How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 20

Soon, Yang Chen returned home.

He was about to take a shower when a call came in from an unknown number.

He answered, and the person on the other end identified themselves as the secretary of the Peninsula Hotel Group, requesting his presence at a meeting at the Peninsula Hotel Group headquarters at 3 PM the following day.

As the second-largest shareholder, Yang Chen was required to attend all group meetings.

It was already 1 AM, so Yang Chen quickly showered and went to sleep.

At 8 AM, while Yang Chen was still asleep, an SF Express [a Chinese delivery service] delivery arrived.

Yang Chen quickly brought the package inside and opened it to find the property certificate, transaction contract, keys, and other documents for Riverside Villa No. 1.

He was now the owner of Villa No. 1.

Although Yang Chen’s current apartment was 120 square meters [approximately 1290 square feet], it was over 20 years old.

Moreover, it was a walk-up, making the living environment less than ideal and rather inconvenient.

The court had initially been reluctant to auction off the apartment due to its age and difficulty in finding buyers, so they left it for Yang Chen and auctioned off his newly purchased house instead.

Now that he had Villa No. 1, Yang Chen decided to sell his old apartment.

Yang Chen quickly changed his clothes and hurried to Villa No. 1.

Having been vacant for over a year, the yard and house were covered in dust.

Yang Chen found a cleaning service on a local website to clean the villa, and then he contacted a moving company, negotiated a price, and arranged for them to send movers to help with the move.

Yang Chen himself didn’t have many belongings, but his parents had accumulated a lot over the years.

Their photos, clothes, commonly used items—Yang Chen couldn’t bring himself to throw any of it away.

To Yang Chen, these things were precious memories of his parents, and he could never discard them.

It took two full truckloads to transport everything to Villa No. 1.

Under Yang Chen’s direction, the cleaning staff arranged everything.

Yang Chen paid them and quickly drove to the Peninsula Hotel Group.

He arrived five minutes past three.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s my first time here, and I wasn’t familiar with the roads, so I’m a bit late. Everyone, I apologize. I’m Yang Chen, and I’m honored to meet all of you shareholders,” Yang Chen said with a smile.

After all, he was the second-largest shareholder of the group, so being five minutes late wasn’t a major issue.

The others responded in a friendly manner.

“Hello, Mr. Yang.”

“I didn’t expect our new second-largest shareholder to be so young. I thought he would be an experienced veteran.”

“Young people these days are really impressive, putting a lot of pressure on us old-timers.”

“Haha…”

After a brief exchange of greetings, the secretary quickly introduced everyone present to Yang Chen.

Yang Chen only needed to focus on two people.

The largest shareholder, who was also the chairman of the Peninsula Group, Li Wanhong.

And Zhang Wu, the CEO of Tianmu Investment.

Obviously, the main topic of this meeting was Tianmu Investment’s potential investment in the Peninsula Hotel.

Li Wanhong said with a smile, “Everyone knows Mr. Yang now, so let’s get down to business. Mr. Yang, I’m aware of the incident between you and Mr. Zhang’s son at the hotel. Mr. Zhang is here, perhaps you two could discuss it?”

The implication was that Li Wanhong wanted Yang Chen to reconcile with Zhang Wu, preventing the conflict between Yang Chen and Zhang Long from jeopardizing the important investment deal.

Zhang Wu said with a smile, “Young people can be impetuous. I hope Mr. Yang won’t take it to heart.”

“That’s not how it works. Your son acted so aggressively back then, and you expect me to simply let it go with a single sentence? What am I, a pushover? Am I supposed to just endure being bullied?” Yang Chen replied seriously.

Seeing that the situation was becoming tense, the major shareholders quickly tried to smooth things over, urging Yang Chen not to hold a grudge against Zhang Long.

However, Yang Chen wouldn’t listen. There was no way he would let it go with just a word from Zhang Wu.

Everyone knew that the 28% equity in Yang Chen’s hands was crucial. If he didn’t agree, Tianmu Investment wouldn’t be able to invest in the Peninsula Hotel.

So, everyone persuaded Zhang Wu to show some sincerity in resolving the conflict.

Zhang Wu was very unhappy. People had always begged him for investments; he had never had to beg someone else.

