Chapter 198: First Meeting with Meng Yuanzhi, Chen Yansen's Opportunity

"Knock, knock, knock—!"

Tao Jingwen raised his hand and knocked on the door, three light taps with moderate force, each spaced 0.5 seconds apart, as if by muscle memory.

"Come in!"

A low voice came from within.

Tao Jingwen pushed the door open and led Chen Yansen inside.

The office was not large, with few furnishings: a desk, a bookshelf, two chairs, and a potted Wen Song pine by the window.

A man over fifty, wearing a gray jacket; the slightly raised collar revealed an exquisite inner lining made of fur.

Chen Yansen thought, no wonder, in this deep winter, the other man wore only what looked like a thin shirt and jacket.

Others might not notice such details, but to Chen Yansen, Meng Yuanzhi's attire, subtle facial expressions, and even the movement trajectories of his fingers were all within his grasp.

Chen Yansen had read many books like "The Definitive Book of Body Language," "What Every Body Is Saying," and similar titles, but on Meng Yuanzhi, he gained very little information.

This indicated the other man concealed his true emotions extremely well; it was hard for others to discern his psychological activities through facial expressions, gestures, posture, and other cues.

At this moment, Meng Yuanzhi was also observing Chen Yansen.

He had seen many young entrepreneurs, but one as young as Chen Yansen was a first.

Even the formidable Shi Yuzhu took five years to climb onto the Forbes billionaire list.

Yet Chen Yansen, in just one year, had matched Shi Yuzhu's twenty-year achievements, leaving behind established tycoons like Lei Yi, Huang Guangyu, and Wang Chuanfu.

"Mr. Meng, hello."

Chen Yansen smiled slightly and greeted him proactively.

With this big shot's protection, the procedures for Sister Chengzi's mobile phone factory to settle in Luhu would naturally get a green light all the way.

"Please sit." Meng Yuanzhi nodded, gesturing for him to sit and talk.

Chen Yansen didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down.

Tao Jingwen left the room silently and gently closed the door.

"You are from Zhoulai; how did you come to think of attending university in Xucheng?"

Meng Yuanzhi neither discussed Sister Chengzi's mobile phone factory nor mentioned the equity swap for Jing Dongfang; his tone sounded more like a university counselor.

"I missed the second-tier line by one point and got in through supplementary admission to Xucheng College; I originally wanted to take the exam for Huazhong University of Science and Technology, but I didn't make it."

Chen Yansen answered with a straight face.

Even with Meng Yuanzhi's deep reserve, he was amused by Chen Yansen's shameless demeanor.

Not to mention Huazhong University of Science and Technology has no liberal arts majors; with your score just one point below the second-tier line, you are tens of thousands of points away from their admission threshold.

Unless Huazhong University of Science and Technology increased its enrollment to one million, Chen Yansen would have no hope.

"If you had gotten into a university in Luhu, we might have met last year."

Meng Yuanzhi joked with a smile.

"It's not too late now; timing is crucial; sometimes too early or too late is not a good thing."

Chen Yansen shrugged, noncommittal.

Besides young and pretty Misses, nothing else in university held any attraction for him; studying was merely to give Chen Guobin and his unseen mother an account.

"Recently, Kuipao has developed rapidly in Luhu; the growth in the catering industry in December rose slightly, but the traffic violation rate for electric scooters is also rising quickly."

Meng Yuanzhi spoke slowly, his tone taking on a questioning edge.

"Timeliness is the core assessment indicator for a food delivery platform; within the 29-minute delivery window promised to users, Kuipao has already accounted for red-light waiting times and purchased accident insurance for riders; for individual riders' violations, Kuipao has corresponding internal penalty regulations."

Chen Yansen answered seriously.

Every food delivery rider was his fire-seal money-printing machine; he couldn't bear for any of them to get hurt.

"It's best that you understand this; I heard you paid five social insurances and one housing fund for food delivery riders, couriers, and factory general workers; that's tens of millions more in monthly expenses, doesn't it hurt?"

Meng Yuanzhi asked again.

This was also the main reason he vigorously pushed for this cooperation; once Sister Chengzi's mobile phone factory went into production, Luhu would gain ten thousand workers paying social security.

"Actually, I earn even more."

Chen Yansen smiled; their meager base salaries were like free money; without overtime pay, commissions, and housing subsidies, monthly labor costs could drop by over 50% more.

"If Luhu had a few more young people like you, my work would be much easier."

Meng Yuanzhi sighed and couldn't help but remark.

Chen Yansen smiled and stayed silent; Meng Yuanzhi was flattering him, but he wouldn't fall for it.

Just like his negotiation with Xu Minggang earlier; in business, talk business; to get what you want, you must show sincerity.

Seeing Chen Yansen didn't respond, only wearing a "the big shot is right" expression, Meng Yuanzhi's expression froze momentarily, cursed inwardly "little fox," then continued:

"Xucheng's talent reserves and transportation convenience are not as good as Luhu's; why not move Sister Chengzi Technology and Pinba Shangcheng to Luhu? I'll help you solve the office building; if you want to build your own, I can provide a plot of commercial or industrial land."

"Sorry, Mr. Meng, I have no plans to relocate for now; after all, I'm still studying at Xucheng College, and it would be inconvenient to manage from there."

Chen Yansen refused with reason and evidence.

Meng Yuanzhi looked at Chen Yansen; seeing his firm attitude, he abandoned the idea.

To put it plainly, Xucheng, besides the agriculture, forestry, and coal industries, had finally produced one Chen Yansen; if Meng Yuanzhi dared to pack up Sister Chengzi Technology and Pinba and move them to Luhu,

Xu Zhenhui wouldn't dare scold him to his face, but could tear him apart behind his back.

