The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 124 Cousin Jumps Off Building
Chen Pingsheng finished class quite early and went to pick up his wife from get off work.

It's early August, and Shuiyun Academy is already full.

More than half a month earlier than expected, the online registration channel has already been closed.

His wife currently owns two Ferraris, an F12 and a LaFerrari.

Song Yanxi drives different cars when she has free time, but the F12 is more like a coupe and has a higher chassis.

The LaFerrari is a pure top-tier supercar. If there were no speed limit on highways in China, it could reach speeds of over 350 kilometers per hour.

It's even faster than the high-speed rail.

Of course, if there's a speed limit, it'll be the same as the Corolla.

It accelerates extremely fast when you step on the gas.

Even the fastest car can only travel at most 60 kilometers per hour in Beijing.

If you want to go any faster, you'll have to call someone to clear the road beforehand.

Chen Pingsheng was helplessly stuck in the middle of the road, crawling like a tortoise, accelerating with one foot and braking with the other.

It was already 5:30 when he arrived at Shuiyun Academy.

Song Yanxi had just finished her get out of class when a large number of beauticians who had also completed their training came out at the same time.

They would wander around at night, after all, they were still young and their income was not low.

They like to spend money, but they don't spend a lot of money.

"Honey, you've come at just the right time."

"what's wrong?"

Song Yanxi had something on her face, and she thought Chen Pingsheng knew about it too, but judging from his expression, he didn't know at all.

"My aunt is threatening to jump off a building."

"What's going on?" Chen Pingsheng asked in surprise.

"It's none other than my cousin, Han Fei."

Song Yanxi didn't drive her own F12; she just left it parked at the school gate. After getting into Chen Pingsheng's black Jeep, she turned around and said:
“His aunt brought him to you to ask for a job before. Maybe he was a little discouraged. When he got home, he said he wanted to start his own business. His dad is just like him. Anyway, he will give him a maximum of 300,000 yuan.”

"Who knew Han Fei would cause such a ruckus? I don't know what method he used, but he got my aunt to help him steal the property certificate from the house. After selling two houses, he borrowed more than five million yuan from relatives and friends."

“Those relatives didn’t know he had secretly sold all the houses, so they were still willing to lend him money. Now, his father was so angry when he found out that he was hospitalized.”

"The current situation is that they have lost all their money and their house, and a large group of relatives are chasing after them for debts."

"My aunt couldn't take the shock and was about to jump off a building."

All of Lao Liu's relatives are already there, and her mother has also called her.

Regardless, she was Liu Fen's older sister.

After something like this happens, who wouldn't be worried?

It's all Han Fei's fault. He has no skills but a lot of talk. He didn't even have enough money to start a business with 300,000 yuan. He insisted on selling two houses before he felt he was worthy of his status.

My family was quite well-off before, but this whole mess has made us fall back into poverty.

Entrepreneurship can ruin a generation; the ancients were right.

Han Fei's family is now full of complaints. Han Fei, who previously shouted that he would surpass Lao Ma in five years, is still not convinced.

They're still saying that if they were given another 30 million, they could definitely make the bike-sharing business a success.

To be honest, Chen Pingsheng didn't doubt that there was anything wrong with the project; he had also heard Tong Zhelan talk about the sharing economy.

It's quite popular.

People with Tong Zhelan's vision are also prepared to invest an expected 500 million yuan in this sector.

The so-called "betting on the track" means betting on an entire industry.

She votes for whoever is likely to come out on top in this race.

It won't be just one; when investing in a particular sector, you should bet on at least two or three promising companies.

If any one of these projects makes it to the end, then the investment will be extremely profitable.

If none of them survive, the money invested will basically be gone.

There's a saying in the investment industry: nine out of ten investments result in nothing; if even one succeeds, it's a huge profit.

What is the nature of internet entrepreneurship? It is different from traditional industries, where many companies can succeed at the same time.

The internet has no borders; anyone can succeed in any race.

Only one or two will remain.

This also determines its cruelty.

The phrase "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand" is undoubtedly the most fitting description of internet entrepreneurship.

Without a doubt, Han Fei was one of those buried in the shared bicycle industry. Chen Pingsheng had no idea what Han Fei had studied abroad.

They actually dared to choose the most competitive and brutal field of the internet for their first entrepreneurial venture.

You need to know that any player who can succeed in any niche of the internet industry...

In the initial angel round, top-tier investors were already there to support them.

Or they are people with extremely extensive networks of contacts.

Only such people have the potential to break through the final series of capital-driven cutthroat competition.

Han Fei wanted to use his family's several properties to run this kind of big-spending project; Chen Pingsheng could only say he was truly reckless.

At least until now, he himself doesn't dare to step into the internet industry.

Of course, if Shuiyunjian had been able to secure Tong Zhelan's 1 billion yuan funding from the outset, the project would have had a very high chance of success.

After all, Tong Zhelan has already invested 1 billion yuan. If similar projects appear in the future, she will definitely use her connections and funds to help Shuiyunjian quickly eliminate imitators.

This is what the internet industry often refers to as a "money-burning war."

It's not scary to spend money; what's scary is spending less than others.

If the fire can burn until the very end, it's a winner-takes-all scenario, and the losers all jump off buildings.

People like Han Fei, who started their internet businesses with their own money from the very beginning, were destined to lose everything.

"I'm begging you, please lend me another 30 million. With just 30 million, I'm certain this project will succeed."

Aunt Liu Xiu'ai was about to jump off a building, and Han Fei was still borrowing money everywhere.

These days, his relatives are annoyed by him and wish they could spit on him.

There's no way I'd lend him money again.

"You'd better go and comfort your mother."

Borrowing money is out of the question; it's like throwing good money after bad. Michelle Song is also siding with those relatives.

Even a fool could see that Han Fei was just a big talker, all bark and no bite.

Anyone who lends him money again is a fool.

My cousin Song Shuiqing also came, and she stood in the crowd, discussing the matter.

After finally managing to persuade Aunt Liu Xiu'ai to calm down, something unexpected happened that evening.

The aunt didn't jump off the building; her son, Han Fei, did.

I can't take this blow.

It seems that in just one day, he went from being a privileged young master to someone despised by everyone.

His classmates all said he was brainless, and his relatives were pressuring him to pay back the money.

Even his mother, Liu Xiu'ai, who had always doted on him, no longer supports him.

My first entrepreneurial venture also turned out to be my last.

Everyone was awakened again in the middle of the night.

Because Han Fei died.

His death was sudden and unexpected.

Aunt Liu Xiu blames Liu Fen's family, and also blames Song Yanxi.

"You're the ones who drove him to his death. If it weren't for you, why would he have gotten involved in that damn shared bike business, and why would he have ended up jumping off a building?"

Liu Xiuai cursed them like a madwoman.

Even Liu Fen, her own sister, couldn't stop her.

The road to entrepreneurship is full of hardships.

Thinking back to when he got married, he certainly didn't dare to start a business.

As people reach middle age, they become more cautious.

If you fail, you'll lose more than just the money you've worked so hard to save; you might even lose your family.

Chen Pingsheng wore a pair of black sunglasses and looked somewhat heavy-hearted.

He certainly didn't think he was wrong, but after all, it was a life that could be lost so easily.

It's just a feeling of lamenting the fragility of life.

This makes me realize even more that the only way to succeed in starting a business is to be extremely cautious.

You never know when a crisis might strike from an unpredictable direction.

(End of this chapter)