Dong Qiangqiang's Story of Leaving Germany

As the automatic door of the cafe opened and closed from time to time, people came in and out of the cafe. Lao Bai's attention naturally fell on those who came in. After failing to find the target, he looked out the huge floor-to-ceiling window.

It was just the end of August, it was dark, the lights on both sides of the road were not yet on, it was the evening rush hour after get off work, and Chang'an Avenue was jammed with traffic, the convoys were endless, and all kinds of lights gathered together, making the whole street and both sides of the road clear and extremely clear. Lao Bai clearly remembered how empty this road was when he came here at the beginning of the year, but he didn't expect that half a year later, many traces of things were erased as if they had never happened.

Although the beginning of autumn was in early August and the dog days ended a week ago, the city was still hot and humid during the day, and it was not much cooler at night. He knew that Beijingers called this kind of particularly hot and humid weather "sauna days", and they could not survive a day without turning on the air conditioner. He had been in Germany for a long time and was used to the cool and sweat-free summer. During his stay in China, the sauna days in the past half month were the most torturous to his spirit and vitality.

The air that had been exposed to the sun all day, the exhaust fumes from cars and the heat from people entered the cafe uninvited as the automatic door opened. Although the central air-conditioning was on high, the cafe was large, and the gaps between the windows and the wall frames and the lingering humidity made people feel stuffy. The automatic door was only opened three times, and Lao Bai felt that his shirt was stuck to his back like a gecko sticking to the wall.

He started to catch up in May when SARS was at its lowest point. Throughout the summer, Le Bai's condition had improved significantly, but this significant improvement also depends on what reference he is compared with.

There are still four months left until the end of this year, and he has still nearly half of the target performance set by his investors and shareholders to achieve. If he had not lost the first four months of the Year of the Sheep, or if he had more than half a year and clients with sufficient purchasing power, it would have been much easier to complete the bet. But the current fact is that there is no need to look at the gap in profits, the gap in income alone is hard to describe.

It would have been fine if the business was not going well, after all, there were force majeure reasons at work, but the second round of financing, which he had high hopes for, also started off badly, and progressed much slower than he expected.

In the beginning, in order to complete the second round of financing as soon as possible and achieve his goal as soon as possible, Lao Bai was very determined: not only was the valuation of the second round rational enough, but the amount of financing was also very restrained. Compared with those peers who were not as good as Le Bai but had sky-high valuations and were arrogant, he believed that with Le Bai's current popularity and strength, he should be able to find money easily. The only problem he was worried about at the time was whether raising funds only once this year would be enough.

Unexpectedly, this financing process took several months, and he encountered many setbacks. Now, let alone getting investment, he has not even received a letter of intent for investment, which he thought should be easy to get. In his limited knowledge of financing, the letter of intent for investment of US dollar funds is indeed cautious, but the letter of intent for investment of RMB funds is not so particular, but even so, he still did not get what he wanted.

He comforted himself that the overall financing environment had not yet fully recovered, but after going through so many twists and turns, he received a message from a friend: someone was happy to see him fail in financing.

This made him look at Lao Tang and Lao Ji with a new respect. He didn't expect that the two old guys were not just people who could scare children with harsh words and were half buried in the ground. They also had some real negative energy. Not only did they ruin the RMB fund he had come into contact with, but they could also destroy the US dollar fund he had just secretly established.

While he was thinking about how to confront the other party, he had no choice but to choose Lei Lanting, who suddenly jumped out and claimed to help him complete the financing. Although Lei Lanting asked for a very high proportion of the brokerage fee, which far exceeded the industry standard, Lao Bai still agreed to his request.

No one understands the truth that one has to bow his head under the eaves better than Walter White.

A white light flashed at the automatic door. Lao Bai subconsciously narrowed his eyes and paid attention to the person who walked in, but it was not Lei Lanting. He did not show up after the agreed time. Could something have happened?
Just as Lao Bai was thinking, a hand quietly rested on his right shoulder from behind him: "Are you looking for me?"

Old White glanced down at his watch and said without even turning his head: "You are twenty-two minutes late."

"You can't blame me. Who could have thought that the traffic would be so congested right now? Luckily I reacted quickly and got out of the taxi and went into the subway." Lei Lanting said as he walked to the seat opposite Lao Bai and sat down. He raised his arm and shouted to someone not far away, "Waiter, give me a can of iced Coke. I want a refreshing drink."

Old Bai stared at Lei Lanting, who was wearing a denim suit and took off his sunglasses, and asked with displeasure, "You're going to meet the investors in this outfit? Didn't I remind you to wear formal clothes yesterday?"

"Let me correct you. It's your opinion, not mine." Lei Lanting said with a smile.

Old White looked around, but didn't see anyone coming towards them or paying attention to him: "Where are the investors?"

"Don't be anxious, let's chat for a few minutes first and I'll take you there afterwards." Lei Lanting looked calm.

"What else are you talking about?" Lao Bai asked back.

The waiter who came from a distance put the drinks on the table and quickly retreated. Lei Lanting couldn't wait to pick up the ice cola, tore off the pull ring and threw it on the table. After taking several big sips, he burped the carbon dioxide with satisfaction and put down the cola.

Lao Bai watched his performance coldly without saying a word.

