Chapter 643: Bitter Wine in the Throat and Heartache
The importer APEX has suffered heavy losses due to factors such as patent fees and the US anti-dumping lawsuit against color TVs, and may be unable to pay the remaining balance.
As soon as this news spread back to China, it immediately caused a sensation and shocked countless people inside and outside the industry.
No matter how good Ji Longfen's eloquence is, or how delicious the pie he paints is, he cannot stop the gossips.
For a time, the crowd was excited, and countless suppliers who supplied APEX were as anxious as ants on a hot pan. They had previously placed their hopes on Ji Long fans, thinking that they had successfully opened the door to the American market and would be able to live a good life counting money until their hands cramped.
Only now do I realize that I wasn’t knocking on the door to the American market, but I was knocking on the door to the King of Hell!
Li Yiwen told Lu Yiming all these things, while Lu Yiming himself played games and talked about software at home every day.
Shi Qingxue went to America to play again. Lu Yiming didn't understand what was so fun about such a shabby place.
Later I thought maybe I wanted to experience the excitement of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds?
Well, there is a reason why there are so few foreigners!
Putting another stack of documents on Lu Yiming's desk, Li Yiwen complained, "I say, don't you care about these things? Rainbow Group is about to be ruined."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "What does the failure of Rainbow Group have to do with me? I have no shares. Besides, if you look at the share structure of Rainbow Group, this company will not go bankrupt, don't worry."
Li Yiwen complained: "Hey, I've been so busy preparing for the engagement ceremony these days, and I still have to serve you. I really owe you in my previous life."
Speaking of engagement, Lu Yiming became interested: "You have been preparing for so long, it seems like you are going to do something big, how about I invite Bill Gates and the others?"
When Li Yiwen heard this, he immediately felt his scalp tingling, and quickly said, "No! Please don't! I can't afford it, I'm afraid it will shorten my life!"
Who is Bill Gates? He is the richest man in the world! A well-known figure all over the world! Even in Xia Country, where information is not well known, almost everyone knows him!
Not to mention that the country is now doing its best to attract investment, and Bill Gates is someone even the country wants to get close to!
The last time Bill Gates showed up at Lu Yiming's villa, it alarmed the top floors. If Bill Gates hadn't asked for it himself, they would have sent a welcoming team.
Moreover, Lu Yiming was not just talking about Bill Gates, but "Bill Gates and others"! This means that in addition to Bill Gates, there will be other people, such as Epstein, Jobs and others! There will even be senior executives from companies such as Google, Yahoo, and Amazon.
With these people here, let alone an engagement ceremony, it feels like the World Economic Summit.
This engagement ceremony will probably go down in history!
If nothing else, the family tree has to start a new page from here!
Maybe a hundred years later, even the first incense burner for Qingming Festival will have to be booked in advance.
Lu Yiming immediately smiled: "Okay, let's keep it simple, just call our relatives and friends in China."
Li Yiwen put the things down and said unhappily: "Well, forget it, you don't care about these things. I'm going to prepare for my engagement. I don't want to bother with you."
"Go ahead. There's no need to worry about these little things. Besides, the editorial team of Interesting News is very large now. News from all over the world will appear on Interesting News. Just read the Interesting News when the time comes. Newspapers are outdated. Apart from pasting walls and practicing calligraphy, they are basically useless. You have to learn to get used to embracing the Internet."
"Okay, you're the only one with a lot of crooked ideas."
Li Yiwen was about to leave, but Lu Yiming unexpectedly received a call from Long Qiquan.
"Lu Yiming, what are you doing?"
Lu Yiming joked: "Principal Long, why did you call me suddenly? Did you miss me?"
Long Qiquan laughed and said, "You are so unstable even though you are the richest man. You are so busy and you only come to school a few times a year. I don't think you are any use. I called you to tell you that someone named Ji Longfen found me and said he wanted to meet you."
"Ji Long fan?"
Lu Yiming frowned slightly and asked curiously: "Principal Long, do you still know him?"
Long Qiquan said, "Don't you know? Ji Longfen is an English major in the English and American Literature Department of Fudan University."
“Good fellow!”
This time, Lu Yiming was really amazed. "Fudan University is really full of talented students, and it's a mixed bag."
Long Qiquan said gloomily: "You don't have to add the words 'a mixed bag'."
He had also read the recent newspapers and knew that there was some friction between Lu Yiming and Ji Longfen, so he said, "He originally found the Foreign Languages College, and the Foreign Languages College found me, so I called you. If you don't want to see him, I'll refuse him for you."
Although I really don't want to deal with this kind of person, it was Long Qiquan who called me personally after all, and it would be unreasonable not to meet him.
Lu Yiming said: "That's not necessary. Since Principal Long has called me personally, how can I not give him this honor?"
Long Qiquan said with a smile: "You kid, you only know how to flatter. This matter is not a big deal. If you feel it is difficult, you don't have to agree to anything."
Lu Yiming knew that Long Qiquan would still stand on his side. After all, he was Long Qiquan's last disciple and one of "his own people", so he smiled and said, "Hey, isn't it just to meet someone? Can he turn into a monster and eat me? Ask him to come to Baiyun City."
