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

Chapter 679 The "Glass Door" of Policy and the "Rashomon" of Data

The harmonious scene that unfolded a few days ago when Ele.me executives met with key officials of the Jinghai municipal government has long since vanished, and the atmosphere at the negotiating table has plummeted from initial enthusiasm to freezing point.

The conference room of the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau was filled with smoke. Ele.me COO Deng Ye and his team sat opposite government officials led by Zhou Maolai, the director of the bureau, in a tense atmosphere.

"Mr. Deng, isn't Ele.me's data highly inflated?"

Zhou Maolai threw a document on the table, his tone laced with sarcasm: "Our investigation revealed that 20% of the rider accounts in Jinghai City have identity information issues! Father-son pairs, husband-and-wife accounts, and even account buying and selling!"

"Mr. Deng, how did Ele.me conduct its internal review process back then? Now you want us to use social security funds to pay for this historical mess? Absolutely not! Fund security is a red line; whoever crosses it will be held accountable!"

Deng Ye listened and tried to explain: "Director Zhou, this is a problem left over from the early stages of the industry's development, and we are doing our best to address it."

"Don't talk to me about history!" Zhou Maolai interrupted rudely. "The problem now is, if we enroll riders based on their ID card information, we are condoning insurance fraud! If we enroll them based on the actual riders, what is the policy basis? What is the legal basis? Why should the government bear the risk and political responsibility for the problems in your Ele.me system?"

At this moment, the deputy director of the Municipal Finance Bureau, sitting next to Zhou Maolai, added: "Moreover, what will other platforms do if this news gets out? Couriers, ride-hailing drivers, and all practitioners in new business models across the city will demand equal treatment! Jinghai's finances can't handle it, and we won't be able to explain this to our superiors!"

Deng Ye's expression was grave. He understood the other party's concerns, but Ele.me was under immense pressure as well. The pilot program had been announced, and the rider community had high expectations. If the pilot program in Jinghai failed, it would not only make them a laughing stock among their peers, but the resulting public outcry and internal turmoil would be difficult to manage.

"Director Zhou, we propose a temporary recess. I need to go back and report some issues to Chairman Fang and General Manager Zhang," Deng Ye said.

"can."

Deng Ye and his team immediately began packing up their materials, preparing to leave.

Zhou Mao looked at his watch and said with a smile, "President Deng, it's 11 o'clock now. Why don't you rest for a while and have lunch together before you leave, so that Mayor Hu won't blame me for not being hospitable enough?"

"No need, Director Zhou, I appreciate your kind offer." Deng Ye declined, "We need to get back to Shanghai right away. We have a company meeting this afternoon to report to General Manager Zhang."

"Then I won't keep you any longer. Be careful on your journey."

Deng Ye and his group went downstairs and got into the company's Coaster. The vehicle slowly drove out of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau compound. Seeing Zhou Maolai waving goodbye to them in the courtyard, Fu Xiaolan, the deputy director of the finance department, couldn't help but complain, "Hypocrite!"

Deng Ye didn't say anything. Actually, he was also very angry. He had traveled all over the country to develop markets and had dealt with many local officials, but he had never seen anyone with such a tough attitude.

But he knew that complaining and venting wouldn't solve anything. The key was figuring out how to break the deadlock!

Looking out the window at the scenery, he suddenly turned to the group with a smile and said, "We'll probably arrive in Shanghai around 1 p.m., and we're starving. Why don't we go to Nanxin and have lunch with our chairman?"

"Great, great!" Fu Xiaolan immediately chimed in, "We need Chairman Fang to treat us to a proper meal! We've been through so much!"

“Okay, I’ll call Chairman Fang.” Deng Ye took out his phone.

Of course, he wouldn't say he came to freeload a meal.

At this moment, Fang Qingye was in his office at Jinghai Bank. He heard Deng Ye say on the phone that the negotiations with the Jinghai Municipal Government had been suspended and that they were preparing to return to Shanghai. He first came to Nanxin to report the contents of the negotiations to him, and he knew that they had encountered trouble.

