Volume 8 Final Chapter Chapter 1246 New OPEC
Damage, real damage.
Even though Stella was a veteran, she could not withstand Nan Yi's attack.
"Mr. Nan, don't you think it's a bit inappropriate to say this to a lady?"
"No, I'm not insulting you. I just don't want you to waste your time. The me you saw sitting at the gambling table was just to pick up girls. I never gamble, let alone play the bottom."
"Mr. Nan, what will happen if the police see us like this?" Stella smiled slyly.
Nan Yi patted Stella on the cheek and said, "You are a smart person and you won't do this. Put on your skirt and sit back in your seat. Let's finish this meal in a cheerful atmosphere."
Stella is a smart person and knows what to do and what not to do. Some things can be joked about, but they cannot be put into action or people will die.
She put on her skirt, sat back in her seat, and became a guest again.
Nan Yi also acted like the host and introduced two inconspicuous green dishes on the table to Stella.
"This is watercress, and this is nettle leaf. They are all from the Himalayas in Nepal. There is no farmland within a hundred miles, so there is no pesticide or fertilizer, and there is no industry, so there is no chemical pollution.
These two dishes are not worth much in Nepal. Corn paste with nettle leaf paste is the staple food for the poor there all year round. But they are valuable when they are transported out. These pure green wild vegetables are sold here for 668 yuan per serving. "
"Mr. Nan, are you very knowledgeable about food?"
"I can't say I'm doing research, but I'm just older and more focused on health. I prefer to eat something purely green. Women are the same. They prefer something more naive and without so many stories." Nan Yi used a serving chopstick to pick up some watercress and put it on Stella's plate.
Stella smiled and said, “In Mr. Nan’s eyes, am I the one with more stories?”
Nan Yi nodded, "Enough to film thousands of episodes of a TV series."
"Mr. Nan's words are so choking." Stella said angrily.
"This is called sincerity, not hypocrisy."
Faced with such shameless words, Stella was speechless.
In any case, once you put aside your bad intentions, you will naturally enjoy the meal more easily, and the outcome will be a happy one for both the host and the guests.
After the meal, Nan Yi went to the hotel to find KiKi, and the two of them went to the Coloane area where there was no casino, to admire the literary and artistic buildings and stroll along the popular streets. On October 5th, they went shopping during the day and went to the cinema to watch the French movie "Talk about Love, Mend the Pot" at night.
French films are always full of romance and passion, very suitable for "lovers" to watch. KiKi is a good kid who loves to learn. After seeing the French kiss in the plot, she pulled Nan Yi to imitate it in the cinema. In order to keep the shape, she would stare at the screen with one eye and correct her posture and movements at all times.
The date lasted until 8:30, and Nan Yi sent KiKi back to the hotel.
Then, we continued on the second afternoon, with almost the same routine of shopping + dinner + movie, and the third day was the same.
This kind of life lasted for four days. On the fifth day, Nan Yi did not take KiKi shopping, but went to the venue of Shiliupu Resort to attend the venture capital roundtable forum.
It was a closed forum organized by more than 20 domestic capital organizations. There were no news reports, no advertisements, no banners or empty words on the scene. All the exchanges were practical.
Because no matter which company the participants belong to, and no matter what the parent company is called, the source of the parent company is the Financial Group of the Information and Strategy Committee.
Nan's style is to enter the village quietly without any conflicts. Most of the participants from different companies do not know that they have a common big boss. They just think that this is a small circle formed by the promotion of predecessors.
Deleveraging is a signal that the economy is about to enter a recession, and most old tracks will face the problem of finding new growth points. For investors, this means that there is no story to tell. Without a story to tell, there will be no attraction for those who will take over. If no one takes over, the investment will be very risky.
Exiting from the old track that is about to decline and opening up a new track is a problem that every capital has to face.
