What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 215 Reunion
Yu Xing and Xu Xin are like a "broken mirror reunited". Although the repaired mirror is full of cracks, it can at least be considered a complete piece.

The reason is that the two sides have greater common interests.

Bai Xiaosheng's business is thriving, and although the world is not black and white, Yu Xing insists on taking a "white" stance, and it will be of no avail even if Xu Xin continues to pester him.

Losses are losses, losses are losses, it’s time to move on.

After all, the new year is coming, although it is the Gregorian calendar, but... this big New Year...

It’s New Year’s Day, so just watch other people’s miserable fun.

As outsiders, neither of them left Lin'an immediately. Yu Xing talked to the deputy director of operations of Taobao Mall to discuss his ideas, while Xu Xin met with an entrepreneur in Lin'an to discuss new projects.

In the evening, Yu Xing and Xu Xin had dinner together again. One brought Zhong Zhiling, who had just arrived in Lin'an to do marketing, and the other brought his capable deputy Liu Jiankai, continuing the good intentions of both sides to repair their relationship.

The Alipay incident provided plenty of topics, and Bai Xiaosheng's development is also worth summarizing. The more they talked during such meetings, the more they got along, and it felt like the friendship between the two sides was just like when they first met. Oh no, their first meeting didn't seem to be very pleasant either, so it can be said that the friendship between the two sides is just like the second meeting.

However, the cracks on the mirror inevitably broke out on the last night of 2009.

Yu Xing mentioned the reversal of roles between Alibaba and Yahoo: "Alibaba was like a grandson back then, but now it is turning the tables and becoming a grandfather. Given Yahoo's current decline, it may even be acquired in the future."

"It's not impossible." Xu Xin agreed, and then said, "So, you, Bai Xiaosheng, have to grab more market share this year and become a grandfather sooner."

"Then I will just be a good grandson now. Well, I can't be a grandfather. What would I be like if I were a grandfather?" Yu Xing said with a smile.

Xu Xin nodded: "Yes, you are a stubborn grandson. Never mind, it's up to you. You are the founder of Bai Xiaosheng."

You scold me and I ridicule you, and we all laugh and celebrate the New Year happily.

Liu Jiankai, who was standing next to them, couldn't help but sigh that they were still very well-mannered at some stage when he heard the occasional fights in their lively conversation.

However, as he was listening, he suddenly said, "Mr. Yu, I see you care about Shanfeng a lot."

Yu Xing introspected in his heart and calmly asked back: "Really? Is there?"

Liu Jiankai nodded, confirming that from yesterday to today, President Yu has shown greater interest in crossing the mountain peak.

"After all, he is the head of intelligence. He must be a little bit unwilling and unwilling to accept the fact that he has no news about Shanfeng." Xu Xin could understand this situation and gave a logical explanation. "If Mr. Ma had asked Mr. Yu in person yesterday and he had directly given the clue about Shanfeng, that would have been really amazing."

Yu Xing nodded in admiration: "It has to be Sister Xin, you have such a sharp eye for people!"

Xu Xin smiled slightly, after all, she had gained a lot of life experience.

She said: "However, it is very difficult for short sellers like Guoshanfeng to get information clues. You can see that it has caused such a big storm several times in a row, but the company may only have a few people. It is similar to our investment. It does not need so many people at all. Some research and verification can be done with a temporary team."

Yu Xing continued to pay tribute, quickly put it in the wine, and toasted Sister Xin.

Liu Jiankai saw that the two of them were getting along well, so he took the opportunity to bring up the past: "Yes, sometimes I am confused when discussing the success or failure and prospects of a project, and it is always Mr. Xu who speaks directly to the point. So, when Mr. Xu talks about something, he always hopes to avoid detours. Mr. Yu, this is not directed at you, but more of a concern. We 100% hope that Bai Xiaosheng will succeed, and at the same time, we also hope that Mr. Yu can understand our position."

"I understand, I understand, but eh..." Yu Xing felt that things had come full circle again, and said in embarrassment, "You also know that this is how Bai Xiaosheng's mechanism works. Moreover, the essence of the problems that Bai Xiaosheng has dug up is not with us, but with themselves. Take Zhen Gongfu for example, there are already many contradictions within it. It's nothing more than a day earlier or later."

Xu Xin smiled and said, "At least if you had informed me at that time, I wouldn't have been so angry."

Yu Xing thought about it and agreed: "Sister Xin, if you are so bothered by it, I will try my best to change it in the future, and try to change it within the range that I think is appropriate. Of course, what I hope is that Bai Xiaosheng will not have another incident related to Today Capital like Zhen Gongfu."

