"Chairman, the funds in the Dida Takeaway account suddenly increased by 12 billion, and with the additional 5 billion from the new round of financing, their account balance has reached 17 billion!" Chen Hu's seemingly top-secret information quickly found its way to Huang He's desk.
"This Chen Hu is quite interesting!" Huang He expressed mild surprise, but nothing more.
"Chairman, should we inform Zhao Yao of this intelligence?" the secretary asked.
"No need to rush," Huang He replied, shaking his head. "I want to see if this child, believing he has the upper hand, will forget his original intentions and make any foolish decisions!"
Meanwhile, at the headquarters of E Bubao, Zhao Yao fell into deep thought after learning that Dida Takeaway had resumed its delivery subsidies, snatching back many of the users he had accumulated.
The current situation felt difficult to handle. His original plan was to exploit his opponent's funding gap and use his accumulated funds to counter-attack, using subsidies for a final blow.
However, with Boss Huang's intervention, the battle had become a fair competition of 5 billion against 5 billion. Although E Bubao still held an advantage in service quality, Zhao Yao knew Chen Hu well enough to believe he had hidden trump cards that he hadn't foreseen.
This made Zhao Yao feel constrained in his response. Just as Zhao Yao was struggling with this dilemma, a call came unexpectedly from China High-Speed Rail Development Company.
After a month of trial operations, China High-Speed Rail Development Company was officially launching the world's first vacuum ultra-high-speed pipeline railway. They invited Zhao Yao, the chairman of E Bubao, with whom they had a pleasant working relationship, to attend the inaugural operation ceremony.
Zhao Yao naturally wouldn't refuse such an invitation.
A few days later, the grand inaugural ceremony commenced. The details of the event are not important, except to say it was as grand and significant as it could be.
Zhao Yao, as the head of E Bubao and a man worth billions, was merely an onlooker at the event. Even Huang He, the world's richest man, was seated only in the first row, without the qualification to sit on the main stage.
Following the ceremony, there was a ride on the first officially operating train. This was also why the ceremony was held in the northernmost part of the country. They were about to experience how, in less than three hours, they could travel from a city covered in ice and snow to a spring city with a year-round pleasant climate.
Zhao Yao was supposed to be eligible to board this first train. However, unfortunately, just as he was about to board, he urgently needed to use the restroom, and it was a rather pressing matter.
The train could not wait for Zhao Yao, so he was left behind, losing the opportunity to ride the first vacuum train with various leaders and the world's richest man.
When Zhao Yao emerged from the restroom, the once bustling platform was now rather empty. Soon, a large number of workers appeared, beginning to dismantle the temporary structures set up for the ceremony.
After all, the platform was scheduled to open to the public in a few days, and these temporary facilities would surely interfere with normal operations, so they needed to be removed promptly.
Of course, none of this concerned Zhao Yao. He quietly prepared to leave and took out his terminal to call his secretary, asking for a car to pick him up.
Although the company had made arrangements, the car sent to pick him up should have been waiting in Nanning. Who would have thought he was still in Harbin? They had to call for a car temporarily.
However, mid-sentence, Zhao Yao suddenly froze. He had just spotted a familiar figure standing beside a scaffolding, silently dismantling the fixing devices on it.
"Engineer Fan, how much longer will it take?" someone asked him.
"Soon, about twenty minutes!" the person diligently working replied.
"Alright, then hurry up. The leaders require us to clear the site before noon," the person said. "The manager said that as long as we finish on time, he's treating everyone today, and we can order any takeaway we want. This is a rare opportunity!"
"Okay!" the young engineer, surnamed Fan, replied, working even faster.
"Boss, your car will arrive in five minutes!" the secretary said on the phone.
"No need. Have the car wait for me at the hotel. I have other things to attend to now!" Zhao Yao hung up the phone, then walked behind the person, preparing to greet him warmly and reminisce about old times. However, Zhao Yao suddenly stopped.
Zhao Yao was not oblivious to social graces. If he approached him now, he would see him in his most disheveled state. How would they interact in the future?
