How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 454

The Arrival of CEO Ren, CEO Wang, and Pony Ma

“Proof?”

“Why should I prove anything to a swindler?”

“We’ll just let the police handle it.”

Seeing that Yang Chen didn’t speak, the fake Yang Chen quickly asked again, “Why aren’t you saying anything? You dare to impersonate me in front of my face?”

At that moment, Wang Zhongfu called Yang Chen.

Yang Chen: “Hello, CEO Wang.”

Wang Zhongfu: “CEO Yang, where are you? Do you need me to drive over and pick you up?”

Yang Chen: “I’m at Fortune Plaza. No need to pick me up. I’ll head over with Pony Ma later.”

Wang Zhongfu: “No, no, no, I’m hosting, so I should definitely pick you up. I see that it’s almost time. I’ll come over now. How much longer will you be?”

Yang Chen: “It should be quick. Then I’ll trouble CEO Wang.”

Wang Zhongfu: “CEO Yang, why are you saying such polite things to me? We’re like family. I’m on my way now. See you soon.”

Yang Chen thanked him politely and then hung up the phone.

At this point, the fake Yang Chen’s heart was racing with fear. He had heard Wang Zhongfu’s voice and could basically confirm that the person in front of him was the real Yang Chen.

A fake meets the real deal, and his true colors are revealed.

Just then, Qiu Yuhong sent Yang Chen the fake Yang Chen’s brief information.

After reading it, Yang Chen felt a wave of annoyance.

This guy’s original name was Yang Chen, but he changed it at the beginning of the year. He owns a Starlight Investment Management Co., Ltd., which is only a few words different from Yang Chen’s Starlight Investment Group.

He graduated with a master’s degree in finance from Dragon Country University of Finance and Economics [a fictional university] and worked as a trader at Ze Xi Investment in his early years.

Later, when Ze Xi’s boss had an accident, he resigned and started his own business.

However, after more than five years, not only did he not make any money, but he also lost most of his previously accumulated wealth.

In recent years, short videos have become popular, and a profession has also become popular: teaching others how to make money.

For example, Da Lan and Dou Dou Tang, who are very popular on Douyin [a popular Chinese video platform, similar to TikTok], may or may not have made money offline, but they have made a lot of money by harvesting leeks [a Chinese slang term for exploiting inexperienced investors].

This guy saw this business opportunity and started teaching people how to make money.

Starting last year, Starlight Investment made a splash in the A-share market [the stock market for companies listed in mainland China], and all the stocks it traded were profitable. This guy set his sights on it.

After a careful investigation, he found that the boss of Starlight Investment was named Yang Chen. This guy came up with a plan to change his name to Yang Chen and register Starlight Investment Management Company.

From then on, he began to lecture everywhere in the name of Yang Chen, the behind-the-scenes boss of Starlight Investment.

But at first, he would deliberately avoid saying that he was the boss of Starlight Investment in everyone’s mind, playing on the edge to harvest some leeks.

Once a person experiences the pleasure of making quick money, he becomes more and more daring.

Starlight Investment’s harvesting of the global oil industry and the U.S. banking industry, and even pulling Buffett from his pedestal, shocked the world with successive feats.

Later, when this guy lectured again, the students would inevitably ask about these feats, and he could only acquiesce.

Strictly speaking, before this, he was just playing on the edge. It was definitely illegal, but not that serious.

But when he acquiesced that he was the Yang Chen who harvested the global oil industry and the U.S. banking industry, he was no longer playing on the edge, but confirming the crime of fraud.

Later, earning training fees from lectures could no longer satisfy him.

Under the repeated requests of the students, he began to extend his claws to the students’ bank deposits.

After the students who took the initiative to buy courses were harvested, he began to ask his employees to go to the streets to pull people over for free lectures, and step by step, according to the previous routine, he tempted the students to hand over their money to him.

This guy had already thought about his retreat. More than half of the billions he had defrauded had been transferred abroad through investment, buying houses, and other means. His wife and children had also immigrated to the United States.

When it was almost time to pay dividends to the students at the end of the year, he would just run away.

Perhaps it was God’s will that Yang Chen came to clean him up today.

At this time, the police arrived.

