2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 559 Money Never Sleeps

Downtown New York City, on the south bank of the Bronx moat at the southern tip of New York Island, is home to Wall Street, the center of global finance.

The street, stretching for several hundred meters in the very center, controls the finance of the entire United States and even the world, with major investment banks, banks, and stock exchanges standing here.

"I heard that if you throw $20 on the ground here, nobody will pick it up. Do you want to give it a try?"

Shen Nanpeng was speechless for a moment: "Where did you hear all this nonsense? Do I look like an idiot?"

"Haha, sorry, I've been reading too much Yilin magazine. Just kidding, just kidding."

Shen Nanpeng felt that this guy's mental state was not right, or perhaps it was a psychological insecurity caused by being in unfamiliar territory.

"Don't talk nonsense on the street. There are plenty of people here who understand Chinese, and it's still the May Day holiday. There are a lot of tourists, and someone from China might recognize you two."

"Okay, I got it. Just kidding to lighten the mood. I won't say anything carelessly in tomorrow's interview."

Just as Shen Nanpeng had thought, arriving in an unfamiliar place for the first time did indeed make one feel unsafe, which was very different from the situation in China.

However, Tan Jincheng is different from most people of this era. He doesn't have any foreign bias. When he looks at foreigners, he only cares about whether he can make money from them. If he can, he doesn't mind flattering them.

If you can't make it, then go to hell.

“Your demeanor is different from other young people. Most young people and entrepreneurs have a certain admiration for foreign countries, but I can't see any of that in you. What kind of mentality gives you such confidence?”

"What's there to admire? We are the most dynamic economy right now, and people all over the world are thinking about making money off us. We are the client, okay?"

While looking at the scenery on both sides of the street, Tan Jincheng casually gave a perfunctory reply.

Many colorful posters bearing the orange logo of Orange Technology have already appeared nearby. It's quite ambitious to advertise in Wall Street, where land is incredibly valuable, but it's also burning through a lot of money.

Shen Nanpeng was speechless. What he said didn't seem to make any mistakes. After a while, he said, "Stop watching. Advertising fees are expensive. Go to the hotel and meet up with your team."

"Wow, look at this! I need to take some pictures and send them back. Can you take a picture of me and Qingqing?"

Tan Jincheng pulled Gu Qingqing aside, forcibly shoved the camera from her hand into Shen Nanpeng's hands, found a prominent spot with company advertisements, and directed Shen Nanpeng to take the first photo of him and Gu Qingqing in a foreign land.

After taking photos from several different angles, Shen Nanpeng admired the pictures on his camera. He was considered a high-achieving individual, but he couldn't help but marvel at the amazing couple's story.

They have already achieved what most people could never achieve in their entire lives while still in school. Even in the United States, there are not many young people born into families like theirs.

Those so-called prodigies on Wall Street, those young investment geniuses, all come from extraordinary family backgrounds.

He waved to the two of them: "Here, take a look at how the photos turned out?"

Walking towards Shen Nanpeng's location, Tan Jincheng took the camera and huddled with Gu Qingqing to look through it. They always carried a camera with them when they went out, mostly to record the results of their investigations, but they would also take all sorts of photos of the two of them together.

This is probably the kind of romance that only two very busy people can have.

"Mr. Shen's photography skills are quite good, but it still depends on the two of us being good-looking, haha. Let's go, I'll treat you to dinner back at the hotel."

"You said it yourself, things are very expensive here. I'm afraid you won't be able to afford it if you're so stingy."

"You're overthinking it. When have I ever been stingy? I just like to take advantage of small things."

"Haha, you know that yourself."

The hotel we stayed at was a well-known five-star hotel near Wall Street. Orange Technology's advertisements were also displayed on the hotel's exterior. There was no such thing as being low-key here; the more high-profile you were, the more attention you would receive.

Its main selling point is arrogance.

"President Sun and President Cheng are both very busy, as are the staff who came earlier. But you two will also be very busy tomorrow. I've arranged interviews with several media outlets for you. Remember to give me a shout-out, I've used a lot of resources."

"Sure thing, I'll definitely flatter you and make you my mentor."

Of course, the boasting was just a joke, but Shen Nanpeng did put in a lot of effort to get Orange Technology listed; and of course, he also received a generous reward.

Sequoia Capital China has not been established for long, and Orange Technology is the first and fastest company to go public among all of Shen Nanpeng's investment projects.

Barring any major surprises, the honor of building the fastest-listed internet company in China will likely stay with him for at least 10 years.

Sun Tongyu and Cheng Hao had already brought a large team of staff who arrived on April 25th to prepare for Orange Technology's IPO. Sun Tongyu was the team leader.

Six months later, Sun Tongyu participated in the company's listing for the second time in his life, and he felt a sense of things being different now.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Mr. Gu and I are late. We'll treat you to dinner later."

In the conference room, everyone had a computer. When Tan Jincheng came in, Sun Tongyu was explaining a PowerPoint presentation to everyone. Most of the senior executives had come over, but the company still needed to operate normally, so they were all working remotely.

