Chapter 209: Chapter 187: 100 Billion in Returns and a 2-Year Plan

Two minutes later, Gao Weilin strode over. After hearing Cheng Weixing’s introduction, he took the initiative to step forward and shake his hand in a gesture of goodwill.

Since the boss himself had approved the investment, he didn’t need to overthink it. His job was to handle the follow-up and acquire the most equity for the least amount of money.

The smile never left Cheng Weixing’s face. He hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly.

Earning Chen Yansen’s approval was a huge encouragement, strengthening his belief that Fast Taxi was a project with excellent potential.

He had originally planned to use Pan City Technology’s existing team to develop the Android version of Fast Taxi first. But now that he was on the verge of securing funding from Senlian Capital, he immediately resolved to build Fast Taxi’s own dedicated tech team as soon as possible and focus more of his energy on the new product.

"President Chen, please excuse me for a moment. We can talk more tonight. Allow me to play the part of a proper host."

Cheng Weixing excused himself and left with a broad smile.

"Brother Sen, these guys are incredible, coming up with a product like this. I think it has a ton of potential. Just look at the students at Xuyuan. When they go into the city, their only options besides the bus are illegal cabs that charge a flat, take-it-or-leave-it fare. Once Fast Taxi launches, let’s see those sons of bitches act so high and mighty."

Wang Zihao couldn’t help but marvel as he watched Cheng Weixing’s retreating figure.

"Incredible? Incredible, my ass! Old Gao, what do you think?"

Chen Yansen scoffed.

"President Wang, actually, this kind of O2O ride-hailing app has been around for two years. They already have one in the Lighthouse Country called Uber. There’s a similar product in South America called Easy Taxi, which is very popular over in Brazil."

Gao Weilin explained with a smile.

There weren’t that many geniuses in the world. It was usually just a matter of having a better vantage point, seeing more, and profiting from the information disparity.

Ma Liyun’s Taobao imitated eBay;

Ma Wenteng’s Penguin imitated ICQ;

Youku Tudou imitated YouTube;

DiDi imitated Uber;

Group Buy imitated Groupon;

Xiaohongshu imitated Instagram.

Even Chen Yansen’s own FoxTao was an imitation of Ebates.

The entertainment industry had its "Hanization Masters," and the internet and business worlds had their own "porters."

"Oh, so that’s how it is." Wang Zihao had an epiphany, feeling how little he knew of the world.

"You should brush up on your English. And when you’re browsing foreign websites, watch fewer... ’movies’... and spend more time researching new products from abroad."

Chen Yansen teased with a grin.

"Brother Sen, don’t you slander me! I don’t even know who Aoi Sora, Maria Ozawa, or Yoshizawa Akiho are."

Wang Zihao said with a knowing smirk.

"Zihao, your library is seriously lacking. Those three ’masters’ are old news. Ai Hara and Jun Mizukawa are the real connoisseur’s choice these days."

Gao Weilin slung an arm around Wang Zihao, and the two started chatting as if no one else was there.

Chen Yansen just smiled and shook his head. He started walking toward the banquet hall. It was getting late, and it was about time to tell Song Yuncheng they were leaving.

After dinner, he had to hurry back to Xucheng. Orange Technology’s new product launch was tomorrow, and he couldn’t miss it.

Ten minutes later.

Chen Yansen’s group, with Zhang Yiming in tow, headed to the small tavern Cheng Weixing had reserved.

Zhang Yiming had flown to Hang City. Although he owned a car worth over 200,000 yuan that he used for daily driving, he had left it back in Yanjing.

Along the way, the two of them started talking about startup projects again. Zhang Yiming was still fixated on his idea for a mobile browser.

"I suggest you research the market and the competition before making a decision. Since you don’t want to join Pinbei, have you considered co-founding a new company? You’d be the CEO, and Senlian could provide the funding and connections."

Chen Yansen looked at Zhang Yiming earnestly.

"Thank you for the guidance, President Chen. As for the partnership, I have no objections."

Zhang Yiming quickly agreed.

He was older than Chen Yansen, but in terms of accomplishments, he couldn’t even compare.

With his wealth and status, Chen Yansen could stand on equal footing with the likes of Ma Wenteng, Li Yanhong, and Ding Lei.

If he were to refuse, it would be more than a little ungrateful.

Besides, he already felt a degree of admiration and respect for Chen Yansen. To be recognized and mentored by him was, naturally, a source of great pride.

When they arrived at the tavern, they were the only ones there. Cheng Weixing had paid to book the entire venue specifically to host Chen Yansen and his group.

