Chapter 935: Chapter 935

Chapter 937: Chapter 582: Top Entrepreneur

Cheng Zhu understood very well that if Eleme wanted to acquire Baidu Takeout, they could only approach Bao Fan, the King of Mergers and Acquisitions.

In 2015, it was Bao Fan’s peak period.

During this time, he was indeed incredibly impressive.

His influence in the domestic internet sector was downright terrifying.

The network of relationships surrounding him could only be described as formidable.

“Given Baidu’s usual behavior, if we let someone else handle this, it might not go well,” Cheng Zhu was well aware of this point.

After all, according to a normal trajectory, Baidu Takeout would have the knack for consistently jacking up the price, eventually leading to its demise, selling itself off at a paltry sum.

Cheng Zhu definitely did not want to see such a situation happen.

Of course, if they wanted to quickly swallow Baidu Takeout, the price at this stage certainly wouldn’t be low.

But spending this money would absolutely be worth it!

At this stage, whoever acquires Baidu Takeout will have the chance to reign in the O2O field! The odds of winning would be even greater!

Cheng Zhu was very clear that in a previous life, it was indeed Eleme that eventually acquired Baidu Takeout.

But by that time, it was already too late.

Baidu Takeout had to sell cheaply because it was already insignificant, unable to influence the direction of the battle, and not qualified to sell for a better price.

And for Eleme, swallowing Baidu Takeout was just one last stand.

“Handling it this way is actually good for everyone,” thought Cheng Zhu.

Gong Zhenbin wouldn’t have to sell cheaply, Zhang Xuhao wouldn’t lose, and Boss Bao wouldn’t run out of projects to handle.

Great! Everybody wins!

“Oh, I forgot about Wang; Wang Xin is definitely going to be hurt.”

“But, so what?” Cheng Zhu was obviously unconcerned.

Under normal circumstances, indeed as Cong Lin said, this call should have been made by Zhang Xuhao.

“But I just wanted to repay Boss Bao for his appreciation of me all along!” thought the sly man.

Messed up one of your projects, then I’ll give you something else later.

How does that sound, Boss Bao? I’m being very considerate, right?

Besides, this is also indirectly expressing my stance.

In this matter, I can fully represent Eleme!

Shanghai, Huaxing Capital. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

Bao Fan was sitting in his office chair, lost in thought.

Cong Lin and Du Yongbo sat silently beside him, afraid to disturb.

From Bao Fan’s perspective, he could indeed sense Cheng Zhu was making a statement.

“Good kid! He’s laid everything out in the open!” thought Bao Fan.

Previously, Cheng Zhu’s unremarkable role turned the entire situation around, and Bao Fan only knew about it indirectly.

Like through Long Wei, that turncoat from Dianping.

But today, with Cheng Zhu making such a call, it was equivalent to stepping directly from behind the scenes into the spotlight!

Dianping and Eleme, now I’m in command!

Yet Bao Fan, with his strong sense of camaraderie, actually appreciated Cheng Zhu’s audacity.

After a good while, he finally looked up at Cong Lin and Du Yongbo, smiling, “Didn’t I say before taking the call that this young man is interesting?”

“But why does he think Eleme and Baidu Takeout can succeed?” Cong Lin felt this wasn’t just about being interesting.

It was rather baffling.

Why would he assume the boss would intervene?

However, in the next moment, Bao Fan said, “I think it can work!”

These words startled Cong Lin and Du Yongbo.

Cheng Zhu had his own swagger, but Bao Fan undoubtedly had his as well.

He looked at the two, saying, “This year is very special, both for me personally and for Huaxing Capital.”

“Just the merger of Didi and Kuai Di isn’t nearly enough.”

“Huaxing still needs to pull off a big move!”

“Every trend needs to bear Huaxing’s imprint!”

“Only then can we maintain our influence in the domestic internet sector.”

Cong Lin opened his mouth, after a while he said, “But, isn’t this difficult to pull off?”

“What’s so hard about it?” Boss Bao chuckled lightly, such difficulty was nothing to him.

He was acquainted with Baidu’s style.

Comparatively, the degree of difficulty in Eleme and Baidu Takeout is lower than the merger of Dianping and Meituan.

Because the latter still involves a tussle between Tencent and Alibaba.

Unless Wang Xin doesn’t backstab, otherwise, it simply can’t be negotiated!

He was initially persuaded by Wang Xin to act as this middleman because Wang Xin was already determined to betray Alibaba, which made him feel this could work.

But Baidu Takeout was different.

Among the BAT big three, it was clear who had fallen behind.

Bao Fan was confident that with his skills, the odds of pulling this off weren’t low!

He could do it, and only he could do it!

Yet, Bao Fan was indeed quite surprised.

“He actually thought of having me handle Baidu Takeout?”

“Thought of having Eleme swallow Baidu Takeout?”

Boss Bao was very curious whether Cheng Zhu was having a sudden spark of inspiration or if he had… premeditated!

“If it’s the latter, then this young man truly is a bit terrifying.”

This is not the mindset a sophomore should have!

