How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 538

Let’s Make a Bet with a Standard of 10 Billion USD – What’s Wrong with a Ride-Hailing Driver Having Some Money? (1)

After dinner, Yang Chen and Zhang Jingyi enjoyed the musical fountain together.

Afterward, they strolled towards the Four Seasons Hotel by West Lake.

“Can I ask why you chose to partner with me?” Yang Chen inquired.

Zhang Jingyi playfully nudged Yang Chen’s arm with her fist and said, “Your build makes me feel safe. Honestly, I wouldn’t dare try to make this kind of money with someone who wasn’t physically fit. 5,000 yuan [approximately $700 USD] is a lot, but it’s not worth getting scared or developing health problems. That wouldn’t even cover the medical bills.”

Yang Chen: “Oh, I see. So, being a bit stronger has its advantages. It opens up opportunities that others miss.”

Zhang Jingyi: “Haha… of course. Handsome and strong guys are very popular. Many girls can’t resist that type.”

Yang Chen: “Really? I haven’t noticed any girls finding me irresistible.”

Zhang Jingyi: “Who says that? I find you hard to resist, or I wouldn’t have invited you to earn this 5,000 yuan with me. I hope you’re a good person. If you’re not, I’m like a lamb entering a tiger’s den, walking right into danger.”

Yang Chen: “Haha… Our Dragon Country [China] is a society ruled by law. There aren’t that many bad people.”

Zhang Jingyi: “Judging by your accent, where are you from? You sound a bit like someone from Hai City [Shanghai], but with a touch of Beijing.”

Yang Chen: “It seems you’ve developed a knack for identifying accents from your travels. I am indeed from Hai City, but I’m now based in Beijing, and I occasionally travel to other cities.”

Zhang Jingyi: “That’s right. I’ve traveled all over and seen a lot. I’ve been to every city in our country and can usually pinpoint someone’s origin by their accent.”

The two chatted as they arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Yang Chen checked in, and his room was next to Zhang Jingyi’s.

They said goodbye at the door and went into their respective rooms.

Yang Chen had just finished showering when Qiu Yuhong called him.

Qiu Yuhong: “Mr. Yang, the intelligence department just reported that the Qin Clan has dispatched 12 assassins to eliminate you and has mobilized all their contacts to find you throughout Hai City.”

Yang Chen: “The Qin Clan is determined to avenge Qin Lang. I almost admire their solidarity. Keep an eye on those 12 people and make them disappear.”

Qiu Yuhong: “What about the other members of the Qin Clan? Especially Qin Sitong, Qin Huang, and Qin Lang. How should we handle them?”

Yang Chen: “Follow the original plan for Qin Huang and Qin Lang. First, borrow their money, and then create the impression that they and Gao Qiguo fought because of old grudges, so the Qin family and the Gao family will destroy each other. As for Qin Sitong, leave him alone for now. I’ll talk to him in person when I’m done with my current matters. However, give him some warnings so he doesn’t act rashly again.”

Qiu Yuhong: “Okay, I understand. Oh, right, they also reported that Wang Simiao has been getting close to Qin Sitong recently.”

Yang Chen: “Wang Simiao? How old is Qin Sitong?”

Qiu Yuhong: “80.”

Yang Chen: “Oh, I understand. Qin Sitong is using standing up for Qin Lang as a pretext, but he’s actually after my blood. That poisonous snake, Wang Simiao, insists that I’m strong and my blood has anti-aging effects. He’s been cozying up to Qin Sitong, most likely to convince him to capture me and use my blood to extend his life.”

Qiu Yuhong: “That’s outrageous! If they have such malicious intentions, none of them should be left alive. I don’t think you should meet with Qin Sitong, Mr. Yang. Let’s just eliminate him.”

Yang Chen paused for a few seconds and decided that there was indeed no need to meet with Qin Sitong.

So, he would follow Qiu Yuhong’s suggestion.

Yang Chen was very confident in the “assassins” of Starlight Defense.

It was getting late, so Yang Chen put down his phone and prepared to sleep.

