What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 468 Righteous Way
Renault's stock price fluctuated but did not continue to decline, while new clues continued to emerge regarding Ghosn's arrest. Despite France's ongoing negotiations, there is unlikely to be any new developments regarding the automotive industry's most outstanding CEO in the short term.

On May 7, five days after Guoshanfeng issued its short-selling report, Renault finally made a belated statement on the emissions issue.

It did not admit to intentional falsification, but apologized for the emissions issues, while insisting that the technical factor causing the emissions was an engine protection measure, the principle of which was to shut down the EGR under high temperature conditions to prevent the turbocharger from overheating and being damaged.

Along with this official statement, several senior executives of Renault resigned, taking responsibility for the incident.

However, this explanation was not accepted by the public and even angered many people to some extent.

As a bystander quietly observing from Lingang, Yu Xing received an interview from overseas, asking for his opinion on the Renault emissions incident.

He was taken aback when he received the call, but quickly figured it out after hearing the other party's introduction. The previous Li Song was a fake environmentalist, but this caller seemed more genuine.

Before the formal telephone interview, Richards, a reporter from the French newspaper Le Monde, talked about environmental protection, explaining that the main reason for the call was that Yu Xing's silicon carbon group also belonged to the new energy sector.

Whether it's Renault, Volkswagen, or other automakers, a term they frequently promote in recent years is "clean diesel," which is actually related to the rise of environmental political correctness in Europe.

Yu Xing understood the true nature of this phone call: even an unknown small company in the far East knows to protect the environment through new energy sources, so what about Renault?
He was caught off guard by the interview with the French media. His first reaction was that his identity as a former mountaineer had been exposed. He then pondered how to answer. However, this kind of media must have interviewed many targets and gathered multiple opinions that were completely opposite to Renault's in order to create momentum.

"I think Renault should handle this matter more transparently, as should the French government."

"As far as I know, the technical factors mentioned in Renault's statement are clearly deviating from the industry's conventional design. How could any car company set the EGR to shut off in a high-temperature environment? It is usually shut off during cold starts or idling to avoid unstable combustion."

EGR is the technology for exhaust gas recirculation.

When Yu Xing detected the problem in Lingang, he had subtly discussed emission technology with the internal staff of the Silicon Carbon Group, and listened to everyone's conclusions after seeing Renault's statement. At this time, his opinions were very objective.

"Personally, I think Renault's explanation is hard to believe. Moreover, its commercial vehicle division was fined by the US EPA in 1998 for installing cheating devices, and it is regrettable that a similar problem is now suspected. It may not have learned its lesson well."

"I have great respect for Renault's achievements in the automotive industry, but whether it's gasoline-powered cars or new energy vehicles, we should all do more to protect the planet."

Yu Xing's reasoned and well-founded answer surprised the reporter on the other end of the phone, who praised him repeatedly.

The two sides discussed a few more issues, and Yu Xing briefly introduced his own project, but it was only out of politeness.

Two days later, he saw the report published in Le Monde, which did include a section featuring his own interview, but it was only a brief summary of the mainstream view in the automotive industry regarding EGR technology.

Yu Xing felt quite regretful that the real mountain peaks were ignored in media reports.

On May 9, the global buzz surrounding Renault's emissions scandal had subsided considerably. The storm, which had been intertwined with the mountain peaks, Ghosn's arrest, and the power struggle between France and Japan, seemed to be dying down, with only political correctness in Europe continuing to track and report on it.

However, despite the rise of environmentalism and the Green Party in Europe, the French authorities have already made their stance implicitly clear, and once they get bogged down in explaining and debating technical factors, the subsequent process could be very lengthy.

That morning, Yu Xing received a WeChat message from Li Song, who mentioned that he had placed an order through an intermediary for a batch of diesel vehicles from various car manufacturers, which would arrive in Lingang as early as this month.

This time, Li Song's direction was correct, but he simply couldn't wait any longer to cross the mountain peak.

The more correct he is, the faster he must act when crossing the mountain.

According to Liu Wanying's notification, the attack on the public by the mountain peak was scheduled for Monday, May 18th, and a new storm was about to break out before even the next month.

Yu Xing advised Li Song on WeChat: "Mr. Li, is it reliable to buy overseas car models through an intermediary? Don't transfer too much money first."

