Upon learning of this outcome, Chen Hu himself felt an extreme sense of disbelief. He thought that no matter how foolish he was, he couldn't have been deceived to this extent.
However, later, Chen Hu learned another truth from Hongshan Capital. It turned out that not only were his subordinates deceiving him this time, but more importantly, almost all the investors were also keeping it from him.
In fact, those investors who had expressed their shock at the truth in the first instance had already known the internal truth of Dida Delivery. At the same time, they had directly commanded the executives to keep the matter absolutely secret and never let Chen Hu find out.
This was because these investors understood Chen Hu very well, knowing that this fellow would absolutely not tolerate being so deceived by his subordinates. If he learned the truth, he would definitely go on a rampage against all branch companies, expelling everyone who had deceived him.
Therefore, the investors had to prevent all this and must keep it from Chen Hu.
It wasn't that these investors were the masterminds behind the branch companies, but rather to ensure Dida Delivery's successful listing.
Although the branch companies below were all scoundrels, they had at least done one thing right: their fake data had successfully helped Dida Delivery to list. In a few more days, it would successfully debut on the US stock market, and the investors' stocks would have a channel for liquidation.
As long as Dida Delivery could be listed and they could successfully cash out their billions of RMB invested over time, and then make a substantial profit, these investors would be willing to do anything.
Although Dida Delivery was now a rotten mess hidden by a facade of gold, it still looked like gold from the outside, capable of deceiving a large number of people into taking over and allowing their investments to be cashed out. That was enough.
But what if Chen Hu agitated the subordinate branch companies at this crucial moment, making drastic personnel changes? Even if the truth wasn't leaked, the market would completely lose confidence in Dida Delivery, and the stock would plummet. They would never be able to dispose of their shares smoothly in their lifetime.
As for the executives, they were also participants in the employee stock ownership plan. Once the company was listed, they would all become millionaires or even billionaires. Therefore, no matter what, they could not allow the company's truth to be revealed at this time.
Thus, everyone in Dida Delivery, from investors to executives, worked together to keep it from Chen Hu and a few others. It was no wonder Chen Hu could know the truth.
One must know that even an emperor, if his officials collude together, can be turned into a blind and deaf person. This forced even an emperor with real power like Zhu Yuanzhang to establish organizations like the Embroidered Uniform Guard to help him investigate the truth.
But ironically, later the Embroidered Uniform Guard also became a means of deceiving the emperor, forcing the emperor to establish the Eastern Depot. By the time the Eastern Depot also joined the ranks of deceiving the emperor, the emperor had to establish the Western Depot.
When Emperor Zhengde came to power, he had to add the Imperial Inner Court to continue spying on the truth. Therefore, even an emperor could do nothing about his subordinates who colluded wholeheartedly, let alone Chen Hu.
After learning the truth, Chen Hu did not explode with anger because the truth was too detestable, so detestable that he couldn't even express his inner grief and indignation.
Therefore, Chen Hu made a decision: to completely abandon Dida Delivery, secretly abscond with all of Dida Delivery's funds, and go to Australia for a new life, leaving behind all the people who had deceived him, along with the enormous debt he carried, to deal with it as they pleased. He would no longer be involved.
So, Chen Hu began to publicly claim in various forums that all the reports from Muddy Waters were false, that Muddy Waters had fabricated the news to profit from shorting Dida Delivery, and that Dida Delivery's prospectus was absolutely true and reliable, with all its data being factual.
Chen Hu even announced that he would hold a media conference, inviting all media outlets, and that he would personally lead them to the company's servers to verify the company's detailed data with their own eyes.
He would then take the media to visit the various branch companies to prove that the company's various data were absolutely normal.
On the other hand, Chen Hu sent messages to the heads of the various branch companies, stating that he already knew the truth, but that the law does not punish the masses. Moreover, at a time when the company's survival was at stake, what they needed to do was not to dwell on past mistakes, but to solve problems and find ways to get the company listed successfully.
Therefore, during the upcoming visit by the media to the branch companies, he asked all branch companies to do their best, using all sorts of means, to bring in at least a few thousand riders to create a pretense.
Additionally, he asked the various shops they had cooperated with to also contribute, and during the days of interviews, to continuously place orders. However, these should not be fake orders, but real orders where the food was actually prepared and delivered.
As for who it was delivered to, it didn't matter. Even if it all ended up in the trash, it was important to create the illusion that Dida Delivery was still experiencing astonishing customer traffic.
The duration was not long, only about a week.
