As Ji Zhe and Chu Hai gradually understood the resources Liu Yutong held and her strategic layout, their attitude noticeably warmed up. They began to proactively discuss various details with her, including shareholding ratios, alternative locations for domestic factories, policy alignment, and so on.
Yu Xin took notes on the side, occasionally adding a few points.
Just as their discussion was nearing its end, Liu Yutong brought up a condition.
"I have a clear requirement regarding the capital structure of this project. Besides the funds from our two parties, we must bring in a portion of foreign capital and establish a joint venture to operate this. As for how to bring in external capital, that is a problem you need to solve."
"In short, I will only handle half of the investment. You two must help me secure the other half."
Both Ji Zhe's Qixing Capital and Chu Hai's AEG Capital actually had international backgrounds. Strictly speaking, they were merely the partners and heads of the Long Country region.
It was precisely because of this background that Liu Yutong wanted to pull these two in for investment.
With their network, they were fully capable of drawing in some overseas capital. As long as those international capitals participated, the initial construction of Longxin would go much more smoothly.
Just as Liu Yutong had mentioned earlier, her first step was to import some second-hand semiconductor equipment. Although the target was relatively mature manufacturing processes, it would still involve many sensitive technical aspects subject to export control reviews.
If Longxin's investors included major international capital, especially those with Western backgrounds, the scrutiny and resistance faced in many aspects—whether equipment procurement or technology licensing negotiations—would be significantly reduced.
This was equivalent to acquiring a business card that granted easy passage in certain situations.
As for whether bringing in too much capital would affect her control, Liu Yutong wasn't worried about that at all.
As long as the factory was located in Long Country, within the territory covered by the Wanlong Society, to put it bluntly, if you dared to come and cause trouble, you might have to crawl out on your knees.
With things laid out so clearly, it was impossible for Ji Zhe and Chu Hai not to guess Liu Yutong's intentions.
What Liu Yutong wanted wasn't other people's money, but an endorsement. If this project carried the label of internationalized capital, the room to maneuver would be vastly different. At the very least, the other side would have fewer reservations during the approval process, and the procedures would likely be smoother.
"Director Liu, you are truly thoughtful, looking ten steps ahead with every move," Chu Hai couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
At the same time, he realized something else. Their visit to Pearl City this time was probably no accident either. The other party seemed to have anticipated long ago that once Wanhui Preferred announced its new policies, they would definitely come looking for her.
To put it plainly, they were actually part of her calculations too.
So saying Liu Yutong calculated ten steps ahead was an understatement.
This woman was truly terrifying! They had never seen such a terrifying woman!
The two of them had invested in many companies over the years, so many that they probably couldn't even remember the exact number.
Having invested in so many enterprises, they had long drawn a conclusion: investing, in the end, is investing in people.
Just like the numerous online shopping websites, why did only Ali break through? Why did successful foreign e-commerce sites like Amazon fail when they entered the domestic market?
It wasn't necessarily because they couldn't adapt to the local environment; frankly, it was the gap between the people running them.
They had seen too many founders, both successful and unsuccessful, but they had never seen a founder like Liu Yutong, who seemed to be using cheat codes.
As long as you sorted out her line of thought, you would find that many things seemed to fall into place naturally, succeeding before you even realized it.
To achieve this, one must possess an advanced strategic vision, which was practically no different from cheating.
After they finished chatting.
Liu Yutong said solemnly, "This matter still requires your full support. Your connections in the overseas capital circles are crucial to Longxin. I hope you won't let me down."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai immediately stated their stance, "Rest assured, Director Liu. We will start contacting our overseas resources as soon as we get back."
"Very good."
"Then we will divide the upcoming work. You are responsible for persuading overseas capital to invest, while I will handle team building, site selection for the factory, and government communication. Yu Xin will act as the general coordinator to ensure our information is synchronized."
At this point, Liu Yutong stood up and extended a hand. "Here's to a smooth cooperation. Let's light up this Longxin together."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai hurriedly stood up and shook hands with her.
"Happy cooperating!"
Liu Yutong didn't see the guests out; Yu Xin took over and escorted the two downstairs.
Just as they were about to get in the car, Yu Xin reminded them, "Please make sure to keep this a secret. If the news leaks, it won't just be a matter of losing money."
Ji Zhe and Chu Hai glanced at the group of men in black standing behind Yu Xin to see them off, and hurriedly waved their hands.
"We wouldn't dare! We wouldn't dare!"
"We will definitely keep our lips sealed!"
"Yes, yes, we swear!"
After getting into the car, Ji Zhe and Chu Hai instinctively wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
Cooperating with the Wanlong Society was truly thrilling at every step; they had to be extremely careful!
Fortunately, the project was profitable, which served as a small comfort to their fragile little hearts.
On the way to the airport, Chu Hai suddenly remembered something and called someone to check on Zhongxin's recent situation.
If he remembered correctly, when Zhongxin first went public a few years ago, its market value broke 40 billion. It should be even higher now, right?
As investors, the industries they paid attention to were actually quite mixed, but the chip industry was never within their investment choices, so they rarely followed up on semiconductor companies like Zhongxin afterward.
After all, this field was indeed difficult to invest in domestically, and there were very few investable enterprises.
Ten minutes later, when the investigation results came back, both of them were dumbfounded.
"What? Zhongxin's stock price has fallen below 3 billion, dropping 95% compared to when it went public? Holy shit!" Chu Hai couldn't help but curse.
"We've been fooled, we've been fooled!"
"We shouldn't have agreed so readily. We should have gone back and checked before talking!"
"Five billion! Is it really going to go down the drain?!"
"..."
The two slapped their thighs in regret. Just moments ago, they felt that following Liu Yutong had a bright future, but looking at it now, was the future ruined?
Actually, they couldn't be blamed for having such a huge reaction.
Although they didn't understand chip technology, they were very clear about Zhongxin's status in Long Country. Back then, it was hailed as the top stock in the domestic semiconductor industry and was the third-largest chip foundry IPO globally at the time, with a boundless future.
Zhongxin's founder was also Zhang Rujin, a big shot in the industry.
But who could have imagined that just four years later, the stock price would plummet by 95%? If this wasn't a massive loss, what was?
The person on the phone also reported some of the reasons why Zhongxin had fallen so hard.
The first was the patent dispute with Taijidian. This lawsuit had been going on for a long time and was about to reach a conclusion. The founder, Zhang Rujin, was highly likely to leave Zhongxin, which was a huge blow to the stock price.
The second factor was the impact of the global financial crisis, which led to a massive slump in demand across the semiconductor industry, inevitably dragging Zhongxin down with it.
The third was the frequent turnover of upper management, leaving their operations in a state of absolute chaos.
It was the culmination of these compounding factors that caused Zhongxin's stock price to plummet.
Of course, none of that was the main point. The real issue was that if Zhongxin—hailed as the number one stock in the domestic semiconductor industry—had been reduced to such a pathetic state, was there any guarantee that Longxin would fare any better?
At this thought, a wave of pessimism washed over the two men once again.
Ji Zhe: "Mr. Chu, why don't you go back and talk to Chairman Liu? See if we can hold off for a while?"
Chu Hai: "I'm not going. You go if you want to."
Ji Zhe: "I wouldn't dare."
Chu Hai: "You wouldn't dare, but you think I would? What a joke!"
Ji Zhe: "..."
"Forget it. I believe Chairman Liu has what it takes to make Longxin a success."
"Well, if you believe in him, then I suppose I do too."
After exchanging those words, both men simultaneously cursed each other in their minds with utter disdain: "Coward!"
