Chapter 156 Human Nature and Human Heart

[No one is more qualified than you to sit in the office of the president of Uber China, not even me! ]

Just two hours later, a short press release began to spread across the entire Internet from Weibo, causing a huge uproar.

In the video, the young man's back is straight and his steps are resolute, and his raised black windbreaker shows his coldness and solemnity; the white-skinned man with a hooked nose stands on the edge of the rooftop, his face is resolute and his hair is messy, symbolizing iron blood.

"It can be used as a movie promotional photo. It's called a duel between two heroes."

Liu Chih-ping put down his phone and said with a smile: "This smoke screen is not a good idea."

"You don't believe it?" Xiao Ma Ge couldn't laugh.

Liu Chih-Ping did not answer but asked: "Do you believe it?"

"I do not believe."

As Pony Ma spoke, he turned the computer screen, which showed another piece of news - Ms. Liu Zhen was appointed as the head of Uber China's strategy, the CEO position had been vacant for a long time, and the president position was left vacant.

This means that in the short term she will be the de facto top executive of Uber China if Xie Jingxing does not join.

Liu Zhen is Liu Chuanzhi's niece. She grew up by his side and is like a half-daughter to him.

His biological daughter serves as the president of Didi and successfully led a $7 million financing; his niece serves as a senior executive of Uber China; Lenovo's Ucar is like a pervert and a scoundrel who cannot be killed or scolded away.

What the hell do you Liu Chuanzhi want to do?
Stuck at the stage of the Didi Kuaidi merger, once Xie Jingxing entered the ghostly CEO's office of Uber China, it would be obvious that he was turning against his own side and surrendering to the enemy.

In fact, they are in cahoots with each other and use the chicken to lay eggs. Liu Qing might as well divorce and remarry to get the upper hand over the young cow. In the future, it doesn't matter whether the surnames are Xie or Liu in the domestic online car-hailing industry.

The leader of the Taishan Society, the leader of the northern business community, will not have the chance to wait for the succession to come from Mr. Ma. By then, Old Liu can always talk about my virtuous son-in-law Jingxing, retire early, enjoy his old age with his grandson, and watch the travel industry become his family's empire...

Liu Chih-Ping tried hard to shake off the unrealistic thought in his mind, but it must have been a joke that countless people inside and outside the industry had thought of.

"It's a bit difficult to handle."

He frowned and cursed in his heart for making such a fuss. Was he really planning to place multiple bets and restore the glory of the Wei and Jin dynasties after a thousand years?
"Xiao Xie's solo performance was harmless, and that's what he could do; it's also understandable that CEO Liu let his niece join Uber China, after all, to be fair, Liu Qing has made a lot of efforts at Didi."

Xiao Ma Ge paused and said in a deep voice: "It is absolutely wrong for several things to collide with each other. It doesn't matter whether we believe it or not. We have to express our stance when the facts are in front of us."

"The foreign devils who know military tactics are amazing. I'll go to the capital." Liu Chi Ping sneered.

Brother Ma nodded slightly: "Notify Cheng Wei to return to Beijing as well. It would be best if you could invite Lu Chuanwei along. Let's sit down and clear up the misunderstanding."

"They are all mature founders and there won't be any major problems. It's mainly about policies, which I'm worried about not being optimistic."

Liu Chih-Ping stood up with the help of his legs, as if a heavy burden was pressing on his shoulders.

The merger between Didi and Kuaidi was announced to the public in an abrupt and explosive manner before it was completed, with millions of eyes staring at it. While the general public was happy to see Qicheng fight against foreign capital, the so-called social elites and knowledgeable people were probably typing away on their keyboards.

Compose articles about commercial monopoly that are of concern to the country and the people.

"I am more worried about Xiao Xie. From his perspective, it is not easy to withstand the price offered by Uber. We should take care of his emotions."

Xiao Ma Ge then amused himself by saying, "M&A policy risks are not a problem for him. After all, he is the son-in-law of the emperor."