Since it is named after a forum, it is natural for everyone to express their own opinions. The Venture Capital Roundtable Forum is more free than a forum in the usual sense. There is no expert guest speaker. Everyone sits in a circle. Whoever wants to speak can walk to the center, pick up the microphone and start speaking directly. Anyone who wants to ask a question or refute can raise his hand, and the speaker must answer or debate.
There is no big or small forum, only investment truth.
This is true in theory, but in reality, there is no lack of social skills. At the beginning of the forum, the first person to speak can only be Luo Shenshen, who has the highest status and the most seniority among all the people.
Although WhiteWater Investment was established early, it is not . News about investing in a certain company and making thousands of times of profit has nothing to do with it.
Baishui Investment would only invest in some technology-based start-up companies in the early stages according to Nan Yi's ideas. For example, Changxu, a company that produced fishing rods With the financial support of Baishui, it launched the first carbon fishing rod in China. Then it entered the upstream carbon fiber composite material field, made breakthroughs in carbon fiber mass production technology, broke the international blockade, and slapped the face of the expert group that had been doing nothing for 40 years. It also entered the 863 plan and was led by the Ministry of Science and Technology to promote technology exchange within the industry, which led to the rise of domestic carbon fiber.
Baishui Investment has made several similar investments and helped fill several gaps in the country. Nan Yi's feelings were satisfied and he no longer interfered in the affairs of Baishui Investment. Luo Shenshen then put it back on the right track.
Before the rise of the Internet, Baishui Investment supported many technology companies. After the rise of the Internet, Baishui Investment had already transformed and rarely invested directly in projects. Instead, it invested in capital and lent its hens to others to lay eggs.
Because of this, the public only hears about Hillhouse Capital and Sequoia Capital, but not much about WhiteWater Capital. However, in the industry, everyone knows that WhiteWater Capital is a potential aircraft carrier in the water, and it is also the material for gossip after dinner, because the direct investment projects of WhiteWater Capital are relatively bizarre.
Companies that revolve around urine secretly go to the toilets in the dormitory areas of schools and large factories to collect urine, and secretly carry out urine recycling business among pregnant women.
Companies that revolve around shit buy all kinds of shit from all over the world and make them into food, drinks, medicines, paper towels, fertilizers, and spices.
For companies that revolve around farts, the concept of new energy is in full swing, and many companies have invested in research on electricity and hydrogen. However, this company has taken a different approach and set its sights on farts.
Most people know that any fart that is not emitted from a human mouth contains methane. Almost all animals fart, especially ruminants, which are the biggest farters. The energy converted from the farts collected from a cow every day can power a car for 24 hours.
If a low-cost method of collecting farts is developed, a truly clean energy source will be born.
This is Baishui Investment’s rather bizarre investment strategy. Apart from this, it will also invest in other equally unpresentable and bizarre fields. It doesn’t matter if the projects are bizarre, as long as the rate of return is high. The key is that these investments of Baishui Investment have not generated any returns, which will inevitably be laughed at and criticized by peers.
However, these cannot change the fact that Baishui Investment is a giant in the industry. People can make fun of it in private, but people still have to call him "big brother" in person. On occasions like today, Luo Shenshen will definitely be the first to speak.
Luo Shenshen walked to the center and picked up the microphone. "Let me share a story with you. I remember it was in May 2004. I went to Yangcheng to discuss a project. The communication went smoothly and I finished the work one day earlier than expected.
At that time, the weather in Guangzhou was good and I didn't have much work to do , so I went to visit Mr. Xiang, the boss of Vegetable Package.
Boss Xiang and I are old acquaintances. We met at a gathering of fellow villagers when I was studying in the United States. That day, we drank a lot of wine and sat together to imagine the future. Everyone dreamed of working for a large company related to his major. Only Boss Xiang was an exception. He studied finance, but his dream was to return to China to sell vegetables.
Clearly, his dream has come true.”
Luo Shenshen's words made everyone laugh out loud, and at the same time, everyone guessed what the topic of Luo Shenshen's speech was.
