Chapter 235: Huang Zheng: That Year I Was Thirty-Two, Standing Like a Lackey

Inside a private room at the Jin Sha Hall of West Lake, the lights blazed bright, casting their glow upon the varied expressions on every face present.

Ma Liyun and Liu Zhiping wore an air of ease and indifference, while Zhou Shouzhi held his wine glass, a faint, composed smile playing at the corner of his lips.

Zhu Xiaohu narrowed a pair of cold, sharp triangular eyes and said nothing.

The investment directors from Hongyi Capital and Huake Merchants exchanged a glance, then quietly suppressed the undercurrents stirring within.

In the end, it was Zhai Jun, President of Macquarie Capital's China region, who broke the silence first: "President Chen, given Kuaidi Dache's current order volume and operating scope—even factoring in market potential and growth projections—the valuation tops out at 300 million US dollars. I honestly can't fathom how you arrived at a quote of 700 million US dollars."

Chen Yansen looked up and replied unhurriedly: "Kuaidi Dache currently has no competitors, so subsidy pressure is low. I only need one billion to capture the core market of the eastern region, and that process won't take more than half a year at most. By then, daily orders will surpass ten million, and the valuation won't fall below ten billion US dollars."

"President Chen, that's half a year from now. Can you guarantee no new competitors will emerge in the meantime?"

Zhai Jun spread his hands and countered with a smile.

"A ride-hailing app needs at least three months of development to resolve hardware compatibility, positioning accuracy, and communication stability. By the time any competing product launches, Kuaidi Dache will have long since occupied the highest-capacity market. What would competitors have to fight with?"

Chen Yansen replied dismissively.

In fact, Kuaidi Dache has one more clear advantage over its rivals: the backing of Gao De Maps.

It provides powerful map data support, accurately displaying the locations of passengers and drivers, offering drivers precise navigation guidance, thereby improving order-matching efficiency and reducing passenger wait times.

A ride-hailing app with imprecise positioning—where drivers can't find passengers and passengers can't find drivers—will struggle to win market acceptance.

Zhou Shouzhi, Liu Zhiping, and Ma Liyun knew this very well, which is why they were willing to offer a valuation quote exceeding 400 million US dollars.

"I'm sorry, but if President Chen insists on inflating Kuaidi Dache's valuation to the unreasonable figure of 700 million US dollars, then Macquarie Capital can only bow out."

Zhai Jun shrugged his shoulders and refused with a shake of his head.

"President Zhai, perhaps we'll have the chance to work together again."

Chen Yansen gave a slight nod and replied without the slightest concern.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's getting late—I'll take my leave first." Zhai Jun raised his wrist, made a show of glancing at the time, then rose unhurriedly to take his leave.

The representative from Hongyi Capital deliberated for a moment, then exchanged greetings one by one with Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, Zhu Xiaohu, and the others, before heading out with his assistant.

In an instant, two investment institutions had successively thrown in the towel.

"President Chen, Huake Merchants' highest offer is 350 million US dollars. May I ask if that earns me a seat at the negotiating table?" Yu Heng privately bumped the pre-drafted offer up by a full hundred million on the spot.

Although Huake Merchants' bid was the lowest compared to Penguin, Mama Ali, and DST, Chen Yansen smiled and said: "President Yu, you're too kind. Kuaidi Dache's Series A financing couldn't have happened without Huake's support."

There was no helping it—in 2012, for Kuaidi Dache to establish partnerships with more taxi companies, it first needed to obtain authorization documents from the Transportation Association; otherwise, taxi companies simply wouldn't give it the time of day.

Cheng Weixing's network was limited to Hangcheng. Once Kuaidi Dache expanded its operations to other cities, it would have to deal with the local Transportation Associations.

Without authorization documents, subsequent driver-side promotion would be an uphill battle.

But if Huake Merchants could be brought aboard, the situation would be entirely different!

As a long-established investment institution bearing the "China" prefix, smoothing things over with the Transportation Association wasn't all that difficult.

Yu Heng had the confidence to back this up, which is why he didn't leave rashly!

After some deliberation, Zhu Xiaohu suddenly smiled faintly and said: "Jin Sha Ventures—400 million US dollars."

Although Chen Yansen's asking price was outrageous and utterly unreasonable, it was worth noting that since entering the business, he had never once made a losing deal.

Penguin, Siwei Capital, and DST Ventures—any financial institution that had invested in Chen Yansen had never seen returns below 1,000%.