"I dare not mention this to his face."

Liu Chih-Ping smiled knowingly and felt a little relieved, but neither of them took this statement seriously.

It was true that Xie Jingxing had successfully calmed the situation last time when he was in the ICU and passively used his invincibility. They were also very uncomfortable with the intimidation and were afraid that the little princess would get emotional and the situation would get out of control. In the end, all the partners paid a total of 7% of the shares worth more than one billion US dollars.

But this time it happened in China, no one could afford the appearance fee, and all they did was say, "Dad, I want you." All the hard work that Lao Liu had put in for more than a year was worth less than a piece of toilet paper.

…………

It was almost dark when Liu Chih-ping arrived in Beijing. He waited at the airport for a while, then met up with Cheng Wei, Lu Chuanwei and Tang Man who had rushed over from Shanghai, and went back to the hotel in the city together.

Liu Qing, who stayed behind in the capital, arrived in the afternoon. He sent Zhu Xiaohu and Song Anli away and arrested Xie Jingxing alone in the hotel bedroom and beat him up.

She was really anxious and didn't care about her image at all. She talked a lot, from analyzing the pros and cons to directly attacking him and calling him childish, and she continued to talk for more than two hours.

During this period, she called Lao Liu with a hoarse voice to ask why she had no idea that her cousin joined Uber China, and she was so angry that she almost cried.

This was the scene Liu Chi Ping and his companions saw when they opened the bedroom door when they arrived at the hotel. Liu Qing was sitting on the corner of the bed with his back to her, his eyes slightly red, and his hands covering his face. Xie Jingxing was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, holding a cigarette and a wine glass between his fingers, and looking out the window with his head tilted up, looking like a sage with great enlightenment.

"You all... calm down. Now that things have come to this, we still have to solve the problem first."

Zhu Xiaohu unconsciously glanced at the fairly neat bed sheets and quilt covers. He had dragged Liu Qing here to ask for accountability, not to act as a matchmaker to help Old Liu find a son-in-law.

Liu Chih-Ping secretly said, "As expected, Lenovo's multi-investment layout and Uber's huge investment in recruiting Xie Jingxing have become established facts, and everyone's reactions are similar.

No matter what Xie Jingxing himself thinks, as long as there is a possibility that he can dominate the entire industry by marrying Lenovo, he cannot and should not test human nature.

It’s an open conspiracy. The foreigner Kalanick’s tactics are not very clever, but his strategy is very clever.

"Three questions. What do you think, Mr. Xie? What do you think, Mr. Cheng and Mr. Lu? And what do you, the investors, Mr. Zhu and Temasek, think?" He made a quick judgment and played the good cop.

Zhu Xiaohu blinked his fox-like triangular eyes and understood the intention without hesitation, playing the role of the good guy and said: "I don't know what other investors think, but my opinion is that if Mr. Xie wants to withdraw, everyone should pool their money to take over."

"Boss Zhu, let's talk about this later. Boss Xie should talk first. Boss Liu and I, as management, respect any ideas of Boss Xie."

As soon as Cheng Wei finished speaking, Lu Chuanwei quickly raised his cell phone to indicate that he was going to answer a call, then left the bedroom and considerately closed the door.

When investors exit before the listing, most of their holdings are transferred to the founding team and management for repurchase by default. A small number of them are also early lead investors. No matter what, it is difficult for mid- and late-stage investors such as Temasek to take over.

Zhu Xiaohu said it nicely that the value of Xiyou Taihe’s shares is too high, and no single investor can come up with so much money to take over at the moment, so everyone pools together to get a share.

The actual intention is to grab equity from the founding team. Since no one can stop Xie Jingxing from leaving, they can only suppress Liu Qing.

Cheng Wei's attitude is quite subtle. It is unclear whether he is defending Liu Qing or Xie Jingxing. He jumps out of nowhere to act stupid and disrupt the situation, preventing Zhu Xiaohu and Liu Chih-ping, two old foxes, from forcing the palace tacitly.

