Huang He didn't know that Brother Ma was still dreaming of living another life. In his opinion, the situation was settled. Unless Brother Ma could come up with hundreds of billions to engage in a subsidy war with him, he was sure to win, and wouldn't even know how to lose.
However, it wasn't just Brother Ma who had decided to enter the fray at this moment; there was another person who wanted to join.
While their Boss Huang was playing games in the vast chairman's office, his computer suddenly rang, and Hu Jing's voice came through, "Chairman, Ms. Meg Whitman wishes to speak with you!"
...
Besides the two aforementioned individuals who wanted to enter, the original three were still struggling, unwilling to give up. However, the harsh reality left them extremely disappointed. Just as they were racking their brains, unsure of what to do, Shao Yibo once again invited the other two to gather.
However, this time the meeting was not in a hotel private room, but in the headquarters office of EachNet.
"What does this Shao Yibo want? What method has he come up with to resist Jiangnan Group? Even I can't think of any viable solution. At best, I can only focus on managing one industry, make it bigger and stronger, and then reconsider," Li Guoqing said, confused, after meeting Wang Juntiao before arriving.
Li Guoqing was also a smart person. Faced with the immense power of Jiangnan Mall, he decisively chose the future JD.com route, which was to focus on perfecting the original book business of Dangdang.com.
Dangdang.com was originally a website that imitated Amazon and grew by solely operating in books. Therefore, focusing on the book business was in line with their original business plan.
At the same time, after abandoning aspirations for other industries, Li Guoqing could concentrate on one point, which would allow him to achieve something in the future.
For example, Taobao in history was never able to defeat Dangdang.com in the book business until internal strife led Dangdang to self-destruct.
However, this also presented a problem: 8848 and EachNet were also in the book business. For the three of them to survive, they would all have to focus on managing one industry.
This meant that before resisting Jiangnan Group, Li Guoqing had to eliminate the other two competitors.
In fact, Li Guoqing had spent two days creating an extremely detailed plan, and he had a seventy to eighty percent chance of eliminating the other two and monopolizing the entire book industry.
He just didn't expect Shao Yibo to invite them over, and not to a hotel private room, but to the company's headquarters office.
This meant that this gathering was not a private meeting, but a company meeting; it would be a business dispute.
"It doesn't matter, I'll just watch!" Compared to Li Guoqing's heavy thoughts, Wang Juntiao appeared quite calm, as if he didn't take Shao Yibo seriously at all. This made Li Guoqing a little confused, wondering what Wang Juntiao was thinking.
At this moment, Li Guoqing had no idea that 8848 Business Network was already an empty shell.
Although 8848.com had achieved the record of being the first e-commerce website to be listed in China, it originally had the highest financing among the three websites and once occupied the peak of the entire industry. In the eyes of outsiders, Wang Juntiao was also a super magnate in the industry.
However, those privy to the company's high-level secrets knew that 8848 was doomed because its business growth had stalled and was even declining rapidly.
The main investors, after reaping significant benefits, had keenly sensed a huge crisis and directly fled. Now, not only was there no money in 8848's accounts, but there were also several million yuan in outstanding payments.
As for Wang Juntiao, he was actually one of the first to leave. He had sold all his shares more than two years ago and converted them into tens of millions of cash.
It was just that the investors needed Wang Juntiao, the founder, to stay on board to stabilize investor confidence, and Wang Juntiao could not refuse a job with a monthly salary close to one hundred thousand yuan. Therefore, Wang Juntiao was only the nominal chairman and president; he actually had no control over the company.
So, Wang Juntiao's attitude was indeed quite indifferent. Whatever Shao Yibo wanted to do was of no consequence to him. After all, 8848 would collapse in a few days, and he could just watch a business show.
However, Wang Juntiao's attitude made Li Guoqing very uncertain, so he closed his mouth and entered the headquarters building of EachNet with Wang Juntiao. In the chairman's office, they met Shao Yibo, who had been waiting for a long time.
"Gentlemen, fighting alone is no longer beneficial because we are absolutely no match for Jiangnan Group. Therefore, our only way out is to unite and truly merge into one!" Shao Yibo's attitude was still very direct. As soon as the three met, he stated his purpose upfront: to merge the three websites and unite them.
"As expected!" Li Guoqing's expression did not change much. Although he had not been 100% sure of Shao Yibo's intention before, he had a 70% chance of guessing Shao Yibo's goal, which was to merge the three websites into one.
After all, the three now had a common enemy, and their previous cooperation had been pleasant, so integrating them together was a natural progression.
