The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

After New Year’s Day.

Chen Pingsheng took his wife back to the headquarters in Shanghai.

He came to check on the development of Deer Antler Coffee, while his wife was busy with the opening activities of the two flagship stores in Shuiyunjian.

And to visit the stores that received subsequent investments.

The music festival has indeed gained a very high level of influence in Shanghai, with a huge amount of publicity.

That evening, the signage for Deer Antler Coffee was second only to the large logos of Shuiyunjian.

Deer Antler Coffee has invested a total of 2 billion yuan, but less than a third of its stores are still profitable.

Even if they are profitable, the profit margin is extremely low.

The main problem is that the prices are too low, while the rents for prime locations are too high.

Even though Deer Antler Coffee became a viral sensation online, it failed to achieve financial break-even.

The stores just keep opening new ones, extending from the Bund in Shanghai all the way to the surrounding areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai.

Although Chen Pingsheng did not think all of this was normal, he believed that the initial period of burning money was inevitable if he wanted to make good coffee.

This is only two billion invested, it's just the beginning.

Let's see how it goes when we invest another two billion.

His plan for Deer Antler Coffee is to invest 4 billion yuan.

Apply for listing on Nasdaq.

Foreign investors clearly place more emphasis on coffee stocks.

Besides Deer Antler Coffee, the group also invests heavily in the trainee competition.

In Shanghai, the "traditional Chinese style girl" Shen Wanning and the seemingly indifferent Yang Chaoyue have become popular.

In Beijing, as clips of Bruno Mars and his crew were uploaded online, the alluring young woman Jiang Peiyao became an internet sensation.

And Yang Xiaoxiao, the arrogant and domineering rich second-generation.

These people generate buzz, which greatly benefits the trainee competition.

The event lasts for a year, which is intended to maintain high exposure for his brands throughout the year.

Just when everything was still ordinary.

Chang Fu suddenly showed up. He was Chen Pingsheng's childhood friend and could go directly to the 22nd floor without making an appointment.

The reason he came in such a hurry this time is because the live streaming industry has undergone tremendous changes.

"Old Chen, have you downloaded Kuaishou short video platform?"

"No."

To be honest, Chen Pingsheng is definitely not young at this age.

He can't easily grasp the things that young people like these days.

For example, he had only ever seen the little kid play with this short video on his phone.

Chang Fu came over with his phone and told him, "As of this month, the number of registered users on Kuaishou has reached 300 million. Guess what the live streamers said when I went out? They all said that all the young people are now focused on these short videos. Countless young people are creating and sharing their short videos on this platform."

"It's incredibly popular."

Chen Pingsheng downloaded and registered an app himself. After browsing through it, he found that everyone in the app was showing off luxury cars and mansions.

It's very vulgar.

That's how he sees it anyway.

I don't understand what's so great about a Mercedes entry-level model that costs over 300,000 yuan.

Or it's just some pretty girls doing sexy little dances.

Each video is very short, ranging from a few seconds to tens of seconds.

This is entirely fragmented time, compared to watching movies or TV series in the past.

Watching short videos is clearly more in line with the current generation of young people.

He also discovered that behind every flashy gold video, there was something tacky and unsophisticated about it.

Those so-called luxury cars are nothing compared to his.

Yet these videos routinely garner hundreds of thousands of likes.

With Tencent Entertainment, he naturally understands the importance of traffic.

Before he knew it, he had been scrolling for more than half an hour.

"Do you have any idea?"

Chen Pingsheng shut it down, just like the giant penguin of the past; it didn't need to be at the forefront of everything.

All you need to do is imitate it when you see signs of trouble, and then use the vast resources of the Penguin Empire to overwhelm it.

They can easily surpass the entrepreneurs ahead of them.

Chen Pingsheng is in the same boat now; perhaps short videos will indeed become a new trend for young people to consume and pass the time.

Kuaishou was launched in 2011, thanks to the widespread use of smartphones.

Short videos have become incredibly popular in the last two years.

Three hundred million registered users—that's a huge number!
Currently, only a handful of internet apps can achieve this, such as WeChat, Alipay, and QQ.

Chang Fu said excitedly, "Old Chen, haven't I been looking for a new opportunity in live streaming? I think this is it! Look at these creators above, they first accumulate fans through short videos, and then quickly monetize through live streaming. Fans send a lot of gifts, and they make a lot of money selling products."

"I want all my streamers to switch to the Kuaishou short video platform. I'm coming to you hoping to get your support and help."

"Support and help are easy to discuss, but the key question is, what exactly do you want?"

Chen Pingsheng invested five million in his small live-streaming guild, and he recouped his investment in less than six months.

By now, they have already earned tens of millions.

This was nothing to him, but for Changfu, it was enough to prove that he was very reliable in these matters.

