Chapter 286: Liu Qiangdong: Do You Think I

Beep… beep… beep…

At the Renren headquarters, Chen Yizhou sat in the boss's chair, listening to the buzzing sound from the speaker, feeling a surge of irritation as he mentally cursed Chen Yansen's entire family.

Li Yanhong was an old fox; Chen Yansen was a young one.

The agreed acquisition deal was dragged out for a month by the former, who then went ahead and bought Lashou. com, while the latter only kept haggling—and now, he wouldn't even answer the phone.

"Hello, Chen Zong, what's up?" The phone suddenly connected, and Chen Yansen's voice came through, laced with curiosity and a hint of mockery.

"Chen Zong, after careful consideration, I'm willing to lower the price of Nuomi. com to $160 million."

Chen Yizhou forced out a faint smile and, without beating around the bush, spoke bluntly.

As a seasoned businessman, he wouldn't be foolish enough to ask Chen Yansen why he hadn't answered the phone.

For adults, the reason was simple—he simply didn't want to answer.

"Sorry, Chen Zong, after a comprehensive internal evaluation, we've unanimously concluded that Dazhong Dianping's organizational structure is more advanced, its marketing more precise, and its ground promotion far stronger. The acquisition may have to be canceled."

Chen Yansen stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of Building Nine in the Tech Park, gazing at the golden wheat fields as he smiled lightly.

May?

Chen Yizhou immediately caught the subtext in Chen Yansen's words: Senlian Capital and Dazhong Dianping might not have even contacted each other yet, or the acquisition price might still be under negotiation—Nuomi. com still had a chance.

Of course, there was another possibility: Chen Yansen hadn't contacted Zhang Tao of Dazhong Dianping at all, and this was just another tactic to drive the price down further.

Moreover, Dazhong Dianping's business growth rate wasn't inferior to Meituan's; Zhang Tao had no reason to sell his company.

After thinking it through, Chen Yizhou cursed inwardly and finally laid it all out: "What's your bottom line, Chen Zong?"

"$150 million. This offer is valid only for August," Chen Yansen replied directly.

$160 million in July, now dropping to $150 million in August?

Chen Yizhou stared wide-eyed, ready to explode—but the words died on his lips as he forced himself to swallow them.

In the current environment of a cooling group-buy market and lackluster capital interest, Chen Yansen was still a highly desirable buyer.

Even though the offer was low, his intent to buy was genuine.

Aside from Baidu and Senlian Capital, Chen Yizhou had approached every investment firm and internet giant—including Tencent—none of them showed any interest in buying, let alone investing.

"Fine, I agree," Chen Yizhou said after a long silence, gritting his teeth in reluctant assent.

Agreed?

Chen Yansen was momentarily stunned—he immediately thought he'd quoted too high; maybe Chen Yizhou would have sold for just $140 million.

But then he reconsidered: compared to securing his position in the group-buy market and advancing Gao De's O2O strategy, an extra $10 million for greater market share and a better entry timing seemed more important.

"No problem. Tomorrow I'll send a team to Beijing to verify Nuomi. com's assets and business data. If everything checks out, I'll buy Nuomi. com."

Chen Yansen's smile faded as he made a solemn promise.

"Understood. I'll instruct Nuomi. com's CEO, Shen Boyang, to fully cooperate with your audit team."

Chen Yizhou responded quickly, secretly exhaling a long breath of relief.

Finally got rid of this money pit!

The burden on his shoulders instantly lightened by half!

Ma Wenteng shared the same sentiment—he also wanted to dump QQ Mall, Paipai. com, and Yixun. com, those three bloodsucking liabilities, onto Liu Qiangdong.

But when he finished touring the Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park and was about to attend Sister Chengzi's Tech New Products launch, Lin Chenfeng from Tencent's Investment Department called with news: Zhao Yingchun, Director of the Investment Banking Division at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, had joined JD. com as Vice President, responsible for financing and IPO preparations.

In other words, Liu Qiangdong had spent heavily to poach a Wall Street-connected financial broker with extensive resources to secure overseas financing for JD. com.

Ma Wenteng, well-versed in capital market tactics, instantly understood the exchange of interests between Liu Qiangdong and Zhao Yingchun.

Zhao Yingchun had almost certainly already secured potential investors for JD. com—otherwise, Liu Qiangdong would never have offered her a Vice President position so easily.

Would a JD. com that wasn't short on cash still accept Tencent's "junk assets"?

"Have Lin Chenfeng sound out Liu Qiangdong's stance."

Ma Wenteng paused, then instructed Liu Zhiping.

"OK, I'll arrange it," Liu Zhiping replied, his face tense.

Zhao Yingchun's involvement had taught him one thing: Liu Qiangdong refused to be a trash collector.