"Boss Xiang studied finance, and the way he sells vegetables is different from other vegetable vendors." Luo Shen paused, "How is it different? I believe I don't need to say more. The vegetable bag is already famous, and its development history should be familiar to everyone present.
When I arrived at Boss Xiang's office, he was receiving a contact from the bank. Since we were old acquaintances, he did not ask me to avoid him, but introduced me to the bank contact, giving me the opportunity to hear what the two were talking about.
The two were discussing a mortgage project, in which Vegetable Package wanted to purchase a large number of shops. The basic approach was to purchase a number of shops with one's own funds, and then use mortgage loans to purchase and mortgage them again.
After the bank people left, I asked Boss Xiang: Are you optimistic about the rise in housing prices?
He answered me: Yes, housing prices will soar, and shop rents will also soar. The rental cost pressure on vegetable package franchisees will become greater and greater. In order to reduce their burden, the company will purchase shops at or near the franchisee’s current business address, and then rent them to them at a lower price.
I asked him again: Are you doing charity?
He answered me with a smile: No, I am robbing the rich to help the poor, providing rent subsidies to franchisees, and compensating the losses from vegetable packages from rising house prices.
I said: Even if housing prices will rise sharply overall, not every region will see an increase. How can you ensure that you don’t lose money?
He replied: We will not buy shops in every area. We predict that in areas where housing prices will rise but the increase will not be too large, we are prepared to change our business model.
I don’t need to elaborate on this business model. Last year, everyone should have come across the financing case of community group buying. In fact, as early as 2004, Vegetable Pack was already operating the community group buying model. However, compared with today’s community group buying, Vegetable Pack’s model was more closed, the group leaders were all franchisees, and there were more ancillary services. ”
At this time, someone raised his hand to speak.
"Mr. Luo, Vegetable Package is not a listed company. It has never disclosed to the public whether the shops it holds have been liquidated. Do you know the situation?"
Luo Shenshen replied: "In 2013, Vegetable Package started to sell its shops. In the first quarter of 2016, all the shops were sold out, and Vegetable Package made a profit of about 2 billion. After that, Vegetable Package transformed and operated in a comprehensive community group purchasing manner.
The former franchisees were transformed into channel dealers, serving the group leaders in a region and implementing their internally named 80:20 strategy - channel dealers and group leaders share 80% of the profits, and the vegetable package only takes the remaining 20%.
"Uncle, is Mr. Luo selling vegetable bags?"
As they got to know each other better, KiKi's way of addressing Nan Yi changed from "Brother Ying" to "old man" and then to "uncle". At present, this address is relatively stable and there is no sign of change for the time being.
Nan Yi patted KiKi's hand and said, "Just keep listening. Don't forget that you still owe me a lot of money. Maybe you can hear a good business opportunity here and make it back soon."
"oh."
KiKi sat up straight, as if listening attentively.
"I brought up the topic of vegetable packages to bring up the topic of community group buying. Last year, the financing market for community group buying was extremely hot. More than a dozen community group buying platforms, including Shixianghui, Shihuituan, Qiandama, and Xingsheng Youxuan, had more than 20 financing events with a total financing scale of more than 4 billion yuan.
I would like to say that most of these financings are blind. Do the entrepreneurs of community group buying have experience working in the retail industry?
Do you know vegetables?
Do you know the loss rate of vegetables during transportation?
Do you know about fresh meat and fish?
Do you know the cost of freezing and refrigerating fresh meat and fish?
Do you understand logistics?
Do you know how to plan the logistics network properly? Have you ever predicted the pressure that rising oil prices will bring to logistics costs?
Do you understand quality control?
Do you know how to test and control the quality of products? Do you have a plan for handling quality incidents?
Most entrepreneurs still follow the old path of Internet projects, simply moving the vegetable market online, and then spending money to set up stalls and provide subsidies. Without deep cultivation, they can only kill their competitors or be killed themselves.
