Huangfu Sishu saw through his thoughts and motioned for his assistant to take out a bank card, placing it in front of him. "To show our sincerity, this card contains one hundred thousand yuan. Consider it a small deposit. Once the matter is concluded, you will definitely receive tens of times more benefits than this."
Zhao Jianhua glanced at the card before him but did not take it. He thought that a mere hundred thousand yuan to buy him off was simply devaluing him too much.
"I don't want your deposit. Just tell me what you need."
Huangfu Sishu knew he felt the amount was too little and asked with a smile, "Mr. Zhao, how would you like us to show our sincerity? Why don't you just say it?"
"I heard you have a tender recently for network technology companies, requiring the construction of a financial network service platform. I want to participate in this tender, and I hope you will consider my group."
Huangfu Sishu said with slight surprise, "Isn't Mr. Zhao's group in construction and real estate? Why are you interested in network technology?"
"Actually, the traditional construction industry has little profit left. My group is also undergoing transformation and is just venturing into some network technology."
Huangfu Sishu pondered for a moment and said, "I will discuss this with my elder brother when I get back. As long as your group has the relevant qualifications, participating in the tender should not be a problem."
Zhao Jianhua thought that the decision-maker of the Huangfu Group was indeed Huangfu Sisong, known in the industry as the 'Unfalling Pine'.
However, this person was very low-key, rarely appearing in public media, and lived a secluded life. All external activities were handled by his two younger brothers.
It seemed that the person behind the scenes orchestrating these plans to annex the Xie Corporation was Huangfu Sisong, and Huangfu Sishu was merely the one carrying out the tasks.
"Then thank you. I will have my secretary prepare a brief introduction of our group's capabilities in network technology immediately. Of course, I also hope to have the opportunity to win the bid and cooperate with you."
Huangfu Sishu nodded with a smile and stopped talking about it, urging him to eat.
He hadn't expected Zhao Jianhua's appetite to be so large. Their group's tender this time was to build and upgrade a financial platform, a massive network engineering project.
Their group's financial business already covered domestic and international banks, securities, insurance, trusts, funds, and stocks.
They had also built some network platforms before, but they were scattered and inconvenient for unified management by the head office, as well as for the financial operations of some comprehensive major clients.
His elder brother wanted to integrate all the independently operating small network platforms to establish a large financial network platform that covered all the group's domestic and international businesses.
Based on these considerations, his elder brother had issued a public tender, hoping to find a technically capable and strong network technology company.
For their Huangfu Group, this was also a long-term strategic plan. For Zhao Jianhua's group, which had just begun its transformation, to undertake this project was wishful thinking.
He couldn't outright refuse Zhao Jianhua; he could only report to his elder brother tomorrow and see what his brother's intentions were.
Zhao Jianhua thought that the first step was to obtain the qualification to bid for the Huangfu Group's project. Whether they could win the bid later was another matter.
Since they wanted his help to take down the Xie Corporation, he also wanted to use this opportunity to deepen their cooperation, firmly link their common interests, and then he wouldn't have to worry about them abandoning him after crossing the river.
After this dinner, Zhao Jianhua went straight home and told Zhang Yuyun about the matter.
Zhang Yuyun listened and said, "As expected, it's not that simple. It's good that you're smart and didn't accept that card. The condition you proposed is correct. If you hadn't brought this up, our newly established network technology subsidiary wouldn't even pass the qualification review."
Zhao Jianhua smiled slyly and said, "Don't you think this is interesting? Our subsidiary that is transitioning into network technology was supported by Xie Zhendong. Now, to open up business for this subsidiary, we can use the Xie Corporation as leverage to break through. It's truly using one's own strength to overcome another's, without us having to exert any effort."
"Xie Zhendong would never dream that he'd be lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet," Zhang Yuyun said irritably. "But he deserves it. For a mistress, he treated his wife like that. Karma always comes back to haunt you."
As she said this, she also glanced at Zhao Jianhua, seemingly referring to Xie Zhendong but also subtly warning Zhao Jianhua.
Zhao Jianhua couldn't feel smug. He felt like he had been cornered and said awkwardly, "I'm not like him. No matter what, I won't treat you badly for women outside. I can distinguish between casual flings and a wife of one's youth."
"Oh, that's good," Zhang Yuyun said coldly. "As long as you know how to negotiate with them, I'll be at ease."
Zhao Jianhua saw that she was still so indifferent and felt bored. He thought of the other women he had been with before.
Watching her leave, he felt disheartened about mending their marital relationship and thought it would be better to find a woman outside who would understand his needs.
...
Tianyi and An Jing had been working overtime at the group recently, also in preparation for participating in the Huangfu Group's public tender.
As soon as the Huangfu Group's tender announcement was released, major groups and companies in Lancheng with network technology capabilities were eager to try.
For this project's tender, Tianyi had also called Ai Yifeng back to Lancheng.
In terms of network technology, Ai Yifeng had the most experience, making him the most suitable person to return to headquarters as the person in charge of this tender.
Upon returning to Lancheng, Yifeng went directly to the headquarters of Aoxiang Group. He shared his ideas for the project during a meeting with Tianyi and the others.
Tianyi found his ideas quite good and asked him many questions, which he answered one by one.
When the meeting ended, they realized it was already late outside.
Ai Yifeng was preparing to go to a hotel to rest, but Tianyi pulled him aside and said, "Come home for a simple meal. You haven't seen Susu for a while, and she often mentions you."
"Yes, I occasionally send her messages," Ai Yifeng agreed. "That's fine, I also brought some gifts for the children, I'll bring them along."
Tianyi informed Susu in advance, asking her to prepare more food.
Knowing Yifeng was coming over, Susu personally cooked two dishes and prepared red wine.
When they returned to the villa and ate together, Little Xingxing was still a little afraid of Ai Yifeng and didn't want to call him, intentionally keeping her distance.
Ai Yifeng knew that he had treated Little Xingxing poorly before, leaving her with psychological trauma, and felt very guilty about it.
Therefore, he specially brought many toys that boys liked for Little Xingxing this time. However, he didn't give them to Little Xingxing directly. Instead, after the meal, he handed all the gifts to Susu, asking her to pass them on.
Susu had long forgiven her only brother. After settling the children, she accompanied Tianyi to chat with Yifeng in the living room.
Knowing that Yifeng had returned for a network project tender, and listening to him talk about the future development and prospects of network technology, she could feel that he was indeed very knowledgeable.
She secretly regretted that if Ai Shunan's company hadn't been ruined by Yang Sijie, it would have developed better under Yifeng's management.