♪ You are so special, how can I be disappointed ♫
Every day at 9:30 a.m., Sister Yi is waiting for you here
Text | Sister Yi (Zhou Guiyi) Chengcheng
The I Do brand went bankrupt. Since its inception, it has won the "first sales volume in diamond category" on Tmall and Jingdong dual platforms for many consecutive years.
Its founder, Li Houlin, known as the "diamond tycoon", has also recently fallen to the point where the court has restricted high consumption.
Perhaps many post-00s are not familiar with Li Houlin, but I think he was also a popular figure on the Hurun list back then. He also has a famous identity, Li Xiang's ex-husband - Li Xiang's first husband before Wang Yuelun.
In the past two years, Li Houlin's life has not been very good.
At the beginning of 2022, Hengxin Xili was exposed to rumors of wage arrears, many employees posted on social platforms to ask for wages, and suppliers left messages under Li Houlin's Weibo to recover the arrears, which naturally no one paid attention to.
Diamond tycoons are openly chased for debts, and it is also difficult to hide their embarrassment.
But speaking of his family history, I still admire his keen business sense and extraordinary courage.
Born in 1973 in Tianjin Jizhou, Li Houlin holds a master's degree in business administration from Peking University.
Born in poverty, he dropped out of school to work before graduating from junior high school, and later started a gold business, and with great business acumen, he earned his first pot of gold in his 20s and returned home in an Lexus LS400.
A reporter once interviewed Li Houlin and asked him whether these rumors on the Internet were true, Li Houlin himself did not admit or deny, but said intriguingly: "If I am really a person with only primary school education, I can successfully operate a luxury brand now, I think this is more worthy of reference." ”
In 1999, Li Houlin set his sights on the diamond industry, started a diamond business, and founded Hengxin Diamond.
Seeing that at that time, the old brands such as Chow Tai Sang and Chow Tai Fook had already divided the mainland jewelry business market, and it was not easy for Li Houlin to gain the popularity of his brand.
Li Houlin not only did not cut costs, but spent 30 million yuan, rented a 1,200-square-meter storefront in Beijing Oriental Plaza, opened a diamond exhibition hall, and the decoration was also tall and style.
In 2000, it was an era of turbulence in mainland real estate, and I clearly remember that when I came to Beijing in 2003 to study, the hardcover small apartment in the North Second Ring Road was 4,000 square meters. Li Houlin keenly saw the precise customer group of luxury areas, and to put it bluntly, in those years, he ate the dividends of the real economy.
Soon, he expanded his business to the world, and in just 3 years, he made Hengxin a top jewelry industry, with as many as 15 brands and more than 400 stores.
Another admirable point about Li Houlin is that he can take the strengths of his predecessors.
The earliest diamond brand De Beers had a classic advertising slogan called "Diamonds are forever, a forever passed on", and Li Houlin also worked the slogan, creating a series of impressive copywriting for his brand.
As for the current hot DR, the "only one person in a lifetime" promotional copy created is also after the I DO brand.
In addition, Li Houlin was also the first businessman to smell the "traffic" business opportunity, he can be called the rich in the mainland married female celebrities, and used their fame to create momentum for his own business.
Although the rich have achieved fame, they love to get involved with female stars, but unlike Da Liu and Lin Jianyue, Da Liu and Lin Jianyue are the prosperous beauty of people who really love big beauties, and they are willing to spend a lot of money to satisfy themselves.
Li Houlin hunts for female stars, more or less with commercial overtones.
At that time, Li Houlin set his sights on female singer Zhou Yanhong, launched a strong pursuit of her, and made her the spokesperson of Hengxin.
Zhou Yanhong used his fame to help Hengxin expand his popularity, and also made his connections in the entertainment industry for Li Houlin's newly opened store, plus the scandal of the love between the two people spread, for a time Hengxin jewelry brought great attention, Li Houlin from a businessman, turned into a big boyfriend of an actress.
