Chapter 288: Change of plan, go to battle in person

Saigon, Vietnam.

The weather at the end of December was still as warm as spring. Three small electric scooters slowly crossed the street. The leading rider, wearing a bright green helmet, stopped in front of a hair salon on the street with elegant decoration.

"It's my treat, local specialties."

Cheng Sen threw the green helmet and a 10,000 yuan note as a tip to the doorman, looking extremely excited and flirtatious.

Xie Jingxing took off his yellow helmet and followed suit. Li Yan, who was wearing a black helmet, was as silent as before, but his movements were familiar and he had obviously done this many times before.

The doorman, who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, was wearing a short-sleeved white shirt, a common work uniform style in domestic public bathhouses. He happily took the tip, which was less than three yuan at the exchange rate, and put it in his pocket, then parked the electric bike for the customer skillfully.

There was an inexplicable absurd tone. When entering the store, Cheng Sen shouted "Change the batch" several times in a row. The innocent and pretty girls in their teens were replaced one after another.

The slight sense of humor disappeared, and Xie Jingxing once again carefully examined this country. Imports from China accounted for 30% of the total for the whole year, an increase of 18%, and the exchange rate was 3 to yuan.

The economic data on paper has created a dislocated perspective for the Celestial Empire. Ever since he came here via Singapore in a low-key manner the day before yesterday, he has been reminding himself to bend down and look carefully.

It's a bit difficult. Trying to ask for directions using basic English words on the street can attract young people of the opposite sex to volunteer to lead the way, which is just like the feeling of the white Japanese in Shanghai.

“No, China, we are Chinese.”

Xie Jingxing patiently explained, and the girl who was massaging his feet couldn't help but lose interest and concentrate on serving him, while the girl who was massaging his head became more enthusiastic.

In fact, there are more locals who can speak a few simple Chinese words than those who can speak English, but those who can speak Chinese are either very friendly or very hostile. It is troublesome to speak English and are often mistaken for Koreans or Japanese.

"Wait a minute, I'll take a call."

Xie Jingxing sat up with a head full of bubbles and took out his cell phone. It was Song Anli calling. There was new progress in the competition for control of Panda TV. Tang Man requested to report to him in person tomorrow.

This trip to Vietnam was for a secret fund, so on the surface he should be in Singapore at this time.

Xie Jingxing hung up the phone and looked at Cheng Sen who was groaning and receiving a back massage next to him, and then looked at Li Yan who was massaging his thighs. These two guys were really enjoying it.

"Are you two very skilled in your business?"

He lay down again and blinked at the gentle and well-behaved face above his head.

"We still have a lot of shortcomings compared to our peers. There is a Vietnamese partner in Sequoia's Southeast Asia office who is very skilled in business. We just had dinner with an investor, and he asked the investor to wash his feet that night, catching us off guard."

Cheng Sen laughed sullenly, like a real eunuch: "There are also people from IDG. They have a very good relationship with a temple here, and they can often chat with the great masters about love and romance. We are really ashamed of your praise. We will continue to work hard in the future and live up to your expectations."

"Well, the investment environment here is a bit like that in China ten years ago. People like to socialize."

Li Yan was not as thick-skinned as others, so he didn't dare to say anything too outrageous, and just made up a little based on the actual situation.

The business investment environment here is not like that in China. It is basically the same as it was ten years ago. Eating, drinking and having fun are important, but the business terms go to hell. In short, it's a bit rustic.

Xie Jingxing secretly sighed that it was indeed easy to go from frugality to extravagance. He originally wanted to take Lao Li back to his side after the secret fund was established, but now it seems that he has decided not to do so.

Li Yan kept two female college students in Saigon and seemed to have bought a villa in Bangkok. He had servants and drivers. He even kept an Indian Aryan woman as his concubine. I heard that he hooked up with a flight attendant who flew back and forth on business trips every day.

If you calculate carefully, you will find that he is very stingy in spending little money to achieve great things. He never gives less money to his wife, children and parents in China every month. Maybe he will be able to support a concubine in Singapore or Hong Kong Island if he works hard.

There are too many uncontrollable factors to consider, and Cheng Sen is indispensable for these trivial matters. The relationship between the two becomes closer and closer.

"The growth curve of VNG cannot be compared with similar companies in China or Europe and the United States. It is a leading enterprise in a market with a population of more than 40 million. It is still a tall man among a pile of short men. The investment conditions can be appropriately relaxed."

