Chapter 467 Teacher Ma's Excitement

The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s were a turbulent era, but also an era when scammers were rampant.

Speaking of scams, the scams in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are not even worthy of being compared with the endless scams that have emerged in later generations. However, these simple scams were able to deceive people of that era to death.

There are cheap scams like street chess and street lotteries, but in this day and age, people are constantly being deceived.

Of course, these street scams are just minor ones. The most outrageous one in the 1980s and 1990s was the ridiculous scam of "turning water into oil".

It would be fine if only ordinary people with little knowledge were fooled.

The key point is that so many social elites, university professors and even scientists actually believed it.

Many leaders also believed it. This is really outrageous. It is outrageous to the extreme.

A liar who didn't even graduate from elementary school, but his boastful "water-to-oil" technology allowed him to commit fraud for more than ten years before being exposed. He even rose to become a vice-minister and lived a life of admiration with the state's funding. It has to be said that this guy is indeed a talent.

To be honest, if those leaders had read Jin Yong's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and knew that Qiu Qianzhang was a pretentious person, they would not have allowed him to get away with it for so many years.

There was also a big liar who pretended to be the People's Liberation Army and defrauded people. He was equally awesome. In the end, it was almost indistinguishable from the real thing, because they were really recruiting soldiers, and they also invited real armed forces to help train the recruits. Local leaders were also invited to stand up for them. You have to say that the momentum was really awesome!

The most amazing thing is that these scammers are often ordinary people with low education, but we don’t know how many highly educated elites are being played in their hands. In short, in this era, not only individuals are deceived, but even local governments are deceived, which is commonplace.

Not long ago, because of his good English, Mr. Ma was hired by the Hangzhou government and was commissioned to go to the United States to collect highway investment funds from an investment company.

When Mr. Ma arrived in the United States exhausted, he found out that this was a fraudulent company. The other party also instigated him to defraud China of money. At this time, Mr. Ma still had some moral integrity and naturally did not agree, so the other party put him under house arrest.

In desperation, Mr. Ma could only pretend to compromise so that he could escape and return home.

It was this trip to the United States that allowed Mr. Ma to come into contact with the Internet for the first time at VBN Company in Seattle, opening the door to a new world.

On the night he returned home, Mr. Ma couldn't wait to invite 24 of his friends to talk about the Internet. He really felt that the Internet had great potential.

At this time, Mr. Ma, who was already in his early thirties, was eloquent and trying to persuade his 24 friends to join him in doing Internet business.

Unfortunately, after talking so much, only one friend finally thought it was worth a try, while the rest of the friends didn't approve of this crappy Internet.

After all his friends left, Mr. Ma couldn't help feeling a little lost.

Seeing this, Mrs. Ma, who had been listening, said, "Husband, I believe you. Since you said that the Internet is worth doing, let's do it."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma couldn't help but hold his wife's hand. The luckiest thing in his life was marrying the woman in front of him. This woman was not only beautiful (it was unknown whether she was a school belle, but she was more than qualified to match Mr. Ma), but also a rare and virtuous wife.

Mr. Ma said with some emotion: "Thank you, my dear. No one else believed me, but you always believed in me."

Madam Ma smiled and said, "Husband, I know you are not content with being ordinary. No matter what you want to do, I will fully support you."

Mr. Ma was so moved that he hugged his wife and said firmly after a while: "We will definitely succeed."

…

Deng Shirong stayed in Hangzhou for three days before he "accidentally" met Mr. Ma.

The appearance of Mr. Ma is so easy to remember that it is the type that you will never forget once you have seen his photo. Not to mention that Mr. Ma in later generations has extremely high popularity on the Internet, so Deng Shirong could naturally recognize him easily.

It was noon at this time. I saw Mr. Ma walking to a steamed bun shop. He must want to buy buns for lunch.

Although Mr. Ma in later generations is not interested in money, he is not qualified to say that now. As he is preparing for his second business, he wants to spend every penny carefully and even saves as much as possible on lunch and dares not be extravagant.

When Deng Shirong arrived at the bun shop, Mr. Ma had already bought two buns.

Just as Mr. Ma was about to start eating, Deng Shirong greeted him, "Hello, Mr. Ma!"

Teacher Ma looked at the strange uncle in front of him and said politely, "Hello, who are you?"

Deng Shirong said with a smile on his face: "My last name is Deng, and everyone calls me Uncle Nine."

Teacher Ma was a little confused: "Uncle Jiu? Do we know each other?"

