A lot of money was spent on public relations.

After the hype picked up, the name "yw·Zheng" quickly spread around the world.

Even Lehman Brothers jumped on the bandwagon, contacting Zheng Yongwen and offering him a multimillion-dollar annual salary, plus additional performance-based bonuses. They also promised to create a new fund management team tailored to his needs.

The benefits of having a star speculator are obvious. Take George Soros' Quantum Fund, for example. Even though the old man had been semi-retired since the Southeast Asian financial crisis, Quantum Fund investors were still full of anticipation and confidence, hoping he could seize the next speculative opportunity, just like when he shorted Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Zheng Yongwen certainly didn't have the ability to rally hundreds of billions of dollars in international hot money with a single call.

However, the hottest investment topic right now was the collapse of the Nasdaq. In just two weeks, ten trading days, the total drop in the Nasdaq had expanded to at least 18.87%, and it was about to break through the four thousand point mark.

Even the most optimistic investors were starting to panic. The first and second waves of institutions and retail investors who tried to buy the dip were already trapped.

In order to protect the stock price of Yanwenzi Group and prevent it from being maliciously shorted, Su Yehao passed a stock repurchase plan with a total value of fifty million U.S. dollars at the board meeting.

The amount of money wasn't the point. The point was to signal to the outside world that he would protect Yanwenzi Group, and even have Chief Operating Officer John Zhou hint externally that perhaps they would privatize and delist when the stock price was right.

This did successfully scare off many short sellers, since everyone knew that Su Yehao was really rich now.

While others were crying and screaming as their stocks plummeted, the risk had turned into an opportunity for him, and he had earned nearly two billion U.S. dollars in two weeks.

In addition, Yanwenzi Group's fancy footwork, buying funds to short the Nasdaq index on "Zheng Yongwen's advice," was equivalent to adding several layers of safety nets to its stock price.

Although the short funds only earned Yanwenzi Group more than one hundred million U.S. dollars, far less than the astonishing profits after leverage, it successfully reduced the stock price decline of Yanwenzi Group by two to three billion U.S. dollars. The total decline in the past two weeks was only 8.2%, which was considered outstanding among Silicon Valley companies.

This allowed Su Yehao to successfully breathe a sigh of relief. At least he was still a member of the billionaire club, while the assets of many rich people in the technology industry had shrunk severely.

In particular, many startup companies and major shareholders of listed companies with cash flow shortages saw their net worth rapidly cut in half, and some even faced bankruptcy.

Because the previous market enthusiasm was too high, many companies were waiting for a better price and not in a hurry to raise external funds, and they spent money lavishly.

As soon as the winter came, the first to freeze were these companies.

As for Google, which Su Yehao controlled, the partners who had previously invested in it not only didn't regret it, but instead were eager to try and jointly suggested that Su Yehao take advantage of Yahoo's decline and the fact that it couldn't continue to suppress Google for the time being, and seize the opportunity to grab more market share.

These powerful venture capital institutions were now simply giving back a portion of their profits, and they were still making a lot of money. In the midst of the crisis, they had taken a long-term view, rather than focusing on immediate gains and losses.

In short.

The Nasdaq bubble burst didn't have as pessimistic an impact on Su Yehao as he had imagined, and countless technology startups were trying to seek investment from him.

Companies that were previously valued at one billion U.S. dollars could now talk about financing with a valuation of five to six hundred million U.S. dollars. Entrepreneurs who were previously arrogant were now being turned away by venture capital institutions every day.

The situation in the financing market was even more tragic than in the stock market, and the entire circle was falling in a panic.

It could be said that as long as Su Yehao was willing, the startup companies on the market were almost at his disposal, and other powerful large companies were also watching.

Behind every financial crisis, the reshuffling of the deck where big fish eat small fish will follow. It was clearly not the best time to make a move right now.

So… Su Yehao lazed around again.

On March 24, 2000, he accompanied his father to Pengcheng, along with Huang Daixian, who had just received a check and was beaming with joy.

