Chapter 216: The 10-Billion-Dollar Gaode Acquisition Case, Chaoyang Public

How much equity is Zhang Yiming willing to offer?

Chen Yansen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window in his office, gazing at the darkening sky, asking with a blank expression.

Last time Gao Wei had warned him that after Zhang Yiming returned to Yancheng, he had frequently met with several investment firms—he had already anticipated this.

Chen Yansen understood Zhang Yiming's subtle intentions: he simply wanted to bring in more venture capitalists, dilute equity stakes, secure control while obtaining massive startup capital.

In this regard, Zhang Yiming was far more polished and mature than Zhang Xuhao—he agreed to every potential investor outright, rather than using the first offer to negotiate a better price with the second.

"Ten percent, two million, plus the other three—total seed round equity released is twenty-five percent."

Gao Wei said with a smile.

In his view, ByteDance's fundraising scale was pitifully small—even smaller than Kuai's ride-hailing service.

Two million for ten percent of ByteDance?

Chen Yansen smiled faintly—if Senlian Capital kept investing, the value of those shares in ten years would reach forty billion U. . dollars.

But could Zhang Yiming, now on the wrong path, still build a business empire valued at four hundred billion U. . dollars?

A single thought could alter a person's entire life.

Chen Yansen couldn't be sure!

"Invest. We'll decide later whether to follow up."

Chen Yansen replied after a moment's thought.

In truth, what he really wanted was: rather than wait for Zhang Yiming to build Today's Headlines, he'd do it himself.

Content distribution and recommendation algorithms weren't some impenetrable programming barrier to him.

"Understood, boss. I'll handle it." Gao Linwei replied.

"By the way, I'm going to Yancheng tomorrow. Don't return to Xucheng yet. The day after tomorrow, I'm meeting Liu Zhiping and Cheng Congwu at Gaode Map's headquarters."

Before hanging up, Chen Yansen added another instruction to Gao Wei.

"Got it." Gao Wei nodded—he'd heard Chen Yansen mention it before.

Investing in or acquiring Gaode Map would form an O2O closed loop with Yunsu Express, Kuai Pao Waimai, and Kuai's Ride-Hailing, complementing traffic, data, and capital.

This was a merger involving billions in capital—Gao Wei had to be cautious. Thinking of this, he immediately opened the documents he'd prepared last time, planning to review them again to avoid mistakes at tomorrow's meeting.

After finishing his chat with Gao Linwei, Chen Yansen took the elevator to the first floor, got in the car, and sent a message to Song Yuncheng, then drove toward Xuyuan.

"I'm traveling to Yancheng tomorrow. Remember to bring the clothes I gave you."

Song Yuncheng sat at her desk, and upon seeing Chen Yansen's message, her cheeks flushed faintly red.

"Mm."

Song Yuncheng didn't refuse—she simply replied with one character.

Meanwhile,

Zhou Hongyi and Lei Zong's war of words had moved from Weibo to text messages. Without public attention or restraint, their exchanges grew increasingly harsh.

"We've been friends for years. Are you really going to use an old friend as a knife to carve out new business?" Lei Zong demanded.

"I already said the phone is made by Haier—360 is just the sales channel. I never intended to compete with Xiaomi. But you hired trolls to smear me—how do you explain that?" Zhou Hongyi replied.

"Those were netizens' posts—what's that got to do with me? Dare you say the Haier W910's screen has no issues? A 4. -inch screen paired with a 1600mAh battery—users have to charge it three times a day. Isn't that garbage?" Lei Zong spoke bluntly, striking straight at the face.

Though Zhou Hongyi knew he'd been betrayed by Haier, he wouldn't back down: "Is Xiaomi not garbage? Poor signal, frequent crashes, severe overheating—you sold two million units only because there are too many fools!"

"Asshole!" Lei Zong replied with just two words.

"Dare you say that to my face?" Zhou Hongyi had trained in Tai Chi and Judo in college—even though Lei Zong was taller and bigger, he wasn't intimidated.

"To your face? I'd slap you right across the mouth." Lei Zong looked refined, but inside he carried the spirit of "life and death mean nothing—challenge me if you dare," and fired back immediately.

"Three p. . tomorrow at Chaoyang Park. Whoever doesn't show is a grandson."

Zhou Hongyi, heated by emotion, chose a face-to-face brawl.

"Fine. I'll wait for you." Lei Zong had been verbally abused by Zhou Hongyi online for days.

Xiaomi phones had suffered too—after all, Zhou Hongyi, as 360's boss and a billionaire internet tycoon, had been relentlessly attacking Xiaomi daily, inevitably hurting sales.

Since Haier's W910 wasn't selling, he wanted to kill Xiaomi too.

"Li Wanqiang, tomorrow, pick a few tough guys from marketing to come with me to Chaoyang Park."

After putting down his phone, Lei Zong couldn't suppress his anger—he yanked open his office door and called Li Wanqiang to give orders.

"Boss, when you say 'tough guys,' do you mean marketing and promotion skills or channel integration ability?"

