Reborn: Billionaire in College

However, when Cook's convoy arrived at the Qingshan Lake terminal base, he was disappointed.

Chen Pingjiang didn't even come to the door to greet him.

Cook thought, "I have even met the top leaders of your country, and the CEOs of your three major operators have all come out to see me in person. How come you, Chen Pingjiang, are so awesome?"

The expressions of the other entourage members except Cook were not very good either, but since they were on someone else's territory and had to ask for help from others, they could only bear it.

The convoy drove into the Qingshan Lake Terminal Base and finally stopped downstairs of the administrative building.

Cook and Chen Pingjiang finally met in a gorgeous reception room.

When the two men shook hands, dozens of Chinese and foreign media were pointing their cameras at the shaking hands.

Journalists with good brains have already thought of the cover and the headline.

The cover was a clasped hand, with the title: "The Great Reconciliation of the Century?"

"Welcome to China, Mr. Cook." Chen Pingjiang smiled and shook hands.

Cook saw that Chen Pingjiang was upset, but he still had to put on a smile: "Finally I meet you, Chen, I'm very happy."

Lu Lei, who was following beside him, looked at Chen Pingjiang's young face, shook his head and sighed.

It is estimated that with this person around, Apple's sales in China will continue to be suppressed.

This time, the snake was hit hard.

Fortunately, we met.

The first fifteen minutes were filled with polite conversation and small talk, and Chinese and foreign media were allowed to take photos and video in the reception room.

Fifteen minutes later, the media reception time will end and the relevant person in charge of Orange Technology will lead them to have lunch, leaving time for both companies.

This fifteen-minute conversation was really boring.

After only the executives of both companies were left in the reception room, Cook finally stated the purpose of his visit: "Mr. Chen, I am here to seek a settlement with your company regarding the trademark infringement lawsuit against Apple. I don't think we need to be so awkward, right? Many of the leaders I met this time welcomed Apple's increased investment in China."

Chen Pingjiang said with a wry smile: "Mr. Cook, we are not the troublemakers, but you, Apple. You were the first to sue us in California."

Cook nodded: "Chen, I know, I'm sorry too, so we have withdrawn the lawsuit to show our sincerity, and you should also withdraw the lawsuit."

After hearing this, Lin Bin, Zhou Guangping and other executives of Orange Technology all looked unhappy.

It is indeed the arrogant Apple.

Chen Pingjiang shook his right index finger and said, "NONONO, Mr. Cook, that's not how it works. What you said is like two people are walking on the road, and the perpetrator suddenly punches an ordinary passerby, and then finds out that the ordinary passerby has a gun. So the perpetrator cries, "Don't kill me, I'll take back my fist, and you take back your gun?" It seems reasonable for everyone to take a step back, but the passerby with the gun thinks, your life is in my hands, what qualifications do you have to negotiate with me?"

Chen Pingjiang's words expressed the thoughts of the Orange Technology executives present, and they all smiled happily.

Cook's face didn't look good. Chen Mingjiang's words didn't sound offensive, but in fact, every word was a mockery of Apple.

You guys started the incident. Now that you can't beat the other party, is it possible for you to suggest that both sides take a step back?

If it was the apple holding the gun, would the orange still have a chance of surviving?

Chen Pingjiang's implication is that Apple should withdraw the lawsuit, as you are the ones who caused the incident. But just because you withdraw the lawsuit doesn't mean we should follow suit.

Cook spread his hands and said, "I'm sorry for the previous misunderstanding. After the incident, I have strongly criticized the head of the legal department. If I had known about this at the time, I would never have let it happen. I also promise you that there will never be such a thing in the future."

Apple's legal director, who was sitting next to him, had a dark face and turned his head away.

I wasn't surprised, after all, it was already agreed that he should take the blame. But anyone would feel uncomfortable hearing such a blatant blame-shifting.

Chen Pingjiang: "Mr. Cook, I believe you certainly don't know about this either. But how can I believe that after the settlement, you will not file a new infringement lawsuit?"

Cook smiled and said, "Don't worry, as long as you agree to the settlement terms, we will naturally put it into writing."

"Then tell me your conditions. I'm listening."

"One hundred million dollars for you to withdraw the lawsuit and transfer the ownership of the IPAD trademark to us."

Chen Pingjiang almost looked at Cook as if he was an idiot: "Only $100 million. I almost thought I heard it wrong. If this is Apple's sincerity, then we may not be able to reach a settlement this time."

Chen Pingjiang sneered in his heart. Is this old guy sending away beggars? He wants me to let go for $1 million. How is that possible?

"Chen, as far as I know, you only spent 6000 million US dollars to buy the IPAD trademark. You can make 4000 million in less than a month. This is a good deal. If you can't reach a settlement, not only will you not be able to make back the 6000 million cost of buying the trademark, but you will also lose the 4000 million profit, a total loss of million." Cook said with a smile without getting angry.

Chen Pingjiang nodded: "4000 million is indeed a lot, but I want to earn more. If you haven't made up your mind, do you need me to give you some time to think about it?"

Cook smiled bitterly after hearing this. Chen Pingjiang really was sitting on the Diaoyutai, not in a hurry at all.

But I am anxious.

"When we talked to Proview before, they offered 6000 million US dollars, but we refused. However, this time Apple is willing to pay million, which is enough to show our sincerity."

