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

Chapter 426, page 425: "We want to acquire Ele.me."

"The other party disagrees."

"Why doesn't he agree?" Fang Qingye asked, puzzled. "I didn't say I wanted to integrate with QQ, but with WeChat, which has only been online for a year. Why would he disagree?"

"I don't know either, but we can talk about him integrating with QQ," Wang Chenyang replied.

"What's the point of connecting to QQ? No way," Fang Qingye refused outright.

"Heh, Mr. Fang, how come you and Lin Haifeng have the same attitude? You value WeChat so much but ignore QQ," Wang Chenyang laughed.

"One is the rising sun of today, the other is the withered flower of yesterday. Of course, my analogy is a bit exaggerated. The most important thing is that Tencent will build an ecosystem around WeChat," Fang Qingye explained, then sighed.

"It seems Tencent has no chance."

"Yes, Mr. Fang, I didn't handle things well this time," Wang Chenyang said apologetically.

"You've done your best. You ignore me today, but you'll be begging for my attention tomorrow." Fang Qingye said calmly, "Alright, go back now. You don't need to go to work tomorrow; take two days off."

"I only took two days off. There's already a ton of work waiting for me at the company. Besides, I'm worried Zhang Xuhao will get suspicious if I take any more time off," Wang Chenyang explained with a smile. "I'll go to work tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

After Wang Chenyang left, Fang Qingye picked up the documents on the coffee table and silently began to read them.

The next morning at 8:00 AM, Fang Qingye arrived at Ele.me on time. At 8:30 AM, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alibaba Group appeared at Ele.me with a group of people, and the two sides began formal negotiations in the conference room.

Fang Qingye's side still consisted of Zhang Xuhao and Wang Chenyang, who had just returned from leave.

Unlike the previous meeting with Neil Shen of Sequoia China, which was like a friendly reunion, this time the atmosphere of the negotiations was somewhat tense.

"Chairman Fang, Alibaba has decided to invest 8 million yuan or even more. We have only one requirement: Alibaba must have a seat on the board of directors of Ele.me."

At this point, Cai Congxin paused and explained, "This is the requirement for some of Alibaba's important investments."

“I can grant your request,” Fang Qingye replied.

Upon hearing this, Cai Congxin across from him revealed a faint smile, and Zhang Xuhao, who was sitting next to Fang Qingye, also showed a happy expression.

He doesn't object to Alibaba sending people to the board of directors!
But Wang Chenyang, who was sitting next to him, was slightly surprised.

Fang Qingye has always adhered to the principle of refusing to let Alibaba join the board of directors. Why did he suddenly change his mind today?
Could it be that this was a compromise or concession made after discussing the situation with Tencent yesterday?
At this point, Fang Qingye added, "However, I have one condition: Ele.me must get traffic from Taobao and become one of the default entry points on the Taobao homepage!"

“I’m sorry, Chairman Fang, your request is too high, we cannot agree to it,” Cai Congxin replied.

"It's not that high, is it? Ele.me has built a relatively complete food delivery business chain, covering the entire process from order processing to delivery, while Alibaba has begun to delve into local life services and created Juhuasuan. Our cooperation should be a win-win situation, right?" Fang Qingye said.

“You’re right, Chairman Fang.” Cai Congxin looked at Fang Qingye sitting opposite him: “This is the fundamental reason why we value Ele.me, but our current shareholding in Ele.me is not enough to make Alibaba make such a big concession.”

Fang Qingye understood what he meant.

To gain access to Taobao, Alibaba must acquire a larger stake!

At this moment, Zhang Xuhao interjected: "But President Cai, according to our financing plan this time, 800 million is sufficient."

Cai Congxin did not answer his question, but just looked at Fang Qingye.

Fang Qingye paused for a moment before speaking, "President Cai, how much are you prepared to invest to be satisfied?"

"We want to acquire Ele.me."

Acquire Ele.me?!