After Lu Yiming hung up the phone, Li Yiwen asked curiously, "Ji Longfan wants to see you? Given the current situation, I'm afraid he doesn't have good intentions. Could he be trying to drag you into this?"
Lu Yiming nodded slightly and said seriously, "I guess he sees me as his last straw, but it doesn't matter. I'm thick-skinned enough. Even if he kneels down and begs me, I will definitely not fall into this trap."
Only God knows how big APEX's debt is right now. Not to mention that they are not related at all, even if Ji Longfan is willing to be his son, Lu Yiming is not willing to be his father.
It must be said that Ji Long’s fans are still very sincere.
The next day, he flew directly to Baiyun and arranged a top-notch banquet at the Marriott Hotel, with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, and famous Chinese and foreign wines.
Lu Yiming took a quick glance and estimated the approximate price. He was afraid that it would be impossible to get it without tens of thousands. This Ji Long fan had obviously spent a lot of money.
Even the senior student Yu Jiayi who came with him was shocked. During the time she followed Lu Yiming, she had seen the world and worked hard on her studies. She secretly sighed in her heart: A meal for a rich person is probably enough for an ordinary person to struggle for a lifetime.
Lu Yiming acted very calm. The more money the other party spent, the bigger their ambitions were. In a flash, Lu Yiming understood why Ji Longfen had gone to such great lengths to treat him to this meal.
Ji Longfen said with a flattering expression, "Junior Brother Lu! I have admired your name for a long time, but I have been busy with work , and I dare not delay your studies, so I have been delayed until now, which is really shameful. So today I prepared a little wine to show my appreciation. Junior Brother Lu can do me the honor, I am so lucky."
As the saying goes, you should not hit a smiling person. There is no conflict of interest between Lu Yiming and Ji Long fans. In addition, they are alumni of the same school, so he smiled and said, "Senior, you are too polite."
Ji Longfan continued, "No, my admiration for you comes from the bottom of my heart! You have built such a huge business at such a young age and became the richest man in the country. You deserve the title of genius."
Lu Yiming replied, "Mr. Ji is not bad either. With his hard work, he not only got admitted to Fu Ri University, but is now making a name for himself in America. He is truly a rare talent."
The two of them praised each other's business for a long time, and finally Ji Longfan couldn't hold it in anymore, so he started the conversation and said, "Brother Lu, I'll tell you the truth. I came here this time to ask you a few questions ."
Lu Yiming had been mentally prepared for this, and knowing that the main film had just begun, he immediately said with a smile: "I'm not worthy of asking for your advice, let's discuss it together. I wonder if you have any questions that you would like me to help you answer?"
Ji Longfan said: "Now many people outside say that I am a liar. I wonder what you think, junior brother?"
Ji Longfan actually knew very well that the first person who said he was a liar was Lu Yiming in front of him. However, he couldn't question Lu Yiming in person, so he changed his statement to this euphemism. He believed that Lu Yiming would be able to hear it.
Of course, the reason why he said it so tactfully was not just because he didn't dare to offend Lu Yiming. Ji Long fans could also prepare another set of excuses, which was to pull Lu Yiming in by relying on the status of senior and junior students.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yiming knew that Ji Longfan was going to speak frankly.
After all, the current situation of APEX company can only be described with the four words "extremely urgent". If Ji Long fans no longer believe in the solution, "extremely urgent" may have to become "cremation on the spot".
Lu Yiming said calmly: "In my opinion, everyone who is willing to fight for a career is respectable. The world is absolutely moving and relatively still, so everyone has his or her own perspective on things. Senior, don't be too persistent."
Although APEX has done a lot of outrageous things, considering the entire history of the company and the activities of Ji Long's fans, it is actually not appropriate to directly label Ji Long's fans as scammers.
After all, if he really was a liar, how could he not run away after taking the benefits, but instead wander around the country?
Ji Longfan heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this, but then his face was filled with indignation: "CEO Ni from Rainbow Group called me and called me a fraudster. He also said he would call the police to arrest me. Some manufacturers that had signed cooperation agreements also called to collect their debts. Even some domestic media criticized me. I have really experienced the fickleness of human nature these days. I am very relieved to hear this from my junior brother."
Seeing Ji Longfen's expression, Lu Yiming felt helpless. The man in front of him was not a liar, but a madman.
Therefore, Lu Yiming had no intention of getting involved in this mess, let alone trying to win over Ji Long's fans.
After all, if I can't pull it out, I'm afraid I'll fall into the pit with it.
Therefore, no matter what Ji Longfan’s plan was, Lu Yiming just wanted to say to him: You’ve made a wrong calculation.
However, Ji Longfen had no idea of Lu Yiming's thoughts, and instead spoke eloquently: "America is the world's largest consumer market. People there are very rich, with an average per capita expenditure of nearly $30,000! And there are 285 million people there! Think about Carmen, what a huge number this will be."
It has to be said that the fanatical expressions of Ji Long fans are very contagious, and these precise figures, once thrown out, can scare a number of domestic manufacturers.
