2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 560 Ringing the Bell
"Holy crap, what are you doing here?"

After finishing his work, Tan Jincheng received a big surprise.

"Haha, isn't that surprising? How about it, buddy, you're giving me face, right? I definitely can't miss such an important moment."

Zhang Xupeng, who looked increasingly robust, laughed heartily and went forward to give Tan Jincheng a big hug.

His assistant smiled and presented a bouquet of flowers to Gu Qingqing.

The assistant was also an old acquaintance, Li Yanning. Li Yanning is now a senior executive at Jinpeng Industrial, but influenced by Li Jinglan's learning, she felt that she was not yet capable of taking on the responsibilities of a senior executive.

So Zhang Xupeng let him take the position of assistant to gain experience and learn more about Jinpeng Industrial's business, so that he could choose a suitable position for himself in the future.

Li Yanning also enrolled in a business school class and usually sets aside time to study.

"Thank you, Sister Yanning, it's been a long time." Gu Qingqing smiled as she accepted the flowers.

At this moment, Tan Jincheng also parted ways with Zhang Xupeng and greeted Li Yanning with a smile: "Yes, it's been a long time, Sister Yanning."

The feeling of meeting an old friend in a foreign land is indescribable.

"Tell me, how did you manage to get here?"

Tan Jincheng asked Li Yanning. He knew Zhang Xupeng, and if he asked him, he would definitely say that he came here specifically, although he couldn't rule out that reason.

"We've been here for over half a month, negotiating the agency rights with the outlet mall. It just so happens that Orange Technology went public, so Mr. Zhang contacted Mr. Sun and his team to give you a surprise."

It really has been a long time. Not only Li Yanning, but Zhang Xupeng and Tan Jincheng have also not seen each other for at least a month. They have both been too busy.

Li Yanning hadn't seen Tan Jincheng for at least three months. In order to maintain Zhang Xupeng's authority, Tan Jincheng rarely went to Jinpeng Industry unless there was something particularly important.

Jinpeng Industrial's business is quite independent. Apart from handing over a certain percentage of profits to the head office and being subject to financial supervision, the head office doesn't interfere with how it operates. It's practically Zhang Xupeng's private domain.

This was also something Tan Jincheng did intentionally; he didn't even know that Li Yanning had become his assistant.

"I knew it. If I asked Lao Zhang, he would definitely say that he came to see me on purpose and wanted to move me. It's just that Lao Sun also kept it from me."

Zhang Xupeng retorted, "Bullshit! How can it not be considered that I came all this way to see you, even though I had to leave my work behind?"

"Haha, come on, I'll treat you to dinner. Tell me how your talks with Olay went."

Tan Jincheng put his arm around Zhang Xupeng's shoulder, and it was clear that he was in a really good mood.

Gu Qingqing smiled at Li Yanning and invited her to have dinner with the other staff members, as she hadn't yet fulfilled her promise to treat them to a meal.

"Old Mi's food is awful, isn't it? Now I understand why you gave me all the overseas missions before. You're not being fair at all."

"Haha, that's bullshit. I've never been abroad before, how would I know that foreign food is bad? That's called presuming guilt."

"If it were anyone else, I would definitely be wronging him, but it's impossible for you. You're definitely doing it on purpose."

Negotiations with Outlet Mall were not going smoothly. Even for the agency rights, the asking price was very high. Clothing is a high-profit business, but Zhang Xupeng was not willing to be ripped off and would not give them the rights, so the negotiations stalled.

"Let's ignore him for now and talk about it in a few months. It's just a brand authorization for a shopping mall. Why are you putting on airs? If you piss me off, we'll use the same tactics we used on Adidas King."

"That makes sense. If we push him too far, we'll use the same trick as with Adidas King and make him cry, haha."

If you only need to obtain licenses from domestic brands, this thing doesn't really need to cost too much. Asking for exorbitant prices might work if you were to target other domestic companies.

However, this approach was completely ineffective on Tan Jincheng and Zhang Xupeng, who was deeply influenced by Tan Jincheng. Like Tan Jincheng, Zhang Xupeng, after being exposed to foreigners for a long time, began to look down on them.

In fact, when doing business with foreigners, as long as our own people don't engage in malicious competition, there's really no need to pay a high premium. In fact, we can even have a significant advantage due to our market conditions.

In this era of the global village, foreigners are actually very willing to do business with us.

"Aren't you worried that someone will snatch it away in a few months?" Li Yanning couldn't help but ask.

"It's not that easy. Besides, if we really can't reach an agreement, then so be it. Aolai is just a supplement for Jinpeng. The real useful thing is to use it for Orange Products Club."

It's May now, and there should still be about four months before the major crisis in the US erupts. Tan Jincheng remembers that Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September of this year, which was around the time when the subprime crisis fully broke out.

The real signs of an outbreak should come a little earlier, but for now, Wall Street is still showing signs of prosperity, and even with the current market downturn, IPOs haven't been suspended domestically.