“It’s alright, I got help from friends. I’ve already paid half the money, this is expedited processing,” Li Song replied, adding, “Environmental protection waits for no one.”

Yu Xing figured that President Xu could probably afford the losses, so he could only let Li Song do as he pleased.

He was pondering his short-term plans in the factory area when, before he could even smoke a cigarette, he suddenly received a call from Liu Jiankai, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time.

"Mr. Yu, my Bitcoin trading platform will be launched in a couple of days." Liu Jiankai's voice was filled with joy, excitement, and trepidation. "Give it a try then."

Yu Xing chuckled: "Liu Ge, I can't really support your stuff. But you've been in Hong Kong for quite a while now, I thought you'd be able to finish the trading platform soon."

“I’m looking for people and a team. The collapse of Mentougou has had a significant impact,” Liu Jiankai said. “Several small trading platforms went bankrupt in the first half of the year, and the whole market is quite volatile.”

Yu Xing felt that this market had always been quite restless, so he asked, "What's the name of your platform?"

“SoBitcoin,” Liu Jiankai said with a smile, “I gave it a Chinese name in China: ‘可比特’ (Ke Bit).

Yu Xing was taken aback: "Sourbit? Uh, Cobit? It sounds like the name of a drug, Cobit, which can dilate the bronchi."

Liu Jiankai had never heard of this medicine before, but it seemed like something that President Yu would associate with.

After listening to Liu Jiankai's efforts in his career, Yu Xing said, "Liu Ge, I wish your 'Kebit' will become the world's largest trading platform in the future. When you become successful, don't forget your brother."

Liu Jiankai laughed heartily, still sincerely thanking President Yu for his help. As for the future of the platform, the current goal is to survive first.

The “Kobbit” platform is about to launch, but it will obviously not help the current action of the mountain peak. The current cryptocurrency market is not big enough. In the past, less than 10% of the funds that shorted Reynolds went through this channel, and it was very limited.

Liu Wanying's upcoming second attack will temporarily abandon this channel and will still operate with a verified non-penetrating design. However, the rules in the German market are more stringent than those in the French market.

She called me in the evening to discuss how to manage the funds at hand and to look forward to more possibilities.

"If we succeed the second time, we might succeed the third time." Liu Wanying revealed her ambitious nature.

Besides Renault and Volkswagen, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Citroën are the other three automakers whose vehicles have been found to have problems. However, unlike the former two which have multiple models, these three automakers have only detected one model.

Nissan's model is the Qashqai, Mercedes-Benz's is the GLK220 CDI, and Citroën's is the C4 Cactus.

All three models have experienced similar issues, but Mercedes-Benz has the most problems among the three. Therefore, Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, is also a potential next target for Guoshanfeng.

Liu Wanying and Yu Xing had some disagreements regarding whether to target Volkswagen or Daimler for a second attack.

Liu Wanying believes that leaving the public last will yield the greatest profit, but President Yu thinks the market may not be able to leave room for it indefinitely. It is not easy for a single company to commit fraud to cause a stir, but if a second company appears in a short period of time, there may be contingency plans to be developed for the subsequent situation.

And the reason for choosing Volkswagen over Daimler is naturally because of Volkswagen's leading position in the global diesel vehicle market.

Volkswagen has high sales of diesel vehicles, so if a problem occurs, the loss of revenue from this segment will be the biggest blow, and its market share in the United States will also be subject to severe penalties. Daimler is weaker in this regard, so the chain reaction will not be as strong.

Furthermore, Volkswagen has a larger number of shares in circulation and a higher average daily trading volume, while Daimler's is only 3% of Volkswagen's.

Yu Xing listened to the voice on the phone: "Renault has problems, Volkswagen has problems, which basically means that there are widespread problems in the diesel vehicle sector. I suspect that it's not just the government; maybe Citroën, Daimler, and other companies with problems will come forward and confess themselves."

Liu Wanying laughed and said, "I just hope they all continue to hold onto this侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality), just like the unusually quiet crowd this time."

Yu Xing sighed, “The silence of the masses is the calm before the storm. After this peak, there will be a real silence. I never thought about shaking the most influential industry in the world. I just wanted to make some money.”

"I was thinking of flying to Europe to experience it firsthand, and I rolled over a huge snowball over the mountain peak," Liu Wanying said.

