For a long time, Lan Shili always used "heaven" and "hell" to describe his life. In the paradise version of life, he invested in real estate, tourism, and aviation, built roads and built hotels. He was the ever-victorious "King of Hubei". At his highlight moment, he became the ri

For a long time, Lan Shili always used "heaven" and "hell" to describe his life.

In the paradise version of life, he invested in real estate, tourism, and aviation industries, built roads and built hotels. He was the ever-victorious "King of Hubei". At his highlight moment, he became the richest man in Hubei, with a net worth of 2.4 billion. .

In the hell version, he lost everything overnight, was imprisoned twice, was notified of critical illness three times, and even wrote a suicide note in despair to say goodbye to the world.

Until the age of 61, Lan Shili regained his freedom again, and everything returned to zero. When everyone thought he would retire, he announced his return and tried to enter the world again and stir up the water.

At the end of May, due to rising production costs, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola increased their prices respectively.

This is not the first time that the two major soda brands have adjusted prices. As early as last summer, "Coca-Cola bids farewell to the 3.5 yuan era" has been on the hot search many times.

As soon as the news was announced, Lan Shili, the actual controller of the domestic soda "Wuhan No. 2 Factory", immediately stated that he would seize the opportunity of "Liangle" to raise prices and create a new world:

"Coca-Cola seems to have left the track to me. , they are raising prices, we are lowering prices.”

For today’s young people, the name “Lan Shili” may be a little unfamiliar. After all, Lan Shili’s business empire has already collapsed due to his two imprisonments. The stories about him are no longer new.

But if we extend the timeline, counting from 1991, in the next 15 years, he was a victorious general in the shopping mall and the well-known "King of Hubei":

Technology, catering, tourism, In real estate, he has invested in more than ten industries and made a lot of money every time.

In 2005, he owned 20 aircraft, founded "East Star Airlines" and became the first person in China's civil aviation. It was also in this year that he became the richest man in Hubei with a net worth of 2.4 billion, and appeared on the Forbes rich list.

Lan Shili's old photos

Things are unpredictable. At the peak of his life, Lan Shili suffered two major blows: in 2010 and 2019, he was charged with evading tax arrears due to the bankruptcy of an airline, and was suspected of contract fraud. He was imprisoned twice, his wife and children were separated overnight, and his family fortune worth tens of billions was dispersed.

In 2021, Lan Shili was acquitted. At the age of 62, he returned to his hometown in Wuhan to start a new business in an attempt to make a comeback.

He bought 51% of the equity of Wuhan No. 2 Beverage Co., Ltd. and became the actual controller of the company. In just five months, Wuhan No. 2 Factory was listed on the Hong Kong stock market and became the number one soda stock in the country.

He also declared that he would "take on the entire beverage industry alone."

Wuhan No. 2 Soda Factory is listed on the Hong Kong stock market

In October 2023, Wuhan No. 2 Factory dropped a blockbuster on the beverage industry-launching orange juice soda with a price of only 1.99 yuan and a juice content of 15%, breaking the canned soda market in China in one fell swoop Low price of 3 yuan a can.

Wuhan No. 2 Soda Drink

Looking back at Lan Shili's career, "breaking market rules at low prices" is one of his most commonly used methods.

is now making a comeback, but the tricks are still the same.

It seems that the bottom of more than ten years has not exhausted Lan Shili's "qi". After returning to the mall, he is still as confident and arrogant as before.

He opened a social media account and used videos to comment on current hot business events:

He publicly attacked the "zero sugar concept" proposed by Yuanqi Forest Beverage. It is not only expensive, but also an IQ tax.

In the New Oriental live broadcast incident, he also commented that Yu Minhong should not invite Dong Yuhui back: "Dong Yuhui changed his signature and returned to his hometown. He can be fired 100 times here."

At the end of each video, fixed projects are always promoted A few words about my own soda and convenience store projects.

Lan Shili talks about Dong Yuhui

Under Lan Shili's video, some people are optimistic and think that Lan Shili's spirit of refusing to admit defeat is particularly vital. Some people are negative, thinking that he is "fooling customers."

