Chapter 728: 723. Sparking Internal Strife (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

Zhang Ran did not see the two little ones when he woke up the next morning; at this time, they were both still sleeping.

It wasn't just the two little ones; even Liu Lu was listless at this moment.

"What time did the two little ones go to sleep last night?" Zhang Ran asked with an amused look at Liu Lu.

Liu Lu yawned and said, "One o'clock. I don't know what happened; the problems were clearly very simple yesterday, but I just couldn't teach them. It infuriated me."

As she spoke, she looked quite incensed, which was a rare sight for Liu Lu.

From this, one could see that tutoring children with their homework is truly a task that "cultivates the heart and character."

When Zhang Ran heard Liu Lu say this, he felt embarrassed to say much more; the root cause of why the two little ones were like this was, in fact, because he spoiled them.

There was no helping it; in many matters, as long as the two little ones acted spoiled, he couldn't bring himself to be firm.

However, this was also because Zhang Ran knew there was someone in the house who could keep the two little ones in line; otherwise, he reckoned that even if he couldn't bear it, he would have hardened his heart.

"I need to find a tutor quickly, or else I'm afraid I'll really be angered to death by them," Liu Lu said helplessly.

Zhang Ran nodded and said, "That's true, a tutor is indeed needed. By the way, ask the children if they have any other interests, such as piano, dancing, swimming, or the like."

Liu Lu had long had such an idea, but Zhang Ran had always disagreed in the past; Zhang Ran's thought was to let the children play to their hearts' content, be happy, and have a childhood worth remembering.

"I've wanted to sign them up for this for a long time. I want Susu to learn piano, just to cultivate her temperament, and Taotao can learn other instruments, or they can learn piano together," Liu Lu suddenly became spirited.

Zhang Ran waved his hand and said, "This still depends on their own wishes. Don't force it. If they don't want to learn and aren't interested, there's no need for us to compel them."

"Alright, then I'll ask them later." Liu Lu felt a bit regretful, but in these matters, she still needed to follow Zhang Ran's opinion.

After finishing breakfast, Zhang Ran sat in the courtyard to rest, drinking tea and reading books; the days felt very carefree.

However, the carefree time was very short; soon the two little ones woke up, and after finishing their meal, they returned to being lively and active.

And because of what happened last night, they started complaining incessantly. What could Zhang Ran do? He could only pretend not to hear.

But the two little ones were not so easy to dismiss now; no matter if their grandfather paid them any mind or not, they just pestered him from the side.

Zhang Ran was becoming a bit impatient from the pestering, but he couldn't get angry at the two little ones, so he could only endure it.

Fortunately, a phone call saved him.

Seeing their grandfather answering the phone, the two little ones finally stopped pestering him; they were both very sensible little ones and never randomly came over to disturb when the adults were discussing serious business.

"Xiao Long, your call came at just the right time," Zhang Ran said with a sigh of relief.

Xiao Long was stunned, then asked, "What's wrong? Brother Zhang, did I disturb you?"

"No, I meant that your call really saved me," Zhang Ran said with a smile.

He then briefly mentioned what had just happened, "You don't know, my head felt two sizes bigger just now, and it's still buzzing inside."

"Indeed, children are sometimes very cute at that age, but they are also super annoying when they are troublesome. Sometimes I can't help but want to spank my own kid," Xiao Long also nodded with deep empathy.

Then the two began to chat about these matters; on this subject, they did have common topics.

Still, Xiao Long remembered that he had matters to report, so after chatting for a while, he changed the subject.

"Brother Zhang, I've prepared things here, and now some of the procedures are mostly done. Starting from today, our Galaxy Capital is one of the shareholders of the South Africa Development Bank," Xiao Long said.

Zhang Ran nodded and said, "Well done. Next, you need to build more relationships with the other shareholders. The battlefield afterward will mainly be inside the South Africa Development Bank."

Xiao Long indicated he understood, "Because the system of the South Africa Development Bank is too vast and there are many internal factions, it has actually always been quite chaotic inside, and the infighting is also extremely intense."

"Now is also our best opportunity. Just a short while ago, one of the small consortium factions within the South Africa Development Bank failed in the internal struggle, and their shares were carved up."

Xiao Long stated some things he knew. This move to target the Rhode Family from the South Africa Development Bank needed to come from internal competition.

After all, there were too many intricate relationships within the South Africa Development Bank; some might look like just a small shareholder on the surface, but in reality, no one knew how massive the power standing behind them was.

Zhang Ran was not afraid of them, but he couldn't possibly go up against all these forces just to deal with the Rhode Family; doing so was not worth it.

Therefore, if one wants to deal with the Rhode Family, one must start from internal competition.

Otherwise, what Zhang Ran would be dealing with at that time would not just be the Rhode Family alone, but a collective of those interests.

Another point is that if this is successful, it would completely cut off the Rhode Family's connections in this regard; if they encounter trouble later and want to seek help through this point, it will be very difficult.

"Hmm, you handle this as you see fit. I'll go over after a while; now is not the time. You first win over some shareholders and talk to their representatives. If things are about right, I will go and arrange to talk to the people behind them in detail," Zhang Ran said.

This was as it should be; kings do not meet kings!

If Zhang Ran went on the field personally, then if the talks collapsed, there would truly be no room for negotiation. Xiao Long currently represents Zhang Ran, but he is not a plenipotentiary representative, so if the talks collapse, there is still Zhang Ran in the background.

Xiao Long naturally understood Zhang Ran's meaning, "Brother Zhang, this is what I'm thinking. Actually, I want to see if we can cooperate on some projects with them. If there is project cooperation, then the strength of winning their support will also be strengthened."

"If that really doesn't work, I can give up a portion of the casino business under my name and let some families join in, especially those from the United States."

Zhang Ran smiled upon hearing this, "You don't need to worry about this. You've earned such a large foundation over these many years, and it's not meant to be wasted like this. I have a plan in mind."

Xiao Long was prepared to use his own interests to trade for support. In dealing with the Rhode Family, in Xiao Long's view, it was not just one person's business; Xiao Long's hatred for the Rhode Family was also not small.

After all, Zhou Fei had treated him quite well back in the day, and the friendship between these people was somewhat different from that with Zhang Ran.