Li Wanqiang froze, confused, not understanding Lei Zong's meaning.

"Literal meaning—guys who can fight!"

Lei Zong crossed his arms and, in his dialect, shouted insults across the air at Zhou Hongyi.

Mainly because Zhou Hongyi's insults were too vulgar—even Lei Zong had lost his composure, forgetting all dignity and restraint.

That morning, Lei Zong had accused Zhou Hongyi on Weibo of plagiarism—copying Xiaomi's phone design one-to-one, calling him brother to his face while stabbing him in the back, as treacherous as Eastern Poison.

Zhou Hongyi countered by bringing up Meizu, claiming that two years ago, after Lei Zong visited Meizu, he immediately founded Xiaomi, stealing their project and technology—so if I'm Eastern Poison, you're Lei Not-Group.

Finally, even Huang Zhang chimed in with a few sarcastic remarks.

Fight?

Li Wanqiang stared, then instinctively asked: "Boss, who are you going to fight?"

"Of course, that bastard Zhou Hongyi." Lei Zong replied.

"..." Li Wanqiang opened his mouth but couldn't think of anything to say.

He knew about the online feud between his boss and Zhou Hongyi—he'd assumed it was just verbal sparring, a way to stir hype and boost Xiaomi sales.

But who would've thought Lei Zong now wanted to meet Zhou Hongyi for a real brawl? It was utterly shocking.

He really wanted to say: Boss, you're both worth billions—why act like street thugs?

After cursing for several minutes, Lei Zong's temper cooled.

Not because he regretted it—he just realized that if he was going to fight, he had to win. He knew Zhou Hongyi trained in Tai Chi and Judo; though he had height advantage, they'd never fought before, and he had no confidence.

Also, would Zhou Hongyi bring outside help or bodyguards?

"First, find four. Wait—find eight tough guys."

Lei Zong thought for a moment and told Li Wanqiang.

Not knowing the opponent's numbers, Lei Zong decided—plus himself—he'd bring ten men.

"... lright, Boss." Li Wanqiang fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded with a bitter smile.

On the other side,

Netizens, seeing their fierce online feud, suggested: "Both Xiaomi and 360 are headquartered in Yancheng. Stop arguing—real men, meet at Chaoyang Park! Whoever wins or loses, no cops."

Below, dozens more egged them on, wildly tagging Zhou Hongyi and Lei Zong.

Soon, Zhou Hongyi responded: "Three p. . tomorrow, East Gate Five of Chaoyang Park. If you're a real man, come talk face to face!"

Lei Zong didn't want to reply, but then thought—if he didn't, netizens would think he was scared—so he posted a Weibo: "I'll be there."

Instantly, news of the two industry giants planning a brawl shot to the top three trending topics.

Some netizens unfamiliar with the backstory assumed it was photoshopped or fake news—but when they checked Lei Zong and Zhou Hongyi's Weibo comments, they were stunned.

Two billionaires planning a physical showdown?

It was like Zuckerberg and Musk agreeing to fight years later—equally astonishing.

That night, Li Ling from YY Live called Lei Zong, asking if he wanted to livestream the fight to amplify the hype.

As a seasoned businessman, Li Ling never imagined Lei Zong and Zhou Hongyi's brawl wasn't for publicity—it was purely to knock each other out.

Lei Zong barely held back from cursing, gave vague replies, then hung up. Then Chen Nian called, slapping his chest and saying he'd join tomorrow.

It left him speechless.

Reporters from the Yancheng Daily, Yancheng TV, and the 21st Century Business Circle had also been notified to cover the event live tomorrow.

Netizens from other cities left comments begging locals near Chaoyang Park to shoot high-definition video for the nationwide audience to enjoy.

The next morning,

Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng flew directly to Yancheng.

Gao Wei rented a Mercedes to pick them up from the airport and take them to their hotel.

"Boss, Lei Zong and 360's Zhou Hongyi arranging a face-to-face brawl—this marketing strategy is brilliant. Honestly, in all my years in Hong Kong, I've never seen anything like it."

In the hotel lobby, Gao Wei chuckled.

Marketing strategy?

Chen Yansen smiled—he'd heard of their brawl in his past life. From a business perspective, he also assumed it was hype, like Musk and Facebook's founder agreeing to fight.

Releasing videos of themselves training martial arts every few days—what else could it be but hype?

"Indeed, brilliantly done. Feels real."

Chen Yansen squinted and nodded slightly.

But he had no interest—he immediately moved past the topic and continued discussing the purpose of this trip with Gao Linwei.

Gaode Map's current share price is $11. 0, its market performance is weak, down several points from half a month ago, with a total market cap of only $620 million.

According to Chen Yansen's knowledge, Ali spent $1. 4 billion to take Gaode Map private and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.

But that was after 2014, when 4G licenses were issued and China's mobile internet entered a phase of rapid growth, creating over a hundred percent premium.

Now it's only 2012—3G still dominates the market, and mobile internet has just begun to sprout.

Launching an acquisition now could save tens of billions in capital.

(End of Chapter)