The younger generation, starting from where the wind blows...

Chapter 225 The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Behind the Rookie Station

As soon as Liu Yuntian proposed the collaboration, Yang Muye agreed without hesitation.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Muye asked Liu Yuntian how much money he could invest.

Liu Yuntian was stunned on the spot.

How come this is not according to the routine?
Normally, shouldn't the first step be to paint a picture of the future prospects of the express delivery supermarket, which is commonly known as "making grand promises"?

Unfortunately, most investors fall for this.

Even many "mature" VCs, the first thing they say when meeting an entrepreneur is—

Please tell your story.

It's rare to see someone like Yang Muyi who starts by talking about money.

While Liu Yuntian was still in a daze, Huo Mei's voice rang out first.

"Affected by the subprime crisis, the financial report disclosed by the Liu Group on Wall Street shows that it is close to bankruptcy. Right now, it is still hoping that Yuntian Mall will provide reverse funding to keep it afloat. I'm afraid Mr. Liu doesn't have much money to invest in Cainiao Station right now, does he?"

Liu Yuntian turned his head and looked at Huo Mei with a displeased expression.

It's funny that you backstabbed me, isn't it?
“Yuntian Mall has long been independent from the Liu Group. You’ve been with me for the past few years, so you should know this better than anyone else.”

“But I know even better that your original intention in establishing Yuntian Mall was to prove yourself to the Liu Group. If the Liu Group is gone, who will you prove yourself to?”

Liu Yuntian remained calm in the face of Homei's counterattack.

"If it's gone, it's gone. As long as I'm here, Yuntian Mall will exist, and the Liu family will exist. It's just a matter of changing the name."

"Clap clap clap!"

applause.

Yang Muye clapped his hands and repeated the question he had just asked.

How much money is Yuntian Mall willing to invest in Cainiao Station?

This was the first time Liu Yuntian had encountered such a situation.

Other entrepreneurs are begging for investment, but with Yang Muye, it's all up to you whether you invest or not.

Yang Muyi must have something to rely on to do this, but Liu Yuntian was unwilling to reveal his trump card so easily.

Especially with the "traitor" Khomeini still watching from the sidelines.

"The amount of investment is not the issue; the key question is how much I should invest in Cainiao Station."

Liu Tianyun passed the buck back to Liu Tianyun.

"The development prospects of express delivery supermarkets are actually quite clear. Mr. Liu personally went to Yanjing for on-site inspection, so I won't go into too much detail here."

Yang Muye looked up at Liu Yuntian, who seemed to be deep in thought:
“Investing in a courier supermarket has two benefits for Yuntian Mall. First, it can integrate all the courier companies that cooperate with Yuntian Mall and optimize management. Second, it can reduce courier costs, making Yuntian Mall’s goods more price-competitive.”

"Let me be frank with Mr. Liu here. Cainiao Station will accept investments from Yuntian Mall and other courier companies at the same time. Mr. Liu's share of investment can certainly be higher, but there will definitely not be a situation where one company dominates."

Other courier companies?
A hint of curiosity flashed in Liu Yuntian's eyes.

Someone actually noticed Yang Muyi and his Cainiao Station even earlier than I did?

"who is it?"

“An acquaintance of Mr. Liu.”

Liu Yuntian was suddenly startled and blurted out:

"Yao Yuan from Yuanfang Express?"

Yang Muye took out a business card from his pocket, waved it in front of Liu Yuntian, and threw it on the coffee table.

Sure enough it was him!

As his suspicions were confirmed, a hint of seriousness crept into Liu Yuntian's eyes.

If someone else had contacted Yang Muye first, Liu Yuntian wouldn't have paid much attention to it.

But Yao Yuan is different.

Five years ago, Liu Yuntian returned to China to establish Yuntian Mall and hit it off with Yao Yuan at first sight.

At that time, Liu Yuntian invested 10 million yuan in Yuanfang Express, helping Yao Yuan to rapidly expand the company's scale.

The two sides had a "honeymoon period" that lasted for several years.

Until two years ago, Yuntian Mall had already developed into the second largest online shopping platform in China, second only to Taobao in scale.

Liu Yuntian was no longer satisfied with cooperating with third-party courier companies and wanted to build his own logistics system.

Liu Yuntian approached Yuanfang Express, which had the largest business volume with Yuntian Mall, wanting to acquire the shares held by Yao Yuan.

Yao Yuan refused.

Over the next two years, the two sides engaged in several rounds of battles over control of Far East Express.

Liu Yuntian's wish to swallow the distant express delivery has never been fulfilled.

Seeing that "open robbery" was not working, Liu Yuntian began to resort to "covert theft".

While accelerating the establishment of Yuntian Mall's own logistics system, it also supported another newly established Xiaoguang Express Company, squeezing out Yuanfang Express's business in Yuntian Mall.

However, both of these moves were feints. Liu Yuntian's real intention was to force Yao Yuan to submit and ultimately take over Yuanfang Express.