After that, it was reported that Li Houlin pursued the famous singer Sun Yue, and then in 2004, Li Houlin and the well-known host Li Xiang met for 33 days, and announced the marriage date in a high-profile manner.
At that time, the media was also overwhelmingly publicized, but at this time, Qin Hailu couldn't sit still after the three golden shadows, and her sister broke the news to the media, saying that Qin Hailu was dating Li Houlin, and was brutally split when he was proposed.
Qin Hailu himself burst into tears in the face of the media, saying that he was very hurt, so much so that he mentioned this relationship on "The Venus Show" many years later, and he was still worried.
Li Houlin first denied being in love with Qin Hailu, and later changed his words.
Li Xiang was the most popular host, singer and actor in the country at that time, and his fame was much greater than that of previous ones.
And he is well versed in CP marketing, and he does not forget to show affection wherever he goes.
"Xiangxiang, I love you more and more."
Li Xiang looks like a little woman happy, and generously said in "Lu Yu Has a Date" that it is nothing, and her husband now loves himself.
When Li Xiang and Li Houlin got married, they were also the representative of the strong combination of female stars and rich people, flash marriage, 100,000 white roses and lilies flown in, 3 carat South African pink diamonds worth more than 5 million, the wedding was a sensation.
Speaking hard, it was after Li Houlin that Wang Xiaofei married Da S, Liu Qiangdong married Zhang Zetian and other such marriages that each took what he needed, and various entrepreneurs married stars and then traffic PLUS win-win marriage matching.
Li Houlin ate all the dividends in this marriage, and he pulled the living signboard of the star wife from time to time to promote his business.
Compared with the mood at the beginning, the end of this marriage is very bleak, and Li Xiang and Li Houlin's marriage lasted only one year before announcing divorce.
Regarding the reason for the divorce, some say that Li Houlin is a domestic violence, and some say that Li Houlin is not the rumored diamond king Lao Fifth, but a "negative man".
Li Xiang's official statement is: The pressure of public opinion is too great to withstand all this.
When his friend He Jiong mentioned Li Xiang, he was sad to shed tears, and bluntly said that Li Xiang was not easy, which shows that in this marriage, Li Xiang may indeed be unhappy.
Li Houlin fully tasted the effect of star traffic in his marriage, and in the second year of his divorce, he quickly founded the "I Do" brand, implanted his brand in film and television dramas such as "33 Days of Broken Love", "Why Sheng Xiao Silent" and "I Do", and also collaborated with Eason Chen on songs.
I DO has also tailored customized diamond rings for couples, and star couples such as Dong Xuan and Gao Yunxiang, Li Xiaolu and Jia Nailiang have all used I Do diamond rings in weddings;
Even Da S and Wang Xiaofei, on the last anniversary before the divorce, also posted I Do diamond rings as a commemoration (in other words, a soft promotion for I DO was paid for a fee);
Well, these pairs, the ending is BE.
In December 2021, I Do signed Chen Xiaochun and Ying Caier as global spokespersons of the brand, and interacted with Liu Genghong and his wife in the live broadcast room and the glory of the king IP in 2022.
Li Houlin has always aimed at the capital market, behind the seemingly lively marketing, the company's actual performance is not outstanding, the model of burning huge money to engage in marketing is not desirable, and the diamond price of Hengxinjia is inflated, and the brand competition is not dominant.
Since 2006, Hengxin Xili has gone through 9 rounds of financing, and the ultimate goal is an IPO, but it still has failed.
With the decline of physical business in recent years, as well as the slump in the diamond industry, especially the news that diamond recycling is not preserved, people no longer believe in the value of diamonds, coupled with the real factor of low marriage rate, Hengxin's sales are deteriorating.
As of the end of June 2022, Hengxin Xili had 630 stores, compared with 85 offline stores closed in 2021, and the number of employees was reduced from 1,684 to 1,104, and wages and severance compensation were still in arrears.
Allowing the news to ferment, Li Houlin can not confront the times, and Li Houlin, who was once known as an industry disruptor, is just powerless in the face of changes in the environment.
I have to sigh that the time that belongs to him has really passed.
