The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 783 Meeting Place and Controversy

The gathering took place at Chen Pingsheng's own super private club.

It's very secluded inside, and it can block all external signals, making it impossible for anyone to secretly film or eavesdrop.

The older generation is discussing the group's next steps, or a series of chaotic situations have arisen due to succession issues.

The younger generation gathered on the other side; those second-generation members who could be present in this place were definitely at the pinnacle of society.

Their families all started with assets exceeding 100 billion; without 100 billion, they weren't even qualified to sit at the table for a meal.

"Chen Xinyi, your dad is really strange. He only brought his daughter-in-law and not his own son."

"Or, like you, inherit the family business and grow its market value from over 300 billion to 600 billion in less than three years?"

Erpiya speaks her mind directly and doesn't give face to anyone, but everyone is used to it.

These second-generation rich kids still looked down on Su Xiaoxi, even though Erpiya had taught Su Xiaoxi for a while.

Her siblings are none of anyone else's business to gossip about them except their own family.

“I was on the wrong track. Give me a few more years, and I’ll definitely be able to get back to my peak,” Liu Wentai said.

"One wrong line and you've squandered 80% of your family's wealth. If you were given another two years, your old man would probably be so angry he'd kick the bucket."

"Chen Xinyi, I'm trying to be nice to you, you don't have to say such nasty things, do you?"

Liu Wentai could look down on Su Xiaoxi, and he could openly or secretly mock Chen Lu for relying on his wife to support him, despite being the first in line to inherit the Chen family.

But he dared not argue with Erpiya. Everyone in the business world knew that no one's face mattered to the Second Princess.

Like a hedgehog with its feathers bristling, she does whatever she wants.

But her family's strength is undeniable, and she herself is far ahead of the rest of the second-generation elites. Who can say anything about her?
Do I need your kindness?

Erpiya sneered, "Aren't you just trying to say that my brother is incompetent? He may be mediocre, but he's not as stubborn, arrogant, and foolish as you, harming both yourself and others."

"Hey... I'm telling you two, just shut up a bit. Our parents have been working together for decades. The only reason we can all get together is because our parents have a good relationship."

Tong Zhelan has two sons and a daughter, all of whom are quite old, and her sons are not particularly successful.

The only one in the family who can truly inherit the family business is the only girl, Huiren.

The name looks ordinary, but it was actually calculated by a master based on her birth date and time.

She was also the one with the best relationship with An An.

"It's alright, it's alright. A little bickering won't affect our personal relationships."

Others also tried to mediate.

Don't be fooled by how easy they seem to talk to you now; it's because the people sitting in these positions are no ordinary people.

No matter how much they argue, they always help each other out in private.

Tong Huiren also asked An'an, who was standing next to her, "Does your father really not intend for your younger brother to inherit a portion of the family business?"

"not going to."

An'an said, "My brother's personality is really not suited to the cutthroat competition of the business world. He also clearly told my father that he wants to be a leisurely and wealthy person in the future."

"fair enough."

Tong Huiren also said, "My mother always said that your father was a real entrepreneur and a wise businessman with connections to the government. Of the three in your family, only you have inherited part of the family business. Your sister, on the other hand, has taken a different path and started to work in global capital. Her talent in this area is indeed unique."

"As for your brother, since he doesn't like the business world and doesn't have the talent, it's better for him to be the richest idle second generation, rather than inheriting the family business. It's better than Liu Wentai, who squandered 80% of the family's assets in just a few years after inheriting the business."

Liu Wentai has become a laughing stock in the industry. His father urgently contacted Tong Zelan, requesting that the seven chiefs reunite in Hong Kong.

Actually, it was also to solve the current predicament of the family, to put it bluntly, to clean up the mess left by Liu Wentai.

Poor guy, the bigger the blow he suffers, the harder he tries to prove himself.

When it comes to hard work, he's truly exceptional.

In terms of intelligence, he is definitely at the very bottom of the list.

"Can you guys please stop staring at me like that when you're talking about those things?"

Liu Wentai always felt that everyone was laughing at him, and he had no achievements to refute them.

This isn't like his cronies. If you want to hear the truth, you just need to find a group of people in higher positions than you.

Previously, Liu Wentai only listened to flattery in the company and among his friends.

It was as if he really was that chosen one who never made a mistake.

