Chapter 606: The Little Rich Girl is Ours

A fiery cloud stretched across the sky that evening as a passenger plane took off from Kyoto and landed in Shanghai.

Feng Shihua set out from the airport terminal with his team and got into a car. His secretary, also in the car, briefed him on the Feng Corporation’s activities over the past week based on the documents prepared earlier.

“Mr. Feng, half of the layoffs have been completed with eight percent of employees smoothly optimized.”

“Three sunset projects like the printing factory were totally scrapped. With this move, we are expected to save thirty percent in cash flow.”

“Additionally, structural adjustments have begun, the company is starting to reduce burdens comprehensively, shifting towards new commercial real estate.”

Feng Shihua nodded, satisfied with the company’s actions during this period.

Qin Jingqiu left a lot of burdens after departing from Feng Corporation, which not only hindered the group’s development but became a burden that had to be dropped.

Those sunset industries had no growth points left; scrapping them also quickly consolidated funds.

Feng Corporation now has just two goals: investing in the internet to catch the wave of this era’s changes and swiftly moving toward new commercial real estate.

His trip to Kyoto was to check the Feng Shi Real Estate project, Joy City, slated for construction.

Besides, he specifically inspected the Wanzhong Mall in Kyoto.

After returning from the Wanzhong in Shanghai, which greatly impressed him, he visited the one in Kyoto and was lost in thought.

The constructions of the two malls were less than three years apart, but the one in Kyoto was a step ahead in structure, layout, and overall planning.

He felt someone expert must be guiding Qin Jingqiu.

Indeed, both the Shanghai and Kyoto Wanzhong were developed from the commercial mall 3.0 handbook originally ideated by Jiang Qin.

The difference arose because Shanghai, being the first pilot, followed a relatively simplified model.

However, the success of Shanghai Wanzhong gave Qin Real Estate and Wanzhong Group enough confidence, thus they increased investments in Kyoto Wanzhong, gradually upgrading its structure and style.

In other words, even the one in Kyoto isn’t in its final form yet.

And what would the real complete version be?

It’s the forthcoming Wanshanghui project, a deep collaboration between Qin Real Estate and Wanzhong Group.

However, Feng Shihua had already made up his mind to develop Joy City based on the Kyoto Wanzhong.

Just then, his assistant handed him an invitation.

“Mr. Feng, the invitation to the Internet Conference has arrived. Would you like to attend?”

“Yes, if I’m to invest in the internet, I need to expand my network.”

“My wife mentioned earlier today, if it’s convenient, could you take her nephew along?”

“Sure, let’s bring Wen Zhao too.”

Feng Corporation’s intent to invest in the internet meant not missing out on events like the Internet Conference.

Because at this conference, not only new internet technologies would be discussed, but it would also be a chance to meet many potential entrepreneurs.

As for Duan Wenzhao, currently in food delivery, he naturally hoped to connect with more investors and access more business channels and resources. This kind of internet event is perfect for networking, especially since Feng Shihua is his uncle.

The next afternoon, the weather was mild, and the sun set in the west.

Inside the splendidly decorated exhibition hall, a throng of media encircled the entrance.

At the same time, the vicinity of the venue was strewn with security, guards at every five steps and plainclothes officers everywhere.

It couldn’t be helped, nearly half of the domestic internet industry’s stalwarts were attending, leaving no room for any mishap.

Any issues could potentially regress the industry’s progress by more than twenty years.

Dusk swiftly fell, yet the surrounding lights were dazzling, making the sky seem as if it were still daytime.

As spotlights flickered continuously, cars drove up to the red carpet, and a host of internet business magnates appeared at the entrance, filling the lobby with the aura of money.

This cocktail party was actually a time allotted for entrepreneurs to freely mingle before the official discussions commenced, not unlike a mass purchasing conference.

At this moment, Feng Shihua also arrived with Duan Wenzhao, walked down the red carpet, and after showing their invitations, were admitted inside.

They then encountered Xue Buqun, also known as Xue Manzi, an investor.

Xue Buqun made his fortune in real estate investments in New York before returning to China to become the best angel investor of 2008.

He and Feng Shihua were friends and had agreed to meet at the entrance inside the venue before arriving.

“Mr. Xue, long time no see.”

“The economy has been sluggish overseas these past few years. Coming back to China was a good move. There’s rapid development here, and plenty of opportunities. Let me introduce you to some friends later so you can have a good chat.”

Xue Buqun and Feng Shihua shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

Left out of the conversation, Duan Wenzhao didn’t want to stand alone and so looked inside, spotting Mr. Ma, the chairman of Alibaba, and Liu Chuanzhi from Lenovo China chatting.

“Wasn’t it said you wouldn’t come?”

“No mood, been feeling bad. I damn near died the day before yesterday.”

Liu Chuanzhi was taken aback: “What happened?”

