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

In the private room of Jinsha Hall at West Lake, lights blazed, illuminating the varied expressions on everyone's faces.

Ma Liyun and Liu Zhiping wore calm, unconcerned expressions; Zhou Hongyi held his wine cup, a faint smile on his lips.

Zhu Xiaopeng narrowed his cold, triangular eyes and said nothing.

The investment directors from Hongyi Capital and Huake Investment looked at each other, then suppressed the undercurrents in their hearts.

Finally, Zhai Jun, CEO of Macquarie Capital's China division, broke the silence: "Chen Zong, considering Kuai's current order volume and operational scope—even factoring in market potential and growth projections—its valuation should top out at $300 million. I simply don't understand how you arrived at $700 million."

Chen Yansen looked up and replied slowly: "Kuai currently has no competitors, and its subsidy pressure is low. With just one billion, I can seize the core market in the eastern region, and this process won't take more than six months. At that point, daily orders will exceed ten million, and the valuation won't be below $10 billion."

"Chen Zong, you said that's six months from now. Can you guarantee no new competitors will emerge during that time?"

Zhai Jun spread his hands and asked with a smile.

"A ride-hailing app needs at least three months of development to solve hardware compatibility, precise location tracking, and communication stability. By the time a competitor launches, Kuai will already dominate the market with the highest capacity. What will they compete with?"

Chen Yansen replied indifferently.

In reality, Kuai had another clear advantage over competitors: Gaode Map's support.

It provided powerful map data, accurately displaying passenger and driver locations, guiding drivers precisely, improving order acceptance rates, and reducing passenger wait times.

A ride-hailing app with inaccurate location data, where drivers couldn't find passengers and passengers couldn't find drivers, would never gain market acceptance.

Zhou Hongyi, Liu Zhiping, and Ma Liyun knew this—so they were willing to offer a valuation over $400 million.

"I'm sorry, but if Chen Zong insists on inflating Kuai's valuation to an unreasonable $700 million, Macquarie Capital must withdraw."

Zhai Jun shrugged and shook his head in refusal.

"Zhai Zong, let's collaborate again another time."

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, responding with complete indifference.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's late. I'll take my leave." Zhai Jun lifted his wrist, feigned a glance at his watch, and rose gracefully to depart.

The representative from Hongyi Capital paused, then exchanged pleasantries with Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, and Zhu Xiaopeng before leaving with his assistant.

In moments, both investment firms had withdrawn.

"Chen Zong, Huake Investment's highest offer is $350 million. Do I have the right to sit at this negotiation table?" Yu Heng had privately raised his pre-approved offer by a full $100 million.

Though Huake's offer was the lowest compared to Tencent, Ali, and DST, Chen Yansen smiled and said: "Yu Zong, you're too modest. Kuai's Series A funding couldn't happen without Huake's support."

In 2012, to partner with more taxi companies, Kuai needed official authorization from the Transportation Association—otherwise, taxi companies wouldn't even respond.

Cheng Weixing's connections were limited to Hangcheng; expanding to other cities meant dealing with local transportation associations.

Without authorization, driver-side promotion would be extremely difficult.

If Huake Investment joined, the entire situation would change dramatically!

As a long-established "Hua"-branded investment firm, securing approval from the Transportation Association wasn't hard.

That's why Yu Heng had the confidence to stay—not leave rashly!

After a moment's thought, Zhu Xiaopeng smiled faintly: "Jinsha Venture, $400 million."

Though Chen Yansen's asking price was outrageous and unreasonable, it was worth noting: since entering the industry, he had never made a losing investment.

Every financial institution that had invested in Chen Yansen—Tencent, Siwei Capital, DST—had seen returns of at least 1, 00%.

Zhu Xiaopeng didn't agree with the $700 million valuation, but he chose to believe in Chen Yansen.

Investing is investing in people. At this moment, he didn't even consider the data—he made the decision outright.

Besides, Ma Liyun, Liu Zhiping, and Zhou Hongyi weren't fools. If they could sit still, why should he rush?

"Let's discuss the financing details tomorrow," Chen Yansen said, lifting his wine cup again after receiving a satisfactory response.

"Finish this drink, then we'll head to the next place. I'll handle everything in Hangcheng," Ma Liyun declared generously.

Liu Zhiping and Zhou Hongyi nodded slightly, offering no objection.

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

The rest of the entourage returned to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow's negotiations.

Half an hour later, seven luxury cars pulled up outside a bar.

A sharply dressed marketing staffer rushed over, eager and smiling: "Ma Zong, I've reserved the largest private room upstairs for you. Same as usual?"

Clearly, Ma Liyun was a regular here.

Chen Yansen felt slightly surprised—he hadn't expected a man in his forties to be so energetic, so hard-drinking, and so frequent a bar-goer.

This lifestyle clashed sharply with his age.

Ma Liyun, Yu Heng, Liu Zhiping, and Zhu Xiaopeng walked ahead, passing through the neon-lit dance floor and booth areas, taking the elevator to the second floor.

Chen Yansen tapped Zhou Hongyi on the shoulder, signaling he wanted to talk alone.

Cheng Weixing was left behind in the room, continuing to drink with Ma Liyun and the others.

In the dim corridor, Chen Yansen flung open the window, letting cold air rush in—the atmosphere instantly grew fresher.

"Chen Zong, thank you," Zhou Hongyi said suddenly.

Orange Phone shipped four million units in February; at this growth rate, if the second half's new product doesn't fail, Orange Tech will join the top tier of smartphone makers, competing with Apple, Shanxing, and Huawei.

