Chapter 717: Fair Competition

At Qingfeng Shan Zhuang, Tang Qingfeng, having received the news, urgently called Luo Bin to his side for questioning.

Didn't you say Chen Yang's people were all in the Jiangzhediqu region? What's going on with this same-city flash delivery?

Facing Tang Qingfeng's questioning, Luo Bin answered seriously: "Boss Tang, I've had people inquire, and I haven't heard of any courier company reaching a relevant cooperation with the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company. Moreover, the logistics parks and cold storage in Modu have not received any cooperation orders from their company."

Upon hearing this, Tang Qingfeng lowered his head to think for a moment, then asked Luo Bin: "What about Chen Yang? Is he still hiding out at Tangchenyipin without coming out today?"

Luo Bin nodded. He hesitated a moment, then quietly said to Tang Qingfeng: "Boss Tang, I suspect Chen Yang's staying at home is a pretense; he himself is surely secretly negotiating cooperation outside. Should we go ask at the chamber of commerce to find out who he's dealing with?"

Tang Qingfeng frowned, looked sternly at Luo Bin, and said: "Do you suspect the chamber of commerce people are secretly colluding with Chen Yang?"

Luo Bin hesitated a moment. This was merely his speculation, with no actual evidence.

Seeing this, Tang Qingfeng impatiently said: "What are you afraid of? There's no outsider here; even if you're wrong, I won't blame you."

Luo Bin then said: "Boss Tang, the transshipment hub of the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company isn't built yet; even if goods from Dongjiangsheng were to be shipped over, there's nowhere to store them. Under these circumstances, if they want to run this online promotion, they can only source locally..."

Tang Qingfeng thought Luo Bin's analysis made sense, and immediately picked up his phone to make several calls. But after going through them all, not a single agricultural products company admitted to having discussed cooperation with the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company and Chen Yang. This also made him start to wonder.

Seeing his speculation was wrong, Luo Bin said again: "Boss Tang, if the chamber of commerce people aren't colluding with Chen Yang, could it be that the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company is deliberately releasing false information to scare us?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Qingfeng rolled his eyes at Luo Bin. "If a listed company releases false information, its statements would definitely be vague. Look at their website info—the tone is so certain; how could it be fake!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Bin's mind raced for a moment, then he said: "Boss Tang, regardless of where the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company's goods are, they ultimately need to be delivered to consumers by courier companies. Why not directly cut off their plan at the courier stage?"

Tang Qingfeng thought it over and felt Luo Bin's method was very feasible. He then picked up the phone and made another round of calls. This time, the effect was poor. Apart from a small logistics company he had dined with, all other courier companies refused his request.

Seeing Tang Qingfeng's unpleasant expression after hanging up, Luo Bin cautiously asked: "Boss Tang, is it that the courier companies are unwilling to cooperate?"

Tang Qingfeng sighed: "The interests of the Old Hundreds E-commerce Platform and these courier companies are bound together. Our plan actually harms their interests, so it's normal for them to refuse."

Seeing his method wasn't working, Luo Bin said unwillingly: "Boss Tang, we have to do something; we can't just watch the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company seize our market, can we?"

Tang Qingfeng was also annoyed, glared at Luo Bin without good grace, and said: "If you're unhappy, hurry up and think of a solution for me! Standing here won't solve the problem, will it?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Bin left, feeling very depressed.

The next day, at dawn, all stores of the Green Countryside chain hung up red banners, announcing that they would hold an 80% discount promotion daily at 7 a. m., 11 a. m., and 5 p. m. The promotion would last one month.

Once the news came out, the Green Countryside chain store again became the focus of attention for middle-aged and elderly people and housewives in Modu. Residents of remote areas not yet covered by the chain even took the subway and buses to show up.

Meanwhile, while Tang Qingfeng and Luo Bin were celebrating with champagne, the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company's website once again updated the latest plan for its e-commerce platform promotion.

The plan stated that it would issue a batch of consumer discount coupons worth a total of 500 million to agricultural products consumers in the Modu area, with the coupons offering up to a 50% discount.

As soon as the news came out, the popularity of the Green Countryside chain store was instantly suppressed. The number of consumers queuing at physical stores to shop was noticeably lower than on the first day.

This result made Tang Qingfeng furious. He immediately went to East Prosperity International to convene a board meeting, preparing to adjust the Green Countryside chain store's promotion intensity to 50% as a counterstrike against the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company's promotion.

However, this proposal was rejected by most board members. Including the elders of the Tang family, almost all directors did not support Tang Qingfeng spending 500 million to compete with Chen Yang out of spite.

After the meeting ended, Tang Qingfeng was still harshly scolded over the phone by Deputy Mayor Tang.

This deepened his hatred toward Chen Yang even further.

Meanwhile, Chen Yang remained holed up in his residence at Tangchenyipin.

Since accepting Tang Qingfeng's challenge, he communicates with the market department's elites during the day about the progress of project cooperation in the Jiangzhediqu area, and at night he milks the US stock market.

Although the Old Hundreds Agricultural Products Trading Company has already gone public, Chen Yang still hopes to take some of his personal funds to share the company's pressure for the expenses of this Modu project.

For example, the construction and leasing costs of the transfer warehouses and cold-chain logistics system throughout the Jiangzhediqu region, Chen Yang intends to have them all processed through the account of the Old Hundreds Financial Investment Company.

During this period, he milked 2 billion RMB from the US stock market. This money has already been transferred to the public account of the Old Hundreds Financial Investment Company, and he has applied to the relevant departments to move it all into domestic investment.

And the investment project is precisely the warehousing and logistics construction in the Jiangzhediqu region.

Besides this, the market department's elites have already negotiated agricultural product cooperation relations with several cities around Modu. Once the e-commerce platform's activity launches, these regions will fully guarantee cargo transportation.

Furthermore, partners from the entire Dongjiangsheng and several neighboring major agricultural provinces are also planning to ship goods to the Jiangzhediqu region.

To coordinate with the market department's elites' work, Chen Yang had Xu Mengyao suspend her store-purchase plan, and as an assistant to the president of the Old Hundreds Financial Investment Company, go to discuss cooperation with Modu's cold-storage logistics company.

After all, any goods shipped in from elsewhere ultimately need to be sorted and distributed once more in Modu, then handed over to consumers via the major courier companies.

Moreover, Chen Yang is not afraid of Tang Qingfeng interfering with his plans. Because Deputy Mayor Wang has already assured him that this will be a fair competition. The people behind both sides will not intervene.