Lan Shili never cared about these remarks. He called himself a "tumbler in the business world":

"Making money is the most important thing. My moment of glory has not yet come."

Lan Shili entered for the first time After being imprisoned, his brother Lan Hongwang once talked about an old incident of his younger brother in an interview with the media.

It was the early 1980s, and Lan Shili was 22 years old. Before that, because his father was in poor health, he took over from his father and worked as a salesperson in a supply and marketing cooperative in Hubei.

That year, the family bought their first TV set. Whenever Lan Shili had free time, he would squat at home and watch TV. Lan Hongwang was preparing for the adult college entrance examination and often asked Lan Shili to turn down the sound.

Lan Shili was a little dissatisfied: "Nowadays, everyone wants to be a householder worth ten thousand yuan to make money. Who would go to school?" He also promised his brother: "If you can pass the exam, I will give you 1,000 yuan; if you succeed, After graduation, I will give you a Zhang Wan Yuan passbook."

A few months later, his brother passed the college entrance examination and asked Lan Shili to "cash it in", but Lan Shili was hesitant and could only come up with 500 yuan. When asked why, Lan Shili said that he too I just got admitted to a technical secondary school and need money to study.

Later, Lan Hongwang found out that Lan Shili had a fight with someone at the supply and marketing cooperative not long ago. The other person said cruelly: "No matter how hard you work, you will only be a small salesperson for the rest of your life."

Lan Shili

"No "Convinced" became an opportunity for Lan Shili to return to school. Later, he was admitted to the Department of Economics of Wuhan University in 1984 and studied from undergraduate to master's degree.

Because of his poor family background, Lan Shili never wanted to ask for money from his family when he was in college. He only made money by picking up aluminum toothpaste casings, each of which could be sold for 2 cents.

The experience of poverty gave Lan Shili a deeper desire for money and success. When he became an adult, he changed his original name "Lan Sili" to "Lan Shili", which means being independent in the world.

After graduating from university, Lan Shili first worked in the Wuhan government agency. Within a year, he decided to resign and start a business.

In 1991, he rented a 15-square-meter store in front of Wuhan University and founded Dongxing Electronics Co., Ltd. His only assets were a Long March bicycle and 270 yuan.

His father did not agree with Lan Shili's decision. On the day he first went to Lan Shili's store, it happened to rain heavily in Wuhan. All the tables and chairs in Lan Shili's store were soaked in water, making it look particularly miserable.

Before leaving, his father said harsh words to Lan Shili: "If you must resign and start a business, I will not have a son like you." But the store has been rented and the resignation process has been completed. There is no turning back for Lan Shili.

At that time, the business scope of Lan Shili's store was mainly to repair office supplies, printing materials, and sell IBM computers as an agent. At that time, computers were still an emerging thing, and there were only a handful of businesses in Wuhan that could sell computers.

In just one year, Lan Shili earned 60 million, completing the accumulation of original wealth.

Lan Shili's old photo

At that time, Lan Shili occasionally received some foreign customers. In the process, he discovered that there were no high-end hotels in Wuhan, so he took the money earned from selling computers and invested 10 million to hire a professional team from Hong Kong. The team announced that it will build the most high-end hotel in Wuhan.

In order to recruit the best waiters, Lan Shili offered a monthly salary of 150 yuan. On the day of recruitment, the door was packed with applicants.

In 1992, the "Donggong Restaurant" founded by Lan Shili officially opened and became an instant hit. When

was most popular, the restaurant's daily turnover was more than 200,000 yuan. In that era, there were no credit cards and few hundred-dollar bills. Every day after work, the cashier had to spend a long time calculating the accounts. Within a year, Lan Shili earned another 100 million.

Lan Shili was 32 years old that year. He often wore a leather jacket. When he was happy, he would pull the jacket open, reveal his inner pocket, and say to people around him: I have thirty thousand yuan in my pocket right now.

Standing at the first peak of his life, Lan Shili never thought about failure at that time.

