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Chapter 2632 Sober

After the banquet, Ma Huateng once again personally drove Suning and Zhuangzhuang back to their hotel.

The hotel we stayed at was one of the best five-star hotels in Shenzhen.

Ma Huateng chatted with Suning for a few more minutes at the door about tomorrow's schedule, and then got into his car and left.

Suning and Zhuangzhuang entered the elevator, and there were only the two of them inside.

Suning leaned against the elevator handrail, his face slightly flushed, but his eyes were still clear.

After all, this amount of alcohol is really nothing to Suning.

Zhuangzhuang stood next to Suning, looking down at the tips of her shoes, lost in thought.

Once they reached their floor, the two went back to their respective rooms.

Suning swiped his card to enter the store, took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair before going to wash up.

While I was taking a shower, there was a sudden knock on the door.

Su Ning immediately wrapped herself in a bath towel and walked over to open the door with a puzzled look on her face.

When the door opened, they found Zhuangzhuang standing at the doorway.

Zhuangzhuang was wearing a trench coat, but Su Ning had a keen eye and could tell that she was wearing a slip dress underneath, with her shoulders and collarbone exposed and her hair loose and draped over her shoulders.

Although Zhuangzhuang was standing at the door, her whole body was flushed red from her face to the roots of her neck.

Su Ning stood at the door looking at Zhuang Zhuang, without saying a word or moving aside.

The two stared at each other for two or three seconds. "Zhuangzhuang, is something wrong so late?"

"Mr. Su, may I come in?"

“…” Su Ning then led Zhuang Zhuang into the room and closed the door behind her.

However, upon entering the presidential suite at Suning, Zhuangzhuang immediately took off her trench coat, revealing a lace slip dress underneath.

"Zhuangzhuang, what are you doing?"

"President Su, I can actually accompany you too. What Ranran can do, I can do as well."

Suning did not respond immediately.

Instead, he looked at the girl in front of him who had been with him for almost three years.

It's been three years. From when I transferred her from the sales office to headquarters as a personal assistant, to when I took her to Shanghai, Qingdao, and Shenzhen...

Zhuangzhuang is definitely not the kind of woman who would take the initiative to knock on a man's bedroom door.

The fact that I can stand here today must mean I've mustered all my courage.

Su Ning didn't rush towards Zhuang Zhuang. "You said you could do what Ranran did. Tell me first, what do you think Ranran did?"

Zhuangzhuang looked up at him for a moment, then quickly looked down again. "Ranran told me everything. She said she slept with you. She said it was her initiative. Mr. Su, I'm not trying to take anything from Ranran, I just... I just don't want to lie to myself anymore. I'm by your side every day, watching you in meetings, on business trips, negotiating with people, watching you fall asleep by the car window because you're so tired, and I... I know I shouldn't have these thoughts, but I just can't control myself."

After listening, Su Ning remained silent for a few seconds, then said, "Zhuang Zhuang, do you know why I wanted you to be my assistant?"

"..." Zhuangzhuang was stunned. What did those words mean?

Do you know why I transferred you from the sales office to headquarters? Why I made you my personal assistant? Why I take you with me on every business trip?

Zhuangzhuang looked up at Su Ning and said, "Because I am the top salesperson, I am meticulous in my work, and I have never made a mistake in the tasks you assign me."

"Yes. You're the top salesperson. When you were in the sales office, you sold several times more houses than others. In the three years you were at headquarters, you were never late, never missed my schedule, and never made a mistake on a business trip. When I said I wanted to have a meeting, you would prepare the meeting room half an hour in advance. When I said I wanted to go on a business trip, you would even check the local weather and write it down in your memo."

"..." Zhuangzhuang's lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something but didn't.

Suning continued, "You've done a very good job, but I've always expected you to be this proactive as you are today."

"..."

Suning didn't say anything more.

He suddenly reached out, put one arm around her shoulder, and pulled Zhuangzhuang inside from the doorway.

Zhuangzhuang crashed into Su Ning's arms, burying her face in his chest, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Su Ning wrapped one arm around her waist and placed the other hand on the back of her head. "Zhuangzhuang, now that you've taken this step, I won't give you a chance to regret it."

"President Su, I will not regret it."

"Still calling me President Su?"

“Su...Ning”.

"..." Su Ning immediately gave Zhuang Zhuang a princess carry, and then strode towards the suite bedroom.

Tonight is destined to be sleepless. After three years of hard work, today is finally the harvest season.

Zhuangzhuang never expected that Su Ning had always had feelings for her; otherwise, he would have already taken the initiative to throw himself into her arms like he did today.

