The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

"The third generation heir of the Chen family appeared at Shanghai University, suspected to be a freshman."

"Is it the Chen family, who became legendary figures in Shanghai decades ago?"

"Who else could it be if he wasn't him?"

"Do you all remember that Chen An'an, the second-generation heir of the Chen family, held a nationwide university lecture tour on his thirtieth birthday? It caused a sensation in the entire university community and even brought out his father, who had disappeared for many years."

“I know, I know, this happened many years ago. My aunt was fortunate enough to hear An An give a speech at the university. She was incredibly generous. There were over four thousand people in the audience, and An An pulled out more than two hundred million yuan on the spot and gave each person fifty thousand yuan.”

"I remember that many news media outlets followed up and reported on how much money An An spent on that national university tour."

"No need to look up information, I'll tell you, the university lecture only cost a little over seven billion."

"Upstairs, how did you manage to describe over seven billion in terms of mere figures?"

Countless college students immediately followed the post, their phones practically clicking away, and they gathered in groups.

All they wanted was to get the juicy gossip about the three generations of the Chen family's successors as quickly as possible.

“During the university speech, An An gave away more than 7 billion yuan and awarded 50,000 yuan to each person. After the university speech, An An announced in Baiyun, Guangdong that he would invest 20 billion yuan to build restaurants for outsiders in major first-tier cities. If you have elders in your family who work in the city, you should know about restaurants for outsiders.”

“I know, I know. My father works in Shenzhen. He only eats at restaurants catering to people from other places. They have more than fifty dishes every day. All you need to do is show that you are from another place. It costs eight yuan a meal and there is no limit to how many times you can eat there. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

“My father often said that this restaurant, called ‘Outsider’s Restaurant, must be run by a very good person. Otherwise, why would such a large shop with such a nice environment, and why would migrant workers only eat at ‘Outsider’s Restaurant’?”

"This was started by An An, the chief heir of the second generation of the Chen family. She invested 20 billion yuan on her 30th birthday, and then subsidized 1.5 billion to 2 billion yuan every year thereafter."

"This is how we can keep the restaurant for outsiders running. Otherwise, you would think that with over fifty dishes, and the freshest ingredients and best flavors, we only charge eight dollars per person? If it weren't for her subsidies, the restaurant would go bankrupt in no time if someone else took over."

"this…"

"An'an is my god."

"If nothing unexpected happens, the third-generation heir of the Chen family that has appeared in our school should be An'an's youngest son."

"She also has an older son?"

“What’s so strange about that? An’an’s eldest son doesn’t take his mother’s surname, but his father’s surname, Sun. He is the chief heir of the prestigious Sun family.”

"As for her youngest son, he was raised by his grandfather since he was a child. No information about his grandfather can be found online, but he is the founder of Tengying Group and a legendary figure in the business world who manages hundreds of industries in China and owns at least five companies with assets exceeding one trillion yuan."

"Everything in the Chen family started with him. Isn't there a popular saying in movies that there's money on top of money and power on top of power?"
"This statement applies to all the wealthy families in the country, but it is clearly inappropriate to apply it to this person."

"It's a fact that no one is richer than the founder of the Chen family. Now you know how valuable this third-generation heir of the Chen family is, right?"

"Young Master Jia, come and see quickly."

"What happened again?" In the boys' dormitory, Ma Jia had already given his family a preliminary report on the situation, but he didn't expect the news to spread so quickly!

Now that everyone knows the situation, how can he still call Jiye his godfather?

"Jiye's post has completely exploded on campus. Except for his name, everything else about him has been exposed. The Chen family is so powerful. I want to switch allegiance and become Jiye's godfather!"

"Dream on! The number of people who want to follow him is far more terrifying than you can imagine. And do you really think that the few people at school can uncover Old Chen's family background?"

Ma Jia scoffed, “Not to mention anything else, Tengfei AI’s market value exceeds 2.4 trillion US dollars, and the Chen family holds more than 50% of the shares through various channels. Just this part of the assets alone is worth 1.2 trillion US dollars, which is 8 trillion RMB. Not to mention that it has at least five other trillion-dollar groups under its umbrella.”

Holy crap... that's amazing?

$1.2 trillion! That's enough money to keep you counting it all, even if you just lie at home all day. It would take three generations to count it all.

"You think the Chen family's wealth, which is said to rival that of a nation, is a joke?"

Ma Jia arrogantly said, "The richer a family is, the more unfathomable their wealth becomes. Let me put it this way: no matter which family's second generation is in front of the Chen family, they all have to lower their heads and learn how to behave again."

"Their Economic Research Island controls hundreds of basic industries that are vital to people's livelihoods in China, and it ranks among the top in the world. A single sentence from there can easily change the survival status of countless low-level industries. Do you think that the continuous improvement of the employment environment for low-level workers over the years is social progress or a collective awakening to the anti-involution movement?"

"No, it's not that. It's that Jingyan Island started planning the diversion of grassroots talents eighteen years ago through its own efforts. The Chen family not only spent time on this matter, but also invested countless funds. It is estimated that over the years, it will not be less than one trillion. This has given most students from rural backgrounds a wider range of career options. Do you think the Chen family is just rich?"

"Its subsidiary, Tengnong Breeding, covers more than one-third of agricultural breeding bases in China, and its sales cover more than 80% of countries worldwide."

"It took him nearly forty years of his own efforts to ensure that the elderly in rural areas can rely on their land and live comfortably in their old age, instead of putting the pressure on the younger generation."

"The Chen family's businesses are everywhere, both in places you can see and places you can't see."

"It is also the largest private conglomerate to rise since the founding of the nation, and it ranks among the top ten in the world."

"Second only to the Rothschilds and Morgans, super family conglomerates that have been developing for over a century."

"This is outrageous! Aren't there any restrictions from above?"

"What restrictions?"

Ma Jia explained: "Under normal circumstances, such a powerful super conglomerate would absolutely not be allowed to rise in the country, but the founder of the Chen family is clever in that he has deeply tied his group's development strategy to the country's industrial upgrading and strategic development."

"In 2015, when the country was upgrading its industry and vigorously supporting the new energy industry, the founder of the Chen family invested over 100 billion yuan in the new energy industry in two years and also strongly supported the development of solid-state batteries."

"When the Chen family invested in new energy vehicles, they didn't advertise or engage in any false advertising. They focused on building good cars and prioritizing user safety and reputation in the industry. Over five years, they invested nearly 300 billion yuan in the industry and spent eight years developing solid-state batteries into the world's best."

"Of course, the Chen family has also reaped enormous rewards. Nowadays, their new energy vehicles can not only run on land, but their flying cars are also selling extremely well overseas. They have also extended into a series of globally popular technological products such as flying motorcycles and flying space capsules. Now, the market value of Tengfei New Energy is 1.6 trillion US dollars. These are all Chen family businesses that outsiders have forgotten."

"They wouldn't publicize this kind of thing too much. Over the years, the Chen family has always been known for its low profile. Once their members reach a certain age, they no longer appear in the public eye. Think about it, if that woman from the Xia family hadn't accidentally revealed that the third-generation heir of the Chen family had come to our school, who would have guessed?" (End of this chapter)