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

Chapter 824 Since two tigers fighting will inevitably result in one being injured, let's add another tiger to balance things out.

The unveiling ceremony of Jinghai Bank's Hangzhou branch was held at 2 p.m. The branch is located in Wulin Street, Gongshu District, Hangzhou.

This area is one of the regions in Hangzhou with a high concentration of financial resources, bringing together six foreign banks, including Citibank and Standard Chartered, as well as the headquarters of more than 30 provincial and municipal financial institutions.

In addition to staff from Jinghai Bank, attendees at the unveiling ceremony included leaders from the Municipal Financial Office, the People's Bank of China, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Furthermore, key personnel from several other banking institutions, such as Hangzhou Bank and MYbank, were also present.

It is understood that initially, these departments and peer units only planned to send deputy heads or office directors as representatives. However, after learning that Fang Qingye would personally attend the unveiling ceremony, they all changed their plans to have their main leaders participate.

Fang Qingye also warmly welcomed them. That evening, after the unveiling ceremony, he hosted a banquet in his personal capacity to entertain the leaders and colleagues present.

The following day, the headquarters staff left Hangzhou and returned to Nanxin one after another, but Fang Qingye did not go with them—he had already made an appointment with Ma Yun to go fishing together that afternoon.

The location is still Yuxi Wetland near Taiji Zen Temple, on the banks of a tranquil river.

It was March, the height of spring. The willows along the riverbanks sprouted tender green buds, their slender branches gently drooping over the water. Peach trees dotted the banks, their pink and white blossoms in full bloom.

Fang Qingye and Ma Yun each held a fishing rod and sat side by side on stools by the river, enjoying this rare moment of leisure. However, the plastic buckets beside them were both empty.

"Teacher Ma, you've chosen a great spot for fishing. It's beautiful and quiet," Fang Qingye exclaimed.

“Yes,” Ma Yun said, gently adjusting the fishing line in his hand. “I come here often. I can sit here and think about anything or nothing at all. But you’ve been making quite a stir lately.”

"Me? 'Making a scene'? You mean acquiring OKMicro Aerospace? That's just a small deal worth tens of millions," Fang Qingye said with a smile.

"Tens of millions isn't a huge amount, but I later learned that the core team of that company is a treasure trove," Ma Yun said with admiration.

"Isn't LandSpace, which is controlled by Alibaba, a treasure trove? Zhang Changwu's team is the top in the domestic private rocket industry," Fang Qingye retorted.

Ma Yun smiled slightly, her gaze fixed on the shimmering water.

"I really didn't expect that Alibaba would also venture into the aerospace field." Fang Qingye's tone revealed a hint of emotion.

Indeed, to his recollection, Alibaba had never ventured into this field in its history.

Before his rebirth, around 2019, Jack Ma and Elon Musk had a public dialogue that sparked heated discussions online.

Musk, when discussing Mars exploration, believes that becoming a multi-planetary species is an important investment in the future of human civilization; while Jack Ma is more focused on Earth and matters on the ground.

Now, how come he's also set his sights on the stars and the sea?
Sensing the surprise in Fang Qingye's voice, Ma Yun glanced at him: "Qingye, you now control ByteDance, Ele.me, and Jinghai Bank. From content distribution and local services to payment and finance, if you add a 'Chinese version of Starlink,' you'll essentially become a 'basic service provider' for the future digital world..."

"You're making it difficult for Taobao, Alibaba Cloud, and even Tencent's WeChat and QQ to gain a foothold. You're building a completely closed-loop digital kingdom that outsiders can hardly break into."

is it?

Fang Qingye seemed slightly surprised.

He didn’t actually intentionally pursue a closed loop, but upon reflection, it is indeed as Ma Yun said: once the layout is completed, it’s like he has built a highway, and the cars running on the road also have his share, and others have to pay to get on the road!
It seems that he himself forced Ma Yun to get involved in the aerospace industry.

However, Ma Yun's move was indeed ruthless, hitting the nail on the head.

A pang of regret swept through Fang Qingye's heart. If she had known this would happen, she should have pursued both satellites and rockets...

