Tan Zongming thought for a moment and asked, "What about battery swapping? Someone is spending a fortune laying out battery swapping networks right now."

Chen Cheng shook his head. "For a vehicle manufacturer, the investment is too high."

"Battery swapping only makes sense if it's done like a gas station, where it can serve all vehicles."

After saying this, he thought for a moment and added, "Big Brother, battery swapping might become a trend, but it shouldn't be the main direction for a vehicle manufacturer."

"We just need to wait and see if there will be a unified interface in the future."

"If needed, we can just change the interface."

Chen Cheng gave Tan Zongming a cryptic look. "Big Brother, do you understand what I mean?"

Tan Zongming was instantly enlightened, and the way he looked at Chen Cheng changed.

This kid really is as wise as a demon.

Some cakes are not meant to be touched.

Chen Cheng smiled and continued, "Big Brother, have you ever thought about how technology is developing?"

"If the energy replenishment speed develops to within ten or fifteen minutes, it could satisfy most travel needs, and even allow for driving until the driver is fatigued on a single charge."

"Then battery swapping..."

Tan Zongming's eyes lit up; the path forward for Company name's vehicle manufacturing suddenly became clear.

After thinking for a moment, he said to Chen Cheng, "Why don't you take a position as Vice President at the joint venture company?"

Chen Cheng raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll be wanting equity incentives."

If you put up money, you get financial shares; if you put up talent, you naturally get sweat equity.

When the equity incentive plan starts in the future, if Tan Zongming does well, he might be able to get more.

But in Chen Cheng's estimation, Andy would be the one to ascend to the CEO position.

Tan Zongming's mouth twitched; this kid really is like a Mythical creature known for attracting wealth.

He thought for a moment. "Three percent, that's the maximum."

"The board of directors won't agree to making wedding dresses for others."

Tan Zongming was already clear in his heart that what was in Chen Cheng's mind could completely support spinning off a new company with a valuation equal to the joint venture.

This value cannot be measured by 3% equity.

Chen Cheng waved his hand. "I never thought about becoming a major shareholder; for future investments, Company Name will only seek to maintain its shareholding."

"After going public, we will retain a seat on the board of directors."

Tan Zongming's lips curled upward. This was for the best; he also didn't want to fall into a battle for control with Chen Cheng in the future.

Tan Zongming took a puff, re-baited his line, cast it back into the water, took a sip of iced juice, and asked casually:

"Do you still want that house across the street? I heard you've been buying quite a few recently."

Chen Cheng smirked. "Big Brother, your sources are quite well-informed."

Tan Zongming didn't mean to hide anything and answered openly. "The circle in Shanghai is neither big nor small."

"There are only so many large old houses in the city center. Once there's news of a transaction, it naturally spreads very quickly."

"However, most people don't know who the buyer is. When you casually bought one in the western suburbs and rented it to Andy, I had my suspicions."

Chen Cheng cursed silently, old fox.

He smiled. "I don't want it. The one opposite you is just too high-profile. I'm still young and haven't established myself yet, so I won't be that bird that sticks its head out."

Just kidding, the one opposite Tan Zongming's villa could be called the number one luxury mansion in Shanghai without any exaggeration.

It covers forty acres, with a main and auxiliary building structure.

The renovation of such a house could cost the market value of a listed company.

In this country, that's just too damn high-profile.

It's no wonder this house has been empty for so long. It's not that no one can afford it, but those who can afford it wouldn't be so high-profile.

Having figured this out, Chen Cheng wouldn't be stupid enough to be that bird that sticks its head out.

The Old Western-style house on Huaihai Road, Chen Cheng thinks it's pretty good right now.

The area is big enough, the garden is big enough, and it will be able to accommodate more people in the future.

It also allows one to live in seclusion within the city, so naturally, there's no need to run over and be neighbors with Old Tan.

Tan Zongming smiled and nodded in appreciation.

He appreciated Chen Cheng's decision today, as for why he didn't say anything before.

Between adults, the last thing you want is preaching.

If he can understand, he doesn't need your preaching; if he doesn't understand, preaching will only consume the relationship between you and consume your own aura.

...

After talking with Chen Cheng, Tan Zongming moved quickly. The next day, he started digging for experts in personal IP marketing and planning in the market.

A week later, Tan Zongming's personal account went live on all major social platforms.

