What's wrong with me being a rich man?

Chapter 628 Interview (4k)

This was the first time Sun Hongbin had dealt with Yu Xing.

Before this trip, he had mentally prepared himself, but after arranging a meeting with Mr. Yu, who was rumored to have a bad temper, through Xiong Xiaoge and Xu Xin, he felt that Mr. Yu was not so difficult to talk to.

Although I was hurt by the attack from the king of short sellers as soon as we met, after sitting down and chatting for a while, I felt okay. In business, we run into each other all the time, so why hurt our feelings?

only……

“Mr. Yu, I’ve known Mr. Xiong for many years.” After being directly rejected, Sun Hongbin took a roundabout approach, his tone becoming even more gentle. “The last time I met Mr. Xiong, I was thinking of asking him to introduce me to Lingang so I could learn about the development of carbon silicon.”

Yu Xing didn't show any impatience, but was very direct: "Mr. Sun, don't be polite. I have no intention of shorting LeEco, and LeEco doesn't have the conditions to do so. There's a lot of work to do in Lingang, and there are many things to do with the listing of silicon carbon. I'm a little confused as to whether you're representing LeEco or Mr. Jia this time."

He asked bluntly, "Or is it that you came here because LeEco really has some serious problems?"

“LeEco has no major problems!” Sun Hongbin said firmly. “I feel that there might be a misunderstanding between you and Jia Yueting. There are also a lot of people around who keep saying that President Yu thinks LeEco is no good.”

He added, "So, I came here to make friends with Mr. Yu and to sincerely ask for his guidance. If you think there are any problems with LeEco, I will go back and work with Jia Yueting to make corrections."

Yu Xing laughed heartily: "President Sun, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're overthinking it, and so is President Jia."

He stood up, pointed outside, then pointed to himself: "Given the current state of silicon carbon listings, and my current situation, what exactly are you thinking?"

Sun Hongbin was relatively normal when he heard this sentence, but he became suspicious again when he heard the next sentence.

Yu Xing asked with a smile, "Or what are you afraid of?"

Sun Hongbin frowned: "President Yu, please speak frankly."

“I didn’t think much of it at first, and I wasn’t interested in learning about LeEco, but since Mr. Sun made a special trip like this, and I saw Mr. Jia venting his emotions on the forum, I’m actually puzzled.” Yu Xing shrugged. “Why?”

Listening to the other party's logic, Sun Hongbin also felt that it seemed like he had alerted the enemy.

His gaze met President Yu's bright eyes, and he unconsciously looked away. After considering Brother Jia's concerns and attitude, he was quite direct: "President Yu, to be honest, you've made such a big impact by crossing the mountain peak. Old Jia has pledged a lot of his stocks for the company's development. He's worried that you might have some misjudgment about LeEco, which would be terrible."

"Old Jia went online to argue with people because he was desperate. The gossip tabloids in Hong Kong are eager for chaos and are fabricating your statements. Some people online are just curious to see you make a fool of yourself."

At this point, Sun Hongbin expressed his sincere hope: "President Yu, I admire you for building such a foundation in Lingang. You started from scratch, so you must know how difficult it is for everyone to run a business. I just hope that you will not have any prejudice against LeEco and will not misjudge LeEco."

Yu Xing nodded slightly: "Okay, Mr. Sun, no need to say more, I will definitely not misjudge LeEco."

Sensing the firmness in the other party's words, Sun Hongbin said half-jokingly, "Then I'll trust the judgment of the King of Short Sellers."

He then added, "Mr. Yu, I've already arranged a dinner for the listing of Silicon Carbon Group. It's not a big deal, just a chance to meet and chat, so people can learn about Silicon Carbon's specific situation in person."

Yu Xing still refused: "Mr. Sun, thank you for your kindness, but it's not convenient for me at this time. There's no need to talk about LeEco. I'll go back to Lingang another day, and then I'll call Mr. Xiong out. We'll have a meal together then."

Sun Hongbin did not give up and immediately arranged a time to return to Lingang.

Yu Xing said tactfully, "Mr. Sun, the main issue is that I'm unsure how long I'll stay in Hong Kong. This is my first time listing in Hong Kong, and there are extra procedures involved. Many people have also said that I'm under border control. Perhaps if I stay here a little longer, many people will feel more at ease."

At this moment, Zhang Yangxu leaned over and whispered the latest developments.

Yu Xing nodded and said to Sun Hongbin, "Mr. Sun, I have an interview with Phoenix Finance to discuss beforehand. I'm really busy, so I won't keep you here today. I'm especially sorry to have caused you this trouble."

"Haha, this is nothing but a misfortune, and it's also a chance for me to personally experience the style of the king of short sellers." Sun Hongbin stood up and laughed upon hearing this. "Taking a couple of punches and explaining the LeEco situation will prevent me from being caught in the crossfire. This trip was worthwhile."

