Super Rich: Starting the game by going back ten years to buy Bitcoin

The moment Li Yichen uttered "first come, first served," the audience erupted in cheers.

It wasn't the reporters who were outraged; it was the CEOs who usually have a stern face in financial news who were outraged.

Lei, the CEO of Da Mi, was the first to spring up from his seat, his movement so fast that he knocked over the water bottle belonging to Zeng, the CEO of Ning, who was sitting next to him. He rushed to the front of the stage in three strides and reached out his hand directly to Li Yichen, who was about to turn around and leave the stage.

"Mr. Li!"

Lei's voice was urgent and loud, drowning out the noise in the room.

"We, the rice producers, are willing to purchase Thor batteries in our first batch with the most favorable cooperation terms! You decide the quantity! Let's sign the letter of intent now!"

His hand hovered in mid-air, waiting to be shaken.

Li Yichen stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him.

Lei Jun's usually eloquent face at product launches was now taut, with fine beads of sweat visible on his forehead. His eyes were filled with urgency and a hint of barely concealed panic—he knew all too well what this battery meant for the Xiaomi phone. Once the battery life shortcoming was addressed, coupled with Xiaomi's already strong price-performance ratio and ecosystem, other phone brands could simply give up.

Li Yichen didn't immediately reach out to shake that hand.

He shifted his gaze to the side.

Mr. Wang from Bidi also came over.

Mr. Wang walked slower than Mr. Lei, his steps steady but firm. He reached the front of the stage, but didn't speak immediately, waiting for Mr. Lei to finish. Only after Mr. Lei had caught his breath did he take half a step forward.

"Mr. Li."

Mr. Wang's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight.

"BYD's annual sales of new energy vehicles worldwide reached three million units last year. This year, we expect to reach three and a half million."

He paused, looking at Li Yichen.

"If Raytheon's battery production capacity can keep up, we are willing to sign a five-year exclusive supply agreement."

These words were like a block of ice, smashing directly into Lei's burning eagerness.

Mr. Lei suddenly turned his head and stared at Mr. Wang.

exclusive?

What about rice? Rice also needs car batteries, and although the volume isn't as large as that of car manufacturers, it's still a lucrative market. Moreover, Mr. Wang's words clearly indicate his intention to use sales volume and exclusive terms to squeeze out all other competitors.

Mr. Lei's face instantly turned red.

"Mr. Wang, that's not very fair of you," Mr. Lei's voice rose. "The press conference just ended, and Mr. Li hasn't even discussed how to cooperate yet, and you're already talking about exclusivity? The market belongs to everyone; why should Bidi monopolize it?"

President Wang didn't look at him; his gaze remained fixed on Li Yichen's face.

"Mr. Li, Bidi's sincerity is evident here. Five years, exclusive rights, and the price can be 10% higher than the market price. We can also offer the highest percentage for advance payment."

Mr. Lei got anxious.

He grabbed Li Yichen's arm.

"Mr. Li! We not only need batteries for new energy vehicles, but also the Thor battery for mobile phones. We want the first launch rights! The price is negotiable! Name your price!"

Backstage.

Ji Yanran's phone vibrated and buzzed on the table.

She picked it up and glanced at it; the red notification dots on her WeChat screen had already reached ninety-nine. It wasn't just Da Mi and Bidi; the far ahead CEO Yu, the head of OPPO's supply chain, the purchasing director of vivo… they were all sending her messages.

The messages were largely the same.

"Mr. Ji, is it a convenient time to take a call? I'd like to discuss the cooperation as soon as possible."

"Mr. Ji, our company is willing to prepay for the entire year's worth of goods. Could you give us priority?"

"President Ji, when is President Li available? Our chairman would like to fly over in person to discuss this."

Ji Yanran put her phone on silent and put it back in her bag.

She looked up at the monitor screen.

In front of the stage, Li Yichen was flanked by Lei Jun and Wang Zhizhi, with representatives from NIO, Xiaopeng, and Li Auto pushing their way in from behind. The aisle was completely blocked, with security personnel forming a human wall, but the crowd continued to surge forward.

Li Yichen raised his right hand and made a light pressure gesture in mid-air.

"Everyone."

His voice came through the microphone, steady and clear, carrying an undeniable sense of control.

The audience quieted down a bit.

But the pushing and shoving continued.

Li Yichen looked at President Wang and President Lei, then glanced at the anxious faces behind them.

"We can discuss the cooperation gradually."

He paused.

"But there's one thing I need to make clear first."

The entire room fell silent instantly.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for his next words.

Li Yichen held up one finger.

"Currently, Raytheon Battery's monthly production capacity is three million battery cells."

