Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1384 Fire
Li Dongling is planning to go all in and collect taxes on e-cigarettes for thirty or even fifty years to come.

Does e-cigarette have a future?
That's for sure. It will become a substitute for traditional tobacco. After all, its advantages and selling points are there: no secondhand smoke, rich flavors, easy to carry, etc. It is destined that e-cigarettes will have a place in the tobacco industry.

Originally, e-cigarettes were supposed to coexist with traditional tobacco and enter the next century.

But the world is a huge makeshift operation, and bugs will inevitably appear. Who would have thought that America, Canada, and other parts of old Europe would loosen controls on contraband for the sake of votes, approval ratings, and tax revenue?
The power of contraband is incomparable to that of traditional tobacco or e-cigarettes; the difference between the two is like the difference between a rifle and a machine gun.

Traditional tobacco and e-cigarettes will definitely cause harm to the human body, but this is in exchange for time and dosage.

But contraband is different. This stuff is too powerful. It doesn't care about the life or death of the host at all. People who have used contraband are basically ruined. They spend the rest of their lives pursuing that momentary neural network-level explosive stimulation. If they were to go back to using traditional tobacco and e-cigarettes, they would have absolutely no experience.

It can only be said that the statement "Countries that received indemnities from the Qing Dynasty eventually became the next Qing Dynasty" is becoming increasingly relevant.

So, to say whether e-cigarettes still have a market in places like America, the answer is yes, but it's far less than expected.

Therefore, the philanthropist Li is no longer planning to play the long game; he's going all in right now, using e-cigarettes to collect all the taxes from the next thirty years in one go!

It is estimated that after Ruyan e-cigarette goes public, it will start to stimulate the stock price and drive the market value to its peak. What Torch Group wants to do is to drive the market value of Ruyan e-cigarette to the extreme, then cash out and leave the Ruyan e-cigarette stock to those who are destined to have it...

Torch Group, relying on the cash flow from its e-cigarette business, is looking for the next big opportunity.

After all, with the development of automation, Torch Group's disposable lighter business will definitely need to use automation to replace manual labor.

The gradual transfer of hundreds of thousands of employees from Torch Group to Zorro lighters and other businesses is a Damocles' sword hanging over Torch Group's head that must be resolved!
Only with a large amount of cash flow in hand can Torch Group find new ways out for its hundreds of thousands of employees and ensure that it will not suddenly collapse.

Upon hearing Li Dashanren's words, Zhang Xiaocheng suddenly felt a chill for some reason, as if there was something else behind Li Dashanren's words.

……

"Mr. Zhou, when will 3721 be listed on the stock market?"

“Some analysts in Hong Kong believe that 3721’s valuation should be over one billion US dollars. Mr. Zhou, what do you think 3721’s market value will reach after its listing?”

After the plane landed at Gangcheng Airport, Li Dongling had Zhou Hongyi, Qiu Bojun, Lei Jun, Wang Jiangmin and others get off the plane first to be photographed by the media.

This trip to the port city is to promote several companies, including 3721, Kingsoft, and Jiangmin Antivirus, so naturally we need to give them more exposure.

Among them, the most popular was naturally 3721, who had the highest internet concentration. Various media outlets in Hong Kong surrounded Zhou Hongyi as if welcoming a superstar. Although Qiu Bojun and his group also had reporters interviewing them, the situation on both sides was completely different.

In this port city, celebrity gossip is nothing compared to making money.

The idea that the internet can make you rich has already penetrated Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Countless people are hoping that after 3721 goes public, they can buy in and make a fortune.

Under these circumstances, one can imagine the attitude of the people of Gangcheng towards Zhou Hongyi!
Inside the cabin, looking at Zhou Hongyi surrounded by the media, Li Dongling felt that the internet fire in the port city had been completely ignited.

How far this fire will burn, and how long it will burn, depends on the skill of the person who lit it!

As for whether it's a bubble or not, that's a matter for the future. To be honest, it's rare for someone to have experienced that kind of madness, where they bought stocks that rose every day, or even skyrocketed, and could become a millionaire or multi-millionaire just from one stock.

Asking him to support the internet after the bubble bursts is utter nonsense. He didn't get any benefits and got a beating instead. No wonder he's unlikely to have any positive feelings towards the internet.

Those who profited from the internet but, due to greed, failed to stop in time and suffered severe beatings still believe in the internet industry.

They would think it's because their skills are too poor or they're unlucky. If they had stopped earlier, wouldn't they have made a profit?

In reality, these regrets are completely useless; those who are destined to be exploited will still be exploited.

But at least it will make the retail investors believe that the internet is still an industry where they can get rich overnight, and that rushing in might make them a fortune.

When countless people share this consensus, the flame of the internet only needs one spark to reignite in the port city!
Just like Google in its previous life, Google's significance to Nasdaq is almost that of recreating Nasdaq.