Deng Shirong didn't like to play the pig and eat the tiger trick. When he heard Teacher Ma's question, he took out a business card and handed it over, saying, "Teacher Ma, this is my business card."

Teacher Ma took the business card with both hands. After seeing the position clearly, he couldn't help but be surprised and said, "Uncle Jiu, you, you are the chairman of the Deng Group?"

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "Yes, if Teacher Ma has time, why don't we have a meal together and chat?"

Teacher Ma was a little excited. Deng's Group was the No. 1 private enterprise in the country and had a huge reputation throughout the country. The products under the group were all well-known products throughout the country. Such a big shot that he needed to look up to wanted to talk to him?

Although Mr. Ma was full of doubts, he could not think too much at this moment. He quickly responded, "If I have time, of course I have time. How about I treat you to a meal and we can talk while we eat?"

As he was talking, Teacher Ma's thoughts raced. Where should he invite this big man to dinner? If it was too shabby, it would not work. But if it was too expensive, he would be in a dilemma as he needed money right now...

Deng Shirong knew that Mr. Ma didn't have much money at that time, so he waved his hand and said, "As an elder, how can I let you treat me? How about this, I heard that the Hangzhou cuisine at Shanwaishan is good, and I want to try it too. What do you think?"

The food here is not cheap, but since this big guy wants to talk to me, he probably won’t mind the cost of a meal.

Thinking of this, Teacher Ma smiled and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you and go to Shanwaishan Restaurant!"

Teacher Ma was decisive and simply gave the two steaming buns he had just bought to a beggar on the roadside. Then he took Uncle Jiu, whose identity was somewhat mysterious, straight to the Shanwaishan Restaurant.

Shanwaishan Restaurant was founded in the 29th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, and has a history of nearly a hundred years.

The name of this restaurant comes from the famous line by the Southern Song poet Lin Sheng: "Beyond the mountains are green mountains, beyond the buildings are buildings, when will the singing and dancing in the West Lake stop?"

When Deng Shirong and Teacher Ma arrived at Shanwaishan Restaurant, they found that the environment of the restaurant was indeed beautiful. It was surrounded by greenery, backed by green mountains, facing the landscape garden, and with the Yuquan Pond on the left. It can be said that one can fully enjoy the beauty of mountains and waters.

Under the guidance of the waiter, they entered an elegantly decorated private room and sat down. When ordering, Deng Shirong and Teacher Ma pushed each other around and finally ordered some of the restaurant's more famous signature dishes, including the "Eight Treasure Fish Head King", which is known as the signature dish among all the signature dishes.

"Eight Treasures Fish Head King" is also known as "Premium Fish Head King".

This dish uses high-quality fish heads, which are tender and smooth after cooking, and the soup is thick and white. It is placed in a blue and white porcelain bowl, with bright red river shrimp, green Chinese cabbage, purple ham, dark sea cucumber and mushrooms, white bamboo fungus, fish balls, etc., which are colorful and delicious.

After the waiter left the box, Teacher Ma asked curiously, "Uncle Jiu, did you come here specially to see me?"

While asking the questions, Mr. Ma felt a little nervous. He was a nobody, but a big shot like Uncle Jiu came all the way to invite him to dinner. Could it be that he saw his talent and wanted to invite him to work at Deng Group?

But although he was full of confidence in himself, he knew in his heart that he had not yet achieved any outstanding results and was not worthy of being personally invited by a big shot like Uncle Jiu.

So, what was Uncle Jiu's purpose in coming all the way to see him?

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "I guess so. I've heard some things about you from others. I think you are a smart young man with a good vision, courage, and a bold mind. You are also quite active and you will definitely achieve something in the future. I was a little curious so I came to see you."

Teacher Ma was stunned when he heard this. This was the chairman of the Deng Group, who held a pivotal position in the domestic business community. It was incredible that such a big shot would give such a high evaluation to a little-known person like him.

"Uncle Jiu, you're too kind. I don't deserve your praise."

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "As the saying goes, things change over time. Teacher Ma, you are still young. Now is the best time to do business in China in thousands of years. As long as you can seize the great opportunities of this era, you will definitely achieve great things in the future. I am very optimistic about you."

Teacher Ma's eyes welled up with tears, and he said with a moved face: "Thank you, Uncle Jiu. Your praise has illuminated my way forward. I will work hard to seize the great opportunities of this era and prove that you were right."

Deng Shirong took a sip of tea and said, "I believe you will succeed. You should work hard in the next three years. If your business needs investment after three years, come to me and I will help you realize your dream as soon as possible.