When Li Houlin first divorced, he said that any woman is stronger than Li Xiang, and recently his tone has changed, becoming, thank you for the growth this marriage has brought me.
Over there, Li Xiang never said bad things about his ex-husband, nor did he sell badly, and after the divorce, he immediately made a comeback.
Decorating a new company, planning new programs, and Hunan Satellite TV jointly established Mango Pictures, and cooperated with Bona to open Mango Bona International Cinema to invest in the production of film and television.
Joined the director of Shenzhen Satellite TV, hosted a new variety show, and then resigned and jumped to Qihoo 360 to become the president, like a strong woman.
She once wrote: "2007 will be my working year, everyone will see a workaholic Li Xiang, I hope you are not too surprised by the big change of a little woman." ”
With the advent of the e-commerce era, Li Xiang quickly transformed into a Taobao anchor, sparing no effort to sell goods, and earned a lot of money in continuous attempts and transformation.
Li Xiang, who has a straightforward personality, has never hidden his rich life, what food expenses exceed 600,000 yuan a month, mansion and house, and her daughter Wang Shiling is a famous brand, real wealth.
In the program "Oops Good Body", Li Xiang showed his extraordinary business acumen, as well as excellent personal ability and execution.
The marriage did have a slight twist and turn, but after leaving the husband Wang Yuelun, who was in the Internet era and seized the wind, Li Xiang, is still a walking money-making machine and an absolute representative of a noble lady.
And Li Houlin's ex-girlfriend Qin Hailu, although she has not become popular for many years, she has been polishing her acting skills down-to-earth, and won the back of the spotlight with her outstanding performance in "Old Tavern", and her acting career ushered in the second spring.
Emotionally, she met actor Wang Xinjun and fell in love and got married, and she had a very high evaluation of her husband, and finally lived the stable life she wanted, and the greatest happiness in life lies in seeking benevolence.
Today's Li Houlin, compared with the two predecessors who rode the wind and waves, is more sad and sad.
More than ten years ago, at that time, it was still popular for female stars to marry rich people, withdraw from the circle and teach their children, in fact, many people married the so-called wealthy family, even if they were not divorced, and in the end they were not a few.
On the contrary, those female stars who wake up in the dream of "rich marriage is a piece of insurance", once they use their real power to achieve themselves, they are out of control.
Li Xiang, who is in his 20s, once said with pure affection that family is much more important than career.
Qin Hailu has been expressing that he wants a stable home.
But at the end of the day, security is something that only they can give themselves.
A few days ago, I saw the host Lu Yu on Douyin, she talked about several episodes of Hollywood actresses whose careers were delayed by marriage, and at the end of the program, she said in a serious way that a good marriage and a good career can coexist, but they are a scarce luxury.
If she only chooses the same relationship and career, she will choose career, because marriage is a gamble, full of uncertainty, but career is her own control.
In the popular TV series "Go to a Windy Place" a few days ago, the heroine Xu Hongdou also frankly said, "Only what you have is your own."
I will not casually encourage everyone to make a cool essay choice, because I know very well that in this world, you don't care about whether a good marriage and a good career can coexist, because they are scarce goods separately, and it is not easy for you to get the same.
The only thing I want to say is that whether in marriage or career, never take back the power that belongs to you, put it on others, and pray for a dream that "a woman with a good life is simple and smooth".
There is never a simple smooth life in vain, all those who are doing well, where you can't see, exhaust their strength and pay the price. It is not a good life to live a simple life, it is that the woman has the ability, and the cloud lightly turns all the complexities in life into simplicity, and she gets a good life because of this.
"The great fortune of a man is that he is taught from birth to embark on an extremely arduous path, but the most reliable one; The woman's misfortune lies in being surrounded by almost irresistible temptations, she is not asked to strive upwards, she is only encouraged to slide down to bliss. When she realizes that she has been fooled by a mirage, it is too late, and her strength has been exhausted in the failed adventure. ”
Beauvoir's words are always worth encouragingly with all women.