Chapter 83: Dangling the VCs' Appetite, The Hu City Trip (Subscribe!)

At half past ten in the morning, while heading toward the startup park, Zhang Jiancheng's second call came in.

"President Zhang, I won't hide it from you—Fox Tao isn't short on money right now." Chen Yansen cut him off before he could speak, refusing outright.

"President Chen, I know that after Super Cashback went live, you're sitting on merchant and b2c mall deposits, plus daily gross profit north of a million—cash flow is solid.

But Siwei Capital got into e-commerce back in 2004, with rich b2c and supply-chain resources that could power Fox Tao's rapid growth."

Zhang Jiancheng listened, then laid it out unhurriedly.

"Fox Tao currently has 1.5 million daily active users, with single-day sales steady at 20 million. How much can Siwei value it at?" Chen Yansen just opened his mouth and inflated the numbers by over 50%.

"President Chen, based on this year's average P/E ratio for the e-commerce industry, Siwei can offer a $400 million valuation. Given Fox Tao's leading position in the guide e-commerce segment, I can add another $100 million."

Zhang Jiancheng thought it over, then said slowly.

"Sorry, I'm not satisfied with that number." Chen Yansen refused cleanly, while bringing out Penguin to make his point: "Penguin is Fox Tao's angel investor, with preemptive rights. Before kicking off the Series A, I have to notify them."

"President Chen, we can sit down and talk it through in detail—the valuation is negotiable. As long as the math is reasonable, Siwei is willing to accept it." Zhang Jiancheng frowned but still wouldn't give up.

But Chen Yansen had no intention of raising capital too early; he brushed it off with a few lines and hung up.

Zhang Jiancheng, rejected twice in a row, looked stunned. He hadn't expected an 18-year-old college freshman to be this hard to deal with.

He'd planned to use a 500 million valuation to "knock Chen Yansen out" while other VCs were still on the sidelines, coaxing him into signing a financing agreement—but the other side simply wouldn't bite.

Chen Yansen walked into Room 206, waved Wang Zihao over, and once he drew close, instructed: "Find a few top e-commerce bloggers and leak a tip—say Siwei Capital wants to invest in Fox Tao at a 500 million valuation."

"For real?"

Wang Zihao blinked, asking instinctively.

"It's real, but I turned them down—500 million is too low." Chen Yansen answered honestly.

Leaking an investor's intent to the outside wasn't exactly ethical and could easily rub Siwei Capital the wrong way, but Chen Yansen had no sense of ethics to begin with, so he had nothing to fear.

Siwei Capital wanted to acquire equity at a low price; Chen Yansen wanted to sell high. No right or wrong—just interests.

"Holy shit! You're badass!" Wang Zihao gave a thumbs-up, his face full of shock.

Back at his seat, he immediately went through an intermediary and reached two top bloggers—Tu Si Shuo Dian Shang and 21st Century E-Commerce Circle—one with 4.6 million followers, the other 3.2 million. Their quotes weren't high, totaling under 8,000 yuan combined.

Bloggers' traffic-to-cash ability these days couldn't compare to what it'd be a decade-plus later.

That afternoon at 3 p. m., Tu Si Shuo Dian Shang posted the info about Siwei Capital's contact with Fox Tao.

"500 million valuation" plus "eighteen-year-old business genius"—without a doubt, it shot to the trending searches.

Some felt Fox Tao had been around less than four months—a 500 million valuation was over the top.

But the comments section quickly had people explaining that, using P/E or PEG (P/E to growth) valuation methods, factoring in Fox Tao's DAU, orders, and sales data, its valuation could reach 800 million to 1 billion.

Some netizens also thought this was Fox Tao hyping itself up to drive up its price.

Half an hour later, 21st Century E-Commerce Circle reposted Tu Si Shuo Dian Shang's Weibo content, further corroborating the reliability of the news.

Zhang Jiancheng was reporting progress to his boss when he learned the news and let out a cold laugh—he hadn't expected Chen Yansen to play it so slickly.

Facing media inquiries, Zhang Jiancheng couldn't easily deny it, so he responded with deliberate vagueness: "Guide e-commerce, as a niche segment within e-commerce, has been given a brand-new profit model by Fox Tao."

As for whether the 500 million valuation was real, and whether Siwei Capital had actually contacted Fox Tao—he didn't say a word.

Before the day ended, Chen Yansen got another call, this time from Qiming Capital, opening with a 600 million valuation offer in exchange for 20% equity.

Chen Yansen still brushed it off, planning to let the wind blow a few more days.

The next day, Lin Chenfeng from Penguin's VC division called specifically to ask.

After getting the picture, he laughed and reminded him: "This project was personally greenlit by President Ma. The VC division will definitely keep following up."

Chen Yansen smiled faintly and replied: You're welcome to come to Fox Tao for an on-site inspection—only then can you get a clearer read on Fox Tao's current value.

The financing news continued to spread, and more and more venture capital firms began taking notice of Fox Tao, this guide e-commerce platform with such explosive momentum.

On December 17th, the first VC firm to set foot in the startup park was Today Capital—a team of seven, including the lead investment manager, industry analyst, legal, finance, and technical staff.

Chen Yansen took them around the startup park's second floor for a whole day, with Song Yuncheng handling reception and walking them through the optimized data and metrics.

The next day, photos of Today Capital at Xu Cheng College were posted online—this time it wasn't Chen Yansen's doing, but a few college students trying to boost their follower count by riding the traffic.

The VCs that had been sitting on the sidelines couldn't sit still anymore, calling one after another to book on-site visits.

Throughout mid-December, aside from keeping a close eye on Super Cashback's daily operations, Chen Yansen spent the rest of his time dealing with VCs.

