Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 497: Returning to China!

While Zhou Yuwen and Liu Dongqiang were chatting earlier, Boss Jia had been keeping a close eye on Zhou Yuwen. When Liu Dongqiang finally introduced them, Boss Jia greeted Zhou Yuwen enthusiastically. He did not put on any airs of a big corporate boss. In some ways, Boss Jia was even more approachable and trustworthy than Liu Dongqiang.It was important to note that the year was 2014, a time when Boss Jia was riding the crest of success. LeTV had just gone public on the domestic ChiNext board, and in just a short year, it had become the top stock there. Thanks to LeTV, Boss Jia had instantly catapulted into the ranks of billionaires, making him a true legendary figure.

He came from an accounting background. Nobody really knew whether he understood technology, but he definitely understood human nature. While greeting Zhou Yuwen, he kept his hands resting naturally in front of him and initiated the communication, "I heard from Dongqiang that you are planning to start a private equity fund, and that you can guarantee an annual return of over fifteen percent?"

Zhou Yuwen smiled. "That is only in an ideal scenario. If you actually engage in investment, it is impossible to guarantee a hundred percent chance of not losing money. At most, I can only say I am ninety-nine percent sure."

The people around them chuckled at Zhou Yuwen's words, and Boss Jia laughed along with them. "Then could you tell me a bit about your investment direction?" he asked.

Zhou Yuwen proceeded to repeat the exact same pitch he had used to bluff Liu Dongqiang. Boss Jia nodded continuously as he listened, praising Zhou Yuwen as a young man with great vision.

"That happens to coincide perfectly with LeTV's corporate philosophy. In fact, our company's future development strategy involves entering the markets of sports, automobiles, and large screens to create a comprehensive ecosystem. The O2O model you just mentioned would fit in perfectly," Boss Jia declared.

Looking at Boss Jia's expression, it genuinely seemed like Zhou Yuwen's words had provided him with inspiration. It was practically guaranteed that whenever Boss Jia pitched his ecosystem concept in the future, he would throw in a few lines borrowed from Zhou Yuwen.

Honestly, in some respects, Boss Jia truly possessed a great deal of personal charisma. This was evident just from the way Liu Dongqiang and Li Qingguo treated him.

This man was genuinely formidable. Calling him the grandmaster of scummy men would not be an exaggeration.

After graduating from a finance and economics college, Boss Jia was nothing more than an ordinary accountant in a small county town. Yet, he somehow managed to win the favor of the deputy county magistrate's wealthy daughter, and the two got married shortly after.

Later, using the five hundred thousand yuan startup fund given to him by his father-in-law, Boss Jia established a bilingual training institute. Riding the winds of the era, he earned a fortune.

After getting rich, Boss Jia managed to hook up with a rich girl in the provincial capital. Even though he was already married, he still made this rich girl perfectly willing to sacrifice everything for him.

Then, when the time was right, Boss Jia divorced his first wife and got married to his second.

Following that came his entrepreneurial journey in Jingcheng, where he became an industry titan in one fell swoop. He divorced once again and, at the age of thirty, married a twenty-year-old minor celebrity.

Looking at it this way, Boss Jia and Liu Dongqiang were actually quite similar. The only difference was that Liu Dongqiang jumped directly from his first wife to Zhang Tianze, who was twenty years his junior, while Boss Jia took things step by step.

Boss Jia was quite interested in the private equity fund Zhou Yuwen mentioned, and he even expressed his personal willingness to invest five hundred million yuan into it.

This amount of money was nothing to Boss Jia. Since he was currently at the peak of his success, his name alone was enough to secure low-interest loans from most banks.

If Zhou Yuwen could truly guarantee a fifteen percent profit margin.

Then he could simply walk into a bank, sweet-talk his way into a five hundred million yuan loan at a simple interest rate of five percent, and hand the money over to Zhou Yuwen. He would effortlessly pocket a ten percent margin every year without lifting a finger.

These entrepreneurs were all clever. The company's money belonged to the company, but who among them did not have their own personal investments? If Zhou Yuwen could really guarantee a fifteen percent return, they would not mind opening up their private coffers. After all, making money together was always a good idea.

