Chapter 80

Chapter 28: The Trouble Caused by 5% Shares

Xia Qianhe came to Chu City for two reasons. The first was revenge, for the front tooth that Lin Feng had knocked out earlier. The second, and the true purpose of his trip, was to acquire the 5% stake in Tencent that Lin Feng held. Everything was predicated on the completion of the second goal.

Xia Qianhe's mother's company, the world-renowned IMH Group, saw the potential of Tencent and believed it would become China's "AOL." (At this time, Google had not yet shown its potential to most people and was still a very small company.)

On January 10th of the year, America Online (AOL) and Time Warner announced their merger to form "AOL Time Warner," shocking the world. This merger made the two companies the seventh largest in the world with an annual sales total of over $30 billion, and the new company's value after the merger was as high as $350 billion, equivalent to the combined GDP of Mexico and Pakistan.

Xia Qianhe's mother's IMH Group naturally did not have the financial power or the audacity to吞并 such a giant as AOL, but the rise of Tencent in China gave IMH an opportunity, especially after Tencent introduced its membership system and partnered with mobile networks, making its market prospects even more promising.

At this time, one of Tencent's original shareholders, Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks, sold its 20% stake in Tencent Holdings to Xia Qianhe's mother's IMH Group for $25 million due to debt issues. IMH was also in talks with another major shareholder, IDG, to acquire its 20% stake for $25-30 million.

Although Ma Huateng and his team had recently started to profit from the membership system and their partnership with mobile networks, their financial situation had worsened again due to the server costs for Lin Feng's Dangdang.com and the game "Counter-Strike." This was partly because Ma Huateng had underestimated the growth of Dangdang.com, which quickly became the second-largest online trading platform after E-commerce, putting a strain on their server resources.

Bound by the contract, Ma Huateng had to seek additional funding for continued growth. At this point, IMH proposed to acquire 10% of Tencent for $20 million, but Ma Huateng rejected it, offering to sell only 5% for $4 million.

Although this ratio was unsatisfactory for IMH, adding Lin Feng's 5% stake would give IMH 50% of Tencent, equal to the shares held by Ma Huateng and the original team. The control of the company could be negotiated later.

Therefore, Xia Qianhe's mother instructed him to set aside his personal grudge against Lin Feng and acquire his 5% stake for $5 million, or even a higher price if necessary, to ensure the acquisition.

However, Xia Qianhe, who had lost a front tooth to Lin Feng, was already furious. Now, he was reluctant to approach Lin Feng with a cooperative or even a pleading attitude to acquire the 5% stake.

So, Xia Qianhe decided to first attack all of Lin Feng's businesses, and when Lin Feng was in dire straits, he would appear as a savior and propose to acquire the 5% stake to save him. This would satisfy his pride and complete his mother's plan, achieving both goals.

The so-called "game" was just a joke, a backup plan. If the attack failed (though Xia Qianhe did not believe it would), he could still approach Lin Feng as a friend to propose the acquisition. When he helped Lin Feng get his business license back, it was to prevent Lin Feng from focusing solely on the internet industry if his businesses were blocked, making it harder for Xia Qianhe to attack his businesses. With real businesses, Xia Qianhe had many ways to make Lin Feng's situation worse until he was forced to sell all his shares.

However, Xia Qianhe's attack plan was quickly thwarted by Lin Feng, who used the opportunity to boost the popularity of his Qidian fast food chain, making it a well-known "red" enterprise promoting the revitalization of the national economy. This made Xia Qianhe even more furious, as his efforts had only helped Lin Feng.

Xia Qianhe, though a spoiled rich kid, understood that the more successful Lin Feng's business became, the harder it would be to acquire his 5% stake in Tencent. Lin Feng's ability to "steal" 5% from Ma Huateng showed his confidence in Tencent. If Lin Feng was not in financial trouble, Xia Qianhe would have no chance of acquiring the shares.

"Master Xia, how about this..." A pale-skinned, middle-aged man with eyes that inspired fear whispered into Xia Qianhe's ear.

"Ha, not bad, this plan is feasible." Xia Qianhe snapped his fingers and ordered the man to proceed immediately.

The next day, shortly after the Qidian fast food chain's five branches and flagship store opened, they were inspected by Chu City's health department, which claimed to have received a report that the cooking oil used for frying chicken at Qidian contained carcinogens and was reused, violating the "Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China."

Lin Feng laughed when he heard the news. He had already addressed the issue of cooking oil when he used McDonald's to boost his business. He had ordered all branches to use the frying oil only once and then dispose of it, leaving no room for any issues. The used oil was sent to a factory for use as fuel.

This was wasteful but safe. Chinese businesses often faced unfair treatment from domestic law enforcement, while foreign companies enjoyed various privileges, so Lin Feng had to be cautious.

"Go ahead and inspect, but you can't just inspect us. Why not inspect McDonald's and KFC as well?" Lin Feng said calmly.

The customers around them immediately started to protest. It was true that McDonald's and KFC had never been inspected, while Chinese fast food chains were inspected as soon as they opened. Was this a case of bullying the Chinese?

The head of the health department, Mr. Zhao, frowned. Previously, Lin Feng had been humble and flattering, but now he was arrogant and did not respect him as a bureau chief.

Lin Feng saw Mr. Zhao's expression and knew what he was thinking. Indeed, he had begged Mr. Zhao for help with his barbecue business and faced many rejections. But now, Qidian fast food, promoting the revitalization of the national economy and the development of independent national brands, had won the favor of Chu City's mayor, Yu Haowei, who had spoken in support of local entrepreneurs at city council meetings (as learned from Meng Dong).

Lin Feng now felt confident. As long as he was not in violation, with Mayor Yu Haowei's support, he was not afraid of these people acting aggressively, as they had when they tried to revoke his business license.

Mr. Zhao's face turned ashen. He could not force the inspection if Lin Feng refused, especially with many customers present. He dared not make any extreme moves, as it would be detrimental to him. If it were publicized that he favored foreign companies and suppressed domestic ones, his political career would be over. Especially now, with the public's high attention to Qidian fast food, he had to be extremely cautious.

"Fine, after inspecting your fast food chain, I will inspect McDonald's and KFC." Mr. Zhao had no choice but to agree.