Chapter 158 Cooperation
"You ask me if my life is good now? It's definitely not as comfortable as before in Guangzhou, but if you say it's not good, then that's too hypocritical.

I can live and eat well in Shenhai. Although there are significant differences between Shenhai's local cuisine and Cantonese cuisine, there are many authentic Cantonese restaurants in a big city like Shenhai. I can afford to eat there even if it is expensive.

The biggest problem here is that I have no friends. Even if I reimburse the round-trip air tickets for my old friends in Guangzhou, they are not willing to make a special trip.

Those who are willing to come here specially may have other purposes in coming to me, such as helping their children find jobs in light armor companies, or hoping to become a supplier, or whether they can open a human hibernation center in Guangzhou and whether they can be qualified to join the chain.

For all the reasons, I don’t like to call them over.”

Before the Xiaomi press conference, it was the Lunar New Year of the Dragon Year. Because Chen Yuanguang was in Mianyang, Chen Yuanguang's parents came to Mianyang to reunite with him.

His parents still have no contact with each other. Even in Mianyang, he is unwilling to stay in the same community. At least his parents are by his side.

During that period, Chen Yuanguang did not eat in the cafeteria of Frontier Technology, but went to his father and mother's homes for lunch and dinner respectively.

That day, they happened to talk about the problem of adapting to Shenhai, and Chen Qianzhi rarely started to complain.

Chen Yuanguang was very happy to hear this, because these were not worries at all, "Didn't you tell me before that none of your friends have any ambition?
To use the current mainstream words, it is the "lie flat and let the bad things happen". If the family has a little money, they can lie flat and have no worries. "

Chen Qingzhi said with a bitter face: "Yeah, who knew it would change so quickly?

I also asked them, I said, Mr. Li and Mr. Wang are so old, why are they still making such a fuss? Your family doesn't lack these things, so why make such a fuss?
The human hibernation center, this thing must cost at least tens of millions, aren’t you afraid that you won’t get your money back?
Put all your wealth into it?"

The human hibernation center operated by Guangjia Technology has been doing very good business since its opening in Shenhai. It uses the latest hibernation technology and allows users to set their own wake-up time.

"They say that this kind of scarce medical resource business cannot be bad. The entire GD province has not yet been rolled out. Even if subsequent hospitals provide human hibernation services, there is still a huge market for specialized human hibernation centers.

Such institutions that specialize in providing human hibernation services have made a lot of money in America, Japan, and Europe. How could there be no market in China? A large number of young white-collar workers with psychological anxiety need such projects to relieve stress.

What they mean is that human hibernation centers are not medical institutions in the modern era, but tourism, a tourism industry that provides workers with a chance to relax. "

This was the first time Chen Yuanguang had heard of this view, and after thinking about it, he felt that it made some sense.

Chen Yuanguang did not interrupt. He could see that Chen Qianzhi had a lot to complain about.

"Then I said, even if we make money, it will be very troublesome to run the business, aren't you most afraid of trouble?

They began to complain, saying that it had become noticeably difficult to rent a house in the past two years. The trust they had bought previously collapsed, and a large amount of liquid funds were gone. Even if they just stayed flat, they would face a mid-life crisis.

The domestic financial sector is really not human. I only bought a public fund of 200,000 yuan, and these people made me lose 50%. This is still considered good. If you buy a trust, it will be cleared directly, and you are not allowed to go to Yanjing to make trouble. "

Chen Qingzhi continued, "Even if that's the case, we still have so many houses. Even if we sell a few, it will be enough for our retirement. They said they have to consider their children and grandchildren, and they still want to leave assets to their descendants.

In their opinion, what is an asset? An asset is something that can provide a steady stream of cash flow. Cash is not an asset. Houses used to be assets, but now their depreciation cannot keep up with inflation, and they are even becoming less and less valuable. They are not assets either.

They wanted to find new assets to leave to their descendants, so they came to me and asked if I could run a human hibernation center."

After listening to this, Chen Yuanguang could completely understand the thinking of these people. "They saw that their acquaintances had resources, so they wanted to make use of them."

Chen Qingzhi nodded: "You are right, I rejected it, saying that your company is a listed company, how can I interfere with the operation? The franchise authorization of a place as big as Yangcheng is equivalent to a franchise, and I don't have that much face.

