"What about Tiantian Delivery then?" asked the representative from Hongshan Capital. "We've both capped our funds, but if Tiantian Delivery can engage in unlimited super-subsidies, won't we be taken advantage of by others?"
"That's true!" Huang He nodded. "How about this, I'll go ask the people at Tiantian Delivery if they're willing to join this competition. If all three parties are willing, then we'll start the competition with three parties. If any party disagrees, then this game will be called off, and everyone will operate according to their own capabilities. There's nothing more to say!"
"Alright, I have some other matters to attend to, so I won't disturb everyone's meeting. You all just need to give me a reply within 48 hours as to whether you're participating in this interesting game!" After speaking, Huang He proactively hung up the phone, leaving a group of stunned investors at the scene.
"Everyone, what do you think we should do?" the representative from Hongshan Capital asked, rubbing his temples. The others looked at each other in silence.
"Of course, we agree! Why wouldn't we?" After Boss Huang hung up, Chen Hu's control was naturally lifted. Although he really wanted to beat those damned guys to death at this moment, he also knew that it was impossible unless he didn't want to be the chairman anymore.
He could only suppress his anger with immense willpower and then said, "Everyone, what is there to consider? This is already the best outcome we can get!"
"Everyone knows Huang He's credibility. Since he proposed this game plan in front of everyone, he will definitely abide by the agreement. This way, we don't have to worry about Huang He's terrifying financial strength behind him and can compete fairly with E Bupai. Isn't this the best outcome for us?" Chen Hu said loudly.
"That's only if you can find a way to completely defeat E Bupai!" someone interjected. "Huang He's funds are capped, and so are ours, which means both of us can only use the same amount of funds to wage war. In that case, without a doubt, the competition will then be about the operational capabilities of the companies."
"Are you questioning my ability to manage the company?" Chen Hu became even more furious because of this question. There were still people who dared to question his management skills, something Chen Hu could not accept at all.
"Not exactly. We still believe in your ability, Chen Hu, otherwise, we wouldn't have unanimously invested in you at the beginning. But the key issue is that Dida Delivery has survived through continuous subsidies, so it's naturally adapted to fighting under subsidies."
"But E Bupai's situation is the opposite. They have always operated without subsidies, so they are naturally more suited to fighting without subsidies!"
"Now that both sides' funds are limited to 5 billion each, once this money is depleted, everyone will have to return to a zero-subsidy state. Dida Delivery does not have such operational experience, and it will suffer a great loss in this regard."
"Exactly. To understand our competitors, our company's office in the capital has been ordering from E Bupai for two to three consecutive months. We have personally experienced and confirmed that E Bupai's user experience is indeed better than ours at Dida Delivery!"
"Whether it's the riders' attitude, product quality, or the overall service experience, it's significantly better than our Dida Delivery. Once the price advantage is lost, consumers will still vote with their feet!"
The investors present were not fools and could not be blindly swayed by emotions. They each had very complete market research reports and were well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors.
Therefore, after Huang He proposed this game plan, they immediately concluded that Dida Delivery was likely not E Bupai's match.
On the other side, although Chen Hu was furious at these words, he had nothing to say, as they were all the truth.
However, Chen Hu still had his trump card. After a slight hesitation, he said, "Well, since it has come to this point, I might as well tell you all a secret!"
"What secret?" everyone was surprised. Chen Hu said solemnly, "That is, Dida Delivery actually still has 12 billion yuan in funds!"
"What!" All the investors present were so shocked they were about to jump up, looking at Chen Hu with utter shock and anger, because Chen Hu had been crying poverty at the beginning of the meeting, saying that the company only had less than 200 million yuan left on its books and was about to face a funding chain break. Now he was saying he had 12 billion yuan.
"Chen Hu, where did you get this money from? How can there still be so much money in the company's account? Didn't you..." some representatives questioned sternly.
"Everyone, no need to be so agitated. I haven't misappropriated company assets, nor have I defrauded your funds, because this 12 billion yuan has always been in the company's account, I just hid it, and you didn't know about it!" Chen Hu said calmly.
