Huayu: You were supposed to be a top star, but you've become capital?

When Lin Shen arrived at the conference room where Shenzhen Investment Holdings was located, Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang were already present.

"President Lin, we've been waiting for you." Mao Wenchao stood up and shook hands, his smile much more sincere than when they first met.

A week of intensive communication completely refreshed this entrepreneur's understanding of the young top talent in front of him.

"Sorry, there was a bit of traffic on the way." Lin Shen smiled apologetically and sat down opposite him.

Without any unnecessary pleasantries, the three of them got straight to the point, confirming the revisions to the last few points of contention.

The terms involve equity ratios, exercise conditions, timelines for resource injection, and minor adjustments to the performance-based agreement.

Lin Shen's professionalism reaffirmed for Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang on the other side that collaborating with this celebrity might indeed be a brilliant move for Xiaohongshu to break through its current limitations.

Ultimately, all terms were confirmed to be correct.

"Then it's settled." Qu Fang closed the document, looked at Lin Shen, and said, "President Lin, it's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"It's a pleasure to work with them." Lin Shen shook hands with both of them, then nodded to Xiao Yang.

Xiao Yang understood, took out a pre-prepared checkbook and a copy of the bank authorization document from his bag, and handed them to Mao Wenchao:

"Mr. Mao, Mr. Qu, according to the agreement, the first installment of investment from Shenzhen Bank, one million dollars, will be transferred to the designated account of Xiaohongshu within three working days."

The remaining amount will be paid in two installments within one month, according to the milestones agreed upon in the agreement.

Mao Wenchao took the document, looked at it carefully, and his last bit of doubt disappeared. Cash in hand was the only way to show sincerity.

He remarked, "President Lin is truly efficient and decisive in his work."

Lin Shen smiled and said, "The sooner you arrive, the sooner you can get started. I have more confidence in the future of Xiaohongshu than you can imagine."

Lin Shen's confidence stemmed from his three-year journey, during which he accumulated and increased his capital through a three-step strategy, leveraging information asymmetry and initial capital, all under extremely cautious conditions:

In 2012, Lin Shen used the results of several key matches from his memory to gamble through scattered underground channels and compliant overseas gambling platforms.

Adhering to the principle of knowing when to stop and never lingering, they quickly acquired their first pot of gold, approximately 35 million RMB, within just two months.

After acquiring a large amount of cash, Lin Shen used approximately 30 million RMB to exchange for and purchase BTC in batches through channels where regulations were not yet in place at the time.

Based on his memory of the peak of the epic bull market in 13, which was about $1100 per coin, Lin Shen began to sell in batches after the price broke through $1000, and successfully withdrew before the bubble burst.

This investment yielded a terrifying return, turning into 1 million, though the unit of measurement changed to knives.

This operation was extremely secretive, and after it was completed, the individual completely withdrew from this highly volatile market.

Subsequently, Lin Shen transferred most of his funds to the US stock market, focusing on holding Nvidia, which he believed would soar in the future, and supplementing it with a few core companies such as Apple and Tesla that he was certain of.

Lin Shen rarely makes any moves on this part of the investment; it's purely a way to capitalize on the era's benefits as a time traveler, and he plans to hold it long-term, patiently waiting for the right time to bring him success.

However, Nvidia's stock price alone rose by more than 150% from 13 to the fall of 14, resulting in considerable unrealized profits.

Afterwards, in order to avoid concentrating his assets too much in financial products, Lin Shen used his remaining funds to purchase several high-quality properties in prime locations in Beijing and Shanghai.

This serves both as a way to preserve asset value and as collateral for subsequent financing.

During this period, Lin Shen also made several venture capital investments in China, including Xiaohongshu, which he is about to invest in, and two other key investments.

One of them was that in late 13, they invested two million RMB in a small game team in Shanghai that was still focused on the ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) field.

When making the investment, Lin Shen made it clear that he would not interfere with the core team's creative work, but would only provide financial support and resource connections, and ultimately obtained a 20% equity stake.

Lin Shen knew that the company's breakthrough would take several years, but the future returns would be exponential.

Secondly, at the beginning of this year, Lin Shen found Zhu Jun and Yang Luyu in Shanghai when they were at their lowest point.

At this point, their previous project had failed, the millions of dollars they had raised were about to run out, and the team was on the verge of disbanding.

After carefully listening to their ideas about music short videos and a global youth community, Lin Shen decisively invested one million dollars in the name of Shenzhen Bank Investment, acquiring a 35% stake in the new project, and encouraged them to let go of their burdens and start afresh.

