In the executive lounge outside the VIP building, guests, media, and industry professionals from all parties gathered. The news that Liu Gao and his party met with the former President of the United States in the VIP building had already spread.
"The Internet is the future, but Liu Gao's Chang'an Association does not control this future. This is beyond doubt. Liu Gao and his Chang'an Association both have strategic needs and are eager to reach out in this area..." Among the people chatting, there were well-informed people who talked about those taboo topics in private.
A mature and steady man had his cigarette butt flickering between his fingers. He was an old media man. At this time, he explained to the people around him, "Now all the investors are hunting the Internet. Some are long-term investors, and some want to come in and take advantage of the Internet recovery to find a buyer. Chang'an Association is also targeting these Internet companies. Of course, the biggest fat meat is the giant unicorns participating in the sword-fighting conference today...
Clinton was invited to the sword-fighting conference, which caused a huge sensation. But Boss Ma knew very well that he was just the convener. The Internet companies in the circle were all top experts in different fields. They came together to give him face. At the same time, they worked hard to push up the domestic Internet boom, prompting the government to be more open and provide better policies. But if you insist on being the boss, others will not come, and you will also make enemies for yourself. So Boss Ma is very smart and never steals the limelight.
This is a swordfight between the great masters of the Central Plains, not a martial arts conference to elect a leader...
But things were different when Liu Gao came. He saw this point clearly. What Boss Ma couldn't do, he could do with his current status.
Tomorrow he will be on equal footing with former President Clinton and steal the limelight. Then all the Internet companies present will be like his younger brothers…”
The man put the cigarette butt in his mouth and took a deep puff. The bright tobacco was like the last brilliance of a star after burning out its life, and then dimmed like a collapsed black hole, sucking the attention of the people around him.
One person said bitterly, "Based on the publicity that will be published in major media outlets tomorrow, Liu Gao's own company can raise an unknown amount of money from the capital market just by issuing additional shares under the Internet banner... In 2000, he and the Hong Kong Li family announced their entry into the Internet, and raised 3 billion yuan in one fell swoop!"
"This time, it is the breakthrough period of China's Internet. This wave of operations is no less than more! He just wants to repeat the old tricks, but this time he is planning something bigger. Imagine that his Liugao Nanxing Group uses this as an opportunity to issue more shares to make money. At the same time, Changan will take this opportunity to acquire shares of Internet companies. Large unicorns can resist, but how many small and medium-sized companies with potential can do from it, and how much profit can they get from it? It's hard to say. The key is whether they are really optimistic about the Internet? Not necessarily. At least Guo Fuxing in Changan is a master of capital operation. Judging from the companies he hunted, most of them directly cleaned up the original company's management, and then used capital operations to drive up the stock price, and then sold it. Who cares about the real operation and long-term plan of a company? If these people mess up the Chinese Internet, half of them will be killed!"
"So I really don't understand why Boss Ma invited someone like Liu Gao to come. It's like making wedding clothes for others! This is like inviting a wolf into the house!"
"That's right. Boss Ma may not be unaware of the pros and cons of this. Liu Gao may not be invited to come. Normally, Liu Gao may not be able to give him this honor. But this time, Lao Ke is here! Lao Ke is here. He is the former president of the United States. He has a high status and position. His next trip is to meet with the Prime Minister of Japan. This has given Liu Gao a favorable wind in China. The biggest problem is that he knows Lao Ke. If they meet as old friends, and Lao Ke gives him this honor, then Liu Gao will have a lot to do! How can he not come? Even if he didn't receive an official invitation, as an old friend, he received an invitation from Clinton. Who can stop him from coming!?"
The executive lounge and even the tourist destination outside the State Guesthouse are brightly lit. In the small town with all kinds of restaurants and hotels, people from all corners of the world gather here for this Internet summit. People who have close contact with the first-hand experience are all talking about the hot topics related to the conference, both inside and outside.
Among the various characters discussed here, the appearance of Liu Gao has indeed become a major focus of much debate and concern.
It was at this time that a piece of news reached the lobby of the Lakeside Executive Lounge, which was across the lake from the VIP Building.
Lao Ke, who was staying in the VIP building, did not see Liu Gao, and Liu Gao and his party had already returned the same way.
The Changan Association encountered a small setback!
Boom…
Because of this news, the voices of the people sitting around the tables in the executive lounge suddenly doubled, like boiling water, with waves rolling.
…
Clinton stayed in the VIP building of the State Guesthouse with a team of seven people. For security reasons, the VIP building only accommodated the former president's team. The suite where Clinton stayed was 320 square meters in total, including a living room, study, master bedroom, dining room, and roof garden, which overlooked the entire mountain lake.
When Clinton arrived after nine o'clock in the evening, Boss Ma received the news that Lao Ke wanted to meet him and Cheng Ran in the suite.
The person who came as a representative of the public relations company was no stranger to Cheng Ran. He was Robert, the head of the small lobbying company that had lobbied for Fu Long on K Street.
Robert, who claimed that he could sell the Declaration of Justice to terrorists and Patriot missiles to pacifists, shook hands with Cheng Ran, who blinked and said, "I almost failed to ensure that the former president would attend this meeting. Fortunately, it went smoothly in the end."