Yu Xing immediately dissuaded him: "No, please don't! You're going to get too proud and fail. Let's not go up close to the crime scene. I'll wait for you in Lingang to throw money at me."

Liu Wanying said with a hint of regret: "Just looking at the news online lacks the atmosphere of a storm. I hope the storm is big enough so that I can feel the wind and rain in Hong Kong."

Yu Xing chuckled, thinking that Lingang would probably feel something similar as well.

He is confident in his position with the public and also confident in the current situation.

Every moment brings more information from around the world, and emissions scandals in the automotive industry gradually fade from the news headlines as their inevitable lengthy process unfolds.

Over the next week, Yu Xing received an inspection from Shanghai leaders in Lingang, where he gave a detailed introduction to the current positioning and prospects of the "Jiuzhou" prototype vehicle, expressing a relatively restrained optimism regarding the sales targets already set for next year.

"New energy is great. This range-extended vehicle is based on new energy and also takes into account the current needs, so it's quite good." Zhu Zehui, the director of Lingang, who came with the leaders, personally introduced and praised the Carbon Silicon Group.

The city leaders were somewhat noncommittal, raising a minor issue: "Mr. Yu, your silicon carbon group's cars have been in use for quite some time. I noticed that BYD launched its cars after only one or two years when it entered the automotive industry."

"The electrification requirements for new energy sources are quite high now, so we've allocated more time to research and development and testing." Yu Xing didn't show any emotion, simply giving a routine introduction to the Carbon Silicon Group's considerations in this regard.

After the city leaders walked away, Director Zhu Zehui turned to Yu Xing and said, "Just follow the normal procedures. Don't say they don't understand. Even though I come here often, how much do I really understand? It still depends on your market performance."

Yu Xing laughed and said, "Let's try to sell more next year, then we can all make a name for ourselves."

Zhu Zehui nodded: "As long as it's the right way, it's fine. We can't do anything crooked, like that emissions problem that recently surfaced. No matter how much we try to cover it up, the truth will eventually come out."

Yu Xing's heart skipped a beat, realizing that Director Zhu hadn't actually mentioned it intentionally; rather, it was Yu Xing who was sensitive about it.

He walked a few steps and suddenly said, "That short-selling guy, Guo Shanfeng, is really something else."

Zhu Zehui grunted in response, offering neither comment nor expressing any particular liking or dislike.

That evening, after Yu Xing finished receiving his superiors, he was about to call Xiao Ying when Yu Kai, who was busy with fundraising, called.

"Mr. Yu, the funds raised by the foundation are basically in place." Yu Kai's voice was rather serious. "Regarding the stock selection, shall we discuss it together again? Is it a bit too prudent to only consider Alibaba?"

Yu Xing was a little surprised: "You guys are pretty quick. Why are you consulting again? Do you have any good stocks?"

“They asked a few friends who work in economics and recommended some US stocks,” Yu Kai said. “They sounded promising to me.”

Yu Xing was even more surprised: "Economist? Hmm, economist, I remember an economist's self-deprecating remark that they are divided into two categories: one is those who don't know how to predict, and the other is those who don't know they don't know how to predict... Since the DLF Foundation can't raise the target amount of funds, let me manage this money. There shouldn't be too many problems."

He paused, then continued, "Furthermore, if we profit from buying Alibaba shares, I think we shouldn't withdraw all of it at once. The deep learning foundation should only use as much as needed, and keep the rest in there. If we can raise more funds next year, we can operate in this way, in parts."

Yu Kai thought for a moment and said, "I've been watching the news lately and saw that there's still short selling in the stock market. You also mentioned cryptocurrency last time. Maybe we can get a share from that too..."

“No, Dr. Yu,” Yu Xing said seriously, “we must take the right path.”

First, use your own funds to support normal operations. If you have more spare capacity, then you can consider unethical methods.

Yu Xing said with a smile, "Trust Alibaba, trust my judgment, and trust our destiny together."

Yu Kai withdrew the objections that had surfaced in recent days and decided to trust President Yu, who was capable of building a considerable business. Although it didn't seem like he was following the right path to invest in stocks with money pooled together by a group of people, well... a well-known e-commerce company like Alibaba should be fine, right?

(End of this chapter)