Chapter 220 - 154: A New Game at the Pool Party
Chapter 220: Chapter 154: A New Game at the Pool Party
"Brother Yuan, don’t you think your Yuanfang Company is developing a bit slowly?"
After chatting for a while, Wang Sichao started to probe Gao Yuan.
He was being relatively subtle, not just waving cash in Gao Yuan’s face.
"What? Got something on your mind?"
Gao Yuan couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush with him and glanced up at Wang Sichao.
He didn’t really like this side of Wang Sichao; he preferred the carefree attitude Wang Sichao had when he was chasing women.
They were both young men, yet here he was, acting like one of those old foxes.
Like setting up this meeting in a teahouse today—it was far less satisfying than if he had just brought out a few bottles of good liquor.
Wang Sichao was instantly energized by Gao Yuan’s words.
’The meaning behind his words isn’t hard to decipher. This means I have a shot!’
’The most important thing in investing is timing. Getting in early versus getting in late are two completely different things. After all, the earliest investors always see the biggest returns!’
"Brother Yuan, what if—and I’m just saying, what if!"
"What if someone wanted to invest in Yuanfang Company for a stake? Would you be willing?"
Wang Sichao still didn’t dare to be direct, instead phrasing his question as a hypothetical.
"What if?"
Hearing Wang Sichao’s "what if," Gao Yuan was reminded of the recent TV drama *Blossoms Shanghai* and decided to create a little fun during this boring tea session.
Gao Yuan took a sip of tea. As he set his cup down, Wang Sichao immediately refilled it.
"What if—and I’m just saying, what if, you know!"
"What if someone wanted to throw money at me? Wouldn’t that person have to show some actual cash? They can’t just expect to get something for nothing, am I right?"
Gao Yuan countered with a "what if" of his own. His meaning was also clear: don’t even think about getting something for nothing or taking advantage of him. But if someone was willing to throw real money at him, he might actually give them a chance.
"What if someone was willing to offer 200 million? What would Yuanfang give in return?"
This time, Gao Yuan ignored Wang Sichao.
’So after all this back-and-forth, after all your "what ifs," you’re just messing with me?’
’Two hundred million? Who do you think you’re looking down on?’
’Believe it or not, Yuanfang’s profits in January alone will be more than 200 million!’
"Drink your tea!"
Gao Yuan picked up his teacup directly. If he had been the host, the gesture would have been a clear signal to end the meeting.
Wang Sichao was a bit stunned.
’We were having a perfectly good "what if" conversation. Why the sudden "drink your tea"?’
’What’s so good about this tea, anyway? It’s bitter. Nowhere near as good as champagne.’
Wang Sichao held his teacup, thinking about what he had just said.
’I don’t think I said anything wrong. I even offered 200 million.’
As he thought, he glanced at Gao Yuan. Gao Yuan, who was seriously savoring his tea, looked perfectly calm and unhurried, completely unconcerned about whether the hypothetical person would invest or not.
Wang Sichao suddenly understood!
’The problem was the 200 million.’
’Gao Yuan looked down on that 200 million!’
’It makes sense when you think about it. With a wealthy woman like Xiao Xiao backing him, would he really be short 200 million in capital?’
But,
’That money and this money are different!’
’Money from your own family is just moving from the left hand to the right. What’s the point?’
’Shouldn’t this be the time to use other people’s money to do your own thing?’
’An outsider like me, for example!’
Now, when Wang Sichao drank the tea again, it tasted even more bitter.
The feeling of having money he couldn’t spend was even more agonizing than the feeling of having no money to spend.
Moreover, he felt that Gao Yuan had slighted him, that Gao Yuan was looking down on him.
Growing up, only some from the older generation had ever disapproved of him—not to the point of looking down on him—but now, he was being looked down on by a peer, Gao Yuan.
’The problem is, I can’t even get angry. The man before me is the God of Wealth!’
The tea drinking continued, but the conversation never returned to business. Wang Sichao wanted to bring it up again several times but never managed to.
「It was soon five o’clock.」
The two had been in the teahouse for two hours, their stomachs full of water, but they hadn’t come to any real conclusion.
’Wang Sichao had lost his patience. If 200 million isn’t enough, then what the hell is there to talk about!’
However,
he understood social etiquette, so he ushered Gao Yuan to the restaurant and instructed the waiter to start serving the food.
Regardless of whether they could cooperate on business, he was determined to make a friend out of Gao Yuan.
Wang Sichao did have a certain breadth of mind.
Gao Yuan rather admired this about him. He was flexible and knew when to let things go.
So, during dinner, Gao Yuan mentioned something to Wang Sichao: at the end of the first half of 2024, Yuanfang would initiate its first round of financing. As for whether he could participate, that would be up to him.
Now Wang Sichao was happy.
He’d figured it out by then; he had probably really underestimated Yuanfang Company.
Given Yuanfang Company’s current development, even with 300 million in external debt, it really didn’t seem to be short on cash. The 200 million he had on hand truly held no appeal for Yuanfang.
’But since Gao Yuan won’t be starting the financing early, there’s at least half a year until the middle of the year. If I put my mind to it, I can probably scrape together 500 million.’
’If I get Old Wang to sell a few things, I could even scrape together 800 million or a billion, and then I’d be able to get a piece of the pie.’
Gao Yuan had no idea what Wang Sichao was thinking. If he did, he would have definitely told him, "Dude, you’re thinking in yuan. We’re talking dollars!"
After dinner, the two drank some more tea.
While they were drinking tea, people started to arrive one after another. They were all young men, and Wang Sichao introduced them to Gao Yuan one by one. Among them was Qin Fen.
This guy was also a player, and supposedly, he partied pretty hard.
As for the others, their fathers mostly ran businesses in Shanghai, and when Wang Sichao made the introductions, he also mentioned their fathers’ companies.
Among them were quite a few publicly listed companies.