2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 483 Me, afraid of him? (Seeking monthly votes)
In the cold winter, a few side dishes and a hot pot.

Enjoying hot pot and red wine instantly creates a wintery atmosphere.

There were five people at the table, including Lai Yiu-fai. They talked about the differences in weather between the North and South, the stock market, and even marriage and children, but no one talked about work.

Wang Wei has recovered from his previous erratic state and knows that Sun Tongyu will officially leave Taobao after New Year's Day. He also understands why Sun Tongyu came to the appointment.

It's understandable to meet with the actual controller and CEO of Orange Products for the sake of one's career planning.

But even though I understand, I still admire Tan Jincheng very much. I don't know how Tan managed to get a date with Sun Tongyu. He's just too amazing.

Judging from Sun Tongyu's demeanor, he and Xiao Tan must have talked before. How could people who are meeting for the first time be so familiar with each other? Moreover, Xiao Gu's expression was also a bit strange, which meant that she obviously knew the inside story.

One mystery is solved, only to be followed by a new one; it's truly frustrating.

"Xiao Gu, does Xiao Tan usually cook at home?"

Wang Wei is from Guangdong Province, Sun Tongyu and Gu Qingqing are from Zhejiang Province, and Tan Jincheng and Li Yaohui are from Anhui Province.

In terms of taste, Wang Wei was the least compatible with the group, but after traveling all over the country over the years, he could accept all kinds of tastes.

The flavor of hot pot depends on the dipping sauce you make, but the side dishes and soup that Xiao Tan made were surprisingly good, especially the soup, which seemed to be specially made to suit the tastes of people from Guangdong province.

“I used to do it often, but not as often now,” Gu Qingqing replied with a smile.

Young couples like to cook together when they have the means. After they started dating, they would cook for each other whenever they had free time. Gu Qingqing didn't have Tan Jincheng's cooking skills, but her parents were very busy with their business when she was young, so she learned some cooking skills so that she could have a good meal.

However, since the two of them have become busy, and with his mother settling in Beicang, Tan Jincheng has rarely cooked.

"Mr. Tan's cooking skills are indeed excellent. I can't quite put my finger on where the flavor comes from, but these home-style dishes are very comforting to eat. It's been a long time since I've had such a pleasant meal at home."

Sun Tongyu took a sip of red wine and sighed. His wife was even busier than him; he couldn't remember the last time she cooked at home.

“That’s easy. Whenever Mr. Sun goes to Beicang, I can cook for him anytime,” Tan Jincheng said, raising his glass in a gesture of respect.

Here it comes, here it comes. He refused to believe that he, this "tool," hadn't heard anything except for a hotpot meal. Xiao Tan had told him the term "tool" when they met in the capital.

That's quite a vivid description.

Sun Tongyu smiled and raised his glass in return, neither agreeing nor refusing, but this ambiguous attitude made Wang Wei raise an eyebrow.

Gu Qingqing, who was sitting next to Tan Jincheng, also had her eyes light up.

Of the five people, only Lai Yiu-fai remained silent, eating in silence. He planned to finish quickly and find a place to hide. This was not a place for him; he had simply been caught in the wrong place tonight.

He ate at his boss's house quite often, but Lai Yiu-fai always remembered his duty. As the driver, he would never sit at the table when there was work to be done.

Tan Jincheng was just testing the waters, so it was normal for Sun Tongyu not to answer. As long as he was interested and didn't directly reject her, everything else was negotiable.

In fact, it was enough that Sun Tongyu was able to come to Tan Jincheng's house for dinner.

While hosting guests at home is indeed the highest level of hospitality, if the relationship or the feeling isn't right, people might not be willing to come. Not everyone enjoys being a guest at someone else's home.

Lai Yiu-fai quickly finished showing off and went downstairs to wait in his car. He was somewhat unaccustomed to this occasion, but he did overhear a few things that interested him: for ordinary people, investing in real estate is much more reliable than investing in stocks.

Being a driver for a top boss actually has many hidden benefits. For example, when Tan Jincheng was increasing his stock holdings, he mentioned it to Li Yaohui. Tan Jincheng didn't say how to operate the stocks specifically, but he did mention buying Moutai.

Lai Yiu-fai also made a small profit. As for other things like company-owned apartments, Lai Yiu-fai was definitely among the first to get them. Tan Kam-ching didn't need to say anything; the administration department had already arranged everything for him.

I didn't hear anything else from Lai Yiu-fai tonight, but I did hear about buying a house. Each person can only buy one unit in the company's development, but there are other developments in Beicang. If you have the chance, you can go and take a look.

With Lai Yiu-fai's current and future income, as long as he continues to work diligently and honestly, leaving his children several houses will be no problem at all.

Around nine o'clock, apart from Gu Qingqing, Tan Jincheng and the other two were slightly tipsy. Everyone was very restrained tonight and didn't drink much.

"We've eaten enough, and we didn't have a very pleasant chat, but we'll have to go next time," Wang Wei said, stretching and getting up.

Xiao Tan and Sun Tongyu definitely have things to talk about that she doesn't know. Staying any longer would be out of line. A tool should be a tool.

