Chapter 659: Want Priority Procurement Rights? You Can! Increase the Order to 1.5 Billion US Dollars

‘Could he really turn down all that money?’

“Times have changed. The internet sector is truly a place where miracles happen. For President Chen to build Senlian Capital into a company valued at over a hundred billion US dollars in just three years… that’s truly admirable.”

Shi Yuzhu remarked with sincere admiration.

He had come to this banquet mainly to network, and Chen Yansen was undoubtedly the most influential person here.

Chen Yansen was amused. A CEO worth tens of billions was openly flattering him. But as the saying goes, you don’t slap a smiling face, so he began to chat idly with Shi Yuzhu.

During their conversation, Shi Yuzhu brought up Golden Wine, a collaboration between Giant Group and Wuliangye, which had yet to try online sales channels. Within just a few exchanges, they had hammered out a plan for it to be listed.

They then moved on to discussing the joint operation of mobile games.

With over 100 million Orange Mobile Phones in circulation domestically, the company had a powerful distribution network on the mobile platform, a fact that made Shi Yuzhu quite envious.

While their two companies had collaborated before, it had always been on a small scale.

In response to Shi Yuzhu’s proposal for a deeper partnership, Chen Yansen neither agreed on the spot nor rejected it outright. He simply made a verbal promise: if Giant Group’s marketing expenditure exceeded a certain threshold, they would be eligible for a twenty-percent discount off the listed rate.

Shi Yuzhu didn’t hesitate for a second. He agreed on the spot and immediately followed up by offering an annual framework contract worth five hundred million.

This was the beauty of attending industry conferences, chamber of commerce meetings, and dinner parties. With a recommendation from an acquaintance, some deals could bypass the tedious preliminary research and adjustment periods, making negotiations much smoother.

Chen Yansen remained in his seat as a steady stream of people came to offer him toasts.

From her corner, Xu Jiujiu watched him down several glasses in a row, and a look of concern inevitably surfaced in her eyes.

Xu Xiangdong noticed her expression and whispered, “Kiddo, don’t blame your old man for not warning you. A man like Chen Yansen is never short of women, especially pretty ones. Don’t be a fool and throw yourself at him.”

“Dad, you’ve got it all wrong. He has a girlfriend, I know that,” Xu Jiujiu quickly denied.

“Good, as long as you understand.” Xu Xiangdong breathed a sigh of relief.

‘He might not understand Chen Yansen, but he certainly understood how a man’s mind works.’

Ten minutes later, Xu Xiangdong patted the back of his daughter’s hand, gesturing for Xu Jiujiu to follow him as they walked over to Chen Yansen’s table.

“President Chen, thank you for taking care of Huazhang Liquor Store. During this year’s Pinbei 618 Grand Sale, we did over six million in sales in a single day. I’ll empty my glass to show my respect. Please, drink as you wish.”

Xu Xiangdong raised his glass with a broad smile, his posture extremely humble. Before Chen Yansen could even speak, he drained the liquor in his cup in one gulp.

Since joining Pinbei Mall, Huazhang Liquor Store had become a top seller in the liquor and spirits category in just one short year.

Xu Xiangdong was importing cheap table wine from Europe, bottling it domestically, and then selling it for 99 yuan per case of six.

A decade or so later, customers wouldn’t have given it a second glance. But in 2013, many people still saw the words “imported from overseas” through rose-tinted glasses; the mystique had yet to fade.

This could be seen in the explosive growth of Pinbei International.

“It’s a win-win. I should also thank you, President Xu, for your support of Pinbei,” Chen Yansen said with a slight nod.

“President Chen, Magic Camera has already surpassed one hundred million downloads, and we estimate our registered users will also cross the hundred-million mark by early September.”

Xu Jiujiu gave a small smile, dimples appearing on her cheeks. She looked cute and charmingly innocent.

“You should think more about profitability,” Chen Yansen advised briefly.

Magic Camera’s user growth might be fast, but the competitive pressure was immense. If its product innovation faltered, it would easily be replaced by similar apps.

Next, Jin Junhua from Rongshida sidled up. What he was implying was clear: he wanted to purchase a license for the speech-parsing development tool and the Celestial Craftsmanship I100 IoT chip to develop a line of corresponding home appliances.

Smart air conditioners, smart fans, and smart air fryers all had great potential. The costs would be higher, but they could command a much higher premium.

If even Haier dared to sell an air conditioner for 6,000 yuan, then so could Rongshida!

Chen Yansen was accommodating and readily agreed.

If Xiaomi could buy them, then of course Rongshida could as well.

The more data they collected, the more powerful the algorithm’s model would become.

Nearby, Liang Zhirong, the head of Jianghuai Motors, looked like he wanted to say something but held back. Seeing that Chen Yansen was occupied, he could only wait silently for the right moment.