Mr. Ma lowered his voice: “Drug poisoning, man, it’s hard to say, hehehe…”

Liu Chuanzhi smiled at him: “Can we hear you sing today?”

“Let’s just have an entrepreneurs’ singing contest.”

Hearing this, Duan Wenzhao felt his heart thumping, as if he had glimpsed into the secrets of the upper echelons.

So he dared not even breath too loudly, pretending he hadn’t heard anything.

Xue Buqun then looked towards where Duan Wenzhao was gazing: “That’s Alibaba’s Chairman Ma and Lenovo’s Chairman Liu. Let’s go meet them.”

Feng Shihua nodded: “I’ve met Mr. Liu once, but I’ve never seen Mr. Ma.”

“With me here, you’ll know everyone by today.”

However, just then, the surrounding media suddenly started bustling, the flashes from their cameras violently flickering, the sound of shutters unending.

Seeing this, Xue Buqun, Feng Shihua, and Duan Wenzhao all paused, while Mr. Ma and Liu Chuanzhi couldn’t help but turn to look.

Walking on the inner field’s red carpet from the outer field, Jiang Qin dressed in a black suit, reached for a pen at the venue entrance to sign his name, then with a smile, headed towards the entrance.

Among the earlier arrivals, some were invited entrepreneurs, mostly middle-aged or visibly aged.

Of course, there were also some fresh young faces, but with humble postures and blank expressions, clearly just tagging along with their elders to meet people.

Only Jiang Qin, though young, carried himself with remarkable poise.

Seeing this, Mr. Ma and Liu Chuanzhi walked over, smiling and shook hands with him.

“Mr. Jiang also came to join in the fun today?”

Jiang Qin smiled: “I wasn’t planning to attend the cocktail party, thought I’d just go directly to tomorrow’s discussion. But hearing that Mr. Ma and Mr. Liu were here, I just rushed over.”

Mr. Ma pointed at him: “Your Group-Buy Delivery has been doing too well. My Praise Delivery can’t keep up at all.”

“Just messing around, that’s all.”

Liu Chuanzhi couldn’t help but speak: “Lenovo wanted to use the Group-Buy Yanxuan channel before, but Mr. Jiang turned us down.”

Jiang Qin looked at Mr. Ma: “E-commerce is Mr. Ma’s realm. How dare I tread there?”

“Hey, you can’t just say that, man. The industry needs diversity to develop together. If you do Group-Buy Yanxuan, all of Taobao’s resources are yours to use.”

“Not doing it, not interested in becoming a downstream channel of Taobao.”

Liu Chuanzhi, still smiling, looked at the two: “Mr. Jiang didn’t bring the wife?”

Jiang Qin laughed heartily: “I saw the news at noon, found the venue was surrounded inside and out. Too big of a scene, she’s not used to it, stayed at home.”

“Why don’t we go inside, Mr. Jiang? I have a project I want to discuss with you, hear your opinion.”

“What project?”

“Cloud computing. Ever heard of it, Mr. Jiang?”

Just as Jiang Qin was about to reply, two more people walked over, Lei Jun from Xiaomi Technology and Liu Qiangdong, founder of Jingdong Mall.

Another round of pleasantries followed, all very cordial and friendly.

Jiang Qin, being a rising star in the circle naturally became the focal point, with plenty of lighthearted teasing between them.

Xiaomi had previously wanted to collaborate with Group-Buy Yanxuan but was also rejected. Now, mentioned again in front of Liu Qiangdong, it caused Liu to cough a bit on the side.

It was a kind of probing, whether it was Taobao or Jingdong, they were somewhat worried about Jiang Qin’s next moves in the e-commerce field.

“I’m not doing e-commerce. I’m more interested in cloud computing, as Mr. Ma mentioned. Server costs are too high now. If we do it, it should be a revolutionary industry.”

“Mr. Jiang, don’t be misled by old Ma. They’ve been working on Alibaba Cloud for three years now and still haven’t even set up a frame. There’s no future in it.”

“But progress of the era needs innovators. I believe innovation is our responsibility as this generation of entrepreneurs.”

About five minutes later, the increasingly large crowd finally began to enter the inner field together.

And with their entry, the incessant shutter sounds finally quieted down a bit, with many photographers’ cameras nearly full.

Couldn’t be helped, there had been quite the memorable scenes earlier.

Jiang Qin and Mr. Ma shaking hands publicly for the first time, Jiang openly admitting he has a wife, Lei Jun and Mr. Ma teasing each other, Liu Qiangdong and Jiang Qin whispering together.

Damn, if this gets posted online, tomorrow’s trending searches are definitely going to explode.

At this moment, Feng Shihua slightly furrowed his brow and looked towards Xue Buqun: “That person is Jiang Qin, the president of Group-Buy?”

“Yes, the biggest tycoon in the domestic O2O field.”

“So young?”

“A university student about to graduate this year.”