"Wait a moment, I still have a question. Since 'E Bu Pa' has the investment backing of Jiangnan Group, I'm afraid the combined funds of everyone here wouldn't even match Huang He's personal assets. If he decides to support 'E Bu Pa,' can we withstand it?"
As soon as the question was out, silence fell upon the room, and Chen Hu's face turned extremely grim.
"Right, how did I not think of this?"
"Damn it, if Huang He makes a move, why are we even investing? No matter how we fight, we can't beat Huang He. He's too rich!"
"I think we should just give up. Competing with Huang He on wealth is suicidal!"
This single question instantly shifted the entire atmosphere. The consensus previously reached seemed on the verge of complete collapse.
This was precisely what Chen Hu feared most. In fact, Chen Hu had already considered the issue of Jiangnan Group. However, he knew it was an unsolvable problem, so he hadn't even brought it up at the meeting, intending to gloss over it.
Things had been going smoothly, but he hadn't expected someone to point it out in the end. It was quite normal, after all, as everyone present represented major investment institutions nationwide. How could they possibly ignore the intentions of a world's richest man?
Of course, Chen Hu wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. He had prepared his own set of arguments. He then said, "Gentlemen, I admit that Jiangnan Group and Huang He behind it is an unavoidable problem. If he intervenes, our capital situation will indeed be precarious. But the crux of the matter is, will Huang He intervene?"
"Everyone, I believe you've all conducted detailed investigations into this industry. In fact, Jiangnan Group's investment in 'E Bu Pa' dates back quite some time. As early as 2008, Jiangnan Group invested a substantial sum in Zhao Yao, who had just graduated from university, to support him in developing a food delivery platform app and various related operations locally."
"However, since then, Jiangnan Group has not made any further investments in 'E Bu Pa.' 'E Bu Pa' has almost always operated independently. And during 'E Bu Pa's' most difficult years, when we were all attacking it and trying to seize its market share, Jiangnan Group didn't provide any resources!"
"To put it bluntly, if Jiangnan Group had directly injected a massive sum into 'E Bu Pa' when the subsidy war first began... no, not even a massive sum, just over a billion RMB, to signal Huang He's stance, would you gentlemen have dared to invest in our Dida Food Delivery then?"
Hearing this, the investors present couldn't help but blush slightly. Indeed, they had all been intimidated by Jiangnan Group back then. Especially after the subsidy war erupted, everyone knew that Jiangnan Group had no shortage of cash. If Jiangnan Group had been determined to enter the entire food delivery industry, they would have been unable to defeat Jiangnan Group in terms of capital. Hence, their hesitation in investing in Dida at that time.
It was only after Hongshan Capital made the first substantial investment, followed by a subsidy war that lasted half a year, that Dida Food Delivery emerged as the market leader, boasting tens of thousands of riders and millions of orders daily.
Crucially, Jiangnan Group had also shown no reaction, as if it were completely unaware that it had an invested company called 'E Bu Pa' Food Delivery under its umbrella. Therefore, even though 'E Bu Pa' was already the market dominator, it was not drawn into this subsidy competition at all. Ultimately, it watched its market share completely disappear, on the verge of collapse.
Consequently, various speculations circulated within the industry. Some said Jiangnan Group didn't foresee the potential of food delivery platforms, and their initial investment was merely to support their student, or perhaps the project was not known to Huang He himself, and he had urgently halted further investment upon learning about it.
Others claimed that Huang He and Zhao Yao were at odds, and a fierce dispute had ensued, leading Jiangnan Group to strongly dislike 'E Bu Pa' and ultimately refuse further investment.
In any case, there were all sorts of reasons. The bottom line was that Jiangnan Group would no longer invest in 'E Bu Pa,' which emboldened the remaining investment companies to gradually follow suit, joining the second and even seventh rounds of financing, step by step getting entangled with 'E Bu Pa.'
"I believe the situation hasn't changed. Jiangnan Group will not make substantial investments in 'E Bu Pa.' Everyone, please don't worry about Jiangnan Group!" Chen Hu said confidently, hoping to infect the other investors with his conviction.
"Then why is Jiangnan Group choosing to intervene this time?" The investors were not easily fooled. "Moreover, this time Jiangnan Group's intervention is not just a simple investment, but the mobilization of a large number of its resources to invest in 'E Bu Pa,' even offering the Super Vacuum Maglev High-Speed Pipeline to cooperate with them on promotional activities. This indicates a significant shift in Jiangnan Group's attitude. If we choose to confront them with capital now, we will only suffer greater losses!"