Like Sister Xin said, at least let her know.

This isn't a difficult thing, but as I just said, this kind of thing won't make any difference even if you let them know.

Liu Jiankai glanced at Yu Xing suspiciously.

Xu Xin didn't want to talk about the past at this time, and just said: "We understand each other. We all have our own difficulties. Look at Ma Dian. He has reached this point, and he still has many things that he cannot control."

Zhong Zhiling heard this and said, "Mr. Ma's inability to control himself is to perfectly transfer the equity and circumvent the control of the major shareholder, but he didn't say that when he took hundreds of millions of dollars four or five years ago. If that's the case, I also want to be involuntarily."

Yu Xing said cheerfully: "So, he is being scolded right now."

I am being criticized, and I am being criticized by both domestic and foreign media.

Some said it was a question of integrity, some said it was a question of the spirit of contract, and others believed that this incident would inevitably cause lasting damage to Alibaba's global reputation.

Some Yahoo shareholders even united to file a lawsuit.

The Hong Kong stock market has come to an end in 2009. The US stock market has one more night to perform due to the time difference, and then it will be the New Year's Day holiday when both markets are closed. However, the war of words between Alibaba and Yahoo will obviously not stop with the holiday.

Overall, Yu Xing had a happy evening chatting and drinking.

If possible, he would certainly like to maintain a good relationship with investors, because this means that the difficulty of subsequent financing will be further reduced.

The drinking party, which was close to the New Year's Eve, ended at 11 o'clock in the evening.

Yu Xing and Zhong Zhiling returned to the hotel, still very conscious.

At this special moment, Zhong Zhiling talked on the phone with his girlfriend Lu Haiying for a long time. When he returned to the suite, he saw that his senior brother was not only still awake, but also sitting in front of his laptop, flipping through the web pages with his eyes wide open.

He took a closer look and saw some media reports on shorting Guoshanfeng.

——Over the mountain peak is a poisonous snake lurking in the capital market!
——Guo Shanfeng’s amazing perfect trifecta in 2009!
——Deception lasts forever!
Zhong Zhiling couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Xing, you are really interested in this short position."

Yu Xing hummed, and read through the positive and negative praises from the media, feeling a bit like a criminal savoring the crime scene.

Of course, this is actually nothing compared to witnessing Mr. Ma’s performance on the stage on the day of the industry summit.

Tsk, it's hard to describe.

"Mr. Xu said that there may be only a few short sellers, or maybe just one person. Even if they are from our country, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Brother Xing, don't even think about finding any clues. I feel that even if we issue another underworld hunting order, we won't get any information." Zhong Zhiling said.

"Yes, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. It's so mysterious. I really don't know who is behind it and where it is hiding." Yu Xing said leisurely, "It may even be in Shencheng, among the passers-by we usually pass by." He joked, "Maybe it could be you."

Zhong Zhiling laughed loudly and said in a relaxed mood: "It would be great if I really had that ability. You blame me, and I will blame you."

He took two steps, poured a glass of water for his senior brother, leaned against the table next to him, and asked, "Brother Xing, I see that Mr. Xu is not angry at all now. I feel that we can start raising funds in the second quarter."

"People only remember to eat and not to be beaten. As long as there is food, it's good." Yu Xing said this, and then agreed, "Well, we should be able to go through the financing process in the second quarter. Our performance this year has been recognized by IDG, Capital Today, and Qiming Venture Partners."

As of the last day of 2009, Bai Xiaosheng still had 2940 million in funds in his account, which was enough to keep the company running healthily for at least 11 months, which was quite remarkable.

In particular, Bai Xiaosheng achieved an impressive revenue of 3135 million in the past year.

However, 1716 million of the revenue belongs to "non-operating income", which came from the sale of two assets. One was the sale of the price comparison website to Alibaba for 666 million, and the other was the resale of the exclusive online copyright of "If You Are the One".

In comparison, the main business income totaled 1419 million, which was not as high as the non-operating income, which seems quite subtle. Among them, advertising income was 529 million and recruitment business income was 890 million.

A side job can make more money than a main job...

The three institutional shareholders all expressed similar confusion.

Yu Xing's explanation for this was that it was just a coincidence.

Moreover, even though a lot of sales are made, not much profit is generated. For example, copyrights are expensive to sell and expensive to buy, and the profit in between is used as salary for recruiting senior executives.

"If we get another round of financing, we will have enough bullets to leverage the share of the recruitment market, but next year we will continue to improve our overall sinking strategy and there is no need to rush to provoke a war." Zhong Zhiling carefully thought about the company's development strategy.