Zhu Xiaohu didn't agree with the 700-million-dollar valuation, but he chose to trust Chen Yansen.

Investing is investing in the person—at this moment, he didn't even bother thinking about the numbers and made the call on the spot.

Besides, Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, and Zhou Shouzhi were none of them fools. If the others could sit there unmoved, what was there for him to rush about?

"We'll discuss the specific financing details tomorrow." Having received a satisfactory response, Chen Yansen picked up his wine glass again and said.

"Once we finish this glass, let's move on to the next spot. Now that we're in Hangcheng, leave everything to me." Ma Liyun announced with characteristic boldness.

Liu Zhiping and Zhou Shouzhi gave slight nods, raising no objections.

Chen Yansen didn't decline either. He drained his glass in one gulp, then boarded the Ghost with Gao Weilin and Cheng Weixing, instructing Xiao Li to follow Ma Liyun's Maybach.

The rest of the entourage rode back to the hotel to prepare for the next day's negotiations.

Half an hour later, a convoy of seven luxury cars pulled up in front of a bar.

An impeccably dressed marketing staffer spotted them and immediately scampered over, greeting them enthusiastically: "President Ma, I've kept the biggest private room on the second floor for you. Same old arrangement?"

Clearly, Ma Liyun was a regular at this bar.

Chen Yansen was mildly surprised—he hadn't expected that Ma Liyun, well past forty, was not only full of energy and a prodigious drinker, but also frequented bars for entertainment.

Such a lifestyle bore little resemblance to his age.

Ma Liyun walked ahead with Yu Heng, Liu Zhiping, and Zhu Xiaohu, passing through the gaudy, neon-lit dance floor and booth area, and took the elevator up to the second floor.

Chen Yansen patted Zhou Shouzhi on the shoulder, signaling for a private word.

Cheng Weixing, meanwhile, was left in the private room to continue clinking glasses with Ma Liyun and the others.

In the dim corridor, Chen Yansen pushed open a window, letting the cold wind pour in; the air around them instantly felt much fresher.

"President Chen, thank you!" Zhou Shouzhi blurted out suddenly.

Sister Chengzi's phone shipments in February hit a staggering four million units. Judging by the current trajectory, as long as the second-half new product didn't run into trouble, Chengzi Technology would vault into the top tier of smartphones, going toe-to-toe with Apple, Samsung, and Huawei.

This successful investment had further cemented his standing within DST Capital and the broader international investment arena.

Two years ago, the outside world had still mocked him for leveraging his wife's family connections to get into DST. Now, those doubts had been thoroughly drowned out by his dazzling investment track record.

"Thank me for what? You're plenty smart on your own!"

Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"What did President Chen want to talk to me about?" Zhou Shouzhi took a deep breath and asked in earnest.

"Ever thought about switching to a different industry?" Chen Yansen asked, probing.

"Chengzi Technology, Pinxibei, or a new project?" Zhou Shouzhi got straight to the point.

Chatting with smart people was just so comfortable—efficient, no need to beat around the bush.

Chen Yansen couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Rather than answering Zhou Shouzhi's question head-on, he countered: "Which project would you like to go to?"

"President Chen, you're that confident I'll agree?" Zhou Shouzhi said with a faint smile, unable to resist pressing further.

"After doing investment banking for so long, one's temperament becomes overly cautious and suspicious, paying too much attention to short-term gains, which easily leads to fixed thinking. Do you really think the success of Sister Chengzi Tech and the Pinbie model can be fully grasped just by looking at the numbers on paper?"

Chen Yansen asked in a flat tone.

"President Chen, I'll give it careful consideration. Give me some time." Zhou Shouzhi's brow furrowed slightly; he understood what Chen Yansen meant.

Put simply, his investment decisions relied almost entirely on financial data and his own observation and judgment of the entrepreneurs, yet he had no real understanding of how the projects actually operated.

The industry's real-time valuation of Sister Chengzi Tech had already exceeded 20 billion USD. If he could get in and successfully take it public, the returns would be considerable.

Zhou Shouzhi knew clearly in his heart that staying at dst, his base salary plus bonus came to only 2 million USD a year, with the rest depending entirely on investment return splits — but earning money this way was far too slow.

At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing glasses, just about to enter the private room, caught a glimpse of Chen Yansen by the window in his peripheral vision.