This project, named musical.ly, is the investment that Lin Shen values ​​most.

After all, with no other way to participate in ByteDance's early-stage financing, this was the only ticket Lin Shen could obtain to board that big ship.

According to comprehensive calculations, Shenzhen Bank Investment currently manages more than RMB 350 million in cash, excluding the market value of long-term held stocks and real estate.

This is sufficient to support Lin Shen's current precise investment strategy and reserves ample ammunition for possible large-scale follow-up investments in the future.

The initial investment of one million dollars in Xiaohongshu was merely an appetizer in this massive pool of funds.

With the funding arrangements finalized, the atmosphere became more harmonious, and the topic naturally shifted to post-investment collaboration.

"Mr. Lin, regarding your personal onboarding and brand collaboration," Qu Fang said, opening an operational plan.

"Our team's initial idea is that it would be best to have a warm-up-explosion-settling rhythm."

Before you officially publish your first note as Chief Experience Officer, our platform needs to conduct a round of technical and content optimizations.

In particular, we focus on topic management and recommendation algorithm fine-tuning for categories like clothing, fashion, and lifestyle to ensure your initial release receives the best possible traffic and community support.

Mao Wenchao added, "Yes, we don't want to just launch a celebrity account."

We hope your joining will be a landmark event in Xiaohongshu's transformation from a niche beauty sharing community to a diversified lifestyle platform, so thorough preparation is essential beforehand.

Lin Shen strongly agreed: "This is exactly what I hope to see. The first batch of products from the Track brand will be launched in October."

My personal in-depth content can be released one to two weeks later, in line with the brand's launch schedule.

This period is perfect for platform upgrades. I'll have the Tracking team connect with you as soon as possible to get the backend processes for the first batch of merchants running smoothly.

"Great!" Qu Fang's eyes lit up. "With specific products and timelines, our operations will be much easier."

We can plan some in-site activities in advance around the theme of "Lin Shen's Wardrobe" to encourage users to generate UGC content, creating an interactive buzz as soon as you join.

The three of them discussed some specific details for another half hour, and their thinking became more and more open as they talked.

Lin Shen's understanding of community operations and grasp of content trends once again surprised Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang.

Their original expectation of cooperation was probably more about resource exchange, but they didn't expect it to spark strategic ideas.

With the business concluded, the streetlights outside the window were already on.

Lin Shen glanced at the time and offered his suggestion:

"We've been chatting for so long, you two must be hungry, right? I know a nice private restaurant nearby, why don't we grab something to eat and chat at the same time?"

Some ideas about developing overseas communities may not be urgent, but I think they are worth discussing.

Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang exchanged a glance, both seeing interest in each other's eyes, but even more so a sense of urgency.

Qu Fang smiled and politely declined, "President Lin, we will definitely have the meal, but I'm afraid we'll have to wait until next time."

Now that these things are finalized today, we can't wait to fly back to the company immediately to hold an all-staff meeting and get the optimization plan started. Time is of the essence!

Mao Wenchao nodded: "Yes, President Lin, we have noted your thoughts. We will arrange a time to talk about it next time."

Now, we need to make the most of every minute. We'll postpone this meal until your first post goes viral, then we'll have a big celebration and a good drink together!

Lin Shen understood their situation and didn't force them. He stood up and smiled, saying:

"Alright, then I won't keep you two any longer. Keep in touch, and feel free to contact me if there's anything that needs coordination."

"must!"

After seeing off the hurried Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang, the dust finally settled, and Lin Shen let out a soft breath.

Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket; it was WeChat, developed by Bai Meng.

"Brother Shen! Sister Rong is such a nice person. She introduced me to so many people and even helped me get the apartment key. I'm already home packing my things, and I can move in tomorrow."

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity! I will definitely work hard!!!

It was followed by a series of emojis expressing excitement and gratitude, and the vibrant energy seemed to burst through the screen.

As Lin Shen watched, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved up, as if he could see that lively girl excitedly spinning around the room while holding the contract.

He tapped on the screen and replied with two short but powerful words:

"come on."

After putting down his phone, Lin Shen's gentle expression quickly faded, and he said to Xiao Yang, who was waiting nearby:

"Let's go back to the company and prepare a detailed itinerary for our trip to Guangdong Province, as well as the latest preparation report from the 'Tomb Raider' crew. Tell me about it on the way."

"Okay, Brother Shen."