After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future
Chapter 453 - 448: The Real Market Trend is About to Launch

"Good or bad, will the resistance increase, or will it decrease?"

Lu Liang, looking thoughtful, knew that Shenzhou Xiaomi's aggressive push would inevitably distract the Liu family.

But they had already tasted the bitter fruit of backing down once.

If even the much-anticipated Third Generation Leader were to get kicked out of DiDi, wouldn't that further indicate that the Liu family was on the decline and open to being manipulated by others?

Thus, not only would there be competitors for municipal equipment procurement, but even the status of a comprador would be eyed by others.

Though being a comprador meant serving foreign interests, many were struggling just to get such a position.

"Could this be the key to breaking the situation?"

Lu Liang shifted his focus to Bitcoin, thinking it better to figure out how to handle Goldman Sachs than to speculate on the Liu family's next move.

Just like when DiDi acquired Uber and the Liu sisters turned against each other, it all boiled down to Liu Qing bypassing the management in the Chinese District, her own cousin's level.

She directly contacted Uber's headquarters in America to discuss and settle on the acquisition and their exit from the market.

As long as Goldman Sachs was handled, the attitudes and thoughts of the Liu family actually didn't matter at all.

Lu Liang called Li Bing to check if he was busy lately, and if not, he planned to make a trip abroad.

Li Bing, all smiles, said, "Mr. Lu, isn't it just timely? I was about to call you right after hearing that you returned."

"Pre-IPO meeting?" asked Lu Liang.

"IPO financing round."

As the leader among the three companies under Weiliao, NIO had been established the earliest and released new cars the earliest, and it should be first to brave the market in the US.

Though they had sold just under a thousand cars and were in a loss of 8.8 billion yuan, the capital market is all about expectations.

Listed in Tokyo for over three years and still recording annual losses of over twenty billion, it didn't prevent its market value from reaching over fifty billion US dollars.

"Mr. Shen, what did they say?"

Lu Liang wanted to know Shen Peng's thoughts.

"Mr. Shen asked me to consult your opinion first," said Li Bing, with a bitter smile as everyone seemed to be passing the buck.

They wanted to cash out their shares as soon as possible yet couldn't bear to sell at a low price, just in case NIO really turned out to be the next Tesla, which would mean a huge loss if it went public now.

After all, NIO's valuation was only 4 billion US dollars during the last funding round, and it wouldn't exceed 5.5 billion in the IPO round.

If NIO could become the next Tesla, not to mention matching Tesla's hundred billion US dollars, even just ten billion US dollars would mean at least doubling the return.

"Then let's prepare for the IPO."

[November 1, 2021, NIO's market value was 98.3 billion US dollars.]

Lu Liang thought of that news, still four years away, with NIO's financial situation, it definitely couldn't be going public four years later.

He had seen NIO's financial statements; without a fresh influx of capital, surviving till the end of the year was questionable, let alone four years.

Li Bing was also very eager for NIO to go public soon.

Thus, it could be concluded that NIO's push would likely come after its IPO.

Lu Liang paused then added, "However, I won't be available during this time, you'll have to handle it yourself."

"Understood, understood, just might need you to show up when necessary to help out with introductions."

"No problem."

After staying a few days in Modu, Lu Liang cleared up the backlog of official tasks and then headed to Su City.

At Lou Shui New Energy Industrial Park, seventeen factory buildings were swiftly rising, with completion expected in two months.

Across the river at Tianxing Super Factory,

three main buildings were also beginning to take shape.

"By next April, just half a year to go until completion, the neighbors will be two months ahead of us."

Zhuo Yifan, wearing a red helmet and with sun-darkened rough skin, blended perfectly into the construction site.

"Any issues with the construction?" Lu Liang inquired.

He had just gotten off the highway and from afar, the sky was blue and the clouds white, except for their area which was covered in dust.

In recent months, there hadn't been much rain in Su City, even the greenery by the roadsides had turned yellow.

In the nearby residential areas, windows and doors were tightly shut, and not a single car had a clean windshield.

Zhuo Yifan smiled, saying, "Local leadership teams come by every now and then, and the water trucks run three times a day."

"Though there are minor issues, everyone is working hard to overcome them, hoping both projects will proceed smoothly."

The nearby residents had some complaints, but it wasn't as serious as imagined—they just grumbled a bit without intervening or filing complaints.

Because before these two projects were confirmed, the average housing price in this area was only 15,000 yuan per square meter.

After their arrival, house prices soared.

Now the average was more than 42,000 yuan,

and in prime locations, it even breached fifty thousand.

The route map for Metro Line 5 was also out, almost circling the Lou Shui New Energy Industrial Park.

The municipal government had decided that next year, once the two projects were completed, they would allocate 50 billion yuan to repair roads and improve infrastructure.

A brighter future awaited them; these minor problems and difficulties could be endured for the time being.

"That's good," Lu Liang said as he took a look around, feeling that there were no issues, and planned to leave.

"Mr. Lu, wouldn't you stay for a meal? District Chief Liu and Secretary Gong mention you all the time."

Wang Xiaofeng hastily called out. The leaderships' inspections were one thing, but they also seemed to be planning to nominate Lu Liang for the People's Congress.

After all, to date, Lu Liang was just an ordinary National Outstanding Young Entrepreneur and one of the Top Ten Outstanding Youths.

