The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

in the afternoon.

Zhang Wanyi drove her Bentley alone to find Mulanqing.

The two companies are not far apart; if you don't count the time spent in traffic, it's just a matter of a few steps on the gas.

After thinking it over, she changed into a casual outfit and dressed relaxed.

She's forty-five, and no matter how much she dresses up, the signs of aging are still visible on her face.

He looks to be in his early thirties.

After treating the newcomers in the group to dinner, Chen Pingsheng quickly arranged new jobs for them. Ye Qi and Li Yuxin went to film short dramas, while Yue Yuting had to wait a few more days.

Unless an actor is extremely famous, it's impossible for them to have roles to play every day.

When Zhang Wanyi arrived, Mulanqing was already waiting downstairs. She was a little nervous, because in the past, she had to make an appointment several days in advance to see Zhang Wanyi.

Seeing her arrive so leisurely for the appointment, as if she doesn't usually have a job, I was incredibly surprised.

Zhang Wanyi parked her car downstairs, and the security guard went to find her a parking spot. She was also wearing a pair of large sunglasses.

Is Uncle Chen still upstairs?

"Old Chen is upstairs, still writing his own script. Mr. Zhang, do you think someone with his status still needs to work for a small company like ours?" Mu Lanqing asked curiously.

“You are not him, so naturally you don’t understand his thoughts.” Zhang Wanyi and Mu Lanqing took the elevator upstairs together.

Chen Pingsheng is indeed writing a screenplay, and he even wants to write a super inspirational screenplay based on his wife.

The drama portrays his wife as exceptionally beautiful, who marries an ordinary man without any complaints, and their relationship sparks a lot of excitement as he becomes a well-known gigolo in China.

Zhang Wanyi quietly approached and asked softly, "Uncle Chen, what are you writing?"

"Write my wife's story, how she overcame numerous obstacles and became an inspirational figure for countless women in China."

"If President Song sees this, he will definitely be very happy."

"Of course, even when you get old, you can't forget to make your wife happy."

Chen Pingsheng put down his editing work. He wasn't a fast typist; he could only type a maximum of two thousand words per hour.

"Wanyi, you've become a media queen now. Our little boss, Mr. Mu, wants to create an inspirational novel based on you, and she wants me to ask for your opinion."

"My opinion has always been decided by Uncle Chen."

Zhang Wanyi asked him, "Uncle Chen, what would you like to take me to eat today?"

"There's a small Hunan restaurant downstairs, and the food is pretty good."

Chen Pingsheng got up and went downstairs with them. This meal was very casual; there was no need to find a high-end restaurant. It was just a regular family gathering.

After finding a window seat and ordering, Chen Pingsheng asked, "Wanyi, are your two children behaving well?"

Zhang Wanyi got married late, around the age of thirty. Her eldest son is still in high school, and her youngest daughter is in the third year of junior high school.

As for the child's father, he is also a well-known entrepreneur in Guangdong.

It's normal for strong companies to join forces; a partnership between a strong and a weak company is just a short drama.

Zhang Wanyi shook her head: "My daughter is quite willful. She won't be happy unless she spends over a million yuan of the family's money in a month. As for my eldest daughter, she got into a fight with her classmates in class last week."

After putting down his chopsticks, Chen Pingsheng asked seriously, "Have you thought about what they should do in the future?"

Zhang Wanyi was startled. These words were not simple. Although Tengyou Media was founded by Chen Pingsheng, it was also the place where Zhang Wanyi had worked for more than 20 years.

She served as president of this company for twenty years, and it can be said that she promoted over 90% of the senior executives. These people only recognized her as the chairman and CEO.

When a group is in the hands of one person for too long, it's inevitable that other ideas will arise.

Zhang Wanyi certainly had her reasons; she wasn't a saint, and it was impossible for her to ignore Tencent Media, which had a market value of trillions.

