Chapter 270: 266. A Ready-Made Delivery Company? (Seeking subscriptions, seeking monthly tickets!)

Zhang Ran and his group did not go looking for any hotel; they simply ate and drank in a private hall, chatting along the way.

"Mr. Zhang, I heard about the matter with Yaotian Pharmaceutical a while back; it was truly brilliant," Zhao Lifeng said with a smile, raising his glass in a toast.

Zhang Ran clinked his glass against his and said, "It was just a case of the prepared outmaneuvering the unprepared; there is nothing to boast about."

"Mr. Zhang, you are being too modest," Ling Hua laughed.

Anyone who took those words at face value would be a true fool. Prepared outmaneuvering the unprepared? Tian Yaohui had been preparing for a long time, hadn't he?

However, everyone understood that Zhang Ran did not want to dwell on this topic, so they took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Mr. Zhang, could you elaborate on the ecosystem issue you mentioned this afternoon?" Cheng Hong asked with a smile.

"Lao Cheng, are you testing me?" Zhang Ran said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't dare. I truly have some questions. We have also considered the issue of the ecosystem, but since everyone is currently competing with one another, I worry that if we invest funds into this area, the losses will outweigh the gains," Cheng Hong said.

Zhang Ran said, "That is something you will have to weigh for yourselves, but the ecosystem will certainly be the focus of everyone's development moving forward. Without a complete chain to link the industries together, it is very easy for a Group Company to have its weaknesses exposed by rivals when facing competition, and it is also easy to be held back."

"Lao Zhao, take your Fengli Net Shopping for example; are you feeling a bit sluggish lately? Your online shopping business is very good, but the profit margin seems to be quite poor; it is considered relatively low among online shopping platforms." Zhang Ran fixed his gaze on Zhao Lifeng.

Zhao Lifeng gave a bitter smile and said, "That is indeed the case. A few years ago, because we pushed for online payment, we angered the banking system, which caused our development to lag behind."

Speaking of this, Zhao Lifeng said with some embarrassment, "Mr. Zhang, I have disappointed you; I did not handle the online payment aspect well."

Zhao Lifeng still remembered the first time he heard Zhang Ran talk about online payment; at that time, he felt like he was listening to science fiction, and everything felt so unreal.

But when the technology matured and the opportunity arrived, he felt incredibly excited, so he immediately took action, pushing the project forward by force while enduring pressure from other shareholders.

Although the final result was a success, there was a large element of luck involved, and it also angered the banking system at the time.

One must know that Zhao Lifeng's methods back then could be considered somewhat overstepping; he had actually utilized public opinion to put pressure on the banks.

This was also the main reason why Fengli Group was suppressed back then, and why the local government where Fengli Group was based chose not to help them.

Zhao Lifeng had been pushed to the brink at the time, otherwise he would never have thought of such a foolish move.

Looking at the fate that befell Tian Yaohui earlier, one knows what the consequences of doing that are. Perhaps at the time, hindered by public opinion and other influences, it was difficult to do anything to him.

But once the storm passed, they certainly would not just act as if nothing had happened.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the state chose to acquiesce at the end, holding a "wait and see" attitude, Zhao Lifeng absolutely could not have succeeded.

Hearing him say this, Zhang Ran's expression turned serious. "No, you did very well. I didn't even expect you to succeed so quickly."

Zhang Ran spoke with sincerity. Zhao Lifeng was a man who possessed a natural sense of chivalry, as well as the spirit of "I shall go forward even if there are thousands of people against me."

This was also the reason why Zhang Ran chose to talk to him about online payment back then; he hadn't said these things to anyone else.

At that time, Zhang Ran had wanted to wait for the right moment to choose Zhao Lifeng to step forward and do this.

However, Zhang Ran knew the difficulty of this matter, so he hadn't planned for it to succeed all at once, but rather prepared to plan it out slowly.

In fact, when Zhang Ran was thinking about these things back then, he had even prepared to contact some of his connections in the political sphere.

But he hadn't expected to encounter the incident with the Goddess of Destiny, which meant his ideas hadn't even been implemented yet.

From Zhao Lifeng's situation, Zhang Ran also understood a principle: knowing things in advance is not always a good thing.

Take the matter of online payment, for example; if Zhang Ran hadn't intervened, perhaps the development would have been even smoother, and Fengli Group would not have suffered suppression from the banking industry.

If Zhao Lifeng hadn't realized the importance of the online payment system in advance, he wouldn't have been so eager for quick success.

It was precisely because Zhao Lifeng knew about online payment in advance, and even under Zhang Ran's indoctrination, he had thought a lot about it over the years, that he had already perfected the scene of what it would look like after online payment succeeded.

Therefore, he couldn't wait to start doing it, because he knew that if he succeeded, the future blueprint would be incredibly magnificent.

But it was precisely because he knew in advance, and did not have a clear understanding of the difficulties of this matter—or rather, Zhao Lifeng knew it was difficult, but after all, he had not experienced such an era like Zhang Ran had—that he could not think of everything.

Seeing Zhang Ran's serious expression, Zhao Lifeng felt a little excited in his heart. As the scenes Zhang Ran had described to him were realized one by one, Zhao Lifeng held Zhang Ran in even higher regard; being affirmed by Zhang Ran was also a form of praise for him.

However, Zhao Lifeng quickly recovered and stopped talking about this topic, instead asking, "Mr. Zhang, then what do you think we at Fengli Net Shopping should do next? Our current profit margin is already the limit of what we can achieve."

Zhang Ran said with a smile, "It's actually very simple. Look at how Boss Qiao's Huadong Mall is doing it; President Qiao's profit margin is quite a bit higher than your Fengli's, right?"

Qiao Hua did not expect Zhang Ran to bring him into the conversation. He was slightly stunned, then said, "Mr. Zhang is too kind. Our current scale still cannot compare to Fengli, and we still need to continue working hard."

Qiao Hua was also very curious about Zhang Ran. He was considered a big shot in the internet industry who had risen later, and he had often heard Zhao Lifeng and others talk about him in private exchanges; today, he had finally met him.

Zhao Lifeng said thoughtfully, "Mr. Zhang, do you mean for us to also start our own delivery service? But the delivery industry is already more or less set in stone; the capital required to force our way in is simply too much, and it would take a lot of time, plus the shareholders probably wouldn't agree to it."

As he spoke, Zhao Lifeng began to shake his head repeatedly; he had thought about this matter, but the difficulty was too great.

Of course he knew how Huadong Mall had risen, but if it weren't for the strong support of those international investment banks behind it, Huadong Mall would never have been able to hold out until now.

The capital required was simply too much!

Zhang Ran, however, suddenly smiled and said, "What if there were a ready-made delivery company?"