Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1227 The Greatest Sound is Silent, the Greatest Form is Formless

Upon seeing the news headline on the China.com webpage, Mr. Song's blood pressure instantly spiked, and he felt the blood rushing to his head, causing his vision to go black. If it weren't for the senior executive behind him supporting him, he probably would have collapsed to the ground with his head on the ground.

This time, China.com published news about Top Group on both its mainland and Hong Kong websites simultaneously, launching a three-pronged attack right from the start, each blow hitting Top right where it hurts!

First, Peregrine Securities claimed that there were problems with Top Technology's financial audit and that it failed to meet the financing requirements.

This statement, delivered in technical jargon, saved Top Inc. some face. However, in plain language that the general public could understand, it meant that Peregrine was questioning Top Inc. about whether it had committed financial fraud.
This first move has almost completely blocked the door for Top Technology to list in the port city.

The second move targeted Top's most prized industrial parks, with China.com announcing that it had dispatched reporters to conduct on-site investigations of Top Software Parks in two or three regions.

As a result, all of these software parks were closed, with the outer perimeter sealed off by sheet metal. Through the gaps, one could see that the inside was almost a wasteland. There wasn't a single bird feather in the software parks, let alone any buildings.

Other software parks, although the buildings have been completed, lack running water and electricity, and the roads leading to the outside world are dilapidated dirt roads with no bus stops nearby.

I'd like to ask Top, how come any companies have moved into this software park? Is this some kind of ghost story?
China.com also showed leniency in its reporting on Top Software Park, only referring to it as an "individual" software park and not reporting on the situation of each of Top's 27 software parks one by one.

Finally, China.com reported on Top Software, expressing skepticism about Top's claim to be the Walmart of the software industry, and questioning whether Top Software is actually worth 10 billion RMB.
Indeed, thanks to Mr. Song's hype, Top Software, which went public on the A-share market through a backdoor listing, has already exceeded 10 billion RMB in market value.

With the addition of Top Technology, which was spun off, if it were to be listed in Hong Kong, Top Group would become the Top Group, owning two listed companies, 27 software industrial parks, and covering 12,000 acres of land, including industrial parks in cities such as Shanghai. Top's total market value would exceed 20 billion yuan, making it a behemoth in the domestic software industry!

But now, China.com has raised questions about the Top Empire, questioning how Top could make money from a piece of wasteland and where it got the money to build these software industrial parks.

caveat!

With cold sweat beading on his forehead and his back soaked through, Boss Song forced himself to calm down. It has to be said that Boss Song's mentality was extraordinary, given that he could play such a big game.

After reading the report on China.com again, those two words immediately popped into Mr. Song's mind. He suddenly realized that this was China.com, or Cyberport behind China.com, issuing a warning to him!

Hong Kong is not Song's territory. Top's little tricks should not be used on Cyberport. As for Song's desire to use Cyberport and someone's hype, let him decide for himself whether he wants to continue playing the game!
"President Song, should we sue China.com? This report has been leaked and has had a huge impact on Top."

Top Technology's IPO in the port city may fail, and it will also raise questions about us from the outside world..."

After seeing the report on China.com, a senior executive of Top could not help but express his indignation and said that he would sue China.com for defaming Top.

"Who should we sue?"

"Are you going to sue China.com or Cyberport?"

"Or should we sue Li Dongling?"

The executive wanted to show his loyalty to Boss Song, but instead of receiving praise, he was met with a barrage of insults.

It's not that Mr. Song is cursing; the real question is, who is Top going to sue?
China.com's headquarters are in Hong Kong. Asking him to go to Hong Kong to sue China.com is like asking someone to throw an egg against a rock, given that Hong Kong has only recently returned to China and its status in the mainland, as well as China.com's parent company Cyberport with a market value of HK$350 billion.
As for suing China.com in mainland China, that would be even better!

Suing the Inland China.com branch is easy, but defending Inland China.com is the legal team of Dongling High-Tech Company.

This is equivalent to putting Top in a head-to-head confrontation with Dongling High-Tech!
I ask the all-powerful Boss Song, do you dare to have a showdown with Philanthropist Li in the mainland and see who comes out on top?

Let alone the lawsuit being fought in Hanxi, even if it were fought in Rongcheng, Boss Song wouldn't feel he had the slightest chance of winning.

It's true that Top Corporation is currently valued at 10 billion RMB, but with such a company, how can Top compete with Dongling High-Tech?

It's not that Mr. Song lacks confidence; the key issue is that, even though they're both in the A-share market, Chuanrong Electronics, another Dongling High-Tech concept stock, has a higher market capitalization than Top.

If they can't even beat their underlings, do they really think they can go head-to-head with Dongling High-Tech? Does Top have the capability?

As for using connections and relationships, and employing some underhanded tactics, if Top wins against Dongling High-Tech in Chengdu, then the next issue won't be Top's problem, but rather whether the supporters behind Boss Song can withstand the supporters of Dongling High-Tech.

Since it's a battle of gods, let's each summon our own deities and see what kind of gods we can get!
Mr. Song couldn't even imagine who would step forward to "uphold justice" for Dongling High-Tech. Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle, and his neck suddenly felt itchy, as if it were about to fall off...

One thing he was very clear about was that his supporters would never fight Dongling High-Tech to the death for Top. Boss Song would definitely be the first pawn to be abandoned!