Yao Yuan was no pushover either. In order to resist Liu Yuntian's takeover, he launched a poison pill plan, hoping to bring in new investors to dilute Liu Yuntian's shares and eventually drive him out of the company.

The two sides fought back and forth, using all sorts of tactics in turn.

Recently, Yuanfang Express was exposed for "unauthorized dismantling of packages," and the mastermind behind it was Yuntian Mall.

Of course, this was not Liu Yuntian's intention, and he was completely unaware of the matter before it occurred.

Huo Mei orchestrated this scandal targeting Yuanfang Express without Liu Yuntian's knowledge.

Afterwards, Liu Yuntian was very dissatisfied with Huo Mei's actions.

He was determined to acquire Yuanfang Express, but he didn't want a destroyed Yuanfang Express.

Of course, if this move can really hurt Yuanfang Express and Yao Yuan, Liu Yuntian would be happy to see it happen.

However, in reality, Yao Yuan launched a timely crisis management campaign with the help of his girlfriend, Lu Xiaoou, who was also Huo Mei's college classmate and best friend.

Ultimately, Yuanfang Express not only successfully weathered this scandal crisis, but also improved its reputation.

Liu Yuntian praised Lu Xiaoou highly for this incident and even publicly invited Lu Xiaoou to serve as a senior executive at Yuntian Mall.

In order to prove that she was no less capable than Lu Xiaoou, Huo Mei proposed to Liu Yuntian that she be in charge of building the logistics system for Yuntian Mall, but Liu Yuntian refused without hesitation.

This incident also became the catalyst for Huo Mei's falling out with Liu Yuntian and her resignation from Yuntian Mall.

Upon learning that Yang Muyi was planning to bring in Yuanfang Express and jointly invest in Cainiao Station with Yuntian Mall, Liu Yuntian was initially taken aback, but instead of being angry, he was delighted.

Yang Muye's purpose was simply to use Yao Yuan to restrain himself and prevent Yuntian Mall from having too high a shareholding and say in Cainiao Station.

However, Liu Yuntian is confident that he will eventually be able to acquire Yuanfang Express. At that time, Yuanfang Express's shares in Cainiao Station will naturally fall into the hands of Yuntian Mall.

Kill two birds with one stone!
In high spirits, Liu Yuntian, having shaken off his previous gloom, took the initiative to suggest to Yang Muye:
"Yao Yuan and I are old acquaintances. Since Yao Yuan is also interested in Cainiao Station, how about we arrange a time for the three of us to meet?"

At this point, Liu Yuntian glanced at Huo Mei beside him and pretended to be very regretful: "It's a pity that someone has already resigned from my job, otherwise we could have invited Lu Xiaoou along this time. Of course, I guess that person wouldn't have the face to see his old classmate now."

Huo Mei's pretty face turned cold, and surprisingly, she did not refute.

This made Liu Yuntian even more smug.

He originally came to find Huo Mei to find out the reason for her departure, but unexpectedly reached an investment agreement with Yang Muye first.

Things were progressing so smoothly, thanks in large part to Huo Mei. Before leaving, Liu Yuntian once again extended an olive branch to Huo Mei.

"Why don't you reconsider and come back to be my assistant?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Liu. Even if I don't become your assistant, we'll have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future. I just hope you won't regret it then."

"I can't breathe," Homei replied coldly.

"is it?"

Liu Yuntian shrugged nonchalantly: "Then I'll wait and see."

After saying that, he walked towards the door.

As Liu Yuntian passed by Xu Sanduo, he deliberately turned around and took a second look.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to joke with Yang Muyi:

“I know it’s not very ethical to poach your bodyguard to your face, but I just want to ask, are there any other people as skilled as him? I’m willing to pay double the salary to hire him as my bodyguard.”

“My comrades are all better than me, but they are all in the military and won’t come to be your bodyguards, especially since you are an American.”

Xu Sanduo replied.

Liu Yuntian's smile froze.

When did the United States become so unpopular?
In front of Yang Muyi, Huo Mei and others, Liu Yuntian could only force himself to save face: "So you're a veteran, no wonder. Everyone has their own ambitions, so I won't force you."

After Liu Tianyun left, Yang Muye took Xu Sanduo back to 3602.

Not long after, the doorbell rang again.

Xu Sanduo opened the door and saw Huo Mei standing there again. He couldn't help but frown: "What's wrong? Is the light bulb broken again?"

Huo Mei's clumsy acting skills could only fool Hu Yifei at best; they couldn't fool Xu Sanduo, who had been a special reconnaissance soldier.

Moreover, Xu Sanduo had asked Yang Muye about it when he first returned.

The light bulb in Homei's room wasn't broken at all.

This made it difficult for Xu Sanduo not to see Huo Mei as the kind of "bad woman" with ulterior motives.

Huo Mei ignored Xu Sanduo's sarcasm and looked straight into the room.

Yang Muye walked through the living room and saw Huo Mei looking inside.

