Is Dang Le Nguyen Vu awake or dreaming? Is he driving or is he imagining the journeys on his billion-dollar supercars...? I really don't have an exact answer.
Before going into hiding, Dang Le Nguyen Vu was known for his passion for cars. Perhaps because occasionally, people saw his supercars appearing on the streets. When he retired to M'Drak ( Dak Lak ), Vu still caused a stir when he used a fleet of expensive cars to give away books in many provinces/cities across the country in the program "Journey from the Heart" with the goal of starting a business for 30 million Vietnamese youth initiated by Trung Nguyen.
But perhaps no one has actually seen Vu behind the wheel, nor is there any information about the "King" of Vietnamese coffee's love for this or that type of car. Having known Vu for nearly 2 decades, I have never heard him talk or show any interest in vehicles. Discovering Dang Le Nguyen Vu's car story not only shocked me but also left me with many thoughts about life, about human nature. Especially Dang Le Nguyen Vu's journey driving across Vietnam, both realistic and fantastical.
How many cars does Dang Le Nguyen Vu own?
Although I didn't care, Dang Le Nguyen Vu's car story impressed me very early. About 15-16 years ago, every day on my way to work, passing by Trung Nguyen headquarters in Bui Thi Xuan (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), I still saw Vu's military-colored cars parked in front of the door. Once, I curiously asked the reason, Vu said he painted them in military colors to remind employees in the group about discipline. Military-level discipline is needed for the system to be strong and go far. At that time, I knew almost nothing about cars, so I didn't pay attention to what cars Vu drove, whether they were expensive or cheap, but just admired him for "daring" to paint his entire fleet of cars and then completely forgot about it. So I really don't know if Vu was crazy about cars or not.
The cars were painted in military colors by Dang Le Nguyen Vu to remind employees of military discipline, to make the system strong and go far.
NH
Later, when the public was abuzz about the supercar fleet giving away books, many people criticized Vu for being ostentatious. He did not respond. When I asked him again and again, Vu explained: This is also a way to allocate resources. If Trung Nguyen's revenue is 5,000 - 6,000 billion, then spending 10%, equivalent to 600 billion, on marketing is nothing. Advertising and PR on TV have been going on for years. "I told you to buy a car, I teach people how to get rich, but if I'm not rich, who will believe? You have to show off, show off this and that. Buying a car means you still have assets."
The cars were gathered at the horse stable area.
From a media perspective, Vu's use of this "trick" was both effective and least costly. The fleet of supercars of the "King" of Vietnamese coffee giving away books has become a hot keyword until now, but the assets are still there. Every time I went to Vu's farm, I went to the parking area to look around (because I didn't know much about cars), so I didn't understand anything. It was only when I returned to M'Dak this time that Vu's car-related stories made me interested and shocked.
For the first time, Dang Le Nguyen Vu revealed that he owns about 500 cars. If true, with this number, Vu is probably the individual with the most cars in Vietnam. "You buy a lot of cars, but you stay in the cave all day like this, do you use them?" - I asked . "Very few. There are cars that have been abandoned for 7-8 years, now that I have free time, I will let you maintain them", then Vu asked me back, "Do you know what you bought the car for? Women will never understand?". "For media, right?". "Actually, it's deeper. It's a liability, not an asset. Because if you consider it an asset, just maintaining and servicing it will cost a lot of money."
Prefab houses filled with cars at the horse ranch
"So you bought it for business?" - I asked. Vu waved his hand, seemingly dissatisfied with my trivial question: "No, not for business. I don't lack money. My plan is to get at least a thousand billion USD for Vietnam, right?".
"Are you afraid that people will think you're delusional when you say that?". "I must have something for me to say that. Now I'm telling my sister, why would I say that to ordinary people? When God chose this nation, God had to give something. Humanity had to give money. Don't worry about that. Now there are 210 countries, let's take 200, if you say trillions, each country has 5 billion USD, it's nothing. I'll solve all of their problems, it's not difficult."
