You call this entrepreneurship?

Chapter 491

Inside the hotel's luxurious private room, the table was filled with exquisite dishes and the wine glasses were filled with various famous wines.

Zhang Pingyi's face was flushed, and he waved his hand, "Bring me two more bottles of that 82 Lafite! And some red wine, too. Director Hao, do you drink white wine? Or another bottle of Moutai."

"Oh my, it's too expensive, too expensive." Hao Zhiqiang refused again and again. The other party was so enthusiastic that he was flattered. "Don't order Mr. Zhang's Lafite red wine. Just order some wine. Don't order something too high-end."

"No, that won't do. We haven't seen each other for a long time, so we have to have something nice. When you meet a good friend, a thousand cups are never enough." Zhang Pingyi asked his assistant to get the wine.

Of course, Hao Zhiqiang was not being hypocritically polite. He was really a little nervous because he had never enjoyed such high-end wine before.

Even though he is a director, anyone with a brick in the capital can hit a director, and he is a low-paying official, so how could he have enjoyed such treatment?

He was not a greedy person, so he was somewhat uncomfortable with Zhang Pingyi's hospitality.

"Mr. Zhang, I won't accept any reward without doing anything." The other party seemed too attentive, which made Hao Zhiqiang keep muttering in his heart, fearing that the other party would make a very difficult request.

"Director Hao, what you said is not right." Zhang Pingyi pretended to be angry, "We have been friends for a long time. Can't we enjoy the dinner together?"

"Back then, our campus network was still a small website. When we worked together, we got along very easily. How come we have become distant now?"

"Yes." Hao Zhiqiang also sighed at this time, "The past two or three years have passed in a flash. Time flies so fast."

"Yes, it's fast. It's only a year away from the 08 Olympic Games. Director Hao, you are getting busier and busier." Zhang Pingyi took the wine and poured it for him skillfully. "I wish Director Hao smooth sailing and a successful promotion."

"I can't say I'm going to be promoted." Hao Zhiqiang said with a smile, "I'm at the end of my career, and it's hard to get a promotion before I retire, but I'm content."

"Then I wish Director Hao good luck in his work." Zhang Pingyi immediately changed his words.

Hao Zhiqiang drank it all in one gulp. "It's good that the work is going smoothly. Now there are so many things to deal with. As the opening ceremony gets closer, all kinds of things are coming up. The leaders above are watching us. Even the smallest things can be reported to the top. I'm worried that something might go wrong every day."

"I am really a little envious of Zhang Wanli now."

Zhang Pingyi poured wine for Hao Zhiqiang and asked casually, "Director Zhang hasn't come to guide our work for a long time. He must be very busy."

"Hey, didn't you know?" Hao Zhiqiang was a little confused, "Director Zhang has already gone to another place to perform his duties."

"Ah? Performing duties?" Zhang Pingyi was a little surprised. "I haven't heard of it. Where has Director Zhang been transferred to?"

"Go to the grassroots. Now isn't the western region being developed? There is a call to support the construction of the western region. The higher authorities are selecting cadres from central units to work in the western region for training. Director Zhang took the initiative to sign up." Hao Zhiqiang's tone was filled with envy and admiration. "Director Zhang is an outstanding person. He has a good family background and is willing to endure hardships. I can't compare to him."

Zhang Pingyi laughed and said, "The development of the western region is important, and so are the Olympics. People all over the country are paying attention to it. We can contribute to the country wherever we are."

"Yes, yes, it's the same everywhere." Hao Zhiqiang laughed and changed the subject. "The Olympic Games website you guys created is pretty good, and it has a lot of traffic."

"It's all government support and the enthusiasm of the people across the country. We just provide some technical support." Zhang Pingyi said modestly, "Now we want to further strengthen cooperation. We launched a Weibo this year, which now has 70 to 80 million users. By the end of the year, it will exceed 100 million. We want to cooperate with the Olympic Games."

"We want to invite the Olympic Committee, the General Administration of Sport and athletes to open accounts on Weibo. It would be even better if we could become an official partner."

Hao Zhiqiang hesitated for two seconds and said, "This is not difficult. It depends on how much money you are willing to pay."

"Is two hundred million enough?" Zhang Pingyi asked.

"I need to ask around." Hao Zhiqiang didn't say anything final. "Now all these Internet companies want to take advantage of the popularity of the Olympics. So far, only Sohu has reached a cooperation agreement."

Zhang Pingyi certainly knew that Sohu spent 30 million US dollars.

Qin Shaoyan had been very envious before, but gave up because he thought it was not worth the money.

If Weibo could reach a cooperation with the 08 Olympic Games now, the traffic would definitely explode, and the million yuan spent would be well worth it.