Fortunately the results were good—the valuations from each firm kept climbing. Competition brings pressure.

Siwei Capital, which at first would only offer 500 million, ended up raising its bid to 750 million!

"Brother Sen, what do you think? DCM's offer is the highest right now. Even if we only sell 10% equity, we can pull in 140 million in funds—ad spend can scale tenfold."

Wang Zihao dragged a chair over, sat down in front of Chen Yansen, and asked.

"Still low! These damn VCs keep harping on Super Cashback being live for too short a time, policy changes, unstable gross profit. At 1 million in daily net gross profit, it'd be nothing for me to call for a 3 billion valuation."

Chen Yansen glanced at Wang Zihao, saying dismissively.

If the VCs thought Fox Tao's daily gross profit was unstable, then he'd just wait—he wasn't in any rush.

"3 billion?"

Wang Zihao swallowed, looked around—this project with fewer than 80 people, worth 3 billion?

He'd been sitting in on Liu Muyan's finance classes lately. Though he hadn't studied company valuation methods, he knew 3 billion was an astronomical figure—the VCs would probably have a hard time accepting it.

"Worst case we grow a bit slower. If it doesn't meet my expectations, nobody gets a pass." Chen Yansen said with a light laugh.

Wang Zihao said nothing. He didn't ask Chen Yansen's bottom price—figured even if he did, Chen Yansen wouldn't give him a straight answer.

Ever since his best friend completed filling out his college entrance exam preferences, he'd become a different person—deep and calculating. Wang Zihao couldn't read him at all.

"This week's advertising plan and weekly report are in your email. Oh, and our cumulative registered users have just surpassed 20 million," Wang Zihao said with a grin, changing the subject.

"I'll be out the next few days. Keep an eye on things for me—any issues, call me anytime."

Chen Yansen checked his watch and instructed seriously.

"Got it, don't worry! Anyway, if any VCs show up, I'll hand them off to Song Yuncheng and Zhuang Rui to handle—they've got the experience." Wang Zihao shrugged, a hint of envy in his eyes.

Chen Yansen was taking Meng Jie to Hu City for a concert, while he himself had to grind away working himself to the bone.

After finally falling for a girl, she had to turn out to be a teacher — and she already had a fiancé.

That guy looks all proper on the surface, but his hair's slicked down like a dog licked it — clearly unreliable at first glance.

My Brother Hao is the only worthy match for Liu Muyan!

Still, these were things Wang Zihao only dared mutter in his heart — not a single word dared he speak aloud.

Chen Yansen smiled, picked up his jacket, and headed out.

Just as he reached the bottom of the teachers' apartment building, Chen Yansen saw Mai Bao Bao pushing two suitcases, standing on tiptoe and looking around.

"Let's take a cab to the high-speed rail station first. We should arrive around 10 tonight."

Chen Yansen took one of the suitcases and said, ruffling Mai Bao Bao's hair.

Mai Bao Bao grinned, looped her arm through Chen Yansen's, and walked boldly toward the school gate.

From Void City Academy to Void City East Station was a half-hour drive; the high-speed rail took three hours. By the time they reached the hotel, it was already half past ten.

The night in Hu City — neon flickered, skyscrapers lined both banks of the Huangpu River, bathed in the cool moonlight; the streets were bustling and unusually noisy.

"You only booked one room?"

Standing at the doorway, Mai Bao Bao blinked and asked, her expression strange.

That dog Chen Yansen — his little scheme was far too obvious. How could Mai Bao Bao not understand? Her cheeks instantly turned scalding hot.

Similar romantic scenes she had fantasized about countless times in her mind — she just hadn't expected it to come so suddenly.

"Relax, I won't do anything to you."

Chen Yansen pushed open the door, slotted the key card into the power slot, and said with an earnest face.

"At night you'll definitely say the air conditioning isn't warm enough, you want to squeeze into one bed, then you'll say you just want to hold me and won't do anything, and finally you'll say you'll just rub a little, right?"

Mai Bao Bao's eyes were glistening, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, as she laid out every scumbag's playbook one by one.

"Knowing all this, you must have been a scumbag in your past life too."

Chen Yansen froze for a beat, gave a dry laugh, and struck first.

"Don't forget! Who's the big sister of Class 3-8!" Mai Bao Bao huffed, pushing her suitcase into the room.

But she hadn't expected the bedroom to have only one bed — Chen Yansen had even skipped the first step of the scumbag playbook.

Mai Bao Bao turned to look at him, eyes questioning.

Before setting out, Chen Yansen had sworn up and down that he'd booked a twin room — one bed each, separated like mountains and seas.

"Uh, maybe the front desk entered the info wrong?"

Chen Yansen brazenly spouted nonsense.

"Really? How careless! Luckily there's still a sofa in the living room, so it's fine." A sly smile flashed across Mai Bao Bao's face.

Sleep on the sofa?

Chen Yansen was dumbfounded — what kind of joke was that? President Chen never sleeps on sofas!

It wasn't early; after the two of them washed up, one lay on the bed, the other curled up on the sofa.

"Chen Yansen, you bastard!" Mai Bao Bao sulked, scolding him huffily.

"The bed is big and very comfy — want to come up and try it?"

Chen Yansen grinned, patted the soft mattress, which let out soft thumps.

"I'd rather sleep on the sofa!" Mai Bao Bao rolled over on the sofa, firmly refusing to take the bait.

She knew Chen Yansen's playbook too well — next would surely be 'I'll just hold you, won't do anything.'

Bah!

The two of them bickered back and forth, and whenever they got tired of talking, they'd chat about high school.

In no time at all, Mai Bao Bao was the first to fall asleep.

Chen Yansen called her name softly twice; seeing no response from Mai Bao Bao, he slipped out of bed quietly.

(End of chapter)