At the courtyard of the Renjian Club near Guanghua Temple on the north shore of Houhai.
9:00 AM.
Chen Qing arrived early with Lin Zhao. Shortly after, a middle-aged man in his forties with a buzz cut and a stubbled face arrived punctually.
"Mr. Wang, it's a pleasure to see you again," Chen Qing greeted him warmly, shaking his hand. She then introduced the person beside her: "This is Lin Zhao. Lin, this is Mr. Wang from Vanke. I assume you know about Vanke, right?"
Lin Zhao, following Chen Qing's lead, shook hands with the man who, despite his farmer-like appearance, was one of China's most successful first-generation entrepreneurs. Of course, she knew about Vanke. As an accounting major at Central South University, she had inevitably come across a lot of business-related information. In China's current business circles, this man was impossible to ignore.
Mr. Wang tilted his head slightly as he shook hands with the tall young woman before him. Even though he was no stranger to the world's ups and downs, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pressure. She was really tall and... well-endowed. Perhaps only the person behind this club could handle someone like her. With this thought, his tone softened even more: "That's a unique name, Miss Lin. If I'm not mistaken, 'Lin' is the same character as in Lin Xiangru, but I'm curious about the character for 'Zhao'?"
Lin Zhao, who had just recently stepped out of the ivory tower, found Mr. Wang to be quite amiable. When he asked, she politely replied, "It's the 'Zhao' from 'the sun and moon shining together.'"
"Ah, like Empress Wu Zetian. That name..." Mr. Wang paused subtly, choosing his words carefully, "is truly unique."
He avoided using the word "big," fearing it might be misinterpreted by the young woman.
But it really was... big.
Lin Zhao wore a loose light blue shirt underneath an equally loose black women's suit, intending to downplay her figure. However, the effect was quite the opposite, as her ample chest seemed to strain against the fabric, making her even more alluring.
Chen Qing listened to their exchange with a smile and then gestured for them to proceed.
The three of them walked through the corridors and courtyards of the four-sectioned mansion, arriving at the innermost courtyard. Lin Zhao stopped in the outer room, while Chen Qing and Mr. Wang entered an elegantly decorated tea room. By the window, they removed their shoes and sat cross-legged on the floor. A maid dressed in Hanfu respectfully served them tea and snacks.
Chen Qing smiled at Mr. Wang across from her and said, "Autumn is the perfect season for tea and wellness. Oolong and Pu'er are the best choices. Mr. Wang, we have a 20-year-old Pu'er from Hong Kong's De Xin Hang. Would you like to try it?"
Mr. Wang, slightly disappointed that Lin Zhao hadn't joined them in the tea room, nodded. "Sure."
Chen Qing gave a few instructions.
Another maid in Hanfu soon approached, kneeling beside them with a tea set. At the same time, a maid appeared in the inner room behind a curtain, sitting by a guqin. After a few gentle tuning notes, she began playing a soft, soothing melody.
As the tea was brewed and the guqin played, neither Chen Qing nor Mr. Wang rushed to discuss business. Chen Qing first took out an exquisite rosewood box and handed it to Mr. Wang with both hands. "Mr. Wang, this is a membership card for the Renjian Club, personally instructed by our boss. He greatly admires your business philosophy, so regardless of whether this collaboration succeeds, he hopes you'll accept it."
Mr. Wang accepted the box with both hands, showing a hint of reverence. "Miss Chen, there's no need to be so formal. Also, does Mr. Westeros know about me?"
"Yes," Chen Qing nodded. "Our boss mentioned that your speech at a real estate seminar in 1992, where you stated that Vanke wouldn't pursue annual returns exceeding 25%, aligns with the philosophy of another investor he admires—Warren Buffett. I assume you know him?"
"Of course, Berkshire Hathaway."
"Mr. Buffett once said that compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. His core idea aligns with yours: in business, stable operations can take you further than reckless risks. In recent years, many rapidly rising companies in China have collapsed suddenly, primarily because they were too aggressive."
"Yes, like Giant. In my opinion, it's a pity," Mr. Wang said, then looked at Chen Qing with interest. "However, I heard that you recently contacted Giant and took on all their debts?"
Chen Qing replied, "This relates to another investment philosophy of our boss. In China at this stage, choosing the right investor is more important than choosing the right project. You are one such investor, and Mr. Shi of Giant is another. Moreover, after this failure, our boss believes Mr. Shi will reflect and make a comeback."
Mr. Wang nodded slightly. He also had a favorable impression of Giant's founder but added, "However, Miss Chen, you took on Giant's debts but didn't continue the Giant Building project. This seems inconsistent with your strategy of being optimistic about China's real estate development."
