown a kind smile. He looked at the weather outside. It was a little gloomy, as if it were about to rain, even though the weather forecast had said it would be sunny today.
“Is it going to rain?”
The butler was wondering if he should have someone go and bring in the clothes.
Little children probably wouldn’t think about so many things. In their hearts, there was only playing, and not too many troubles. But adults were different. Not just Yu Jiayang, but even Catherine would have troubles. Although she was known as the Hollywood queen, and had also left her mark on the Walk of Fame, and had won many Oscar trophies, behind these honors came a huge pressure. It was precisely because of these honors that she could not be careless every time she acted, and the movies she acted in could not be bad. If the movie was very bad, then it was her fault.
Therefore, Catherine had never dared to be careless.
But at least Catherine could still go home on time. Although sometimes she would often fly around, at least she would still go home. But Yu Jiayang was really often not at home. He probably wouldn’t be seen more than ten times a month. Sometimes he might come home with Eric for a sit-down.
“Where’s Baba?”
The very young Linna did not understand why. She just wanted to see her dad. To a little child, her parents were important people. It was not okay to be without either of them. Catherine had held her own child and had comforted her:
“Dad is on a business trip. He’ll be back soon. He’ll be back after you wake up. Be good, be obedient, and go to sleep.”
“Mmm…”
…
The sweep of the world financial crisis had plunged the world economy into a quagmire. Under such a situation, to run his company well, Yu Jiayang was troubled every day.
“The decline of the real economy is unavoidable. I want to change my way of thinking. How about we try the internet? This industry is an emerging industry. I think it has the value of trying. And our company also needs to open up other markets. It’s not okay to always be limited to the real economy. We have to change.”
During a shareholders’ meeting, Yu Jiayang had proposed his own ideas and views. Although the shareholders still felt that the risk was great and that they needed to be cautious, Yu Jiayang had persuaded them. The shareholders also did not want to remain unchanged. And so, under the background of such a financial crisis, they had started to get into the internet. The first industry they had considered was software development, as well as the advertising industry. This had also laid the foundation for the future Yu Jiayang.
And Eric had not chosen to be in this sector, and was still following the old path. Although in this day and age, the internet industry had also begun to rise, Eric did not have that concept in his mind. He always felt that to do his own job well, and not to casually go to an unfamiliar field to work was the best.
And so, the world financial crisis had begun a period of warring states, a bloody and brutal competition.
Some people had struggled through, some had risen, but more people had fallen on the road.
Eric had worked very hard to manage, and had also taken out a lot of loans, but in the end, he had not been able to escape his own bad luck. In his stubborn and unenterprising situation, he had lost to Yu Jiayang, or rather, he had lost to the times.
Eric had gone bankrupt.
Because of his heavy debts, and his income not covering his expenses, he couldn’t even pay his employees’ salaries. In the end, he could only declare bankruptcy. And Eric had also taken on a huge debt because of this. He needed to spend a very long time to repay it. This was the most painful year for him. And this year, Yu Jiayang had struggled through the financial crisis and had slowly begun to stabilize.
After Eric had gone bankrupt, what had followed was the bank chasing for debts, as well as the collapse of his interpersonal relationships. When he was rich, everyone had surrounded him. As soon as he had gone bankrupt, everyone had blacklisted him. The human heart is just such a complicated thing.
“Eric, you can’t afford to support me and the children. I understand your pain, but I’m also a woman. I have to be responsible for our two children. Let’s get a divorce. I’ll raise the children.”
In the end, his wife had also divorced him. He had wanted to keep her, but in the end, he had not said it. He had even forgotten how he had signed the divorce agreement with his wife. He only knew that after that day, his mood was very low. He had wanted to go for a drink, but had found that the money in his pocket could no longer support him to go to a bar and drink the expensive wine he used to drink.
All his valuable things had been sold by him, and his house was also gone. Eric was penniless, with a scruffy beard, and his eyes were lifeless. With a huge debt on his back, he had to work hard to repay it. To want to make a comeback was even more of a fantasy.
He was sitting on a park bench by himself, worrying. At this time, Yu Jiayang had found him, had stuffed a little money into his hand, and had also given him some food.
“Kevin, what are you doing?”
“Take it. You need this now. Listen, I’m not pitying you. I’m just lending it to you. You have to pay me back in the future. You can pay me back when you have money. Now you have to pull yourself together. I will still wait for you. If life is without you as a rival, it’s actually quite boring.”
Yu Jiayang had given Eric a manila envelope. Inside were all US dollars. He had said he was lending it to him. Eric had taken it, but he felt very bad. In the past, he was such a confident person. Now he had fallen to such a state, and had even been reduced to needing his rival’s sympathy. It was really unseemly.
Eric clenched the envelope in his hand, his mood even more gloomy.
