Due to national policies over the past several decades, this coastal city had already become an economic center. Every day, in this prosperous city of concrete and steel that was over six thousand square kilometers, there were companies being established and companies going bankrupt.

Amongst these companies, there was a star that had been gradually rising for the past five years. And now, it was on the brink of choosing between life or death.

As someone that was a leader in the new Internet generation, Qin Shao had founded a company, Genesis, that had been at the top of its industry by a wide margin.

But, at this moment, sitting in Genesis's conference room, Qin Shao had a grave expression as he listened to shareholders debate.

If it wasn't for the recent financial downturn, his company would have never fallen to the impasse of choosing between bankruptcy or being acquired.

He could only watch as the people sent over by the Lu's company destroyed all of his hard work in the past several years in their acquisition process.

Qin Shao didn't want to accept this, but it didn't matter how unwilling he was. Right now, the only way his company could survive was to be acquired by the Lu's company.

However Lu Beichuan was famous in the business world for being obstinate and tyrannical. One of the conditions for the acquisition was that Genesis's technical staff would be replaced by the Lu's company's employees.

Qin Shao knew that Lu Beichuan didn't trust them.

Qin Shao had founded this company with the support of the technical staff that made up Genesis's core team. The acquisition of the company meant that these people would be laid off.

Before it had come to this point, Qin Shao had asked himself. Would the company have achieved what it did without these experienced people? No, it wouldn't have. And so, he wasn't shameless enough to keep his company and give up on these people that had worked with him to create this company.

He had been able to drag things out for a while, but the company's shareholders were uneasy. During the past period, since the company wasn't able to get more funding, it was difficult to get back their momentum. This in turn triggered a cascade of money shortages, which led to an imminent crisis in financial credibility. Other than the Lu's company, no one was willing to accept Genesis. The acquisition process had already reached the point where the Lu's company's lawyers were doing their due diligence. However, Qin Shao still hesitated on making a decision.

"CEO Qing, other than being acquired by the Lu's company, I don't think there's a way for Genesis to recover. We're already drawn the limit of our credit line at the bank, and no other bank will guarantee us. There's no other company that will provide funding. If you don't make a decision now, then the company will go bankrupt!"

"Exactly! And, I think the company will develop even better after being acquired by the Lu's company!"

"Yeah, no other company is willing to acquire Genesis. The only way to avoid bankruptcy is to choose the Lu's company."

It was hard to tell what Qin Shao was thinking from his expression.

The boss of the core technology team, who had been with him when he created this company, had been silently sitting in the conference room.

If he wanted his company to continue existing, he would have to give up on its employees. On one side, there was the company. On the other side, there were his old friends. Qin Shao was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

"I'll go look for Lu Beichuan to discuss again. Let's end the meeting here."

Actually, anything that had to be discussed was already discussed. The other side had power and money. The Lu's company's attitude was unyielding with no margin for negotiation. They were taking the position of forcing them to sell.

Right after Qin Shao stood up, someone stopped him and handed him a resignation letter. "CEO Qin, this is my resignation letter."

Qin Shao didn't take the letter. He looked at the person in front of him, then he swept his gaze over the shareholders in the conference room. He quickly whispered, "Follow me."

Qin Shao led that resigning employee to his office, closed the door, and sharply asked, "Yang Zhao, what are you doing?"

Yang Zhao had been with him for several years. During the initial stages of this business, it wasn't unusual to stay up all night working. After a lot of hard work, the company was finally established. How could he kick his old partners out of the company for the sake of self-preservation?

Qin Shao couldn't do it.

"I've already heard about it. If there's an acquisition, the Lu's company will send over a new technical team to replace us. This is one of the conditions for the acquisition. The company is already at this state. I don't want to put you in a difficult position. You don't have to worry about us either. We've been in this company for so long. At the very least, our resumes look good. We won't starve to death if we leave."

"That's why you're resigning?" Qin Shao's furrowed brows showed he was deeply troubled. His eyes showed his resentment at the situation. "Of course I know that with your ability you won't starve to death if you leave this company, but that's not the point."

"We understand the need to sacrifice pawns to save the king."

"Am I that type of person?" Qin Shao laughed in anger. Looking at Yang Zhao, he said in a booming voice, "Even if Genesis falls down today, I can still make a comeback!"

"CEO Qin, Genesis is the result of years of struggling and hard work from everyone. Starting from a two-person team, we slowly built this company up. It now has nearly a thousand employees. Can you really watch on as all of our hard work goes down the drain?" Yang Zhao sighed and quietly continued, "Qin Shao, even if you can watch as the company goes bankrupt, I can't. The Lu's company has abundant resources and information. I believe that Genesis will reach new heights under Lu Beichuan's leadership."

Qin Shao's expression was gloomy. He stayed silent.

Just as he was stuck on what to do, there was knocking on the door.

"Come in."

An assistant pushed open the door and quietly said, "CEO Qin, someone from Lu's company is here to talk to you."

Qin Shao and Yang Zhao looked at each other. They could see the heaviness in each other's eyes.

Qin Shao straightened out the wrinkles in his suit and walked out of his office.

The Lu's Company had sent over a team of over ten people. They all had solemn expressions and were silently sitting in the conference room.

Pushing open the door to the conference room, Qin Shao walked inside with a gloomy expression. He furrowed his brow as he looked at the group of people. He hadn't had to repress a belly full of grievances since the founding of Genesis, but now he did.

A member of the group stood up and smiled. He shook Qin Shao's hand. "Hello, CEO Qin. Our company sent us over here to discuss the details of the acquisition."

"Hello." Qin Shao swept a hawk-like gaze over the group of people. "Regarding the terms and conditions for the acquisition that was discussed a month ago, if your company insists on replacing the core technical team, then I'll resign from my position at Genesis too."

Since Lu Beichuan wouldn't tolerate him and his team, then he could have Genesis as an empty shell!

With his team at his side, making a comeback was only a matter of time!