"These are two separate matters," Chen Qing smiled. "Our boss simply isn't optimistic about Zhuhai."
Mr. Wang's eyes flickered with surprise at this.
Chen Qing's smile remained unchanged. "So, if you trust our boss, Mr. Wang, Vanke's future real estate layout should also avoid Zhuhai. After all, there are many regions in China worth investing in, aren't there?"
Mr. Wang didn't respond directly, but he took note of her words.
With the maid still brewing tea, it wasn't the time to discuss sensitive matters. Seeing Mr. Wang open the rosewood box to admire the membership card, Chen Qing changed the subject: "The most fleeting things in this world are beauty and youth, as the poem goes. Mr. Wang, what do you think of this line?"
Mr. Wang glanced at the maid and recalled the poem inscribed on the screen wall when he entered. The membership card also bore the same lines. "If I'm not mistaken, this poem was personally chosen by Mr. Westeros. I heard he's quite knowledgeable about Chinese culture?"
Chen Qing nodded. "That's correct."
Mr. Wang thought for a moment and added, "Mr. Westeros must be a bit of a pessimist."
Chen Qing didn't deny it. Instead, she nodded slightly again. "Our boss is actually an artist at heart. Artists tend to be a bit pessimistic. By the way, he also wrote a Chinese song called 'Renjian Club.' Would you like to hear it, Mr. Wang?"
Mr. Wang was genuinely curious and eager. "Of course."
Chen Qing instructed the maid behind the curtain.
Moments later, the guqin's melody accompanied a soft, melodic singing voice that filled the tea room.
...
The ferry loves the deep mountains; the light snow adores the late lotus.
The sunset reddens my eyes, waiting for the morning bell to chat.
My beloved is by the plum trees, by the willows, but never by my side.
The little white snake drenches Lin'an, but Xu Xian forgot his umbrella.
...
As the nearly five-minute song ended, Mr. Wang, still immersed in the afterglow, couldn't help but applaud softly. "I must admit, Mr. Westeros is truly a genius. If this song were released publicly, it would put many domestic musicians to shame. I already want to listen to it again."
Chen Qing chuckled. "Let's not overdo it. Like tea and wine, it's best to leave some room for the aftertaste. But if you'd like to hear it again, you can visit often."
As she spoke, the maid finished brewing the tea and poured it for them before quietly exiting. The maid in the inner room also left silently.
Now alone in the tea room, Mr. Wang carefully sipped his tea and set the cup down. He realized that in just these few minutes, his mindset had subtly shifted. At the very least, much of his earlier caution had dissipated.
Glancing at the rosewood box beside him, recalling the song still echoing in his mind, and considering Chen Qing's words, Mr. Wang suddenly smiled. It seemed the "negotiation" had begun the moment he entered.
Even though he recognized this, Mr. Wang didn't bother adjusting his mindset further. He got straight to the point: "Vanke's stock price decline has slowed recently. Miss Chen, if I'm not mistaken, you've been quietly acquiring Vanke shares, haven't you?"
The impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis had spread to China, and the stock market was the first to suffer. As a leading company in the industry, Vanke couldn't escape the turmoil. Its stock price had been plummeting, but in the past half-month, compared to other leading stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, Vanke's decline had not only slowed but occasionally showed signs of recovery.
Combined with Chen Qing's recent investment proposals, the situation wasn't hard to figure out.
Mr. Wang was direct, and Chen Qing didn't beat around the bush either. "Yes, I hope you don't mind, Mr. Wang. As I mentioned earlier, regardless of whether this collaboration succeeds, our boss greatly admires you. This purchase is purely an investment."
Mr. Wang paused but didn't press for details on how much they had bought. He knew he wouldn't get a precise answer. Although China had a 5% shareholding disclosure rule, given the state of the domestic stock market, it was easy to circumvent. Even if discovered, the consequences were minimal. He continued, "Miss Chen, I assume you've also reached an agreement with Tefa?"
Tefa, short for Shenzhen Tefa Group Co., Ltd., was a large state-owned enterprise controlled by the Shenzhen State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
During Vanke's shareholding reform in the 1980s, Tefa became its largest shareholder. Over the years, this state-owned enterprise continued to hold about 12% of Vanke's shares. With Vanke's recent market value fluctuating around 4.5 billion yuan, this stake was worth approximately 540 million yuan.
This time, Chen Qing had leveraged some connections and the economic turmoil caused by the Southeast Asian financial crisis, which made it unclear how far the domestic stock market would fall. Tefa's高层 agreed to sell their shares, seeing it as a wise move to cash out in time.