After the massage, Xie Jingxing added the massage girl's contact information on a social software called 'zolo'.

VNG is its parent company, a local Internet game company in Vietnam. Ten years ago, it gradually grew and became stronger by acting as an agent for Kingsoft's games and received investment from Tencent.

Two years ago, Zolo entered the social field and now has over 700 million registered users. Its growth rate is gratifying, and it has successively crushed Japan's Line, South Korea's KaKaoTalk, and China's overseas version of WeChat.

This year, Tencent’s invasion with WhatsApp was also badly defeated. This is always the case with globalized products. In regions with strong national characteristics and large enough market size, it is difficult to outperform localized competitors.

"Their founder contacted me two days ago. It seems that there is a disagreement with Tencent. Is it about WhatsApp?" Cheng Sen reported the situation seriously.

Xie Jingxing tried the function of 'zolo' and said without looking up: "Mobile payment, Tencent will use WhatsApp to launch mobile payment business in Southeast Asia next year, which will increase the promotion and competitiveness of WhatsApp in disguise. Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia are the first regions."

“So…will Tencent’s investment layout in Southeast Asia be affected?”

Cheng Sen has just cleared his identity and is currently leading a secret fund to invest in several projects. He is outside the mainstream venture capital circle in Southeast Asia and is not well-informed, so most of the time he can only think about things in silence.

Xie Jingxing patiently supplemented the lesson, saying, "The overall Internet infrastructure in Southeast Asia is backward and not enough to support a mature mobile payment business. Tencent's financial investment is to pave the way for mobile payment business. Simply put, they only want mobile payment, preferably made by WhatsApp, but it doesn't matter if its investment companies make it."

"It's another case of raising poison. It would be best if everyone rushed into the field of mobile payment. So the current conflict between VNG and Tencent is due to mutual distrust. Once they can confirm Tencent's intentions, they can still use Tencent's resources for development with peace of mind." Cheng Sen came to his senses.

"You can help them find Alibaba and expand into mobile payment from e-commerce business. Paytm, which we invested in before, also did the same thing and found Alibaba."

Xie Jingxing started to act as a troublemaker. The venture capital business of the secret fund was largely focused on this. He wanted to have a piece of the Southeast Asian mobile payment cake, and neither Tencent nor Alibaba had any reason to give him a bite.

In essence, it is no different from the war of mobile payment agents in China. They place their moves in important battlefields in advance, and then play the balancing trick of balancing both sides, taking advantage of the situation rather than being the vanguard.

"Don't be afraid that Alibaba will reject Paytm. Tell them this: look at the long-term development from a political perspective. This year's Indian election is the first time in more than 20 years that a single party has a majority of seats in parliament. The tea vendor has much more control than his predecessors, and his governing philosophy is predictable."

Xie Jingxing raised his eyebrows: "Understand?"

"Understand!"

Cheng Sen nodded vigorously. This routine was his way of making a living. Xie Jingxing shrugged helplessly. Mo Laoxian, who was born as a tea dealer, was not just a fool. Laoxian was a nationalist and even a bit populist. After his power was consolidated in the next two years, he would make changes to the monetary policy, whether passively or actively.

The "demonetization order" cut hundreds of billions of dollars in fiscal tax revenue. The damn rich people took advantage of the cumbersome direct taxes and the incomplete financial system to evade taxes with cash and gold, right?

The old immortal cracked down on private gold hoarding with one hand, and invalidated 90% of the paper money in circulation on the market with the other hand. If you are awesome, you can bear the loss of all your wealth. If you are not awesome, you can just queue up at the bank door, deposit your money into the financial system, be regulated by it, and pay taxes honestly.

While raising the banner of combating corruption and money laundering has actually made 200 million middle class people cry out for mercy and desire, it is truly an extreme operation that is difficult to evaluate in the entire economic history.

Regardless of whether the truly wealthy got hurt, the market of 200 million middle-class bank users has indeed emerged, and Paytm, known as the Indian version of Alipay, took off instantly.

Add to that VNG, Grab, Sea, Go-jek and other Southeast Asian giants, and the secret fund industry is gradually forming an investment strategy framework - games, e-commerce, food delivery, ride-hailing, and local life.

Next, we will wait and see how Tencent will unveil the curtain and let the core of it all, mobile payment, make its debut.

"Promote the development of Southeast Asia?"

After leaving the hair salon and riding his electric scooter on the street, Xie Jing Xing muttered to himself for some unknown reason, and then he started laughing.