Yu Xing shook hands with this person and politely escorted him to the door.

Sun Hongbin exchanged a few polite words at the end, but his expression changed once they got into the elevator.

He remained silent the whole way back to the hotel room that his secretary had booked. After thinking for a long time, he called Jia Yueting, who was obviously waiting for his call.

Before Jia Yueting could even speak, he heard a barrage of questions from the other end of the phone.

"Jia, is there anything LeEco is hiding from me?"

He immediately and without hesitation replied, "LeEco has been completely transparent with you, so what else would I be hiding from you? Are you being misled by Yu Xing? What does he mean?"

Not hearing a reply, Jia Yueting quickly cursed and then pressed on, "On what basis does he predict LeEco's downfall?!"

“He didn’t predict LeEco’s downfall; he seemed quite objective from beginning to end.” Sun Hongbin, having managed to glean nothing from him, cautiously continued, “But…”

Jia Yueting was extremely nervous: "But what?"

Thinking about his truest feelings, Sun Hongbin said thoughtfully, "But sitting across from him and listening to what he said, I sometimes felt my hair stand on end, and sometimes I felt uneasy."

Mr. Yu was indeed not as easy to talk to as I had imagined. He even declined the dinner invitation, seemingly disdainful of my connections in Hong Kong as well. But...

Sun Hongbin always had an indescribable feeling, as if his skin was facing a knife tip that was only one centimeter away, and even though it wasn't touching him, he could already feel the coldness.

This made him start to rethink his judgment of LeEco.

LeEco does have some cash flow problems, but are there bigger problems?

Sun Hongbin didn't mind the former; on the contrary, he saw it as an opportunity to make a profit, but he was unwilling to take greater risks.

“So that’s why I’m worried,” Jia Yueting said sincerely. “He shouldn’t have such a big influence; it’s not right.”

Sun Hongbin was somewhat dismissive before he came, but after meeting him, there was no major conflict, and he actually agreed with him.

Shortly after the call ended, he came across a news article stating that a European law firm had represented several ordinary investors in a class-action lawsuit, demanding that Yu Xing pay a staggering 50 billion euros in damages for disrupting the financial market!

Sun Hongbin was stunned when he saw the number, and he looked at it several times before confirming that it was 50 billion euros.

He shook his head speechlessly; Yu Xing was indeed in quite a bit of trouble.

A class-action lawsuit, a hefty compensation claim, and the pursuit of multiple legal liabilities against Guo Shanfeng. This is a new development from the public following the official investigation.

This was the report Yu Xing heard from his secretary, and then he met Deng Ning, a prominent lawyer who had come after hearing the news.

Deng Ning, an industry expert, offered words of comfort in the face of the so-called class-action lawsuit.

For ordinary investors, the causal relationship here is that they were misled by the company's fraudulent information when they bought the stock, rather than relying on the short-selling report by Guoshanfeng. In other words, it was the company's long-term fraud that caused the stock price to be inflated, and Guoshanfeng only brought the price back to its true value without creating new losses, but only exposing the existing losses.

This is the relationship between over-the-top investors and ordinary investors.

As for the specific response to the lawsuit, the eligibility for a "class action" can be challenged. Investors can argue that the reasons for their losses differ based on the purchase time and investment purpose, thereby causing the court to dismiss the class action and require individual investors to file separate lawsuits.

There are also disputes over jurisdiction and battles over the discovery of evidence.

Dunning is optimistic about this class-action lawsuit: "The worst outcome is nothing more than a small settlement. The 50 billion euro price tag is just for publicity, which is what the media loves most."

In fact, as he said, as soon as the class-action lawsuit in Europe came out, the figure of 50 billion euros quickly became a clickbait headline, and people even wanted to convert it to Chinese yuan to further inflate the figure.

Yu Xing faces a 400 billion yuan compensation claim!
—The company may have lost 400 billion in short-selling profits after its stock price surged!
This class-action lawsuit from Europe also had an additional impact on the listing of Silicon Carbon Group, with a Hong Kong legislator publicly stating that companies with large short positions should not be allowed to go public.

Amidst this uproar, Phoenix TV conducted its first exclusive interview with the "King of Short Sellers" since his exposure.

Zeng Jingyi was the reporter for this interview. She is a senior financial reporter for Phoenix TV and the host of "Jinshi Finance" and "Finance Point to Point". She has a solid professional financial background, and her interview style is rational and sharp. Her audience also covers political, business and academic circles.

When she received the assignment to interview the king of short sellers, she was both surprised and excited.

Two months have passed since the news of "Over the Peak" broke. Yu Xing came to Hong Kong to hold a media conference and asked questions in public, but this was the first time he had given a one-on-one interview.

What kind of effect is desired from the interview? What impact will it have on the listing of Silicon Carbon Group? How should the questions be selected?