After all, at this time in Xia Country, the per capita consumption of urban residents was only over 5,000 yuan, not even a fraction of that of others. If we add in the large number of rural population, the gap is even greater.
It is based on these statistics that Ji Longfan’s words seem particularly credible.
He continued excitedly: "America has a huge consumer market, and Xia Country has strong production capacity and cheap labor. The products produced have a huge price advantage. As long as they can be sold to America, there is no need to worry about sales!"
Ji Longfan became more and more excited, and couldn't stop talking: "Mr. Lu, you may not know that after a series of rainbow TVs were delivered, our APEX sales this year will exceed the billion dollar mark, and we are expected to become the fifth largest supplier of color TVs in the American market."
At this time, Ji Longfen, whose business had grown, was not satisfied. After showing his strength, he showed Lu Yiming the grand blueprint he had planned for the company with great ambition: "Mr. Lu, I plan to acquire some domestic production bases to make APEX a brand manufacturer integrating production and sales. For this purpose, I have talked with Mr. Kou, the chairman of Tianda Tiancai, and he is willing to support my idea. As long as I can hold shares in Changzhou Xingqiu Electronics Co., Ltd., a DVD manufacturer, this plan can definitely be realized. I wonder if you are interested in joining in, Mr. Lu?"
The listed company Tianda Tiancai was established in 1991 and has an extremely strong background. Its chairman Kou Jisong is no ordinary person. He is the vice president of Tianjin University and a doctoral supervisor. He also has representative works such as the Journal of Management Science. He is a top think tank whose words can reach the ears of the emperor.
After going through so much trouble, Ji Long's fans finally turned the topic to the track that Lu Yiming had originally expected.
What can we say about Ji Longfen? He is not a liar by nature. He does have certain ideals and sentiments. But there is no way. He came from a humble background and did not have enough funds to support his ambitions, so he came up with the idea of making money out of nothing.
However, this is not a small number of 180 million. The number on the surface has reached several billion, and it is in US dollars. How could Lu Yiming possibly wade into this muddy water? Why would he throw several billion US dollars into this?
So he said bluntly: "Not interested."
Originally, Ji Longfen said so much eloquently, and he thought he could impress Lu Yiming. After all, it was true that the world market had broad prospects. Ji Longfen felt that this should be very much to Lu Yiming's liking.
After hearing what Lu Yiming said, Ji Longfen's expression froze, and he said anxiously: "Boss Lu, look at you, aren't we having a good chat? Is there something wrong with my analysis?"
He had just been talking nonsense, and seeing that Lu Yiming was listening with great interest and nodding from time to time, he thought he had successfully persuaded Lu Yiming. However, when it came to money, Lu Yiming's face immediately changed, which made him very anxious.
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "No problem, I think it's good."
Ji Longfan asked, "Is it because I didn't explain it in detail enough?"
Lu Yiming said: "No, it is detailed and concise, standard textbook level."
Ji Longfen was depressed now and asked, "Then why do you refuse to cooperate with me? Don't you trust me?"
Lu Yiming sighed, then said helplessly: "Boss Ji misunderstood. It's not that I don't believe you, but I really can't spare the funds. You see, I have been investing lavishly recently, and the money I made from the stock market before has basically gone somewhere. Your project looks very important, and I don't have that much money."
Ji Long fans didn't believe a single word Lu Yiming said.
People in China don't know how much money Lu Yiming has made from the United States, but Ji Longfen has privately asked someone to find out, and he confirmed that Lu Yiming still has at least 10 billion in liquid funds.
But what he didn't expect was that Lu Yiming was the richest man in Xia Country, and a young man in his early twenties, which is generally the most face-conscious age.
But Lu Yiming just said that he had no money, which made it difficult for him to say anything else.
It is true that a tree without bark is doomed to die, but a person without shame is invincible.
"Well... well, it seems I came at a really bad time."
Lu Yiming also said apologetically: "Senior, it's not that I don't want to cooperate, but I really have no power. When I heard you say that, I knew that this must be a bloody business. But I am out of reach, and I can only watch such a lucrative opportunity slip away from me. I feel heartbroken, do you know?"
He directly unscrewed a bottle of Moutai, poured a glass for Ji Longfen, poured a glass for himself, and then drank the wine in one gulp, saying in a boastful manner: "What do you call this? This is called bitter wine entering the throat and causing pain in the heart."
Ji Longfeng thinks Lu Yiming should win an Oscar.
With such acting skills, few people in Hollywood can match him.
Having failed to achieve his goal, Ji Longfen lost interest in all the delicacies in front of him, and they tasted like chewing wax.
Lu Yiming was enjoying the meal. Not only did he enjoy it himself, he also asked Yu Jiayi to eat with him.
After eating for a while, Ji Longfen felt more and more upset, and felt choked up in his heart. He immediately stood up and said, "Junior brother, I remembered that I have something else to do, so I won't accompany you anymore. You guys eat and drink well."
Lu Yiming had a big elbow in his mouth, and he said incoherently: "Okay, okay, I won't delay your work, go and get busy."
Ji Longfen had just walked to the door of the box when Lu Yiming seemed to have remembered something and quickly said, "Remember to pay the bill."