After saying this, it was obvious that the relationship between everyone would never be the same again." Chen Qingzhi sighed.

“So, no matter how open-minded people are when they are young, they will change with the passage of time, changes in the environment, and the development of the times. When we talked about our children before, everyone said that children and grandchildren will have their own blessings, and I am lucky enough to leave a house to them.

Now there are more ideas.

Yuanguang, after you became rich, I also lost my friends."

Chen Qingzhi went on to say, "Those old friends all hoped to get some benefits from me, and also hoped that I could help their children find jobs. They said that they were not satisfied with the jobs they found after returning from studying abroad."

Chen Yuanguang said: "I can give this person an interview opportunity, allowing him to bypass the written test and go directly to the interview, and lower the requirements appropriately, so that you won't really be left without friends."

Chen Qingzhi shook his head: "I rejected them all. I said you didn't follow me, and we don't have a good relationship. If I ask you for something, it will have the opposite effect.

It’s not that I can’t help, but I feel that if I help, what will happen next? Do I have to help again for promotion or salary increase? If I help once, there will be a second time.

These old friends are all in the same group. If I help one, do I have to help another? So I simply cut off their hope at the root.

Anyway, I'm lying down. I found a community for retired seniors in Shenhai and plan to make some new friends. This time, I won't say my son is Chen Yuanguang."

He went on to say: "This is also a sweet trouble. Every time my friends in Guangzhou talk about you, they are so envious.

They all say that my ancestors' graves are full of rockets. When I was young, the old house was demolished and smoke rose once, and my son is so capable. They all say that if their own children were half as capable as you, they would not come to me for help. "

After Chen Yuanguang went home that night, he talked about this matter with his mother. His mother sneered and said, "He has a lot of bad friends. When he was young, he only knew how to play, and now he knows how to struggle.

After playing around all his life, he knows when he gets older that he needs to find someone to help solve his children's employment problems. When he sees that you are successful, he tries every means to curry favor with your father, hoping to make some money from him.

These people didn't think about doing business when they were young, but now they are old and want to do business through franchise. It is wishful thinking. Even if you give them the franchise, they will be blocked by the supervision at all levels in Yangcheng.

Human hibernation is such a big cake, it is not so easy to cut it." Chen's mother looked very disdainful.

Past experiences made her look down on Chen Qianzhi's bad friends, and she would complain about them whenever she got the chance.

Chen Yuanguang quickly changed the subject. He had long been annoyed by the two of them arguing: "Are you used to it in Shenhai?"

Chen's mother said: "What's there to be uncomfortable with? It's just a change of job location, it's just a little sudden. Shenhai gave me a list and asked me which position I was interested in, and I could choose whatever I wanted.

There were so many leadership positions in state-owned enterprises, and I picked one that interested me, and now it has met my expectations at the time.”

Chen Yuanguang was relieved to see that his parents had adapted well.

On the other hand, after Xiaomi cars were officially delivered, all major car companies started to take action, and everyone was very interested in the light armor technology behind Xiaomi cars. Among them, Geely was the most eager.

Because Lotus Cars, acquired by Geely, was listed on the US stock market not long ago.

"Boss Lin, if the same technology is used in Xiaomi cars, its price can only be 500,000, which is the upper limit that users can accept. If it is used in Lotus, its lower limit is 1 million.

This is the gap between brands. "The lobbyist sent by Lotus Cars is Yu Ning, a senior executive of Weilai Capital. Before joining Weilai Capital, he had been working for Geely and had a close relationship with the founder of Geely.

"But compared with Ferrari and Porsche, which are also the world's three largest luxury car brands, Lotus' presence is too weak. Its brand awareness is also very weak, and its popularity is far less than Xiaomi." Lin Jia did not comment.

She had done her homework before the meeting and knew Lotus's background. Lotus was a typical example of a person with a big name but weak strength.

The Lotus brand name in China is a transliteration of Lotus.

It has a long history and is a luxury brand. It also has technology and a glorious history in F1 events.

A typical fallen aristocrat, he finally gave himself to Geely after being transferred many times.

“That’s why it has room for imagination and expectation, doesn’t it?
The investors behind Lotus now include Geely, NIO, Jiangcheng Investment Capital, Malaysia's largest local car manufacturer and LVMH.