"President Chen!" As soon as Chen Yansen appeared, the few men inside quickly stood up and came forward to greet him.

There was Cheng Ou from Jumei Youpin, Lin Qi from Youzu Network, and Wang Shubin from Shangtongda.

In the business world, strength commanded respect.

Though Chen Yansen was the youngest among them, no one dared to underestimate him.

Chen Yansen glanced at the three men and greeted them with a smile, "President Cheng, President Lin, President Wang, please, have a seat."

Behind him, Cheng Weixing turned to get a menu.

It was a small, private restaurant. It didn’t look large, but the decor was exceptionally refined. Even the chairs they sat on were made from precious Siamese rosewood.

The group had just taken their seats when Cheng Weixing walked over with two bottles of yellow wine and a menu.

Chen Yansen accepted the menu, casually ordered a few dishes, then passed it to Lin Qi.

To be blunt, they didn’t know each other well. Their respective fields offered more opportunities for collaboration than for competition, so there was no need for Chen Yansen to act pretentious. He came across as very easygoing.

Cheng Ou and Lin Qi exchanged a glance. They had assumed that, given his youth and success, Chen Yansen might be arrogant and difficult to deal with.

But his easygoing demeanor made them both realize something: no one could amass that kind of fortune by the age of twenty without possessing extraordinary emotional and intellectual intelligence.

After a few rounds of drinks, Cheng Ou asked with a smile, "President Chen, I was wondering, is there an opportunity for Jumei to launch on Pinbei?"

Cheng Ou coveted Pinbei’s user traffic. Even knowing that Pinbei had a reputation for poaching its partners’ brand resources, he couldn’t help but ask.

"Of course. But let me be upfront: Pinbei doesn’t have an issue with low-priced goods, but we have a zero-tolerance policy for fakes. The platform’s penalties are severe."

Chen Yansen put down his glass and looked at Cheng Ou, giving him a pointed reminder.

"Rest assured, President Chen. If any fakes are found, I’ll pay ten times the compensation."

Cheng Ou replied with a smile.

Clearly, he felt he had extremely tight control over his suppliers and was confident there wouldn’t be any issues.

"Yuncheng, give President Cheng your card. You can handle the follow-up."

Chen Yansen instructed Song Yuncheng.

"Of course. President Cheng, this is my card. Just have your company’s Market Department get in touch with me."

Song Yuncheng took a business card from her purse and handed it to Cheng Ou.

Cheng Ou accepted it politely. He’d heard of Song Yuncheng—she was the first employee at both FoxTao and Pinbei. All the key account brand and platform merchant resources were in her hands.

At this thought, Cheng Ou raised his glass to offer Song Yuncheng a toast.

"My apologies, President Cheng. I have to drive the boss home later, so I’ll toast with tea instead. To our successful partnership, and to Jumei’s continued success."

Song Yuncheng explained graciously and raised her teacup.

"No problem. I’ll be counting on your support in the future, President Song."

Cheng Ou didn’t mind at all and downed his drink in one go.

Seeing this, Lin Qi of Youzu Network also had his assistant hand a business card to Song Yuncheng.

Although his company’s products were primarily online PC games, the rising trend of mobile gaming could not be ignored.

Lin Qi, of course, was also thinking about developing mobile games. For a game company like his, the one thing they lacked most was access to resources from a phone manufacturer like Orange Technology.

A single game could generate substantial revenue simply by being pre-installed on phones or heavily featured in the app store.

This was the main reason why companies like Xiaomi, Penguin, and Orange Technology could take a commission of over 50% from their joint game operations.

The rest of the dinner was spent exchanging business cards and discussing potential collaborations.

Gao Weilin stayed behind. He planned to visit Cheng Weixing’s company the next day to get a preliminary understanding of Fast Taxi’s development progress and prepare an evaluation for the next stage of investment.

Chen Yansen got in the car with Wang Zihao and Song Yuncheng, and they headed for Xucheng.

On the way back, Chen Yansen felt the trip hadn’t been a waste of time.

He had run into Zhang Yiming and Cheng Weixing and reached a preliminary agreement on partnerships. Once these two investments were finalized, they could generate returns of over a hundred billion for him in the future.

It was just that the ride-hailing business was a murky one. If he wanted to secure a controlling stake, he would not only have to go up against Ah Li and Penguin, but also confront the Liu Family head-on.

’Before the 4G licenses are issued, mobile apps won’t be truly mainstream anyway. I still have two years to prepare. That should be enough.’

Chen Yansen mused to himself.