Sigh. My perspective isn't broad enough.

But he also knew in his heart that this was the optimal solution.

Given Topway Technology's current capabilities, acquiring Starrocket would make it very difficult for them to catch up with Musk's SpaceX.

Only a powerful alliance can solve this!

He sighed inwardly, but outwardly remained calm, his gaze still fixed on the motionless fishing line. Ma Yun continued slowly, "This situation is quite interesting. You have the 'star,' and I have the 'arrow.' It's like fishing; you have the rod, and I have the bait, but apart, neither of us can catch a fish."

Fang Qingye stared at the ripples spreading across the water: "So, what does Teacher Ma mean?"

“I was thinking,” Ma Yun said, her tone becoming more relaxed, “since one of us is building satellites and the other is building rockets, why not combine these two things into one? We could set up a new company that specializes in satellite internet, just like Musk’s SpaceX.”

The float bobbed slightly, but Fang Qingye didn't lift the rod: "I've considered this idea too. But how should the equity structure be arranged in the new company?"

“That’s the key.” Jack Ma’s eyes sharpened. “I suggest that Alibaba Group hold 51% of the shares. Commercial aerospace ultimately depends on capital and operations… Aoba, I’m not exaggerating, but Alibaba does have slightly more financial strength than your Tuofang Technology.”

"Mr. Ma, you're too modest. What you said is true; Alibaba is indeed much stronger than Tuofang Technology." Fang Qingye smiled slightly. "But Tuofang Technology can dedicate everything to this project. Can Alibaba do that?"

Ma Yun's lips twitched slightly.

Topway Technology is owned by Fang Qingye alone, but Alibaba is not owned by Ma Yun alone!
The two fishing rods remained suspended silently on the water.

“Without rockets, even the best satellite can only remain on the ground and cannot go into space,” Ma Yun offered another reason.

“I can collaborate with the national team; the Long March series is mature and reliable,” Fang Qingye responded immediately.

"The Long March is indeed reliable, but the problem is, is your satellite, a private enterprise, even qualified? It would take forever to get in line, not to mention the cost." A hint of mockery flashed in Ma Yun's eyes as she continued.

"With arrows, I can still create stars."

Fang Qingye remained silent for a moment.

He then said, “Okay, I admit you have a point. But the core of satellite internet lies in technology. OKMicro’s core team—I believe you’ve obtained the information—can you find another team like Wang Yang’s? Leaving Zhang Yang aside, CTO Hu Bin was once the payload manager for Beidou-3. Such a team cannot be built simply by throwing money at it.”

"Moreover, they will complete the development of their first satellite next year and are already waiting in line for launch. Meanwhile, your LandSpace has not yet sent a single commercial satellite into space."

This time, it was Ma Yun's turn to remain silent.

Fang Qingye's statement is indeed true. LandSpace claims that it has the overall system development capability for launch vehicles, covering core components such as rocket structure, control system, and separation system, and has established assembly and testing conditions—but its "Zhuque-2" is still in the research and development stage.

Fang Qingye's Zhang Yang team was indeed something he greatly envied; they were all top talents from the national team...

The air seemed to freeze.

Both of them knew perfectly well that they each held an indispensable trump card in the other's hand.

After a while, Ma Yun suddenly chuckled and said, "It seems that neither of us can convince the other."

“Moreover,” Fang Qingye relaxed her tense shoulders, “outsiders always say that we both have too strong personalities. If we really want to cooperate, we have to find a balance.”

“We need someone who can both balance us and bring new value to the project,” Ma Yun said thoughtfully.

“Teacher Ma, you mean...him?” Fang Qingye looked at Ma Yun and immediately thought of a name.

“Besides him, who else? Hasn’t he been advocating for the Internet of Things and building an ecosystem? I think he would be interested as well,” Ma Yun said with a smile.

"Then... you'll make this call?" Fang Qingye said.

“You come on. You both seem very refined and gentle,” Ma Yun joked.

"Okay." Fang Qingye took out her phone.

(End of this chapter)