At that moment, Chen Yansen, having just ended his call with Chen Yizhou, returned to his office and invited the two to attend Sister Chengzi's Tech New Products launch.

Ma Wenteng and Liu Zhiping readily accepted.

The group set off in a convoy of over a dozen luxury cars, speeding toward the city center.

Patrol vehicles led the way both in front and behind!

Last night, Xu Zhenhui, upon learning of Tencent's chairman's visit to Xucheng, immediately deployed two patrol teams to secure security at the Tech Park and the Sky Garden.

Any mishap would be a disgrace to Xucheng's reputation.

Meanwhile.

Liu Qiangdong, whose love life had failed but whose career was soaring, had shaken off two months of depression and gloom. He looked at Zhao Yingchun with satisfaction and asked: "When will the OTTP investment agreement be finalized?"

OTTP is the abbreviation for the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which currently faces a CAD 9.6 billion pension funding gap and urgently needs a high-yield investment project.

Zhao Yingchun, using her masterful business packaging skills, portrayed JD. com as Asia's version of Amazon and China's second-largest e-commerce platform, successfully convincing OTTP's investors.

The two sides reached an instant agreement!

OTTP wanted to share in Liu Qiangdong's IPO windfall!

Liu Qiangdong wanted to use OTTP's capital to boost JD. com's sales and revenue to new heights, thereby securing a higher IPO valuation.

The valuations offered by Hong Kong and U. S. investment banks were an insult to him.

"The preliminary market research will take a month, because OTTP has never invested in China's internet sector before. They'll issue a brand-new valuation based on JD. com's market size, growth trends, competitive landscape, and policy regulations."

"The current issue is that JD. com's daily active users and sales volume have been overtaken by Pinduoduo, which could severely impact OTTP's final valuation."

Zhao Yingchun smiled calmly, her toe lightly tapping the floor, appearing utterly composed before Liu Qiangdong.

In her eyes, JD. com was merely a stepping stone to monetize her resources—once she took it public, she would walk away.

A gamble?

Liu Qiangdong's mouth turned downward, a flash of anger appearing on his face, yet he was helpless.

JD's sales output is concentrated mainly in 3C digital, major appliances, and small appliances categories; repurchase frequency is low, customer acquisition costs are high, and without free external traffic support, JD's customer acquisition cost is extremely high, daily active users cannot rise, and sales naturally cannot rise either.

Ever since the April 18 Appliance Festival and the fallout with Pinba, after JD's self-operated products withdrew from the Shangcheng mall, the average daily sales figure dropped again.

JD spent over ten years to build its cumulative user count to one hundred million.

Pinba did it in just two months!

Compared to Chen Yansen's operational tactics, he himself had become a raw recruit; working hard for over ten years, he couldn't even match another person's one year of effort.

"I understand. Try to accelerate the progress speed; ideally, it should be completed before October."

Liu Qiangdong raised his head and solemnly instructed.

JD urgently needs capital replenishment; otherwise, with what will it compete with Taobao and Pinba for Double Eleven?

Damn self-media, spreading rumors all day long that JD faces the risk of a broken capital chain; even some suppliers believed it.

If not for Xu Xin from Today Capital personally providing him with one hundred million for emergency relief, he would have long been begging Ma Huateng for investment with his head bowed. "President Liu, regarding the traffic cooperation with the Penguin Group, I suggest delaying it by three to six months. Wait until JD secures financing from OTPP and Europe-America, then restart negotiations; that will be more beneficial for you and for JD."

Zhao Yingchun reminded.

Although the Level 1 traffic entrances on WeChat and QQ are important, Ma Wenteng is unwilling to pay cash, only willing to pay with equity in the three negative asset projects: QQ Online Shopping, Paipai Network, and Yixun Network.

"Rest assured, I know." Liu Qiangdong nodded and replied.

After Zhao Yingchun left, Liu Qiangdong finally took a deep breath.

No one understood better than him that beneath the seemingly booming JD, how many crises were hidden.

Fortunately, Zhao Yingchun joined in time and brought OTPP's investment intent to JD.

Liu Qiangdong felt he had almost stood on the edge of a cliff, only to be pulled back again.

He leaned back, slumping into the chair, and through the glass, he happened to see his former familiar workstation.

At this moment,

Sigh, if the old doesn't go, the new doesn't come.

Liu Qiangdong smiled faintly, thinking quite freely.

"Vrrrrr—!"

The mobile phone on the table suddenly vibrated!

Liu Qiangdong glanced at the screen and thought: It seems Penguin has received the news and wants to test my attitude.

He thought for a moment, then pressed the answer key: "President Lin, has President Ma agreed?"

"Not exactly. President Ma's stance is still to adopt a payment method of 10% cash plus 90% equity." Lin Chenfeng replied with a smile.

Damn!

Do they really treat me like a scrap collector?