"The gentleman's concerns are not without merit!" Chen Hu said, forcing a stiff smile. "However, his information is only half correct."
"That is, 'E Bu Pa' has not received any assistance from Jiangnan Group this time. Take the recent marketing success with the high-speed vacuum maglev railway cooperation, for example. It wasn't provided by Jiangnan Group; it was something we abandoned!"
"Previously, the High-Speed Railway Development Company had invited us to a meeting. They initially requested that we and Tiantian Food Delivery undertake this cooperation, but we both refused. Only then did they reluctantly approach 'E Bu Pa.' Therefore, this cooperation was originally something we could have secured."
"What!" The investors' eyes widened as they stared at Chen Hu. "Chen Hu, why did you give up such a great opportunity? Are your people pigs?"
"No, you're worse than pigs. Pigs at least know to eat food placed before them, but you let it slip away. You're simply stupider than pigs!" an investor roared in anger.
"Yes, this was our mistake!" Chen Hu suppressed his anger. "At the time of that meeting, I was not in the country; I was in Southeast Asia, planning to expand into the international market. Therefore, my vice president attended the meeting."
"It's just that the information network in Southeast Asia was too poor, and I couldn't contact the vice president immediately. He then made the decision on his own to refuse. The main reason was that the High-Speed Railway Development Company had very strict requirements, with an error rate not exceeding 1‰, otherwise, hefty liquidated damages would apply. Our people felt it was an impossible task, so they refused."
"It's the same with Tiantian Food Delivery. Their Zhu Jun attended the meeting in person and also refused on the spot. Of course, if I had been there, I would never have let such an opportunity pass."
"However, it's too late to say anything now. I have already fired that vice president as a warning!" Chen Hu handled the situation flawlessly, deflecting all blame, leaving the other investors speechless.
"What about the money? Jiangnan Group's investment must be genuine, right!" someone asked again.
"No, that's even less true!" Chen Hu said. "According to our inside intelligence, Jiangnan Group still hasn't invested any money in 'E Bu Pa.' Of the 10 billion yuan 'E Bu Pa' currently holds, a small portion is accumulated funds from the past few years, and a larger part is capital borrowed from banks after 'E Bu Pa' mortgaged itself, as well as funds raised from other channels. It contains not a single cent from Jiangnan Group!"
"Is your intelligence reliable?" The expressions of the crowd finally improved upon hearing this.
"Of course, it's reliable. My informant is a trusted confidant of Zhao Yao. Zhao Yao relies on him for every high-level meeting, so the intelligence is flawless!"
"Gentlemen, regardless of whether Jiangnan Group provides support to 'E Bu Pa,' isn't the crucial point that we have already invested tens of billions of dollars in Dida? If we abandon it now, all previous investments will be for naught. Can you truly accept that outcome?"
"..." The crowd fell silent again. This was the true reason for their indecisiveness.
Moving forward, they feared Jiangnan Group's capital.
Stepping back, tens of billions of initial investments would be wasted. This was an impossible choice.
Thus, the entire meeting reached an impasse. They could neither advance nor retreat, and everyone was at a loss as to what to do.
"Everyone, this matter is easily resolved!" the representative from Hongshan Capital said. "Since we cannot confirm whether Jiangnan Group will invest, why not ask Huang He directly!"
"What?" The crowd was taken aback, and then they heard the representative from Hongshan Capital say, "As you all know, Hongshan Capital is backed by funding from the US Priority Group. Ms. Versailles, the head of the US Priority Fund, has a long-standing cooperation with Mr. Huang He of Jiangnan Group. We can ask Ms. Versailles to intervene and inquire about Huang He's intentions, and then everything will be clear!"
"Ask Huang He directly?" This was a path no one had ever considered, and even Chen Hu himself was stunned by this turn of events.
"Of course, since we are indecisive, let's ask directly."
"But, will Huang He tell us the truth?" someone asked worriedly. What if Huang He said he wouldn't invest, but actually did? Wouldn't that be deceiving everyone terribly?
"There's no need to worry about that. In fact, the food delivery industry is merely a small matter for Huang He. However, everyone in the world knows that Huang He is a person who highly values his commercial reputation and is extremely protective of his image. To this day, he has never breached any contracts in formal business settings, nor has he ever told a lie."
"This is also a golden signboard for Huang He. Everyone in the industry respects him immensely because of it. He cherishes this reputation, cherishes it immensely!"
"Therefore, I believe Huang He will not ruin the reputation he has painstakingly built over many years for the sake of such a small food delivery industry! He will either not answer our question or will give us the truth. So, let's just ask Huang He directly!"