Chapter 273: 269. Arriving Together (Seeking Monthly Votes at the Start of the Month!)

This evening was, in fact, a significant shock to both Zhang Sicheng and Zhang Siyan; they discovered that their respective perceptions of their father had come into conflict.

Zhang Siyan had assumed that Zhang Ran might have been a crime lord in the past, which she felt could be proven by the matter involving Huo Zhiyuan.

Zhang Sicheng, however, believed that Zhang Ran was a business tycoon, which he felt was reflected in the attitudes of people like Zhao Lifeng today.

These were two different perceptions, yet they appeared within the same pair of siblings.

"Look at the trending topics online, is this person being discussed Zhang Shu?" Qian Li whispered in surprise.

She then placed her phone in the middle so that everyone could see the content; what was being discussed online was exactly the scene that had occurred this afternoon.

Furthermore, the words spoken by Zhao Lifeng caused the heat surrounding this incident to rise significantly.

This concerned insider information about these business tycoons, and private matters at that, which attracted the attention of many onlookers.

However, there were no clear photos of Zhang Ran online; there was only a photo taken after Zhang Ran entered the venue, showing people like Ling Hua standing up to greet him, though this photo only made people more shocked and curious.

In particular, Zhang Ran's name had not been leaked online; he was only referred to as "Mr. Zhang."

This immediately made people think of the mysterious Mr. Zhang who had been on very good terms with Prince Haiman some time ago.

Yet, no one came forward to provide a definitive answer, and everyone was just guessing wildly.

But even so, it made the mysterious Mr. Zhang a hot topic once again.

The efficiency of the Shanghai Government was quite high; when Zhang Ran made his request, they conveyed it to the guests and news media who had arrived for the event.

With the Shanghai Government having spoken, this small matter was no matter at all, so there was not a single clear photo of Zhang Ran online.

Liu Ming was also seeing Zhang Ran's figure for the first time; although it was only a silhouette, it depended on what the background image was.

Seeing this photo and recalling Zhang Sicheng's description from just a moment ago, he could now fully understand why Zhang Sicheng had been so agitated.

If he had a father like this, he would also be agitated, excited, and proud!

But in Liu Ming's heart, he felt increasingly uneasy!

On the second and third days, Zhang Ran did not go to the Internet Conference venue again; he had said what needed to be said and done what needed to be done yesterday, and now he only needed to wait for Zhao Lifeng to come to him.

Zhang Sicheng, however, did not miss a single day; he also needed to build connections he could use and search for projects that could supplement Biaoxue Game Company.

Believe it or not, he actually found a decent game project, and after discussing it with Wang Tao, Zhang Sicheng decided to buy it.

On the morning of the fourth day, Zhang Ran waited for Zhao Lifeng to arrive.

"Old Ling, why have you come too? Are you interested in this as well?" Zhang Ran said with some surprise.

He had not expected Ling Hua to actually follow along.

Ling Hua said with a smile, "I just wanted to come over and sniff out some news, see if I could overhear any inside information, and take the opportunity to make a little money."

Zhao Lifeng curled his lip and said, "This guy is truly thick-skinned; he insisted on tagging along."

Zhang Ran laughed, "How can one grow big and strong without a thick skin? By the way, you only brought this little bit of stuff? Didn't you ask how many people are in my family before coming?"

As he spoke, Zhang Ran looked at the gifts they were holding in their hands.

Zhao Lifeng and Ling Hua were both stunned; they really hadn't thought much about it. After all, for people like them, bringing a few gifts when visiting was just a formality, and Zhang Ran didn't seem like someone who lacked anything.

Zhang Ran seemed to understand their thoughts and said, "Whether I lack things and whether you send them are two different matters. Besides, this is your first time meeting the younger generation, shouldn't you have prepared some gifts?"

Zhao Lifeng and Ling Hua were both speechless; it seemed that what Zhang Ran said was indeed the case.

However, only Zhang Ran was at home right now; the others were either at work or at school, and none of them were home.

After a bit of banter, the three of them sat down to drink tea.

"Mr. Zhang, which delivery company were you talking about earlier?" Zhao Lifeng asked impatiently.

He knew that Zhang Ran would not speak without a purpose and must have some certainty. Thinking back to the matter with Yaotian Pharmaceutical, the possibility was very high.

If Zhang Ran truly had this idea, then for him, it was a very good opportunity.

Zhang Ran did not answer his question, but instead looked at Ling Hua and said, "Old Ling, do you still want your Dingdang Online Shopping Platform at Weiteng?"

Ling Hua was stunned; how did this get back to him?

Wasn't this supposed to be about your business?

However, Ling Hua's reaction was also quick; he instantly understood Zhang Ran's meaning, and Zhao Lifeng also looked at Ling Hua with burning eyes, as he also understood what Zhang Ran was talking about.

Ling Hua chuckled and said, "Of course I want it. Dingdang is a part of our company and also our achievement in B2C, how could I not want it?"

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "Old Ling, your skin is truly thick. An achievement? With Dingdang in that half-dead state, you must be losing quite a bit of money every year, right? How are you embarrassed to say that?"

Zhao Lifeng also chimed in with a taunt, "Exactly, you're just too ambitious. You want to get involved whenever you see others making money. Do you even understand B2C?"

Ling Hua did not mind their taunts and took a light sip of tea, saying, "Losing money in the early stages is normal. If you want to expand the market, how can you not lose money?"

"Besides, our user base is not small, and I believe it won't be long before we turn losses into profits."

He understood the two men's thoughts. He had no psychological burden about giving up Dingdang; sometimes he even thought about cutting off this business unit. Currently, his main energy needed to be focused on the confrontation with Shengcheng and Feixun. Games and chat software were their biggest businesses at Weiteng; as long as they could thoroughly defeat their opponents in these two areas, everything else could be temporarily abandoned.

However, thinking was one thing, but he couldn't be fooled into selling it just because of Zhang Ran's two sentences. Moreover, even if he did sell it, he couldn't sell it cheaply; at the very least, he needed to sell it at a suitable price.

Zhang Ran said, "It's a good thing to want to expand your business, but you don't have that much energy right now, do you? You might as well focus on doing one thing well."

"Then what kind of price can Mr. Zhang offer? Our Dingdang Net has quite a few users right now," Ling Hua stopped beating around the bush and asked directly.

"How much money do you want?" Zhang Ran said.

Ling Hua thought for a moment and said, "Weiteng actually doesn't lack money right now. If needed, the shareholders can all chip in."

His meaning was also very clear; he wanted Zhang Ran to offer a price from another perspective, not just for the sake of money.