Since we are both reborn, of course I would choose the rich woman!

Chapter 342 The Mysterious Buyer (6k views, please subscribe)

Because of this sudden appearance of an exorbitant reward, many netizens on the internet thought that this wave of high-priced rewards was a marketing ploy by Geek Mobile itself.

As a result, few netizens believed Lü Yao's explanation; they all felt that Lü Yao was crying wolf, making it seem like he was trying to cover something up.

But Lü Yao really had no way to defend himself. This kind of excessive marketing will not have a positive impact and will often only bring negative opinions. Lü Yao's marketing skills are not good enough to produce such a low-level operation.

So even though it sparked heated discussions and ridicule among netizens, Lü Yao still issued clarification statements through multiple channels, hoping that Gan Xiaoxi could find out who was behind his scheme.

As Lü Yao had planned.

Even wealthy second-generation heirs, or business people who want to get to know him, wouldn't go so far as to do something like this. Even the wealthy second-generation group would know that such outrageous behavior would inevitably provoke a backlash from public opinion, thus incurring Lu Yao's dislike and animosity.

After ruling out all the impossibilities, Lü Yao basically concluded that this was a tactic orchestrated by a competitor. In today's business environment, it's not uncommon for competitors to pull off such a move.

After all, there will be other marketing tactics in the future, such as "comparing coins standing upright", "austenitic 304", and "car rental evaluation".

These days, this kind of underhanded tactic of sabotaging competitors is already considered quite dignified.

However, after mobilizing her network of connections and intelligence to investigate, Gan Xiaoxi was unable to find the person who had instigated this incident.

This is very strange.

These kinds of fake bounty messages are very easy to expose. In fact, the official team on Lü Yao's side has already contacted the person who posted the bounty, and the broker who helped post the bounty has confirmed its authenticity.

Although one million is not a large sum of money, and the flow of money cannot be found from the broker, there are very few secrets in this circle. Gan Xiaoxi's investigation did not find the source.

This is worth pondering.

Either the opponent is extremely secretive, and even with Lu Yao's connections and resources, they cannot find any clues behind it, or it is very likely that a competitor has hired some people to take action.

But the problem is... is it really necessary to be so secretive when dealing with a sub-brand, especially one that was only recently launched? Being open and straightforward would actually make it less likely to cause trouble.

Either the people targeting Lü Yao aren't business partners at all, but rather others who dislike Lü Yao in other ways.

That's more complicated.

This was the possibility that Lü Yao least wanted to believe.

of course.

Another possibility is that someone is actually willing to spend a million to meet with Lü Yao, but if that's the case... then Lü Yao can only say that the other party is really stupid.

Just as Lü Yao was struggling with his guesses, four hours after the bounty was posted, a detailed list of rules for the bounty began to appear online.

The mysterious buyer also issued a statement, and at the same time made demands on the netizens who provided the order:

"That means the order screenshot never appeared online."

"No information about the buyer may be disclosed to the public; otherwise, it will be considered a breach of contract."

"In this transaction, the buyer will add a confidentiality clause of RMB 100,000. Sellers involved in the transaction must agree to the confidentiality agreement. If any violation occurs, they will be compensated five times the amount."

The phrase "five times the compensation" is quite deliberate. Three times the compensation would seem too little to the mysterious buyer behind the scenes, and ten times would be too outrageous and might not be legally recognized. However, a compensation of five times the compensation, amounting to six million, is quite good—neither too much nor too little—and can serve as a good deterrent.

After the transaction details were released, the online doubts about this purchase information decreased significantly.

"They're making this so real, I think there's something fishy going on here. Is this some kind of die-hard fan of Lu Zetian pulling the strings?"

"If you put it that way, it doesn't seem like a big problem."

"That's narrow-minded! Completely narrow-minded! We've been treating this as a transaction, but it could very well be a fan activity!"

Anything exaggerated becomes understandable when it's linked to celebrity worship.

Because people who idolize celebrities may seem abnormal to normal people.

When Lü Yao saw the comments from netizens online, he realized that this was really a case of people chasing after celebrities!
The fan community is indeed a bit crazy. For the sake of their idols, some girls will spend hundreds of thousands of yuan to book the entire light show at the Canton Tower; some girls will also spend one or two million yuan to buy the entire series of limited edition rice grains and pile them up in a room to release formaldehyde.

So if it really was a blunder caused by this group, then Lü Yao would be speechless.

However, if this were to be brought up, it would be considered advertising for herself. If it were a false alarm, Lü Yao would accept it. These naive and rich women are the easiest to fool.

So, when the investigation failed to uncover anything, Lü Yao remained patient and continued with his signing ceremony, figuring that everything would become clear after the ceremony.