It was just a pity that Su Yehao didn't allow him to reveal the news that he had helped pick the date, but with a check for one million Hong Kong dollars in hand, it was enough for Huang Daixian to forget this little annoyance.

At the Sihai International Cultural Tourism City on the edge of Pengcheng Bay, taking advantage of the good weather, they burned incense, set off firecrackers, and offered a pig's head. Su Yehao accompanied them in breaking ground with a shovel to celebrate the start of construction.

The project starting construction this time was a five-star hotel.

According to the contents of the planned project, the total cost was estimated at one billion RMB, to build a luxury hotel with a construction area of 200,000 square meters, with 1,400 rooms, plus a lobby, banquet hall, conference rooms, etc. Each room would be at least 40 square meters.

After Su Yehao finished reading the data, he asked his father, "This place is in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure that building the hotel in advance will pay off? It's still a five-star hotel. Shouldn't we wait until the popularity picks up before starting construction?"

Su's father had just finished entertaining the local acquaintances. He had been coming to Pengcheng frequently in the past two years, and everyone was already familiar with each other, so there was no need for more pleasantries.

Hearing Su Yehao's question, he smiled and replied:

"You don't understand this. The surrounding hotels are so expensive. My hotel focuses on five-star service at four-star prices. When the time comes, staying one night will only cost three to four hundred yuan. Whether it's business receptions or banquets, it will be very classy. We're aiming for small profits but quick turnover, so business will definitely be good."

"...Okay, are there any problems with funding?"

"What problems could there be? Everyone knows that your son is rich. The bank is scrambling to give me loans. Just take care of your own business. The Industrial and Commercial Bank just sent me a box of century-old Lao Shan ginseng, saying that whether they can complete their performance this first half of the year depends on our father and son."

Hearing this.

Su Yehao felt that his old man was getting a little cocky. For example, this hotel with a construction area of 200,000 square meters was not originally in the plan for this cultural tourism city.

It was easy to guess what the source of his father's swelling confidence was.

Anyway, with his own son helping to back him up, plus the economic development momentum on the mainland was indeed good, Sihai International had recently let go and planned to acquire land and build another cultural tourism city in Pudong, near the river.

The Shanghai side took the initiative to mention that they understood the difficulties of Sihai International being too busy, so they could acquire the land and plan first, and the construction period could be appropriately extended.

This approach was obviously worried that the Su family would not be willing to invest, and wanted to occupy the pit first, so as not to let the third cultural tourism city be built elsewhere.

Unlike the high posture in the future, nowadays, all localities are counting on selling land to make money and revitalize the economy.

Local developers were obviously not as wealthy as Sihai International. The funds brought by one project were equivalent to twenty ordinary projects, which made Su's father very popular and well-received wherever he went.

Wiping the mud off his leather shoes with a paper towel, Su's father changed the subject at this time and told him:

"Last time you lent me 3 billion Hong Kong dollars. Your mother and I discussed it and arranged it through a lawyer. This money will be treated as your financing. Sihai International has high debts and high risks, and it is reasonable to value its net assets at 7 billion Hong Kong dollars. In this way, we can take the opportunity to transfer 30% of the equity to your name. What do you think?"

"Whatever you arrange, I don't care."

Su Yehao originally wanted to be polite, but his father was poked in the sore spot and immediately sighed:

"Son, you've grown up and have money, so you don't like my little business, right? You weren't like this before. You could be happy as a clam with a few tens of thousands of dollars in pocket money, and you would circle around me, calling me 'good daddy' every time."

"..."

Rolling his eyes at his father, Su Yehao couldn't continue the conversation.

Worried that this middle-aged man would be hit hard, he had to explain:

"I really want it, okay? Don't just look at the land now. When a few cultural tourism cities and commercial complexes are built, it's very likely to be worth hundreds of billions in ten years. I'm in the front lines, and your industry, Dad, is the anchor of our family. Because you're helping me back me up, I have no worries and can achieve today's results, so Sihai International is very important."

...