It can only be said that the whole world has not paid attention to this point, although it may also be due to the election, which has prevented the focus from being placed on this aspect.
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2008 5 Month 5 Day.

At 9:00 AM East Time, a large crowd escorted the former executives of Orange Technology into the trading center. "Where's the bell? Weren't we supposed to ring it?"

Zhang Xupeng curiously looked around the place. He had come to watch the excitement not only as a childhood friend, but also because he had received shares during the last public offering. As a minority shareholder of Orange Technology, he also had his own expectations for this listing.

My good friend set up one of the fastest-listed internet companies in China, and he made a small fortune from it.

Even if he wasn't on a business trip here, he would still make a special trip to support us.

"The Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony is a bit different from that in China. They use a touch screen, which you can just press. Also, we have two bell-ringing ceremonies today, one for the opening bell and one for the closing bell."

Shen Nanpeng explained with a smile.

"There are two more? What's the difference?" Zhang Xupeng really didn't understand these things. In fact, Tan Jincheng didn't understand either, but he already knew in advance.

"The opening bell starts at 9:30 a.m. here, which is a ceremony for the company's first listing on the stock exchange. As for the closing bell, it's at 4 p.m., which is for publicity purposes."

Zhang Xupeng nodded: "I see."

"These are all paid services; Lao Mi (Old Mi) is quite good at making money," Tan Jincheng added.

"Awesome! Do you think Jinpeng Industrial has a chance to go public?"

"That depends on your efforts. However, it's definitely impossible for us to list here. Jinpeng Industrial will either list in Hong Kong or in mainland China."

The apparel industry currently has very high profit margins, so there's really no need to go public. It's not too late to go public after the profits decline in a few years. Alternatively, it's not necessary to go public at all. If you don't need the money, going public will only cause more trouble.

When companies go public, they often have a large amount of capital available in the short term, and since there are no strict requirements on capital in China, the funds raised are often squandered and used for various disorderly expansions.

In comparison, those who use the raised funds for wealth management are more promising. Who knows who will get rich from reckless expansion and investment?

Sigh, this thing is just as disappointing as the Chinese national football team.

It was already past midnight in China, but the employees of Orange Technology, media reporters, e-commerce peers, and even the Beijing government, who were all paying close attention to Orange Technology's initial public offering, were extremely nervous.

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night for them.

Although it was the early hours of the morning, the entire Flashpoint Building was still brightly lit. The two floors where Orange Technology was located, as well as the two floors above and below them, all displayed the Orange Technology logo through LED lighting.

The programmers and news team at Kaixin.com are on high alert, ready to respond to any unexpected situations that might arise during the company's IPO.

Going public is not just a celebration; it can also be a disaster, and many companies have seen their stock prices plummet on their first day of trading.

Tonight, the importance attached to Beicang is no less than that attached to Orange Technology; several floors of the government's office building are also brightly lit.

"It's best if the stock price doesn't fall; even a small increase will make our mission much easier."

The recent six-month decline in A-shares has driven many to despair, with no one daring to guarantee that Orange Technology's stock price will rise. As a result, a great deal of contingency preparation has been made.

How to deal with a minor drop and how to deal with a major drop.

At 9:30 AM Eastern Time, the bell-ringing ceremony for Orange Technology's initial public offering officially began. The venue was packed with people, including Orange Technology's employees, representatives from three major institutions, minority shareholders, and Wall Street staff.

There were also media reporters from both countries. Tan Jincheng glanced around and estimated there were about a hundred people.

"It's so lively," Gu Qingqing whispered to Tan Jinjin.

Unlike the other staff members who were dressed in suits, Tan and Gu were wearing orange T-shirts with the Orange Technology logo and jeans.

Surrounded by a group of staff at the front desk, the two people in the center position looked like they were wearing matching outfits.

"Welcome everyone to the listing launch ceremony of Orange Technology. Orange Technology is a young company, and its founder is also very young. Youth represents unlimited future. We hope to witness the future of Orange Technology together with all shareholders."

"Thank you to Nasdaq for giving Orange Technology the opportunity to go public, thank you to all shareholders, big and small, for your strong support, and thank you to every Orange Technology user. Without you, there would be no Orange Technology today."

Orange Technology officially launches its IPO!

Tan Jincheng and Gu Qingqing each spoke in both languages. Everyone knew that this CEO was a graduate of a foreign language college, so English should not be a problem. However, apart from the reporter who had interviewed Tan Jincheng before, no one expected that Tan Jincheng's English would be so fluent.

"Holy crap, Mr. Tan's English is so fluent! Doesn't he only have a high school diploma? Where did he learn that?"

With the launch of the listing ceremony, Orange Technology, with the stock code OOTL, has finally officially entered the capital market. Orange Technology's pre-market gains were good, but no one knows what will happen during the trading day.

(End of this chapter)