"Impossible, this isn't a small amount of money, this is 12 billion yuan, how could you possibly hide it?" someone immediately retorted.
"Heh, although 12 billion yuan is not a small sum, it's only 20% of 60 billion yuan. As long as you make some small adjustments to the company's quarterly financial reports that are sent to you for review, you can hide this 12 billion yuan bit by bit!"
"In fact, these methods are not too clever. Anyone who finds a detailed accounting firm to audit them will discover the loopholes. But I am very happy that everyone trusts me so much!" Chen Hu's words made everyone present blush. Not only had they not found an accounting firm to audit the financial reports, but they had not even sent professional financial personnel to audit them, only letting their secretaries take a cursory glance, and the approximate data matched.
Some representatives of investment institutions had not even looked at the financial reports sent every quarter, and some did not even have anyone to review them.
After all, there were so many investment institutions investing in Dida Delivery simultaneously. If there were problems with the financial reports, other institutions would definitely discover them, and they only needed to follow along with them, there was no need to find someone to audit themselves.
With the time spent auditing financial reports, it was better to find a beautiful subordinate and have some fun.
As a result, when everyone held the same idea, no one carefully studied the problems that seemed to exist in this seemingly flawless financial report.
"Chen Hu, do you know this is an illegal act?" someone rebuked angrily.
"Nonsense, don't try to scare me here. I, Chen Hu, am from Xiamen University!" Chen Hu said expressionlessly. "Financial report fraud is indeed a crime, but it is only limited to listed companies. My Dida Delivery has never been listed from beginning to end, so which law have I broken?"
"You!" Everyone was momentarily speechless. However, someone who reacted quickly said, "You violated the contract we signed. The contract stipulates that your Dida Delivery must report the true financial reports to us!"
"How is this financial report not true? I can guarantee that every data on the financial report is real! It's just that some data is not included!" Chen Hu smiled. "And I haven't touched this money at all, nor have I transferred it to my private account. It's all in another company account. What grounds do you have to say my financial report is problematic?"
"Moreover, everyone, don't forget, my financial report was submitted, and you didn't find any problems. If your bosses behind you investigate, I, Chen Hu, will be unlucky first, or will you guys who have cheated your bosses out of billions be more unlucky?"
Well, this time everyone was completely silenced. Many of them began to feel fear, because if Chen Hu exposed this matter, none of them would be able to live good lives anymore.
"Chen Hu, since you haven't touched this money at all, why did you do such a thing? What benefit is there for you in doing such a thankless task?" someone asked in confusion.
"What, what benefit is there? Can't you see it now?" Chen Hu sneered. "Then I'll tell you. The benefit of this 12 billion yuan is that when I was here begging you for investment and begging you to let the company continue to subsidize, but you refused to agree and refused to save me from the fire and water."
"You can use this money to save your life and keep my company alive, instead of waiting for you scoundrels to take everything away from me!" Chen Hu's words left everyone completely speechless.
"Alright, profit is the greatest interest under heaven. Everyone is smart, so there's no need to dwell too much on these matters. We should reach a consensus and work on this matter together!" At the critical moment, someone from Hongshan Capital spoke up.
"Although Chairman Chen's actions were a bit unethical, overall, he did not harm us, and he has even created an unexpected advantage!"
"Now the whole world knows that Dida Delivery's funds are not much, which is why Huang He dared to promise us to continue injecting 5 billion yuan without caring about the existing funds on the company's books!"
"In other words, this 12 billion yuan is still on the company's books and is usable funds in this competition. If we add the subsequent 5 billion yuan investment, the total will reach 17 billion!"
"Since Huang He said that E Bupai has 5 billion yuan, then E Bupai should only have 5 billion yuan. And as far as I know, Tiantian Delivery's actual situation is even worse than ours. They probably can't even come up with 100 million yuan on their books. Even if they get another 5 billion yuan investment later, it will be the same as E Bupai."
"In this way, we will have 17 billion fighting against two 5 billions. Even if they combine, it will only be 10 billion. The advantage is ours, so we can win this battle!" Hongshan Capital stated decisively in the end.