What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 618 Practice Makes Perfect (4k)

Silicon Carbon Group is perhaps the most closely watched company planning to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in recent years.

Even before January 9th, Hong Kong was already teeming with Chinese and foreign media, all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the "King of Short Sellers."

As the executive who was chosen for the "selection of generals and soldiers," Cui Zhiyu was genuinely uneasy when he saw the grand occasion on the news. He thought of using company affairs as an excuse to shirk the task, but his resignation was repeatedly rejected.

Left with no other choice, Cui Zhiyu could only hope that this trip would help him test his courage.

Hu Zhengnan almost got called on. Knowing Vice President Cui's feelings, he gloated and comforted him: "Old Cui, other people want to follow the King of Short Sellers but don't have the chance yet. Maybe you can become famous if you go. People may think you are also a member of the Over Peak group."

“Look at your despicable face, how could you possibly think of me like that, and even… uh…” Cui Zhiyu’s dismissive tone stopped halfway through, but it’s not impossible that such a possibility exists. After all, Guo Shanfeng’s short selling of Volkswagen and other car companies could very well be considered to have the involvement of professionals from the Silicon Carbon Group.

Well, I did participate, but not in that kind of way.

Cui Zhiyu's expression changed, sometimes excited, sometimes hesitant. The title of "Over the Peak Member" sounded impressive, but it really carried a lot of pressure.

Hu Zhengnan ate a few bites of food in the cafeteria, then stopped joking and asked about the serious matters of the past two days. The threat of Bosch and Webac cutting off supplies was a major problem.

“According to President Yu, the meeting may have been held privately, and a public investigation was not conducted immediately,” Cui Zhiyu said seriously. “If the meeting can be resolved amicably, that would be the best outcome. I think President Yu means that there is a high probability that things will turn out better.”

Hu Zhengnan nodded slightly, ate a few bites of food, and then pondered, "Domestic alternatives will take time. For example, if the airbags need to be recalibrated for crash tests, it will take at least another six months. Sigh."

“It’s alright, these are the only two companies that are clearly causing trouble right now,” Cui Zhiyu said seriously. “Moreover, when I contacted the domestic companies, their responses were extremely positive, far more positive than you can imagine.”

He revealed a piece of information: "Regarding airbags, Joyson Electronics told me that they are in talks with the American company KSS about acquisition and are very willing to carry out in-depth cooperation with us in the future."

Hu Zhengnan was somewhat surprised. KSS, an American company, is the world's fourth largest automotive safety system supplier. Although it is not as large as Autoliv, Takata, and TRW, its technical strength is also very strong.

Cui Zhiyu continued, "Judging from the current situation, both foreign OEMs and suppliers are very indifferent to new energy vehicles, but our Kyushu sales have increased, and the enthusiasm of a group of people in China has also risen, which is a good thing."

Hu Zhengnan thought about it and realized it made sense; every cloud has a silver lining.

The two sat on the edge of the cafeteria, chatting about the latest developments.

After finishing his lunch and taking a couple of sips of tea, Cui Zhiyu suddenly wondered, "Why do they all seem to like listening to the same songs today?"

While eating in the cafeteria, the same melody seemed to keep echoing in my ears. After realizing it, I looked around and saw that the song was playing on repeat on different employees' phones.

Hu Zhengnan found it strange upon hearing this, and waved to the engineer who was listening to music a few seats away, and immediately found out the reason.

This morning, two old songs went viral: "The Fake Monk" and "Nowhere to Hide." The reason is that someone discovered the "King of Short Sellers'" alternate account on the "Sing Karaoke" app, where he uploaded songs.

Previously, this account mainly featured the song "The Fake Monk," but just a couple of days ago, it uploaded its latest rendition, "No Place to Hide."

—Lyrics of "The Fake Monk": I want to walk from south to north, I want to walk from white to black, I want people to see me, but not know who I am.

—Lyrics of "Ashamed": In the sea of ​​people, it's you and me, pretending to be upright with smiles on our faces. There's no need to say too much. We know what we really want to do.

As for whether the alt account is indeed the king of short sellers, the singing voice has already been verified by audio software, and it is still him!
Before the exposure of "Over the Mountain Peak," the lyrics were "I don't know who I am." After the exposure, the lyrics were "Pretending to be upright with a smile" and "I know clearly what you and I really want to do." This emotional development according to the timeline immediately propelled these two old songs, which were favored by the king of short selling, to the top of the charts on major music platforms.

Cui Zhiyu and Hu Zhengnan looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

The boss really loves to sing, and his feelings... are quite genuine.

"President Yu is getting way too much attention right now," Hu Zhengnan said after laughing. "I'm starting to think that this level of attention is really hard to say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing for our company's cars. The commercial vehicle team is all wondering about it."

The development of new commercial vehicle models still faces additional uncertainties. The "King of Short Selling" is not only currently in the spotlight, but also faces a series of lawsuits. If he loses these lawsuits in succession, he could be targeted in market competition.

