Although I feel guilty, I feel good

“That bastard found you?” Zhang Yan asked Lin Yuan casually.

“Bastard?”

“Isn’t the president of that Alibaba Business Group surnamed Wang?”

Lin Yuan smiled, “It’s General Manager Zhang from Purple Gold.” He then dialed a number.

“Hello, General Manager Zhang.”

“Hello, General Manager Lin. You finally answered. Our General Manager Wang went downstairs and couldn’t find you. What exactly is the situation on your end?”

“General Manager Zhang, let’s be straightforward. I traveled all the way from Purple Gold to Shanghai, and waited for nearly two hours in the hotel restaurant where your business group’s General Manager is staying. You just made me wait, without telling me how long, and without giving me your General Manager’s contact information.

I think I’ve shown enough sincerity.”

The other end of the phone kept apologizing, “Yes, yes, General Manager Lin, you are absolutely right. I have also been coordinating in the middle… This…”

“General Manager Zhang, I won’t make things difficult for you. After all, you are just the person in charge of the Purple Gold branch, and above you, there’s the head office, and then above that is Alibaba’s Local Life Business Group. With two levels skipped in the organizational structure, I imagine you’re in a tough spot.”

“Ah~~, it’s good that you understand, General Manager Lin. I only received notifications from General Manager Wang’s secretary; in fact, I don’t even have General Manager Wang’s contact information myself. Originally, I wanted to accompany you on this trip, but the headquarters didn’t approve it.”

Lin Yuan joked, “So, it seems your leadership deliberately wanted to give me a warning?”

“Haha~~, perhaps the higher-ups think the conditions you proposed are a bit harsh. I will continue to work on them.”

“No need to trouble General Manager Zhang. Cooperation should be voluntary. I’m heading back to Purple Gold now; we can discuss other matters later.”

“So… your meaning is: the cooperation is terminated?”

“I didn’t say that. If you still want to talk, have your General Manager Wang of the Business Group come to Purple Gold to talk to me. It’s a matter of reciprocity; I’ve already made this trip, it’s his turn to move his feet.”

“General Manager Lin, please don’t be angry. The leaders above have been out of touch with the front lines for too long and don’t understand the difficult situation the current food delivery industry faces. The Dharma Academy is still organizing efforts to tackle the delivery algorithm, but having been in Zijin City for so long, I am clear. Good Group previously transferred many people from the research institute, but they still haven’t completed the algorithm replication.

But the higher-ups don’t believe this, and they don’t agree to the conditions you’ve put forward.”

Lin Yuan asked curiously, “The conditions I set aren’t high. On the contrary, the 118 payment method you proposed is very harsh. I came to Shanghai originally to ask you to loosen up on the payment method, but I didn’t expect your senior management to feel they were at a disadvantage.”

“Eh~~, actually, it’s not primarily about money. General Manager Lin, to be honest. This payment method isn’t non-negotiable. The ten million remuneration you want, even if doubled, isn’t a big problem. According to the senior management, the key is that you need to sign a contract with us. You can sign with our company, or directly with Alibaba, either is fine.”

Lin Yuan retorted, “Are you still worried that I’ll team up with Good Group to target you?”

“It’s not that. It’s that the company’s senior management cannot accept cooperation in the form of consulting services as you proposed. To be honest, no internet company would be able to accept it. The legal and internal audit departments would definitely not pass it.

One is the issue of software algorithm intellectual property ownership at the legal level, which the legal department will certainly reject on the grounds of future risk.

The other is that internal audit will not allow their own company to purchase algorithms from an individual; this matter, if exposed later, would be a huge blow to the company’s image.”

Lin Yuan thought for a moment and could understand. In essence, in the eyes of these large companies, individuals are not qualified to negotiate equally with them.

One is their habitual thinking—the power of an individual is vulnerable before a collective organization.

The other is their consistent arrogance.

And Lin Yuan, precisely, was not a person who could tolerate arrogance.

“Then I understand, General Manager Zhang. I think you don’t seem to be in a hurry. I still stand by what I said: if you still want to talk, have your General Manager Wang of the Local Life Business Group come to Purple Gold to talk to me. No one else will do, only him.

Otherwise, we part ways here.

I don’t necessarily have to cooperate with you.

My grievances with Good Group don’t necessarily have to be settled now.

Please convey my message. Goodbye!”

Lin Yuan decisively issued his final ultimatum.

“Senior Brother, you’re so cool. You shouldn’t humor them. But seeing as we took the opportunity to spend a day alone in Shanghai, I won’t be angry, and you shouldn’t be angry either.”

“I’m not angry; there’s no need to be at all. Those old guys still haven’t figured out who’s boss. Not just Lanbiao Factory, but Good Group too. There’s a long road ahead; I, for one, am not hungry when my family is full, and a small boat is easy to turn around, much more resilient than big companies like theirs.”

Not long after, General Manager Zhang of the Purple Gold branch called again.

“General Manager Lin, you haven’t left yet, have you? Can you give me an address? Our General Manager Wang is sending his secretary and driver to pick you up now. General Manager Wang was too busy just now, and he wants to invite you to dinner.”

If it were an ordinary person, they would naturally take the hint now. Because Lin Yuan’s warning had already taken effect, the Alibaba Business Group behind Lanbiao Factory had softened, but the other party wanted to save face, so they used “too busy just now” as an excuse, and then invited him to dinner as an apology.

Lin Yuan connected his phone to a Bluetooth earphone, wearing one himself and putting the other in Zhang Yan’s ear, who was listening intently.

Lin Yuan said unhurriedly, “If I’m not mistaken, your General Manager Wang will probably arrange a nice restaurant, find a good chef, and then everyone will raise their glasses, smile at each other, and all the small unpleasantries of today will be forgotten in the wine.”

General Manager Zhang on the other end of the phone gave an awkward laugh, which was an implicit agreement.

“But I find that boring.”

“Ah? General Manager Lin, what do you want? This is a very significant concession from General Manager Wang; he is the president of Alibaba’s large business group. I’ve never seen him treat anyone with such humility.”

Lin Yuan continued, “He was the one who put his foot in the water to test it, and now he’s the one who wants to pull it back. I’m a very straightforward person; my demands are always put forward clearly. Because I believe, cooperation is cooperation, there’s no need for so much nonsense. When it’s time to talk terms, talk terms, no need for that vague, hinting attitude.

To make our future cooperation smoother, I intend to use this incident to make your General Manager Wang fully understand my way of doing things.

I won’t be going to dinner.

If he still wants to cooperate, he can come to Purple Gold to find me.

I’m not like him; I won’t be bored enough to just put my foot in the water to test it.

When I say let him come over, I mean let him come over. Of course, this is just a suggestion, not my compulsion.

If he doesn’t come, we won’t cooperate.

The earth won’t stop turning just because we miss this cooperation.

Please convey my message.

Oh, by the way. You don’t need to call me again to persuade me.

Because I know your General Manager Wang will definitely think I’m trying to leverage the situation for more benefits. Please help me convey that I don’t have a habit of taking advantage like that; I purely want him to come to Purple Gold to discuss cooperation.”

Lin Yuan had completely let himself go.

After Zhang Yan’s hint—that she liked him precisely because he didn’t follow the script.

Lin Yuan finally truly realized: he was a cheat, after all, so why did he have to be so cautious in everything he did? Life is but a fleeting moment; just go with whatever feels good.

“Senior Brother, are you feeling a little guilty?” Zhang Yan didn’t try to egg him on further.

Lin Yuan paused, “A little, maybe. But it really feels good.”

“Hahaha~~~” The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.