Of course, the prerequisite was that Zhou Yuwen needed to have his own collateral.

The two percent stake in Vipshop was out of the question because the stock market was too volatile. It could rise today and plummet tomorrow; no one could predict it.

Boss Jia was the one who brought this up. Out of all the bosses present, Boss Jia was the most cunning. The others had tied their fates directly to their companies, succeeding or failing as one. Li Qingguo, in particular, seemed smart, but eventually, even his official seal got stolen.

Boss Jia was genuinely brilliant. The money he raised was never given directly to his company. Instead, he lent it to the company as a creditor. That way, even if the company went bankrupt, the revenue generated by the various film and television copyrights would be used to pay him back first.

That was why, even when LeTV devolved into a chaotic mess later on, Boss Jia continued to live a highly comfortable life.

In the future, Luo Yonghao would have to make public appearances every single day just to pay off his debts. Boss Jia, on the other hand, vanished without a trace for years, only to suddenly reappear having paid back over ten billion. Where did that money come from? Was it not just moving funds from his left pocket to his right?

Boss Jia chatted so much with Zhou Yuwen because he was most interested in the three billion yuan Zhou Yuwen had on hand. Boss Jia implied that if Zhou Yuwen could use his three billion to take the lead, then he would feel safe entrusting his five hundred million to him.

The others remained silent, but they clearly shared the same sentiment.

Sitting there, Liu Dongqiang merely pursed his lips.

It was obvious that despite constantly calling Zhou Yuwen his little brother, Liu Dongqiang was incredibly shrewd when his own interests were on the line. He simply used Boss Jia as a mouthpiece to express his own thoughts.

Seeing that everyone shared this mindset, Zhou Yuwen did not bother with pleasantries. "You do not need to worry about that. Originally, I had planned to hold onto my Vipshop shares indefinitely. However, to prove my determination, and as a test of my capabilities for all of you, I will try my best to liquidate my shares in Vipshop and invest three billion myself to show my commitment."

Hearing this, Liu Dongqiang immediately chimed in, "Little brother, there is no need for that. You can just put up a few hundred million, and we can all play around a bit together. There is no need to make the stakes so high."

Boss Jia, however, just chuckled. "He truly is a young man, possessing the spirit of a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger. I can see President Zhou's boldness. How about this? If President Zhou really intends to start a private equity fund, I will put in one hundred million dollars. What do you think?"

Boss Jia certainly had deep pockets. At that moment, Liu Dongqiang wrapped his arm around Zhang Tianze's waist and smiled. "Well, I definitely have to support my little brother's career. Tianze and I will jointly invest one hundred million dollars."

Li Qingguo was a man who cared deeply about face/reputation. Seeing everyone making such grand offers, he was ready to pledge one hundred million as well. But before he could even speak, his wife cut him off. Smiling, she said, "You are all incredibly wealthy. Our Dangdang is not quite as rich and powerful as you all are. However, we definitely want to support our little brother's career. After all, we are all overseas and need to help each other. How does twenty million dollars sound?"

The moment Li Qingguo's wife finished speaking, a clear flash of displeasure crossed his face. Everyone else was putting in a hundred million, and his family was only offering twenty million?

'What is this old woman thinking?'

Although he was quite dissatisfied internally, she was his wife after all, so Li Qingguo had no choice but to sit there in silence.

Faced with everyone acting as if they were doing him a massive, righteous favor, Zhou Yuwen smiled. "The fund is still in the planning stages. It is not even certain if it will come together yet. But I will certainly remember the support you older brothers have offered."

Originally, everything had sounded perfectly lined up to establish the private equity fund. Yet, just as everyone agreed to join, Zhou Yuwen suddenly took a step back. Everyone was a bit puzzled, though a few secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

There is an old saying that a young man without a beard cannot be trusted to handle matters reliably.

Over the past two months, Zhou Yuwen might have enjoyed unparalleled success on Wall Street, but who could predict what would happen in the future?

Out of everyone present, the only person who genuinely wanted to invest was probably Boss Jia.

Later, as Liu Dongqiang and the others went about their own business, Boss Jia remained, conversing amiably with Zhou Yuwen. He was highly optimistic about Zhou Yuwen's talent in the stock market.

