Zhan Ruoqing complained indignantly, "My brother came to see me today and bought me a lot of things. He kept trying to get information out of me, constantly asking me what you like and what your hobbies are. He even wants me to arrange for you two to meet! What else could this mean if he's not interested in you?!"
"I exposed his intentions right to his face, but he refused to admit it and got angry, saying it was Dad's idea! It's hilarious. Does my dad fancy you and want you to be our family's daughter-in-law..."
Zhan Li's intention?
Ye Zhi's eyebrows slightly raised. She didn't think Zhan Ruofeng would lie about something like this. It seemed the Zhan father and son were intentionally trying to curry favor with her?
"Did he say anything else?" Ye Zhi continued to ask.
"Anything else..." Zhan Ruoqing pondered for a moment and said, "Not really. But when he first came in, he complained to me for quite a while about Qianbai's investors. He said if it weren't for the newly appointed vice president who had a temper, they wouldn't be able to control them. He also said that without him, their self-operated business couldn't continue, let alone pressure the express delivery companies..."
Ye Zhi: ...
The Zhan father and son's way of showing favor was to reveal Qianbai's situation to her?!
Although she already knew that Qianbai was also developing its self-operated business, this was being carried out in a very secretive manner. Therefore, in the eyes of the Zhan father and son, she should not have known about it.
Ye Zhi didn't know what to say at this point.
She already had a defected spy, Feng Jie, and a hidden mole, Ou Minghan. Now, Zhan Ruofeng and his father, who held significant influence among Qianbai's investors, had also become her undercover agents?
Ye Zhi was truly speechless. Qianbai had been so thoroughly penetrated by her intelligence network that it was like a sieve!
She seriously suspected that one day, Qianbai's decisions might be delivered to her desk before they even left the conference room.
"Wait! Isn't self-operation what you, Taoxun, are doing? How can Qianbai also have a self-operated business?" Zhan Ruoqing finally reacted, saying angrily, "This is too much! Can't Qianbai forge its own path? This is clearly copying your successful experience!"
"Don't be angry," Ye Zhi comforted her with a slight smile. "If Taoxun can do self-operation, Qianbai naturally can too. To put it bluntly, it's just a super large supermarket. There's no reason why if I open one, others can't."
"Ye Zhi, can't you have a smaller perspective?" Zhan Ruoqing said helplessly, "Aren't you worried at all that they might surpass you and become bigger than you in business?"
"There's a saying, 'Those who learn from me live, those who imitate me die.' Qianbai and Taoxun are in completely different situations," Ye Zhi explained. "If Qianbai only learns from my ideas and then adapts them, choosing a path suitable for Qianbai, then Qianbai's self-operation still has the possibility of growing and becoming strong.
But if Qianbai merely copies Taoxun's model and strives to be exactly like Taoxun, then they won't go far, and it might even become a new burden for them."
"I understand!" Zhan Ruoqing suddenly realized, "You have absolute confidence because you have absolute strength!"
Ye Zhi was stunned for a moment, then chuckled, "You could say that."
"Hold on!" Zhan Ruoqing had completely grasped the situation now. "So, what my brother told me wasn't a complaint at all, but rather he wanted to reveal information to you through me?"
"Yes," Ye Zhi said with amusement, "I suspect your brother wants to see me to explore the possibility of investing in Taoxun. You truly misunderstood him."
"Huh?!" Hearing her say that, Zhan Ruoqing became even more upset. "What kind of gaze did my brother have?! A beautiful woman like you who is so good at making money, and he wasn't tempted to pursue you? I think he's blind! If I were a man, I would definitely pester you until you agreed to be mine!"
Ye Zhi: "...You scold him if he pursues you, and you scold him if he doesn't. What do you want him to do?"
"Ah, this..." Zhan Ruoqing was also stumped.
"Please relay my response to your brother. Investing in Taoxun is not necessary. Taoxun is currently progressing steadily and has no plans for rapid expansion. Direct investment would likely cause dissatisfaction among other Qianbai investors. However, I believe we may have opportunities for cooperation in the future," Ye Zhi said calmly.
"Alright, I'll pass it on," Zhan Ruoqing nodded in agreement.
After hanging up the phone, Ye Zhi removed the face mask and threw it into the trash can.
Cooperating with the Zhan family... it wasn't impossible, but she didn't quite understand Zhan Ruofeng yet. She should ask Qi Xuan for his opinion another day.
*
The next morning, Ye Zhi was busy in her office when Feng Jie came to see her.
"Is everything settled?" Ye Zhi asked.
"Yes, President Ye," Feng Jie said gratefully, "I have already settled my parents in..."
Feng Jie: ...
President Ye, must you do this?
"President Ye, I have no intention of becoming a lawless criminal like Ou Minghan," Feng Jie explained helplessly. "I had brief contact with those people who were following my parents. They were doing it for money, so I plan to buy them off. Waiting for another month is also to make them suffer a bit, which will make them easier to buy off."
"If you need money, just ask. Money is not a problem," Ye Zhi said.
Feng Jie was grateful, and he opened his mouth to thank her, but he swallowed the words back.
Ye Zhi was allergic to being touched by gratitude. If he really said it, Ye Zhi would definitely ruin the atmosphere.
It was better not to.
He would work hard for Ye Zhi and repay her in this way!
"President Ye, I just received reliable information that Feitong has presented data to investors, claiming they have made innovations and can achieve four-day delivery in pilot cities! Their General Manager Yang has even guaranteed that he can achieve even faster delivery speeds in the future!" Feng Jie said.
"Really? What method did they use?" Ye Zhi was very surprised.
Just yesterday, she had received intelligence that investors were pressuring Feitong to speed up their express delivery. She hadn't expected Feitong to pull off such a big move so quietly. Although it was only one day faster than five-day delivery, for those investors, it was definitely an encouraging piece of news that gave them the confidence to continue.
"It's not any sophisticated method," Feng Jie frowned. "They reached agreements with many residential property management offices and nearby small shops, paying them a sum of money each month to act as collection points for express deliveries."
Ye Zhi: ...
The prototype of a delivery station?