He stopped his electric bike, walked to a street shop and bought three bowls of fried ice cream: "Do you want to be a local emperor in Southeast Asia?"

"What are you talking about, Mr. Xie? I will always be your soldier and that will never change!"

It was impossible for Cheng Sen to have some dignity by changing his identity and name to have the same surname as Zhou Fenglan. Xie Jingxing was not annoyed but just helpless, and turned his head to look to the side.

Li Yan thought about the two college students and his concubine in Bangkok. He felt that he was acting like a local emperor. He lowered his head guiltily and avoided his gaze.

"But I want to be the emperor."

Xie Jingxing stuffed the fried ice into Cheng Sen's hands: "Keep up the good work and improve your business ability. The 50 million US dollars investment will be in place next month."

Li Yan thought that playing with a few women in a place like Saigon made him a local emperor, but he was far from it. He was not interested in being such an emperor.

…………

From Saigon to Singapore, the concept of the Third World suddenly appeared before our eyes in a very intuitive and impactful way.

Xie Jingxing showed up at Taihe's office with a backpack and a small entourage. Tang Man had been waiting for a long time. She had already detailed the details in an email in advance, so there was no need to elaborate.

He brushed his teeth and washed his face, then closed the office door and gave a straightforward conclusion: "Qu Dejun retreated to advance and gave the initiative to test what I really want to do. Anyway, I don't want him to go home to his father."

"..."

It was a bit awkward, and Tang Man couldn't respond to this.

Xie Jing Xing didn't take it seriously and sighed to himself, "Three days ago, Lao Wang just rang the bell to go public in Hong Kong Island, and he was at the peak of his popularity. If I go too far, wouldn't it be a bit disgraceful?"

"Did Mr. Wang greet you?" Tang Man was speechless.

"Not really, and there's no need."

No matter what, Lao Wang is the richest man. He has to clean up his son's mess in business. It would be laughable if he tried to support him, so he still has to maintain some dignity.

But there were inevitably many people who tried to figure out the boss' intentions. Even though Xie Jingxing pushed He Chuan to stand up and block the bullets, there were still people who found ways to gossip about Song Anli and Liu Qiming.

He thought for a moment and continued, "They all went home to see their father, which means that Qu Dejun's way of confrontation is his bottom line. If it doesn't work, he will leave and give his shares to Qihoo 360."

"I don't want to fight to the death with Qihoo 360, but does Qihoo 360 want to drag me down with it?" Xie Jingxing asked.

Tang Man pursed her lips and frowned, "Qihoo 360 is about to be completely abandoned by mobile payment. This is a situation that anyone with a discerning eye can see. Normally, they shouldn't make fun of Panda TV, but you said that they have a live broadcast project as a backup, and they have done mobile phones and Internet finance. It's not certain which track will succeed."

"So you see, this is a thing of the future right?"

Xie Jing Xing paused for a moment and spread his hands: "Today's business is done today, I do not accept extreme gambling, he can only surrender unconditionally and give up all management rights, and honestly hold on to his shares and wait to make some money in the future to get out completely."

"I..." Tang Man wanted to cry. She took a flight for more than six hours just to listen to this?
The phone rang, and Xie Jingxing waved his hand to interrupt and picked up the call.

"Tencent acquired Qidian Chinese Network to form China Literature Group." Song Anli's voice came through the receiver clearly.

Xie Jing Xing suddenly fell silent. After a long while, he replied, "Okay." He stared blankly at her, "Maybe you are right."

"First, remove him from his CEO position and invalidate his super voting rights. We can discuss the subsequent control of the board of directors slowly. Jiaotong University will definitely come in." Tang Man immediately regrouped.

"No, what I mean is that the plan has changed. This job is indeed beyond He Chuan's scope of duties."

Xie Jingxing corrected him, "He has to hand over his CEO position and super voting rights, as well as the board of directors' power. The surrender conditions remain unchanged. But the way to accept the surrender will change."

"How to change?" Tang Man couldn't keep up with the pace.

Xie Jingxing pointed at her phone: "Call Zhou Hongyi, I want to see him, right away."

"you want?"

"Since he won't give it to me, I'll rob him. If I can't rob him, I'll cheat him. If I can't cheat him, I'll cheat him. He calls me dad, so I'll show respect by giving him my all, right?"

Tang Man opened his eyes wide, admiring this long-lost state of doing everything he could. After the WhatsApp acquisition, no project could make him so focused.

Financial capital should be like this.

(End of this chapter)