After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 443 - 438: Stay Grounded and Work Hard

"Mr. Lu, hold on, how about we dine together?"

After the meeting, Zhou Hongwei and Mr. Lei found Lu Liang—they clearly had motives beyond just catching up over food.

360 Finance and Xiaomi both planned to go public by the end of the year or early next year, and with Lu Liang's remarkable results in aiding Panda, now also considering DiDi's invitation, they wanted to pick his brain.

"Sure, just give me a moment." Lu Liang looked at Mr. Lei warily and waved Jia Wei over, whispering, "Take the documents to Mr. Hu first, I'll come by later."

Mr. Zhou might genuinely want to inquire about the IPO, but Mr. Lei was definitely up to no good.

After all, Xiaomi had already decided to go public in Hong Kong next year and had even planned a 9.9 billion dividend distribution at the end of the year.

Distributing dividends right before listing was taboo, a clear sign they didn't care if the stock price suffered.

Now coming to him for advice? Suddenly, Lu Liang could empathize with Zhang Yiming being wary of him.

Mr. Lei coughed a few times, pretending not to notice, and discussed with Mr. Zhou where they would eat.

"Lei, look at what you've done, even Mr. Lu is on guard against you. Maybe it's time for some reflection."

Zhou Hongwei looked disgusted; his relationship with Mr. Lei was like Shen Peng's with Zhu Hu.

Since the Kingsoft Antivirus days, they had loved and fought fiercely. Initially, Kingsoft was a paid model, but the advent of 360 shattered that model.

And his current bad reputation was also because he agreed to meet Mr. Lei, which led to a fight.

It was entirely Mr. Lei's fault for boasting, prompting Zhou Hongwei to challenge him to a fight at the entrance of Chaoyang Park.

As a result, netizens only cared about looks; Mr. Lei, who messed around and planned escape routes, seemed youthful, while he ended up the villain, more wronged than Dou E.

Lu Liang's expression darkened. "Mr. Zhou, what do you mean by 'even'?"

"Nothing."

Zhou Hongwei gave a forced laugh, then turned to discuss with Mr. Lei about going to their usual restaurant.

At the Dongbei Wang Road Wuyi No.1 Restaurant, Mr. Lei's assistant had reserved a private room, and dishes were served one after another as they arrived.

Lunch was not like evening; they had things to handle in the afternoon, aiming to finish eating, finish discussing, resolve matters, and disperse early.

"Mr. Zhou, no need to defer, you start." Lu Liang took a piece of chicken; he didn't like the sweet Fujianese cuisine.

Zhou Hongwei paused, being quite direct, revealing that 360 Finance had passed its review and was expecting to start its IPO roadshow in December.

If Lu Liang was interested, he could offer 5% of the equity, exclusively earmarked for his investment.

Lu Liang didn't immediately refuse, considering for a moment before saying, "Mr. Zhou, you know my current situation, I really can't spread myself any thinner. How about I introduce you to some institutions, and you can discuss with them directly?"

Quality steel should be used for knife's edges, and reputation-converted wealth should be similarly utilized; misuse depreciates its value.

360 Finance was valued at only 3.3 billion US dollars, even less than Panda, and its main operation was lending, commonly known as P2P.

Though online lending had helped Lu Liang earn his first fortune, as his horizons expanded, he had come to disdain it.

The end of technology should not be lending.

The P2P sector was more outrageous than new energy.

In its early years, only a few major players were involved, but over several years of development, all sorts of riffraff had barged in.

Compared to them, loan sharks were almost considered ethical; seven-day predatory loans, borrowing ten thousand to receive only five thousand, and repaying eleven thousand were commonplace.

Lu Liang always felt it was a bubble waiting to burst, and with other ways to make money, he truly did not want to dabble in this field.

Zhou Hongwei stopped mid-sentence, but said no more.

Inviting Lu Liang was a spur-of-the-moment idea, and his refusal was expected.

After obtaining contact information for Wilson from him and thanking him, Zhou Hongwei buried his head and focused on eating, his ears perked up.

"Mr. Lei... sorry, I have to take a call first."

No sooner had Lu Liang spoken than his phone rang; he walked to the doorway to answer.

The caller was Li Junyi, arranging to meet later to discuss how to get DiDi approved.

When he returned to the private room, Mr. Lei smiled and asked, "Mr. Lu, Xiaomi is considering entering the automotive industry, any good suggestions?"

Ever since the World New Energy Vehicle Conference held on Hai Island in mid-July, the industry had experienced a small resurgence.

Although the market had not fully accepted electric vehicles, the leadership had made their stance clear at the conference.

The leadership's attitude was their directive, and with Xiaomi reaching a developmental bottleneck, it was time to advance further.

Lu Liang was speechless; he hadn't expected Mr. Lei to be so direct after just taking a phone call.

He had thought they would spar a bit before Mr. Lei revealed his real intentions.

"We're all feeling our way forward; what advice could I possibly have?"

Lu Liang laughed at himself; his wealth had come quickly, and he needed an industry to invest it in. The state was promoting the development of the new energy industry, and with Ningde's trillion-yuan market valuation forecast, Lu Liang had smoothly slid into this field. As for truly great suggestions, he had none.

It was simply about being down-to-earth and dedicated. Come quietly, avoid making waves, and if it failed, act as if it never happened.

Mr. Lei was speechless, "Mr. Lu, you really have a broad perspective."

"What else can I do? I genuinely don't understand the technology; I can only spend more money."