Only after Jin Junhua had left did Liang Zhirong drag his chair closer. “President Chen,” he asked, “if Jianghuai Motors were to purchase your 4890 power cells, what would the approximate wait time be for delivery?”

“Two months,” Chen Yansen answered frankly.

The production capacity of the Shencheng City Number One Factory—the former You Pu Battery plant—was currently just enough to supply phone batteries for brands like Orange, Mountain Star, Huawei, and Apple. The remaining production lines were running at full capacity to supply Tesla.

As for the Number Two Factory, although it was quite large, it was still at least two months away from officially starting production.

‘He understood what Liang Zhirong was getting at. He wanted to leverage Deep Blue Battery to launch a pure-electric car with a much longer range.’

“What are your thoughts on new energy vehicles, President Chen?” Liang Zhirong probed again.

“They have potential, but the supply chain isn’t mature yet,” Chen Yansen stated concisely.

“Once Deep Blue Battery’s production capacity ramps up, the market for pure-electric vehicles is bound to grow rapidly. Setting aside international oil prices, gas is expensive here at home while electricity is cheap. I believe the market for EVs has enormous potential. President Chen, are you interested in a partnership?”

Liang Zhirong asked, his gaze fixed intently on Chen Yansen.

‘A partnership on what?’

‘Building cars?’

Chen Yansen scoffed inwardly. ‘Building cars right now would be asking for criticism. The market is uncertain, the policies aren’t clear, and the supply chain is incomplete. Besides, I have no intention of selling Deep Blue batteries on the cheap. For an EV with a 500-kilometer range, the battery pack alone would cost over 150,000 Hua Yuan. So what would the final price tag be?’

‘400,000?’

‘That’s a joke.’

Chen Yansen knew that if he dared to sell it at that price, customers would crucify him.

‘Let Tesla, BYD, Great Wall, Jianghuai, SAIC, and BAIC cultivate the market first. When the time is right, I’ll make my move, drive the price down to 200,000, maybe even 100,000 a pop, and just swoop in to reap the rewards. Wouldn’t that be so much better?’

“I’m not interested in the automotive industry,” President Chen replied, not meaning a word of it.

He paused, then added, “However, if President Liang is interested in Deep Blue Battery, I can offer Jianghuai Motors the same supply terms as Tesla.”

Liang Zhirong’s heart leaped. He quickly expressed his gratitude, “Thank you so much, President Chen! The truth is, Jianghuai has been deeply invested in the EV field for many years. We have a solid technological foundation in battery modules, electric motors, and battery thermal management systems.”

In reality, Jianghuai Motors had entered the new energy sector very early. They launched the iEV3 pure-electric model last year and followed up with the iEV4 at the beginning of this year. The only problem was that the range of both vehicles was limited; they could only go about a hundred kilometers on a full charge.

At best, they were suitable for a trip to the grocery store or a quick visit to the mall.

“The minimum annual purchase volume is five hundred million US Dollars. Is that a problem, President Liang?” Chen Yansen asked nonchalantly, giving a slight nod.

‘How much?’

‘Five hundred million!’

‘And in fucking US Dollars!’

Liang Zhirong was taken aback and asked reflexively, “Can Tesla even use that much?”

“Pre-orders for the Model S LR just surpassed ten thousand units,” Chen Yansen said calmly.

Liang Zhirong gave a wry smile. “President Chen, Jianghuai Motors doesn’t even sell ten thousand new energy vehicles in an entire year.”

The new energy vehicle purchase subsidies in 2013 were quite substantial. A pure-electric car with a range between 80 and 150 kilometers received a subsidy of 35,000 yuan; from 150 to 250 kilometers, the subsidy was 50,000 yuan; and for anything over 250 kilometers, it was 60,000 yuan.

Take the Jianghuai iEV3, for example. It was priced at 150,000 yuan with an official range of 150 kilometers, placing it right on the line for the mid-tier subsidy. After adding local subsidies and other discounts, the final price came out to less than 80,000 yuan.

Liang Zhirong knew the supply price for Deep Blue batteries. For a 20 kWh battery pack, switching to Deep Blue would boost the range to between 250 and 300 kilometers, but the cost would be around 8,000 US Dollars.

In other words, to use up 500 million US Dollars’ worth of Deep Blue batteries, Jianghuai would need to sell over sixty thousand new energy vehicles a year.

“With Deep Blue batteries, you don’t think Jianghuai’s EV sales would increase?” Chen Yansen shot back.

“Could we sign a priority procurement agreement?” Liang Zhirong asked, gritting his teeth.

“Yes,” Chen Yansen replied.

Just as Liang Zhirong was about to take the gamble, he heard Chen Yansen add, “But the order value would have to be raised to 1.5 billion US Dollars.”

???

Liang Zhirong forced a laugh. “President Chen, just pretend I never asked.”