After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 324 - 323: Refusing to Pull up Seedlings to Help Them Grow

As night fell, Lu Liang returned to Tangchen District.

The district had begun construction in 2005 and was completed in 2009. It had been eight years since, and although it was well maintained, even the finest houses couldn’t withstand the ravages of time.

Especially now with the popularity of social media, Tangchen District had nearly become a gathering place for numerous internet celebrities.

As Fang Shiyu drove into the parking lot, Lu Liang heard an internet celebrity shouting. Living there for over two years, he had, for the first time, entertained the idea of moving.

Strangely enough, Lu Liang owned five properties in Modu, but the place where he most often resided was rented.

He glanced at the silver Pagani and knew that Li Manli had given him the night off, so he went upstairs and shared with her his thoughts on moving.

Li Manli’s eyes lit up as she coquettishly tried to please, "Then why don’t you move in with me?"

She lived alone in a large suburban villa which she called home, but without Lu Liang, it could hardly be deemed as such.

"It’s too far, I don’t want to go," Lu Liang bluntly responded.

He had lived here for two years mainly because it was close to the office. Occasionally, when he didn’t feel like driving, he could walk there in about fifteen minutes.

Lu Liang took off his clothes and headed to the bathroom, suddenly speaking, "The Sinograin next door seems nice. Check it out tomorrow, and if it’s good, place an order."

Li Manli sneaked to the bathroom door, cracked it open, and poked her head through, "Are we buying or renting?"

"Can you not ask such a silly question?"

Lu Liang gave her a look. Previously, they couldn’t afford it, but now that conditions were relaxed, it definitely made more sense to buy.

He had just glanced over, and the average price of Sinograin No.1 was about 280,000 RMB per square meter, three to four hundred square meters, barely over a hundred million in total.

After all, with the company name on it, there was no need for personal funds; it’s purely an investment in real estate.

"Ok, ok."

Li Manli agreed with a whisper, quietly closed the bathroom door, removed her clothes, and suddenly appeared behind Lu Liang, wrapping her arms around his waist—it had been a long while since they had been close.

She peeked her head from under his armpit with a smiling face, "Liang, let me wash your back."

"Forget it, I have things to do tomorrow, and I need to wake up early."

Lu Liang quickly finished bathing.

Tang Caide notified him that Liu Qing had been waiting for him for two days and had arranged to meet him at the office the following day.

"Alright then."

Li Manli looked a bit dejected, but suddenly a towel was thrown over her head, and Lu Liang spoke indulgently, "Wipe off the water and go to bed."

"Sure thing." Li Manli’s smile returned instantly, her mood brightening as she happily followed Lu Liang to the bedroom.

...

Early the next morning, Lu Liang arrived at the office. Tang Caide was waiting at the entrance, "Mr. Lu, Mr. Liu has already arrived."

"That early? I will be right there."

Lu Liang entered the reception room, "I’m sorry for keeping Mr. Liu waiting."

"We had arranged to meet at ten, I just arrived early."

Liu Qing wore a full smile, her short hair crisp and neat.

She seemed in high spirits, having apparently resolved an issue—the overt reason was the antitrust investigation triggered by the acquisition of Uber, but it was actually scrutiny from the National Security.

Liu Qing shook hands with Lu Liang, then returned to her seat, hinting subtly, "Mr. Lu, your trip to Shenzhen must have been quite fruitful."

"It was alright, I made a few new friends."

Lu Liang smiled, knowing that Liu Qing’s question meant his visit to DJI had been effective.

His original intention leaned more towards cooperating with DJI, but news from Beijing arrived that Li Jiahui and Zheng Yaowen unanimously agreed that if there was no hurry to launch the smart driving system, cooperating with DiDi would be the better choice.

Both partnerships could speed up the research and development of the smart drive, but collaborating with DJI was like trying to hasten the growth of a seedling, because possessing a complete L2 technology might cause overlook in the developmental process, losing potential advancements and also posing compatibility issues.

However, there were no such concerns with DiDi. Its database was like an experience pack, allowing the smart drive to grow quickly without the negative effect of hastened growth.

Another important point was that DiDi possessed a high-precision map qualification, one of only twelve enterprises in the country to have it, not including potential competitors like Xiaomi, Huawei, and BYD.

Having something the competitors didn’t was an advantage; they could borrow it in the future, placing them directly in the same tier as Baidu in the high-precision map domain.

"Mr. Lu, what are your thoughts?" Liu Qing inquired. DiDi was on the national watch list and needed someone to break the situation.

Tianxing Technology, though still small, had Lu Liang, a variable who had invested 130 billion RMB to build an industrial park in Su City, aiming high.