After understanding the situation, the police began to investigate the fake Yang Chen’s ID and other information.

After checking, the police officer said, “That’s right, his name is indeed Yang Chen, and he is the legal representative and sole shareholder of Starlight Investment Management Company. I’ve always wanted to know what kind of person could be so powerful, and today I finally met the real person. That’s right, it’s about what I imagined.”

Yang Chen was dumbfounded. *Comrade, why don’t you think about the good things?*

*He’s already bald and ugly. Who is he trying to disgust?*

The guy immediately said triumphantly, “How could I be fake? Police officer, he’s making a false alarm. You should arrest him quickly.”

The police officer said, “Young man, this kind of behavior is not allowed. You are wasting police resources, do you understand?”

Yang Chen: “His name is Yang Chen, and he also has a company called Starlight Investment Management Company. If he uses his real identity to give lectures, there is absolutely no problem. But he impersonated the Yang Chen and Starlight Investment Group who shorted global oil and the U.S. banking industry, so he is a fraud.”

“Ah? He’s not *that* Yang Chen?” the police officer asked in shock, and then quickly turned to ask the scammer, “You’re not *that* Yang Chen?”

The scammer was panicking. He just wanted to get away with it and run away to a foreign country immediately.

If he was exposed now, he wouldn’t even have a chance to run away.

Therefore, he must continue to deceive. As long as he is not taken away by the police, he will have the opportunity to quickly run away to enjoy life with his wife and children abroad. Several hundred million will be enough to ensure that their generations live without worry.

The scammer quickly assured, “Of course I am the Yang Chen who harvested the global oil industry and the U.S. banking industry. Police officer, he is just making trouble. Please take him away quickly.”

The police officer: “We can retrieve the real information of that Yang Chen from our superiors. Don’t think you can just deceive us.”

The scammer panicked even more, using an awkward smile to hide the panic in his heart.

“Haha… You can retrieve the information at will. Real gold is not afraid of fire,” the scammer said hypocritically.

The police officer nodded and said, “Okay, then we will go back and apply to our superiors to collect Yang Chen’s information later.”

The scammer now wants to buy time for himself to escape. It will take some time for the police officer to go back and apply for the information, which is enough for him to escape quickly.

At this time, Pony Ma called Yang Chen.

Pony Ma had finished the meeting and was ready to go to the banquet. He wanted to take Yang Chen with him.

Yang Chen replied, “I’m at Fortune Plaza, not far from Penguin Building. CEO Wang said he would come to pick me up, so you don’t have to come, just go there directly.”

Pony Ma: “How can that work? You’re close to me. How can I go there myself? I’ll be right over.”

Yang Chen: “It’s okay if you come over. You can help. I’m on the 18th floor, come over.”

Pony Ma: “Okay, I’ll be right over.”

Hanging up the phone, Yang Chen smiled and said to the police officer, “Penguin’s CEO Ma is coming, let him talk to you.”

The scammer panicked and said, “You… stop pretending! Police officer, arrest him quickly. I have to go to the next venue to give lectures to the students, so I have to leave now. I’ll leave my assistant to handle this matter and definitely assist you in investigating him carefully.”

After speaking, the scammer wanted to leave.

Yang Chen grabbed his arm and said with a smile, “Are you afraid of seeing CEO Ma?”

The scammer: “Hehe… That’s a joke. Why would I be afraid of him? I’m in a hurry to go to another place to train the academy, understand?”

Yang Chen: “You can’t leave today. I must reveal the truth. Whatever happens in the future has nothing to do with me and Starlight Investment Group.”

At this time, Wang Zhongfu arrived.

Wang Zhongfu said with a smile at the door, “Yo, so many people. CEO Yang, how much longer will you be? I’ll wait outside.”

*Wow, it’s really the boss of Biwa Di [likely referring to BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer].* The students at the scene were so excited.

A group of people rushed forward to greet Wang Zhongfu and ask for a group photo.

Yang Chen smiled and said to the scammer, “CEO Wang is calling you, why don’t you answer?”

The scammer was sweating anxiously, knowing that he was going to fall today.

At this time, Pony Ma also arrived.

Pony Ma: “Yo, CEO Wang, you arrived first.”