At the provincial and city level People's Congress, only one nominee can be made.

Modu hasn't made a move yet, they're about to take action.

"Just say I had to leave early because of some urgent business," Mr. Lu explained, feeling a headache coming on. He had discussed it with the leadership team, who explicitly and implicitly indicated that they wanted to strengthen the relationship further.

In essence, they wanted him to relocate Tianxing Private Equity, Tianxing Investment, and the Public Fund from Modu to Su City.

Though financial companies don't offer many employment positions, the taxes they pay are not at all less than those paid by multibillion-dollar corporations.

Last year alone, they contributed 986 million yuan in taxes. This year, with the establishment of a public fund and four more phases, the amount would only increase.

Secretary Gong also said that if they could relocate, the first year would be tax-free, followed by a 50% reduction for the next three years, among other policy incentives.

Mr. Lu was very tempted and almost agreed,

but after careful consideration, he decided against it.

They were gradually engaging with foreign institutions, trying to become a part of global capital. When he mentioned Modu, they knew the city, but Su City was hardly known to anyone.

Moreover, Mr. Lu's connections with the banks, the Securities and Futures Commission, and the Silver Supervision Committee were all based in Modu, which affected everything.

It seemed inappropriate to hastily relocate just to save a few billion yuan in taxes in the early years.

More importantly, Su City had no airport.

How could he host international guests if they had to travel over a hundred kilometers by car after getting off the plane?

Though these were valid reasons to decline, the leaders who heard them were almost driven to storm Modu with swords in hand overnight.

Su Daqiang, being the sixth-largest city nationally without an airport, was deterring investors. How could that make sense?

Mr. Lu did not know the follow-up situation, but he guessed that it hadn't escalated since there were still differences between prefecture-level cities and directly administered cities.

He did not want to listen to their pie-in-the-sky promises any longer, and he promptly left the scene.

As for the People's Congress, Mr. Lu didn't care much about it because it was ultimately designated for him; Modu didn't grant it due to its special status.

At 32 years old, moving directly to the provincial level wasn't appropriate.

But that was soon to change. Next month, with Old Te visiting China, Mr. Lu was one of the twelve representatives from the east.

Leaving Su City, Mr. Lu returned to Modu, driving over a hundred kilometers to Pu Xin Airport.

He was to visit Han City first, then Tokyo.

Wen Chao had arrived at Han City Airport an hour earlier to arrange the next part of Mr. Lu's itinerary.

"Why did Bitcoin crash?" Mr. Lu asked.

As they passed over Mapo Bridge, there were police cars on the bridge, ambulances below, and a crowd gathered, taking photos and gawking.

He had seen the news on the plane. In the last two days, Mapo Bridge had become a legendary spot.

Since its debut on the exchange five days ago, the market had been like a rollercoaster—either soaring or plummeting.

A 15% fluctuation was normal daily, but there was a sudden 22% crash the day before yesterday, and it had not recovered since.

Thus, the revered Mapo Bridge turned into a spot for dramatic plunges, with eleven incidents occurring in just three days.

Most were due to cryptocurrency investors whose accounts had been liquidated.

It had to be said, the young people of Korea were truly fierce, maxing out high-interest credit cards, buying into cryptocurrencies heavily.

If they won, it was a life of luxury with nightclub models,

but if they lost, they had to reinvent themselves, akin to being corporate kryptonite.

"It wasn't us who dumped the stock, but we did follow suit and liquidated some positions," Wen Chao mentioned, trying not to look out the window. As long as he didn't see it, he could pretend it didn't exist.

Although Bitcoin had dropped from a high of 5500 US dollars to 4290 US dollars overnight, they had taken emergency measures to hedge.

But since it wasn't they who caused the crash, he could comfortably convince himself it had nothing to do with them.

"Who do you think it could be?"

Mr. Lu smiled and averted his gaze as well.

"It could be Samsung, Toshiba or Motorola."

Wen Chao had investigated, but couldn't pinpoint the culprit. If they could sneak in quietly, so could others.

After a moment's thought, Mr. Lu suddenly said, "Let's go back early tomorrow, go all-in, and then enter a lock-up period."

Two more months,

and Bitcoin would rise to twenty thousand US dollars.

There was still a sixteen thousand US dollar upward potential. Naturally, it wouldn't just be one straight line upward.

It would definitely fluctuate up and down, up, up, down, up, up, up, up, up…

Now there was still ample time. This round should be the last, or penultimate adjustment.

Big capital always precipitates a plunge when entering the market, obtaining low-cost chips, and it also signifies that the real market action is about to start.

At the entrance of the Meipres Hotel, Li Xuanhong was waiting early in the morning in a sharp white suit, smiling broadly.

"Mr. Li, long time no see."

Mr. Lu had met many tycoon leaders, but Li Xuanhong's appearance, attire, and behavior

were like those of a typical villain in modern dramas. If he could act, he would be flawlessly cast, being the perfect embodiment of degenerate elitism and beastly behavior in fine clothing.

It was unclear whether it was an act or his true nature.

"Mr. Lu, I've been looking forward to your arrival," Li Xuanhong remarked, then glanced at Wen Chao with a nod and a smile. They met often, so there was no need for excessive pleasantries.

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