Zhou Yuwen modestly chalked it up to luck.

Boss Jia, however, insisted that luck was simply another form of strength.

Afterward, the two of them each held a glass of champagne, chatting in a quiet corner. Boss Jia told Zhou Yuwen that if he wanted to invest in anything in the future, he should give him a heads-up beforehand, as he wanted to tag along and make some money as well.

Zhou Yuwen smiled. "Brother Jia, please do not joke with me. You are holding a golden egg like LeTV in your hands. Why would you need me to lead the way?"

Boss Jia shook his head, saying it was different. "No matter how big this egg is, it does not belong solely to me."

"I need to squirrel away some private savings for myself,"

Boss Jia said with a hearty chuckle.

Zhou Yuwen nodded, conceding that this made sense.

Following that, Boss Jia asked for Zhou Yuwen's opinion on LeTV.

Zhou Yuwen replied that it was quite impressive. LeTV was the very first company in the country to propose the concept of super TVs, and he himself even used the new LeTV phone that was released in the past couple of years.

"Brother Jia, you are truly visionary. Smartphones will definitely become ubiquitous in the future. With LeTV phones being of such high quality, they are bound to secure a place in the market. Who knows, Brother Jia, you might just become the Steve Jobs of the East!"

Hearing this, Boss Jia could not help but laugh and wave his hand, stating outright that Zhou Yuwen was just flattering him.

"There is still a considerable gap between domestic smartphone development and the progress overseas. To catch up with foreign markets, we must first build our own operating system. Currently, my team is already developing LeTV's proprietary system,"

Zhou Yuwen nodded and gave Boss Jia a thumbs-up. "My brother truly has incredible foresight." Boss Jia patted Zhou Yuwen's shoulder and smiled. "So, little brother, regarding this private equity fund you are establishing, have you thought about investing a sum?"

Zhou Yuwen replied, "Absolutely, Brother Jia. If LeTV lists on the US stock market, I will be the first to invest! I will go all in!"

Hearing Zhou Yuwen's response, Boss Jia was left speechless. It was true, after all. No matter how much capital Zhou Yuwen had, it was all overseas funds. It was impossible for him to funnel all of it back into domestic ventures.

In all honesty, though, LeTV was still worth investing in at the moment. Currently, LeTV's stock price hovered around sixty yuan per share. At its peak, it would reach one hundred and fifty yuan per share—nearly tripling in value. Of course, the key prerequisite was managing to pull out safely before the inevitable avalanche.

Boss Jia declared that when he eventually rang the bell at NASDAQ, he would definitely remember Zhou Yuwen's promise.

Zhou Yuwen just smiled.

The two of them subsequently chatted about various other topics, mostly revolving around investment and future developments. It was no wonder everyone placed so much trust in Boss Jia—the man truly possessed some substantial insights.

Leaving aside whether he ultimately managed to realize any of these projects, the directions he proposed were absolutely correct: new energy, AI, smart car manufacturing, and autonomous driving.

If he had been anyone other than Boss Jia pitching these concepts, Zhou Yuwen might have genuinely been bluffed into buying it.

By the end of the banquet, aside from drinking a bit of alcohol, there was not much else to show for it.

After arriving home, Lu Wanting asked Zhou Yuwen, "You clearly wanted to establish a private equity fund, so when they offered to invest money in you, why were you suddenly unwilling?"

Zhou Yuwen replied that not a single one of them was reliable.

"I had the good intention of leading them to make money, but they made it seem like I was trying to swindle them. Since they are so reluctant, I might as well just take my time and do it myself."

Zhou Yuwen took off his suit jacket and sat down on the sofa.

Lu Wanting poured Zhou Yuwen a glass of honey water, and Zhou Yuwen naturally pulled her into his embrace.

With one of her beautiful legs kneeling between Zhou Yuwen's thighs, Lu Wanting wrapped her arms around his neck and asked, "If you do not take money from them, where will you get the funds?"

Holding her, he thought for a moment before finally saying, "Let us not talk about that for now."

After saying that, Zhou Yuwen pressed Lu Wanting down onto the sofa.