In fact, Li Guoqing did not resist the merger. However, the crucial issue was who would be the master of the new website after the merger, who would truly control this brand new website that brought together the strengths of the three. That was the key issue.
Therefore, Li Guoqing said calmly, "I have no objection to merging, but currently our Dangdang.com has the last sales data among merchants, the most cooperating merchants, and also the largest user base."
"Therefore, after the successful merger of the new website, I should hold more equity, at least 60% of the equity. If you two agree to let me operate the company, then I can make a slight concession on the equity, and I only need 51% of the equity, which is enough for me to control the new company!" Li Guoqing was too lazy to play coy with them. Merging was fine, but he had to be the one steering the new company; otherwise, he wouldn't cooperate. xxs壹贰
"..." After listening to Li Guoqing's words, Wang Juntiao remained silent with a blank expression, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Shao Yibo, however, smiled slightly and said, "I agree with Old Li's opinion. In running a business, I am indeed far inferior to Old Li. The new company can be completely handed over to Old Li to control!"
"..." This time, it was Li Guoqing's turn to be extremely surprised. He had already prepared himself for a fierce battle with Shao Yibo.
In his opinion, since Shao Yibo had initiated this gathering, it meant he had ideas and wanted to be the controller of the new company. Otherwise, there was no need for him to personally organize this gathering and invite everyone to meet!
To his surprise, Shao Yibo agreed without any resistance.
"Old Li, don't look at me with that expression. Are you guessing that I plan to scheme against you behind your back?" Shao Yibo asked with a slight smile. Li Guoqing chuckled awkwardly, as that was indeed what he was thinking.
"To be honest, my family has some problems, and I can no longer stay in China. So, next month I will be flying to the United States with my whole family to settle down there permanently. From then on, I will have nothing to do with China and will no longer be Chinese."
"So you don't need to worry about me at all. I'm not in China, so there's no need for me to fight with you for control of the company!" Shao Yibo said very directly.
Shao Yibo's honesty made Li Guoqing feel ashamed. If what Shao Yibo said was true, then he had been thinking ill of a noble person.
"But Old Shao, are you really willing to part with such a large company?" Li Guoqing asked, puzzled.
"Isn't there you? I entrust my company to you, and I'm relieved!" Shao Yibo said with a wry smile. "Besides, my family problems are very serious. My wife is threatening me with divorce and division of property, demanding that I go to the United States with her. Additionally, she has some unsavory things, so I have no choice but to comply!"
"How could this happen!" Li Guoqing sighed. "Old Shao, talk to your sister-in-law properly. She shouldn't be unreasonable, right?"
"Old Li, you don't understand. Women are the most neurotic, most dangerous, and most irrational things in the world. As a man, the most important thing is not how to manage a company well, but how to manage his family well and keep his wife firmly under control, otherwise all your life's efforts will be easily destroyed by this woman!"
"So, Old Li, you should also pay more attention to your sister-in-law. Be vigilant at critical moments, and never let anything fall into her hands, nor let her ruin your lifelong career!" Shao Yibo lamented.
"No, Old Shao, you don't understand your sister-in-law's character, or you wouldn't say that. Your sister-in-law was quite a notable figure in the United States back then. She had an excellent job, considerable influence, and even a large sum of savings. As a result, as soon as I mentioned returning to China to develop, she immediately, without hesitation, brought all her belongings and returned to China with me. That's how we have the current Dangdang.com."
"We are a couple who started a business together, so we have an extraordinary relationship and bond. The things you are worried about will not happen in the future!" Li Guoqing said with a smile.
"Since that's the case, then I was being overly concerned!" Shao Yibo smiled faintly and said no more. After all, without experiencing his situation, one would not understand how terrible the predicament would be when a couple becomes estranged.
In any case, he had said what he needed to say. How Li Guoqing would decide in the future was Li Guoqing's own problem.
"But Old Shao, judging by your words, you are probably no longer interested in running a company. So, you plan to sell EachNet at a certain price and join the new company, right?" Li Guoqing suddenly asked.
"That's right. I have no mood to run a business anymore, so I have no mood to ask for any shares. I have decided to sell EachNet," Shao Yibo nodded.
"I support your decision, but the problem is, I don't have the money right now!" Li Guoqing hesitated, then sighed, "To be honest, although my company still has some balance on its books, it's far from being able to afford to acquire your EachNet. Your EachNet should sell for at least 200 million RMB, right? I simply can't afford this money!"
"You don't need to worry about this!" Shao Yibo said with a slight smile, revealing news that shocked Li Guoqing immensely. "In fact, EachNet has already been sold, and now it is EachNet that wants to acquire your Dangdang.com!"