"So which car do you like the most? - This time I decided to ask until the end . " No, I never loved the car. I bought it just like that, I didn't look at it at all. After 10 years, I gave it up. But later, I will auction it, helping young people start businesses. The price of what I own will be different in the future."
Dang Le Nguyen Vu is like that, whether he is a "heavenly chosen" person as he claims or the Chairman of Trung Nguyen Group, the aspiration to help young people, to help young people start businesses and get rich is always his top priority. Therefore, even though he does not leave the restaurant for a whole month, his great journey of helping 30 million young Vietnamese people start businesses is still being carried out everywhere.
The E-Coffee model with a 0 VND transfer fee to upgrade coffee shops, upgrade Vietnam's coffee culture after only 3 years of launching (2 years of which were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic) is still growing strongly with an average of 20 stores/month. To date, Trung Nguyen E-Coffee has more than 700 stores across the country, more than 1,000 franchise contracts have been successfully signed, contributing to realizing the startup dream of the coffee enthusiast community.
Abroad, Trung Nguyen Legend coffee space in Shanghai, the coffee capital of the world, has become a "must-visit" hot address for locals and tourists. What is more admirable is that even though it has been less than a year since opening, and despite the economy being in a difficult period, Trung Nguyen's coffee shop in Shanghai has made a profit, paving the way for Vu to realize his aspiration of bringing a coffee space imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity, Vietnamese cuisine, and Vietnamese language to the world. To me, Vu is still one of the people with many unique, novel, and effective business ideas.
I go count cars
On the second day in M'Drắk, I was determined to "count" the number of cars of Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ. To see what brands he owned, which ones were supercars, to estimate how much money he spent on this luxury hobby. So right after breakfast, we moved to the horse farm area. All of Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ's cars were gathered here. They were long, wide, roofed prefabricated houses, empty on all four sides but looked sturdy. From afar, I saw cars lined up densely inside. I entered the first house, and what caught my eye were several Rolls Royce cars parked neatly, looking clean and not covered in dust and time as I thought, when I heard Đặng Lê Nguyên Vũ say he had neglected them for nearly ten years.
I started counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Rolls Royce cars. I remember, sometimes I read here and there that this person owns a Rolls Royce worth tens of billions, even tens of billions... I didn't know what kind of cars these were, but I guessed they were expensive when I saw how luxurious, sturdy and beautiful they were. "These are supercars", I thought and walked along the row of cars I had counted and taken pictures of. But halfway through the house, I had counted more than a dozen cars, still Rolls Royces, of all types and sizes. "The cars are arranged by brand, probably for easy recognition" - I thought and forgot again how many cars I had counted. I had forgotten once before because I was busy taking pictures, busy admiring the cars of all types. Looking at the remaining half of the street, still filled with cars patiently waiting, turning to face the row of uncounted cars lying in layers... I was really stunned.
Dang Le Nguyen Vu's Rolls Royce car series
When I was full of enthusiasm to count the cars, I didn't think I could be shocked by the inanimate, lifeless cars. But when I saw Vu's long line of supercars with my own eyes, I was really shocked. Shocked because I had never seen so many expensive cars. Shocked because I had never thought that someone owned so many supercars. And thinking about this huge pile of assets abandoned here by the owner, the ordinary me was shocked with regret. Mr. Son - the manager of the horse farm area, said that at the farm there was a team whose daily task was to... start the cars. And every month, a professional team from Ho Chi Minh City was hired by the company to come to Dang Le Nguyen Vu's car fleet to perform warranty and technical maintenance.
Just as Vu said, the money to maintain this number of cars, just thinking about it makes me dizzy again, I'm not in the mood to count even though I'm just wandering around the first house. There are similar rows of houses, each with 2, 3 rows of cars running all the way to the vast horse-raising area... I passed by the second house and didn't count anymore. The third and fourth houses just stood outside taking a few pictures... there are tons of cars, all kinds, all designs. I don't know if there are up to 500 cars like Vu said, but honestly, I've never seen an individual own so many cars. I asked Mr. Son if Vu liked any of these supercars. "The chairman loves cars but doesn't like any one the most" - Mr. Son replied.