In Lan Shili's business history, the word "hard to give up" almost never appears - whenever he finds that the industry in his hands is getting into trouble, he will always give up without hesitation.

In 1995, Lan Shili's career began to encounter difficulties.

Although his computer store has changed from the original store to more than a dozen stores on Electronic Street. After the Donggong Hotel, he followed suit by opening a "West Palace" in Hankou, and the business was also very prosperous.

But as the industry became saturated, bidding became serious. In the past, you could earn two to three thousand yuan from selling a computer. By around 1995, you could only earn a few dozen yuan from selling a computer.

On the other hand, the hotel business has begun to decline with the rise of various catering shops, and the daily turnover has shrunk from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands.

And because there are too many stores in hand, Lan Shili has to spend more than 2 million each month on rent alone.

In order to save rent, Lan Shili decided to build his own building. He bought a piece of land and built a 21-story high-rise building. In addition to his own use, the remaining floors were rented and sold.

Under this situation, Lan Shili officially entered the real estate industry and opened the first real estate company in Hubei. At the same time, he also obtained approval to build a highway.

Lan Shili's old photo

Not long after he entered the real estate industry, Lan Shili went to Singapore on a business trip. A local said to Lan Shili: "We Singaporeans only have three things that we cannot lack in our lives: doctors, lawyers, and travel agencies, because travel agencies can Help us save a lot of money."

This sentence also paved the way for two other important modules in Lan Shili's huge business territory-travel and aviation.

In 2003, SARS broke out in China and many travel agencies faced bankruptcy. Lan Shili personally drove a van full of cash to Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing to acquire international travel agencies. In just a few months, he acquired 5 travel agencies. .

A year later, the number of travel agencies in his hands increased to 300, and he could earn hundreds of millions a year.

Lan Shili talked about acquiring a travel agency

In 2005, the civil aviation industry was officially opened to private capital, and Lan Shili entered the aviation industry.

He founded Eastern Star Airlines, took out a down payment of 180 million yuan, and leased and purchased as many as 20 aircraft with a total price of 12 billion yuan from General Motors of the United States and Airbus of Europe.

In the interview, Lan Shili, who was high-spirited at that time, talked about the plan for Eastern Star Airlines:

"We will use the best aircraft, the most beautiful flight attendants, the most beautiful clothes, the best food, and the fares will be higher than others." Cheap."

East Star Airlines founded by Lan Shili

In the year when he founded Eastern Star Airlines, Lan Shili became the "richest man in Hubei" with a net worth of 2.4 billion. He was selected into the Forbes rich list and became the first person to appear on the cover of Forbes magazine. of Chinese people.

Later in his autobiography, Lan Shili wrote:

"From the day I got a plane, everything changed. This made me unexpected and flattered... In the blink of an eye, I gained connections with various countries. The opportunity for heads of state, celebrities from all walks of life, and leaders from all walks of life to communicate on an equal footing felt like they were suddenly soaring into the sky, standing on the heavenly court and looking down at the world. "

" But it was also the Eastern Star that sent me to heaven and pushed me into it. Hell."

Lan Shili is not satisfied with the title of "Hubei's richest man": "Forbes underestimated my net worth. The richest man in Hubei is not that powerful, and he is not the richest man in China."

Some people say that Lan Shili is too arrogant. Arrogant, in fact, in those years, Lan Shili did have arrogant capital:

had been in business for many years and worked in many industries. Every time he tried, Lan Shili made money, and he had never even borrowed from a bank.

Perhaps it was too smooth. When the storm of failure approached, Lan Shili did not notice it at all.

Lan Shili during the Eastern Star Airlines period

In the early days of Eastern Star Airlines' establishment, in order to seize the market, it launched many low-price packages without accounting for costs, resulting in serious losses. Lan Shili had to mortgage his name. Real estate, in order to "transfuse" his aviation career.

In 2009, under the impact of the financial crisis, East Star Airlines' capital chain was completely broken, with debts as high as 600 million. In August of this year, after a court ruling, East Star Airlines Co., Ltd. declared bankruptcy. At the same time, it became the first bankrupt airline in China. civil aviation company.