Lu Liang smiled, talking about the Magic City Zhangjiang Science and Technology Park and the production base under construction in Su City.

The company had only 690 million yuan left in its accounts, all pulled out to invest in DiDi, leaving just over 200 million.

There were still 3.6 billion yuan in final payments for construction projects and a funding gap of 3.4 billion for the production line.

Before a single car was produced,

it was already burdened with a debt of 22 billion yuan.

Both of them listened and reflected thoughtfully.

It was known that Lu Liang had invested heavily in this industry, but there were no precise figures.

Now that the main character had spoken, they learned that 22 billion yuan, 3.2 billion US dollars, was just the initial investment.

Zhou Hongwei scratched his head, feeling it necessary to reconsider whether to continue investing in Nezha Motors.

Lei Jun's eyes brightened, having worn the label of Beijing's Cash King for too long, increasingly feeling its weight.

After Xiaomi went public, it was time to find something to do, time for the last venture of his life.

The lunch took over forty minutes; Zhou Hongwei and Lei Jun, after thanking Mr. Lu, went their separate ways, having obtained what they wanted or the answers they sought from Lu Liang.

"Will I also be named a godfather of business in some years?"

Lu Liang touched his chin in contemplation, a slight smile forming on his lips, as long as there were no conflicts of interest, he was more than willing to help others.

Leaving the restaurant, Lu Liang arrived at the SOHO Building.

He had previously arranged for Hu Weiwei to ready a room to serve as his temporary office in Beijing.

He used to have an office, but it was too small and he barely visited once a month, so it was dismantled.

Upon seeing Xu Jiawei frazzled, Lu Liang stood at the door for a while before asking, "Jia Wei, if we need to prepare the submission materials again, how long will it take?"

Xu Jiawei managed a bitter smile, "Mr. Lu, if we reorganize, we'd need at least a team of 50 people and no less than half a month."

DiDi was not just a company that had developed over five years, but also a rapidly appreciating unicorn valued at 50 billion US dollars.

He just spoke with Liu Qing's assistant and learned that they had set up a team of a hundred people and spent two months on the material submission for audit.

Though they had now successfully taken over and many of the data collected did not need to be gathered again, organizing it would still not take a short time.

"Stay in Beijing for this period, and when the time comes, there will be people to help you decide what needs to be submitted or not."

Having grasped the situation, Lu Liang left the company and went to the restaurant where he had previously met Li Junyi, who had been waiting for a while.

He cut to the chase without pleasantries, "Director Li, my intention is to take DiDi public."

The main reason was to assist relevant departments, but joining DiDi wasn't just for assistance.

The implication was that DiDi must go public in the US, or he wouldn't get involved in this venture.

His heart was true red, but he couldn't let others perceive it, as he still needed to make money on the international market in the future.

While his public image could be profit-driven, it absolutely couldn't appear patriotic or loyal to the party.

Li Junyi smiled slightly, "Naturally, DiDi has grown to the point where it should go public."

Lu Liang nodded and directly said, "Then let's cut to the chase. Which materials are off-limits and which are within bounds, please list them out..."

He didn't want to guess those lines, nor did he want to self-censor and add to his troubles, that wasn't his concern.

Li Junyi's smile remained as he took out a document, "Mr. Lu, we've organized the problems from DiDi's last submission for review. As long as you delete these data or obscure them, passing smoothly shouldn't be a problem."

The efforts Lu Liang made were all seen, and naturally, they wouldn't make it difficult for him, and since the listing team had changed, the problems that Liu Qing faced wouldn't exist for Lu Liang.

"Quick and easy."

Lu Liang smiled as he gathered the materials, planning to leave.

"Mr. Lu, do you need help?"

Seeing Lu Liang about to leave, Li Junyi quickly asked.

Domestic audit issues were not a problem for Lu Liang, but he still had to face issues from within DiDi and from abroad.

If Lu Liang needed help, he could mention it, and they would try to assist within their responsibilities.

Lu Liang thought for a moment, "Not right now, we'll talk if problems arise later."

His biggest issue was with the Liu family, but upon consideration, he knew that wasn't something Li Junyi could help with.

As monitors, they wouldn't step in directly, otherwise, they wouldn't have sought him out repeatedly.

"Alright, you can call me anytime."

Lu Liang left the restaurant and returned to the SOHO Building.

Suddenly, he received a call from the Protocol Department; Old Te planned to come for a three-day state visit next month on the 8th.

The second day's schedule included meeting with entrepreneurs from both countries and jointly meeting with reporters.

Lu Liang was invited, and the person in charge from the Protocol Department inquired if he was available during those days, not just him but also Old Ma, Lei Jun, Old Cao of Fuyao, among twelve others.

Lu Liang agreed without hesitation.

But after the call ended, he couldn't help but wonder, "Had the quota been pre-booked, or was it only provisional before, and now they had officially settled it?"

He had just finished meeting with Li Junyi, taking charge of the DiDi listing, resolute in not letting any information leak.

Now receiving an invitation, becoming one of the twelve national entrepreneurs invited to the bilateral business discussion summit.

The coincidence made it hard not to speculate.

"It must just be a coincidence, after all, Old Te has had his eyes on me for more than a day."

Lu Liang quickly dismissed the conspiracy theory because Old Cao of Fuyao and Old Zhang of Suning had also been invited.

If the standard was social status and corporate influence, then they had even less right than him.

Their only commonality was having investments in the US and having met Old Te before.

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