These words were like a bucket of cold water, poured over everyone's heads.

Three million dollars?

The expressions of the CEOs in the audience changed from eagerness to astonishment, and then to solemnity.

What does three million yuan mean?

BYD alone consumes hundreds of millions of battery cells a year. Ningwang, NIO, Xiaopeng... which company doesn't have a demand in the tens of millions?

Three million yuan to be distributed among the dozens of companies present?

Forget about being full, it's not even enough to fill a tooth gap.

A crack appeared on Mr. Wang's composed expression.

He leaned forward, his voice very low.

"Mr. Li, isn't this production capacity... a bit too conservative?"

Li Yichen glanced at him.

"It's not conservative, it's realistic."

He turned around and faced the entire audience.

"Therefore, our future technology super factory is under construction. In nine months, the monthly production capacity will increase to more than 30 million units."

He paused for a second, letting the number hit everyone's ears.

"During this period—"

Li Yichen's gaze swept over every face in the audience.

"First come, first served; sign up in line."

This sentence was like a bomb thrown into a frying pan.

The audience erupted into complete chaos.

NIO's CEO stood up abruptly from his seat, raised his hand above his head, and shouted loudly.

"Mr. Li! NIO is willing to prepay the entire year's deposit! Let's sign now!"

The person in charge of the small shed was not to be outdone, pushing aside the people in front of him to squeeze forward.

"We're willing to pay in advance for small sheds! The deposit percentage is negotiable!"

The ideal executives had already squeezed into the aisle, waving towards the stage as they rushed forward.

"Mr. Li! Please get in line! We'll transfer the payment right away!"

The scene became so chaotic that security personnel had to step forward and physically create a passage.

Li Yichen stood on the stage, looking at the giants below who usually chatted and laughed at industry summits, but now they were scrambling like aunties grabbing discounted vegetables at a market.

He twitched the corner of his mouth.

He turned around and walked backstage.

Ji Yanran waited for him at the backstage entrance.

She was holding a tablet, the screen of which was covered with unread messages and missed calls.

"Boss, the phone at the Ministry of Commerce has been ringing off the hook." Ji Yanran spoke quickly. "Twenty-seven companies have already expressed their intention to sign letters of intent, and more than a dozen others are asking about the specific procedures."

Li Yichen took the tablet and glanced at it.

The list includes top-tier brands such as BYD, Ningwang, Dami, NIO, Xiaopeng, Li Auto, Geely, Great Wall, and Changan.

"Arrange a signing room." Li Yichen handed the tablet back to her. "Let's go one by one."

How is the order of signing contracts determined?

"It's based on the order in which people rush to the front of the stage," Li Yichen said. "Whoever reaches out first gets to sign first."

Ji Yanran paused for a moment, then nodded.

"clear."

She turned to make the arrangements.

The signing room backstage originally only had a small table and two chairs. Now, they had to temporarily add seats, bringing in three more tables to create a makeshift signing area.

Li Yichen sat down behind the middle table.

The staff handed over a stack of blank letters of intent for cooperation.

The first letter of intent was from Da Mi.

Mr. Lei practically ran in.

He held his phone in his hand, the screen displaying a confirmation email from the company's finance department—a prepayment of 300 million yuan had been transferred to Future Technology's account.

"Mr. Li, this is the deposit receipt." Mr. Lei turned his phone screen towards Li Yichen. "We brought a version of the letter of intent that has been reviewed by our legal department. Would you like to take a look?"

Li Yichen took the thick letter of intent, turned to the last page, and signed it directly.

Mr. Lei watched him finish writing and let out a long sigh of relief.

He grasped Li Yichen's hand and shook it forcefully.

"Mr. Li, it's a pleasure doing business with you! We're just waiting for your batteries to arrive!"

The second one was for Bidi.

When Mr. Wang walked in, his expression was more composed than when he was on stage, but his steps were still very fast.

He placed a letter of intent on the table and turned to the key terms page.

"Mr. Li, about the exclusive agreement..."

"Exclusivity won't work." Li Yichen interrupted him before he could finish. "Production capacity is limited; we can't grant exclusive rights to any one company."

Mr. Wang was silent for two seconds.

"What about priority supply rights?"

"Okay," Li Yichen said, "but the price will be 15 percent higher than the market price."

Mr. Wang gritted his teeth.

"OK."

He picked up a pen and signed next to the price terms.

The third one is from NIO.

The fourth one is from the shed.

The fifth one is the ideal one...

In the signing room, Li Yichen sat there, signing one contract after another.

