Chapter 22 Preparations for an Economic Crisis
Everything is on the right track and Zhang Feng's career is booming. At this time, he has no other thoughts and is just immersed in making money and having a happy family.

In this way, the time came to June 1929. During these two years, Shennong Pharmaceutical Company had swindled some local prescriptions from all over the world, and through scientific research, it had discovered the principles of treating diseases and developed many new drugs. However, Zhang Feng sealed up most of the new drugs.

First, there are too many new drugs, which will affect the sales of the company's other drugs and fail to maximize profits; second, if the company expands too quickly, its foundation will be unstable and it will also attract covetousness.

Therefore, in the past two years, Shennong Company has only launched a few new drugs, such as Isatis Root and Bupleurum Granules. However, when they were first launched on the market, they did not indicate that they were oriental Chinese medicines. Zhang Feng planned to wait until these drugs gained the trust of foreigners before promoting them as Chinese medicines.

After KFC obtained financing mainly from Morgan Investment Bank, it began to grow rapidly. In just two years, it has grown from more than 100 branches at the beginning to more than 1000 branches across the United States, and even opened more than 100 stores in Europe.

Every time he opens a store, Zhang Feng will try his best to buy the store. If the landlord is unwilling to sell, Zhang Feng will try to find another store nearby that is willing to sell. If the store is too expensive, Zhang Feng will give up and wait until there is an economic crisis or the landlord needs money before purchasing it. There is no rush anyway.

In the future, America will not be affected by the war, and property values ​​will continue to rise, so there will be no losses. This way of business is learned from McDonald's.

The main reason is that Zhang Feng has too much money now. He can't find a good investment for the time being. He dare not invest too much in the stock market, otherwise he will be targeted by those vampires and be exploited. Then he will be finished. After all, it was his hard-earned money.

His company Langsha Stockings now makes over 1000 million U.S. dollars in profit every year, and Shennong Pharmaceutical Company makes 2 million U.S. dollars every year. This is despite the high investment of pharmaceutical companies, which are expanding every year and increasing their R&D expenses year by year. Otherwise, the profits would be even higher.

KFC went public this month. In order to have money for rapid expansion and to share part of the profits, Zhang Feng had no plans to let others invest or go public in the short term because the pharmaceutical company was making too much money. He could only quickly list KFC to divert attention.

KFC's price-to-earnings ratio when it went public was 10 times. At the time, it had nearly 600 stores, and the average annual profit of each store was more than 4 US dollars, so the valuation was close to 3 million. Due to the good stock market, the fact that it had just gone public, the company has been expanding, and its performance has been good, its current market value has reached 8 million US dollars.

Because the company has been expanding and opening branches, it has not distributed dividends yet. However, it has raised money through the IPO this year and has sufficient funds. Zhang Feng plans to start distributing dividends this year, which can also save the market value during the economic crisis.

Zhang Feng now holds 60% of the shares, but not in his own hands. He only holds 35%, and the other 25% is hidden in other companies of Zhang Feng. These companies were all established by Zhang Feng in Europe. He tries to hide his wealth and reduce his holdings. This is also one of the reasons why Zhang Feng went public.

Most of Zhang Feng's wealth is still in Maple Leaf Investment Company. Except for purchasing properties, all the profits over the years have been invested in the stock market. The current market value of the shares of Coca-Cola, General Electric and other companies he holds has reached US$5 million.

And it is still growing. In 1929, the US economy was booming. The US industrial production index averaged only 1921 in 67 and 1923 from 1925 to 100, but it rose to 1928 in July 7 and 110 in June 1929. Even more impressive is the performance of the US stock market. Both capitalists and the government expressed confidence in the future. Treasury Secretary Andrew William Mellon also assured the public in September 6: "Now, there is no reason to worry. This boom will continue."

So the New York Stock Exchange is still booming at the moment, but it will enter a plunge mode in October, so Zhang Feng has to start planning his withdrawal now.

Zhang Feng arrived at Maple Leaf Investments early in the morning. At that time, there were only Paulson, John Jr., and Zhang Feng in the office.

"The stock market is too crazy now, a little abnormal, and it has been growing continuously for several years. I think it is almost reaching the top." In this secret meeting, Zhang Feng was the first to throw out a suggestion.

"Boss, you mean to repeat the economic crisis of 1921? That's unlikely. It's only been less than 10 years and the stock market is still accelerating upward." Paulson said, and he was obviously optimistic about the current economy.

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. Our initial investment has more than doubled, and now the stock market has risen so much. Even if it can continue, there should not be much room for growth. So I plan to take out the money and invest in other projects. I will enter again when the next opportunity arises, so that I can maximize my profits."

Zhang Feng knew that it was difficult to convince others, but it was not good to reveal too much, so he had to find an excuse. Logically, he was the boss and only needed to order Paulson to do as he asked, but his employees were not NPCs after all, so the company would not be able to continue operating if he did this.

"It's true that the economy is a bit overheated now. The company has already made a lot of money from its investments, and subsequent risks will also increase. It's okay to withdraw now." Paulson was still professional, but he was reluctant to give up the immediate benefits. Since Zhang Feng said so, he had no objection.

"Okay, then I will arrange the next work. Paulson, you will go to New York in person next month and start to slowly sell all the shares of Maple Leaf Investments, as well as the KFC shares held by those European companies. Remember, it must be completed before October 10th." Zhang Feng said.

"Understood, boss. I will definitely follow your instructions and complete the task." Paulson assured.