However, if you want me to invest, you have to agree to one condition of mine, that is, the investors in the business you create can only be Chinese, and no foreign investment is allowed.

As long as you can agree to my condition, I will invest as much money as you want, and I promise not to interfere with your management of the company and will give you the greatest power.

Besides, I have connections.”

The purpose of coming to meet Mr. Ma this time is to make a three-year agreement with him, because if we invest in advance now, the time is not yet ripe. At this time, Mr. Ma has no idea of ​​starting Taobao. Although Deng Shirong can give him some advice and accelerate his development, there is no need for that.

Doing business is just like practicing martial arts in novels. If you want to become a master, you must have enough practical experience.

Why can Chu Liuxiang always defeat the strong with the weak?

This was related to the fact that he had experienced more than 300 battles of varying sizes in his life. It was precisely because of his rich practical experience that he was able to create or seize fleeting opportunities to turn defeat into victory.

Another typical example is Qiao Feng. Boss Qiao also emerged from actual combat. Needless to say, those who are weaker in martial arts than him, even if their martial arts are comparable to his, the one who can survive in a real fight is definitely Boss Qiao.

The opposite is Zhang Wuji. His martial arts configuration is truly top-notch, but his actual combat ability is indeed a bit poor.

Although Mr. Ma had already experienced the difficulties of starting a business when he founded the translation agency, Deng Shirong felt that he was not tempered enough. Most importantly, he had never experienced seeking investment and being rejected again and again as if he were a liar. How could he understand how difficult it was to attract investment!

As for the conditions proposed by Deng Shirong, they are also very important. In the past, Alibaba’s largest shareholder was Japan’s SoftBank. In addition to SoftBank, Yahoo has also served as Alibaba’s largest shareholder. The combined shares of these two foreign companies account for as much as 60%.

Based on this point alone, Alibaba is not even worthy of carrying Huawei's shoes.

Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on Mr. Ma. After all, when he started his business, no one in China was willing to invest in him, and in the end he only attracted foreign capital.

However, it is not entirely true to say that Teacher Ma has no responsibility at all.

Anyway, in his previous life, Deng Shirong felt extremely heartbroken when he saw foreign capital cashing out hundreds of billions of dollars from Alibaba.

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He will never allow such a thing to happen in this life. Alibaba can only be purely domestically funded. If Mr. Ma is unwilling, he doesn't mind getting involved himself. With his funds, connections and understanding of Alibaba's development, if he gets involved himself, Mr. Ma will have to stand aside.

Mr. Ma didn't understand why the business tycoon in front of him had to sign a three-year agreement, nor did he understand why the business he founded did not allow foreign investment. However, he couldn't ask him about this matter now, so he could only thank him: "Thank you for your trust, Uncle Jiu. With your promise, I am more confident that I can succeed."

Soon, the waiter started serving the food.

The dishes all taste good. Shanwaishan Restaurant has a history of nearly a hundred years. There is a reason why these dishes have become the restaurant's signature dishes.

Deng Shirong and Teacher Ma chatted while eating. Deng Shirong has lived for more than a hundred years in two lifetimes. With the knowledge gained from his previous life, he can talk about anything under the sun in this era.

Teacher Ma is also no ordinary person. His eloquence is obvious to all. When sitting together and bragging, no one can defeat him.

As the two chatted, the topic unknowingly turned to martial arts novels.

As we all know, Mr. Ma is an absolute fan of martial arts novels.

Under his influence, Alibaba later established a nickname system. The first thing every new employee had to do when joining Alibaba was to give himself a nickname, which came from various martial arts novels.

Moreover, this nickname must be registered with the Human Resources Department and displayed in the company's ERP system.

Colleagues mainly address each other by nicknames, and after a long time many people no longer know their colleagues' real names.

Alibaba’s leadership team is no exception and they all have their own martial arts titles.

For example, Teacher Ma himself is nicknamed Feng Qingyang.

The funniest thing is that Alibaba’s conference rooms are all named after place names in martial arts novels, such as "Guangmingding", "Motianya", "Taohua Island", "Luohan Hall", "Juxianzhuang", etc., all from Jin Yong’s novels.

The most classic are the restrooms, which are named "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" and "Waterfall Viewing Pavilion". They are really descriptive and the people who can come up with these names are truly talented.

Also, when Ali employees went downstairs to pick up a package, they asked the "escort agency" to help them. I have to say, they really know how to have fun.

Deng Shirong was also a novel fan in his previous life. From martial arts novels to online novels, the number of novels he has read is unmatched in this era. Although martial arts novels are old novels and many of them can no longer be remembered, there is one person's novels that are an exception, and that is Mr. Jin's novels.