Lu Chuanwei thought about the mentality of all parties, walked quickly out of the hotel room and into the fire escape.

Then he thought about what had just happened in the morning and felt uneasy, so he went downstairs alone and booked a room. After a rough check, he took out his phone and called Mr. Ma, who was gritting his teeth in Hangzhou.

He reported succinctly: "The situation is pretty much what we expected, and Didi is also in a dilemma."

"Let's discuss it. One of Liu Qing and Xie Jingxing should withdraw as much as possible."

Teacher Ma's tone was neither salty nor light, and there was no hint of room for negotiation.

Lu Chuanwei forced out two chuckles from his throat: "No problem, they are the ones who are anxious now. My team and I have always believed that we can still fight if we don't merge. If it doesn't work, we can still have Uber as an alternative."

"…As the old saying goes, a gentleman should be united but different. Don't put too much psychological pressure on yourself. Just chat normally." The other end of the phone was silent for a few seconds before responding ambiguously. "Fuck!"

Lu Chuanwei responded with a few words, hung up the phone, threw it onto the bed angrily, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

So far, Alibaba's attitude has been very awkward. It firmly supports Kuaidi's fight because it does not want to sit on the same board of directors with Tencent; it agrees to the merger because it is tired of the endless burning of money, Alipay's performance growth that has not met expectations, and policy risks.

Those who support the sale to Uber want to join forces to completely crush Tencent; those who oppose the sale to Uber are because it cooperates with Baidu and all other investors are opposed to it.

Now he was in a tough posture that Xie Jingxing and Liu Qing must take the lead, and in turn advised him to have a normal chat without pressure.

What the hell do you want to do, Jack Ma?
The most important thing is that he has no respect for him at all, and communicates with him like he is ordering a subordinate around!
Lu Chuanwei paced back and forth anxiously, repeating to himself three times: "If I get angry and get sick, no one will replace me." He managed to calm down and continued to think.

He is completely numb at this point. Now he has two choices. Either he uses this as a fulcrum to please both sides, or after the merger, let Cheng Wei and Liu Qing get out of here together and let the emancipated serfs sing.

Either he is the one who takes the money and walks away, and whether Liu Qing eats Xiaoniu or not and his relationship with him can only be used for bargaining, and he can sell out all the investors and make a big profit, and he doesn't care about their life or death!

Just as Lu Chuanwei's heels and head were working rapidly as he fell into deep thought, the intrigue in the room above his head gradually took a turn for the worse.

"Ding."

The crisp and pleasant sound of metal collision broke the silence. The silver outer box of the lighter, which felt heavy on the hand, shone in the dim light, and a touch of silver light nimbly flipped at Xie Jingxing's fingertips.

He asked without thinking, "Do you think I was plotted against by Kalanick, or was it an accident?"

Liu Chih-Ping and Zhu Xiaohu looked at each other in silence. Although they both believed that Kalanick was not a man of war, no one would deny that if Xie Jingxing agreed to join, the position of president of Uber China would definitely be his.

So just show your attitude, there is no need to provoke him excessively.

"If the matter is exposed, even if there are no internal problems, the merger process will be prolonged due to the commercial antitrust law."

Liu Qing stared at the back of his head. "For Uber, using such a despicable method to prevent our merger shows that they are ruthless and are actively forcing us and Kuaidi to accelerate the merger."

"How can they be so sure that we want to merge?" Xie Jingxing asked again.

Now Liu Qing and Cheng Wei were silent, as they had received the news before the Baidu Uber press conference.

But he was not as arrogant as Kalanick, who took the initiative to invite and threaten him in person. The most infuriating thing is that he actually accepted the invitation.

Both of them are mentally ill.

"Can you get your cousin to quit Uber China?" Xie Jingxing asked again without caring.

Liu Qing lowered her head: "She has worked in Silicon Valley for nearly ten years."