"I heard that Zhang Yimou is the director of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, right? Where is he working now?" Zhang Pingyi asked casually.

"Why are you asking this?" Hao Zhiqiang was a little puzzled.

"We plan to sponsor the team behind the scenes. The workload is so intense, so we need to increase their pay," Zhang Pingyi said confidently.

"Forget it." Hao Zhiqiang refused to believe it. "What's the matter?"

"We are simply doing charity work." Zhang Pingyi said with a smile.

Of course, Hao Zhiqiang didn't believe his words, but he didn't care and still told Zhang Pingyi about Zhang Yimou's whereabouts.

……

Zhang Pingyi slumped down on the sofa when he got back to the company. "Give me a cup of tea. Hao Zhiqiang said he doesn't drink, but he drinks all kinds of liquor, including white wine and beer."

Qin Shaoyan personally brewed a cup of scented tea for Zhang Pingyi, and then asked his secretary Xiao Chen to make some hot soup. "It looks like things are going well."

"Almost. Hao Zhiqiang needs to report first, and then we have to wait for news." Zhang Pingyi took the teacup and took a sip. "I estimate that there will be news in ten days or half a month. I have also found out about Zhang Yimou's affairs."

"Okay, I'll ask Xia Lian to come visit you later." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "Qvod.com needs to hurry up and go public, otherwise it will be too late."

"What can't you catch up with?" Zhang Pingyi asked casually, "Why are you in such a hurry? You already have a listed company, why are you so impatient?"

"If it's any later, the United States will face an economic crisis, and we won't be able to make money in the stock market." Qin Shaoyan sighed.

"What the hell, economic crisis?" Zhang Pingyi sat up straight and stared at Qin Shaoyan blankly, "Why is there an economic crisis in the United States?"

"Remember the Lehman Brothers Bank?" Qin Shaoyan asked back.

"Remember." Zhang Pingyi was deeply impressed by an investment institution that was directly confronted by Qin Shaoyan at the roadshow.

On April 2007, 4, New Century Financial, the second largest subprime mortgage company in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection. This was the beginning of the subprime mortgage crisis, which set off a chain reaction over the next year until it broke out completely in 2.

"It's very complicated to explain. Anyway, Lehman Brothers is in trouble. They will declare bankruptcy within a year." Qin Shaoyan said worriedly, "This will cause a collapse in market confidence and directly trigger the subprime mortgage crisis."

Zhang Pingyi was stunned for a long time. He was not an economist and did not understand finance, but he still understood what economic crisis meant.

After a long silence, Zhang Pingyi suddenly asked, "You were the one who caused the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, weren't you?"

"..." Qin Shaoyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Can you please stop blaming me for all the bad things?"

"In my experience, anyone who has offended you will be in trouble. It's hard to say that this is not your fault." Zhang Pingyi said very seriously, "At the roadshow, I noticed that the way you looked at the people from Lehman Brothers was not right. Did you decide on the spot to take revenge?"

"I emphasize again that this matter has nothing to do with me." Qin Shaoyan said very seriously, "If Qvod wants to go public, it must make some money before the subprime mortgage crisis completely explodes."

"and then?"

"Then wait for the stock price to drop, buy back some shares, and keep waiting." Qin Shaoyan replied calmly.

"Aren't you going to do some short selling?" Zhang Pingyi asked curiously. "I want to short sell, but I don't have the ability to do it." Qin Shaoyan sighed, "Without connections and background, the money goes in and it's gone. Even if you make money, you can't transfer it out. With our size and level, we can only watch and get some benefits from other places."

"Look, Xiong Xiaoge is at a high level. He doesn't even dare to try."

“But I can’t say for others.”

Qin Shaoyan said this meaningfully, but Zhang Pingyi did not ask who the other person was.

"We just need to do our own part." Zhang Pingyi doesn't have the mentality to take risks. He thinks that living a stable life is good enough.

Qin Shaoyan nodded in agreement. The United States was in crisis, but China had entered a new era.

"We need to find someone to buy the land." Qin Shaoyan frowned, "If we don't buy it now, it will be more expensive later. I wonder if Brother Zhang can help us."

Zhang Pingyi suddenly remembered what Hao Zhiqiang said, so he said, "I heard that Director Zhang went to another place to work and train."

"Well, where did you go?" Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised. "Did you go to the grassroots to perform your duties?"

"They said they were supporting the western region, but I don't know exactly where they went." Zhang Pingyi was a little curious, "Didn't Director Zhang tell you about it?"

"No, we just sent text messages to each other during the Chinese New Year, and he never mentioned it." Qin Shaoyan's eyes suddenly lit up, "Oh my, Brother Zhang is too polite. He didn't even tell me that he was going to the grassroots to train."