He grinned broadly, waved, and called out: "President Chen, you come to Hangcheng and don't even say a word?"

Chen Yansen looked at the newcomer — it was NetEase's big boss, Ding Lei.

The two had only had their initial exchanges and cooperation thanks to Zhang Chaoyang's matchmaking; they couldn't really be called close.

After all, among Today's Headlines' data sources, NetEase alone charged a licensing fee.

So he hadn't taken Ding Lei's words to heart at all — when someone just makes polite small talk, there's no need to take it seriously.

Otherwise, he'd be the one feeling awkward.

"Came to Hangcheng on business, just arrived this afternoon." Chen Yansen replied vaguely, brushing it off.

"Come! Let me introduce you to a few new friends." Ding Lei, on the other hand, was unusually warm. On one hand it was out of respect for Zhang Chaoyang's face, and on the other he wanted to help his friend make connections.

"President Ding, this is Mr. Zhou Shouzhi, President of dst Ventures' China region." Chen Yansen introduced him with great ceremony.

Invested in both Mama Ali and JD platforms at once—quite bold. President Zhou, shall we have a drink together?

Ding Lei, after hearing this, gripped Zhou Shouzhi's right hand and proposed with a smile.

Chen Yansen stared at Ding Lei's move, thought for a moment, and vaguely understood the other's intention, so he agreed readily.

He wanted to see who could be worth Ding Lei setting aside his pride to make introductions for.

Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi followed behind Ding Lei, only to discover that the other's private room was right next to Ma Liyun's.

Ding Lei pushed open the door, revealing the scene inside — only three middle-aged men holding wine glasses, chatting as they drank.

Chen Yansen swept a glance and basically didn't recognize any of them, except for one man wearing black-framed glasses who gave him a sense of familiarity.

"President Chen, let me introduce them. This is Duan Zong Yongping, founder of BBK; this is Sun Tongyu of Bokasi Education; this is Huang Zheng of Leqi Commerce, whose main business is e-commerce operations on behalf of others."

Ding Lei hurriedly took the initiative to make the introductions.

"President Duan, this is Chen Yansen of Senlian Capital, and this is Zhou Shouzhi, President of dst's China region."

Immediately after, Ding Lei stood in front of Duan Yongping, specifically introducing Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi to him.

"Mr. Chen, you're even younger than I imagined." Duan Yongping rose slowly, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, a hint of reminiscence and lament in his eyes.

Being young is damn good!

"President Duan, pleasure to meet you." Chen Yansen, upon learning Duan Yongping's identity, immediately recognized Huang Zheng.

The founder of Pinduoduo in his previous life!

Unfortunately, at this point Huang Zheng was still busy with e-commerce operations services and hadn't yet conceived the idea of building his own platform.

When he had entered earlier, he had already seen Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi chatting in the hallway. He had wanted to go over and build rapport, but feared it would be too presumptuous and backfire.

On second thought, he went back to the private room and found Ding Lei, asking him to make the introduction.

The relationship between an operations services company and an e-commerce platform is like that between a real estate agent and a property developer. Whether Huang Zheng's business could take off, whether the brands he represented could get resources on the platform — all depended on Chen Yansen's favor.

After sitting down, Chen Yansen had a drink with Duan Yongping and the others. He understood Huang Zheng's little scheme, and out of respect for Ding Lei's face, he gave him a personal business card.

Huang Zheng thanked him profusely, carefully accepting it with both hands.

This was just like a Taobao merchant excitedly running into Ma Liyun at a restaurant. Although as Duan Yongping's protégé, he was by no means short on capital for his entrepreneurial path.

But the traffic resources of e-commerce platforms — those he was still extremely envious of.

Thirty-two-year-old Huang Zheng looked at Chen Yansen with eyes full of admiration and envy.

In terms of education, he was a graduate of a Double First-Class key university with a bachelor's, and a master's in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; in terms of starting point, he had worked at Google for three years as a project manager; in terms of connections, on the very first day of his venture he had secured Duan Yongping's investment and become an agent for BBK and OPPO.

But after five years of entrepreneurship, his net worth still hadn't broken a hundred million!

To put it bluntly, if Duan Yongping hadn't brought him to this reception, he wouldn't even have been able to meet Ding Lei.

Therefore, Huang Zheng felt both worship and jealousy toward Chen Yansen, who had earned a net worth of over ten billion at just twenty years old and was thriving in both the mobile phone and e-commerce fields.

(End of chapter)