Mr. Jin's martial arts novels are so widely circulated that Deng Shirong has not only read the original works, but also the adapted TV series. In addition, the number of martial arts fan fiction based on Mr. Jin's novels in later online novels is also terrifying. As long as it is well written, he has read it.

Therefore, Deng Shirong is extremely familiar with Jin Yong's martial arts novels.

Coincidentally, Teacher Ma’s favorite novel is also Mr. Jin’s.

So, as the two chatted, they really felt like they had known each other for a long time.

Anyone who likes to read novels probably has had a similar experience, that is, when you like a certain novel, you happen to meet a reader who also likes the novel, and the sense of resonance when the two of you chat is really great.

Eating delicacies that he couldn't get on a normal day, and sitting with one of the country's leading business leaders to chat about his favorite martial arts novels, Teacher Ma was completely delighted.

The meal took the two of them a full four hours to finish.

When they were leaving Shanwaishan Restaurant, Teacher Ma said with emotion, "Uncle Jiu, thanks to you today, not only did I get to taste the rare delicious food, but I also had such a great chat. I haven't been so happy in many years."

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "We hit it off right away. Remember my promise to you. If you need funding for your business three years later, feel free to come to me."

Teacher Ma nodded solemnly and said, "Thank you, Uncle Jiu. If I need anything, I will definitely come to you."

Deng Shirong said: "Well, let's say goodbye now. We can sit together and have a drink and chat again when we have the chance."

Teacher Ma said, "Okay Uncle Jiu, let's drink and chat together next time."

After watching Deng Shirong leave, Teacher Ma returned home with a heavy heart.

"Honey, where have you been? Why haven't I seen you all afternoon?" Mrs. Ma asked casually when she saw Teacher Ma coming back.

Teacher Ma said excitedly, "Wife, I went out to have dinner with someone. Guess who I met? I guarantee you'll be shocked if I tell you."

Madam Ma laughed and said, "How could I guess that? You are so excited. Who did you meet?"

Teacher Ma did not rush to answer, but asked: "Wife, you should know about this Deng Group, right?"

Madam Ma laughed and said, "This is the largest private enterprise in the country. Of course I know that. Who from the Deng Group did you meet?"

Teacher Ma said excitedly: "I met the chairman of the Deng Group!"

Mrs. Ma was a little surprised and asked, "Who did you go to dinner with to meet the chairman of the Deng Group? Who among your friends has such powerful connections?"

Teacher Ma said proudly, "Wife, it wasn't me who went to dinner with someone and met the chairman of the Deng Group. It was the chairman of the Deng Group who invited me to dinner alone at noon. Not only that, he also chatted with me for a full four hours!"

Madam Ma was stunned when she heard this. She was not the kind of woman who knew nothing. She naturally knew how high the status of the chairman of the Deng Group was. How could her husband be so worthy that this business tycoon invited him to dinner and chatted with him for several hours? "Husband, does the chairman of the Deng Group have a history with you?"

Teacher Ma smiled and said, "No, it's the first time I met him today."

Madam Ma was puzzled and asked, "Why would such a big business man invite you to dinner? And he even chatted with you for several hours. This is simply unbelievable!"

Teacher Ma blinked and asked, "Wife, if I were to say that this business tycoon saw my talent and invited me to dinner and chat, would you believe it?"

Mrs. Ma looked at her husband deeply and asked, "Husband, do you think I should believe it?"

Teacher Ma smiled awkwardly, then sighed and said, "I didn't believe it at first, but the facts were in front of me, so I really had to believe it. During the meal, this big guy also made a promise to me, saying that if I wanted to start a business in three years, I could go to him for investment, no matter how much money I needed, he would invest."

Madam Ma's eyes widened instantly when she heard this, and she asked in shock, "Husband, are you kidding me?"

Teacher Ma said seriously: "I'm not kidding, he really told me that."

After being shocked, Mrs. Ma asked with some confusion, "Since this business tycoon has noticed your talent, why did he wait three years before investing in you?"

Teacher Ma shook his head and said, "I don't know about this either. Anyway, they must have their reasons for doing this."

Mrs. Ma was puzzled, and finally did not think much about it, but asked: "Husband, do we still want to continue to do the Internet?"

Teacher Ma said firmly, "Of course we have to do it. The boss said he would invest in me in three years, so before that, let's start with our Internet business and invest the few thousand dollars we have. I will borrow some money from my sister in a few days. We have to start the company anyway."

Madam Ma nodded and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

(End of this chapter)