"It's been a long time, Mr. Tan. Would you like to come up and say a few words?"

"No, you guys are busy. Just call me when it's time for dinner. We'll go back to our room to adjust to the time difference first." The biggest problem with going abroad is jet lag. Gu Qingqing was feeling a bit listless and had been forcing herself to stay awake.
-
When I woke up, it was already 9 p.m. New York time.

The TV was still on, and the two of them fell asleep with the TV on; they were really exhausted.

My phone has a lot of messages, sent by Ding Ding in the group chat and by Shen Nanpeng.

"Wow, that's pretty considerate."

Tan Jincheng chuckled to himself, realizing that he hadn't woken them because they were both really tired and sleeping so soundly.

I don't know which channel the TV was tuned to, but it was playing an English version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I remember it wasn't playing this when I fell asleep. Why is this on?
Gu Qingqing was still asleep. Since they had already eaten dinner, Tan Jincheng wasn't in a hurry to wake her. He turned the TV volume down and started watching TV.

This is the 1994 version, with the actor playing Zhuge Liang. Tan Jincheng hasn't watched much of this version.

The show currently airing is about Sun Shangxiang and Liu Bei. I don't recognize either of the actresses who played Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang, and the picture quality isn't great by today's standards. But I have to say, watching it in a foreign country has a unique charm.

"You're saying Sun Shangxiang is so much younger than Liu Bei, how could she have fallen for him? Her own status and position aren't bad either."

"Huh? When did you wake up?" Tan Jincheng put his arm around Gu Qingqing and asked softly.

Gu Qing had been awake for a while, and seeing that Tan Jincheng was watching intently, she didn't disturb him and watched along for a while as well.

"It's been a while."

Why would Sun Shangxiang like Liu Bei? Liu Bei always boasted that his second brother was invincible, so she probably became curious about that.

Gu Qingqing was taken aback: "What does this have to do with Guan Yu?"

Even though she was already an experienced driver, Gu Qingqing clearly couldn't keep up with Tan Jincheng's train of thought.

"It has nothing to do with Guan Yu. Let's not talk about that. Are you hungry? Do you want to get up and get something to eat, and then take another look at the Manhattan night view?"

"where are they?"

"They've already had dinner, but they didn't call us because we're so tired. If we don't want to go out, we can order food and eat it in our room?"

"Okay, I don't really want to go out."

Gu Qingqing was mainly a little scared. Tan Jincheng had never said a good word about Lao Mi when he was at home. He talked about safety issues the most. How could a place where you can't do *that* be safe?

They often said it was best not to go out at night because it was very unsafe, which made Tan Jincheng feel a little insecure, and Gu Qingqing felt even more so.

Both of them spoke good English. Tan Jincheng had experience in foreign trade and could communicate normally with Lao Mi. After ordering food by phone, Tan Jincheng got up and opened the curtains.

The city lights outside the window are bright. It is said that Manhattan is a city that never sleeps, a city where money sleeps forever, and where most of the world's money flows into the city.

This is also the region with the highest employment density in the world, especially in the financial industry. In terms of finance, we really can't compete with them; they are too powerful.

About half an hour later, dinner was delivered.

Looking at the bill, Tan Jincheng exclaimed, "200 US dollars, plus a tip, that's damn expensive!"

We actually just ordered two steaks and a few other random dishes, which came to a tip of over 1500.

"Let's take a look at what Wall Street elites are looking for in terms of food."

Well, how should I put it? Tan Jincheng isn't a picky eater, but I have to say that the pursuit of food by Wall Street elites is really boring. Only steak is barely palatable.

"Vegetables are made into a paste, or it's just salad, cheese and cream. Is the food foreigners eat really as boring as you say?" Gu Qingqing sighed.

"I think I'll eat hamburgers during work tomorrow and the day after, but I'm afraid I'll get diarrhea if I eat too many of them."

Tan Jincheng tapped the small bowl of bright green spinach paste, but dared not take a bite.

"Haha, that makes sense. I wouldn't dare eat this either."
-
Silent all night.

The following day, May 4th local time, Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing were interviewed by three Wall Street media outlets.

Even with Shen Nanpeng's connections, the foreign reporters showed no mercy to the two newcomers, asking them rather sharp questions.

After the interview, Gu Qingqing patted her chest and said, "That was terrifying, I almost couldn't take it. Luckily, you told me to be a little more assertive and not to be afraid of them before the interview, but it was really hard to answer, the questions were so tricky."

"You can just talk whatever you want when asked about the company, but you need to be more careful when asked about your stance. The same applies when we ring the bell tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Shen Nanpeng, who had finished all the preliminary preparations, spent the whole day helping Tan Jincheng collect information on luxury car brands facing bankruptcy. In addition, he also obtained a comprehensive evaluation document of Land Rover and Jaguar through the headquarters of Red Shirt.

It must be said that Tan Jincheng's plan to jointly acquire Land Rover Jaguar is quite tempting.

(End of this chapter)