Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

July 8th.

Many retail manufacturers arrived in Magic City, including Liu Biyang, who sold Yilu Mineral Water.

Seriously, selling water is definitely highly profitable.

The premise is you can actually sell the water, and Yilu Mineral Water sells at a very low price. Its source is mainly from urban tap water which goes through a series of strict processing technologies, such as reverse osmosis.

It removes all other substances from the water, including mineral elements, thus obtaining clear and transparent purified water.

Don’t look down on this kind of water; most water is like this.

Water, well, is not such a high-tech thing. In fact, it’s safe to say there’s no technology involved.

The key to selling well is marketing; you must stand out from a host of old brands and be the choice of customers—that is indeed the hardest part.

Yilu simply gained a small market share by offering low prices.

Just when he thought that this would be his life, an opportunity fell from the sky.

The Snacks Dash event, with an added Tengying Group-sponsored Manufacturers Alliance Conference, wasn’t this an opportunity?

Over the years, Tengying Group has been doing whatever catches fire in traditional fields, like selling milk tea and going public in less than a year.

Even coffee could be sold to Nasdaq.

Now, they’re opening specialty snack stores, aiming to launch ten thousand branches in less than a year.

If others claim this, they would likely be met with sneers.

Tengying Group can definitely achieve this. Speaking of the most successful ecological alliance in recent years, Xiaomi is undoubtedly the one.

Who doesn’t know Lei Jun’s big name?

Now, Tengying Group is clearly trying to rely on Snacks Dash’s offline channel to build an ecological alliance for traditional retail industry.

They indeed have the capability for this endeavor. Once they acquire Tengying’s channel and traffic boost,

his Yilu Mineral Water might stand a chance to compete with somewhat sweet companies and traditional major water manufacturers like C’estbon.

However, the hottest product this year is still Hengda Water, which became popular nationwide rapidly through football.

And with aggressive pricing, it disappeared from the market just as quickly.

Who would buy a bottle priced at five Yuan from a company known for selling real estate?

Over the years, Hengda dabbled in selling water and grains and oils, and tried many traditional things, but never really excelled in any of them.

Perhaps they just make too much profit from real estate to care about these insignificant ventures.

In just a few days, more than thirty retail production enterprises applied for Tengying’s investment.

And more manufacturers will submit their shareholding cooperation letters subsequently.

The first thing that Chen Pingsheng needed to consider was selecting high-quality manufacturers from amongst them.

Luckily, he already had his own investment team and market research department.

They could perform research based on various aspects, including founder background, factory operation, and food safety.

Ultimately, they would then decide whether to cooperate or not.

Actually, developing one’s own industrial ecological chain is only matter of time, considering how traditional industries have evolved to this stage.

The most important aspect to ponder is still one question.

Having taken others’ shares, what development can he bring to them?

That is, the benefits.

After much deliberation, Chen Pingsheng first confirmed the benefit of tens of thousands of offline channels.

This is the most direct advantage.

And it’s the primary factor attracting manufacturers to cooperate.

Secondarily, there’s empowerment. After investing, Tengying Investment will not participate in the manufacturers’ production management, but it can actively provide traffic support.

That includes celebrity endorsements, online live streaming, and so forth.

These are also the clear-cut advantages set out on the table.

Under his command are not only celebrity artists but also numerous top live streamers. With just one word from Tengying,

countless people would clamor to speak on your behalf. This is exactly the kind of traffic resource that manufacturers desperately need.

Times have changed, and those who can master traffic can control business.

That is a viewpoint Chen Pingsheng has repeatedly advocated.

Facts have proved this to be an absolutely correct business philosophy.

The flow of traffic that traditional manufacturers desperately need is not an issue at all from his perspective.

After direct scrutiny by the market research team, the first brands confirmed for cooperation include Yilu Mineral Water and a brand specializing in producing spicy strips and ice cream.

Of the three investments, Yilu Mineral Water has the highest valuation.

At a two hundred million valuation, Snacks Dash invested sixty million and acquired a 30% stake.

The spicy strips were valued at one hundred million, and with a thirty million investment, they acquired a 30% stake.

The ice cream brand was valued at eighty million, and with a twenty-four million investment, they also landed a 30% stake.

The cooperation with each enterprise involved obtaining a 30% stake.

If all 1.5 billion were spent, Snacks Dash could own shares in forty to fifty retail enterprises.

In the future, a series of maneuvers would be employed to take these brands public.

Chen Pingsheng was merely the developer of this business model, not the executor.

After all, to him, a 1.5 billion investment is just a minor capital infusion. Discover exclusive content at empire

The main function is to assist Snacks Dash in achieving a full industry layout, as well as to construct an impregnable moat for its future development.

All these developments aim to prepare for the ultimate cash-out of shares.

As for how many of these manufacturers could eventually grow into publicly listed companies,

he didn’t know.

The specifics would depend on the subsequent operations of Snacks Dash.

It must be said that, in the short term, the Snacks Dash brand has indeed caused a whirlwind in the retail world.

Capital that had been rejected by him, seeing their investments thwarted, had no choice but to take their money elsewhere.

Chen Pingsheng didn’t concern himself with these matters.

In July, aside from being busy with Snacks Dash, the most important thing was the mid-year Cruise Night of Water Cloud Space in Magic City.

That is, the big sales event.

Water Cloud Space chose to hold this grand ceremony on a super cruise ship. Naturally, countless stars would be attending.

The top-level clients invited so far have already surpassed a thousand.

The Water Cloud Space Nights in Capital City have always been very successful.

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This is the first time in Magic City.

His wife, to ensure the success of this grand event, decisively left their children at home.

She’s devoted all her attention to it.

Of course, Chen Pingsheng also hoped she would succeed, after all, he was out of money now.