If you encounter someone like Erpiya, you'll immediately roast him so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him.

"Just shut up. Uncle Liu is right, you can only listen to nice things."

Tong Huiren also subconsciously cursed him. As expected, the first of the seven chiefs to be eliminated would definitely be Liu Wentai's family.

Originally, the family had assets of two or three hundred billion, but who brought out such a brilliant but impractical person as Liu Wentai.

In just a few years, the Liu family is now facing numerous crises.

If it weren't for his father being one of the seven chief executives, his family's business would probably have been attacked by a large amount of capital long ago, and controlling shares would have been seized.

Since Chen Pingsheng hadn't said anything, it wasn't appropriate for anyone to kick him while he was down.

After all, when it comes to money, who can beat the Chen family?
If he didn't seize such a good opportunity, how could the others possibly make a move?
Even for the second generation, trying to work hard is a huge pitfall.

"You're not all here today to try and sabotage me, are you?"

"Don't worry, you're not that shameless."

Erpiya bluntly said, "No matter how incompetent my brother is, he can still recognize his own limitations. Liu Wentai, if I ever hear you talking badly about him outside again, I'll crush you as easily as crushing an ant."

Liu Wentai's face turned bright red. He was already in his late thirties, and to be scolded like this was a first for him.

Chen Lu has indeed become a topic of conversation among the top second-generation elites, mainly because he voluntarily gave up his family inheritance rights.

Being content to be a carefree second-generation rich kid seems ridiculous to others.

After all, neither of his parents was an important figure in their own right.

Especially his father, is there anyone in the country richer than him?

Everyone would probably have a big question mark about this.

Because nobody really knows how much money his family has.

It's definitely worth trillions.

The richest person in China according to Forbes only has over 600 billion yuan.

This shows just how big the gap is between the real situation and this list.

Rumor has it that their family spends a billion dollars every year to buy out all internet family information.

That is, spending 1 billion to block all similar news about the Chen family's wealth.

Only these people knew that this was not just a rumor, but the truth.

In reality, Chen Pingsheng spends 3 billion yuan every year to buy out all news about his family's wealth worldwide.

Decades have passed, and their family has never made it onto any list.

Chen Lu, the first in line to inherit the Chen family fortune, actually gave up control of his family's assets.

This shows just how surprised people were in the second-generation elite circles.

This is like an ancient prince who has been the crown prince for twenty years suddenly declaring that he no longer wants the throne.

From now on, I just want to live a carefree and leisurely life as a prince.

The only thing Liu Wentai could still be proud of was that he believed Chen Lu was even worse than him.

If even the first heir of the Chen family is so incompetent, what else is there to be ashamed of? Erpiya knew that her younger brother would inevitably be ridiculed by outsiders for making that decision.

Her father will also be affected.

But there's no way around it. Chen Lu himself said that if he were to become the president of his family's company, it would be harmful to both himself and others.

No matter how bad Chen Lu is, he is unwilling to ruin a group with hundreds of thousands of employees just because he is the only son.

His appointment as a parachuted-in CEO serves no purpose other than to harm people.

If that's the case, why didn't you explain it to your father beforehand?

If you're incapable, you're incapable. Just admit it, what's the big deal?

It has to be said that Chen Lu's mindset as an ordinary person is truly unmatched by most people.

No matter how reluctant Song Yanxi was, she couldn't stop him from not wanting it.

Give up what is rightfully yours but which you cannot afford.

It really takes courage to keep quiet when you should speak out.

So, no matter who it is, Erpiya won't allow them to talk about her own brother.

……

Chen Lu's choice was entirely his own, and it wasn't greatly influenced by outsiders.

He will soon be finishing his junior year, and once that's over, all that's left is to intern at the group company.

Compared to what you can learn in university, you can learn significantly more through practical experience in a group setting.

Society is a giant school.

As a result, Su Xiaoxi will also be working in Hong Kong, and this is the first time she has accompanied Chen Pingsheng to a business gathering.

When these second-generation women get together, it's not just about arguing; they can also collaborate on many business projects simultaneously.

After all, the Chen, Liu, Tong, and Shen families each have their own businesses and resources.

The upper circle won't be compatible with helping the lower circle, mainly because you can't offer them the resources they want.

Resources are the most valuable thing.

