97: Chapter 97 Old Ma Gets Rejected

A week after the Global Game Impact Conference concluded, the buzz finally began to fade.

During this period, however.

A minor subplot garnered quite a bit of attention.

That was:

Inspur Technology officially renamed itself to Langchao Group.

First came the announcement regarding the ownership of Riot Games, then the agency for crossfire, and now the direct rebranding; almost everyone could see that Qin Mo's ambition was immense. A Douyin and league of legends were likely just the beginning.

...

Jincheng, JD.com headquarters base.

A black business van pulled up to the entrance of the base.

The door opened, and two men stepped out one after the other.

The man in front was not tall, wearing a dark gray suit, with a precisely calculated smile on his face.

The one following behind was slightly older, with a square face and a composed expression.

Under the cautious guidance of the receptionist by their side, the two entered the complex and headed toward the main building.

One of the younger middle-aged men spoke up.

"Mr. Ma, do we really need to come now?"

He paused.

"Actually, we could wait a bit longer. According to our projections, Liu Qiang's logistics lines and warehousing won't hit their lowest price for another three months."

The square-faced man in front of him shook his head, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"While we could squeeze them to the limit, I've recently expanded some of Taobao's pipelines and signed many important cross-border logistics contracts."

He glanced at the person behind him.

"These contracts are quite important, and I need this batch of logistics lines and warehousing from JD.com to fulfill them. Otherwise, we'll exceed the time limits and incur huge losses."

"I can't wait that long."

"We'll go pressure Liu Qiang today. While we can't drive the price to the absolute limit, it should be close enough."

"We can't really drive him into a corner; we should leave some face so we can still meet in the future."

The middle-aged man nodded.

"Mr. Ma is right."

The two men appearing inside the JD.com base at this moment were none other than Old Ma, founder of Anli Group, and Vice President Feng Haicang.

Meanwhile.

The JD.com manager responsible for receiving the two men kept hearing their discussion.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he listened to their undisguised plotting against JD.com.

He didn't know why, but even though these two big shots had arrived, Liu Qiang had only sent a small manager like him to receive them. Since arriving at JD.com, he had never spoken to such important figures before.

At this moment.

The three of them had already entered the JD.com building. Seeing the sparse and deserted layout of the lobby, Feng Haicang looked displeased.

"This Liu Qiang really has no intention of receiving us."

"He didn't even send a vice president; he just found some manager to brush us off."

Not to mention a JD.com vice president; back when both sides were cooperating normally, Liu Qiang would personally come to greet Old Ma the moment he arrived at the base.

But now.

From entering the main gate until now, let alone Liu Qiang, not even a decent executive had shown their face.

Old Ma waved his hand, completely unbothered.

"Back then, JD.com insisted on fighting Taobao and lost a huge sum of money. Now, their logistics pipelines and warehousing are going to be bought by us at a low price."

"If he doesn't send people to beat us up, that's already a testament to his upbringing."

While talking, the three arrived outside the elevator.

Seeing the JD.com manager press the elevator button for them, Old Ma spoke slowly.

"I know your Mr. Liu is on the top floor. You don't need to follow us."

After saying this, the two walked straight into the elevator, ignoring the JD.com manager behind them.

The elevator began to rise rapidly.

Old Ma leaned against the elevator railing and suddenly laughed out loud.

Feng Haicang turned his head.

"Mr. Ma, what's wrong?"

Old Ma shook his head.

"Nothing, just thought of something funny."

He paused.

"Did you pay attention to the previous Global Game Impact Conference?"

Feng Haicang said no.

Old Ma continued, his tone filled with a hint of schadenfreude.

"That founder of Douyin, Qin Mo, is actually the investor behind league of legends."

"Little Ma has suffered defeats in his core projects twice in a row this time."

"First, his Short Video was beaten into submission by Douyin, and then in the gaming field he is most proud of, dota 2 was trampled from start to finish."

"I think this Little Ma is finished."

"The Penguin in his hands probably no longer has the qualifications to stand on equal footing with Anli Group."

Old Ma said this with a sudden hint of regret in his tone.

"Anli Group hasn't been challenged for I don't know how many years."

"The only one that made any noise was JD.com, but before I even exerted any effort, it collapsed."

He leaned against the elevator railing and sighed.

"Sometimes, this feeling is quite lonely."

"I don't know if I'll live to see someone dare to strike at Anli Group."

While talking, the elevator reached the top floor.

The elevator doors opened, and Liu Qiang's secretary was already waiting at the entrance, leading them through the corridor.

At the end of the corridor was Liu Qiang's office.

Before the secretary could raise her hand to knock on the door.

Old Ma walked right past her and pushed open the office door.

The moment the door opened.

He saw Liu Qiang standing in front of his desk.

Holding a mobile phone in his hand.

With a smile on his face, he was saying something to the person on the other end of the line.

"Good, we can cooperate with them, but make sure to control the product selection."

After saying this, Liu Qiang hung up the phone and looked up at the uninvited guests at the door.

Old Ma walked into the office and scanned the room.

The room was large and furnished quite simply. Besides a computer and a stack of documents on the desk, there was almost no extra decoration. He withdrew his gaze and looked at the smile on Liu Qiang's face.

A trace of doubt flashed in his heart, but his tone remained relaxed.

"Mr. Liu seems to be in a good mood?"

Logically speaking, Liu Qiang's logistics lines and warehousing were about to be sold off at a low price, and he didn't know how many hundreds of millions he would lose, so how could he be smiling here?

Liu Qiang placed his phone on the table.

"There have indeed been some good things recently."

He pulled out a chair and sat down, gesturing toward the sofa.

"But let's not talk about that. I wonder what brings you two here?"

Old Ma did not sit.

He stood in front of the desk, looking into Liu Qiang's eyes.

"You don't need to play dumb."

"I'm here for your logistics lines and warehousing."

"You should know that in the whole country, only I can swallow the logistics lines and warehousing you don't want. If you keep holding onto these things, they will inevitably fall into Taobao's hands in the end, so I don't want to waste time."

He paused and stated his final offer.

"On top of the lowest price I offered last time, I am willing to add one-third."

"This is my bottom line; I won't add any more."

Liu Qiang listened thoughtfully, tapping his fingers on the desk twice.

Before he could speak.

Feng Haicang, standing to the side, stepped forward half a step, his tone filled with undisguised pressure.

"Mr. Liu, before you speak, we hope you think clearly."

"For the current JD.com, this price is already quite good."

"If you refuse, no one else in the country can take over. Every day those logistics lines and warehousing stay in your hands, you lose money. It's better to just sell them to us; that's better for everyone."

Old Ma nodded, continuing his vice president's words.

"You can go talk to the others on the JD.com board of directors now."

His tone was calm.

"We're not in a hurry; we can wait here for you."

"I believe those directors will give you reasonable advice."

After speaking, Old Ma glanced at the other side of the office; that was the reception room inside Liu Qiang's office, and the door was currently closed.

After saying this.

Old Ma waited for Liu Qiang to contact the board of directors.

In his view.

Even if Liu Qiang was dissatisfied with the price now, under the pressure of the board of directors, he would eventually sell the things to him at this price.

The JD.com board of directors wasn't soft; that group of investors wouldn't just sit by and watch their assets depreciate day by day without doing anything.

The pressure from the board of directors was enough to make Liu Qiang bow his head.

But the next second.

Something Old Ma had completely not expected happened.

After listening to his suggestion, Liu Qiang shook his head almost without thinking.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was quite calm.

"I refuse."