If this mysterious buyer really does show up, then Lü Yao can rest assured.

If this mysterious buyer doesn't show up, it means there's much more to the story than just these details.

Lu Yao kept his composure and waited patiently, but even after the fourth day of the signing ceremony, he still couldn't find the "mysterious buyer" among the crowd. Just as Lu Yao's mood was becoming increasingly heavy, he finally met the mysterious buyer at the dinner party after the fourth day of the signing ceremony.

At the time, Lü Yao was drunk and was about to go to the restroom, then have a smoke outside and breathe a sigh of relief.

Four consecutive days of dinners and high-density, high-frequency, high-energy social interactions with two hundred tech-savvy mobile phone users had left Lü Yao's mental energy depleted. After each social engagement, he needed to spend more quiet time to gradually recover his mental strength.

Once on the hotel's terrace, Lü Yao breathed a few sighs of relief and habitually took out a cigarette to relax.

He was going back after the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.

Just as Lü Yao was enjoying a rare moment of leisure, a fragrant breeze suddenly wafted from behind him.

Lu Yao took a light sniff and immediately recognized that this was not a commercially available perfume, but a perfume specially blended by century-old perfume shops abroad. People who could afford such perfumes were usually not just rich, and their taste was also quite extraordinary.

When light footsteps sounded behind Lü Yao, a very bold and unrealistic idea suddenly popped into Lü Yao's mind, but it made him feel like he had been infected with a virus, and it couldn't help but spread wildly.

Could it be her?

This kind of thing is actually very much in line with her personality!
In a daze, Lü Yao seemed to hear his own heartbeat pounding on his eardrums like a drum.

So Lü Yao turned his face away...

The first thing that catches the eye is a white silk midi skirt. As Lü Yao's gaze moves upward, a simple light green shirt comes into view, followed by a French Hepburn-style flat-topped straw hat.

But upon seeing the chin vaguely visible under the straw hat, Lü Yao's expectant gaze instantly dimmed.

Hu Xiaoyu has a very standard oval chin, and the curve is even a bit steep because of her slender figure. But whether she is thinner or more plump, she can still show off her elegant and unique temperament.

And then there was the figure of a woman who appeared not far behind Lü Yao...

Judging from his physique alone, he was several sizes taller than Hu Xiaoyu, and his chin under the flat-topped straw hat was also quite rare, with a faint indentation in the middle.

This type of chin is jokingly referred to as a "buttock chin" in common parlance.

However, this is medically known as a "cleft chin." In the East, this type of chin is called a "beauty cleft," while in the West it is called an "angel's mark." Because of the uniqueness of this type of chin, it is also described in some anime works as "the embodiment of handsomeness and charm."

Many parody paintings have even appeared.

People with this type of chin are quite famous and indeed very charming, with a significant influence in the film and television industry, such as Henry Cavill, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and other European and American stars.

This kind of cleft chin is very masculine. A five-point face with such a chin often adds two points of charm.

However, when a cleft chin appears on a woman's body, it really tests the natural shape and proportion of her facial features.

Even among women, such as Brigitte Lin and Yu Nan, the cleft chin isn't very prominent. If it were too prominent, it would easily make them appear "too masculine," thus ruining the natural aura and beauty that women possess.

Because the corridor was dimly lit, and the woman's French-style flat-topped straw hat had a rather large brim, Lü Yao couldn't remember the upper half of her face.

But just by looking at how fair and delicate her face was, you could tell that she came from a very privileged family.

When the woman came to within two meters of Lü Yao, she finally stopped and said, "Hello, Mr. Lü."

Lü Yao narrowed his eyes, raised his hand to take a drag of his cigarette, and through the swirling smoke, asked, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"

Actually, when this woman arrived, Lü Yao had already guessed who she might be, but he still asked.

The woman opposite him still exuded an air of mystery. She said calmly, "Mr. Lü seems quite disappointed to see me."

Lü Yao chuckled: "You're exaggerating."

The woman opposite him stopped being mysterious and said, "My name is Tong Fuli. I am currently studying abroad and have returned to China secretly. I was the one who posted the million-dollar reward online. I did all this to meet with you, Mr. Lü, and have a chat."

Lü Yao chuckled: "Oh, let's chat."

As he spoke, Lü Yao held up the cigarette that was only two-thirds empty and said, "Before I finish this cigarette, I can talk to you. To be honest, one million is the only price you can get."

Tong Fuli was a little unconvinced: "Others can have a good time with you over a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan, so why can I only chat with you for a short while when I have a million yuan?"

Lü Yao laughed and said, "Being in public and being alone are of course different." Tong Fuli took a step closer and said, "Alright then, a little while is fine."