"You've worked hard. Come on over, let's have a welcome dinner for you. Have the driver take you directly to the Yangtze River Hotel," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Okay." Fang Qingye put down her phone and immediately picked up the landline on her desk: "Hu Lingling, book me a table at the Yangtze River Hotel for lunch."

"Yes, it must have our own unique characteristics of Nanxin."

Almost an hour later, Deng Ye and his group of seven arrived at the Changjiang Hotel in Nanxin County by car. Fang Qingye and Hu Lingling also arrived at the hotel by car and hosted the negotiation team in a private room in the banquet hall on the second floor.

"Thank you all for your hard work. Today, on behalf of the Ele.me board of directors and myself, I would like to extend my greetings to you all." Fang Qingye, sitting at the head of the table, stood up and said with a smile, "When you come to Nanxin, we locals believe in eating and drinking well! I can't hold my liquor, so I've asked my secretary at Jinghai Bank, Hu Lingling, to toast you all on my behalf."

As soon as Fang Qingye finished speaking, Hu Lingling stood up with a wine dispenser, smiling, and said, "Distinguished leaders, how about we, Fang Xing, offer a round of toasts to everyone, three glasses each?"

After dinner, two of them got quite drunk. Fang Qingye didn't rush them back to Shanghai. She asked Hu Lingling to book two rooms so the drunks could sleep for a while and return when they sobered up. The others said they wanted to go to Fang Qingye's nursery, as they had heard it was very beautiful. Fang Qingye agreed and had the driver take the sober ones to her nursery.

It's mid-September now, and two osmanthus trees in the nursery are in bloom, filling the air with their fragrance. There are also hibiscus and four o'clocks, scattered throughout, which is quite beautiful.

The group enjoyed the flowers and tea in the nursery, leaving behind the unpleasant feelings from the morning's negotiations.

Although Hu Lingling had made Deng Ye drink a few more glasses of wine, it didn't bother him much. While drinking the tea brewed by Fang Qingye, he naturally didn't forget the important matter and told Fang Qingye about the negotiation in detail.

"Chairman Fang, I really didn't expect Director Zhou and the others to be so adamant," Deng Ye said with a wry smile.

“They proposed an absolutely compliant solution, but the most troublesome aspect for us was the legal aspect. Director Zhou was right; from the perspective of the Social Insurance Law and the Labor Contract Law, our employment relationship was indeed ambiguous. They insisted that ‘person and certificate matching’ was absolutely correct and impeccable. Any suggestions we made to ‘work around’ were seen by them as inducing them to operate illegally.”

“But I think this is the difference between ‘governance through PowerPoint’ and ‘real-world operation’.” The speaker was Fu Xiaolan, who had drunk a little alcohol today and had a flushed face, and spoke rather bluntly.

"They want a perfect, clean digital model where all variables are controllable. But we're dealing with real people, ordinary folks who will do anything to make a living! No matter how powerful our system is, it can't stop a father from registering with his son's ID!"

Hearing the two complain, the others who were enjoying the flowers and tea lost interest and started to complain: "What? The other party has a numerical obsession? This isn't negotiation, we're just hitting a wall."

Fang Qingye listened attentively while sipping his tea. After everyone had finished speaking, he said, "Deng Ye, go back and write a detailed report on the negotiations of the past two days and the differences between the two sides. I'll take a look at it first."

"Okay, I'll get started right away."

"Don't be discouraged, everyone! Problems can always be solved!" Fang Qingye said with a smile at the end. "Come on, let's continue drinking tea!"

Around 4 p.m., Deng Ye and his group left Nanxin and took a car back to Shanghai. After seeing them off, Fang Qingye quietly drank her tea.

Director Zhou and his team were taking a hard line, which clearly represented not only his personal opinion but also the official viewpoint. He felt it necessary to speak with Mayor Hu privately, but the moment he took out his phone and pulled up his contacts, he abandoned the idea.

It's not the right time yet; we should wait until Deng Ye's report is released.

After thinking for a moment, he dialed another number, this time to call his classmate, Mei Shuwei.

Mei Shuwei was originally the deputy director of the Municipal Finance Bureau. Later, he was transferred to Pingdong District as the district head. He achieved outstanding results and was appointed as the secretary of Pingdong District in June of this year.

He also holds another position: member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress.

(End of this chapter)