An An has taken over her own group, which includes entertainment, mobile phones, snacks, coffee, and more.

Erpiya's core focus is still on global investment, but she also owns Tencent Media and Wanda Commercial Management.

These things can easily propel countless small businesses to success.

Even if Liu Wentai is at his worst, his family still has a beverage empire, and their products can be found in shops on every street corner.

Others are similar; often, these business gatherings are mainly for facilitating resource cooperation.

For example, a new beverage that Erpiya invested in was initially only selling well in one large province.

The market value and potential are still limited. Once the Liu family invests, we can leverage their sales channels that are spread throughout the country.

It can immediately turn into a hen that keeps laying golden eggs.

When it comes to investing, vision is only one aspect; the most important thing is the vast resources you possess.

In other words, something that can be easily mobilized.

With money in her left hand and her parents' connections in her right, Erpiya only needs a slightly better eye to easily dominate the capital market.

Everyone has already passed the stage of starting from scratch; their way of making money is directly through resource integration.

Mergers and acquisitions set the rules of the game in the industry, thereby directly boosting the group's market value.

Liu Wentai suffered such a crushing defeat because he lacked the ability to manage the group and insisted on stubbornly overthrowing everything his father had established.

It is euphemistically called reform in the new era.

Su Xiaoxi's ability to attend such a gathering has broadened her horizons considerably.

The kind of investment she envisioned was sitting in an office constantly listening to people present their business plans or dreams.

In reality, when big capital invests, a few acquaintances will sit together and tell you they have a great project and ask if you want to join in.

And so, the investment plan of tens or hundreds of billions was decided.

It sounds like a joke, but that's how frivolous reality is.

So-called hard work is insignificant in the face of family resources; those who get to sit at the table are basically those with a history of success.

That's how the money games at the top work. They set their own rules, and once they've mastered a set of strategies, they can easily amass billions in wealth.

This is probably why the children of wealthy families all like to get involved in finance.

It's not scary for second-generation rich kids to get involved in finance; the scariest thing is for them to go home and inherit the family business.

Many wealthy people in China have failed because of this. Those once influential entrepreneurs who influenced an era have all let their children take over.

Very few can maintain their glory; most fall from grace quickly.

An'an and Erpiya are already considered to be the best among the second-generation rich.

Everyone thought Chen Lu would follow in their footsteps and inherit his father's glory, but in reality, he gave it up.

He trapped himself in the spendthrift fund, receiving ten million every month as living expenses.

They are prohibited from starting their own businesses or inheriting family businesses for ten years.

Reality is cruel, or perhaps it's the cruel rules that Chen Pingsheng set to ensure the continuation of his family.

Chen Lu can certainly spend more than ten million a month, after all, he gave up inheriting the family business, and his wife Su Xiaoxi still holds nearly 50 billion in Hong Kong Teng Hui Capital.

With this capital, the couple could easily live off their wealth for ten generations.

Whether they can achieve further glory in the future depends entirely on their own abilities.

Su Xiaoxi owns a headquarters building in Hong Kong worth over 10 billion, which was a wedding gift from Chen Pingsheng.

Erpiya is even more exaggerated; she owns a Victoria Harbour skyscraper worth over 80 billion.

Back in 2028, when the Hong Kong property market bottomed out, Chen Pingsheng bought it and gave it to her.

This building generates a net income of around five billion yuan annually from rent.

An An owns a building that was purchased early on as the global headquarters of Tencent.

The same market capitalization of over 10 billion.

Hong Kong is a small place, but its property prices are among the highest in the world, mainly because the property rights are long-term.

Most people who have enough money will buy property in this area, either apartments or storefronts, to protect their family assets from loss.

Chen Pingsheng naturally bought everything; he also owns five superstores here.

The number of storefronts and such is countless.

It can be said that Chen Lu's choice is not problematic; if he wants to lie down, he really can lie down however he wants.

After the daytime gathering ended, Chen Pingsheng invited everyone to his home for dinner.

Although he rarely comes to Hong Kong now, his multi-billion dollar mansion still has a Filipino maid.

This super-large villa is definitely big enough for a family to live in.

But An'an, Erpiya, and Chen Lu all still have their own big houses.

The most expensive villas known to exist in Hong Kong are only around four billion.

It's fair to say that his villas are among the top ten in Hong Kong.

(End of this chapter)