She has her own family, life, and will. The people present silently completed the unspoken words in their hearts, and Cheng Wei patted her shoulder to comfort her.

For Lao Liu, Didi, Uber China and UCAR are just part of his investment, but this is everything for Liu Qing or Liu Zhen.

She abandoned everything she had before and would never quit Didi, never!

Cheng Wei is also so determined. Looking at the investors who are now showing their fangs and claws, he needs Liu Qing for at least two years.

Xie Jing Xing got up from the ground and filled the glass with wine: "It's a bit difficult, so how do you want to solve it?"

"Mr. Xie, you can come to Didi and take a nominal position there, and sign an exclusive agreement with regard to your shareholding," Cheng Wei said decisively.

Xie Jingxing turned his head and looked at Liu Chi Ping without comment. Zhu Xiaohu was about to collapse. He was always the villain. "That's roughly the idea. We need to have a meeting to discuss how to deal with it specifically."

From their perspective, the only way to solve the problem once and for all is to choose one of the two options: after completing the $7 million financing and building the VIE structure, the management will control the majority of voting rights.

——Liu Qing is out, it’s that simple.

Xie Jingxing's personal holdings in Didi will not be greatly affected even if he turns to Uber China.

Secondly, Xie Jingxing was out. In fact, from the perspective of corporate development, Didi has no shortage of funds to get to where it is today, and Liu Qing is more important than him.

But Tencent is definitely unwilling to do so, as the interests of both parties are too involved. Others may not know, but they are very clear about the value of the title of Prince Consort.

After much discussion, everyone took a step back and the most likely solution was for Xie Jingxing to give up some of his shares.

After raising US$7 million in financing, Taihe + Xiyou still hold a little over 20% of the shares, and new round investors such as Temasek have been thrown into the VIE structure created by Liu Qing.

This means that regarding voting on major decisions, Xie Jingxing may not be able to accomplish what he wants to do, and everyone will feel uncomfortable if he joins hands with Liu Qing to stir up trouble.

He reduced his shareholding to below 20%, and the voting rights controlled by investors in the VIE structure can be checked and balanced by many investors led by Tencent.

He can do whatever he wants with Liu Qing, as long as it can't have a significant impact on Didi's decision-making, the problem will be solved.

After thinking through three possible solutions, Cheng Wei, as the founder, came up with an answer that went beyond the three realms.

If the exclusive agreement could constrain investors of Xie Jingxing's level, the only way would be to amend the Contract Law overnight to not set an upper limit on compensation for breach of contract.

Tencent filled in 1 in the front first, and Zhu Xiaohu followed on behalf of other investors to fill in 10 zeros at the back, not feeling at ease even if one digit was missing.

Excluding the possibility that Cheng Wei is an idiot, the bottom line is that he can't bear to part with Liu Qing, and can't let go of Xie Jingxing.

Let's calm down first and talk to him alone later, Liu Chih-Ping and Zhu Xiaohu said at the same time.

“If I take Uber, how much will it cost me?”

Xie Jing Xing took a sip of wine and asked, "Negative public reputation, political loss of points, offending a large number of domestic peers, or something else, I still haven't figured it out."

"Xiao Xie, don't say discouraging words. No one blames you!" Liu Chih-Ping emphasized with a serious expression.

"Mr. Liu, I have to thank you."

Xie Jing Xing smiled at him, and then continued to talk to himself: "I saw Longda on the rooftop this morning."

Liu Chih-Ping and Zhu Xiaohu didn't understand, but Liu Qing did. She remembered the pair of sunglasses, which rolled down the cliff and broke into pieces.

Cheng Wei doesn't remember much, he only remembers breathing oxygen. Everyone breathed in oxygen that cost thousands of dollars, and they breathed it desperately.

"You guys talk."

After a long silence, he took a step and turned to go outside.

Liu Qing came back to his senses and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Uber is coming in, I have to go back to the company to attend the pre-war mobilization meeting." Cheng Wei left in a hurry without looking back.

(End of this chapter)