Suning and Zhuangzhuang were having a blast, completely oblivious to the passage of time, as if the world had shrunk to just the two of them.

It's unclear exactly how much time passed, but Su Ning finally held Zhuang Zhuang contentedly, continuing to savor her fair and delicate skin.

"Su Ning, since you like me too, why don't you take the initiative to ask me for it?"

"I'm the boss, and you're the assistant. What if you're unwilling if I bring it up myself?"

"I do! I've always done."

"I felt it tonight."

"..."

"Zhuangzhuang, I've rested enough, let's continue..."

"what……"

……

Suning and Zhuangzhuang stayed in Shenzhen for another two days.

In the past two days, Su Ning took Zhuang Zhuang on a tour of Tencent's new offices and held two more special meetings with Ma Huateng and Zhang Zhidong about the game platform, going over the development timeline of "Legend of Mir" and the functional modules of QQ Games Hall one by one.

Zhuangzhuang stayed by her side the whole time taking notes, and didn't waste any more time when they returned to the hotel at night.

The relationship between the two people became natural and harmonious over the past two days. There was no need to say or do anything deliberately. They just worked when they were supposed to work and indulged themselves when they were supposed to indulge themselves. The sense of distance between them completely disappeared.

On the afternoon of the third day, the two boarded a plane back to Beijing. Zhuangzhuang sat by the window, and as the plane took off, she turned her head to watch the outline of Shenzhen gradually shrink outside the window, a smile on her lips that she herself did not realize.

Life after returning to Beijing was no different from before...

Zhuangzhuang still arrives at the office at seven o'clock every morning to organize Suning's daily schedule, answer phone calls, arrange meetings, and process documents.

But in those hidden places, everything is different.

With just a glance from Suning, Zhuangzhuang knew to head to a hotel room in advance to wait.

Zhuangzhuang always tries her best to meet Suning's requests, while also enjoying Suning's strength and charm.

Of course, Shen Ranran was unaware of these secrets and still thought she was the big winner.

Little did they know, Shen Ranran and Zhuang Zhuang were both prey of Su Ning, and their secret rivalry inadvertently benefited Su Ning.

……

Just a few days after Suning returned to Beijing, the threshold of the Tianchao Group headquarters building was almost worn down by various capital players.

What is the current scale of Tianchao Group?

Mingju Real Estate has consistently ranked among the top three in the industry in terms of land reserves and number of projects under construction in first- and second-tier cities across the country, and its annual sales volume breaks industry records every year.

China's automotive industry is advancing on both the passenger and commercial vehicle fronts, with its domestic market share steadily increasing and its overseas exports also growing rapidly.

Kunyu Shipping's fleet has expanded to dozens of ships, with roll-on/roll-off vessels, tankers, and container ships operating in parallel, carrying cargo and covering major ports worldwide in terms of shipping routes.

Siyi Foreign Trade relies on the Tianchao Group's industrial system, and its import and export trade volume has been increasing year by year.

Huayu Film & Television ranks among the top private film and television companies in terms of production volume and box office revenue.

China Capital has also invested in many popular projects and companies, and has begun to make its mark in the domestic investment banking industry.

In addition, Tencent QQ, which recently emerged out of nowhere, has seen its user base explode exponentially since its launch and has been hailed as a "phenomenal internet product" by many domestic and international financial media outlets.

Such a super unicorn has yet to go public.

Therefore, in the eyes of domestic and foreign capital, Tianchao Group is simply an unopened gold mine.

What does going public mean?

This means underwriting fees, management fees, equity premiums, and exit channels; it means the opportunity to invest one dollar and turn it ten or twenty times.

As a result, representatives from major investment banks, private equity funds, and investment institutions lined up to visit the headquarters of Tianchao Group. Some used connections with industry associations to make inquiries, some used government channels to deliver messages, and some simply sent partners to Beijing to wait downstairs at the headquarters in hopes of bumping into Suning.

More than half of the calls Zhuangzhuang has received these days are from various capital groups requesting interviews.

Zhuangzhuang politely declined all offers of assistance, following Suning's instructions.

The wording was polite but the attitude was firm, leaving no room for anyone to consider another fight.

……

That morning, just as Su Ning sat down in her office, Zhuang Zhuang came in with a stack of faxes.

Then he placed these things on Suning's desk. "Mr. Su, this is the sixth IPO proposal we've received this week. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Nomura, all of them."

Suning picked it up and flipped through it.

Every proposal was written in an extremely enticing manner.