At the end of August, Zhou Yuwen sought out Shen Ya, who was still in New York, and proposed selling his two percent stake in Vipshop.

Shen Ya was utterly perplexed and asked Zhou Yuwen what his reason was.

Zhou Yuwen explained the whole story from beginning to end, stating frankly that he wanted to establish a private equity fund.

Hearing this, Shen Ya laughed out loud. "There is no need for you to stoop to the level of those old fogeys. The stock market is ever-changing. If you ask me, you would be better off holding onto that two percent of Vipshop and comfortably collecting the dividends."

"I cannot guarantee that Vipshop will always rise, but at the very least, your position price will always remain in a safe zone," Shen Ya declared confidently as he poured Zhou Yuwen a glass of whiskey.

Zhou Yuwen accepted the whiskey and smiled. "Of course, I understand the logic, but I am still young, and I want to go out and explore my limits a bit more."

Shen Ya looked at the young man, who was about the same age as his own son. He sighed and asked, "Are you truly decided?"

"Yes!"

Thus, on behalf of Vipshop's board of directors, Shen Ya acquired Zhou Yuwen's two percent stake in Vipshop based on the company's market valuation of twenty-one billion dollars that day.

With this, Zhou Yuwen successfully cashed out 420 million dollars.

When the news made its way back to China, it naturally sparked a flurry of discussion.

Some people claimed that Zhou Yuwen was simply quitting while he was ahead, realizing he could not navigate the foreign markets and opting to secure his profits.

Others felt that Zhou Yuwen was being somewhat short-sighted. The golden era had only just begun; how could he possibly sell off his shares now?

The news broadcasted to the public was simply that Zhou Yuwen had sold his shares in Vipshop.

But what the news failed to mention was that Zhou Yuwen had quietly established his own private equity fund overseas. In addition to his 420 million dollar principal, he had also accepted an eighty million dollar investment from Shen Ya, bringing his total capital to a staggering five hundred million dollars.

After the news broke, Liu Dongqiang, Li Qingguo, and the others all called to congratulate him, but they conspicuously avoided making any mention of the investments they had discussed at the banquet.

Conversely, Zhang Tianze managed to get in touch with Zhou Yuwen through Su Qing, asking him if he was running a private equity fund.

Zhou Yuwen confirmed that he was and asked what she needed.

With her large, watery eyes wide open, Zhang Tianze smiled and asked, "Could you bring me along for the ride?"

"Sure," Zhou Yuwen replied. "The minimum investment is ten million dollars."

"That much?" Zhang Tianze jumped in surprise, clearly not expecting such a steep figure. She pondered for a moment, then blinked coquettishly at Zhou Yuwen with a smile. "Since I am a girl, could you lower the requirement a little?"

"How much were you thinking?"

Zhang Tianze held out her palm. "How does five thousand dollars sound?"

"Goodbye," Zhou Yuwen said flatly.

Obviously, Sister Milk Tea was being completely serious. She genuinely did not have much money on hand at the moment, but she possessed a strong intuition for making money. Her instincts told her that Zhou Yuwen was exceptional at generating wealth, and she simply wanted him to pull her along.

Unfortunately for her, Zhou Yuwen had no interest in playing house.

Five thousand dollars?

To quote a classic Wall Street saying, "If a hundred-dollar bill dropped on the ground, I would not bother picking it up. In the time it takes to bend down, I would have already earned tens of thousands."

After rejecting Sister Milk Tea's request, Zhou Yuwen received another phone call from Boss Jia.

Compared to the others, Boss Jia was far more sincere.

He genuinely wanted to invest in Zhou Yuwen's fund.

This guy was incredibly skilled at swindling money, but his actual methods for earning money were quite limited.

None of the concepts he pitched later on ever succeeded. He really would have been better off just leaving his money with Zhou Yuwen to collect interest.

"Ah? Brother Jia, you want to invest with me? What unfortunate timing, I am about to return to China. The private equity arrangements have already been finalized. How about this? The next time I come over, we can discuss it further."

"You are returning to China? Where are you now? Wait for me, I am heading back to China next week as well."

"Oh? Is that so? Then let us chat when you get back next week."