Chang Fu said, "I've been researching for a while now. The simplest way to quickly become popular on short videos is to just flaunt your wealth."

"The main reason for this is that most of the people who play short videos now are young men from rural areas or young people working in factories. Think about it, with their limited perspective, they've never seen the lives of the rich before, and who doesn't yearn for the lives of the rich?" "That's why those short videos on Kuaishou often feature people being bullied first, and then luxury cars appear."

Chen Pingsheng thought it made sense.

He had been scrolling for half an hour, and half of that time he saw pictures of luxury cars or people taking pictures and dancing next to them.

Seriously, he has absolutely no interest in these kinds of videos; in fact, he finds them quite childish.

Are entry-level BBA (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi) cars considered luxury cars?

That's what he thinks, but you have to look at it from a different perspective.

A day at work or a day at school can be stressful.

Watching a short video like this would be so relaxing!

More than anything else, he actually enjoys watching those young women perform sexy dances.

The way that little butt wiggled was so seductive.

“I agree with your ideas. Why don’t you tell me what specific support you want?” Chen Pingsheng asked him.

Chang Fu grinned: "Old Chen, when it comes to showing off wealth, among the young people on the platform right now, who can compare to you?"

These are not even in the same league.

That's a completely inappropriate comparison.

Currently, the wealthy don't even look at short videos; they're mostly just used by young people.

After making some money, they would even take out loans to buy luxury cars in order to show off their family's wealth.

Those who truly reach his level wouldn't bother showing off these things at all.

It would be seen as a very low-class behavior.

Chang Fulai's meaning is still very simple: either don't flaunt it, or you must become the richest person on a certain platform.

With his meager assets, of course he couldn't do it.

No matter how fake the "little rich" figures on Kuaishou are, they still have hundreds of millions of registered users.

Among the many hidden talents, there are bound to be some genuinely wealthy individuals.

With a net worth of hundreds of millions or even billions, who would want this?

Chang Fu said, "Don't you have a Bugatti and a Koenigsegg? I'd like to borrow them first. Also, I'd like to borrow one convertible Phantom and one top-of-the-line Phantom, as well as a Bentley. It would be best if you could lend me a LaFerrari for a while as well."

"These are all very simple."

Chen Pingsheng made a phone call to Beijing and arranged for some of his cars to be sent to Shanghai.

Bugatti, Koenigsegg, LaFerrari.

These are absolutely the best of the best among the best cars.

The minimum starting price is 25 million.

Since Changfu is going to use these cars to make short videos and gain followers, he'll just support him.

He also saw many young people flaunting their wealth on social media, but he hadn't seen anyone actually bring out such a truly top-of-the-line car.

He brought over three luxury cars and two top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce Phantoms, instantly making a grand entrance.

As for Bentleys, we can just bring two over as well.

He has so many cars now that he can't even count them all.

"You don't just want to borrow the car, do you?"

Chang Fu chuckled: "Having a luxury car alone is not enough. I hope you will invest another 50 million. Firstly, this will increase your shareholding to 80%. Secondly, I want to rent a small headquarters for myself. I feel that this is the biggest opportunity of my life. If I seize it, I may rise to the top. If I don't, then my life will just be like this, earning tens of millions every year and living a life of idleness."

That's a bit like Versailles, but it's certainly true for Chang Fu.

He can easily earn tens of millions every year without any pressure.

"Fifty million is a little too little."

Chen Pingsheng thought for a moment and said, "Since you've decided on this direction, I'll give you 100 million. Also, don't rent the headquarters anymore. Since you want to create the persona of the richest person on the platform, you should have your own headquarters building in Shanghai."

"How about this, I'll spend a few hundred million to buy a smaller headquarters building and rent it to you."

If he can't afford an office building in Hong Kong, how could he not afford one in Shanghai?

Short videos are undeniably attractive to young people.

It might actually become the next big thing.

Chang Fu has been in this industry for so many years, so if he's brought it up, he must be very confident.

Regardless of whether there are any opportunities or not, let's throw in a few hundred million to secure a good position first.

What if it really does become the next big thing?

His move today was incredibly wise.

Five or six hundred million yuan can't buy a dozen or so floors of office space in Pudong New Area, but it can buy a small eight-story building.

The final price was 5.8 million.

The location is excellent, and the moment the sign is hung up, its aura is far superior to that of some young people showing off on their phones.

In addition, he brought over all his cars and parked them in a row.

Even if he didn't post any content, just by taking pictures of these cars, Chang Fu felt that he could quickly become a huge hit on a certain platform.

The key to success in short video marketing is establishing your persona first.

Gain a few million followers before talking about making money.

Now that this track has been opened, he's going to rely on massive amounts of capital.

They crushed them directly.

Unbeatable all the way.

(End of this chapter)