What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 575 Attitude
The fruit chain business in Haiyan is doing well; at least it's profitable.

Yu Xing didn't understand fruit chain stores and had previously asked people from Today Capital to give him some guidance. However, there are fundamental commonalities in business competition. Compared to "Baicaoyuan" and "Xianfeng Fruit," which have been operating as companies for more than ten years, his family's "Fresh Fruit Garden" cannot differentiate itself from the competition.

The grape varieties introduced to Haiyan Vineyard are a minor advantage, but they cannot dominate the overall competition. Currently, it is relying on its geographical advantages for development.

With the resources Yu Xing currently has, he could indeed push Fresh Fruit Garden to engage in more aggressive or even frenzied capital operations and scale expansion, but there is really no need for that. Going public can still be a goal that everyone can look forward to, and making money in hand is a guarantee for a good life.

Yu Xing did not hide this thought from his parents.

Surprisingly, the father, Yu Guosheng, agreed with his son's opinion this time, praising him repeatedly for his contentment in this regard.

"A company that grows big is not necessarily a good thing."

"What new energy, what short videos, what pioneers, they're busy all day long but they don't even have a wife, let alone children. The old couple can't even get back the money they gave as gifts over the decades!"

Yu Guosheng's praise took on a different meaning.

Yu Xing smiled at his father's sarcastic remarks and corrected him, "It's not like you have to have a wife to have children. If you want money for weddings, then hold a banquet for your golden or silver wedding anniversary. I guarantee you'll get all the money back in one go, and you can even make a little extra."

Yu Guosheng and Chu Qiying exchanged a glance, then suddenly looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chu Qiying hesitated and asked, "You...you don't have anything like surrogacy involved, do you?"

Yu Guosheng went a step further: "Has she already given birth?"

Yu Xing laughed out loud: "No, no, besides, I wouldn't hide it from you, would I?"

Chu Qiying hesitated to make a definitive statement and said seriously, "Who knows what kind of things you rich people might do? It's hard to say whether you can even abide by the law in China, let alone abroad."

Yu Xing felt that his mother was being stereotyped.

“Your father and I didn’t want to rush you.” Chu Qiying put aside her questions and said, “You have a company and funds, which I don’t understand. If Xiao Liu can accept it, I can’t say much. But look at the children of your juniors, such as Zhong Zhiling and Lü Haiying.”

She sighed deeply, using her expression to put pressure on her son.

Yu Xing remained unmoved and replied perfunctorily, "I know, I know. Retirement means being idle, right? In a few years, I'll build you a little robot to play with at home."

Chu Qiying felt that he could no longer understand. Could it be that the little robot was some kind of metaphor?
Yu Xing's phone rang. He picked it up, glanced at it, and shook it at the elderly couple, ending the pressure by using business as an excuse.

He walked a few more steps but did not receive a call from Zhou Hongyi.

Just as he sat down in the study, Zhou Hongyi barged in again.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, we got straight to the point.

360 was willing to add another $1 million to the original offer, bringing the total price for MasterKey to $6.5 million.

“Mr. Zhou, I’m glad you’re willing to pay more,” Yu Xing said thoughtfully, “but this price is still quite different from what I expected.”

Zhou Hongyi said bluntly, "Then just tell me, how many do you want?"

Yu Xing laughed and said, "I already said, the Master Key costs 20 billion US dollars."

Zhou Hongyi calmly retorted, "That's pure bullshit! If a master key could sell for that price, I'd just go in and never come out!"

After returning to Beijing, he held internal discussions and determined that 360 was willing to take over the short video business again, but the price had to be quite fair.

This offer isn't a firm commitment, but it can't be negotiated based on the $20 billion price tag for silicon carbon.

The top leaders on both sides should first exchange opinions and reach a general consensus before the lower-level officials can continue the discussion.

Yu Xing said seriously, "We cannot do things that violate laws and regulations."

Zhou Hongyi said irritably, "Give me a fair price, don't keep arguing like this. You don't really want to talk to Alibaba or Tencent, do you? Even if 360 enters the short video market, we will still be at a disadvantage against Douyin."

Yu Xing smiled and said, "Then I'll wait for Baidu's quote, and then we'll see."

"President Yu, don't be so shameless." Zhou Hongyi's tone showed strong dissatisfaction.

Yu Xing didn't think the other party was really angry. He said, "You only talked to 360 before, but you weren't willing to talk seriously at the time. Now that you've talked to Baidu, let's take a look together. I also hope that President Zhou can reassess the value of the universal key."