But Lü Yao raised his hand to stop Tong Fuli from getting closer: "Don't get so close, it makes us look like we know each other very well."

As he spoke, Lü Yao raised his hand and took a deep drag on his cigarette, reducing the remaining two-thirds of the cigarette to almost nothing.

This deliberate action made Tong Fuli's eyes twitch wildly.

What are you doing?!
However, remembering that the surveillance cameras near the terrace in this corridor were already behind her, Tong Fuli took off her flat-topped straw hat, revealing a face that was both heroic and slightly plump, but overall quite pretty.

Tong Fuli held up her flat-topped straw hat in both hands and said, "I brought this hat not to disrespect you, but because I didn't want to be exposed here. I secretly returned to China this time hoping to find a powerful ally."

Lü Yao didn't know Tong Fuli's true identity, but regardless of who she was...

Who comes out and immediately says they want to be an ally?
However, considering that the other party was still studying abroad, Lü Yao felt relieved.

In terms of age, the other person was younger than him. Without the experience of studying abroad, Lü Yao felt that he was far inferior to the woman in front of him.

Lu Yao waved the cigarette in his hand; in just a short while, the cigarette had already burned down to half its original size.

Tong Fuli took a deep breath and immediately said simply and clearly, "I am the daughter of the founder, chairman and CEO of Lebao Water Industry. I have been studying abroad for many years, and now I am in a very dangerous situation. My mother died early, and although my father has never publicly announced that he is married, he has two women."

“These two women have given him two sons and three daughters respectively. Although these wives and children have no official status, they pose a great threat to my future by establishing companies outside the company and by their blood relationship with my father. I would like to ask you to be my advisor and work with me to deal with this matter.”

Tong Fuli spoke very quickly, and Lü Yao listened attentively to what she had to say.

When Tong Fuli finally reached the vent to catch her breath, Lü Yao involuntarily raised his hand as if to smoke.

He was smoking even more intensely than before.

There's no way around it; you have to have some cigarettes, beer, sunflower seeds, and chicken feet while you're eating melon seeds.

Seeing that Lü Yao was smoking so aggressively, Tong Fuli quickly increased her pace and offered her terms: "My father's Lebao Water Industry is quite large and has a great influence in the beverage industry. If our cooperation is successful, I can transfer 7% of Lebao Water Industry's shares to you in the future. At the same time, all of Lebao Water Industry's products will be sold to you and your partners at the most favorable prices."

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

This woman is quite ruthless; she immediately offered 7% of the shares.

Lu Yao didn't know much about Lebao Water Industry, but he knew that in about ten years, one of the company's bosses would become the richest man in the country. Although this position was given up by other bigwigs because they didn't want it, it showed just how profitable selling water was.

How complicated is it to buy water?

Despite the abundance of purified and mineral water on the market, most of them are actually purified tap water. Even some water companies that claim to be "nature's porters" use purified natural water for their lower-priced products, which are not really mineral water.

This is also why they can still make a profit even if they sell a bottle of water for two yuan.

Lebao Water Industry is also a leading water company in China. In addition to bottled water, Lebao Water Industry has many beverage production lines, and beverages have always been a major consumer product in domestic supermarkets.

Therefore, the price offered by Tong Fuli was quite reasonable.

But it can only be considered as having sincerity.

Seeing that Lü Yao remained silent, Tong Fuli immediately added, "If you feel that's not enough, 9% of the shares."

Seeing that Lü Yao remained unmoved, Tong Fuli almost gritted her teeth and said, "11%! 11%! This is the biggest bargaining chip I can offer. Please, please help me!"

Looking at the cigarette that had burned out in his hand, Lü Yao stubbed it out in the ashtray on the terrace table and said, "Here's what we'll do: go to the Sunnick Private Club the day after tomorrow, mention my name there, and we'll meet there."

Tong Fuli was overjoyed and immediately bowed deeply: "Thank you for your willingness to help me."

Lü Yao stood up: "I have to go back to my social engagements."

Tong Fuli put her flat-topped straw hat back on and said, "Then I won't bother you any longer."

After saying that, she turned and quietly left.

Lu Yao suddenly added, "By the way, remember to take care of our Geek Phone order."

This can be considered a test for her.

If she can handle this matter well, then Lü Yao can cooperate more deeply with her. If she doesn't handle it well, then Lü Yao probably won't have much cooperation with her.

Tong Fuli, who had already turned and left, paused for a moment, then turned back and said, "I will handle it."

Lu Yao returned to the dinner party and started socializing. He was greeted by everyone in the banquet hall as soon as he entered, and Lu Yao continued to fan the flames in the lively atmosphere: "Everyone, keep drinking and dancing!"