Liu Qiangdong suppressed his inner displeasure and calmly asked: "Then why did President Lin call me? Is there some good news?"

"President Ma's approved JD investment proposal will be brought up at next week's board meeting. It is highly unlikely there will be any unexpected situations. I want to communicate with President Liu in advance regarding the timing for financial and business data audits, to determine the valuation and equity ratio as soon as possible."

Lin Chenfeng explained slowly.

"Is that so? Recently, everyone in the company has been busy preparing for the Double Eleven big promotion, so it might be inconvenient."

Liu Qiangdong made up a random excuse to delay the time.

Ma Wenteng doesn't treat him like a human, so he has no need to hide anything.

Liu Qiangdong knew clearly in his heart that no matter how much nonsense he spun, Lin Chenfeng would not believe it.

Anyway, he wasn't refusing to talk, but rather delaying a step, talking slowly, talking with order, with adjustment, and with quality.

Lin Chenfeng instantly understood the meaning in Liu Qiangdong's words; we are all thousand-year-old foxes, why are you playing Liao Zhai with me?

It's nothing more than securing investment and then putting Penguin aside again.

Lin Chenfeng smiled, exchanged a few pleasantries, then hurriedly hung up the phone and rushed to report to Liu Zhiping.

On the other side.

After learning this, Liu Zhiping immediately synchronized the message sent by Lin Chenfeng to Ma Wenteng.

"Suspend the JD investment plan. If he wants to drag out the time, I'll fulfill his wish."

Ma Wenteng waved his hand, dismissing it.

He could stand someone up; that didn't mean others could stand him up. Investing in JD was an option, not a necessity.

As for Liu Qiangdong, he wasn't qualified to negotiate terms with him; just let him cool off for a while first!

Liu Zhiping nodded in agreement, understanding Ma Wenteng's plan: he would wait for Liu Qiangdong to come begging.

Penguin holds the two traffic trump cards, QQ and WeChat; surely it can't handle a guy from Subei?

The two exchanged a smile; though they said nothing, they read each other's meaning.

Next, the main event for Penguin in the e-commerce sector remains Pinba.

The street scene outside the window rushed past continuously; in midsummer, the wutong trees were lush and leafy, with the faint sound of urgent cicada chirps drifting over.

Five minutes later, the Mercedes-Maybach 62S driven by Ma Wenteng stopped at the entrance of the Sky Garden.

Luxury cars filled the parking spots like clouds; the first-floor lobby was crowded with people; security guards patrolled back and forth both indoors and outdoors, maintaining order and ensuring the safety of the attending guests.

To know, given Sister Chengzi Technology's status in the mobile phone industry, just the invited international top-tier suppliers numbered over thirty.

Among the competitor group were Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Ku Sect, Xiaomi, 360, NetEase, and many other companies; there were both old-school communications companies and internet mobile phone manufacturers. The CEOs attending the press conference were all wealthy.

In addition, there were numerous news media outlets and fan audiences.

The largest banquet hall on the top floor, though capable of accommodating over a thousand people, seemed inadequate today.

As soon as Chen Yansen got out of the car, Wang Teng actively came forward and said: "Boss, we should move; otherwise, for future new product launches, we'll have to run to Luzhou, Hu City, or Jin Ling."

"Wait another two years." Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

The construction of the Luzhou headquarters had only just begun; without two years, it simply couldn't be finished.

"Have Lei Yijun and Zhou Hongyi arrived?" Chen Yansen asked again.

"They have. Director Ye received them. There were six seats between the two of them, so there shouldn't be a problem," Wang Teng answered immediately. He knew what the boss wanted to ask.

"Good then. I'll head up and take a look first." Chen Yansen set his mind somewhat at ease.

The outside world didn't know, but he knew perfectly well: these two had actually arranged to fight offline. Over the past half year, Zhou Hongyi had been training in freestyle boxing.

Presumably he wanted to arrange another bout with Lei Yijun. After all, last time it was he who had suffered badly, getting beaten until his nose was bruised and his face swollen, and he hadn't gone to the company for half a month.

Chen Yansen, along with Ma Wenteng, Liu Zhiping, and others, arrived at the banquet hall on the top floor.

This was the largest banquet venue in Virtual City, and the Central Bureau's major meetings were also often held here.

At this moment the room was brightly lit, packed full of swarming spectators.

"President Chen!"

"President Ma, what brings you here too? Surely Penguin doesn't want to make phones as well?"

"Martin, long time no see!"

The moment the three of them appeared, a crowd of industry partners swarmed over.

"It's not as if Penguin has never made phones before. Is President Huang scared?" Ma Wenteng gripped Meizu's Huang Zhang's hand and teased with a smile.

Penguin had indeed made phones before, but those were all carrier-exclusive models and contract phones, and had little to do with Penguin itself.

(End of chapter)