However, if Chen Yansen agreed, Meng Yuanzhi wouldn't actually care about Xu Zhenhui's thoughts; after all, Luhu's reputation was well-known, nicknamed the Anhui Magnet.

"That plot of land in Luyang District, just over 100,000 square meters, was originally the site of the Third Steel Plant of Hefei; it underwent restructuring last year and moved to the new plant area; water, electricity, and network infrastructure are all ready."

Meng Yuanzhi changed the subject, turning his gaze to the map of Luhu hanging on the wall.

Chen Yansen followed the other man's line of sight; the plant area was next to an elevated highway, with roads connecting in all directions, but indeed remote.

The straight-line distance to the city center was a full 15 kilometers; the drive took over half an hour.

"Looks not bad; thank you for your care, Mr. Meng."

Chen Yansen politely expressed his thanks.

It wasn't costing him anything anyway, so saying a few extra words of gratitude had no cost.

"In other areas, what other needs do you have?" Meng Yuanzhi asked.

"Interest-free loans, tax incentives, and talent introduction policies—I could really use all of them."

Chen Yansen replied with a smile.

He wasn't going to be shy about it—if he didn't speak up now, who knew whether Meng Yuanzhi would still be as attentive as he was now once Sister Chengzi's phone factory went into production.

This kid really has the nerve to ask!

Meng Yuanzhi was caught between laughter and helplessness, but after thinking it over, he still answered: "Forget the interest-free loan—at most I'll approve 1 billion in low-interest loan for you, at 2.9% interest; the corporate income tax rate for the first three years can also be reduced to 15% for you, and talent introduction is no problem either—go find Tao Jingwen later, he'll help you sort it out."

1 billion?

That was only enough to buy the equipment for 5 fully automated phone production lines, or 12 semi-automated production lines.

And for a factory building of 100,000 square meters, just the equipment purchase cost alone would run close to 3 billion yuan.

Chen Yansen looked at Meng Yuanzhi, saw that the other's expression was composed, and gave up on the idea of haggling.

The two chatted for another half hour, until Meng Yuanzhi casually let his gaze fall on the office door. Chen Yansen immediately took the hint and rose to take his leave.

He had just walked out of the office when he saw Tao Jingwen coming up to greet him.

Afterwards, Tao Jingwen took him back to that same conference room from before.

"Boss, everything's been negotiated. We're using 3% of Sister Chengzi Tech's equity to swap for 6% of Jingfang's equity. President Zhou of DST has also been informed."

Gao Weilin stood up, walked over to Chen Yansen, and reported.

"Good, I've always trusted you to handle things." Chen Yansen patted Old Gao's shoulder and said with a light laugh.

"President Chen, see you at Luzhou Prefecture at 6 tonight."

Xu Minggang reiterated it once more before leaving. Clearly his earlier words weren't mere pleasantries—he genuinely intended to build ties with Chen Yansen.

"Alright, President Xu."

Chen Yansen replied with a smile, planning to bring two bottles of good liquor to the appointment.

The three parties scheduled to formally sign the contract the next day.

Wang Qingsheng had been slighted by Chen Yansen and didn't even bother saying goodbye when leaving.

Leaving the Central Department and returning to the hotel.

Chen Yansen sent Old Gao out to buy liquor, while he himself took Meng Jie back to the room to rest.

"Sigh, a worker's life is still a life."

Gao Weilin rubbed his lower back, which had been sitting all morning, turned and went out, heading straight for a nearby high-end mall.

By the time he returned, he had two bottles of Feitian Maotai 80-year vintage in his hands.

He knew that bosses on the mainland mostly didn't care for whiskey or red wine, but had a particular fondness for baijiu.

He rested at the hotel for the entire afternoon.

It wasn't until half past five in the evening that Chen Yansen took Gao Weilin out to the appointment.

The dinner with Xu Minggang was nothing more than an in-depth look at the multifaceted situation in Luzhou.

"President Chen, don't take Wang Qingsheng to heart—that guy's just like that, a dog-brain through and through. You've got Meng Yuanzhi backing you, so he wouldn't dare play dirty behind the scenes, at most he'd bark a couple of lines."

Xu Minggang cursed, his face flushed red after three cups of liquor.

It was obvious he and Wang Qingsheng normally didn't get along—otherwise he wouldn't have openly humiliated Wang Qingsheng in front of Chen Yansen without any cover.

"Does he have connections up top?" Chen Yansen pressed.

"A little, but not much—otherwise he would've thrown in the towel and left this morning. How could he have swallowed his pride and endured until the negotiations ended?"

Xu Minggang didn't hold anything back either, whispering a few words and laying out every last detail of Wang Qingsheng's background.

After hearing this, Chen Yansen immediately lost his concerns.

The two clinked cups back and forth, and after three rounds of drinks, they both headed to the restroom together.

"President Zhang, look across the way—isn't that Pinxiei's President Chen, Chen Yansen?"

At that moment, in a private room next door, a young man nudged his own boss.

Pinxiei?

Hearing those words, Zhang Liaoyuan's drunkenness instantly sobered by more than half. He fixed his gaze and immediately confirmed that his assistant hadn't been mistaken.

Last December, he had dug out all his savings and, with financial support from a few bosses, founded Three Squirrels.

Planning to focus on online channels!

Now the big shot was right before his eyes—how should he go up and strike up an acquaintance?

Zhang Liaoyuan's mind raced. Seeing the two about to walk out of the restroom and return to their private room any moment now,

he didn't bother thinking further and hurriedly stood up and rushed out!

(End of this chapter)