This successful investment has solidified his position at DST Capital and in international finance.

Two years ago, outsiders mocked him for entering DST through his wife's family connections; now, those criticisms have been completely buried under his stellar investment record.

"Why thank me? You're just smart enough."

Chen Yansen smiled.

"What did you want to talk about?" Zhou Hongyi took a deep breath and asked seriously.

"Have you ever thought of switching industries?" Chen Yansen probed.

"Orange Tech, or a new project?" Zhou Hongyi cut straight to the point.

Talking with a smart person was comfortable—efficient, no need for roundaboutness.

Chen Yansen inwardly marveled; he didn't directly answer Zhou Hongyi's question but countered: "Which project are you interested in?"

"Chen Zong, how confident are you that I'll say yes?" Zhou Hongyi smiled faintly, pressing further.

"After years in investment banking, your personality becomes overly cautious and suspicious, fixated on short-term gains, forming rigid thinking. Do you really think you can fully understand the success of Orange Tech and Pinbei just by looking at financial data?"

Chen Yansen asked calmly.

"Chen Zong, I'll consider it carefully. Give me some time," Zhou Hongyi frowned slightly—he understood Chen Yansen's meaning.

In short, his investment decisions relied entirely on financial data and his judgment of entrepreneurs, but he had no real understanding of how the projects operated.

Orange Tech's real-time valuation was already over $20 billion; if he joined and helped take it public, the returns would be enormous.

Zhou Hongyi knew: staying at DST meant a base salary plus bonus of only $2 million a year, with the rest depending on investment splits—but that pace of earning was too slow.

At that moment, a middle-aged man with glasses was about to enter the room when his peripheral vision caught Chen Yansen by the window.

He grinned and waved: "Chen Zong, you came to Hangcheng and didn't even say a word?"

Chen Yansen looked up—it was Ding Lei, boss of NetEase.

They'd had only preliminary exchanges and cooperation, arranged by Zhang Zhaoyang—not close at all.

After all, among Toutiao's data sources, NetEase was the only one that paid copyright fees.

So he paid no mind to Ding Lei's words—people just said polite things; no need to take them seriously.

Otherwise, he'd be the one embarrassed.

"Came to Hangcheng on business. Just arrived this afternoon," Chen Yansen replied vaguely.

"Come on! Let me introduce you to a few new friends," Ding Lei was unusually enthusiastic—partly out of respect for Zhang Zhaoyang, partly to help a friend make connections.

"Ding Zong, this is Zhou Hongyi, CEO of DST Capital's China division," Chen Yansen introduced formally.

"You invested in Ali and JD at once—impressive boldness. Zhou Zong, let's have a drink?"

Ding Lei took Zhou Hongyi's right hand and smiled, proposing.

Chen Yansen watched Ding Lei's actions, thought for a moment, and understood his intent—he agreed readily.

He wanted to see who could make Ding Lei lower his pride like this.

Following Ding Lei, Chen Yansen and Zhou Hongyi realized his private room was next to Ma Liyun's.

Ding Lei pushed open the door, revealing three middle-aged men holding wine cups, chatting and drinking.

Chen Yansen glanced—they were mostly strangers, except one man in black-rimmed glasses, whom he felt he recognized.

"Chen Zong, let me introduce you: this is Duan Yongping, founder of BBK; this is Sun Tongyu from Bokasi Education; this is Huang Zheng from Leqi Business, specializing in e-commerce operations."

Ding Lei introduced them eagerly.

"Duan Zong, this is Chen Yansen of Senlian Capital, and Zhou Hongyi, CEO of DST China."

Then Ding Lei stepped in front of Duan Yongping and specifically introduced Chen Yansen and Zhou Hongyi.

"Mr. Chen, you're even younger than I imagined," Duan Yongping rose slowly, shook hands, his eyes filled with nostalgia and sighs.

Youth really was amazing!

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

The founder of Pinduoduo in his past life!

But now, Huang Zheng was still busy with e-commerce operations—he hadn't yet thought of building his own platform.

When he entered, he'd seen Chen Yansen and Zhou Hongyi chatting in the corridor, and wanted to approach them—but feared being too forward and causing a setback.

So he returned to the room and asked Ding Lei to introduce him.

The relationship between an operations company and an e-commerce platform was like that between a real estate agent and a developer: Huang Zheng's business success, and whether his brands got platform resources, depended entirely on Chen Yansen's favor.

After sitting down and drinking with Duan Yongping and the others, Chen Yansen understood Huang Zheng's subtle intentions. Out of respect for Ding Lei, he gave him a personal business card.

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

It was like a Taobao merchant unexpectedly meeting Ma Liyun in a restaurant—though as Duan Yongping's protégé, he didn't lack funding for entrepreneurship.

But the traffic resources of e-commerce platforms? He was still desperately envious.

At thirty-two, Huang Zheng looked at Chen Yansen with nothing but admiration and envy in his eyes.

In education, he held a double-first-class undergraduate degree and a master's in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; in starting point, he had spent three years as a project manager at Google; in connections, he secured investment from Duan Yongping on his very first day of entrepreneurship and became an agent for BBK and OPPO.

Yet after five years of entrepreneurship, his net worth had yet to break one hundred million.

Put plainly, without Duan Yongping bringing him along, he wouldn't even have been able to meet Ding Lei.

Thus, Huang Zheng both revered and envied Chen Yansen, who at twenty had amassed tens of billions and thrived in both the mobile phone and e-commerce sectors.

(End of Chapter)