Friday, October 27th.

Xiaomi announced in a high profile that it plans to invest 30 billion to get involved in the new energy vehicle business.

The next day.

Rebus rushed to Binhai City and asked Zhang Shuo face to face, "Can Xiaomi build a car?"

"It can happen!"

Zhang Shuo unexpectedly gave a positive answer.

Compared with the so-called new car-making forces in the original time and space that "made things from scratch", Xiaomi really wants to seize this opportunity and enter the new energy vehicle industry. Not only is the opportunity better, but the conditions are also better.

New car-making forces can all succeed, and Xiaomi has no choice but to succeed.

Rebus is not called for nothing.

………

Just as the timing entered November, Qiandu announced the establishment of Jidu Automobile and officially entered the new energy vehicle industry.

In addition, Future Auto and Xiaomi Auto, which were established before, are backed by three new new energy vehicle companies supported by Internet giants. They can't stand out even if they don't want to attract attention. They are praised by the media as "a new force in car manufacturing".

The historical trajectory of the original time and space has quietly changed with the rise of Mango Cars.

There are two other big events in November.

First, Broadcom proposed to acquire Gaotong at a "sky-high price" of US$130 billion.

But Gaotong refused.

Second, Pingguo released iponeX on November 15, the tenth anniversary of its establishment.

But it still can't escape the name of "mediocre".

………

On December 3, the Fourth Global Internet Conference opened, and Zhang Shuo still had no prospects.

Even Zhang Shuo, as the chairman of the board of directors of Sprout Holdings, did not even attend the annual meeting of Sprout Holdings. Instead, Lu Kai, CEO and president of Sprout Holdings, presided over it.

At the meeting, Lu Kai proposed a business plan of "investing in future business, focusing on main business, and reducing non-main business."

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is in line with the views that Zhang Shuo has always emphasized, and it is even possible that it came from Zhang Shuo's instruction.

Although Zhang Shuo was not present, his influence was everywhere.

At this annual meeting of Sprout, the management of Sprout also made a decision to give "Xing Ling" higher authority, allowing "Xing Ling" to directly dismiss employees at M3 and below levels based on the results of daily assessments.

Just submit the relevant evidence to the audit and review by the human resources department.

After a year of integration, Xingling has been connected to all subsidiaries and business systems of Sprout, with tentacles spread throughout every corner of the Sprout system, controlling all operational data of Sprout.

Like a tireless "eye in the sky", it monitors Germination's every move in real time.

Germinal employees are also adapting to Xing Ling, who is getting smarter day by day. With Xing Ling's cooperation, they formulate work plans, hold work meetings, and carry out various data entry and organization tasks.

It seems that Xing Ling has become an integral part of Germination.

Xingling is being regarded as a symbol of a major breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence.

However, in the eyes of Chief Scientist Tan Yunsong, who is known as the "Father of Xingling", Xingling's unparalleled growth rate makes him doubt his life from time to time. "Could it be said that letting Xingling participate in sprout management really has any impact on Xingling?"

Such a big promotion effect?”

This cannot be proven at all.

………

As 17 years pass, time quietly enters 18 years.

In the new year, Zhang Shuo became even more "excessive". He no longer even attended the weekly meetings, but only attended the regular meetings on the first week of every month.

It is increasingly difficult for sprout employees, including senior executives, to see Zhang Shuo in the company.

On the other hand, there are many travel friends who have chance encounters with Zhang Shuo from time to time in various scenic spots in China. Every time, he is on the hot search on the Internet and becomes a topic of conversation after dinner.

I really regard Zhang Shuo as a legend.

The sprouts seemed to be gradually adapting to the days without Zhang Shuo.

2018 is still a year of great development for us.

In April, the second phase of the Smart Island was completed and delivered, and "Xingling" had a new home.

In July, Weijing Semiconductor took a step ahead of Tai Electromechanical and became the first wafer foundry company in the world to break through the 7-nanometer advanced process.

In just four or five years, it has suddenly become a leader from a chaser.

It is of great significance!

In September, Maili Group held an autumn press conference and officially launched the Maili X7 series.

After two years of mediocrity, Maili Mobile finally came up with another black technology that shocked the world - it officially launched a foldable screen, becoming the world's first mature commercial foldable screen mobile phone.

Once again triggering a panic buying craze around the world!

In November, Mango Group’s super factory in Prussia was completed and put into operation.

This means that Mango Auto’s overseas strategy has achieved phased results and once again consolidated its position.

In contrast, in the past year, the so-called new car-making forces, Future, Xiaomi and Jidu, have been louder and louder, but they are still at the PPT stage.

So far, we have not seen a car actually make its debut.

On the contrary, Teshila seems to have come to his senses and started planning to build a super factory in Shanghai.

China.

It is becoming a gathering place for the new energy automobile industry.

………

March 19, 2019.

Zhang Shuo met Lu Kai, the visiting CEO of Sprout Holdings, in his study room at home.

"Winter is coming."

Looking at the spring scenery outside the window, Zhang Shuo made a difficult judgment.

"Chairman, are you a little pessimistic about the future situation?" Lu Kai tried his best to make his words as tactful as possible. This is not the first time he has heard the big boss say this.

The warnings started three years ago.

In the past two years, in order to cut expenses and consolidate the foundation, Lu Kai personally led the restructuring of the sprouting company to "reduce administrative staff and eliminate marginal businesses." Although he encountered some help during the process, he still persisted.

What's executable is executable. Lu Kai really doesn't know what the big boss's judgment on the future situation is based on.

It can only be attributed to foresight.

"It's not pessimism."

Zhang Shuo smiled and shook his head. Although his judgment was inconsistent with the mainstream, he still had to persist if he should.

"You must have noticed that executives such as Gu Mingzhang, Lu Qi, and Liang Song have successively reported that weak demand in the electronic information industry in the next few years is already foreseeable."

"The development of the semiconductor industry seems to be stuck in a bottleneck."

“How can we call it optimistic if we add the bubbles created by the mobile Internet trend?”

"yes."

Lu Kai nodded, "I admit that the next few years will definitely not be as moist as the last few years."

This is a big trend!

"Whether it is the trend of mobile Internet or a new round of technological changes, it seems that they are about to peak. However, the new trends and new technological changes have not yet appeared."

"Coupled with the recent changes in the geopolitical situation, the situation is not optimistic."

Zhang Shuo is still pouring cold water on him.

"yes."

Being stimulated by the cold water, Lu Kai also came to his senses, "Then, Chairman, what other preparations do we need to make?"

"My opinion is, reserve more cash."

Thinking of the severe winter that was about to break out at the end of the year, Zhang Shuo couldn't help but feel heavy.

"cash…"

Lu Kai explained: "Chairman, the cash and cash equivalents held by the group now exceed 800 billion. Could it be said that it is not enough to cope with the cold winter?"

In the past two years, Sprout Holdings' annual profit has been more than 900 billion.

In 18 years, it is approaching the trillion mark.

Of course, such abundant cash flow cannot be kept in the books. In addition to purchasing long-term and short-term marketable bonds, it is also used in other fields.

For example, there is a fixed annual equity dividend of 100 billion.

For another example, hundreds of billions of investment funds are invested in infrastructure every year.
To be continued...