"Old White, the investors you are going to meet in a while may not be comparable to mainstream dollar funds like the U.S. Teachers' Retirement Fund and the Middle East Sovereign Fund, but they are all deep-pocketed people. They..." "Lei Lanting, don't beat around the bush, just tell me how much you want." Upon hearing Lei Lanting's opening remarks, Old White knew that he was going to raise the price. The time he had agreed with the investor had passed, and he didn't want to waste any more time, nor did he want to waste time chatting with Lei Lanting. He wanted to meet the investor as soon as possible to avoid the other party having a bad first impression of him.

"Hehe, it's so refreshing. It's so easy to work with wise people." Lei Lanting laughed. "The commission rate written in the intermediary contract we signed before was 5%, but after hearing about some of Le Bai's deeds, they didn't want to talk to you anymore and insisted that I cancel this roadshow. I have seen your hard work and energy in Le Baihua for so long. It's not easy. I admire you very much. We have been friends for so many years. I can only help you repeatedly do ideological work on the other party. Until this morning, they didn't agree, but they agreed in the afternoon. So tell me, is my hard work and energy for you and Le Baihua worth a little more reward than before?"

"How much?" Lao Bai asked again calmly.

Lei Lanting stretched out a palm in front of Lao Bai with a forced smile, and slowly turned his palm over under the other's cold gaze.

Doubled.

Facing Lei Lanting's arrogant provocation, Lao Bai did not get angry, but spoke clearly: "I couldn't avoid Tang's difficulties when I signed five points before, so I definitely can't give ten points."

Seeing that Old Bai refused without hesitation and put the blame on the investors and shareholders, Lei Lanting sneered in his heart and was really a little surprised. He didn't expect Old Bai to be so tough and act as if he didn't care at all. He was not sure whether Old Bai really didn't care or was just pretending. He thought for a moment and pretended to laugh heartily, "Don't think too much. This is the money you will give me only if you succeed in financing. If you don't succeed, I won't get a penny."

Lao Bai sneered and stopped talking. With a mocking expression on his face, he bent down and brushed his straight and clean trouser legs.

"Okay, it's okay if the brokerage fee can't be doubled. I have an alternative plan." Lei Lanting said, "Lebai doesn't do business in the Southeast Asian market anyway, so give me the exclusive license for this part. I pay Lebai a licensing fee every year, and the company allows me to use Lebai's brand. If I need Lebai's offline resources, Lebai must cooperate unconditionally. As for how I do it or how much I make, Lebai has no right to ask. The license is valid for three years, and the annual fee cannot increase every year."

"Lebai will enter the Southeast Asian market next year, or the year after at the latest." Lao Bai refused for the second time, "It is impossible to give you the authorization, let alone the exclusive right."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"The salary won't increase, and the authorization won't be given." Lei Lanting stood up, spread his hands in a helpless manner, and his tone suddenly rose. "So there's nothing to discuss?"

If we go back to last year when Lebai first raised funds, if Lei Lanting dared to provoke and say all those words about taking advantage of the situation, even if Lao Bai didn't give him a slap in the face on the spot, he would at least curse and walk away, but Lao Bai didn't do that now.

He needs money.

He knew very well that there was a high probability that Lebai would not be able to fulfill the performance bet in the Year of the Sheep, but at the current momentum, the performance next year would be very good (if SARS did not make a comeback), especially next year when Greece would host the Summer Olympics. Lebai would have a good chance to consolidate its position as the number one in the industry. Therefore, he was increasingly inclined to take advantage of this year's unsatisfactory performance to bury the bulk of next year's expenses this year. Anyway, whether this year's financial report showed a small loss or a huge loss was a failure in the bet, and there was not much difference. However, whether it was a small profit or a huge profit next year was very important to Lebai's third round of financing. Turning losses into profits would not only impress the third round of investors and save him unnecessary arguments, but more importantly, it would make it easier for him to report a higher company valuation and raise more money.

He can admit defeat and accept failure, provided it is for a greater goal.

In his plan, the largest portion of the company's expenditure is the acquisition of third-party companies.

He has been watching for a long time that several small travel agencies in Nan De are secretly looking for buyers because they can't get orders. If he has enough money, he can quickly realize the acquisition. The biggest advantage of M&A development is that it saves time, can quickly accumulate resources, increase customers, attack or destroy peers, determine the status of the industry, and attract more funds. If there is no capital intervention, Le Bai can patiently wait for the natural growth of customers, but once capital comes in, there is no such thing as waiting for the company to develop slowly and naturally. Capital only cares about the speed of development, not whether the company is forced to grow, whether the company's development conforms to the objective development law of things, whether the morality of the major shareholders is flawed, and whether the employees can understand the corporate culture. Rapid development and making money as soon as possible are the only two requirements of capital for the invested companies. Slowness is the original sin, incompetence, and a sign of the company's death.

Acquiring a third-party company and firing its employees means spending money. Therefore, the first year of M&A-style development will often result in losses or even huge losses for the acquiring party. However, it is better to suffer a short pain than a long pain, and it is better to suffer once than every year.

After a long silence, Lao Bai said in an unquestionable tone: "At most seven points."

"Eight." Lei Lanting made the final test, wanting to see if Lao Bai's bottom line could be lowered.

"If you can accept it, take me to see (the investor), if not (accept it), don't waste my time." Lao Bai said and stood up, "I'll say this once." (End of this chapter)