October 8, 2 pm, Shan City Jiangbei International Airport Terminal 3.
When Zhao Chen and Su Wantang walked out of the VIP channel,
Shan City The October sunshine is pouring down from the glass dome of the terminal building.
He flew from New York for more than ten hours, slept on the plane all the way, and was mostly refreshed when he landed.
Su Wantang followed him, holding his boarding pass and customs declaration form for him, and whispered to him about the itinerary for the next few days as he walked.
Liu Mingyu arranged two cars.
One is the dark gray Maybach that Zhao Chen usually rides in, and the other is the Buick GL8 for the entourage.
When Zhao Chen walked over, he bowed slightly and said, "Zhao Zong, welcome back."
Then he took the suitcase from Su Wantang's hand and put it into the trunk skillfully.
The news of Zhao Chen's return to China soon leaked out.
It's not that Liu Mingyu's confidentiality work is not done well.
The flight information of Zhao Chen was recognized by an international student who was returning to China to visit relatives on the same flight when New York Kennedy Airport checked in.
The international student sent a message Weibo while waiting for the flight,
It was accompanied by a profile photo of Zhao Chen, taken from a distance, reading documents in a VIP room, with only one line of text -
"What is it like to be on the same plane with a billionaire?"
This post Weibo quickly became popular after being forwarded by a financial blogger.
By the time flight Zhao Chen landed at Shan City, reporters from several domestic mainstream Financial Media had already been squatting at the airport for more than an hour.
The moment Zhao Chen walked out of the arrivals hall, the white light of the flash flashed across his face.
Seven or eight reporters gathered on both sides of the arrival gate, some holding recorders.
Some carried portable cameras, and one started a live broadcast directly on his mobile phone.
Su Wantang subconsciously took half a step forward, but was gently blocked back by Zhao Chen.
"Zhao Zong! Are you going back to China specifically to hold a briefing on the stock price changes of Henglong?"
"Will Zhao Zong, Era Vanguard's positions on Nvidia continue to increase?
Wall Street There is news that you have submitted a lock-up statement to the SEC--"
"Zhao Zong, there are many speculations about your relationship with Mr. Elon Musk.
Tesla Shanghai Will you attend when the new factory is put into operation?"
Zhao Chen did not move forward.
He stopped, turned around and faced the reporters head-on. He first raised his hands and pressed them down.
He signaled everyone to calm down, and then spoke. His voice was not high, but each word was firmly heard over the noisy background sound in the arrivals hall.
"Everyone, I just got off the plane and haven't had time to catch up on the jet lag.
Today is not a press conference and I am not going to answer all the questions here.
But there are a few words that I thought about for a long time on the plane, so I can tell you first."
He paused and glanced at several recording pens.
"First, Henglong Group and Era Vanguard are two independent legal entities, each with its own investment decision-making and compliance framework.
Regarding the operations of Era Vanguard in US Stocks, everything is subject to the SEC's public filing documents. I will not make additional comments.
Second, Henglong Group's domestic business is all normal.
The third quarter operating briefing has been disclosed and you can check it out by yourself.
Third - I am not returning to China for a specific announcement or event.
What I need to deal with is all the domestic affairs that have accumulated over the past six months.
Among these things, some are about Henglong, some are about Philanthropic Foundation, and some are personal to me."
A female reporter standing in the back row raised the recorder higher, and her voice was heard above the screen of the mobile phone that was live broadcasting next to her:
"Zhao Zong, you said at the New York press conference last time
'I broke my promise to shareholders, so I compensate Listed Company Two Hundred Million Hong Kong Dollar every year',
Is this compensation package permanent? Is it possible to stop after the pledge is released?"
Zhao Chen turned his head and his eyes fell on the female reporter's face.
The sign "First Finance" was written on her work badge, and the red indicator light of the recording pen in her hand was flashing.
"That's a good question."
He said,
"I said in New York, a promise is a promise, and the price is the price.
I broke my promise, so I pay the price.
The compensation plan is not permanent, but will be implemented in accordance with the contract.
I can reveal something in advance today:
Part of the floating profit of Era Vanguard on Nvidia has been realized.
Part of this money will be used to repay the remaining Principal and Interest of the Henglong equity pledge in advance before the end of this year.
If everything goes well, all pledges will be released early next year."
As soon as this sentence came out, several reporters lowered their heads and typed quickly on their mobile phones almost at the same time.
It can be found in previous SEC public documents that Era Vanguard reduced its Nvidia position by about 5% and withdrew about 9 billion US Dollar funds.
The total scale of Principal and Interest's pledge financing of Henglong is far smaller than this number.
There are no legal or financial obstacles to using the floating profit of Era Vanguard to repay the pledged loan of Henglong in advance.
"Zhao Zong, the last question--"
A male reporter wearing black-rimmed glasses spoke before the others,
"When you returned to China this time, why did you choose Shan City as your first stop?
The headquarters of Era Vanguard is located at New York, and the operation centers of Henglong are located at Magic City and Shan City.
But the outside world always thinks that you will go to Magic City or the capital first."
Zhao Chen turned his eyes to him, with a very faint arc at the corner of his mouth.
"Because my home is at Shan City.
When I left this city, Henglong's market value was less than 30 billion Hong Kong Dollar.
Henglong thrives here."
He nodded slightly to the reporters, said nothing more, turned around and walked towards the parking lot.
Su Wantang followed him and straightened out his crooked collar.
The driver has opened the Maybach's rear door.
After Zhao Chen sat in, he closed it gently, then trotted around to the driver's seat and started the engine.
The two cars drove out of the airport one after the other and got on the Inner Ring Expressway leading to Jiangbeizui.
The Shan City sunshine in October is clear and bright. Yangtze River and Jialing River meet not far away.
The two streams of muddy yellow and green water flowed side by side for a long time before finally merging into one.
It was exactly the same river that Zhao Chen saw two years ago when he sat in the back seat and looked out the window for the first time as Henglong Group Chairman.
Su Wantang turned around from the co-pilot and handed the tablet to him.
"Message from Liu Mingyu.
Henglong Headquarters's Meeting Room is ready, Shen Jue and Song Zhongping are both there.
In addition, the news dispatched by the reporters at the airport has been circulated on the Internet--
'Zhao Chen's first stop back in China, Shan City, said that all pledges will be released in advance within next year'."
Zhao Chen took the tablet and glanced at the news titles Bloomberg and Reuters that popped up almost simultaneously on the screen.
Then he put the tablet on his knees and looked back to the river view passing by outside the window.
"Let them retaliate. What we have done can withstand anyone's retribution."