Was Ye Chen's offer tempting?

Yes. Very tempting!

If a five-billion investment were poured in, Jianghu Hotpot's transformation would be unstoppable.

Such a transformation would far exceed Liu Xi's previous vision.

With five billion invested, expanding Jianghu Hotpot to all major cities within a year would be no problem.

If the plan succeeded, Jianghu Hotpot would be well on its way to becoming a market giant.

However, this would leave Liu Xi with only 32% of the shares.

But he asked himself honestly—was 68% of the shares worth five billion?

At present, absolutely not.

No investor would dare pour such a heavy investment into his grassroots brand.

From this perspective alone, Liu Xi should have no hesitation.

Since the moment he considered raising funds, he never thought he could maintain absolute control.

Even the founders of tech giants like Tencent and Alibaba—Pony Ma and Jack Ma—only hold 8% or 10% of shares.

To grow and expand, unless you avoid financing altogether, maintaining absolute control is impossible.

But Liu Xi's hesitation wasn't about equity distribution.

It was the risk.

Ye Chen's one-year timeframe was too extreme, too aggressive.

If it failed, Jianghu Hotpot—his painstaking grassroots brand—would collapse entirely.

He didn't know if Ye Chen could handle failure, but Liu Xi definitely could not.

Faced with a choice of either rapid success or losing everything, Liu Xi was stuck.

Silence. More silence.

Thoughts. More thoughts.

His furrowed brow remained tightly locked.

But Ye Chen wasn't in a hurry.

He let Liu Xi take his time.

Moments later, Liu Xi finally relaxed his brow.

"Mr. Ye, are you sure you can invest five billion?"

"Of course, and I can do it all at once," Ye Chen replied with a smile.

Liu Xi swallowed nervously and nodded.

"Alright, Mr. Ye, please allow me some time to think it over."

He needed to carefully consider whether to take the gamble—success would mean soaring to new heights, but failure would leave nothing but ashes.

Even if he decided to gamble, he had to dig deeper into Ye Chen's background.

"Sure, no problem. Take your time. When you're ready, prepare the equity transfer agreement and related documents. We'll sign when the time comes," Ye Chen said.

"Understood." Liu Xi nodded solemnly.

Then he hesitated for a moment.

"Mr. Ye, forgive me for being blunt—why are you interested in Jianghu Hotpot? What makes you willing to invest five billion? There are plenty of brands and projects waiting for funding, but Jianghu Hotpot is just a grassroots startup limited to the Pearl River Delta."

Ye Chen wasn't surprised by the question.

He chuckled.

"True. Normally, no investor would throw such heavy money at a grassroots food brand. The industry is dominated by big capital, leaving crumbs for the small players. But Jianghu Hotpot feels different. It's not just another opportunistic venture trying to make a quick profit. I want to gamble and see if I can steal a bite from the big boys. Hai Di Lao is worth hundreds of billions now—I'm betting on the chance to compete with them."

Liu Xi was stunned.

Ye Chen's answer left him speechless.

Before he could recover, Ye Chen continued, "I'm ready whenever you are, but take your time and think it through."

"Alright," Liu Xi replied absentmindedly.

Though Liu Xi was older by over a decade, he felt completely overshadowed by Ye Chen's presence.

But that was no surprise.

Liu Xi was just a grassroots entrepreneur, while Ye Chen was someone ready to drop billions on investments.

They weren't even in the same league.

"Well, let's end our conversation here for today."

Ye Chen smiled, stood up, and shook Liu Xi's hand once more.

He showed no concern about delays or the possibility of losing the deal.

Because in Ye Chen's memory, Jianghu Hotpot wouldn't receive capital injections until the following spring.

He wasn't worried.

No one else would dare invest such a large sum into a budding hotpot brand.

Liu Xi's decision was already set in stone.

He just needed to go through the motions.

Seeing Ye Chen's extended hand, Liu Xi quickly shook it again.

The meeting concluded.

They exited the café one after the other.

As they stepped out, they ran into Li Changfeng and Zhang Jingshan, who were also leaving the café.

"Whoa! Ye Ge!"

Zhang Jingshan exclaimed excitedly the moment he spotted Ye Chen.

He hurried over with Li Changfeng.

"You two? What are you doing here?"

Ye Chen smiled in surprise.

But Liu Xi froze.

People of Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng's status wouldn't normally know him.

But Liu Xi recognized them by reputation and appearance.

To his shock, these two influential figures addressed Ye Chen with such respect—and even fawning admiration.

"We just came by for lunch and to discuss wine deals. Ye Ge, who's this?" Zhang Jingshan inquired, glancing at Liu Xi.

"Liu Xi, founder of Jianghu Hotpot," Ye Chen replied without hesitation.

"Mr. Liu, nice to meet you!"

Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng immediately greeted him, exchanging business cards.

Liu Xi was flattered and overwhelmed.

In their eyes, anyone associated with Ye Chen must be someone worth knowing.

"Mr. Ye, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Li—I must take my leave now. I have some matters to attend to."

After exchanging business cards, Liu Xi tactfully excused himself.

He left, but his heart raced with shock.

Liu Xi wasn't foolish.

Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng's warmth was clearly for Ye Chen's sake.

Recalling their earlier deference, Liu Xi couldn't help but wonder—

Who exactly was Ye Chen?

As Liu Xi walked away, Zhang Jingshan asked eagerly, "Ye Ge, who exactly is Liu Xi?"

"I've heard of Jianghu Hotpot. It's got some fame in the Pearl River Delta. Ye Ge, what's your connection with him?" Li Changfeng chimed in.

"It's our first time meeting. He's looking for investors, and I happened to show up," Ye Chen explained casually.

"You're investing in Jianghu Hotpot?" Li Changfeng was astonished.

He couldn't fathom what Ye Chen saw in a hotpot brand.

But Zhang Jingshan's eyes lit up.

"Ye Ge, can we get in on this?"

Ye Chen chuckled and shook his head.

"If you're interested in investing, I can recommend other projects. But stay away from Jianghu Hotpot."

"What projects?"

Zhang Jingshan and Li Changfeng asked eagerly in unison.