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

Chapter 578, Question 577: "Chairman Fang, what are your chances of winning this competition against Meituan?"

"Did you hear that from Bai Ou?" Fang Qingye asked.

This matter was only circulating among some investment institutions; Fang Qingye did not tell anyone at Nanxin.

"Yes," Song Dahai answered truthfully, "When I heard about this, I discussed it with Meimei and we decided that Kerry Group would also invest."

“Last time, Qian Xiaoli, Li Le, and others each invested 5000 million yuan through their family companies. But my brother objected. How much do you think that 5000 million yuan will turn into?”

"Ele.me's valuation was 200 billion last time, and in just two years, it has skyrocketed to 20 billion! That's a tenfold increase, so 5000 million has become 5 million!"

“However, if Ele.me fails to go public, it will be difficult to realize its promises unless the equity is transferred,” Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Hehe, with you, Ye Zi, around, how could Ele.me not go public?" Song Dahai replied, then added, "Kerry Group has limited funds and can't invest much, at most 100 million, how about that?"

Fang Qingye pondered for a moment and said, "Dahai, I don't recommend you invest in Ele.me."

Song Dahai looked disappointed, but managed a forced smile: "Ye Zi, do you think it's a bit unethical for me to invest spare money before I've even paid off my debts?"

"To be honest, Kerry Group has managed to stabilize itself by shrinking its business scope and selling assets, but it will be difficult to restore its former glory by relying solely on real estate. So I'm thinking of making some investments. If that doesn't work, then forget it."

"Da Hai, you misunderstood, that's not what I meant." Fang Qingye laughed, "I also have a company called ByteDance, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I often read Toutiao too. I've heard it's developing very quickly," Song Dahai replied.

"It is estimated that it will raise funds in the second half of this year. You can invest in this. Its current valuation is relatively small, but its investment value is greater. The returns will be higher than Ele.me."

“Okay, I’ll do as you say,” Song Dahai immediately agreed.

The couple sat for a while longer before leaving to return to their home by the lake.

Fang Qingye also went upstairs to her bedroom.

A few days later, Fang Qingye received a call from Yang Jie, the general manager of Pengcheng Mingcheng Financial, who said he was very interested in Ele.me's latest financing and hoped to discuss some matters in person. He asked if Chairman Fang could come to Pengcheng.

"Okay." Fang Qingye readily agreed, "I'll make preparations and get there as soon as possible."

"OK, I'll be waiting for Chairman Fang's arrival in Pengcheng."

After receiving Yang Jie's call, Fang Qingye immediately called Zhang Xuhao and Wang Chenyang in Shanghai, briefly explained the situation, and asked Wang Chenyang to prepare the relevant documents so that they could go to Shenzhen together the next day.

That afternoon, Fang Qingye took a car to Shanghai, and the next morning she boarded a plane to Shenzhen.

There were three people traveling to Shenzhen this time: Fang Qingye, Wang Chenyang, and Song Xiaoqing, the deputy director of Ele.me's finance department, a man in his early thirties who was also Wang Chenyang's capable assistant.

Mingcheng Financial's address is in the Excellence Financial Center in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone. Fang Qingye and her two companions checked into a nearby luxury hotel and met Yang Jie in the company's conference room the next morning.

A middle-aged man in his forties, with a buzz cut, looked very energetic. Although he lived in Shenzhen, his Mandarin had a Beijing accent; he had been transferred from his parent company, COFCO Capital Investment Co., Ltd.

The meeting also included the Minister of Investment and relevant staff from Mingcheng Financial. The meeting lasted all morning, with both sides exchanging in-depth views on Ele.me's current situation and future prospects. "I saw in your company's materials that Ele.me has already begun preparations for an IPO?"
"Yes, our target market is Hong Kong, and we aim to complete the listing process within two to three years," Fang Qingye answered frankly.

"Of course, the premise is to maintain Ele.me's leading position in the market. I think if the leading company in an industry cannot go public, other companies can forget about it."

"Chairman Fang, what are your chances of winning this competition against Meituan?" Yang Jie asked again.

"Ninety percent."

Yang Jie laughed. "Chairman Fang, why are you so confident?"

“We’ve already explained Ele.me’s advantages very clearly in the materials, so I won’t go into detail. I’d like to talk about Ele.me’s competitor, Meituan,” Fang Qingye said.

"Meituan's biggest advantage now is that it is backed by Alibaba. In addition to receiving financial support from Alibaba, the most important thing is that it can get traffic from Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall platforms. However, we have signed strategic agreements with JD.com and Dianping, and have also gained traffic from these two companies' websites."

“但是，方董，京东和大众点评无法和淘宝相比啊。根据去年（2013年）中国电子商务研究中心监测数据显示，B2C网络零售市场占有率:天猫商城占50.1%；京东只占22.4%；在C2C网络零售市场淘宝占全部的96.5%！”

After Yang Jie finished speaking, the meeting room fell silent.

In this era, Alibaba is far ahead of the competition in the retail network arena, and no one can compare.

Once Pinduoduo emerges, Taobao's good days will be over!
Fang Qingye sneered inwardly, but suddenly changed the subject: "I've heard that Baidu has established Baidu Waimai and is preparing to enter the O2O industry to begin internal testing."

Yang Jie was puzzled by Fang Qingye's sudden and inexplicable remark: "I've also heard the news. But why did you suddenly bring this up, Chairman Fang? Is Baidu's entry into the food delivery industry a good thing for Ele.me?"

"Of course not, there's just another competitor." Fang Qingye laughed. "What I mean is, Mr. Yang, haven't you noticed that of the so-called BAT giants, Alibaba and Baidu have already entered the food delivery market, and all that's missing is Tencent?"

"Tencent? You mean Tencent is also getting into O2O?" Yang Jie looked at Fang Qingye's mysterious smile and suddenly realized something: "Does that mean Ele.me is going to cooperate with Tencent?! Tencent is going to invest in Ele.me?!"

"This is a confidential matter and I cannot disclose it at the moment. However, I can tell you that we have been in close contact with Tencent's senior management."

Yang Jie and his subordinates quickly exchanged glances. If Tencent supported Ele.me through investment or some other means, the situation would be different! How many companies are drooling over the traffic of QQ and WeChat?
More importantly, this possibility exists!

The three giants BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) have always been competitors, with Alibaba and Tencent being arch-rivals. Now that Alibaba is heavily supporting Meituan, why isn't Tencent supporting Ele.me?

The talks concluded at noon, and everyone had a working lunch. Fang Qingye and others returned to the hotel to rest. As arranged, the two sides continued their talks at 2:30 pm.

Mingcheng Financial Company sent a car to take the three of them back to their hotel. In the elevator, Song Xiaoqing couldn't help but ask, "Chairman Fang, have we really been maintaining close contact with Tencent's senior management all along?"

"No," Fang Qingye said calmly.

What the hell!

It turns out they were just bluffing.

(End of this chapter)