Next time I come up here, I will definitely count them all. I promised myself before leaving.
Did Vu really drive across Vietnam?
Dang Le Nguyen Vu said that his staff "was very fed up with me" when they saw me in Saigon at 7am. "Because here (M'Drắk) at 3am I left. I drove back to Saigon by myself. The police checkpoint brothers are now close friends. I didn't violate anything but they stopped me and said hello. From here to Saigon, I passed 14 checkpoints, I was stopped at every checkpoint, now they are all friends. Some brothers even asked for my phone number, saying that when I have time, they should invite me to drink. My brothers are very nice" - Vu said excitedly. This was probably the first time I heard Dang Le Nguyen Vu talk about vehicles and his driving.
"There were times when I was stopped, my brother said I was going 10km, 20km too fast. I said my car was too strong. Later, my brother had to propose something else. Trucks have different speeds, cars have many different speeds. Super cars have to be several hundred km/h. They (manufacturers - NV) make them several hundred km/h because it's safe. Now, if you force me to go like those other cars, how can I go? So it's a bit too much" - Vu laughed dryly.
Being stopped many times, Vu sometimes changed cars, to avoid being recognized, to make the journey smoother. I said "it proves that you still love driving". Vu shook his head and said: "Drive more leisurely. The scene outside is constantly changing, it's different. Just sitting here, it moves, when it moves, it decides, when it decides, Qua is too tired, too heavy. Nguyen Hang must understand, knowing too much is tiring. Knowing too much but not being able to help, is even more tiring. Knowing the miserable fates and all the things happening there but not being able to do anything is very tiring".
The first time I saw Vu exclaim, my heart sank. When he talked about the ordeals he went through to become the chosen one, "I have gone through the realm of ghosts, the ghost of ghosts, the god of gods. The challenges I have gone through, from the visible to the invisible, from consciousness to unconsciousness, tyranny". Or when he pinched his own hand and said "every single moment of mine must suffer pain"... I still did not feel the tiredness and loneliness of Dang Le Nguyen Vu like now. I imagined Vu alone in a supercar, driving across Vietnam day and night, resting when tired, getting better. Hanging out at street stalls, chatting with the pessimistic people in society. That image was so strange to me, to Vu, but it made me feel more secure. Because Vu like that was closer. More real.
I asked Vu, "Have you ever regretted being the chosen one?" Vu said, "I have." I don't want to think about those things because it makes it heavier. "I don't want to be the chosen one, but if God chooses me, I have to accept it" - Vu's voice was light. Seeing that I was still immersed in everyday emotions, he encouraged me, "Don't look at my body like that. It's not like that, not like you sisters see it like this. Biologically, I have no more illness. Nothing can penetrate me anymore."
When he saw that I seemed unable to understand what he said, Vu lowered his voice sympathetically: "But that's it, just see me like the past, just take note. Later you will see miracles. My sister never imagined in this mortal world but in movies, in some myth. It's not the time for you to see that. I don't want to either. Now I just get into the world, playing this role and that role. I went down to play with lottery ticket sellers, street vendors... giving them some money. Those people were crazy about me. It was the same in Hanoi, the street vendors were happy to see me. I just went around, hanging out with them, without any boundaries. I drove alone to Hanoi, to Da Nang, to Ha Long, got on a boat and stayed for 3 days and 3 nights. I went up to Chau Doc, Sa Pa and stayed for a week there. I went everywhere like that, penetrating every place." Vu's voice became excited again when telling the story of driving across Vietnam.
But when I had just come out of my trivial nostalgia and asked, "Have you been gone for long?", Vu brought me back to the utmost confusion: "That means take me away, take me away forever." Decoding it in Vu's language, it means "Heaven takes you away, takes you away."
So, is Vu's journey across Vietnam, and the 14 checkpoints with those "cute" brothers real or just a journey in Dang Le Nguyen Vu's subconscious?
I really don't know.
Thanhnien.vn
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