Goldman Sachs' proposal gave Mingju Real Estate an extremely attractive valuation for a separate listing, stating that if Mingju Real Estate were to list separately, its market value could reach at least tens of billions based on its current land reserves and profit scale.

Morgan Stanley's proposal is more aggressive, suggesting a full listing of the Tianchao Group and offering a higher valuation expectation.

Merrill Lynch's proposal included a dedicated chapter analyzing China Automotive, stating that if China Automotive were to be spun off and listed separately, it would be comparable to international giants like Toyota and Volkswagen in the capital market, with a price-to-earnings ratio that would leave everyone speechless.

UBS's proposal also specifically mentioned Tencent, saying that internet companies like Tencent are the most popular on NASDAQ in the United States, and if it were packaged as a Chinese version of AOL, overseas investors' enthusiasm for subscription would be extremely high.

Su Ning stacked several proposals together on the corner of the table, looked up and asked Zhuang Zhuang, "What do you think?"

Zhuangzhuang thought for a moment, "I don't know much about the capital market. But I think their enthusiasm must be because it's profitable. Going public means huge underwriting and advisory fees for them, but I don't quite understand what it means for us."

“That’s right, you can’t understand it.” Su Ning pushed the stack of proposals aside. “Because they don’t want you to understand. The purpose of these documents is just one thing: to make you feel that going public is something you absolutely have to do. If you miss this window of opportunity, you’ll never have another one. If you don’t go public now, it will be too late later. Everyone else has gone public, and if you don’t, you’ll be left behind. These words just repeat the same thing over and over: I have to play the game according to their rules.”

"Isn't this better?"

"Of course not! I don't want to be controlled by others. What's the point of making money if I'm not happy?"

"..."

The Tianchao Group is certainly not short of money these days, and that's no exaggeration.

Tianchao Group's financial situation is transparent within the company, and its cash flow is extremely abundant.

Mingju Real Estate's sales revenue is breaking records every year; Tianchao Auto's dealer prepayments and overseas order letter of credit payments are coming in continuously; Kunyu Shipping's freight revenue is steadily increasing as its fleet size expands; Huayu Film's box office revenue sharing and copyright revenue are also climbing year by year; Tencent QQ's membership revenue, although just starting out, has a very steep growth curve.

Although Tianchao Capital has invested in a large number of projects, the total amount invested does not account for a large proportion of the group's overall balance sheet.

The daily cash flow figures allocated by the group's internal fund settlement center would be astounding for any private enterprise.

Moreover, Tianchao Group has established credit cooperation with several major domestic banks for many years.

From the very beginning of Mingju Real Estate's establishment, Suning has been the most valuable customer in the eyes of banks, as they acquire land quickly, start construction quickly, collect payments quickly, and never default on payments.

Mr. Zheng and his group of veterans in the credit system have followed Suning from Mingju Real Estate to Tianchao Auto to Kunyu Shipping. Every loan has been repaid on time, and every cooperation has exceeded expectations.

Currently, the combined credit lines granted to Tianchao Group by several major banks amount to an extremely large figure, but the actual utilization rate is very low.

Why would a company with ample cash flow and more than enough credit lines go through the trouble of going public?

Suning told the senior executives at Tianchao Group headquarters with firm words: "Going public is like drinking poison to quench thirst. By listing the company and taking money from shareholders, we have to be responsible for the stock price. To be responsible for the stock price, we have to submit a good quarterly report every quarter. To make the quarterly report good, we have to cut R&D budgets to squeeze profits, cut employee benefits to squeeze profits, and cut long-term investments to squeeze profits. In three to five years, we will have cut off all our core competitiveness, leaving only a pretty shell. This is suicide. I don't care where I rank on the wealth list. I don't want to be controlled by capital. If Tianchao Group doesn't go public, there's nothing to discuss."

Later, somehow these words got out.

A financial magazine used this sentence as the conclusion of its report on Tianchao Group: "It is understood that Mr. Su Ning, the founder and chairman of Tianchao Group, has made it clear internally that Tianchao Group will not go public."

After this report was published, the frenzied lobbying by domestic and foreign capital finally cooled down.

Some people secretly cursed Suning as a capitalist idiot, while others laughed at Suning for being too arrogant and that he would regret it later.

Some people believe that Suning is simply blinded by its current success and really thinks it will never have to beg the capital market for anything.

Therefore, very few people truly believe that Suning did the right thing, after all, the limitations of the era meant that the 1990s were not lacking in fools.

Suning has never cared about these shifty-eyed guys from beginning to end; no one should try to affect its investments and operations.

...(End of this chapter)