He stopped and asked Huo Mei what was wrong, looking across Xu Sanduo.

Homei adjusted his glasses.

"Can we go inside and talk?"

At Yang Muye's signal, Xu Sanduo reluctantly stepped aside to let Huo Mei into the house.

Yang Muye walked to the semi-open kitchen refrigerator, turned around and asked Huo Mei what she wanted to drink.

"We are all male residents here, so the drinks we have might not suit your taste."

"Do you have any red wine?" Homei asked.

Yang Muyi, who was about to open the refrigerator, paused for a moment, turned around and asked, "Want some beer?"

"alright."

Yang Muye opened the refrigerator and took out a can of beer and a bottle of mineral water.

He handed the beer to Huo Mei, then unscrewed the cap of his mineral water bottle and took a sip first.

Only after that did he sit down on the sofa opposite Homei.

"What's up?"

Instead of answering, Homei picked up the beer can and took a sip.

"Have you really agreed to Yao Yuan's request to accept Yuanfang Express's investment in Cainiao Station?"

"Liu Yuntian has decided to invest in Cainiao Station. Do you think Yao Yuan will not follow suit?"

Similarly, after learning that Yao Yuan had already contacted Yang Muye, Liu Yuntian's idea of ​​investing in Cainiao Station immediately became more determined.

Huo Mei's eyes lit up.

"Driving the tiger to devour the wolf?"

Yang Muye shrugged.

"To be precise, it should be Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Homei looked puzzled.

Judging from the current situation, Yuntian Mall is the strongest and has caught the wave of the domestic e-commerce boom. Liu Yuntian undoubtedly has the advantage of timing.

Yuanfang Express was founded by Yao Yuan, whose core members are all his brothers and sisters. He also has two beautiful women, Liu Ailian and Lu Xiaoou, who wholeheartedly assist him. He has all the advantages of popular support. Even the company's current situation is very similar to that of Liu Bei in the Shu Han Dynasty.

As for the remaining advantage of location, Huo Mei felt that Yang Muye was probably referring to himself.

After all, Cainiao Station was founded by Yang Muyi, so he can be considered a "host" now.

Given Liu Yuntian's admiration for Yang Muye, the saying "A son should be like Sun Quan" is quite fitting for Yang Muye.

To Huo Mei's utter surprise, Yang Muye's reaction after hearing her analysis was one of scoffing.

"Miss Huo, even if you're still holding a grudge against me for exposing your poor acting skills, you don't need to use such vulgar language as 'Jiangdong rat' to insult me, do you?"

Homei was stunned.

Sun Quan of Eastern Wu had many heroes under his command, so how could he be as bad as Yang Muyi described?
"Miss Huo, do you think Eastern Wu is not dirty? Or do you think Lu Meng's crossing of the river in disguise was a brilliant strategy? Do you know how many innocent people have been killed or injured in wars over the past thousand years because of this, when you disguise yourself as a civilian to ambush the enemy?"

"Shu Han and Eastern Wu were originally allies. Eastern Wu's occupation of Jingzhou was a betrayal in itself. The key point is that they even used such underhanded methods. If they had eventually wiped out the other two kingdoms and completed the unification, their reputation in later generations might have been higher. But what happened?"

"It seems that Eastern Wu won the Battle of Yiling, but if Shu had not been severely weakened, could the tripartite balance of power have lasted longer? Eastern Wu won in the present but lost in the future. Calling them Jiangdong rats is too lenient."

Yang Muye's views are all "refined" by later generations of self-media, and saying them today would be a complete game-changer.

Huo Mei didn't refute it; in fact, she even thought Yang Muye's words made a lot of sense.

That's why Homei felt so wronged.

Yang Muye was the one who wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and now he is also the one who is overturning that view.

Is there no reason left for them?

“Miss Huo, you’ve got it wrong. When I said Romance of the Three Kingdoms, you got Cao Cao and Liu Bei right, but Sun Quan of Eastern Wu is not me.”

Huo Mei was completely confused.

Cao Wei had Liu Yuntian, Shu Han had Yao Yuan, and if it wasn't Eastern Wu, who else could it be?
It couldn't possibly be me, could it?
"Yes, it's you!"

Yang Muye made a startling statement.

Before Huo Mei could react, Yang Muye's voice continued:

"To be precise, it's Xiaoguang Express behind you, and its boss Wu Xiaoguang, the son of Wufang Group, a typical rich second generation. He knew that Liu Yuntian was supporting Xiaoguang Express to deal with Yuanfang Express, but he still thought he was clever enough to be the fisherman when the snipe and the clam fight. Isn't he just like Sun Quan of Eastern Wu?"

Huo Mei was startled, her beautiful eyes widening in disbelief.

How could Yang Muyi know that he had joined Xiaoguang Express when it hadn't been made public yet?
The key point is that he was fully aware that he was there to act as an intermediary for Wu Xiaoguang.

How did he do that? !

　I'm taking half a day off, so I'll only be posting one update today. I'm very sorry!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)