He needed this event to bring in billions to refill his pockets.

...

Chen Pingsheng returned home.

Chang Fu had also come over with his wife and kids; next month, Antler Coffee was set to officially go public on Nasdaq.

Based on the past few months’ growth, reaching a market value of over twenty billion was definitely no sweat.

Now one was the famous Master Fu from Xin Teng Live Streaming, and the other the president of Antler Coffee, their love was truly a match of equals.

"Old Chen, you definitely can’t guess who I ran into in Magic City," Chang Fu said.

"Who could you have possibly run into?" Chen Pingsheng asked.

"Yang Kang, our junior high classmate, the one who always tagged along, remember?"

"I remember, haven’t heard from that guy in many years, right?"

Many friends grew up together, then mysteriously drifted apart.

Over the decades of life, most friendships are only for a phase.

Chen Pingsheng had quite an impression of Yang Kang; since junior high, he’d always followed them around, doing whatever he was told.

And his family was among the wealthiest.

"Indeed, it’s been many years since I last saw him."

"You didn’t bring your kids over just to talk about him, did you?"

"Of course not, mainly it’s because Yang Qian’s best friend is also our classmate, and she’s coming to Magic City for a class reunion," Chang Fu said.

"A class reunion in Magic City?" Chen Pingsheng asked, puzzled. "Why?"

"Because, you’ve become too famous now," Chang Fu replied.

Handing his child over to his wife, he said, "Your Snacks Dash is on fire online, you’re probably going public next year, right?"

"Next year shouldn’t be a problem," said Chen Pingsheng. "This business has no barriers to entry, and I’m just a little ahead for now. The competition is bound to be fierce in the future. Meanwhile, I’ve heard from Hangzhou that big internet companies are collectively moving into the fresh produce market." n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Selling vegetables?" Chang Fu asked, puzzled. "Why would those companies you call ’big internet companies’ get into selling vegetables? Is that necessary?"

"You’re seriously underestimating vegetable selling!" Chen Pingsheng shook his head. "Do you think internet giants enter the vegetable market just for the pennies of profit?

"If you look at it from a retail perspective, is there any category more essential than selling vegetables? Do you know why Tenghui Department Store has such high foot traffic? It’s core strength is their excellent fresh produce area."

"Vegetable selling has always been overlooked by the capital market, mainly because it’s very difficult to unify. But if we put aside that challenge, vegetable selling is a trillion-dollar market, and the most frequently consumed essential market nationwide. If someone could unify it, a new hundred-billion-dollar internet company would certainly emerge without a doubt."

"And the key point is, who are selling the vegetables? Mostly small vendors and hawkers. Do you think these people can compete against big internet companies?" Chen Pingsheng said.

"Old Chen, you’re the most qualified to handle this, right?" Chang Fu suggested, feeling that among billionaires with an understanding of the fresh produce industry, no one was clearer about the market than Chen Pingsheng.

If it was a trillion-dollar market, why shouldn’t he go for it?

"Being qualified is one thing, whether I want to do it is another," Chen Pingsheng said. "Go to the vegetable market and see who’s selling every day. These people get up before dawn, starting the supply and clearance at one or two in the morning, or they’re elderly folks selling crops they grew themselves."

"If you pitch these people against big internet firms, and if the firms were allowed to enter the vegetable selling market without restraint, they would just repeat the old tricks."

"Spend money, spend more money, keep spending to acquire customers, then cut out all middlemen to drive those vendors out of business."

"Once such a vegetable selling internet app takes off, do you know how many people who earn their livelihood by getting up early and going to bed late will be brought down?"

"Old Chen, that shouldn’t be your concern, right?" Chang Fu felt that ever since Chen Pingsheng became wealthy, he seemed like a different person, considering problems on a totally different level.

"Indeed, I shouldn’t be worried about it," Chen Pingsheng admitted. "But the thought of eliminating small vendors who rely on selling vegetables for a living just because a few people want to make money at any cost is something I simply can’t bring myself to do."

"However, this does provide me with some benefits. As of yesterday, three big internet companies have approached me, expressing interest in acquiring my Tengsheng Fresh Produce."

"Which three?"

"Who else? Food Delivery Group, Alibaba, and Qiangdong, all wanting to buy Tengsheng Fresh Produce, the top nationwide fresh produce retail brand that’s already been well established."

"What’s your asking price?"

"I quoted 1.2 billion US dollars."

"1.2 billion US dollars??" Chang Fu was staggered, unsure how Chen Pingsheng came up with that figure.

Even if Tengsheng Fresh Produce went public, its market value wouldn’t be that high.

It was just something outrageously beyond his comprehension.

Internet giants going crazy, spending 1.2 billion US dollars to buy his fresh produce business.

Chen Pingsheng lounged on a rocking chair, quite indifferent.

He wouldn’t sell for less than 1.2 billion US dollars. Besides, he’d spent a total of 1.8 billion on Tengsheng Fresh Produce over the years.

Selling for 1.2 billion US dollars was perfectly normal.

To those internet giants, as long as they set their sights on something, money was never a problem.

After all, it wasn’t theirs to begin with. The key was that the traffic for selling vegetables was immense.

Nothing could surpass the selling frequency of vegetables.

Whoever controlled the vegetable selling gateway controlled access to the core consumer channels.

In this sense, his asking price of 1.2 billion US dollars was not exaggerated at all.

It was even rather low.

If it weren’t for his plans to kickstart Golden Finger with the money, he wouldn’t even consider 1.2 billion US dollars.

It was up to those internet giants whether they were willing to pay.

If he got the money, the investment he needed for supporting new energy vehicles for the next few years would all be in place.

The thing about internet giants was, they really didn’t hesitate to throw money around.

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