My capital is quite large.

Chapter 221 The Livelihood of the Canal Workers

As night deepened, a Maybach with a Beijing license plate drove back to the hotel.

The atmosphere in the back of the carriage remained somewhat somber.

Mr. Wang, rubbing his still throbbing head, muttered indignantly, "Dad, you really didn't give me any face just now! What's so great about Li Feng? He clearly doesn't want to help and is just making excuses to avoid it. Can't I even say anything? Wanda isn't just relying on him; we can always find someone else to endorse us!"

Hearing his son's naive words, the richest man in the country sighed with disappointment.

"You, you've never experienced the hardships of the business world!"

"Money is hard to earn, and life is tough! Seeing through things but not saying anything—that's the most basic rule in business! We're asking for a favor now, so we need to have the proper attitude!"

"Find another company? Do you think cornerstone investments of hundreds of millions of dollars are like cabbages on the street, something you can just snag anytime?"

"Believe it or not, if I approached Alibaba or Tencent, they would definitely be willing to pay up. But what would their conditions be? They would definitely demand entry into Wanda's core management team, and even require deep business integration! In a few years, Wanda's control would probably change hands to Ma!"

"Only companies like Haofeng, which purely focus on pan-entertainment, would simply invest money without participating in management, solely for financial returns and future theatrical releases. Partnering with Li Feng is currently our best and safest form of implicit endorsement!"

Although Xiao Wang understood his father's concerns, he still felt a sense of unease.

"But...but I haven't even had a chance to bring up my 'big live stream plan' that I've been preparing for so long tonight, and the dinner party is over already!"

Xiao Wang rubbed his hands together in frustration, still unwilling to give up, and said, "Dad, next time you meet with him to discuss the subscription quota, could you mention my live-streaming authorization for me?"

"I've done my research, and live streaming is definitely the next big thing! If you step in and get Li Feng to grant me the exclusive broadcasting rights for League of Legends tournaments, my live streaming platform will surely become an instant hit and grow into a major force!"

Looking at his silly son who was still immersed in his dream of e-sports and live streaming, Wang, the richest man, felt a headache coming on.

He rubbed his temples, shattering his son's illusion: "Wake up!"

"A true friendship only exists when you're useful to someone!"

"We're in a position to ask for their help right now! We haven't even finalized the terms and amount for Wanda Cinemas' subscription yet, and you want me to beg them to exclusively license gaming tournaments to a live streaming platform that hasn't even been established yet?"

The richest man in the country reprimanded him impatiently, "This isn't cooperation; you're just trying to put us at a disadvantage during negotiations!"

……

Meanwhile, in Nanjing, at the Zifeng Tower private clubhouse.

After seeing off the richest man and his son, Li Feng leaned back in the main seat, in high spirits.

"Yu Xi," Li Feng called out to his chief secretary standing beside him.

"Boss, what can I do for you?" Zhang Yuxi asked, holding a tablet computer in her hand, ready to take notes.

"Notify the investment department to immediately study and design a performance-based investment contract for Wanda Cinemas."

After thinking for a moment, Li Feng instructed, "The budget for the subscription amount can be raised to 10 billion US dollars! But we need 15% of Wanda Cinema Line's original shares!"

"Furthermore, a mandatory safety net clause must be included in the contract: if Wanda Cinema Line fails to go public as scheduled, or if it triggers specific delisting conditions after listing, Wang Jianlin must use his personal wealth as collateral to fully and jointly compensate for this investment!"

$10 billion for a 15% stake in Wanda Cinema Line, plus a guarantee from Wang Jianlin himself!

Although Zhang Yuxi is still learning about business, she could tell that the contract was harsh and domineering.

This pushes all the risks onto the other party while keeping all the profits firmly in one's own hands.

"Okay, boss, I'll immediately notify the investment department to work on a proposal overnight." Zhang Yuxi replied crisply and quickly scribbled on her tablet.

After giving the instructions, Li Feng picked up the slightly cooled tea in front of him and drank it all in one gulp.

Tonight's dinner party prompted him to think more broadly about his wealth and future plans.

"I used to think that the safest thing was to keep the money in my own hands, avoid debt as much as possible, and make a fortune quietly."

Li Feng silently reviewed the past few years of his rebirth in his heart, "So I worked hard to make money, buy copyrights, and get into semiconductors. In order not to be swayed by capital, I rejected all external financing and listing."

"But what if my wealth snowballs and I only have cash and those ethereal internet data in my hands..."

"Then this big fat pig of mine will inevitably attract countless greedy eyes sooner or later!"

Li Feng recalled Xu Pidao, the man who had mastered leverage in his past life.

Although Xu Pidai ultimately went too far and suffered disgrace, his survival logic of binding his fate with countless others through massive debts and assets was, to some extent, a get-out-of-jail-free card!

"If I, like Xu Daipi, build up my debt and real assets to the point of being too big to fail... then who would dare to mess with me easily? Who would still covet the small profits I hold?"

Li Feng's gaze became increasingly profound.

"Real estate is a minefield, but physical cinemas and shopping malls are good things."

"Giving up some short-term cash liquidity in exchange for large, asset-heavy entities rooted in various cities... this seems like a very good approach."

"What if one day in the future, they were to acquire Wanda Cinemas, or even the entire Wanda Group..."

Thinking of this, Li Feng couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly.

"It seems I was too narrow-minded before."

"As long as I'm bold enough, and as long as I involve enough interests and jobs, plenty of people are afraid of me dying!"

Having figured this out, Li Feng felt a sudden sense of clarity and understanding, as if a new world had opened up before him.

He turned to Zhang Yuxi and casually asked, "Yuxi, what's the approximate market valuation of Baoleyao right now?"

Zhang Yuxi was stunned for a moment.

Although she was unaware of her boss's recent contemplation, as the newly appointed chief secretary, she now possessed an intimate knowledge of the data across various sectors of the internet industry.

"Boss, Baoleyao's current valuation is around 1 million US dollars," Zhang Yuxi blurted out. "However, I heard that Sequoia Capital is in contact with them recently and may lead their Series C funding round."

After saying that, Zhang Yuxi added, "In addition, Meituan, which is currently the most popular in the group buying and food delivery sector, is currently valued at about 13 billion US dollars."

Hearing Zhang Yuxi's quick and insightful report, Li Feng nodded in satisfaction.

This girl is indeed making rapid progress.

"Notify the acquisition department."

Li Feng, with his fingers interlaced, calmly issued an order that would unleash a bloodbath in the entire O2O food delivery industry:

"Go contact the founders of Baleyao and Meituan."

"Tell them that Haofeng Group is interested in getting involved! They want to acquire 30% of each of their companies' shares!"

"Regardless of the price offered by Sequoia Capital or other institutions, we, Haofeng, will bid at a premium and snatch it up! But it must be **one share, one vote**!"

Upon hearing this instruction, Zhang Yuxi nearly dropped the tablet in her hand!

Simultaneously investing in two of the biggest rivals in the food delivery industry?! And aiming for a 30% stake with equal voting rights?!

"Boss... this food delivery business is a bottomless pit of money!" Zhang Yuxi couldn't help but exclaim. "And these two companies are fighting tooth and nail right now. If we place bets at the same time, this..."

"What do you know?"

Li Feng stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the myriad lights of Jinling City, which resembled a galaxy of stars.

He didn't explain how many times the investment could be earned in the future, nor did he explain the balancing act of betting on both sides in the food delivery war.

He simply uttered a sentence that Zhang Yuxi barely understood: "The livelihoods of millions of canal workers depend on him..."