Because after a week, the United States would recover, and after proving Muddy Waters was falsifying information, the company's stock could be successfully listed. At that time, everyone could receive shares, and everyone could become a millionaire or even a billionaire. They had to work together to persevere, and so on.
It could be said that Chen Hu's move was extremely ruthless.
His letter to all the branch company executives was sincere and heartfelt, and his methods seemed very effective. Anyone who saw this letter at first glance would think that Chen Hu definitely wanted to firmly protect the company.
Thinking about the beautiful future mentioned in the letter where everyone would become a millionaire after the company's successful listing, these people did indeed begin to follow Chen Hu's plan, trying their best to create a pretense for a week, making Dida Delivery appear prosperous and thriving on the surface.
Of course, this would require a large amount of funds, as both getting the shops to cooperate in making real food and recruiting a large number of riders in a short period required cash.
However, Chen Hu also clearly stated that the company's accounts were already empty. But once the company was successfully listed, it would receive a massive financing of 1 billion US dollars, and then the company would have money again. Not only could they fill the previous holes, but they could also continue the subsidy war and revive the company.
However, for now, everyone needed to contribute their own money to create this illusion. Chen Hu promised that once the company was successfully listed, he would repay everyone's contributions with double the amount, without any delay.
To show fairness, not only did the local branches have to pay this money, but all the executives also had to contribute together, making everyone in the same boat.
To this order for all executives to pay their own money, the executives of Dida Delivery agreed without hesitation.
Firstly, they also knew that the company genuinely had no money, and if they didn't pay themselves, they wouldn't find other avenues for funding.
Secondly, the fact that all the executives were also paying was very important. Because when the company was successfully listed, they would receive double compensation from this money, and those executives would also stand with them. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about Chen Hu being unwilling to pay. This was a perfect plan.
Thus, in the following days, Dida Delivery once again appeared bustling on the surface, with riders all over the streets, returning to its former glory.
The internal conference inviting all reporters was scheduled for the next day.
This was also why so many reporters were waiting outside Chen Hu's luxurious mansion. These reporters had no opportunity to attend that grand event, so they tried to wait outside Chen Hu's house, hoping to capture some big news.
No one knew that Chen Hu secretly still had over 2 billion RMB in funds, all in his private account. These funds were directly transferred to an Australian bank through some multinational banks in the past few days.
At the same time, Chen Hu's most trusted confidant had gone to Australia to make preliminary arrangements for Chen Hu. Meanwhile, Chen Hu himself frequently appeared in public media to stabilize the morale of the company.
It wasn't until the day before the media conference that he secretly took a vacuum super-high-speed magnetic levitation train to Yaodu, and then through his strong connections, headed to Australia to achieve a perfect comeback.
As time ticked by, the vacuum high-speed magnetic levitation train stopped at Nanchang Station. Because someone needed to get off to take care of personal matters, the seats in the train were pulled out again.
However, Chen Hu did not leave his seat. He was afraid of any changes, so he preferred to stay in his chair, pretending to be asleep. Otherwise, what if he was left behind in Nanchang?
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Twenty minutes later, the train departed again. An hour later, it successfully arrived in Yaodu. Chen Hu bid farewell to the newly acquainted classmate behind him, found his strong connections in Yaodu with the fastest speed, and just as he was about to go through customs and board a flight to the United States, he saw the most desperate sight of his life.
More than a dozen uniformed staff were waiting for him at the customs clearance channel. When Chen Hu frantically tried to turn and leave, the other end of the channel was also blocked. Chen Hu was thus directly cornered here, and was caught at the very last moment before leaving China.
"What crime have I committed? Why are you arresting me! My funds are not a problem!" Chen Hu questioned immediately after being arrested, and he had full confidence in his questioning.
Although Dida Delivery's funds had very serious problems and involved a large amount of financial fraud, the issue was that all of this required evidence. Dida Delivery had not erupted with any substantive problems, so the police could not arrest him on the grounds of financial issues.
At the same time, although Chen Hu's departure from China at this time was clearly an escape, as an entrepreneur with a legitimate passport and visa, traveling abroad for business was a very normal thing.
Unless there was an order restricting his departure, they had no right to prevent Chen Hu from leaving.
This was why Chen Hu had the confidence to ask such questions.
"It's not a problem with the funds!" a staff member said calmly. "It's simply a matter of what Mr. Chen Hu, you have in this suitcase!"
"Twenty million pieces of personal information of Chinese users, their dietary habits, and their coordinate maps. Where are you taking such important data?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Hu completely wilted. He understood that he would likely never leave prison in his lifetime.