Zhou Hongyi ended the call with a sense of helplessness.

360's current maximum valuation for Universal Key is $8.5 million. He didn't want to directly approach Baidu with that price, worried that Baidu might impulsively lower the offer. After much deliberation, he sent Li Yanhong a text message informing her of 360's latest offer.

Li Yanhong offered a simple thank you but did not respond to Zhou Hongyi's inquiry about Baidu's intentions.

Yu Xing pondered the various perspectives on this deal in his study, still feeling that selling the Master Key for at least $10 billion would be reasonable.

After a while, Liu Wanying took her notebook and strolled into the study.

She walked behind Yu Xing, gently pressed the back of his head, and rubbed his shoulders with both hands: "What are you thinking about? When I came over, Aunt Chu kept me chatting for a while."

Yu Xing shook his head and told Zhou Hongyi about his phone call and his thoughts.

After listening, Liu Wanying thought quietly for a while, and then suddenly made a suggestion: "President Zhou and the others are too shrewd and too familiar with things. Have you ever thought about trying foreign institutions or companies? For example, Microsoft, Silver Lake, or Blackstone."

After she finished speaking, she ruled out the answer: "Microsoft is unlikely, and Google would not make such a big move in the domestic market, but Silver Lake and Blackstone do this kind of thing: buy companies, run them, and then sell them to others at a high price."

Silver Lake and Blackstone are both internationally renowned private equity firms.

Silver Lake, for example, acquired a 65% stake in eBay for $27.5 billion in 09 and then sold it to Microsoft for $85 billion 20 months later, making it a benchmark case in the private equity industry.

Yu Xing stroked his stubble: "That makes sense. We can ask them. If not, we can treat it as price gouging."

Liu Wanying said, "You, President Zhou, and President Li all share the same judgment that Master Key is definitely not going to make a comeback. If Blackstone or Silver Lake can find a listed company to operate it, it will create a negative factor when Master Key fails."

Yu Xing: "..."

He tried to look up at Xiao Ying.

Liu Wanying pressed his head back: "I was just saying, I didn't say I was going to short sell, and this is just speculation. Besides, you were the one who taught me to create negative news when there is none."

She was referring to the sale of WeChat to Alibaba, which impacted Tencent's stock price. At the time, the short selling was done covertly and did not go through the peak.

“You’ve surpassed your teacher.” Yu Xing shook his head. “But this suggestion is excellent. The Universal Key can broaden our reach. 360 and Baidu each get what they need, and other companies that are taking over also have their own needs.”

Just as Yu Xing and Liu Wanying were discussing the universal key, Baidu was also talking about the same thing.

Li Yanhong didn't talk about prices, but rather about Baidu's moves in the short video business.

When he visited Lingang before, he felt a sense of loss, not only because of the development of Douyin, but also because of the gap in market perception.

Since the discussion wasn't specifically about short videos, Andrew Ng, who is in charge of Baidu Research Institute, was also present.

Upon hearing Yu Xing's name, even though he didn't understand short videos, he casually clapped his hands and said, "Baidu could try short videos. Mr. Yu also values ​​deep learning. I think his vision is just as good as Mr. Li's."

Andrew Ng is still an advisor to the DLF Foundation. He has no dealings with Yu Xing, but he has a very good impression of this deep learning organization in China.

Li Yanhong was pleasantly surprised that a scientist like Andrew Ng could flatter her like that, and said with a smile, "President Yu has excellent taste."

He only said that, but did not deny his own judgment.

Li Yanhong is a very narcissistic person. He admitted to being narcissistic when he participated in the Hunan Province program "Day Day Up" in 09. He said that he would search his name online to see what people would say about him. He has always paid attention to his appearance and has a professional image designer. Later, at the Baidu annual meeting, he entered as a triumphant prince in a red suit and gold belt, and was surrounded by employees amidst a shower of confetti.

"The medium of information has already changed."

"We cannot lag behind again and again. Even if we don't go all in, we should make a resolute effort to catch up."

Li Yanhong stated internally that while it's not a full deal, it's at least a partial one. As for the previous group-buying deal that was supposed to be all-inclusive, there's really no hope for that, so it's out for now.

Regardless of what we can actually accomplish, let's at least get the attitude right first.

After the high-level meeting concluded, the next step was to make arrangements for new developments, and the discussion of the value of the universal key was an important one of these arrangements.

Once the formal discussion was over, a voice jokingly emerged from the background.

"The master key is so expensive, I wonder if they offer a rebate?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? Watch your manners, this is the company."

(End of this chapter)