Wang Chenyang, who hadn't spoken until now, looked shocked, and even Zhang Xuhao, who had been beaming with joy, now had a look of astonishment on his face.

Cai Congxin leaned back, seemingly to make himself more comfortable, and after a moment said, "Ele.me is valued at 60 billion in the valuation report, and Alibaba is willing to acquire it at a premium, offering 70 billion RMB!"

70 million RMB!

Zhang Xuhao's heart suddenly skipped a few beats. He now owns 15.6% of Ele.me's shares, which means he could get nearly 11 billion RMB in the blink of an eye!
11 billion.

Just three years ago, they were struggling to raise 20 yuan for their startup, and were almost defeated by "Xiaoyezi Dangjia," a food delivery platform with 100 million yuan in funding!
But now, he and his three friends can each get 11 billion RMB! His gaze turned to Fang Qingye sitting next to him.

Fang Qingye remained silent.

He realized that this was the first crisis Ele.me had faced.

"This is our detailed acquisition information." Cai Congxin handed a document to Fang Qingye.

“Please take a look and give us a reply as soon as possible,” Cai Congxin suggested from the other side.

“President Cai, we are seriously considering this,” Zhang Xuhao said hastily before Fang Qingye could speak.

Cai Congxin looked at Fang Qingye once again.

Seeing that he nodded in agreement, a satisfied smile finally appeared on his face.

After the Alibaba group left, the three of them looked at the documents, which were quite simple.

Ele.me's investors are now cashing out and leaving, at which point Alibaba will reorganize the board of directors, but Ele.me's management team can be retained.

In other words, Zhang Xuhao and his team will continue to work at Ele.me, only they will go from being founders to employees.

Fang Qingye is definitely leaving!

Zhang Xuhao and Wang Chenyang both looked at Fang Qingye.

"When will Deng Ye be back?" Fang Qingye asked.

“He is currently based in Lanzhou, building a local Ele.me team to become an important part of the Northwest region,” Zhang Xuhao replied.

At the beginning of the year, in order to consolidate resources and refine management, Ele.me divided the country into six major regions, including East China, North China, and Northeast China, with Lanzhou belonging to the Northwest region.

"Tell him to come back. We'll have a board meeting in three days to discuss Alibaba's latest proposal," Fang Qingye said.

“OK, I’ll have the board office notify them right away,” Zhang Xuhao said.

The board members hold 90% of the shares, so the board's decisions essentially represent the decisions of the shareholders' meeting.

Fang Qingye nodded, left the conference room, and instead of returning to his office, he drove away directly.

On the way back to the villa, Fang Qingye made a phone call to Wang Chenyang.

"Chenyang, I need to go back to Nanxin to take care of some bank matters."

Wang Chenyang naturally knew that Fang Qingye had acquired the original Nanxin Rural Bank, so he didn't say anything. He wanted to ask Fang Qingye what he was thinking, but was interrupted by the other party's words: "Pay attention to the internal developments of the company these days."

“I understand. The news from earlier will spread quickly, and it could potentially cause unrest,” Wang Chenyang said, expressing his concern.

"It's only three days, it's no big deal." Fang Qingye said in a relaxed tone: "You don't need to worry about others, just keep an eye on Zhang Xuhao and the others."

"Okay, I'll pay attention."

The two chatted for a few more words and then hung up the phone.

Alibaba is going to acquire Ele.me!

The news spread like wildfire throughout Ele.me's headquarters, instantly turning the previously calm atmosphere into agitation.

Of course, ordinary employees do not have shares; they are only concerned about whether their treatment and situation will change.

There were those who agreed and those who disagreed, and some even argued about it. Department heads had to issue an order: no one is allowed to discuss this matter during work hours! Violators will be fined according to company regulations!

The surface was suppressed, but undercurrents were still surging.

Fang Qingye was quite relaxed at this time. After returning, she didn't go to the bank, but instead drove to Yingchi to go fishing.

(End of this chapter)