Yu Xing tilted his head and gave him a look of praise.

The purpose of financing is to gain the confidence to do things, but there is no need to rush into it.

He took two sips of tea and suddenly mentioned the brief conversation with Ma Dian: "Ma Dian said that I was just playing tricks as Bai Xiaosheng and asked me to expand what I can do and let go. Tsk..."

Zhong Zhiling sensed a hint of something, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "Brother Xing, do you want to try e-commerce?"

Yu Xing knew that he made such a guess because he had talked a lot about vertical e-commerce this year, so he laughed and said, "No, Taobao and JD.com are both doing so well, why would I go into e-commerce?"

Zhong Zhiling nodded. Although he felt that LeTao, with its vertical model, did have some potential, e-commerce companies shrouded in the shadow of giants were still suffering.

"If possible, let Bai Xiaosheng take out some more money, and we will incubate it internally. Well, similar to the way price comparison websites are done, we can incubate a mobile communication tool." Yu Xing slowly talked about his plans for the new year.

Zhong Zhiling thought for a few seconds and asked, "Mobile communication tools? Or do we still want the company to generate non-operating income?"

"Yes." Yu Xing simply turned around and looked at the third in command. "The company will invest a little, but not too much. You and Xiaoying's money can also be invested. It will probably be a communication tool that competes with Fetion."

Zhong Zhiling groaned, Feixun...

Of course he knew Fetion. He had a mobile number and had used it to send free text messages.

Yu Xing added: "We can also benchmark against Penguin's QQ to see how powerful the giants are and whether they can defeat small companies."

Zhong Zhiling looked at his senior brother blankly. What do you mean by that?

Seeing the seriousness on his senior brother's face, he was stunned for several seconds before saying, "Brother Xing, Ma Dian is asking you to let go, not to throw away your hands and feet... Do you want to test how powerful Penguin is? Do you mean to compete head-on with Penguin's QQ?"

Yu Xing shook his head: "Penguin's QQ is too fancy. In the era of mobile Internet, many users may just need a simple communication software."

Zhong Zhiling stared at the senior brother who brought him from campus to society and felt that he really dared to think and, it seemed, dared to do it.

He said tactfully: "Brother Xing, in this case, Bai Xiaosheng can't invest too much money. If it fails, will it affect the subsequent financing? Will it encounter doubts from investors..."

Yu Xing smiled and said, "Do you still remember Guiai.com? Do you remember the process of turning it into a product? I just have a preliminary idea now. Maybe, we can still sell it this way. Let's see after the new year."

After hearing what his senior said, Zhong Zhiling felt relieved. It was hard for him to imagine how to compete head-on with Penguin. However, he had seen and experienced the process of "Guiai.com" being polished and sold, so it was easy to understand.

He pondered for a while and felt that his senior brother might have been dazzled by the excellent performance of "non-operating income" this year, so he wanted to continue incubating the side project in 2010.

Can it be done?
Zhong Zhiling lay in bed at night, thinking about this matter carefully. He didn't know what it felt like to compete with Penguin, but he knew who his senior brother was.

Perhaps, you can invest some of your own money as well.

Not to mention making more money, at least I won’t lose money.

Zhong Zhiling firmly believed that his senior brother would not harm him. If he had such a feeling, it must be because he did not understand it well enough.

……

On the afternoon of the first day of 2010, Yu Xingcai returned to Shanghai by car.

Zhong Zhiling came to Lin'an on a business trip, and Song Yufeng had already gone back early, so he and his secretary drove back.

It was almost 6 o'clock when they arrived in Shanghai. Zhang Yangxu got off at the subway entrance, and Yu Xing drove alone to find Xiaoying, one of the masterminds behind the mountain.

It is drizzling in Shanghai today. The cold wind brings with it fine raindrops, as if covering the bustling metropolis with a layer of cool gauze.

Yu Xing parked the car in the parking space, and knowing that Xiaoying was buying vegetables in the supermarket, he did not rush in.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Yu Xing saw Liu Wanying coming back with a bag of vegetables. She was wearing a slim-fitting khaki windbreaker today and a loose milky white scarf around her neck.

Liu Wanying walked under the street lights, a few strands of hair were blown by the wind, her footsteps were light in the drizzle, her windbreaker swayed gently. The moment she saw Yu Xing, she threw him a coquettish glance, and the whole person looked very free and easy.

"Very successful?" Yu Xing looked at the scene and asked about the results while admiring it.

Liu Wanying's smile pierced through the cold wind: "Yes, when I woke up today, the world seemed to be completely different to me."

(End of this chapter)