This is also why the Group's Economic Research Institute, including the advisory group, tried several times to transfer her to be in charge of other large enterprises, but failed.

It should be noted that as early as 2020, Chen Pingsheng had proposed to prevent the problem of excessive concentration of power in the group president's office, and that the position of executive president should be transferred every four years.

After he stepped down, this policy was gradually overturned.

It's simply because these CEOs don't want to leave their comfort zones, their power spheres. "Uncle Chen, I didn't mean to."

"you are lying."

Chen Pingsheng wiped his mouth with a tissue, while Mu Lanqing stood by, unusually nervous, feeling that this kind of topic was not something a mere CEO like herself should be listening to.

"You're not the only one lying; Yang Qian and Chu Qiuyan are lying too."

Chen Pingsheng said, "I remember your daughter often went to Tengyou Media. People there would call her 'Little Princess,' and she was even more famous than An'an and Er Ya."

“Uncle Chen, I…” Zhang Wanyi wanted to explain, but she didn’t know where to begin, because she knew that any word she uttered would be a lie.

"I don't need your explanation, and I didn't call you out to criticize me. I'm not as stubborn as you think."

Chen Pingsheng said, "Power is something that can easily lead people astray once it is obtained. It is normal for someone like you to have selfish desires. It would be strange if you didn't. Whether it is your son or daughter, if they want to sit in your position in the future, they can only rely on their own abilities, not on your promotion or direct appointment."

"Actually, you understand the reason very well. Whether it's your two children or my son Chen Lu, if they sit in the positions their fathers once held without any competition, not to mention that the group will eventually disappear into the long river of history due to the decline in the ability of each generation of senior management."

From a public perspective, Tengyou Media has at least over a million employees, many of whom rely on Tengyou for their livelihood. If we were to place unsuitable or even extremely mediocre people in senior positions, Wanyi, you were once an intern yourself; don't you hate that kind of thing happening?

"Uncle Chen, materialism blinds the eye; I never knew I had fallen so deeply into it all these years!"

Zhang Wanyi is very honest, and she has no choice but to be honest.

Chen Pingsheng was the person she respected most in the world, without exception.

He had previously guaranteed that if his children were not capable, he would not allow them to be parachuted in to inherit the group.

And they disregarded the feelings of these veteran members of the group.

He has now succeeded, while she herself has fallen into this vicious cycle of selfishness.

"Ten years ago, Tencent Media's market value was already well over a trillion yuan. Now look at how much it will be worth in ten years."

Tencent's influence extends beyond short videos; it also extends to short dramas and the influencer sector.

It also owns a very large shopping app, and its warehousing and logistics facilities are located all over the country.

Annual sales exceed 500 billion.

If all its segments were combined, Tencent Media's actual assets could not be less than 1.5 trillion yuan.

Its current market value is only 1.08 trillion.

It has decreased by 35% compared to five years ago.

In other words, not only did it not increase in five years, it actually decreased by a third.

This is the result of staying in one position for too long. People's abilities are limited. There are no truly perfect saints in this society who can keep making rapid progress.

For most people like them, the best outcome is to fly with the group for a while.

If this continues for too long, not to mention the negative impact that an individual's inflated desires will have on the group.

Even a person's thinking and abilities can be depleted during their peak period.

The rest is just going downhill along the path of your own fixed mindset.

They all need to learn to make way for more outstanding newcomers in order to continuously maintain the group's progress.

It was precisely because of Chen Pingsheng's complete concessions that the group was able to quickly produce a large number of more outstanding successors.

Now that he's been retired for a while, many people want to occupy that position and not move on.

In fact, they are already financially independent and don't lack money at all. They could spend it however they want and never lack money even after several lifetimes.

However, they still couldn't let go of the supreme power they held within the group.

Chen Pingsheng also had to fulfill his responsibility and obligation to remind people at this time.

Everyone here owns shares in the group, so we should all look towards the more distant future.

(End of this chapter)