After a moment of hesitation, Bao Fan began to showcase his efficiency and directness.

He picked up the phone and immediately called Cheng Zhu back.

In the past, when they met or talked on the phone, he always called Cheng Zhu Little Cheng.

But this time, due to the shift in their relationship, his way of addressing him changed as well.

“Hey, Mr. Cheng, we’ve accepted the project with Huaxing!”

Zhang Xuhao put down his phone, ending the call with Cheng Zhu.

He stood there stunned for a few seconds before suddenly jumping out of his chair, punching the air in his office with a remarkable enthusiasm, throwing several punches in succession!

With his passionate spirit, Brother Hao couldn’t help but want to shout out loud with excitement!

Just now, Cheng Zhu, the King of Mergers and Acquisitions, had just said two simple words to him on the phone.

This immediately gave Zhang Xuhao a dream-like feeling!

Did he really handle it? Bao Fan actually took it on?

He still remembered the first time Cheng Zhu mentioned swallowing up [Baidu Takeout] to him, it felt like he was listening to a fantasy story.

At that time, he felt like Ben Boerba from Journey to the West, where the task seemed as absurd as asking a small demon like him to defeat Tang Seng and his disciples.

But with Cheng Zhu’s continuous encouragement, Zhang Xuhao’s mindset visibly “expanded”!

He began to see a little bit of possibility!

Rationally speaking, there were still significant challenges, and it could potentially be a long process.

When things take longer, more variables could arise.

By then, the advantages of swallowing [Baidu Takeout] could become an unknown factor.

However, Cheng Zhu managed to bring in Bao Fan!

“The last time he mentioned it, I was like: Is this even something a person would say?”

“I totally thought he was just showing off!”

“Damn! And he actually managed to pull it off?”

All Zhang Xuhao could think about was the word “unbelievable.”

In fact, because Cheng Zhu timed it perfectly, luckily this was 2015, a particularly special year for Bao Fan and Huaxing.

At this moment, Passionate Brother Hao began pacing his office.

“The advantage is mine! The advantage is mine!”

He genuinely believed he had seized a turning point in the [Takeout War]!

Though Cheng Zhu had warned him that the cost wouldn’t be small, Zhang Xuhao wasn’t foolish and knew this was a chance not to be missed!

“It’s just a matter of more or less money!”

“I’m backed by Tencent and Red Mountain Capital, can I possibly be short of cash?”

Now that Wang Xin had reconciled with Alibaba, after a round of apologies and reconciliation, he was more subdued.

In the long run, this wasn’t good news for Meituan.

But at least Meituan wasn’t short on money now.

This meant Wang Xin had returned to his previous state of being able to fight two adversaries at once!

Both Eleme and Dianping, relying merely on burning money, wouldn’t stand a chance against Meituan.

On the contrary, the reinvigorated Meituan could potentially reclaim everything it had lost!

This led Zhang Tao and Zhang Xuhao, though mentally prepared, to reluctantly enter another long-term tug-of-war.

But our Think Tank managed to execute a genius move on the board again!

“Brilliant! Simply brilliant!”

Zhang Xuhao immediately called his fellow co-founders from the [Jiaoda Gang] to his office.

He wanted to great news with everyone so they could sit together and strategize!

“Tomorrow, I need to make a trip to Shen City.”

Meeting with Daddy Ma is a must.

Kang Jia and Ye Feng came rushing to Zhang Xuhao’s office, listening to his description, they were first bewildered, then couldn’t suppress their loud cheers!

This young team, jokingly called the student army by Wang Xin, showcased the vitality of youth at this moment.

The office had decent soundproofing, yet it couldn’t contain the continuously loud shouts!

This left many in the company in a state of confusion as well.

Initially, Zhang Xuhao insisted that Cheng Zhu should invest, which Kang Jia and Ye Feng didn’t quite understand.

Now, they’ve completely been convinced by this college student!

Even now, Zhang Xuhao felt a bit surreal, and when they talked about Cheng Zhu, he smiled and said, “I remember when I first approached him, it was to have him join our platform exclusively as a merchant?”

He couldn’t have foreseen that he would inexplicably recruit a Think Tank!

Ye Feng, still with a tone of excitement, said, “With Bao Fan’s involvement, it really seems like we’ve got something going here!”

“Who would’ve thought, Bao Fan was actually willing to give Eleme a hand!”

Zhang Xuhao nodded but emphasized again in front of his fellow co-founders that Cheng Zhu deserved a lot of credit.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled a phrase.

“Did you know, last year I read in the New York Times’ report on Boss Bao’s Huaxing, and a sentence he said stuck with me.”

“What sentence?” Kang Jia asked.

“He said that Huaxing Capital’s vision is to find these truly top-notch entrepreneurs, establish relationships with them in their startup stage, and grow alongside them to continuously become stronger.”

After saying this, Zhang Xuhao paused and glanced at everyone.

“I think none of us could count as the people Boss Bao mentioned.”

“But perhaps Cheng Zhu is!”

(ps: Some content was edited or removed, otherwise the chapter would have been longer.

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