Zeng Jingyi inquired about these matters with her superiors.

"Just ask normally, don't overthink it. We don't know what the effect will be, and it might even cause some unexpected consequences." The leader's emotions were also quite complicated. "But it's still a very good interview opportunity."

Zeng Jingyi agrees with this point. She has also been closely monitoring the situations of Shanfeng and Yu Xing. She was already aware of the 100% win rate of the short-selling king even before the news broke, while the latter has set off a wave of new energy development in mainland China.

The sudden and bizarre merging of two identities shocked everyone.

That morning, Zeng Jingyi and a cameraman arrived at the hotel where the King of Short Sellers was staying and met this controversial and legendary figure.

Contrary to her expectations, the simply dressed short-seller appeared quite peaceful.

"Mr. Yu, I thought you had a very flamboyant style." After exchanging pleasantries and shaking hands, Zeng Jingyi sat down and began the interview with her own impressions. "I believe many people would share the same thought as me."

"Really? It's probably because there's been a lot of wind and rain after the mountain peak was exposed." Yu Xing smiled slightly. "If we went back two months, people probably wouldn't have had this thought. The person is still the same person."

Zeng Jingyi disagreed, saying, "The person is still the same person. It's just that in the public eye, the founder of the Silicon Carbon Group is only one part of that person's resume. Another important part is that we just learned about it, and everyone needs to rebuild their perception of you."

Yu Xing shook his head: "My perception is not important to everyone."

"So what does President Yu consider important?" Zeng Jingyi spoke faster. "Is it Guoshanfeng's investigation into listed companies' fraud? Is it the security of Guoshanfeng's offshore companies? Or is it the recent use of a top-tier legal team to fight back in legal proceedings?"

After a few seconds of thought, Yu Xing gave his answer: "I think authenticity is more important."

Zeng Jingyi pressed further: "Do you think your actions of concealing Shanfeng's identity are consistent with your understanding of the importance of truth?"

She put it more bluntly: "Or, Mr. Yu, it seems untrue that you have been operating Shanfeng anonymously for a long time."

“Operating without anonymity will put a lot of pressure on me, that’s the reality,” Yu Xing pondered. “Then I’ll make a change. The truth based on the current situation is more important. Many media outlets and people have made an assumption about the outcome of Guo Shanfeng’s legal proceedings. They usually assume I will lose the case and then use that loss to criticize me. That’s not the reality.”

Zeng Jingyi remained direct: "Do you feel wronged?"

“It’s just a statement,” Yu Xing said with a smile. “To be fair, I still think that exposing a scam like Guo Shanfeng is an interesting thing, and there’s nothing to criticize about it. But I don’t think that I have to expect everyone to support me, understand me, help me, make way for me, or shout for me just because I’m doing this.”

He shook his head: "If the research on the mountain peak is correct, then some companies are wrong. It's a simple right or wrong question; the rest is not so important."

Zeng Jingyi asked again: "Including the successful listing of Silicon Carbon Group? It is now suffering the impact of the exposure of the peak."

Yu Xing was indeed somewhat hesitant.

He had to revise his words: "Well, the listing of Silicon Carbon Group is also quite important. Indeed, one thing can never be viewed in isolation. Although I thought it should be a simple right or wrong question, reality is never simple, is it?"

“President Yu, I’ve noticed that you don’t mind revising your answer,” Zeng Jingyi pointed out.

"It's like the conclusions of Guoshanfeng are constantly being revised based on the current situation." Yu Xing nodded. "I don't mind revisions. I respect reality, and reality is not static. Some companies that have received research reports from Guoshanfeng have learned from their experiences and are now performing just as well."

Zeng Jingyi asked directly, "President Yu, are you referring to Fenzhong Media? You think it's doing well now?"

"May I mention its name? I'm afraid many companies wouldn't want me to mention them these days," Yu Xing said with a smile.

Zeng Jingyi thought for a moment: "Then let's try not to say anything, President Yu. I'm very curious, as are my colleagues and many others. How did you manage to hide it before it was exposed?"

Yu Xing joked, "You usually seem bad, so when you're being bad, no one can tell."

Zeng Jingyi looked at the short seller in front of her and joked, "President Yu, sitting in front of you now, I feel like there are a lot of US dollars burning around us. You mentioned at the previous media conference that Shanfeng does fundamental research on listed companies. Is its past success solely based on that?"

"Yeah, more or less," Yu Xing replied, adding, "There's actually been a lot of research on the mountain peaks. Some of them we determined to be fake after our research, and some we didn't think were promising. I think our judgments are pretty accurate."

Upon hearing this, Zeng Jingyi suddenly felt her mouth go dry and boldly asked, "For example?"

Yu Xing was clearly deep in thought.

Zeng Jingyi's heart suddenly raced at that moment.

(End of this chapter)