"Is that so? I understand!" Huang He nodded. He wasn't angry that Masayoshi Son looked down on his countrymen. Instead, Huang He actually understood him very well.
Looking at it from the perspective of 2001, Masayoshi Son's words were actually very correct. Didn't you see both "Little Ma" (Ma Huateng) and "Old Ma" (Jack Ma) nodding involuntarily, conquered by Masayoshi Son's analysis?
After all, who could have believed that China would achieve such strong economic development in just 20 years?
In an era where the mobile phone market was completely dominated by foreign companies, it was perfectly normal for Masayoshi Son to be unwilling to invest in a mobile phone company.
Furthermore, historically, Masayoshi Son actually had little interest in mobile phones, or the entire manufacturing industry. His investment targets had always been in the software industry. xxs1
Masayoshi Son had the opportunity to invest in Apple in the 1990s, and many mobile phone companies in the world had invited him to invest, but he refused them all. It couldn't be said that Masayoshi Son was stupid, nor that his intelligence had dropped, because that's historically how he acted.
Moreover, if Huang He hadn't seen the future development of his country over the next twenty years, he probably wouldn't have had the courage to develop his own mobile phone brand.
Historically, although domestic unbranded phones were very popular, before 2008, not a single domestic mobile phone brand had been able to grow and strengthen on its own. The only one, Bird, had ended in failure. It wasn't until after 2008, with China's economic development and the improvement of the national industrial chain, that domestic mobile phone brands began to emerge like mushrooms after rain.
And Little Ma looked at Huang He with a hint of mockery, as if to say, no matter how sharp-tongued you are, you still couldn't get Mr. Masayoshi Son's approval, could you?
In response, Huang He could only smile. After all, you couldn't tell him how amazing Chinese mobile phones would be in the future. It was more enjoyable to keep it to oneself.
"Mr. Huang, I am very interested in your oo, and I still hope we can discuss it!" Masayoshi Son added. He still hadn't given up his desire for oo, but Huang He continued to firmly refuse, which made Masayoshi Son's expression a little unpleasant.
However, with Huang He's refusal, the conversation seemed to have reached a stalemate. Just as they were about to part ways after exchanging pleasantries, Masayoshi Son suddenly spoke.
"Everyone, I see that you are all outstanding figures in China's internet industry, with immeasurable futures. I have a proposal, and I wonder if you would be willing to join in for some fun?"
"We are eager to hear it!" Little Ma quickly said.
"Although I do not have Chinese nationality, I have a deep yearning for China, especially its culture and spirit, which I highly admire. Furthermore, according to my family's genealogy, I am a descendant of your great strategist, Sun Wu. About a thousand years ago, my ancestors migrated to Goguryeo, which is how I came to be. In that sense, I am also half-Chinese!" Masayoshi Son said with a smile. His words sounded very sincere. Huang He remembered that in later years, as China's economy improved and Old Ma's stock price continued to rise, Masayoshi Son would always claim his ancestor was Sun Wu and that he was half-Chinese whenever he spoke publicly in China.
As for the truthfulness of such claims, it was impossible to verify. After all, even if Masayoshi Son claimed his ancestor was Sun Wukong, we wouldn't be able to find Sun Wukong's DNA to verify it, would we!
"My favorite books are your country's 'The Art of War' and 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms.' Among them, the passage about discussing heroes over boiled wine in 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' is the most captivating."
"I see that many heroes of China's internet industry are gathered here today. Why don't we discuss heroes then?" Masayoshi Son continued.
"Discussing heroes over boiled wine?" Everyone looked at Masayoshi Son with some surprise, thinking to themselves, this foreigner has so many tricks up his sleeve. However, since they were all waiting for his investment, they could only play along.
Besides, by discussing heroes, perhaps they could determine who would receive the investment?
This made the two "Mas" a little nervous.
"It's hard to discuss heroes like that!" Huang He sighed. "I don't like to speak ill of others behind their backs. Let's skip this."
"..." Little Ma almost spat out another mouthful of blood. Masayoshi Son's expression froze slightly, then he smiled and said, "That's well said. It would be boring to follow the old ways of our ancestors. How about we come up with some new rules!"
"What rules?" Huang He asked.
"Let's not discuss the strengths and weaknesses of others, but rather those of the four of us here!" Masayoshi Son said with a smile. "Let's first make predictions for our future selves in 20 years, and then make predictions for the other three regarding their companies and total assets in 20 years. Wouldn't that be wonderful!"
"This way..." Little Ma and Old Ma exchanged glances. Huang He, however, had a peculiar expression. But it seemed none of them were going to refuse.
"Old Ma, do you have any wine?" Masayoshi Son asked.
"I think so!" Old Ma nodded. He seemed to recall having some, but after rummaging, he only found a case of pineapple beer, apparently given to him by a friend from Xi'an.
"It seems that today it's not about discussing heroes over boiled wine, but over pineapple beer!" Huang He laughed and was the first to open a can of pineapple beer for himself. To be honest, Huang He didn't like alcohol, but he made an exception for pineapple beer. It was quite intoxicating.
The others had no choice but to open a can for themselves. They all gathered around, ready to hear how these individuals would discuss heroes.
"Who should go first?" Huang He asked with a smile. The first person to speak in such a discussion would surely be at a disadvantage.
"I have a dice here. Let's all roll once, and the one with the lowest number goes first!" Masayoshi Son took a die from his pocket. This probably wasn't prepared in advance; Masayoshi Son genuinely carried a die with him at all times. Truly an investor, with a gambler's habit!
"Oh no!" Old Ma's expression turned stiff. In the first round, he rolled the lowest number, a 2. He had to start the predictions.
"I predict that our Forty Thieves company in 20 years..." Old Ma was initially resistant to this game, but as he prepared to predict his future, a surge of ambition flowed through him, and all sorts of visions of the future emerged. He then declared loudly, "In 20 years, manufacturers nationwide, no, manufacturers worldwide, will have their own stores on our Forty Thieves platform, selling their products and services. And buyers worldwide, both domestic and international, will be able to purchase the products they need in bulk on the Forty Thieves website."
"And we, the Forty Thieves, will also lay the groundwork for the logistics industry, using our own logistics to deliver goods across the entire network."
"In 20 years, from small vendors at the neighborhood entrance to large enterprises like Microsoft, Volkswagen, and Intel, all will be able to purchase the best quality and cheapest goods on our platform!"
"We, the Forty Thieves, will also become a booster for China's rise, helping the economic development of the entire nation and contributing our part!" Old Ma's expression was truly immersed in the beautiful future he was constructing as he said this.
Well, Taobao hadn't been born yet, and the model wasn't B2C. The main business of Forty Thieves was actually the B2B Forty Thieves website, dealing with business-to-business transactions.
Taobao was launched in 2003.
"And what about the assets?" Masayoshi Son asked with a smile.
"This much!" Old Ma hesitated for a moment and held up one finger.
"Ten billion?" Little Ma asked.
"No, one hundred billion, and in US dollars. Our Forty Thieves will be listed on Wall Street, becoming China's first internet stock in the world, with a total market capitalization of 10 billion US dollars. As for me, I don't like money. I can distribute all of this wealth to the brothers who have worked hard with me, so having a few tens of millions of RMB in assets is enough for me to live a comfortable life without worries."
"To tell you something you might not believe, in 20 years, I might still go back to being a teacher, because the happiest moments in my life were when I was a teacher!" Old Ma sighed with emotion.