Chapter 509 - 284: With a Cullinan, Life Is No Longer Hard

Qi Sheng had been a bit busy lately. He was getting a ton of visitors.

Especially the major banks, which were all sending people at the president level.

Their purpose was self-evident—they were all after his 3.78 billion in cash.

As for how 7.08 billion became 3.78 billion...

That, of course, was because Qi Sheng had once again spent money to upgrade his girlfriends’ looks.

Tao Siyao, Pan Yinuo, Pei Yinyin, Lai Manling, and Dong Bai.

Even Peng Caina had been upgraded to the "Peerless Beauty" girlfriend tier.

In addition, Qi Sheng had also upgraded Qin Qingyi to the "Top-Tier Girlfriend" level.

Although his cash reserves plummeted to 3.78 billion, his monthly income skyrocketed to 9.32 billion.

That fraction, of course, was contributed by Tang Qian.

After this round of upgrades, Qi Sheng had completely exhausted the potential of his group of girlfriends.

Even last year’s richest man, Old Ma, couldn’t compare to him.

Old Ma’s net worth was propped up by the stock market.

Not only was liquidating his assets a hassle, but it would also attract unwanted attention.

The System’s rewards, on the other hand, were far more diverse.

Funds could be wired directly into overseas accounts, allowing Qi Sheng to manage them remotely with ease.

Qi Sheng was inundated with invitations to all sorts of galas.

It wasn’t just the banks; many well-informed venture capital firms also came knocking, wanting him to become one of their backers.

Across the entire country, people with nearly 4 billion in cash on hand were few and far between.

"Boss, instead of letting all that capital sit in the big banks, why not let us at Jinshi Capital manage it? We can get you a return of at least 20%!"

Being in a prime position, Lu Fang naturally wanted to be the first to get a piece of the action.

"I know you’re eager, but calm down."

Qi Sheng smiled and waved his hand, signaling for Lu Fang to wait a moment.

"I can give you the funds, but 2 billion at most."

"Only 2 billion?"

Lu Fang was a little disappointed. She’d thought she could sweet-talk him into handing over all his cash.

"That’s not a small amount."

Qi Sheng smiled and shook his head. "How’s the valuation growth for the projects you’ve invested in?"

"On the Pop Mart project alone, our DPI has already exceeded 3x."

"Several other projects have also seen rapid growth in their valuations."

"Once we’ve fully exited, the total DPI will be at least 5x!"

Lu Fang gave her detailed report, then added at the end,

"Boss, Shein, which I invested in previously, is about to start its Series E funding round. Should we do a follow-on investment?"

"Shein?"

Qi Sheng was a little surprised. "You’ve got a good eye. Shein definitely has a lot of potential. Their valuation for the next round will at least triple, right?"

"I’ve spoken with President Xu at Shein. They’re asking for a valuation of no less than 15 billion US dollars. Compared to the price when we entered in the Series D round, that’s quadrupled!"

Lu Fang shook her head with a sigh. "That price is a little steep. Plus, a lot of sovereign wealth funds have their eyes on Shein. Jinshi Capital is too small; it will be very difficult for us to get another opportunity to invest."

"We’ll just be happy with a small profit. Their model is easy to replicate; Shein’s valuation is bound to plummet sooner or later."

Qi Sheng shook his head with a faint smile, not particularly concerned.

A valuation of a hundred billion US dollars isn’t so easy to achieve.

"When the valuation gets close to 50 billion US dollars, we’ll sell our shares to other venture capital firms."

"Based on the valuation when you first invested, that’s about a nine or ten-fold return."

Qi Sheng remembered clearly that after Ping Duoduo set its sights on Shein, its valuation plummeted from a hundred billion US dollars, dropping by nearly half.

Since they wouldn’t get a chance to invest further, they might as well cash out at a high point.

"By the way, what’s Ping Duoduo’s current market cap?"

Qi Sheng suddenly remembered that Ping Duoduo’s stock price was going to triple this year.

Its market cap would even break the 200-billion-US-dollar mark.

"It’s currently approaching 50 billion US dollars, nearly double what it was at its IPO."

As an elite in the investment world, Lu Fang naturally paid close attention to a fast-growing e-commerce giant like Ping Duoduo.

She was also quite astonished that its market cap could grow so explosively while being squeezed by both Ali and Jingdong.

"Its market cap is less than 50 billion US dollars right now?"

Qi Sheng’s eyes lit up, and he gave the order without hesitation.

"Besides the 2 billion I promised you before, I’m going to add another 5 billion next month. It’s all to be used to invest heavily in Ping Duoduo."

"Sell at its peak at the end of the year. That should be a net return of at least 3x."

billion—that’s 1 billion US dollars.

Based on Ping Duoduo’s current stock price, that would be a stake of around 2%.

When Ping Duoduo’s market cap rushes to 200 billion US dollars by the end of the year, the net return would be no less than 3 billion US dollars.

He certainly wasn’t going to miss out on an opportunity like this.

Besides, Ping Duoduo was listed on the US stock market anyway.

He would be earning money from those venture capitalists, so he felt no guilt at all.

"So, our main priority for the near future is still to continue scouting for projects?"

Lu Fang accepted the order, though her tone couldn’t hide her dejection.

’I can’t believe I actually got the money, and even managed to squeeze the boss dry.’

’But its use has already been dictated by Qi Sheng.’

"Next month, I’ll give you 150 million US dollars."

"For projects with an investment of less than 50 million US dollars, you have the final say."

Qi Sheng remembered how Lu Fang had managed to spot Shein and successfully invest in the project, so he decided to increase her investment capital.

"Thank you, Boss! I definitely won’t disappoint you!"

Lu Fang was pleasantly surprised. She hadn’t expected Qi Sheng to be so generous.

He had just tossed her 150 million US dollars to invest.

Many mid-sized venture capital firms only operated on this scale.

Moreover, Qi Sheng had given her an incredible amount of authority.

Projects with a total investment value under 50 million US dollars didn’t even require her to report to Qi Sheng.

She could make the decision all on her own.

This display of trust moved Lu Fang deeply.

"Alright, that’s enough of the sentimental stuff. When we exit the Shein project, I promise your bonus won’t be small."

Qi Sheng smiled and waved his hand. This was a reward Lu Fang had earned.

"Thank you, Boss."

Lu Fang wasn’t actually that concerned about the bonus.

Exiting the Shein project was at least two years away.