With this thought, Zhao Yao immediately turned around and left the platform without looking back. Since he had just told his private car to wait for him at the hotel, Zhao Yao felt it awkward to have it return immediately. Moreover, his mood was complex, so he wandered aimlessly on the nearby streets.
After about an hour, he called his driver again to pick him up. Once in the car, he dialed that familiar phone number.
"Oh, it's our big president! What brings you to call me?" a somewhat surprised voice asked from the other end of the terminal.
"Nothing much, just an event today that your company organized, so I thought of you and wanted to catch up," Zhao Yao said with a smile.
"Oh! So you did attend today's inaugural ceremony? That's great. Your company is getting stronger and stronger. Tell me, did you see that person? Was it truly shocking and exciting to see them in person!" the other person said cheerfully.
"Yes, I couldn't have been more excited. I never imagined in my life I'd have the chance to meet that person! Hey, Old Fan, you weren't there, were you?" Zhao Yao asked.
"How could I be? I, Fan Rui, am not as lucky as you. Although I'm with China Ultra-High-Speed Rail Development Company and am a manager of sorts, there are many like me. I didn't have the qualification to attend this ceremony. I'm still here in the capital, directing the setup of the stations. I don't have your good fortune!" The person on the other end was Fan Rui, Zhao Yao's best friend.
"Ah, that's a real shame!" Zhao Yao chatted with Fan Rui for a while longer. Then, Fan Rui asked with concern, "Old Zhao, I saw that Dida Takeaway has started subsidies again. I had my branch employees only order from your company's takeaways, but now they're ordering from Dida Takeaway again. Is everything alright on your end?"
"It is a bit troublesome!" Zhao Yao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Old Fan, there's something I'd like to ask your opinion on."
"Go ahead. I'll help if I can!" Hearing Zhao Yao say this, Fan Rui became enthusiastic.
"It's like this, what do you think is the most important thing when you order takeaway?" Zhao Yao asked.
"Why are you asking me? I don't eat takeaway!" Fan Rui mumbled, then continued, "The most important thing is definitely the price. Whichever one is cheaper and offers better value, that's the one you order. Just like now, everyone is ordering from Dida Takeaway. But strangely, among our colleagues, hardly anyone says anything good about Dida Takeaway. They eat the food delivered by Dida while cursing them for slow delivery, poor packaging quality, frequent delays, and food that's incredibly unappetizing, arriving as a clump of noodles!"
"It's like I don't even know what they care about most, they curse and order at the same time!" Fan Rui's logic was somewhat confused, his voice fluctuating. Simultaneously, the sounds of people egging him on could be faintly heard.
"Ah, brother, I have something else to do. I'll hang up now. I'll chat with you again after I finish my work here!" With that, Fan Rui quickly hung up the phone, leaving Zhao Yao sitting in the taxi, feeling rather speechless.
"Boss, you seem a bit upset!" the driver said solicitously. He had been following Zhao Yao for a long time, their relationship was very good, and he was also Zhao Yao's confidant, so his demeanor was naturally more intimate.
"It's a classmate of mine. Because of one choice back then, now he's right in front of me, but I don't even have the courage to greet him, for fear of hurting his feelings. In the end, I can only have these deceitful conversations over the phone. I feel so tired!" Zhao Yao sighed, recalling the night of the college entrance examination eight years ago.
Back then, Fan Rui had given up on Jiangnan University, while he had fortunately gotten in. As a result, their lives had turned out this way. He still had to protect Fan Rui's precious self-esteem, to the point where his friend was right before him, yet they couldn't acknowledge each other.
"Boss, choosing to be your driver is the most correct decision I've ever made!" the driver said with utmost seriousness, which actually amused Zhao Yao, improving his mood considerably.
Once his mood improved, many things began to turn over in his mind again, such as Fan Rui's last words.
Although Zhao Yao had only spoken to Fan Rui as a pretext to avoid awkwardness, those words had given Zhao Yao an unexpected jolt.
He realized he might be making a mistake.