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

Chapter 799 Was it because I ran too fast, or was Fang Qingye overly cautious?
"To be honest, it will affect the IPO." Fang Qingye never denied this point: "After all, paying social security for riders increases the burden on companies, reduces profit margins, and will affect the pricing of the company's IPO in the future. There are quite a few people who oppose it."

At this point, Fang Qingye turned to look at Shi Guangrong and asked, "As a shareholder, what are your thoughts on this?"

"I do not care."

"not give a damn about?"

"I have more wealth than I can spend in my lifetime. How much of my shares I can realize after Ele.me goes public won't have much impact on me," Shi Guangrong said, looking towards the lake.

"When a company reaches a certain size, it must assume social responsibility—this is an essential path to greatness, especially in China."

Fang Qingye nodded.

"Although with the current equity structure you can completely control the company and are not afraid of opposition from other shareholders, I still suggest you communicate well with large institutions such as Alibaba and Tencent."

Shi Guangrong turned his head and said seriously, "First, they are already major shareholders of Ele.me; more importantly, they have a great influence in the business world and society. If both of them support you, it will definitely be beneficial to the progress of your plan."

"You're right, I've already made plans to play golf with Ma Yun in Hangzhou tomorrow."

Hearing Fang Qingye say that, Shi Guangrong smiled and didn't say anything more, focusing on fishing.

While Fang Qingye and Shi Guangrong were fishing and chatting by Dianshan Lake, Gan Jiawei was reporting to Ma Yun at the Hangzhou Taiji Zen Academy.

According to Alibaba's organizational structure, Gan Jiawei, as a director sent by Alibaba to other invested companies, should report to Cai Chongxin, the executive vice chairman of the board of directors in charge of the group's strategic investment department. However, Gan Jiawei knew that Ma Yun valued Ele.me, or rather, Fang Qingye, a person, so he made a special trip to Taiji Zen Academy to report to her in person.

At this moment, Ma Yun was wearing a Tai Chi uniform and practicing her boxing. Her movements were slow and fluid, and her expression was focused.

Upon hearing Gan Jiawei's report that Ele.me was determined to continue and expand its pilot program for food delivery riders, especially his statement that "if an IPO would affect the smooth progress of the pilot program, we would rather postpone the listing process!", it was quite impressive.

After hearing this, Ma Yun was not surprised but smiled slightly: "I knew it. Fang Qingye would never be easily convinced of his goals. He might even prefer not to go public rather than change his mind."

“But that will affect Ele.me’s performance,” Gan Jiawei argued.

“You’re wrong. Is performance important? Sometimes it isn’t. Keep talking,” Ma Yun said while punching the air.

"Currently, food delivery (local business) accounts for 69% of Ele.me's overall revenue, but only 4%-6% of its gross profit. The fastest growing segment is in-store, hotel and travel, and entertainment, which has reached 22% with a gross profit of over 80%, making it the core profit engine."

"In addition, there are online microloans (Jizhudai, Xiaobaofenqi) that are comparable to Jiebei and Huabei. This area is just starting out and only accounts for 5% of the total revenue. There is also the strategic investment in Baofutong Payment, which accounts for 4% of the revenue."

"How high are the leverage ratios of Emergency Loan and Xiaobao Installment?" Ma Yun clearly noticed this question.

"It's not high, only 4 times. Chairman Fang specifically emphasized that we absolutely cannot use high leverage to expand revenue in this area. We must proceed steadily and surely. As you know, Ele.me CFO Wang Chenyang is Chairman Fang's confidant, and he never compromises on orders."

"Fang Qingye is indeed cautious." Ma Yun sighed softly, recalling the argument the three of them had on the boat in Wuzhen a while ago.

He has been thinking about this issue for some time now.

Was it that he ran too fast, or that Fang Qingye was overly cautious?
Of course, she wouldn't tell her subordinates about her inner struggles. After listening to Gan Jiawei's report, Ma Yun finished her last move, slowly lowering her hands to her abdomen.

"Jiawei, do you understand now why Fang Qingye insists on continuing to expand the pilot program for food delivery riders?" Ma Yun suddenly asked.

Gan Jiawei did not answer immediately, but thought for a moment before saying, "Besides the corporate social responsibility he emphasized, he probably thinks that Ele.me's future performance will not rely on food delivery - its profit margin is very thin."

"Yes, as you've seen, Ele.me's profit growth lies in the latter three areas. What it wants isn't the meager profit from food delivery, but to use this capillary to open up the entire local life service market."

"The in-store business is already a cash cow, and the cultural tourism sector is poised for takeoff. These high-margin businesses all rely on the capillary network of food delivery for sustenance. In addition, with emergency loans and installment payments growing steadily within a compliant framework, Baopay has completed its payment loop—it's building the most stable ecosystem using the most basic methods. Rider protection is the cornerstone of this ecosystem; it may seem heavy, but it ensures every step is firmly planted."

Gan Jiawei remained silent.

Although he was somewhat unconvinced, he had to admit that Ma Yun's analysis was correct; Fang Qingye was indeed taking steady steps, one after another—though it seemed a bit slow to him.

“Fang Qingye is inviting me to play golf tomorrow,” Ma Yun suddenly blurted out.

Gan Jiawei was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening: "Mr. Ma, he's trying to get your support."

“Yes.” Ma Yun took the towel handed to her by her attendant and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Although Fang Qingye has control over Ele.me, he still hopes that I can agree with his ideas.”

"What do you mean?"

Ma Yun did not answer directly, but looked up at a large patch of bamboo not far away, which was still lush and green even though it was winter.

“He’s a very interesting person, and I admire his persistence.” Ma Yun looked at him and said, “You still have a board meeting to hold, so don’t make things difficult for him.”

"Okay," Gan Jiawei said in a low voice.

"Go and report to Chairman Cai, and tell him that this is my idea."

"Ok."

Gan Jiawei left in a hurry, and Ma Yun went inside to change into a suit. Today, she was going to Alibaba's headquarters in Xixi Park to meet with Lin Wenxing, chairman of Temasek Holdings, who was visiting.

Temasek is a global investment company wholly owned by the Singapore Ministry of Finance, managing national assets independently in a market-oriented manner. The main reason for this visit was their strong interest in Ant Financial and their intention to invest in the company.

Ant Financial
This is Ma Yun's masterpiece that he is proud of in the past two years, but he suddenly remembered what Fang Qingye said when he was going to fish at Taiji Zen Academy after attending the Lujiazui Financial Forum last year, as well as the night talk on the boat in Wuzhen not long ago. A kind of inexplicable and deep worry quietly rose in his heart.

"Could this become... my downfall?"

Stopping thinking about it, Ma Yun shook her head, trying to banish these messy thoughts from her mind. She quickly regained her usual composure and walked out of the courtyard.

(End of this chapter)