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

Chapter 580 Ele.me and Meituan merge?

Fang Qingye thought for a moment and said, "In the next few years, there will be many opportunities for the mobile internet, just like the theme says, 'the next five billion.' But I personally think that the opportunities will mainly be concentrated in two aspects."

"Which two aspects?" Ma Huateng asked humbly.

"The first is O2O, local life services, such as catering, movies, beauty, spas, tourism, fitness, car rental, and housing rental. Another major category is instant retail, which provides fresh food, medicine, etc., based on an efficient delivery network. My Ele.me and Didi Chuxing, which you invested in, both belong to this category."

"Both are locked in fierce battles with their opponents," Lin Haifeng added humorously, making everyone laugh.

Lin Haifeng is right.

Eleme is locked in a fierce battle with Meituan, while Didi Chuxing is locked in a bloody fight with Kuaidi Dache. Without exception, they have all unleashed their ultimate weapon: a price war!
Coincidentally, Didi Chuxing is invested by Tencent, while Kuaidi Dache is backed by Alibaba!
"Chairman Fang, can you predict who will win in the end, Didi Chuxing or Kuaidi Dache?" Lin Haifeng blurted out again.

Wang Chenyang glanced at the other person with some dissatisfaction.

Isn't that obvious?!

How could our Chairman Fang say to your CEO Ma that Didi Chuxing could lose?

Even someone with extremely low emotional intelligence wouldn't say something like that!
You're just waiting for our Chairman Fang to flatter you!

Upon hearing this, Fang Qingye put down her teacup, smiled slightly, and said, "Who says we have to decide a winner? Maybe Didi Chuxing and Kuaidi Dache will merge."

Huh? A merger?!
Everyone was somewhat surprised.

"Impossible!" Lin Haifeng immediately retorted, "The two companies are now at loggerheads, how could they possibly merge?!"

impossible?
If nothing unexpected happens, the two companies will merge a year later!
Fang Qingye naturally couldn't say that, but instead casually said, "The world, after a long period of unity, will inevitably divide; after a long period of division, it will inevitably unite, Mr. Ma, don't you think so?" As she spoke, she looked at Ma Huateng with a smile.

Ma Huateng's reaction wasn't as intense as Lin Haifeng's. He habitually adjusted his glasses and, instead of answering, asked in return, "Chairman Fang, according to you, Ele.me and Meituan might also merge?!"

"Anything is possible."

Surprisingly, there was no denial!

Lin Haifeng looked incredulous, and Wang Chenyang next to him stared blankly at Fang Qingye.

Ele.me and Meituan are merging?!
I don't think I've ever heard the boss mention that before.
If this news gets out, it will cause a huge uproar online!
Ma Huateng didn't seem surprised at all, and instead laughed and said, "Chairman Fang, your thinking is truly imaginative."

"Maybe," Fang Qingye said, picking up a dumpling.

"By the way, Mr. Fang, you said O2O is a hot trend, what about the other one?" Ma Huateng recalled the topic they had just discussed.

"Artificial intelligence, big data." Fang Qingye's expression seemed to turn serious this time.

"If O2O is only about competition in the business field, then AI and big data go beyond that. It is not only about competition between enterprises, but also about competition between countries, and even about national destiny. I think investment in this area should be made sooner rather than later."

Earlier this year, Google acquired DeepMind, a deep learning algorithm company, for $4 million. DeepMind is reportedly developing a new simulated neural network designed to mimic the working memory principles of the human brain, possessing more powerful logical processing capabilities such as induction, organization, and deduction, resulting in faster task processing speeds. It can also be trained to handle tasks autonomously. This new deep learning algorithm can be used in fields such as computer vision and speech recognition.

Ma Huateng nodded, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and fell into deep thought.

Fang Qingye also picked up her teacup.

Historically, Tencent started its AI research and development relatively late, lagging behind its old rival Alibaba and Baidu, making it the latest among the BAT companies.

It's simply not a good match for Little Ma's identity as a tech guy.

Are you blinded by the brilliance of WeChat, or are you so engrossed in the huge profits brought by games that you can't extricate yourself?
It's a pity. But I have no relation to Brother Ma, nor can I be considered a friend, so I'll just leave it at that.

A brief silence fell over the private room. As the morning tea was nearing its end, Ma Huateng finally spoke up: "Chairman Fang, Tencent has decided to invest in Ele.me. How about we have Haifeng discuss the specific details with your CEO, Mr. Wang?"

"Okay, but I have a condition."

"Oh, you said?"

"If Tencent were to invest in Ele.me, I would hope it would be a strategic partnership, with an entry point for Ele.me within WeChat. I'm sure you've heard, Mr. Ma, that I've already contacted several investment companies under state-owned enterprises, and funding is no longer an issue. So, for Tencent, I value the traffic entry point more."

“Sure,” Ma Huateng replied.

"OK, it's a pleasure to work with you."

“A pleasure to work with”

Looks like you had a good breakfast today.

Since Tencent still needed to discuss the specifics of the investment with Ele.me, Fang Qingye immediately decided to keep Wang Chenyang and Song Xiaoqing behind, and let them decide the time and place for the negotiations.

Before parting, the two shook hands.

"Mr. Ma, welcome to Shanghai. Actually, I live in Nanxin, a small county town in Jinghai," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

“I know you also run a nursery. I heard it has many beautiful orchids,” Ma Huateng replied with a smile.

"Oh, this matter has actually reached Mr. Ma's ears? Then welcome to visit Nanxin!"

"must."

After returning to the hotel from the dim sum restaurant, Fang Qingye immediately called Zhang Xuhao in Shanghai, briefly explaining that she had come to Shenzhen to meet with Ma Huateng and that Tencent was going to invest in Ele.me.

"What?! Tencent is going to invest in Ele.me?!" Zhang Xuhao was stunned on the other end of the phone.

Wasn't he going to Shenzhen to discuss investment with a company under COFCO? How did he end up contacting Tencent again?

He actually had dim sum with Ma Huateng?!
"Xuhao, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?!" Fang Qingye frowned when she heard no sound from the other end of the phone.

"No, it's nothing. With Tencent's investment, especially the WeChat traffic portal, we will definitely beat Meituan!" Zhang Xuhao's voice became excited on the other end of the phone.

“We can definitely defeat them.” Fang Qingye smiled slightly. “Send a few more people over to assist Chenyang. Negotiating with Tencent is not easy. We must be fully prepared. You and Chenyang can discuss who to send.”

"OK!"

While Fang Qingye was on the phone, Wang Chenyang and Song Xiaoqing were listening. After he finished the call, Wang Chenyang asked, "Chairman Fang, are you going back to Shanghai?"

"We should be heading back to Nanxin," Fang Qingye said with a smile. "You'll have to work hard from now on."

"Chairman Fang, I'll book tickets for you." Song Xiaoqing quickly took out her phone.

Fang Qingye doesn't like to be surrounded by people when she goes out, so she doesn't even have any attendants. These chores have to be done by herself, the deputy director of the finance department.

Wang Chenyang was thinking about something else. He looked at Fang Qingye and asked, "Chairman Fang, is Ele.me really going to merge with Meituan in the future?"

(End of this chapter)