Wang Zhongfu stepped forward to shake hands with Pony Ma and say hello.

“Hello, CEO Ma, I’ll just pick up CEO Yang, why did you come too?”

Pony Ma: “Haha… I’m so close, I just brought CEO Yang over on the way. There’s no need for CEO Wang to run so far.”

Wang Zhongfu: “Haha… I’m hosting, so I definitely have to come over. On the way here, CEO Ren called me and asked me when I would be there. I told him I was going to Fortune Plaza to pick up CEO Yang, and he said he was passing by here and would come to meet CEO Yang later.”

Pony Ma: “Really? CEO Ren is coming too.”

Wang Zhongfu: “Look, speak of the devil.”

At this time, CEO Ren walked over with a smile.

Pony Ma and Wang Zhongfu quickly stepped forward to greet him.

The three bigwigs from different industries gathered together, which was a groundbreaking first.

The students were all crazy, scrambling to come forward for a group photo.

“Wow, CEO Yang is so amazing, three bigwigs came to pick him up.”

“This proves that what CEO Yang said just now is true, and it also proves that he is CEO Yang of Starlight Investment.”

“Worthy of being a capable person who can harvest the global oil industry and the U.S. banking industry, three bigwigs are vying to meet him.”

…

The scammer in the conference room was completely panicked. He felt a little blurry in front of him, and then suddenly fainted.

The police officer next to him quickly hugged him and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you need an ambulance?”

After a few seconds, the scammer gradually regained consciousness.

But he didn’t dare to open his eyes to respond. He couldn’t be taken to the police station now, otherwise he would never get out again.

Now that he was sent to the hospital, he still had a chance to escape.

Seeing that the police officer did not respond, he felt that his problem must be very serious.

Therefore, the police officer quickly called an ambulance.

“No need to call an ambulance, he’s pretending,” Yang Chen stopped him, and then he squatted down and said, “Brother, I know a little bit of medicine, and I can see if you’re okay. It’s useless to pretend to be unconscious at this time, so get up and face it bravely. Your wife and children are in Luo Shanji [likely a play on Los Angeles], USA, and you have already transferred most of the money you defrauded. You want to pretend to be unconscious and be sent to the hospital, and then take advantage of the chaos in the hospital to escape to the United States to reunite with your wife and children. Right?”

The scammer’s body couldn’t stop trembling, and the police officer immediately believed Yang Chen’s words. This guy was pretending to be unconscious.

The police officer immediately invited CEO Ren, CEO Wang, and Pony Ma over and asked, “Do you three bosses know this person?”

The three bosses shook their heads, all saying they didn’t know him.

The police officer: “But he is Yang Chen of Starlight Investment. He said that you three have given him money to invest in financial management. You don’t know him?”

CEO Ren: “Hehe… I don’t know him, and I didn’t give him money to invest in financial management. The Yang Chen of Starlight Investment that I know is this one.”

Wang Zhongfu: “Yes, I don’t know him either, and I haven’t given him any money. This is the Yang Chen of Starlight Investment that I know.”

Pony Ma: “He’s a scammer, right? I’m meeting him for the first time, how could I give him money for financial management? CEO Yang, what’s going on?”

Yang Chen briefly told everyone about the process and the information about the scammer that Starlight Defense Intelligence Department had found.

CEO Ren: “He actually used us as an excuse to deceive people? He’s really bold! Police officer, you must seriously deal with these people!”

Wang Zhongfu: “I’m sitting at home, and the pot comes from the sky [an idiom meaning to be wrongly accused]. I don’t know how many people he has deceived in our name. It’s really a sin!”

Pony Ma: “This kind of person must be dealt with seriously, and none of them can be let go. The money he defrauded must be recovered, otherwise I don’t know how many families will be broken because of it.”

Several bigwigs have spoken, and the police officer quickly assured, “Don’t worry, bosses, we will thoroughly investigate and ensure that these people are brought to justice and clear the names of the bosses.”

The students next to him were shocked, and many were so angry that they were furious.

“What… what’s going on? You are the boss of Starlight Investment, Yang Chen? He’s a scammer?”