After unleashing a torrent of curses, Mr. Song's mood improved somewhat. Looking at the China.com webpage, he gritted his teeth and said, "Pass down the notice: Top Technology is withdrawing its financing and listing plans in Hong Kong. We will not consider listing in Hong Kong for the time being!"

This is essentially a show of weakness and submission. While it may be temporary, Top Technology will likely never again venture into Hong Kong to cause trouble.

"We need to engage in public relations with the media. We can't say that China.com is smearing or defaming Top, but rather that these reports contain some inaccuracies. Top hasn't even had time to develop those software parks yet!"

Whether the investors believe it or not, Mr. Song has no choice but to keep up the charade. "I will personally hold a press conference to address these questions!"

"In addition, Top is announcing a one-time recruitment of 5,000 software engineers, with salaries of over 5,000 yuan for all new hires!"

"Top is contacting basketball, volleyball, and football teams in Chengdu and Shanghai to sponsor them and acquire naming rights!"

Boss Song was incredibly audacious. He knew that when faced with a public opinion crisis and being questioned, he couldn't keep defending himself because nobody cared whether he was really wronged. The general public only wanted to watch the show, not to mention the huge lump of... well, you know, under Top's butt.

Therefore, Mr. Song planned to divert attention by flexing his muscles to show the outside world that Top was not a fraudulent company and that its finances were sound.

Which scammer could recruit so many engineers at once and be so wealthy as to sponsor a sports team?

"President Song, if we really want to recruit 5,000 engineers, Top doesn't have that many positions!"

One executive couldn't help but say that Top currently only has a few hundred or a thousand employees, and recruiting five thousand people at once would be several times larger than Top's current size.

Boss Song glared and said, "We put up the job ad. Whether we hire, how many we hire, and how many qualified people are all up to us!"

……

China.com's report on Top Software quickly sparked a reaction, after all, Top Software is now a software giant in China, and its owner, Mr. Song, is known as the "Software King" and "IT Giant".

In the tech industry, Mr. Song is also a celebrity. It's just that a certain great philanthropist has been so dazzling in recent years that he has overshadowed the brilliance of people like Mr. Song.

This sudden report by China.com quickly put Top in the spotlight.

Before the outside world could react, Topsoft's stock price plummeted 8.7% that day, wiping out over 900 million RMB in market value!
Investors in the A-share market have always voted with their feet. Whether they are institutional investors or retail investors, they will run away at the slightest sign of trouble. These are lessons learned the hard way.

Moreover, there have always been doubts about Top. Mr. Song made too many boasts, but to be honest, Top's revenue has not improved much, which does not match his boasts. This has always been a point of suspicion for some people. It's just that China.com has exposed this fact.

Not to mention, everyone knows who owns China.com. Now that China.com has suddenly attacked Top, many people are speculating that perhaps Mr. Song, the software tycoon, has a grudge against Mr. Li.
If these two clash, whose side should A-share investors take? It goes without saying. Even those who are most optimistic about Top will not believe that Mr. Song can withstand Mr. Li's offensive. If they don't run now, when will they?
Due to a variety of reasons, something unexpected happened in front of everyone: a report on China.com caused Top's stock price to plummet by 8.7% that day.

The next day, Top's stock price hit the daily limit down again when the market opened. Institutions and retail investors rushed to sell, causing Top's stock price to be locked at the daily limit down price!

A single report, spanning two days, caused Topsoft's market value to evaporate by 18 billion RMB. China.com almost achieved legendary status overnight. No one expected that a single internet media report could create such a huge stir.

China.com and other internet media have made their debut in the mainstream, allowing everyone in mainland China to get a preliminary glimpse of their influence!
……

"Because the financial statistics and auditing are different between the inland and port cities, there may be some misunderstandings in Top Company's financial auditing."

Top Technology respects the professionalism of Peregrine Securities (Hong Kong branch), but it was all a beautiful misunderstanding. Top Technology will re-audit its financial statements!

"In addition, I will personally contact companies such as China.com, Peregrine, and Cyberport to explain all this, and invite President Lin Xianhui and others to personally visit Top Group for inspection."

"Top Software Park hasn't started construction?"

"Rome wasn't built in a day. Building a single building takes at least several years, not to mention building dozens of industrial parks. Top Software Park also needs to be started one by one. If I said that we would start construction at the same time, that would require a one-time payment of billions of RMB, which would be deceiving everyone!"

"Top will not fall, and there are no problems whatsoever. Top will recruit another 5,000 engineers domestically!"

Li Dashanren, who had just returned home to Pingyang, was looking at the media's response to the press conference held by Boss Song.

Even the philanthropist Li had to admit that Boss Song's eloquence was truly remarkable; he could even make the dead seem alive.

Regarding the report by China.com, Mr. Song evaded the issue entirely, claiming it was all a misunderstanding.

However, with Top's announcement of recruiting 5,000 engineers and its sponsorship of the Shanghai Shenhua football team, turning Shenhua into Shenhua Top, this publicity stunt actually helped him reverse the downward trend and stop the decline in Top's stock price.

"Mr. Li!"

"That Mr. Song called me and said he wanted to come to my door to apologize!"

The phone rang, and after Li Dongling answered it, Lin Xianhui's voice came through.

(End of this chapter)