Rather than return to the villa, Zhao An sat down at the farmhouse in front of the high-end club. Less than a minute later, the door to the room opened and Liu Jin walked in. "Young Master An, what a fine evening! I seem to be late. I'll drink three glasses of wine first!"
As expected of this city's supposedly second-best brothel, he tripled his beer without a word, his expression calm, a seasoned veteran.
"This time, it's you and me. Li Te, the urban construction guy. Wang Shun, the tax guy. Mo Guilin, the transportation guy. I don't trust these three yet, so you can leave your work to them. Now let's discuss the specifics of our cooperation. I want to develop a platform, a speed-up platform." Zhao An pulled out a cigarette and tossed it over. "We're going to do it in the city. If it works, I'll expand it to other cities. If you do well, you'll be a veteran and receive shares."
"Young Master An, as you say, as long as it's not murder or arson, I'll do it," Liu Jin assured, patting his chest, unconcerned about his cousin Liu Ke's imprisonment. He was himself, and Liu Ke was Liu Ke. His relatives' misfortunes were caused by their wrong alignment and dishonest background. Following Tang Bing wasn't enough, but he also had connections at a higher level, which ultimately led to his own downfall. Don't be two-faced. Being a fence-sitter only means becoming cannon fodder for the concentrated firepower.
"You don't need to kill or burn women, but you'd rape them. Would you?" Zhao An's expression was filled with amusement.
Liu Jin smiled. "With our status, we don't need to rape. It's unnecessary and forbidden. I won't do anything that violates the law knowingly." He was no fool. He could make money and exploit loopholes, but blatantly causing trouble was not. He could operate in the gray area because exploiting loopholes wouldn't be a big deal, but he certainly wouldn't commit illegal acts. Even a dignified young man like him wouldn't be so foolish as to want to play with women like in a club, throw money at them, and even lick their toes or eat their shit.
"Haha, we're first-class citizens." Zhao An lit a cigarette and laughed heartily, then his expression turned serious. "Stop talking nonsense. Let's get started tomorrow. Promote my electric bikes and collaborate with the restaurant industry. I'm going to build a platform. They can list their own menus on my platform and sell their goods. I'll arrange for riders to pick up the orders and deliver them to the customers within forty minutes or an hour, completing the transaction."
Knock, knock! There was a knock on the door, and Lu Meifang walked in wearing high heels. "Young Master An, I'm a little late."
"Sit down. Three drinks, three." Zhao An nodded, not letting her off just because she was a woman.
Lu Meifang nodded, sat down, picked up the beer, and poured herself three times the amount. She guzzled it down immediately; it was clear she wasn't the type to get drunk after three. After three drinks, Lu Meifang's pretty face flushed slightly, but she remained quite lucid. "I'm done."
Just as Zhao An was about to say something, the door opened again. It was a woman who had arrived uninvited, a member of the same social circle as Tang Bing. They were also acquaintances: Zhang Qiaorong and her best friend, Li Qian.
"Hi, Zhao An, we happened to meet. How about grabbing a meal?" Zhang Qiaorong's red lips curled into a smile, a warmth that paired with her already stunning features made her blood boil.
"I said no," Zhao An smiled, picking up his red wine and sipping it nonchalantly.
"It's okay even if it's not okay. A man can't say he's incompetent, right?" Zhang Qiaorong walked in with her best friend, her beautiful eyes narrowly scanning the man. Women have a natural advantage in being coquettish.
She was actually here for a beauty treatment, but after seeing Zhao An enter and then Liu Jin, she became suspicious. Furthermore, with the recent live streaming platform wars, while Future Platform was promising, it couldn't withstand the Tang Group's relentless spending, and had lost a significant amount of traffic. Now was the time to open up new markets.
As a woman, her intuition told her there must be something fishy going on. Perhaps coming here would allow her to participate.
Sometimes business requires thick skin; only with thick skin can you make money, and that's how many business opportunities arise.
If it were any other man, Zhang Qiaorong wouldn't have bothered to do that, nor would he have the right to ask her to do so. But Zhao An, the man who had made her billions in a single day, clearly had the right. And compared to other men, this guy was a mystery, a man whose true strength remained a mystery.
Zhao An glanced at the woman. "Three drinks for being late. Go lock the door."
Pence, wearing a hood and sunglasses, completely concealed by her trench coat, walked over and locked the door, then quietly returned behind Zhao An. Even though her face was invisible, it was clear she was a woman; the two headlights on her chest were too obvious.
"This time, we're only capturing sounds within cities, in densely populated areas with convenient transportation, primarily residential areas and office apartment blocks. This is a massive project with the potential for many extensions. You're the first group to participate, and you won't be the last. How much you'll reap is entirely up to you." Zhao An smiled, his undeniable aura overwhelming everyone present.
"Go ahead, I'm listening. I'm very interested in this project." Zhang Qiaorong raised her red wine glass, trying to dispel the pressure from the other person. She couldn't let herself be overshadowed at the table.
"The takeout delivery industry has existed since ancient times, and it's a restaurant's legacy. Now, what we need to do is seize the restaurant industry's takeout business and do it ourselves. There are so many users online that even within the same radius, say, three kilometers, no one knows the actual distance between them. What I need to do is use the network to bring these users together and then distribute the goods."
"When shopping online, many people tend to spend recklessly, especially when it comes to food. How many customers can a store handle in a day? 24 hours a day, that's the limit. That's ideal: eat and go. But with online food delivery, you just need to prepare it, send it off, and then wait to be paid. Efficiency increases, and profits naturally increase. Now you understand!" Zhao An's smile was like a demon!