“According to CEO Yang, he deliberately changed his name from Yang Chen to Yang Chen, registered a Starlight Investment Management Company to rip off Starlight Investment Group, and then used the name “Yang Chen” and Starlight Investment to deceive people.”

“This person is too bad. I trusted him so much just now. Damn it, I’ll let you deceive people, I’ll kill you!”

…

Several hot-tempered students went up and kicked the scammer lying on the floor pretending to be unconscious a few times, because they kicked so hard that the scammer couldn’t help but scream.

The police officer quickly stopped the angry students, warning them not to hit people and to stand back.

Those staff members and shills saw that the situation was not good and quickly wanted to run away.

But Yang Chen’s bodyguards blocked the door, and no one could leave.

The police officer immediately shouted, “No one is allowed to leave, everyone must cooperate with our investigation. Those who are determined to be innocent will be fine, and those who are determined to be guilty will be dealt with according to law!”

The scammer Yang Chen couldn’t pretend anymore, quickly covered his stomach and stood up, crying and begging Yang Chen, “CEO Yang, it’s my fault, I was greedy and had bad intentions, I deserve to die. I apologize to you, can you not sue me?”

This matter should be handed over to the police for handling according to law, and Yang Chen does not need to participate.

Yang Chen: “I believe the police comrades will handle it according to law. Police comrades, what do you say?”

The police officer: “That’s for sure. CEO Yang, don’t worry, we will definitely handle it according to law and will not bring any negative impact to you and Starlight Investment Group.”

Yang Chen: “Okay! You guys are busy, I’m going to have dinner with the three bosses.”

The police officer nodded hurriedly and said, “Okay! You bosses go ahead, we’ll take care of this.”

The students who had blamed Yang Chen for stopping them from being deceived quickly surrounded him.

“CEO Yang, I’m sorry just now, I misunderstood your good intentions. Don’t be offended, I didn’t know he was a scammer.”

“I also said bad things just now, and I hope CEO Yang will forgive me. Thank you CEO Yang for insisting on exposing the scammer’s true face, otherwise I would have given him all my wealth.”

“CEO Yang, are you doing any private equity funds? I really want to make some money with you.”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

“Me too…”

…

Yang Chen: “Everyone should pay more attention to the A-share market and follow our company’s operations. As long as you step on the rhythm correctly, you can still make money. Starlight Investment Group did accept some funds at the beginning, but now we have sufficient funds and no longer accept anyone’s funds. Even if CEO Ren, CEO Wang, and CEO Ma really want to give me funds to do it, I will refuse. So, thank you for your trust in Starlight Investment Group, we do not accept any social funds. However, it is fate to meet you today, so I will shamelessly give you some advice. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and if there is, it must be a trap. Everyone should cooperate with the police investigation, goodbye!”

Yang Chen and others left the scene under the escort of the police. Those students who dreamed of making a lot of money wanted to chase after them, but they were all stopped by the police.

Because they didn’t know which of these people were shills and which were ordinary people who were tricked into listening to the lectures, the police needed to take them all back for investigation, and no one could leave for the time being.

…

Yang Chen and others walked out of the building.

CEO Ren: “Fortunately, CEO Yang passed by here and was pulled up to listen to the lecture, otherwise these people would not know how many people they would deceive in our name.”

Wang Zhongfu: “This is God’s will.”

Pony Ma: “This is indeed God’s will, and God can’t stand the evil deeds of those people. Let’s go to dinner, CEO Yang has to take a plane back to Hai City in the afternoon, don’t delay the flight.”

Wang Zhongfu: “Then let’s go now. CEO Yang, you and Miss Jin take my car.”

This meal was hosted by Wang Zhongfu, and CEO Ren and Pony Ma did not compete with him.

But Yang Chen said, “I do have limited time, so I’ll take CEO Ma’s car.”

Wang Zhongfu instantly understood what Yang Chen meant and quickly nodded with a smile, “That’s fine too, CEO Yang can take CEO Ma’s car.”

Yang Chen and Jin Ming got into Pony Ma’s car and immediately set off for Shenzhen Tang Pavilion for dinner.

Pony Ma deliberately drove very slowly and talked to Yang Chen about the major event of anti-corruption in the group.