The customer base is primarily business-oriented, making it difficult to predict the true direction of public opinion and reputation in the short term. Whether the criticism is too harsh or the winner takes all, there is already internal debate about this.

While discussing the vehicle development issue, Hu Zhengnan shook his head and said, "President Yu, the king of empty promises, has already made everyone in the company obsessed with him. Even some people in the marketing department have suggested that we could launch a more aggressive campaign for commercial vehicles. They even came up with the phrase 'The winner takes all, meet at the peak.'"

Cui Zhiyu asked, puzzled, "I understand, 'The winner takes all'. What does 'meeting at the peak' mean?"

Hu Zhengnan sighed: "The 'Peak Meeting' means that commercial vehicle customers don't need to worry about the mountain peak. If they're really dissatisfied, then wait until the company goes public and then we can have a go at it in the financial market."

Cui Zhiyu: "..."

He pondered for a moment and realized that it was indeed radical, but if you were to say it didn't fit the style of a business vehicle, it actually did fit quite well.

"In China, heroes are judged by their success or failure. Success is seen as visionary and eloquent, while failure is seen as unrealistic and glib," Cui Zhiyu laughed. "When Xiang Yu failed, he was considered a fool, while when Han Xin succeeded, the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs became a beautiful story of a great man who could bend and stretch."

"The hype surrounding the 'King of Short Sellers' is amazing. We could use the phrase 'success or failure is the measure of a hero' to promote our commercial vehicles."

"This still has to be decided by the king of short sellers."

Cui Zhiyu actually prefers to continue making commercial vehicles for the next model. The success of Kyushu proves that niche markets are easier to penetrate. Moreover, there is more overlap in experience between mid-to-large-sized SUVs and MPVs. Furthermore, the Silicon Carbon Group itself has relatively aggressive funding, policy, and market strategies.

Hu Zhengnan, however, was relatively conservative on this matter.

The two chatted from the cafeteria to the office, but just as they were about to part ways, a new message stopped them in their tracks.

—Business Review and CBN will be broadcasting live on the 8th, featuring exclusive interviews with the founders of four automotive projects: Zotye, Youxia, Singulato, and Qiantu.

The person is not good!
All four companies have received negative reviews from Mr. Yu. Zotye, in particular, was recently questioned for "backdoor listing," and its stock price first plummeted and then gradually declined. The other three companies have also encountered a cold reception in the capital market, and have already publicly criticized Shanfeng and silicon carbon technology routes.

Moreover, the boss's press conference in Hong Kong is on the 9th, and this event, which includes both an interview and a live broadcast, is undoubtedly designed to embarrass him. "They're really hugging each other," Cui Zhiyu frowned. "I really want to encourage the boss to short the stock."

Hu Zhengnan also felt annoyed: "Hey, President Yu is worried about a lot now. Forget it, let's let the market and the product speak for themselves."

Cui Zhiyu understood this principle, shook his head and walked out of the office. Just as he was about to return to his own place, he ran into Zhang Yangxu, who was in a hurry.

He quickly struck up a conversation and shared the latest news he had seen.

After Cui Zhiyu finished speaking, he complained, "I've seen these two media outlets report on this several times recently."

“Well, that’s not surprising. Alibaba invested in Business Review in 13 and CBN last year,” Zhang Yangxu explained. “They’re on opposing sides, which is normal.”

Cui Zhiyu was surprised by Zhang Yangxu's detailed knowledge and asked, "Then what should we do with these people?"

Zhang Yangxu shook his head and did not answer.

Cui Zhiyu didn't press the matter further, only asking the boss two final questions.

After bidding farewell to Cui Zhiyu, Zhang Yangxu quickly went upstairs to the small conference room, where Zhao Shuo, who had volunteered to join Guo Shanfeng, and Li Song, who was seeking guidance from a big short seller, were already waiting.

Regarding Zhao Shuo, who spontaneously conducted research on Tieniu Group, his relevant resume has been checked and is clear and without problems. As for the research results of his spontaneous attempt to learn from Guo Shanfeng's experience, it can only be said that they are still lacking something.

The latest news is that the media conducted exclusive interviews and live broadcasts with those four companies, but regardless of whether they have taken such actions, the investigation into Tieniu Group is already underway.

Sitting in the conference room, Zhang Yangxu said to Zhao Shuo, "Please briefly introduce your achievements to President Li again."

Zhao Shuo glanced at Li Song, whose gaze seemed somewhat unfriendly, and said crisply, "Tie Niu Group is using Jinma and Zotye for capital operations. I went to see them in person as soon as I mentioned President Yu's views on them on the Baixiaosheng Forum."

"Zotye has an industrial layout in Yongkang, Jinhua and Lin'an, which are respectively production, supporting facilities and R&D. Most of the shadow companies suspected of related transactions are concentrated in Zhejiang Province."

"I believe that this is to reduce management costs and to prevent information leaks."