For Wang Wei, this unexpected trip to the capital was definitely worthwhile. He had the opportunity to witness firsthand the cutthroat competition in the internet business world firsthand with a newly established e-commerce website. Wang Wei also felt that the chances of success were high since Sun Tongyu had agreed to come to Xiao Tan's house.

Although the other party has made it clear that he will leave the company at the end of this year, Xiao Tan must have been in contact with him for at least several months and maintained good contact with him to get him to agree to come to her home as a guest.

This kid is really bold. A few months ago was a crucial period for Ali's IPO. This kid is really daring. If this had been exposed, given Old Ma's personality, he would have torn him apart in front of the media.

This incident also affected Alibaba's IPO, and might even put Hangzhou and Ningbo in an awkward position. Hangzhou will definitely side with Jack Ma, while Ningbo will definitely stand by him.

However, from a broader perspective, Xiao Tan is in the wrong, and it's not appropriate for Ningbo to help him too much.

In terms of social status, those in the physical industry are generally considered to have a higher social standing than those in the internet industry. However, no matter how high Flash Group's social standing is, it can't surpass Ali, the number one internet company in China. Orange Technology is even less comparable to Ali.

"No wonder he dared to block the industry leader, Xinri, even though the company only had a few electric scooters. If this is exposed, his path in the internet industry might be blocked."

As Wang Wei put on his coat and went out, he thought to himself, "I'm going to go out." When he got out of the gate, he ran into Lai Yiu-fai in his car downstairs. Wang Wei refused Lai Yiu-fai's offer to take him back to the hotel.

After delivering the goods, he had to come back. Tan Jincheng's arrival in the capital at such a crucial moment was already attracting attention. His car had entered and exited the same residential area several times, which would easily be noticed by observant people.

The nights in the capital were still quite cold. Wang Wei tightened his coat and stood by the roadside trying to hail a taxi, but his mind was still on that small apartment. He had no idea what they were talking about.
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"What does President Tan think of Mr. Ma, the founder of Ali?"

Sun Tongyu shook the glass in his hand. It was tea that Gu Qingqing had just brewed for them. Tonight, the CEO of Orange Technology was treating guests like a hostess in an ordinary family, not saying much throughout the evening, and avoiding them at the moment.

However, Sun Tongyu dared not underestimate him. The success of Orange Technology was absolutely related to Tan Jincheng, but the contributions of this CEO, who was considered by outsiders to be a figurehead, were indispensable.

Before Tan Jincheng could contact him, Sun Tongyu had already paid attention to Orange Club, which was backed by two major capital firms, Sequoia Capital and Tencent Investment. How could he not know that Gu Qingqing was in charge of the project from start to finish?

Moreover, for him, who was already somewhat interested in joining Orange Products, Gu Qingqing would be his direct supervisor after he joined the company.

Tan Jincheng thought for a moment, then said without hesitation, "President Ma is an extremely capable person, but I don't really like him."

"Don't like it? What makes you say that? As far as I know, President Tan shouldn't have met President Ma before, and President Ma even helped you with the spokesperson issue last time. How can you not like it?"

This answer really surprised Sun Tongyu.

"I can't really explain it. I do owe Mr. Ma a favor, and considering the matter of poaching you, from a moral standpoint, I feel a bit sorry for Mr. Ma. However, I really don't like Mr. Ma's style."

Tan Jincheng couldn't explain why he disliked Lao Ma because the impression left from his past life was too deep. Take the currently listed business as an example. In the early stages, it was touted as something great, aiming to solve the sales problems of small and medium-sized enterprises in China. But in reality, it wanted to turn all these small and medium-sized enterprises into its own contract manufacturers and squeeze their profits.

As for Taobao, it goes without saying that in the early days, Taobao did allow small and medium-sized merchants to make money, but in the later stages, Taobao almost completely became a traffic driver for Tmall. A whole bunch of small and medium-sized Taobao merchants combined don't even earn as much as a single live streamer.

With this kind of business model, how will the factories and suppliers make money? How will the workers make money?

Undoubtedly, Lao Ma made significant contributions to society, but in Tan Jincheng's view, the harm he did to ordinary people far outweighed his contributions.

"Mr. Tan, your statement is quite strange, and it doesn't quite fit your mature and steady personality," Sun Tongyu sighed, not getting a satisfactory answer.

"This answer may not satisfy Mr. Sun, but it is indeed my true opinion. As for why I don't like it, let time be the judge."

"So, assuming I join the company, how will President Tan deal with President Ma's retaliation against Orange Products?"

Without a doubt, Jack Ma will definitely retaliate against Orange Products, and might even ban him from using Alipay altogether. Sun Tongyu's question is spot on, even though he left the company through normal procedures.

"Revenge? I'm afraid of him?" Tan Jincheng chuckled.

"In terms of social status, I am an entrepreneur of a real high-tech enterprise who has already secured a place among the top 500 private enterprises. I am not necessarily much lower than him."

"In terms of capital background, Orange Technology is backed by Sequoia Capital, Tencent Investment, and when necessary, Beicang City Investment and other new investors."

"As for suppliers, Orange Products has its own complete supply chain system and has absolutely no connection with those small factories on Alibaba."

"Do I need to be afraid of him?"

It's the last day with double the points, so please use your votes if you have any. Thank you!

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(End of this chapter)