"Little John, you come with us then. While selling the stocks, let Paulson help you investigate the current situation of Paramount Pictures, as well as the property conditions of Times Square and several surrounding buildings. I plan to acquire them." Zhang Feng instructed Little John again.

Although it is difficult to buy the building in Times Square, after all, the New York Times is not short of money, but Zhang Feng also wants to try. If the money is not enough, he will add more money. If it doesn't work, he will acquire other properties nearby. In addition to the fact that they will be valuable in the future, he mainly wants to satisfy his vanity.

"Yes, sir." Little John replied respectfully.

"Okay, let's prepare first. Remember to keep it secret." Zhang Feng said finally.

After finishing the work, they returned to the Monk Farm under the escort of bodyguards. The iron gate slowly opened to both sides, and the car drove in and stopped on the lawn.

Little John got out of the car immediately, walked to Zhang Feng's side and opened the door. Zhang Feng also got out of the car immediately. At this time, he heard the child's cry in his ears.

"Dad is back! Dad is back!" As soon as Zhang Feng heard it, he knew it was the voice of his second son Zhang Chengyun, who was the most lively among the children.

Zhang Feng had just bent down to get out of the car, and before he could stand up straight, he felt a force hitting him. Zhang Feng looked down and saw that it was the third brother Zhang Chengqin.

"Daddy, hug me~" The younger brother who grabbed Zhang Feng's trouser leg opened his arms.

"The little guy is so cute." Zhang Feng picked him up and bit his little face. The other children ran over and surrounded Zhang Feng to be hugged.

Zhang Feng held one in each hand and asked Little John to help pick up two more and walked to the door.

"You're back. The little ones didn't see you when they woke up in the morning, so they kept asking you where you had been." Gertari Garbo took the child from Zhang Feng and said.

Zhang Feng sat on his exclusive recliner, grabbed a handful of fish feed from the bowl next to him and threw it into the pond, causing a churn. He then washed his hands in the bucket beside him, then held the two little ones in his arms. The two big ones also broke free from their mother's arms, stood beside Zhang Feng's legs, and tried to climb onto him.

He smiled and teased the four children.

"The children look so much like you. They look exactly like you." Qin Qingning said with a smile as she watched the heartwarming scene of the father and his sons playing.

"Haha, I actually hope that the children look like you two, because Qingning and Jiabao are both so beautiful. If they look like you, they will definitely be very handsome when they grow up. Then I, as a dad, won't have to worry about them not being able to find girlfriends in the future." Zhang Feng flattered. He was still very grateful to these two women who were willing to give birth to his children.

To be honest, the children are indeed 80% similar to Zhang Feng. It can only be said that Zhang Feng's genes are too strong. Fortunately, Zhang Feng is also handsome, otherwise the family's genes will not be optimized by marrying beautiful women in the future.

"Well, that's true. Sister Jiabao and I are indeed very beautiful." Qin Qingning's personality has become more cheerful in the past few years.

"What I just said was a lie. You are too narcissistic." Zhang Feng joked.

"Hmph, tell me quickly, my sister and I are beautiful, or I will bite you."

"You bite it, and I'll bite your son." After saying that, Zhang Feng gently bit Zhang Chengqin and Zhang Chenghan on the face respectively, making the two children laugh.

"Where are the other children? Why aren't they brought out for activities?" Zhang Feng asked while teasing the child.

"Those children are still young and fall asleep after feeding," replied Gertaire Garbo.

Zhang Feng now has 9 sons. In addition to the sons Zhang Chengtian and Zhang Chengyun born to Ge Taili Jiabao two years ago, and the sons Zhang Chengqin and Zhang Chenghan born to Qin Qingning, in the past two years, Ge Taili Jiabao gave birth to twin sons for Zhang Feng at the beginning of this year, and Qin Qingning also gave birth to a son.

Lin Huiyin also gave birth to two sons. Because of this, she had a big fight with Zhang Feng, saying that Zhang Feng was a liar. In two years, she gave birth to two children almost seamlessly, which left her with no time to design the headquarters building.

So Zhang Feng’s company headquarters building doesn’t even have a design drawing yet and is still on paper. Of course, Zhang Feng is not in a hurry, as this project was originally thought up for her.

Now Lin Huiyin still lives in the previous apartment with her children. Zhang Feng also bought the entire building, arranged two bodyguards to live in it, and hired several nannies to take care of the lives of mother and children.

There was no way. Lin Huiyin's personality did not allow her to compromise with Zhang Feng so quickly. She still hadn't forgiven Zhang Feng for hiding the fact that he had two wives and several children from her. However, after two years, she gradually accepted it and sometimes took her children to Monk Manor to play.

This can deepen the relationship between the brothers, but she still has to consider her own children.

Now that they have so many children, the family will soon expand. Zhang Feng doesn't want them to have more children in the short term, as it can hurt their bodies. Let them rest for a few years first.

Hearing that the other children had fallen asleep, Zhang Feng did not continue asking. Seeing that the children were so well-behaved and thinking about their dad every day, he, as an old father, felt very happy.

So he said to the children, "Sons, when you turn 5 on your birthday, Dad will give you each a pony. Would you like to be happy?"

"Happy." Zhang Chenghan shouted immediately.

"Dad, I want two." This is Zhang Chengtian.

"Dad, I want three." Zhang Chengyun said immediately after hearing his twin brother's words.

"I want one, I want one too." Zhang Chengqin was only over one year old, but he was not willing to be outdone.

The red light of the sunset spread all over the earth, and this warm and beautiful afternoon passed as Zhang Feng interacted with his wife and sons.

(End of this chapter)