"The problem is that many of the shadow companies I visited in the past two weeks have no actual operation. Most of them are registered in industrial parks and office buildings, have no direct equity relationship, and are controlled by Ying family members or confidants."

Zhao Shuo spoke eloquently, introducing his clumsy method: some of the shadow companies he investigated had no actual operation, and the related transactions were inevitably used to fabricate evidence.

Li Song flipped through the documents in his hand and, upon hearing this, said disdainfully, "So what if there's no actual operation? This is just a question mark. You can't get their internal accounts anyway. At most, these things will be submitted to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and they'll disappear after the investigation."

Zhao Shuo nodded: "That's true, but I think this is a huge breakthrough. Coupled with the previous efforts to avoid suspicion of a shell company listing, it's enough to gain the upper hand in public opinion. If we can continue to invest resources in this direction, we may be able to get more solid evidence."

Li Song composed himself, flipped through the documents in his hand again, shook his head slightly, and felt that the effect could only be limited.

“This can serve as supporting evidence,” Zhang Yangxu said, giving a definitive assessment before mentioning another matter. “President Yu simply doesn’t quite agree with Zotye’s logic in manufacturing cars. The public opinion has actually amplified the boss’s evaluation and spontaneously questioned the shell company listing, which caused Jinma’s stock price to fall.”

Zhao Shuo and Li Song both nodded.

“Zotye does produce new energy vehicles, and its total sales in this area reached 2.45 units last year,” Zhang Yangxu stated clearly. “With the support of domestic policies, the new energy vehicle industry is showing a relatively rapid development trend, and an important part of these policies is subsidies.”

Zhao Shuo's gaze sharpened as he suddenly recalled the Biji dealer subsidy incident that occurred at the beginning of last year.

Li Song licked his lips, feeling the gaze from Guo Shanfeng. This wasn't about gaining the upper hand in public opinion; it was about striking a fatal blow.

Zhang Yangxu continued, "Regarding subsidies, there is actually a restriction in the industry. Only models listed in the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's 'Recommended Models Catalog for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles' can enjoy financial subsidies. You can try to catch up with the Zotye models listed above."

Zhao Shuo seemed to be thinking. President Zhang wanted to start with subsidies, and the scope could be narrowed down based on the vehicle model catalog.

“This policy restriction is not only on the vehicle catalog. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology releases it regularly in the form of announcements. Each batch of announcements is valid for one year, and production and sales declarations need to be completed within this year.” Zhang Yangxu brought the topic back to the original factor. “President Yu is not optimistic about Zotye’s logic of making cars. I also do not believe that the cars produced in that way that are listed in the catalog will actually reach consumers, even if there are subsidies.”

Zhao Shuo and Li Song's eyes lit up. The breakthrough point had returned to the quality of the car. If they weren't genuinely building cars and were just doing it for subsidies, there might not be that many consumers willing to buy them. And what would happen to the portion that didn't buy them?
For a vehicle model to be listed in the catalog, the application for subsidies requires production and sales declarations within the past year. The latter declarations inevitably require the participation of dealers, and the selection of relevant dealers can be further narrowed down based on the models listed in the catalog.

Zhang Yangxu said in a calm tone: "Just like how Kyushu, a company specializing in carbon silicon, receives a surge in orders in the last two months before the subsidies are phased out, if Zotye really wants to make a move, it will likely do so near the end of the year, otherwise, the one-year limit of the announcement will have passed."

Zhao Shuo was very clever. He was already amazed when he heard this. The registration status of those cataloged models in the last two months of last year could be verified. Based on this verification result, the scope could be narrowed down again.

Identify the problem, narrow down the scope, and follow the clues.

Zhang Yangxu concluded by saying, "Zotye's direct sales are different from those of Silicate Carbon. Zotye uses a traditional dealer system. If there is any threat of the subsidy issue being exposed, the dealers will no longer be on Zotye's side. The dealers need to consider their own interests."

If the subsidies are investigated, dealers won't stubbornly resist. In fact, if they vaguely reveal that the research intention comes from the king of short sellers, they may be able to break through the defenses in a small area in an instant.

This even provides the methods for doing things, making it impossible for the dealers involved to be on the same page as the OEM.

Zhao Shuo was filled with admiration: "President Zhang, this... truly lives up to his reputation..."

He didn't say "Guoshanfeng" out loud, but it seemed like Guoshanfeng really wanted to take action against Zotye in the next couple of days. Unexpectedly, once they made a move, they went straight to the heart of the matter and did it so decisively!

Li Song had already discerned the underlying meaning behind Zhang Yangxu's seemingly casual retelling; this line of thinking regarding specific restrictions on subsidy policies must have been the result of experience gained within the industry.

He didn't ask Zhao Shuo in front of him, but waited for him to hurry up and follow the clues to verify the intervention from President Yu.

When faced with the question, Zhang Yangxu smiled and said, "I also asked the boss, and he just gave me three words—'practice makes perfect.'"

Upon hearing this answer, Li Song murmured those three words to himself, and before he knew it, he was filled with longing.

(End of this chapter)