Though DiDi was less than five years old, its valuation exceeded 50 billion US dollars, making it a major enterprise with a high rate of error tolerance.

The current strategy was whether or not there was a snake, to rustle the grass a bit first, perhaps laying groundwork for a future resolution.

"Tianxing Technology is still growing and not suited to introduce too many forces; I am still considering."

Liang respected technology a great deal, and since both Li Jiahui and Yaowen thought that collaborating with DiDi was the better option, he could only abandon DJI and favor DiDi.

Liu Qing asked, "What are you considering?"

Lu Liang replied, "I’m considering what terms we should offer as a price to persuade Mr. Liu to make DiDi’s database available solely for Tianxing Technology’s use."

Liu Qing pondered for a moment and said with a light laugh, "Mr. Lu, you’re overthinking it. The cost isn’t significant."

Lu Liang responded with a smile, "Since Mr. Liu says so, should I make an offer?"

"..."

Liu Qing was speechless. How could a person be so shameless? When she said that the cost wasn’t significant, she meant it as a precondition for their collaboration.

Lu Liang wanted to buy them out with money—the database of DiDi, such valuable information, could it really be bought with money?

She clenched her back teeth, "Mr. Lu, you’re joking."

"Just a joke to lighten the mood." freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Lu Liang couldn’t help but smile, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

If money could solve everything, he truly wished money would suffice, but obviously, it wasn’t a problem that money could solve.

Unless he was willing to invest 50 billion US dollars to acquire DiDi outright, it wasn’t possible to solve it with money.

Liu Qing didn’t want to beat around the bush with Lu Liang any longer and bluntly said, "Mr. Lu, 15%, data exchange, technology sharing."

Lu Liang amusedly replied, "Mr. Liu, I’ve heard about DiDi’s antitrust case, and there’s more to it."

Implicitly, he was aware of DiDi’s issues but had no interest in getting involved and hoped DiDi wouldn’t trouble them.

Investing was acceptable. He wouldn’t mind even 25%, but data exchange and technology sharing were utterly out of the question.

If DiDi lost its senses and, in its rush to list in the United States, handed over all data, they would all suffer the consequences.

Liu Qing’s eyebrows were tightly knitted, her gaze fixing on Lu Liang, who kept his smile and met her eyes.

After a long thought, Liu Qing made a concession, "20%, one board seat."

Lu Liang chuckled, "Mr. Liu, we currently don’t plan to set up a board."

"In the future, then," Liu Qing said sternly, having backed down time and again. Could you just give some face?

Lu Liang mulled over it, then nodded, "Let’s go with your suggestion."

As long as he wasn’t like Dai Wei, who was so self-righteous, granting one veto after another.

Letting DiDi join the board wasn’t a big deal; if it came to it, Lu Liang would simply reject their proposals.

If things got annoying, he’d just withdraw the investment; it wasn’t like he didn’t have the funds to buy them out.

Liu Qing’s expression eased slightly, she paused and then asked, "We still have one issue, when do you plan to enter?"

"Planned within the next year," Lu Liang pondered, giving a precise reply, "By next June, I should be able to handle all the trivialities and devote myself fully to Tianxing Technology."

Liu Qing nodded, "Valuation at 550 million US dollars."

Initially, Tianxing Technology had nothing but Lu Liang’s name; Golden Sand River had thrown 230 million for a 10% stake.

Now that it had become a partner of Weiliao and Wuling, using a 2.3 billion valuation was obviously inappropriate.

Several professional venture capital firms had given Tianxing Technology a valuation between 500 to 600 million US dollars. Liu Qing had researched it thoroughly, hence after much consideration, she picked a middle value.

550 million US dollars, approximately 3.64 billion RMB.

"Agreed."

The 550 million US dollars was the valuation for Tianxing Technology; DiDi was not only paying the price to provide the database but also investing 110 million US dollars in funding.

Because when a company progressed to a certain level, it wasn’t just about the capital choosing the company, but the company choosing the capital. The new players wanting to join had to provide more than just fundamental financial conditions; the key was how much resources they could bring.

DiDi was bringing Tianxing Technology the data of 3.85 million ride-sharing vehicles as well as the right to use 12 high-precision national maps.

"Tianxing Technology accepts DiDi’s investment~"

"DiDi throws 120 million US dollars, officially entering the new energy industry."

That afternoon, Liu Qing returned to Beijing and held a press conference with Hu Weiwei.

The two brightest internet flowers collaborating for the first time instantly sparked heated discussion among netizens.

News reached the ears of the new energy players, each falling into a deathly silence.

Lu Liang started to introduce a third-party power, which also indirectly indicated that Tianxing Technology was preparing for the game.

"The market, just quieting down, is about to stir again."