Chen Qing nodded again. "Now we just need your approval, Mr. Wang."
Mr. Wang, however, had another question. "Miss Chen, I heard you're pushing some of your invested real estate companies to hoard land aggressively. This goes against Vanke's business philosophy. We don't engage in blind land hoarding."
"Since our boss agrees with your business approach, you can continue to run Vanke according to your own philosophy. As I said, although we will become Vanke's largest shareholder, you can treat this as a pure investment. Our boss has personally stated that we will be Vanke's best shareholder," Chen Qing said, pausing before adding with a smile, "Moreover, Mr. Wang, you know I have many other investments in the same field. This should reassure you that as long as Vanke's operations don't show significant missteps, we won't interfere. Any differing strategies will be implemented in other companies."
This was a candid statement.
Mr. Wang understood the underlying message: if Vanke's future operational strategies diverged too much from the Westeros system, Chen Qing would inevitably allocate more resources to other real estate companies.
This was within Mr. Wang's acceptable range.
After some final consideration, Mr. Wang said, "Vanke can issue an additional 10% of shares to you at a 10% discount based on the average price of the past 30 trading days. Additionally, I need you to provide a low-interest loan of the same scale, with an annual interest rate of 5%, for ten years."
"Mr. Wang, a 10% discount is reasonable, and the low-interest loan isn't an issue. However, 10% is too little. We hope for at least 15%."
Mr. Wang shook his head firmly. "Miss Chen, including Tefa's shares, the additional 10%, and the shares you've been quietly acquiring, I estimate your total stake will be close to 30%. That's my limit."
The two locked eyes for a moment before Chen Qing smiled and extended her hand. "Alright, I'll relay your terms to our boss. You'll have a response within three days."
Mr. Wang also reached out and shook her hand lightly.
Chen Qing had allocated an hour for this meeting. With the core issues settled, she didn't rush to see him out. They each drank a cup of tea, and Chen Qing refilled Mr. Wang's cup before continuing, "I've reviewed the materials for Vanke's City Garden project in Shanghai. I must say, the entire project, from planning to marketing, is brilliant. It could serve as a model for China's commercial housing market."
Mr. Wang also wanted to learn more about the young woman before him and the influential figure behind her. He replied modestly, "There are still many shortcomings, and many of the business concepts were borrowed from the West."
They chatted for another half hour, and by 10:00 AM, Mr. Wang stood to leave.
Chen Qing saw him off and then headed to another private room in the mansion, where a maid had prepared a change of clothes.
As she changed out of her office attire, Chen Qing glanced at Lin Zhao, who had followed her. "You should change too, at least your shoes."
Lin Zhao, though confused, obediently switched to a pair of flats. Meanwhile, Chen Qing quickly transformed into a casual outfit of a jacket, jeans, and sneakers.
They then set off.
In the Mercedes-Benz heading to the western suburbs of Beijing, Chen Qing flipped through some documents while addressing the somewhat bewildered yet curious Lin Zhao beside her. "You should have heard by now that, through公开转让 and private acquisitions, we will become Vanke's largest shareholder, with a total investment exceeding 1 billion yuan."
Lin Zhao simply nodded, feeling overwhelmed.
Even dealing with tens of thousands of yuan was something she had only experienced recently while shopping at Wangfujing, and even then, she hadn't handled the money herself.
1 billion yuan was beyond her imagination.
Noticing Lin Zhao's lack of response, Chen Qing glanced at her and, seeing her leaning back in her seat, teased, "Isn't it tiring to carry those two 'treasures' around every day?"
Lin Zhao paused, her face reddening, but she chose not to respond.
After about twenty minutes of driving through Beijing's streets, they arrived at a large, enclosed construction site in the suburbs. As Lin Zhao followed Chen Qing out of the car, she noticed another black Mercedes-Benz had joined them, from which four burly men in black suits emerged.
Sensing Lin Zhao's wariness, Chen Qing explained, "These are our bodyguards. A group of beautiful young women like us can't just wander into such places without protection."
Lin Zhao felt slightly reassured and then took in her surroundings.
It was a massive construction site, with various vehicles bustling about in the distance, kicking up dust. The ground was uneven, and Lin Zhao now understood why Chen Qing had changed clothes earlier.
Seeing someone approaching from afar, Chen Qing gestured for Lin Zhao and the others to follow. As they walked, she added, "This is a 2,500-acre golf villa project with an estimated total investment of 2 billion yuan. This place also belongs to our boss."
Lin Zhao stumbled slightly.
She told herself it was just a loose stone and quickly regained her balance, hurrying to catch up.
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