45: Lei Jun, who likes to put his hands in his pockets

In a corner of a coffee shop in the Imperial Capital, Lei Jun was drinking coffee with a very capable-looking woman.

"CEO Lei, thank you very much for giving Qiming's capital priority this time!"

The woman, wearing light makeup and a peaceful smile on her lips, looked at Lei Jun sitting opposite her.

Lei Jun showed his signature smile. He was no stranger to the woman sitting opposite him; her name was Su Ling, from Qiming Venture Partners. The head of this investment firm, Tang Mingyuan, was also an old friend of Lei Jun's. When he first founded Xiaomi, Qiming Venture Partners was the first to lead the investment.

In the subsequent rounds of financing, Qiming Venture Partners had participated more or less. This time, in order to deal with Red Star's shining 2, Lei Jun decided to raise another sum of capital. He had this idea before the New Year, but he hadn't decided which institution to choose yet.

Just after the New Year, Lei Jun's Xiaomi was preparing for financing, and Su Ling, who had been following Xiaomi closely, contacted Lei Jun immediately.

After several days of negotiations between the two teams, Qiming Venture Partners, led by Su Ling, successfully co-invested 300 million us dollars with Lei Jun's Shunwei Capital, acquiring a 1.9% stake in Xiaomi.

This 300 million us dollars was prepared by Lei Jun for the upcoming Redmi series. Since he had decided to enter the hundred-yuan phone market, he had to be prepared to cross swords with other manufacturers.

"Miss Su, we are old friends, so I won't say much else. I also want to thank Qiming Venture Partners for providing this capital."

Su Ling smiled. What Lei Jun said was just polite talk. When it came to business, he never liked to keep all the profits for himself; instead, he believed in everyone making money together, especially since Tang Mingyuan of Qiming Venture Partners was his old friend.

In truth, she should be the one thanking Lei Jun. Xiaomi was developing very rapidly now, and capital from all sides wanted a piece of the pie. After Xiaomi finished its Series B financing, it wouldn't allow more capital to enter for a short while. Choosing Qiming this time was also Lei Jun looking out for an old friend.

"CEO Lei, I guess you won't just be making mobile phones, right?"

Su Ling put down her coffee and asked Lei Jun.

As a professional manager of an investment firm, she had a very keen sense of smell. She had witnessed Xiaomi's development and kept a close eye on its movements at all times.

Lei Jun was startled to hear Su Ling's words. He hadn't told anyone about the Ecosystem Chain plan he was preparing, not even the investors. How did she know?

"Don't be nervous, CEO Lei. I saw that Red Star Investment has been investing in some small companies recently, especially some small household appliances. I suspect they have some big plan. Since both your Xiaomi and Red Star rely on the Internet to develop the mobile phone business, I guess you definitely won't just develop in the single area of mobile phones."

"This information costs money."

Lei Jun looked at Su Ling staring at him with a smile, and didn't give his answer directly:

"The mobile phone business is currently Xiaomi's main source of revenue. All our subsequent business foundations will be based on the mobile phone business."

Su Ling was very satisfied with this non-answer. From Lei Jun's words, she could analyze that his ambition was definitely not just in the mobile phone business.

"CEO Lei, you pay for the coffee later; just consider it paying for my information."

Lei Jun looked at Su Ling, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Miss Su, our company's new business needs a person in charge. Are you interested in coming to Xiaomi for development?"

After saying it, Lei Jun regretted it a little. Su Ling was very capable and had years of investment experience; having her join Xiaomi to manage Ecosystem Chain investments would be perfect. However, she was still a manager at Old Tang's company, so saying this was a bit rude.

Lei Jun thought: 'Sigh, whenever I see talent, I just want to pocket them and take them away.'

He thought Su Ling would refuse outright, but to his surprise, she didn't. Instead, she said:

"Sure, I can consider it. I just don't know which aspect of the new business you want me to be in charge of?"

Hearing her reply, an incredible expression appeared on Lei Jun's face. He really didn't expect Su Ling to agree.

Su Ling's answer even gave him a sense of daze.

"Really?"

"What's wrong, CEO Lei? We've known each other for so many years, don't you know my personality yet?"

Looking at Lei Jun's expression, Su Ling actually had her own plans. Lei Jun's words just now showed his ambition; he would definitely not only develop the mobile phone business. If Lei Jun hadn't revealed that, she wouldn't have agreed so easily.

Hardware + Software + Ecosystem—this was the 'Ironman Triathlon' of Xiaomi that Lei Jun had proposed back then, and it was also the most promising development direction for Internet companies in the future. Although Xiaomi currently only had mobile phones as its main business, Lei Jun was indeed following this development path.

If Miliao hadn't failed in its struggle against Penguin's WeChat, Xiaomi's market valuation would probably have already exceeded 50 billion us dollars by now.

As someone from an investment firm who had observed Xiaomi for so long, Su Ling naturally had great confidence in its future development. She wouldn't refuse Lei Jun's invitation.

"Then Old Tang's Qiming will need a new helmsman. I just don't know if Old Tang will let you go."

"Don't worry about that. You can treat CEO Tang to a meal later; I don't think he'll be angry. Besides, I've been in the investment industry for so many years, and I really want to change my environment and way of working."

Lei Jun looked at Su Ling with a helpless expression. He had just asked casually, but he didn't expect her to actually agree. It seemed he would owe Old Tang another favor, but he was naturally very happy in his heart.

After all, with Su Ling joining, the Ecosystem Chain investment could be completely handed over to her. He would only need to focus on the mobile phone business and strive for final victory in the intense competition with several other manufacturers.

"Welcome to Xiaomi!"

Lei Jun reached out his hand, deciding to accept Su Ling into Xiaomi. Nothing was more important than talent.

After the two finished their coffee, they left the coffee shop one after another. Lei Jun had too many things to do.

As soon as he returned to the company, Wang Huateng brought good news: the Redmi series was ready, the factory had completed the first batch of engineering prototypes, and full production could begin at any time.

"Good!"

Lei Jun pumped his fist excitedly. He had waited too long for the development of this Redmi series. From its initiation last year, to scrapping the first version of the plan, to coming off the line now, it had been a full seven or eight months.

During these seven or eight months, other manufacturers must have seen the popularity of Red Star's shining 2 and started preparing to enter this market, right?

It wasn't as early as Red Star, but it was definitely not too late now.

"Start the warm-up activities immediately. Our Xiaomi will hold the spring launch event in April."