After each contract was signed, the CEO or person in charge of the other company would hold his hand tightly and refuse to let go, saying things like, "Mr. Li will definitely give us priority consideration," "We have already prepared the deposit," and "We will absolutely cooperate in the subsequent cooperation."

Liu Bing and Han Fei also arrived at the scene.

Liu Bing acted as a temporary "bodyguard" at the entrance of the signing room, stopping those who wanted to squeeze in.

"Line up! Everyone line up! Sign up at one before moving on to the next!"

Han Fei busied himself serving tea and water to the waiting corporate executives.

"Please wait a moment, everyone. Mr. Li will sign quickly and be here shortly."

Three and a half hours.

Li Yichen sat in the signing room for a full three and a half hours.

Seventeen letters of intent for cooperation were signed.

My wrist is a little sore.

He put down his pen and flexed his fingers.

Ji Yanran walked over and placed a summary table in front of him.

"Boss, seventeen letters of intent, the total prepayment amount is—"

She paused.

"Six billion three billion."

Li Yichen picked up the form and glanced at it.

The numbers are listed very clearly.

Rice, 300 million.

Bidi, one billion.

NIO, 500 million.

A small shed, 400 million.

Ideally, 350 million.

……

In total, it amounts to 6.3 billion.

The deposits alone amounted to 6.3 billion.

Once all the formal orders are finalized, the total contract value will likely exceed 100 billion.

Li Yichen put down his watch, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

tired.

But it's great.

The door to the signing room was pushed open, and Liu Bing poked her head in.

"Brother Li, there are still over a dozen restaurants outside where we haven't gotten a number yet. We've been waiting all afternoon. Could you arrange another round tomorrow?"

Li Yichen opened his eyes.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

He stood up and straightened his suit.

They walked out of the signing room.

In the corridor outside, seven or eight company representatives were waiting. Some had been waiting since afternoon until evening, their suit jackets draped over their arms, their ties loosened, and their faces etched with exhaustion.

Upon seeing Li Yichen emerge, they immediately surrounded him.

"Mr. Li! Could we arrange another round of signings tomorrow?"

"Mr. Li, our company's CEO flew all the way from Shenzhen. Please give us a chance!"

"Mr. Li, we can offer a 50% prepayment!"

Li Yichen was surrounded by the crowd.

Ji Yanran quickly led two security personnel to squeeze through the crowd and "rescued" him from the crowd.

The three of them walked quickly toward the underground parking garage.

Once seated in the back of the Rolls-Royce Phantom and the door closed, the outside noise was completely shut out.

Li Yichen leaned back in the leather seat and closed his eyes.

The carriage was very quiet.

There was only a faint hum from the air conditioner vents.

Ji Yanran sat beside her, her fingers flying across her phone as she typed a reply.

She glanced at Li Yichen.

"Boss, today's commotion... is bigger than we expected."

Li Yichen didn't open his eyes.

"As expected."

He took out his phone.

The screen turned on automatically.

A cute animated GIF of Ling'er popped up, showing the chibi character lying on the edge of the screen, looking exhausted, with her little feet kicking.

"Brother, you're so busy today."

Ling'er's voice came from the speaker, carrying the ethereal quality unique to electronic sounds, but also a touch of human weariness.

"but--"

A smug smile appeared on her little face.

"Seven out of the top ten trending topics on major financial websites are about us!"

Li Yichen's lips twitched slightly.

"Well done."

Almost simultaneously.

Ji Yanran's phone vibrated.

She picked it up and glanced at it.

It's a push notification for financial news.

The title is bolded and the font size is huge.

"Global New Energy Industry Seismic Event! Future Technology's Raytheon Battery Launches, Ningwang and BYD Stocks Plunge in After-Hours Trading!"

She stared at the words on the screen, her heart pounding against her ribs.

A sharp drop.

Prince Ning, Bidi.

The stock price of the trillion-dollar industry giant plummeted within hours of the release of Raytheon Battery.

This is not competition.

This is a massacre.

A one-sided, crushing massacre.

The person who perpetrated this massacre was leaning back in a leather chair, eyes closed, a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips.

The carriage fell silent again.

The car drove out of the underground parking garage and merged into the traffic flow of Shanghai at night.

Neon lights flashed outside the window, and tall buildings stood tall.

Li Yichen suddenly opened his eyes.

"Yanran".

"Um?"

"Call Bidi and Ning Wang's people," Li Yichen said. "Tell them to come to the company in a bit; I have something to discuss."

Ji Yanran was stunned for a moment.

"Now? The press conference just ended; they're probably still dealing with the stock price..."

"Right now," Li Yichen said calmly. "Tell them that if they want a piece of the future battery market, they'd better come over."

He paused.

"I'll only wait for them for half an hour."