After the social engagements finally ended, Lü Yao returned to the villa reeking of alcohol.

Only Wang Shu and the medical team were home at the villa tonight. Jian Xiaojie was out of town on business, so when Lü Yao returned, he chatted with Wang Shu for a while and also told Wang Shu about Tong Fuli.

After the chat, he said in the group: "@Xiaoxi, the matter I asked you to inquire about before has been resolved. It's not that our competitors are targeting us, nor is anyone eyeing us; it's just an external variable."

Gan Xiaoxi quickly chimed in their private group chat: "[Question] Who is it? Doing something like this really takes no thought at all. If this is just someone trying to flatter you, then I'm going to laugh in anger."

Lü Yao smiled and said, "Tong Fuli."

The group chat went silent for a few minutes before Gan Xiaoxi asked, "Tong Fuli from Lebao Water Industry in Zhejiang? How could she do something like this?"

Lu Yao immediately told everyone in the group what Tong Fuli wanted to do.

After Lü Yao finished posting his two- or three-hundred-word explanation, Gan Xiaoxi rolled her eyes wildly in the group chat: "What's going on? Turns out it's about fighting over the inheritance. Is it really necessary with just a few nails stuck in his body?"

At this moment, Rong Nianqing, who had been lurking in the group for a long time, finally popped up and said, "Wow, President Gan, your vision has become so high now. You don't even care about water industry giants with valuations of hundreds of billions."

Gan Xiaoxi was shocked: "Huh? Selling bottled water can generate a market value of hundreds of billions?"

Rong Nianqing: "Yes, the food and beverage industry is very profitable. The top five water giants in China all have a market value of over 10 billion yuan. If it is the foreign food and beverage giants, such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, their market value is even more terrifying."

Coca-Cola's market value exceeds one trillion.

Pepsi's market capitalization also exceeds one trillion.

Of course, the unit of measurement for this currency is domestic.

These two food and beverage giants are still quite a bit behind companies with a market capitalization exceeding one trillion US dollars, but even so, they are still much stronger than domestic water industry giants.

Upon hearing Rong Nianqing's words, Gan Xiaoxi immediately considered that their Huasheng Life Group's current market value seemed to be lower than that of Lebao Water Industry.

To the north!
Unless you include Lü Yao's game company, the newly launched mobile phone brand, part of the Luoma Lake AI Data Center, and shares in Weiguang International, they cannot overwhelm the valuation of Lebao Group.

Gan Xiaoxi was a little disarmed: "So all our hard work and all this seemingly impressive stuff, turns out we're not even as good as a water seller?"

Lu Yao sighed: "Are you being abstract? Lebao Water Industry has been deeply rooted in the business world for so many years. Its factories, distributors, advertising, reputation, and partners are all over the country. It has long become a brand deeply rooted in people's hearts. It is only right that it has this market value."

"If this were another industry, with such a reputation and consumer base, its market value would have been in the trillions long ago."

At this point, Lü Yao sighed again.

Yes.

The fact that someone in the bottled water industry, which relies on low profit margins and high sales volume, could become the richest person in the country shows just how terrible business people in China are.

Lu Yao stopped pursuing the topic and instead discussed it in the group chat: "So, is anyone interested in collaborating with this Miss Tong?"

Although Tong Fuli approached Lü Yao for a collaboration, Lü Yao was no longer a lone wolf, nor was he the type to casually make major collaborations with others based on personal preferences.

For collaborative matters like this that involve many connections, Lü Yao definitely needs to discuss them with Rong Nianqing and the others.

As soon as Lü Yao finished asking the question, Rong Nianqing said in the group: "I don't think there's any downside to this. Beverages are a major part of supermarket consumption, so if we really cooperate, it will be very beneficial for us."

The benefits Rong Nianqing was referring to were certainly not simply about money.

The characteristics of the water industry make it very suitable to be Rong Nianqing's ally.

While chatting online with Lü Yao and the others, Rong Nianqing specifically looked up the current scale of Lebao Water Industry. Lebao Water Industry now has 81 production bases across the country, distributed in 29 provinces.

Meanwhile, Lebao Water Industry has 180 subsidiaries, offering a wide variety of products covering more than 10 categories, including protein drinks, bottled drinking water, carbonated beverages, tea drinks, fruit and vegetable juices, coffee drinks, plant-based beverages, specialty beverages, canned foods, dairy products, and pharmaceutical and health foods, totaling more than 190 varieties.

With so many subsidiaries and product categories, Lebao has a considerable number of employees.

However, Rong Nianqing still reminded, "Of course, it's best to keep a low profile when cooperating."

(End of this chapter)