"Uh," Chen Yinuo was slightly taken aback.

She mistakenly thought Ye Chen was sensitive about the term "nouveau riche."

But before she could explain, Ye Chen laughed and said, "We are nouveau riche right now, aren't we?"

"Get out of here, you're getting cocky, aren't you?" Chen Yinuo retorted with a smile, swallowing back her intended explanation.

She continued, "Seriously though, have you seen the trending searches online? They're saying you have a nouveau riche mentality and are investing blindly. Luckily, some voices are saying you're contributing to the country's technological development; otherwise, the public opinion would be completely one-sided!"

"There's no need to care so much about online opinions. In the world of online chatter, even business giants like Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Xu Jiayin, and Huang Jianlin haven't escaped criticism and disdain from keyboard warriors who think they know everything. So, let public opinion be what it is," Ye Chen said.

"That's true," Chen Yinuo nodded thoughtfully.

Then, as if remembering something, she asked, "Lao Ye, have you thought about the company going public in the future?"

"Going public? I haven't thought about it, and I don't plan to. Going public is simply about raising capital, but we have the financial strength not to need it. Moreover, in my plans, going public has more disadvantages than advantages. Once we go public, we'll inevitably be subject to the influence of capital. Although we could raise a lot of money through an IPO, we'd often be unable to control our own destiny under the influence of capital. Regarding future development trends, we'll undoubtedly have many uncharted territories to explore!"

"If we go public, the shareholders will definitely be fixated on short-term profits. They'll only focus on financial reports. Profits and stock prices will dictate their actions. If we're forced by those shareholders, who are eyeing the stock market for gains, to develop horizontally, it'll be extremely difficult to explore those uncharted territories, those blank areas!"

"We can also forget about maintaining our original aspirations and long-term strategies. After all, those shareholders will certainly not allow our long-term strategies to affect their short-term interests. Take the acquisition of a semiconductor company to enter the lithography machine R&D as an example. Do you think our shareholders would agree to invest in the semiconductor field, which won't be profitable for three to five years and will even incur losses of tens of billions, if our company were publicly traded?"

"Furthermore, once we go public, the company's development will inevitably become a numbers game. And in this numbers game, we must maintain constant vigilance to face various shocks. So, I never planned to wade into this muddy water from the beginning. After all, we have enough capital to build an ideal business empire blueprint. We don't need to rely on the stock market to obtain capital!"

After a pause, Ye Chen added, "In short, to put it clearly, if the company doesn't go public, we'll always maintain the initiative in expanding and defending our territory on our development path. If we go public, this initiative will inevitably become passive! So, why make ourselves passive when we can have complete control?"

"I was short-sighted!" Chen Yinuo said with a sense of self-reproach after hearing Ye Chen's words.

After all, going public is a dream for the vast majority, more than 90%, of entrepreneurs.

And Chen Yinuo was no exception.

However, she hadn't thought so much about the intricacies, advantages, and disadvantages of going public.

Of course, the key reason was that going public was still far away, and it was far from time to consider those things.

"It's not that you were short-sighted, but that we have the capital to do as we please—that's Iridescent Snow! Having Iridescent Snow, this money-making machine, constantly running means we don't need to use the stock market to raise funds to help our own development. In this context... well, how should I put it? Going public is indeed very tempting, but as the saying goes, 'One man's meat is another man's poison!' In my envisioned development path, going public is poison for us!" Ye Chen said seriously.

He then added with a smile, "A prime example is Huawei. Hasn't Huawei always remained private under Ren Zhengfei's leadership? Setting aside the employee stock ownership issue, with their enterprise strength, if they were willing to go public, their market value would undoubtedly be astronomical. But he adhered to his original intention of not going public, and it is precisely because of this that they have become the giant they are today! Otherwise, if Huawei had gone public early on, they definitely wouldn't be where they are today, definitely not!"

Ye Chen's voice became firm as he finished speaking.

"Hearing you say that, I suddenly understand. It seems that there are still many blind spots in my thinking. I need to recharge myself!" Chen Yinuo said.

"Don't worry, everything takes time! Among ten thousand entrepreneurs, at least nine thousand nine hundred aspire to go public. It's understandable that you have thoughts of going public! When it really comes to the time of whether or not to go public, a balance will naturally appear in your mind based on the actual situation and problems," Ye Chen said.

Ye Chen thought for a moment and continued, "However, what I mean by not going public is relative. Companies like Iridescent Snow and Tenglong Technology will definitely be merged into the group in the future, so they won't go public! But for Jianghu Hotpot, in which we hold a 68% stake, I don't plan to include it in the group in the future, so when the time is right, Jianghu Hotpot will definitely go public!"

Chen Yinuo nodded thoughtfully.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

The conversation was interrupted.

"Come in!" Chen Yinuo instinctively called out.

The R&D-obsessed deputy general manager, Pang Jun, walked in carrying a bag of bottles and jars.

"Huh? Lao Ye, when did you get back?" Pang Jun said in surprise as soon as he saw Ye Chen.

"Just got back, came to the company right after getting off the plane!" Ye Chen said with a smile.

Then, he noticed that Pang Jun's arms were covered in alternating patches of black and white.

Ye Chen was instantly dumbfounded.

Not only Ye Chen but even Chen Yinuo, who hadn't seen Pang Jun for many days, was stunned.

"Lao Pang, your hand, what happened to your hand?" Ye Chen asked in astonishment.

It was truly terrifying.

The varying degrees of white and black, distributed like piano keys, were indeed a bizarre sight.

But immediately, Ye Chen noticed another unusual detail.

Besides the varying degrees of black and white, there were also Arabic numerals written on Pang Jun's hand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Each number represented a region.

Looking at the bottles and jars Pang Jun was carrying, Ye Chen seemed to understand instantly.

This maniac, could he have been using his own hand to personally test the products?