Li Wanhong quickly said, “Mr. Zhang, for the sake of our shared future, please bear with it. If nothing else works, perhaps your son could apologize to Mr. Yang. What do you think?”

Zhang Wu replied unhappily, “But my son didn’t do anything wrong. Shouldn’t he stand up for his date when she’s being harassed? It doesn’t make sense to apologize for that, does it?”

Yang Chen turned to look at Li Wanhong and asked, “Chairman Li, is there anything else to discuss at today’s meeting besides Tianmu’s investment?”

Li Wanhong shook his head and said, “No, that’s all!”

Yang Chen nodded and immediately stood up, saying, “Then let me make my position clear to everyone: I do not agree with Tianmu’s investment in Peninsula. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving now.”

With that, Yang Chen left.

The shareholders were stunned. Was this guy really that stubborn?

Not leaving any room for negotiation at all?

Zhang Wu said angrily, “He’s too arrogant! I’m bringing money to invest in the Peninsula Hotel; shouldn’t you be trying to please me? Why does it feel like I have to beg him?”

Li Wanhong said with a smile, “Mr. Zhang, don’t be upset. Young people are often hot-blooded. This matter can’t be rushed. I’ll have a good talk with him later. We’ve been preparing for almost a year, and we’re about to reach an agreement, so we definitely can’t let him ruin it. However, Mr. Zhang, you should also discuss it with your son. If a simple apology can solve the problem, that’s definitely better than us trying to appease him in every possible way. Don’t you think?”

If the Peninsula Hotel wasn’t the most suitable investment target, Zhang Wu definitely wouldn’t compromise.

“Alright, I’ll talk to my son when I get back. However, I will never force my son. As long as he’s unwilling, I will never force him. After all, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Zhang Wu replied unhappily.

Yang Chen drove away from the Peninsula Hotel headquarters and went to a real estate agency not far from his home to list his old apartment for sale.

After signing the listing agreement, the salesperson accompanied Yang Chen to take photos of the property.

As soon as Yang Chen parked his car, a group of people rushed up and surrounded Yang Chen and his car.

The salesperson was frightened and quickly backed away.

At that moment, Zhang Hengzhi, sporting bandages on his head, approached.

“Damn it, I’m in trouble again!” Yang Chen muttered to himself.

There was no way to avoid it, so Yang Chen had to get out of the car and confront them.

“Haha… You little bastard, we meet again! I told you last night, if you dared to take her away, I would dig three feet into the ground in Haicheng to find you. Did you think I was joking?” Zhang Hengzhi said arrogantly.

“So what? You want to fight?” Yang Chen wasn’t intimidated.

Zhang Hengzhi laughed loudly and said, “Don’t worry, I’m definitely going to beat you up, but not right now. I’ll get you one night when you’re walking alone. For now, I’m going to smash your car. What are you guys waiting for? Smash it!”

Zhang Hengzhi’s men immediately began smashing Yang Chen’s car.

Yang Chen took out his phone and started recording them smashing his car.

Zhang Hengzhi laughed and said, “No need to film, I can afford to pay for it. However, you have to sue me in court, and I’ll only compensate you after the court makes a judgment. I’m just deliberately delaying things, so you can’t even drive your ride-hailing car. Let’s see how you’re going to make a living! Oh, right, if you’re not happy, you can smash my car. Go ahead, smash it as much as you like; I definitely won’t stop you!”

As he spoke, Zhang Hengzhi pulled out a stick and forced it into Yang Chen’s hand, then dragged Yang Chen to the front of his newly bought GTR [a high-performance sports car].

“Go on! Smash it as you like! Haha…” Zhang Hengzhi said arrogantly.

Yang Chen’s car was a Buick, while Zhang Hengzhi’s was a GTR.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be a worthwhile trade for Yang Chen to smash his car.

Seeing that Yang Chen didn’t move, Zhang Hengzhi laughed and said, “What’s wrong, you don’t dare to smash it? Then why the hell were you acting tough with me last night? Huh? I’m saying, why are you, a ride-hailing driver, acting tough with me? If I smash your car, you won’t have any food to eat. If you smash my car, I just won’t go home for three days, and my dad will transfer money to my card. You think you can fight me? Can you beat me?”