Its listing rekindled countless people's confidence in the internet, reminding them of the days when buying internet stocks meant they could make a fortune without lifting a finger.

Countless seasoned investors, having been bitten by a snake once, are now wary of even a rope for ten years and dare not touch internet stocks again.

But there are definitely countless daring individuals willing to try again. This is the spark that can reignite the internet, but it's incredibly difficult to reignite a place that hasn't benefited from the internet's growth.

With the interview nearly complete, Li Dongling disembarked from the plane under the escort of his bodyguards.

But the reporters from Hong Kong who were about to leave turned back when they saw Li Dongling and swarmed around him.

Li Dongling had assumed that these Hong Kong reporters were going to ask him questions about 3721 and the internet, or at most gossip about Li Dashan's daughter in Hong Kong.

However, the questions these reporters asked left even the philanthropist Li Dashan speechless.

"Mr. Li, there are rumors that Orange Telecom, an investment of the Li family in Hong Kong, is going to be sold in the UK. Are you aware of this?"

"What does Mr. Li think of Mr. Li's decision regarding Orange Telecom?"

According to British media reports, the current offer from the potential acquirer of Orange Telecom has exceeded HK$100 billion.

Mr. Li, your Zhixing Foundation's investment in Orange Telecom has already yielded profits exceeding HK$20 billion. Did you foresee this coming to pass?

A large group of reporters bombarded Li Dongling with all sorts of questions, and these questions all came from Orange Telecom, a company thousands of miles away!

This was originally a merger and acquisition deal in the telecommunications industry. In recent years, mergers and acquisitions have been rampant in the global telecommunications industry, so it is not a rare occurrence.

The key point is that the major shareholder of Orange Telecom is the Li family of Changjiang in Hong Kong. The Li family of Changjiang may make a fortune from this transaction, which is big news in Hong Kong.

But what excites the Hong Kong media even more is that Cyberport, the biggest competitor of the Li family of Cheung Kong in Hong Kong, also holds a 20% stake in Orange Telecom.

The Hong Kong media, sensing the opportunity, got excited!

Two bitter rivals have somehow ended up jointly owning a company, which may now be sold at a high price. There's a lot to say about this, and it's also very prone to unforeseen changes.

If the media in Hong Kong don't stir things up at this time, can they still be considered media in Hong Kong?
The questions posed to Li Dongling were clearly intended to be specific. If Li Dongling answered that he was unaware that Orange Telecom was going to be sold, or that he was not satisfied with the sale of Orange Telecom, then it was uncertain whether the deal could still be completed!

Upon hearing the reporter's words, Zhou Hongyi and Lei Jun realized that Li Dashanren's previous investment in Orange Telecom had now increased to HK$20 billion!
They knew that Li Dongling had a keen eye for investment, but Zhou Hongyi and the others still felt that their investment ability, which was almost like "picking up money," was quite an eye-opener.

When Li Dongling heard the news that Orange Telecom was going to be sold, he was stunned for a moment, but then he immediately realized that he admired the Li family's keen business sense. He had to admit that they really didn't want to suffer any losses.

But then, Li Dashanren's acting skills started to shine.

Li, the philanthropist, first frowned, then his face showed anger and dissatisfaction. Well, he was acting as if he was afraid the reporters wouldn't notice.

"I don't know where you got your information from. Neither I nor Cyberport have received any specific information!"

"Back then, Cyberport invested in Orange Telecom because we trusted Mr. Li's vision at Cheung Kong."

I believe this is the best mobile communications company in old Europe, and it may even become the number one communications company in old Europe in the future!

Throughout his speech, Li the Philanthropist clearly showed his high regard for Orange Telecom, even proclaiming it as the number one telecom company in Europe. The implication was clear: Li the Philanthropist was unwilling to sell Orange Telecom so easily and was waiting for it to become the number one in Europe!
"I believe that Mr. Li of Changjiang is not the kind of person who doesn't care about the lives of minority shareholders."

If Orange Telecom is truly going to be sold, I believe the Li family of Changjiang Telecom, as the major shareholder, will definitely notify all shareholders.

"The media is not above the law, and people must be responsible for their words. I do not want any more media to report such false news that affects Mr. Li of Changjiang."

If this happens again, Cyberport will send a lawyer's letter!

After receiving a final wave of lawyer's letters, the furious Li Dashanren, escorted by Cyberport General Manager Lin Xianhui, got into a bulletproof Rolls-Royce.

Faced with the lawyer's letter warning from Li Dashan, do you think these Hong Kong media outlets are afraid? That's nonsense. The media makes a living by making a living from rumors and hearsay.

They even fabricated news when there was nothing to do, not to mention that they now had material, so they scattered in an instant, ready to fabricate news, with very simple headlines.

"Asia's richest man versus Hong Kong's top tycoon family in a showdown in Britain!"

(End of this chapter)