Pony Ma: “I’m going to launch a repeated campaign within the group to completely eliminate those corrupt bastards. Will CEO Yang support me?”

Yang Chen: “I will definitely fully support CEO Ma, you can go ahead and do it boldly. If you encounter any trouble, tell me at any time, and I will do my best to help you.”

Pony Ma: “With CEO Yang’s words, I can rest assured. It’s really shocking, I didn’t expect the corruption problem within our group to be so serious. I said that over the years, we have invested heavily in many businesses, why is there no achievement, and even directly announced failure? With so many moths gnawing at the foundation, how can we succeed? Their corruption is not the most hateful thing, the most hateful thing is that they delayed the group’s opportunity to compete with competitors in the market. Back then, Kou Kou [likely referring to QQ, a popular Chinese messaging app] had so much traffic, but Kou Kou News has been losing money. WeChat has so much traffic, but Weishi short videos can’t be made. The content and platform business group is the most corrupt, how can these businesses be made?”

Yang Chen: “Now the Internet is basically divided into three parts: Penguin, Ali [likely referring to Alibaba, a large Chinese e-commerce company], and ByteDance [the parent company of TikTok]. The three companies have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is a success to defend their own country. Without the emergence of innovative products, don’t think about grabbing other people’s markets, it is likely to end in failure.”

Pony Ma nodded and said with a wry smile: “Now the situation has been formed, and I can understand the situation. Don’t worry, I won’t be aggressive, I will definitely defend the current foundation and wait for the opportunity to move.”

For Pony Ma, he must seize the market from Ali Baba and ByteDance.

But for Yang Chen, no matter how these three compete, he is the beneficiary, because he holds shares in the three groups at the same time, and the proportions are not low, at least they are the second largest shareholders.

Yang Chen can allow the three of them to compete, but they must not destroy the fundamentals. Mastering the heat is the most important thing, let them make trouble.

When Yang Chen and the others arrived, Wang Zhongfu and CEO Ren had been waiting for several minutes.

Yang Chen had limited time, so he didn’t say much nonsense and started eating immediately.

The purpose of Wang Zhongfu’s invitation to this meal was to get closer to Yang Chen, and he hoped that Yang Chen would be consistent with him at the shareholders’ meeting in the future.

Wang Zhongfu’s shareholding ratio is not high, and his cousin is actually the largest shareholder.

Therefore, in order to ensure his control, Wang Zhongfu must please his cousin and shareholders with relatively high shareholding ratios such as Yang Chen.

Pony Ma had already talked to Yang Chen in the car, and now only CEO Ren was left.

Yang Chen ate almost, got up and said with a smile: “I want to go to the bathroom, CEO Ren, do you want to come with me?”

CEO Ren, Wang Zhongfu, and Pony Ma are all old Jianghu [experienced and shrewd people], and they immediately understood what Yang Chen meant.

Although Wang Zhongfu and Pony Ma also wanted to go to the toilet, they still held back and didn’t speak.

CEO Ren got up with a smile and replied: “Don’t say it, I really have a little urgency. Let’s go together.”

Yang Chen and CEO Ren walked out, and whispered with their heads close together in the corridor.

CEO Ren: “I have thought a lot about the issue of whether Longwei [a fictional company] should build cars that CEO Yang analyzed with us last time, and now I am really a little shaken and can’t make up my mind. Let me tell you the truth. My and most of the senior management’s opinion is that Longwei does not directly build cars, but only provides software, systems and other services. If we build cars, then we will be competitors with other car companies, and they will definitely not be willing to use our systems and software services. If we do not build cars, but provide system and software services, other car manufacturers may use our products. Our Longwei’s advantage is software and system services, and car manufacturing is not our strength. Therefore, we should give full play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and let others do the businesses that we are not good at. But CEO Yang, your analysis is also correct. Now major car companies are in a bloody entrepreneurial period, and they may accept our software and system services in order to save costs. But when they gain a firm foothold in the future, the weak companies will be eliminated, and the remaining ones will be strong companies, and they will definitely find ways to get rid of us. At that time, it will be too difficult for our Longwei to get a share of the auto market. I am really conflicted now, can CEO Yang give me some useful advice?”