Chapter 144: DST's Investment Interest, the Future Emperor of Wage Labor (Request)

After landing at the capital airport, Chen Yansen and the other two took a car to the Dongyu Hotel beside the 798 Art District.

The Xiaomi press conference doesn’t start until tomorrow morning; they arrived a day early because Leiyi Army organized a small networking event.

Fewer than twenty people attended—all were founders of companies he had personally invested in, along with leads from IDG, Qiming, and DST.

After checking in, Chen Yansen rested briefly, then drove to the 798 Art District.

As soon as he entered the private room, dozens of eyes turned sharply toward him.

“Mr. Chen, you’ve traveled far—thank you for coming to Xiaomi’s new product launch.”

Li Wanqiang stepped forward with a smile to greet him.

Seeing this, Lei Yijun, who had been chatting with investors, excused himself and hurried over.

This visit differed from his previous two trips to Yancheng; back then, Chen Yansen was merely the founder of Fox Tao , with a valuation of just hundreds of millions in USD.

Now, he not only held a leading unicorn e-commerce company valued over $2.5 billion, but was also the boss of Orange Tech.

In just ten days, Orange Phone pre-orders reached 1.2 million units.

Though still behind the four giants—ZTE, Huawei, Coolpad, and Lenovo—this pre-order volume was dazzling among second- and third-tier smartphone brands.

As soon as Chen Yansen entered, several venture capital firms fixed their gaze on him, showing strong interest.

Among them were Xiaomi Tech’s Series A investors, as well as potential institutions hoping to join the Series B round.

With over a billion people in Huaguo, the smartphone market holds enormous potential; compared to Xiaomi, Orange Tech, already showing tangible results, clearly offered greater investment value.

“Mr. Lei, sorry I’m late—wishing Xiaomi a triumphant launch and soaring sales.”

After brief pleasantries with Li Wanqiang, Chen Yansen stepped forward and smiled at Lei Yijun.

“Unlike Orange Tech, Xiaomi doesn’t have its own factory yet—it’ll be another half-month before sales begin, and production scheduling is still being coordinated. But I appreciate your good wishes, please sit.”

Lei Yijun looked at Chen Yansen and spoke candidly.

Building a factory is expensive; though it has advantages, the high management costs and asset depreciation from rapid tech iterations make it daunting.

Shuowan ， Leiyijunlazhuchenyansen ， Zhuyijieshaopangbianjiren ：「 Geinijieshaojiweixinpengyou ， Zheweishilakaladelaobansunran ， Zheweishi uc Liulanqidelaobanhexiaopeng ， Zheweishi yy Zhibodechuangshirenliling ……」

“Mr. Sun, Mr. He, Mr. Li—pleased to meet you.”

Chen Yansen greeted them with a smile.

More than a decade later, Lakala and YY Live would be completely devoured by Ali, Tencent, and ByteDance, their glory long gone.

But in 2011, both were in rapid growth phases, expanding aggressively within their respective industries.

Of these men, He Xiaopeng was the most successful.

Three years later, He Xiaopeng sold UC to Ali, cashing out over 20 billion.

Lei Yijun, holding a 20% stake, reaped over 5 billion in profit.

That’s also why he later chose to invest in He Xiaopeng’s car venture.

The men politely responded; though young, Chen Yansen’s wealth was no small matter, and none dared underestimate him.

Lei Yijun then introduced several senior executives from venture capital firms.

Chen Yansen had previously interacted with IDG and Qiming Capital, so he wasn’t unfamiliar—but the DST lead made him take notice.

“Zhou Shouzhi, DST’s youngest partner in Huaguo—he personally led the financing rounds for Jingdong and Meituan.”

Lei Yijun smiled as he introduced him.

“Mr. Chen, long admired! I regret I couldn’t join Fox Tao ’s Series A. If Orange Tech needs funding, DST will wholeheartedly support you.”

Zhou Shouzhi didn’t wait for Chen Yansen to speak—he reached out, gripped his hand firmly, and spoke with sincere earnestness.

At just twenty-eight, Zhou Shouzhi had risen to lead DST’s Huaguo operations in only one year—his ability was evident.

He was no less capable than Wang Zihao.

Chen Yansen glanced between Lei Yijun and Zhou Shouzhi; their lack of closeness suggested DST had only just begun considering investing in Xiaomi, with no action yet taken.

Lei Buses, Xiaomi’s first handsome face, hadn’t yet hooked up with its second handsome face.

Should he cut in?

As he chatted with Zhou Shouzhi, Chen Yansen pondered silently.

Zhou Shouzhi was Singaporean, educated in both Europe and America; after graduation, he leveraged Harvard alumni networks and his wife’s family influence to join DST.

Chen Yansen didn’t look down on him for “eating off his wife’s wealth”—he admired such sharp, adaptable minds.

After all, not everyone can eat soft rice well.

From Zhou Shouzhi’s investment deals since taking office, it was clear his ability and vision were strong—Ali and Jingdong alone had made DST immensely profitable.

In the group-buying sector, he picked Meituan from thousands of competitors; in his past life, Meituan had emerged as the ultimate winner of the “hundred-group war.”

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen smiled faintly, declined Lei Yijun’s offer to seat him at the head, and chose to sit beside Zhou Shouzhi.

Gao Wei and Song Yuncheng, like other company executives, entered, exchanged greetings, then returned to the adjacent private room.

“I heard you’re considering selling Fox Tao entirely? Are you focusing on the smartphone sector?”

After sitting, Zhou Shouzhi initiated conversation.