At present, the prospects of community group buying are not very clear, so Internet giants that have access to massive data and advanced algorithms are still waiting and watching. Once the prospects become clear, will they step in to grab the traffic of cabbage and fruit?
Faced with competition from these giants, do current platforms have any winning formula?
On the way to Macau, I deliberately took a detour from Guangzhou and asked Mr. Xiang similar questions in person.
His answer was that he was not afraid of any competition from any giant. Vegetable Pack had already opened up the entire supply chain. Every vegetable, every fish, and every fruit could be traced back to the source. Moreover, most of the fresh produce was supplied by companies that Vegetable Pack controlled or held shares in, so the interests had long been integrated. "
boom!
This information brought a great shock to the people present. With such a potential dragon in the community group buying field, how should other companies compete with it?
Some of them presided over the financing projects for community group buying last year. Now, after hearing what Luo Shenshen said, their investment risks are extremely high.
Everyone raised their hands and asked various questions at once. The question-and-answer session then turned into a group discussion. The friendly clashes among people with different opinions turned into a tense debate, and the venue soon became lively.
KiKi found it very interesting. It turned out that the quarrels among investment elites were no different from the scolding of shrews on the street, except that in addition to the swear words, there were some difficult-to-understand professional terms.
Nan Yi really enjoyed this kind of argument. There is no compromise in the truth, it just needs debate. The more you debate, the clearer the truth will be. Without saying something that can convince others, who can guarantee that they are right? Can they rely on intuition to prove it?
When the topic of community group buying ended and someone shifted the topic to real estate, Nan Yi took KiKi away from the venue.
It is no secret to some people that the real estate industry is in crisis and difficult to recover. However, they all understand that such news should not be spread indiscriminately, and that they should just deal with their investments in this area quietly. Anyone who talks too much will easily attract dislike, and will be punished if they fail to do so.
Besides, it is hard for one person to swallow a pile of shit, but it is much easier to ask a hundred people to share it. There is strength in numbers, which is always the truth.
Sometimes, what seems like a crisis may actually disappear into thin air.
After leaving the venue, Nan Yi and his companion went to Coloane again. They rented a fishing boat from the Tanka people near the stilt houses on the beach, sailed a few hundred meters into the sea, and found a relatively quiet place to set up their fishing rods.
We caught and cooked the fish right away and enjoyed a delicious sea fish dinner on the boat.
…
Kuningan, South Jakarta.
On the 52nd floor of "Gama Tower", in Nan Ruoqi's office of C&S Indonesia branch, Nan Ruoqi stood at the window admiring the night view of Jakarta.
A few minutes ago, she called Nan Youqiong, but the other party hung up and just sent a message saying that he was in a meeting in Santiago, the capital of Chile, and would call back later.
At this moment, she was guessing what meeting Nan Youqiong was attending.
The Nan family's industries in Chile are only fruits, minerals and tourism. The investment in the tourism industry is relatively small, so there is no need to ask his brother to go there for meetings. The fruit industry has been mature for a long time, and there are no meetings to hold. Only the mining industry requires meetings. The family has large investments in the Chilean lithium industry.
“Is there going to be a big change in the lithium industry?”
The lithium industry is indeed very likely to undergo major changes. The meeting that Nan Youqiong attended was an informal briefing held by the Chilean Ministry of Energy. The theme of the meeting was to brief several major lithium miners such as Scarlett Lithium, SQM, and Albemarle, or to test the possibility of nationalizing lithium mines. Chile wants to establish a public-private partnership under state control.
The purpose of doing this is to prepare for the next bigger plan, "Lithium Triangle OPEC".
The lithium miners attending the meeting all understand what OPEC is, and they are happy to see it happen. But there is a prerequisite: their interests cannot be infringed upon. Otherwise, no matter whether it is OPEC or APEC, they will all disagree. If you want to forcibly collect the taxes, come and try. Do you believe that supporting a lithium mining party will lead to a coup?
The Lithium Triangle of OPEC is a big plan. Chile has only had a preliminary idea and has not yet reached a consensus internally, let alone informed the other two corners, Argentina and Bolivia.