Lan Shili was sentenced to 4 years in prison due to his inability to repay the debt and evading taxes of up to 50 million. When

first entered the prison, Lan Shili suffered a complete physical and mental collapse. He was notified of critical illness three times, his organs were in multifunctional failure, and he had to lose a bottle of glucose every day.

Life was hopeless. Lan Shili even wrote a suicide note in prison to say goodbye to his family and friends.

But it seems that the end of Lan Shili's story was not set here. He survived a narrow escape. After recovering, he began to read in the library every day and wrote nine books in one go.

Every time a "new person" comes in the detention center, he will chat with him and ask what new things are popular in the outside world.

In August 2013, Lan Shili was released from prison. One month after he was released from prison, he registered a Weibo account and announced his return:

"Hello everyone! I am Lan Shili! I am online!"

His former career map has long been After the collapse, Lan Shili began to deal with the remaining disputes while starting a new business.

He entered the aviation industry again. After many inspections, he acquired Siam Airways in Thailand and opened many routes from Thailand to Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, etc.

The good times did not last long. In 2015, Lan Shili and its partners planned to jointly acquire Thai Eastern Airlines. However, the cooperation broke down because the capital investment was not agreed upon. At the same time, the partners claimed that "Lan Shili had defrauded 343 million". Police report.

After escaping and being arrested, Lan Shili was imprisoned again in 2019. It was not until 2021 that Lan Shili was acquitted due to insufficient evidence.

After he was released, Lan Shili returned to Wuhan and went to the Yellow Crane Tower to shoot a video:

"The Yellow River is gone and will never return, but there is Lan Shili here. Wuhan, I am back."

Lan Shili Standing under the Yellow Crane Tower, Tiktok

At this time, it has been more than ten years since he last came to the Yellow Crane Tower:

The last time he climbed the Yellow Crane Tower, he accompanied a guest from the American Boeing Company to visit this place. , at that time Lan Shili had just founded Eastern Star Airlines and was full of enthusiasm.

Today, the Yellow Crane Tower remains the same, but everything has changed.

After he was released from prison for the second time, "starting over" became even more difficult for Lan Shili:

His wife of more than 20 years decided to divorce him, his friends shunned him, and all his previous property was reduced to zero.

But just like in his 20s, he returned to school because of someone else's words. After hitting rock bottom, Lan Shili still refused to admit defeat. He blocked all his relatives and friends and started his third business venture alone.

A recent photo of Lan Shili

Today, he still works 18 hours a day. In less than two years, he successively founded Wuhan Xiu Life unmanned convenience store, acquired Wuhan No. 2 Soda Factory, and laid new facilities in the city. Star convenience store. The first two projects of

were launched on the market in a very short period of time, and the third project is also in preparation.

The successive failures and blows in the past have not extinguished Lan Shili's arrogance. Nowadays, the sentence he talks about most often is:

"If you are not good at art and have courage, it is courting death. When you are good at art and courage, When you are old, this is your skill. "Whenever

is asked about retirement-related questions, he always uses Li Ka-shing, who is still working in his 90s, as an example: "I feel that my peak has not yet come, and I still have the ability to do more. Awesome thing." Lan Shili, who couldn't be defeated by

, started a new round of empire building.

In June last year, on the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of Dongxing Group, Lan Shili rented the Wuhan "Yangtze River Glory" cruise ship and held a grand celebration on it.

At the end of the celebration, Lan Shili sang the song "I'm Back" live. He sang:

"I once thought that the stage for you and me was over. I once thought that our reunion was a luxury. I never gave up hope. I Believe that everything will only make me stronger."

This year, Lan Shili turned 64. In the past 30 years, he has stood at the top, had wealth that others could not imagine, and also fallen into the bottom of the dark valley, and experienced things that others could not bear. Painful.

Even so, when asked about the past, he said: "If I could go back to my life, I would go down the same path again. "

" I don't regret it. "