"We need to find out where Brother Zhang is."

"Where can you ask? Hao Zhiqiang doesn't know." Zhang Pingyi said unhappily, "Why are you so happy that he went to the grassroots?"

"You don't understand." Qin Shaoyan waved his hand, "Going to the grassroots is a good thing for Brother Zhang, forget it, I'll just ask him directly."

Qin Shaoyan picked up the phone, found Zhang Wanli's number and sent a text message, "Brother Zhang, I have something urgent to discuss with you. It's very important. Can we meet?"

A few minutes later, Zhang Wanli called and asked in a muffled voice, "What's the emergency?"

Qin Shaoyan asked directly: "I heard that Brother Zhang went to the grassroots to work as a temporary official?"

Zhang Wanli was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Who told you that?"

Qin Shaoyan smiled and said, "I heard about it, just heard about it."

"You are well-informed." Zhang Wanli sighed, "I am in Sichuan Province."

"Ah, Sichuan Province, that's great." Qin Shaoyan was very surprised. "What a coincidence, Brother Zhang, do you have the task of attracting investment? I just happen to have a big project on hand."

Zhang Wanli was silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you want to do?"

"I'm serious." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I've always wanted to start a big project in Sichuan Province, but I've never had the channels. Now that you happen to be in Sichuan Province, Brother Zhang, I'd like to trouble you to act as a matchmaker."

Zhang Wanli remained silent and said slowly: "I don't need to attract investment, you can ask others."

"This is a billion-dollar project." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "I don't feel comfortable asking someone else to do it."

"How much?!" Zhang Wanli was shocked. "One billion?"

"I plan to build a large logistics park near the capital of Sichuan Province and name it Asia No. 1." Qin Shaoyan said excitedly, "I plan to build the largest logistics park in Asia and a world-leading high-tech warehousing system."

Zhang Wanli couldn't help but interrupt Qin Shaoyan, "Do you already have a plan?"

"Of course I have, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you."

"Then send me the plan." Zhang Wanli sighed, "I'm in Yizhou, you tell me..."

Zhang Wanli wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say it and changed the subject.

"I'll give you a fax number, just fax it to me."

"Okay." Qin Shaoyan hung up the phone and said to Zhang Pingyi proudly, "Done."

"Ah?" Zhang Pingyi was still confused. "One billion? What kind of project would cost one billion?"

"Jingdong has always planned to build its own warehousing and logistics, but it lacked funds before. Now I give it a push." ​​Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, "Shanghai, Yangcheng, Yizhou, and Beijing, a total of four large warehousing centers, can cover half of China."

"You are really generous." Zhang Pingyi gave a thumbs up.

"It's all worth it." Qin Shaoyan said lightly.

Zhang Pingyi nodded. "From an investment perspective, it is indeed worth it, but it is too much."

"No, you don't understand." Qin Shaoyan shook his head, his expression more solemn than ever before.

……

The war between Sina's "BoJi" and Sentinel's "Weibo" is in the air, but in the corners of the market where the two giants are fighting, small microblog sites are emerging one after another.

The names of these websites are weirder than each other, such as Digu, Jiwai, Zuosa, and Follow5.

These small websites are not very strong, but they dare to start up with only a few hundred thousand yuan of start-up capital, ready to take a gamble on the trend. If the website is noticed by venture capital institutions, it will become rich.

Among the new microblog-like websites, there is one that stands out from the rest. It is called Fanfou.

The boss of Fanfou is Wang Xing, a graduate of Tsinghua University. When SNS social networking among acquaintances first became popular, he followed the trend of the campus network and set up a similar website, but it was acquired not long after.

This time he returned to the social media scene, devoted himself to research, and took a fancy to the Weibo track, so he invested heavily in launching Fanfou.com, preparing to get a share of the social 2.0 wave.

Fanfou, a newly launched website, is very ambitious and has even made a bold statement that it will compete with bloggers and Weibo.

Compared with other entrepreneurs, Fanfou has more funds and started spending money on advertising as soon as it went online, especially in Beijing and Shanghai. There must be a Fanfou poster next to the Sina blog advertisement.

At the same time, Wang Xing also said that he wanted to compete with Qin Shaoyan again.

Qin Shaoyan responded with a smile on his face on Weibo, "Welcome, welcome. I hope you can hold on a little longer this time."

At the same time, Weibo posted an announcement and officially launched the "Creation Incentive Plan."

Anyone who reaches a certain number of reposts and comments can receive a creation bonus. The bonus amount ranges from a few yuan to several thousand yuan, with the highest being 100,000 yuan.

The longest Weibo post is no more than 140 characters, which truly means every word counts.

(End of this chapter)