Before departure, DST’s boss Yuri had instructed him to maintain good relations with Lei Yijun and seek opportunities for Xiaomi’s Series B.

But since Orange Tech’s rapid rise, Yuri had turned his attention to Chen Yansen.

After all, with 1.2 million pre-orders, as long as production capacity held, Orange Phone would surely secure a place in Huaguo’s smartphone market.

“Is DST interested in taking it over?” Chen Yansen asked in return.

Zhou Shouzhi paused, then smiled: “I’m afraid Rakuten and Augusta Capital will beat us to it.”

He had no interest in Fox Tao ; over a year working in Huaguo had taught him the e-commerce landscape well—only investing in comprehensive platforms like Taobao or Jingdong yielded substantial returns.

Though Fox Tao was growing fast, its ceiling was already visible, and it remained heavily dependent on external e-commerce platforms.

Especially with Alibaba holding 50% of the domestic e-commerce market—if it chose to shift stance and suppress guide-shopping sites,

Fox Tao ’s valuation would plummet drastically. This uncertainty made him firm: investing in guide-shopping e-commerce was not wise.

Chen Yansen looked up, reading the unspoken implication in his eyes, and smiled indifferently.

After all, there were plenty of fools—Rakuten and Augusta were eager; DST wasn’t needed.

Lei Yijun sat at the head, chatting casually with Lin Bing, Li Wanqiang, and others—topics centered on tomorrow’s launch and the smartphone market’s direction.

“Apple plans to launch a new product next month or in October,” said the head of Qiming Capital.

Over the past year, domestic and foreign phone makers had all imitated the iPhone 4.

Jobs hadn’t yet stepped down as Apple’s CEO; hearing this, everyone assumed Q4 and next year’s smartphone market would grow even hotter and more competitive.

“You walk one step at a time, eat one bite at a time. Without me, Orange Tech’s technical team couldn’t even match Xiaomi’s—chip and system development still need time.”

Chen Yansen didn’t take it to heart, thinking silently.

After all, Xiaomi’s core R&D team mostly came from Motorola and Google—that was the key to MIUI’s success.

The dozen men and women in the room clinked glasses, soon flushed and tipsy.

Aside from investment talk, these billionaires, worth hundreds of millions or billions, were no different from ordinary people—drinking, women, money, and ambition, all present.

Chen Yansen was unfazed.

In his past life, though he’d never dined with bigwigs like Lei Yijun, the few shady friends in Shanghai’s business circle—all had wives at home, secretaries at work, and sweet college girls on the side.

Daily, they either boasted at business associations or drowned themselves in luxury karaoke clubs.

Men, as long as they could still stand, were all the same.

“Mr. Chen, shall we step outside for a private chat?”

After three rounds of drinks, Zhou Shouzhi lowered his head and proposed.

“Sure.”

Chen Yansen smiled, rose, and told Lei Yijun, “It’s stuffy in here—I’m stepping out for some air.”

Aside from him and Zhou Shouzhi, most in the room were heavy smokers, especially Lei Yijun, who began puffing after just two drinks.

Lei Yijun squinted through the smoke, guessed Zhou Shouzhi’s intent, sighed inwardly, then nodded firmly.

He knew that whether or not he invited Chen Yansen, DST would inevitably turn toward Orange Tech.

“Mr. Lei, this…” Li Wanqiang’s face darkened—he’d realized it too.

“Just focus on making Xiaomi great—we won’t lack opportunities.”

Lei Yijun waved him off, eyes full of confidence.

As he’d said before, the market was large enough for the “Zhonghua Kui Lian” giants to thrive—how much more so for second-tier players like them?

On the other side.

Zhou Shouzhi and Chen Yansen entered a separate private room.

Facing each other, Zhou Shouzhi got straight to the point: “DST has good relations with Qualcomm. If Yuri personally negotiates, Orange Tech’s chip pricing could be discounted by 10% to 15%.”

“For screens, cameras, batteries, connectors, and sensors—DST has corresponding resources that can help Orange Tech reduce component costs and ensure supply stability.”

Unlike ordinary investors, Zhou Shouzhi didn’t immediately bring up valuation or funding—he spoke first of DST’s supply chain advantages.

He’d prepared this pitch for Lei Yijun—and now used it for Chen Yansen too.

“Mr. Zhou, you truly are DST’s youngest partner. Frankly, I don’t lack capital—but I do need third-party investment institutions’ resources for the supply chain.”

Chen Yansen nodded slightly in agreement.

Zuo Hongyu was capable enough, but his background limited his ceiling; with only tens of thousands in procurement volume, he couldn’t secure the best material prices from top-tier global suppliers.

“So, does that mean you’re willing to accept DST’s investment?” Zhou Shouzhi asked with a smile.

“Not yet. Let’s wait until the first pre-orders are shipped and see market feedback—I’m worried about poor user experience, and I can’t answer to investors if that happens.”

Chen Yansen shook his head, declining for now.

Orange Phone had only been launched ten days ago—discussing funding now would be disadvantageous.

The Orange Phone had only been released for ten days; negotiating funding now was naturally disadvantageous.

Zhou Shouzhi replied, and didn’t rush to invest in Orange Tech—he understood the wait-and-see approach.

Since Chen Yansen had successfully built Fox Tao and Orange Tech, he was clearly a smart man, and of course didn’t want to accept Series A funding at this stage.

Afterward, the two chatted a bit more, agreed on the next time to communicate, then returned together to the private room.

What Zhou Shouzhi hadn’t expected was that Chen Yansen didn’t just want his money—he wanted him too.

Everything!

(End of Chapter)