I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 214 When it rains, it pours; when the boat is broken, it encounters a headwind.
Zhang Xuhao was in his dormitory, looking at a computer screen with another young man, discussing something.

Today is National Day, and my roommates all went out to play, but they stayed in the dormitory all day busy with their own things.

That same April, he and three like-minded friends—all students at Jiaotong University—founded an online restaurant called "Ele.me".

The initial entrepreneurial journey was both joyful and arduous. Everyone fought side by side. In the beginning, the team contracted the takeout business of a restaurant to familiarize themselves with the "market conditions".

As the team leader, Zhang Xuhao slept only four to five hours a day for several months in a row, and often personally delivered food, never stopping even in stormy weather.

In this way, reputation and popularity were gradually built up. Today, "Ele.me" has become a popular term for ordering food among Jiaotong University students. People can simply click the mouse and their food will be delivered to their door automatically.

However, at this point, they encountered a predicament.

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a young man stormed in, shouting:
"Damn it! Little Leaf has no sportsmanship, he's starting a subsidy war!"

His name is Kang Jia, and he is one of the core members of the Ele.me team.

Unlike Zhang Xuhao, who is dark-skinned and thin and dresses rather sloppily in summer with just a T-shirt, floral shorts, and slippers, Kang Jia, from Xi'an, has fair skin and dresses very well.

Today, she wore a solid-color shirt carefully tucked into her jeans, paired with stylish leather shoes, looking very elegant and handsome.

Unfortunately, all he says is profanity.

Kang Jia's words immediately made the two busy people stop and turn around to look at him.

"what happened?"

"Just now, Xiao Yezi announced online that, in addition to the same 8% commission, she will personally pay for a free drink or a fried egg with each meal!"

Zhang Xuhao fell silent immediately.

Xiaoyezi's full name is Xiaoyezi Dangjia, a food delivery brand founded by their senior brother Luo Yulong, and it is superior to Ele.me in terms of scale and funding.

The current situation for both companies is as follows:

"Little Leaf in Charge": Registered capital of 100 million yuan, all certificates are in order, they drive a car when going out for business negotiations, and they have their own office;

"Ele.me": Startup capital of 10 yuan, no license, operating by electric scooter and dormitory.
There's no comparison at all.

"Damn it, I'm going to find that guy surnamed Luo and beat him up, he's just bullying me."

Kang Jia has a refined appearance, but deep down he has the wildness of a man from the Northwest.

Zhang Xuhao quickly stopped his companion's impulsive act: "Fists won't solve the problem. The most important thing right now is to figure out how to deal with it!"

"How to deal with it? It's simple, a tit-for-tat! They give us drinks and fried eggs, we give them to them too! We can even go further than them! But the problem is, we don't have any money!" Kang Jia said.

Zhang Xuhao fell silent again.

Kang Jia glanced at the young man beside him who hadn't spoken and asked, "Wang Yuan, how's the programming for your Napos system coming along?"

"It's still being debugged," Wang Yuan replied.

Although Wang Yuan was not a student in the computer science department, he had the best programming skills in their team, so the task of developing the software was assigned to him.

Napos is a software system they are developing to help restaurant businesses manage orders and cashier operations. It includes modules for dine-in ordering, telephone order management, online menu management, and order notifications.

It is Ele.me's secret weapon. Once successfully developed, it transformed from a food ordering platform into a comprehensive catering management solutions provider.

But before it has even been developed, it has already been attacked by its competitors!

"There's also bad news: 'Han Tang Catering' has also been snatched up by that guy surnamed Luo."

"What?!" Zhang Xuhao stood up abruptly upon hearing Kang Jia's words.

Han Tang Catering was ranked number one on all major food delivery websites at the time. Zhang Xuhao and Kang Jia, in order to secure the restaurant deal, frequently appeared cheerfully before the owner, offering him services and even accompanying him to foot massages. Ultimately, the owner secured an exclusive partnership with Ele.me. But unexpectedly, it was snatched away by Xiao Yezi.

"I've heard that this restaurant owner, surnamed Luo, is giving out extra subsidies," Kang Jia said.

It's truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly, and a broken boat encountering a headwind.

"Sigh," Zhang Xuhao sighed, not knowing what to say.

Kang Jia calmed down and said, "The only way out now is to find investment and launch a subsidy war. Only then will we have a chance to survive."

"It's easier said than done. Who would be interested in a company we started in a dormitory?" Zhang Xuhao said with a wry smile.

"Hey, didn't Deng Ye go off to raise investment? I wonder if there's any news?" Wang Yuan suddenly asked at this moment.

“I’ll call him!” Kang Jia immediately pulled out his phone.

"No need to call anymore, I'm back!" A voice came from the doorway, and then the door was pushed open, and a boy with long hair walked in.

He was Deng Ye. Unlike Kang Jia, who had just come in furiously, Deng Ye was all smiles.

"Have you found an investor?" Kang Jia asked hurriedly.

"I guess you could say I found an investment company called Tuofang Commerce & Technology Investment Company, which is located in the Yangpu University Student Entrepreneurship Demonstration Park," Deng Ye said.

"How much are they willing to invest?" Kang Jia asked hurriedly.

"Who is the company owner? How many people are there? How big is the company?" Zhang Xuhao, being composed, considered this question first.

"We didn't discuss the investment amount because I haven't met the boss. As for the company size, it only has one office. When I went there, there was a girl sitting inside who claimed to be the company's chief financial officer, but judging from her appearance, she probably graduated less than two years ago," Deng Ye replied.

"Holy crap! What kind of company is this? It doesn't sound reliable at all!" Kang Jia exclaimed in surprise.

"It sounds a bit like a scam company!" Wang Yuan added from the side.

Deng Ye looked somewhat embarrassed and explained, "But I heard from the CFO that their company has already invested in two companies, each with an investment of tens of millions!"

"That's an outrageous boast! With such formidable resources, you only have one office?!" Kang Jia sneered.

"Anyway, that's all I know about Xuhao. You're our boss, so you decide whether to contact them or not," Deng Ye asked, spreading his hands.

Zhang Xuhao fell into thought.

Unlike his three companions who had no business experience, Zhang Xuhao's family had a strong business background. His great-grandfather was the "Button King" of Shanghai during the Republic of China era, his uncle was known as the "Bearing King," and his father was in the fishing gear business.

Of course, Mr. Zhang strongly disapproved of his son starting Ele.me, because that's not running a real business!

He enjoyed it immensely, but getting money from his father was impossible.

“Let’s give it a try and meet their boss,” Zhang Xuhao said, raising his head to make the decision.

“Okay, I’ll call that CFO!” Deng Ye took out his phone.

Fang Qingye didn't receive Li Li's call; Bai Ou answered it instead.

In the afternoon, Fang Qingye was busy at her nursery when she suddenly received a video call from Bai Ou in Shanghai via QQ.
"Ye Zi, someone approached Li Li today and said their team is looking for investment."

"Oh, what team? What do they do?" Fang Qingye asked.

"It's an online food delivery team called Eleme."

Are you hungry?!

(End of this chapter)