Chen Pingjiang was too lazy to haggle with Cook, so he said directly: "Mr. Cook, please show some real sincerity. If you keep doing this, I will have to send you away. In addition, I have to inform you that if the IPAD is banned in China, the loss you will suffer will be far more than 20 billion US dollars. So is it not too much for us to ask for billion?"

When they heard the number "billion", Cook and the accompanying Apple executives were shocked.

They thought about 200 million or even 300 million, but they never thought about 1 billion! Isn't this too much?
Cook blinked his eyes, wondering why the plot didn't go the direction he had imagined.

Just now at the airport, I thought Orange would be easier to talk to?
Didn’t those senior leaders put pressure on Chen Pingjiang?
Pressure? You're overthinking it, right?
If Chen Pingjiang knew what Cook was thinking, he would definitely laugh out loud.

Most of the calls he received were from people trying to persuade them to reconcile, and no one dared to put pressure on Chen Pingjiang.

Leaders are not stupid either.

Chen Pingjiang owns his own company and his own child.

The facade of domestic entrepreneurs.

What will other entrepreneurs think if we put pressure on such a figurehead for the sake of foreign investment?
It will only make you feel disappointed!

What's more, the many industries under Chen Pingjiang generate just as many jobs as Apple.

Even if Orange Technology is a little worse than Apple, isn't there still Zhizhen Catering? There are so many stores and so many employees across the country.

Besides, the three most powerful companies under Chen Pingjiang have not been counted.

WeChat, Weibo and Renren, the three social platforms, together with Toutiao and Zhihu, have an unparalleled influence.

The number of food delivery employees at Renrengou has already exceeded one million. How many jobs and tax revenues has this created?

Huaxin International is a trump card for the future, and everyone in the country is looking forward to it.
Who would offend Chen Pingjiang because of Cook?

Chen Pingjiang clearly remembered that during the phone call, the top leader just said peace, and expressed his willingness to try to reconcile and not to ban Apple sales.

Isn’t Chen Pingjiang in the process of reconciliation right now?

One billion dollars, would you do it?
"Mr. Chen, 10 billion is too much. It's an astronomical figure. It can't be passed by the board of directors. It's too exaggerated." Cook was really scared.

Chen Pingjiang was helpless: "One billion, I think it's a very suitable price. Compared with the huge Apple business empire, it's nothing. Think about it, once the news of the settlement comes out, Apple's stock price will rise sharply, and it will make tens of billions. Shareholders will only be happy, right?"

Apple executives looked at each other, and for a moment they thought that this was likely the case.

After all, shareholders are indeed very annoyed about this matter, and Apple’s stock price has also fallen sharply during this period.

"But 10 billion is too much, right?" Cook wanted to resist.

"Mr. Cook, Apple's profit for one quarter is as high as 131 billion US dollars. Now we are only asking you to spend one-thirteenth of it to avoid disaster. Is that too much?" Chen Pingjiang's tone gradually became impatient: "I have also analyzed it for you. The stock price will rise. Think about it, after you get the trademark, you will no longer have any worries."

"But what will the media think of us? Don't we have any face to save?" Cook held it in for a long time and said bitterly: "5 million! This is our bottom line."

As soon as he said this, Chen Pingjiang made a gesture to send him away: "That's it for today. Mr. Cook can meet with your company's board of directors after returning to the hotel, and we'll talk more."

Chen Pingjiang will hold on to his goal and will not give up until he bites off a piece of flesh from the apple this time.

It hurts Apple, and it also gives other brands that want to take advantage of it a chance to think twice.

"Wait!" Cook quickly held out his hand. "We can talk more."

Having said that, Cook really hates Chen Pingjiang. When has the CEO of Apple had to endure such humiliation? Chen Pingjiang is the first!
Chen Pingjiang sighed in a fake manner: "Aren't you suing Samsung for 10 billion US dollars? I believe in your strength, just give us the compensation money they have."

Apple executives: “…”

Good man, you are a genius at settling accounts. I wonder if the people at Samsung will kill you with a knife after hearing this.

Cook gritted his teeth and said: "8 million, it really can't be more."

Chen Pingjiang: "Mr. Cook, I am a man of my word. I mean what I say. This is not like buying vegetables at the market. If there is room for bargaining, I will quote 20 billion from the beginning."

"But you only bought it for 6000 million U.S. dollars, and you made more than ten times the profit in one month?"

Cook finally realized how difficult Chen Pingjiang was to deal with, and was even more shocked by how different this guy was from other Chinese entrepreneurs.

Others all want to save face, be friendly, and be a little hypocritical.

But Chen Pingjiang is like a wolf, vicious and determined!

There will be a short break after the meeting.

Everyone at Apple went back to the hotel to hold a board meeting.

Even though it was almost 12 o'clock noon, no one had the appetite to eat, and shareholders in North America were still waiting online at 12 o'clock in the evening.

The reason why we didn’t use Orange Technology’s conference room.

Because they are afraid of bugs!
Many domestic and foreign media are closely following the progress of the settlement negotiations and reporting on it in all aspects.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, a group of Apple executives returned to Orange Technology.

"You win, Mr. Chen!"

Cook was like a rooster that had lost a fight, somewhat listless. (End of this chapter)