As for why they approached lithium miners at an inappropriate time, this has to do with the left-wing party struggle and presidential election in Chile. Some people want to use the lithium triangle OPEC as their bargaining chip.
After attending the briefing, Nan Youqiong sat down with other lithium miners. They exchanged opinions with each other and only dispersed after they formed a general intention of forming an offensive and defensive alliance.
After returning to his residence, Nan Youqiong took a short rest before calling Nan Ruoqi back.
"Little girl, did I disturb your rest?"
“I’m still in my office in Jakarta.”
"Why don't you spend the evening dating? I've already prepared your wedding present for you."
"As long as the Xiongnu are not destroyed, how can I have a home?"
"Aha, what do you want from me?"
Nan Ruoqi talked about the ban on nickel ore exports and said, "I need more accurate information. Big brother, please help me establish a communication channel."
Nan Youqiong thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow morning in Jakarta, I will ask the head of the Oil & Minerals Group in Indonesia to find you. He will help you."
Nan Ruoqi smiled and said, "Do you need me to say thank you?"
"No need, you're the youngest, the whole family will spoil you."
"Hehe, what meeting were you having just now, brother?"
Nan Youqiong told the truth.
Nan Ruoqi was inspired after listening to this. "Brother, there are three main types of new energy vehicle batteries produced in the world: lead-acid batteries, nickel batteries and lithium batteries. The world's major nickel producers include Indonesia, Australia, Canada, the Philippines, Russia and Brazil. Do you think it is possible for Indonesia to take the lead in establishing a nickel mining OPEC?"
Nan Youqiong pondered for a moment and said, “It’s possible. Since 2014, Indonesia has been constantly adjusting its mining policies in order to increase product added value and maximize the potential for mining mineral wealth.
In the same year, Indonesia issued a ban, completely prohibiting the export of unprocessed raw minerals. Various raw minerals, including nickel ore and bauxite, must be smelted or refined locally before they can be exported.
In 2017, Indonesia allowed nickel ore exports, but imposed restrictions on export quotas and ore grades. Now you hear rumors of a renewed ban on nickel ore exports. Perhaps Indonesia has made it clear that it wants to get rid of its simple role as a raw material supplier and become a deep participant in the electric vehicle industry chain. If you think about it more deeply..."
Nan Ruoqi took over the conversation, “In April last year, Indonesia proposed the Indonesian Industry 4.0 Roadmap, planning to use the food and beverage industry, automobile industry, electronics industry, textile industry and chemical industry as leading industries.
Indonesia is increasing its support for the automobile industry. At its current rate of development, Indonesia will soon become the second largest automobile producer in Southeast Asia after Thailand. Indonesia is also the largest automobile consumer in Southeast Asia. However, Japanese cars have an absolute advantage in Indonesia, accounting for more than 90% of the market share.
Brother, Indonesia has many resources needed to produce electric vehicles. Do you think it will also participate in the global electrification wave? "
Nan Youqiong picked up the cigar on the ashtray and took a puff. "The time, place and people are all right. The possibility is very high. The small lithium battery company, Gustav and Fuwu Company at home have already built factories in Indonesia a few years ago. Do you understand the intention of doing this?"
"I understand, big brother. I am planning to invest in London LME nickel futures and may need your help."
Nan Youqiong smiled faintly, "You can ask for money or people anytime you want. Even if you want me to unplug the LME network cable, that's fine."
"Hehe, unplugging the network cable is cheating, I don't want it."
"Haha, Old Adam hasn't called me for a long time. Is he still in Macau?"
"Dad was in Macau four days ago. I don't know now. You can call my niece and ask."
"OK, go to bed early."
"Goodbye, big brother."
Four days later, Nan Zehang's math class came to a temporary end. Nan Yi asked KiKi to go to Xiangkeng to wait for him. He would first send Nan Zehang back to Beijing and then meet her there.