Its current valuation is just over $2 billion, but once it becomes profitable, it won’t be a problem for its valuation to soar tenfold.”

Lin Jia had a blank expression on his face, but he was shocked and amused inside.

Lotus has been listed on the US stock market, so its information needs to be disclosed publicly. Lin Jia was surprised at the complexity of the capital behind Lotus and that LVMH had gotten involved.

I am still shocked when I hear Yu Ning mention it again.

LVMH is the parent company of many brands including LV, Dior, Givenchy, Bulgari, etc. It has more than 50 luxury brands across multiple fields and has also got involved in Lotus Cars.

What she found funny was that Lotus had been making losses for more than 70 years. For a company that had been making losses for more than 70 years, the profit was a bit too optimistic.

This is like a student who usually only scores 20 points in every exam saying that he can get 60 points in the final exam. It is not impossible, but it sounds a bit too optimistic.

"I understand. From the perspective of capital operation, Lotus Cars does have greater potential," Lin Jia said politely.

Yu Ning heard the politeness in the words and continued, "Lotus has technology, brand, history, stories, and a lot of high-end marketing resources behind it.

We currently lack a breaking point. Once we have that breaking point, it will be very easy to make a profit.

Lotus has not been selling well and has had difficulty making a profit because we lack sufficient differentiation compared to Porsche and Ferrari.

We have always hoped to achieve this special thing through thorough electrification, so Lotus is particularly radical in electrification transformation. Currently, among all the Lotus sports cars on sale in China, only one is a fuel car, and the others are electric cars.

We hope to create a brand image that is advanced, fashionable, and technologically cutting-edge, thereby differentiating ourselves from other sports car brands. We are just a step away from success.

If Light Armor Technology joins us, it will help us speed up this process."

Yu Ning did not talk about technology or borderlessness at all, but was talking about cooperation. He always hoped that Guangjia Technology would become one of the shareholders of Lotus and make a strategic investment.

In their view, even if just the news gets out that Guangjia Technology has invested in Lotus Cars, Lotus's U.S. stock market value will easily increase by 30%.

There are currently no Chen Yuanguang concept stocks in the US stock market. It would be unimaginable if Lotus Cars could reap this dividend.

“I understand what you mean, but the problem is that under the current circumstances of Light Armor Technology, it is difficult for us to provide what you want.

We signed a five-year exclusive licensing agreement for the new sound materials used in Xiaomi cars.

As for room-temperature superconducting super batteries, they are still under development," said Lin Jia.

Yu Ning shook his head: “No, what we need is a partner with sufficient strength.

Guangjia Technology has this strength. We are all technology integrators and adopt technologies from various manufacturers. Lotus and Geely behind it have sufficient technical reserves.

What we need more is a hot spot in marketing. The joining of Guangjia Technology is enough to attract widespread attention from the outside world.

Mr. Chen has always advocated space mining. We can use the ore from space mining as the raw materials for Lotus to further add a technological touch to it.

And Guangjia Aerospace can also enjoy the premium of supercars, which Xiaomi Auto cannot give.”

It’s true. Lin Jia thought about it and realized that the time it would take for Xiaomi to sell its car for more than one million yuan might be longer than space mining.

"Mr. Yu, I admit that you have impressed me. I have another question to ask you. Why don't we cooperate with Porsche or Ferrari, but with Lotus?"

Yu Ning smiled and said, "Because the other two companies are already successful enough, their need for light armor companies is not as urgent as Lotus.

Naturally, the price they offered was not as good as Lotus's.

We can give them shares, a high premium acquisition price, and board seats, but can they give them that?

Not to mention that Lotus has much more growth potential than the other two. Our cooperation can help Lotus grow from a market value of 2 billion to tens of billions, which is absolutely impossible for Ferrari and Porsche to do. "

After listening to this, Lin Jia was thoughtful: "I will report this to Mr. Chen as soon as possible."

Yu Ning: “Thank you. If possible, the chairman of Geely would like to visit Mr. Chen in person.

In addition, I have a small request on behalf of Lotus. I would like to ask you to convey it to Mr. Chen and ask him if he is willing to serve as the global spokesperson for Lotus. "

(End of this chapter)