Cheng Ran knew what Robert was talking about. A few weeks before the summit, eBay sent a presentation to Clinton's aide Doug. The presentation was exaggerated, full of screenshots from Mr. Ma's website, including AK47 rifles, uranium metal, Boeing 747, T34 tanks, the USS Truman aircraft carrier, and all kinds of counterfeit and shoddy goods.
Even one of eBay's founders called Clinton and asked him not to attend the China Internet Summit hosted by Ma. Of course, all of this was passed on to Ma, and also to Cheng Ran.
This move is indeed very damaging. If Clinton breaks his promise, Ali's domestic reputation will be in ruins.
Robert mediated and told Clinton that eBay did this entirely because they were competitors of Alibaba. Of course, this process was not easy, as the founder was a billionaire and one of the financiers of the Clinton Foundation.
The Clinton Foundation is a client of Robert's lobbying company. It can be seen that Robert has put a lot of effort into it. The two consultant identities of Fu Long and Ali are enough for Robert to get the compensation he needs.
So this handshake now actually has a lot of meaning behind it. Although Robert lost the battle of Fulong, he still showed a lot. Cheng Ran's frankness with Robert also made him understand that maintaining a good relationship with this young man from the other side of the ocean, and even giving him enough favors and friendship, would have unexpected benefits for Robert's career development between China and the United States in the future.
As for Cheng Ran's remarks to him, "You are the true representative of the American spirit," Robert just laughed it off. Clinton has been making money since leaving office in 2000, collecting people all over the world to earn appearance fees. The fee for an appearance speech is about 250,000 to 400,000 US dollars. Of course, there are also cases where he does not charge, such as speaking at the golf celebrity tournament, giving speeches at international seminars for charities and universities, and receiving honorary doctorates from universities in Japan. Just like this time participating in the Shushan Sword Contest, he did not charge a penny. Naturally, Robert's "lobbying" ability was effective, and what he could get from this Shushan Sword Contest was far more valuable than the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Later, led by the security team and Robert, the two arrived at the presidential suite. Given Boss Ma and Cheng Ran's English proficiency, they could chat directly with each other without any hindrance. The communication between the two sides may only be disclosed in the memoirs of those present today in the future.
When Cheng Ran recalled this day later, there was probably not much to say. The overall atmosphere was actually very harmonious. Lao Ke shook Cheng Ran's hand, expressed his admiration for his father Cheng Feiyang, and asked about the rumor: was Fulong really developed from a small run-down compound
Cheng Ran explained his confusion. Lao Ke was also quite emotional, and the light reflected a blush on his face. "When I was a little boy, I said I wanted to be the president of the United States, and no one believed me, but I later did well in American politics. Of course, my wife is doing well now, too. When I was president, the White House had a separate zip code, and more than 60 old friends in Arkansas wrote to me through this zip code, writing about their ordinary lives. They were all ordinary people, and when I was a child, I did a lot of sneaky things with them."
Unexpectedly, extremely sincere and honest.
There shouldn't be any resonance, but Cheng Ran still felt some emotion.
Needless to say, when Cheng Feiyang took over the Shanhai Technology Institute and created Fu Long, it was when he sent Cheng Ran to report to USTC. They took the train together, and the father and son watched the bright white moon together that night. Cheng Ran probably couldn't have told Cheng Feiyang that two years later, he would shake hands with Clinton and hear a word of praise from the other party, no matter whether it was a compliment or not.
This was an experience he had never had before, and it was very fresh and extraordinary. More importantly, it returned to him what Liu Gao had done to him in the past, without making a sound, although the person concerned might not even know that it was Cheng Ran who gave him the cold shoulder.
The two sides chatted a lot here. Clinton had some heart problems, but he still loved fried food. They opened red wine and ate fried potato rings. Clinton was indeed a little old, and it could be seen that he was a little haggard after the trip, but he was still very excited when chatting. Boss Ma had a very pleasant chat with him, leading the way with the best topics. Cheng Ran would occasionally find opportunities to talk about it, for example, asking whether there were really aliens in Area 51.
Talking about eBay's mischief, Clinton laughed and said, "I say, those guys hate you with all their might!"
On the other hand, hearing about the process of Ma and Cheng Ran meeting and investing also made Lao Ke marvel, saying, "This is the role of the Internet. It allowed two people who could potentially create China's Internet empire to meet because of a friendly Go match. The Internet can allow anyone in the world to resonate and complement each other's thoughts and cooperate. It allowed two talented Chinese investors to meet the investees and give birth to a great story. This is an extremely magical thing!"
During this time, Cheng Ran's phone rang. Seeing the incoming call, Cheng Ran signaled to several people in the room. Clinton made a funny hushing gesture. Cheng Ran smiled and waved his hand, opened the sliding door and went to the balcony. Looking down, he saw the Milky Way under the mountains, sky and lakes.
Jiang Hongshao's voice: "Where are you, Mani?"
Cheng Ran looked back at the room and said, "You may not believe it..."