187 She Said She Was Very Busy
Han Yixuan had already discovered that as long as she put on a friendly face from the beginning, getting along with Pei Ningle didn’t seem to be that difficult.
While the two girls went to the music store together, Wang Heng also arrived at the Penguin building and walked into one of the private offices.
It wasn’t Lu Qi’s, but Tan Meng’s office.
Wang Heng walked in, and Tan Meng greeted him with a smile. The investment director not only cheerfully closed the door and pulled him to sit on a chair, but also poured him a cup of tea.
Then, Tan Meng sat back in his office chair and laughed. “Student Wang’s insider information is really amazing! So many consecutive days of limit-up, others can’t buy even if they want to. Thanks to you…”
Wang Heng waved his hand calmly. “Just good luck, good luck.”
Tan Meng: “Then when will we leave the market?”
Wang Heng: “Wait until it has risen enough.”
This answer was as good as not saying anything.
But Tan Meng naturally wouldn’t complain, and continued to smile. “Actually, I asked Student Wang to come over today not for that stock, but mainly for another matter. Do you remember the list you gave me?”
Wang Heng recalled for a moment and quickly remembered.
That time, while confirming his employment in Tan Meng’s department, he also ticked a few names from the list of investment targets being investigated by the department. In his memory, it seemed to be Bilibili, Zhihu, Didi Dache, Dianping, and Jindong.
Wang Heng: “Is there a problem?”
Tan Meng’s smile became more and more kind. “We had an internal meeting and discussed a list with more than a dozen companies. Yesterday, the opinion from above came down, and three were approved: Bilibili, Zhihu, and Didi Dache. Almost exactly the same as the ones Student Wang ticked at the time.”
Wang Heng couldn’t help but ask, “What about Dianping and Jindong?”
Tan Meng: “Ten days ago, our Penguin’s Win-Win Fund already invested in Dianping. Jindong is also confirmed to be invested in, and the announcement will be made next month. And not just investment, I heard that an e-commerce strategic cooperation agreement will be established, specifically to counter that…”
No need to explain, Wang Heng certainly knew which one Penguin and Jindong were cooperating to counter.
“Even without the list I mentioned, you would still invest in these companies, right?”
Before Wang Heng finished speaking, he saw Tan Meng shake his head vigorously.
“No, no, no, it’s not like that. Of course, Dianping and Jindong go without saying, it was decided long ago to invest in them, but the other three are different. For example, Bilibili and Zhihu, we had huge disagreements because these two simply don’t have a clear and feasible profit model, and there is a high probability that they will become loss-making ventures just for fame. But considering their ability to attract attention, they are actually very valuable. Thanks to your report, it helped me explain this value clearly to them.”
“What about Didi Dache?”
Tan Meng thought for a moment and replied, “We started investing in this company last year, but not only can they not achieve profitability, they also face very fierce competition. Whether to continue or not, there was actually a lot of controversy internally. The arguments in your report were very good, and of course I performed well too, so now we have decided not only to continue but also to add more investment, from 100 million US dollars to 500 million or even 1 billion!”
Wang Heng was stunned. “1 billion? US dollars?”
Tan Meng: “Yes, billions of RMB. Clothing, food, housing, and transportation are everyone’s basic needs. Didi Dache has a huge imagination space and huge competition, so it definitely needs to burn more money.”
Hearing him say this, Wang Heng couldn’t help but feel an itch in his heart. Think about it, the report he submitted influenced financing worth billions. This feeling… unfortunately, he couldn’t get a dime.
At this time, Tan Meng said again, “Of course, I didn’t steal your credit. The signature on that report is yours. So the leaders above seem to be a little interested in you and want to talk to you.”
Penguin’s senior management?
Wang Heng couldn’t help but be curious. “Which leader? Not Pony Ma, right?”
Tan Meng laughed. “Of course that’s impossible. It’s Lu Zhiguo, President Lu. He is mainly in charge of Penguin’s external investment and some external coordination work. Let me tell you, this President Lu is a big shot who can truly influence the decisions of the Penguin Group, and can speak directly with Pony Ma.”
Wang Heng: “This big shot wants to see me?”
Tan Meng: “No need to meet in person. President Lu means to have a video chat with you. Of course not today, in a few days, when he is free.”
Wang Heng: “Understood. Big shots at this level are all super busy people. It’s normal to wait a few days for a video chat.”
“Exactly. To be able to talk to President Lu is an opportunity that many people in our department are looking forward to. Congratulations, Student Wang!” Tan Meng looked at him with undisguised envy.
However, Wang Heng didn’t get carried away and asked again, “What does he plan to talk to me about? Do I need to prepare some materials in advance?”
Tan Meng thought for a moment and said carefully, “We don’t know very well either. After all, what President Lu has been busy with recently is not something ordinary middle-level managers like us can find out. But I think, besides investment, what he has to worry about is competitors.”
“Competitors…” Wang Heng lowered his head and pondered.
He knew his own weight very well. When it came to details of execution strategy, he didn’t know much more than others. But when it came to macro strategy, he could give a good pointer or two. After all, he certainly remembered the development trends of Penguin and other competitors in the next few years.
At this moment, Tan Meng picked up his phone and glanced at it, looking a little surprised.
Wang Heng noticed the change in the other party’s expression but didn’t ask, just waited quietly.
The next moment, Tan Meng asked, “Have you had a falling out with Director Lu recently?”
Wang Heng was a little confused. “No, why do you ask this?”
Tan Meng shook his phone. “I just told Director Lu that you were here with me and asked if she wanted to have dinner together later. She said she was very busy and didn’t have time.”
Suddenly, Wang Heng was also a little confused. Given Lu Qi’s attitude towards him a few days ago, it didn’t look like she had given up at all. So why refuse this time? The legendary playing hard to get?
Tan Meng put down his phone and asked, “Then do you want to have dinner with me later? You’re not going to say you’re very busy too, are you?”
Facing a dinner invitation from the same sex, Wang Heng really wanted to say ‘very busy’, but unfortunately, Lu Qi had already used this excuse, and Tan Meng had specifically mentioned it. It would be a bit too much for him to say it again.
So Wang Heng replied, “Alright…”