That night, Company name held a press conference and high-profilely announced that they would invest 100 billion in cross-industry vehicle manufacturing over the next five years.

A startup venture that gambled with all his reputation began with a bang.

Well, whether it was the 100 billion or gambling with all his reputation, it was all taught by Chen Cheng.

Money, whether it can be taken out or not is not important, just brag about it first.

likely a reference to Lei Jun, who was invited to attend, sat in the audience and always felt something was not quite right.

After the press conference, Tan Zongming took his executives and began to inspect various places across the country.

Regarding Tan Zongming's directional adjustment, Andy was caught off guard.

In fact, Tan Zongming's inspection was just a bargaining chip that Chen Cheng and Tan Zongming had agreed upon to put pressure on Red Star.

Chen Cheng and Tan Zongming had long ago reached a conclusion about where to put the R&D and production base.

Shanghai is too expensive, and Tongnan, this backyard of Shanghai, which also has Red Star as a planned acquisition target, naturally became a better choice.

But whether to acquire or not still depends on the final total cost.

If that doesn't work, Tan Zongming and Chen Cheng also discussed a second option.

It's just that to prevent Andy, the actual contact person with Red Star, from giving the game away, they didn't tell her.

Tan Zongming quickly saw the effect of IP marketing.

In a few days, Tan Zongming accumulated a large number of fans by virtue of his good looks and his status as the CEO of Company name.

There are many female fans, ranging from 18 to 58 years old, covering a very wide range.

Male fans are concentrated in the youth group in their twenties.

This is exactly the effect Chen Cheng wanted when he instigated Tan Zongming to do IP.

First grab the female users, get the basic base, and then use female users to feed back.

As everyone knows, in terms of false consumption power, young girls > children > young married women > the elderly > dogs > men.

But in fact, the consumption power ranking is: men > everything.

Because men's consumption ranking is: young girls > children > young married women > the elderly > dogs, corresponding to lovers, children, wives, parents, and pets respectively.

But when doing business, looking at the false ones is enough, because that is the real consumption terminal; men are mostly responsible for paying the bill.

"Chen Cheng, are you coming back tonight? I want to go over the Red Star acquisition case with you."

That day, Andy called Chen Cheng, her tone a bit anxious.

Chen Cheng agreed readily. "Okay, let's align our granularity tonight."

On the other end of the phone, Andy blushed instantly. This internet jargon, coming from Chen Cheng's mouth, just doesn't sound proper, okay.

She responded in a voice as soft as a mosquito's, "Okay," and hung up the phone.

Chen Cheng hung up the phone and looked at the news that Xie Zhiyuan had been taken away for investigation, his lips curling slightly.

Xie Zhiyuan still underestimated Zhou Lin, thinking that if he didn't say anything on his side, Zhou Lin wouldn't be able to access core secrets.

Unfortunately, he underestimated Zhou Lin's skills in bed.

Xie Zhiyuan is suspected of money laundering, securities fraud, insider trading, and other charges.

Shen Jing is now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan; the two of them are grasshoppers on the same rope.

Xie Zhiyuan fell, and her assets also shrank severely.

She was even more worried about whether Xie Zhiyuan would implicate her, and called several times to ask for Chen Cheng's opinion.

Chen Cheng only told her, "Wait and see, do not try to go abroad under any circumstances."

Shen Jing is a top-tier smart woman and quickly calmed down.

She went to the detention center to see Xie Zhiyuan openly and generously, chatted with Xie Zhiyuan about their son's situation, and said that their son missed his dad.

Sure enough, when undergoing review, Xie Zhiyuan cleared Shen Jing completely, as if Shen Jing was just an ordinary housewife who knew nothing about his affairs.

In the end, Xie Zhiyuan was sentenced to five years, but that's a story for another time.

Zhou Lin moved out of Ode to Joy very obediently.

But there was a problem with Zhao Hui.

After leaving Shenmao Bank, Zhao Hui was completely free from shackles.

With no more conflicts of interest with Zhou Lin, he launched a fierce pursuit of Zhou Lin.

Zhou Lin reported this to Chen Cheng, and Chen Cheng also had a headache.

In the end, Chen Cheng had to clearly tell Zhou Lin that it was impossible with him.

He told Zhou Lin to think clearly; if she wants to be with Zhao Hui, then she must keep the matter of extracting essence with her tongue buried in her stomach.

As for what she eventually chooses, let it be.