He was just drifting off when Zhang Jingyi knocked on Yang Chen’s door with a fruit platter.

“Brother Chen, are you still awake? I brought this for you,” Zhang Jingyi said with a smile, offering the platter with both hands.

Yang Chen: “No, thank you. I don’t eat before bed, and I’ve already brushed my teeth. Although I’m just a ride-hailing driver, I’m very strict with my lifestyle habits.”

Zhang Jingyi: “I can tell. Someone who isn’t disciplined couldn’t have such a perfect physique. It’s good that you don’t eat it. The fruit is a bit cold and not good for sleep. Then you rest. Remember to come back early tomorrow night.”

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Don’t worry, I definitely want to experience the work of a sleep tester.”

Zhang Jingyi: “Hehe… okay. Good night then.”

Yang Chen smiled and nodded, watching Zhang Jingyi return to her room before closing his door and going to sleep.

Yang Chen had arranged to meet Mayor Liu at 3 PM. He had nothing to do in the morning, so he decided to drive around and pick up passengers.

Originally, Yang Chen was in a good mood, experiencing the local flavor of a new city.

But after picking up just two passengers, Yang Chen received a call from Li Enbei.

Li Enbei: “Mr. Yang, Mayor Liu just called and asked us to come to the Municipal Government right away. The Merck people went to the Municipal Government to complain about us. Mayor Liu wants us to clarify things with them face to face.”

Yang Chen: “They’re really asking for it! I was planning to deal with them after I finished my work, but they came to mess with me first. Okay, I’ll head over there now. We’ll meet at the entrance of the Municipal Government later.”

Li Enbei: “Okay, I’m heading over there now too. See you later.”

Da Ma had previously expressed his desire to accompany Yang Chen to the Municipal Government to meet Mayor Liu. Yang Chen had also informed him last night to go to the Municipal Government at 3 PM today.

Now that the time had changed, Yang Chen had to inform Da Ma.

Yang Chen quickly found a place to park and immediately called Da Ma.

Da Ma: “Hello, Mr. Yang, what’s up?”

Yang Chen: “The Municipal Government just notified me that the Merck people went to complain about me, and Mayor Liu wants me to go over there now. I told you last night that we were meeting at 3 PM today, so I had to let you know.”

Da Ma: “I see. Then I’ll head over there now. We’ll meet at the entrance of the Municipal Government later.”

Yang Chen: “I mean, if you’re not available, you don’t have to go.”

Da Ma: “I’m very free right now. I don’t have much to do. Since we agreed to meet Mayor Liu together, of course, I have to keep my word. I’m leaving now. See you at the entrance of the Municipal Government later.”

Yang Chen: “Okay. See you later.”

More than forty minutes later, Yang Chen arrived at the Municipal Government.

Li Enbei and Da Ma were already there, chatting.

Yang Chen parked his car and went up to greet them.

Da Ma said with a smile, “Director Li told me about the matter between you and Merck. How does Mr. Yang plan to deal with them?”

Yang Chen: “Since they’ve taken the initiative to start a dispute, I’ll definitely accept their challenge. That Thomas guy wants me to short Merck, so I’ll grant his wish.”

Da Ma: “Shorting Merck isn’t easy. It’s an international pharmaceutical giant, and many domestic pharmaceutical companies rely on it to survive. How are you going to short it?”

Yang Chen: “As long as I’m willing, there’s no company in this world that I can’t short.”

Da Ma: “Haha… then I’ll watch how Mr. Yang shorts Merck this time and learn some investment strategies from you.”

Yang Chen: “Haha… forget it. Let’s go inside and find them.”

The three of them entered the Municipal Government together and met Mayor Liu.

Mayor Liu didn’t expect Yang Chen to bring Da Ma, and his expression was a bit complicated.

As everyone knows, Da Ma’s status in Hangzhou is extraordinary, and Mayor Liu also has to respect him.

Years ago, Da Ma complained about traffic congestion in Hangzhou, and the former mayor immediately stated that he would solve the traffic problem in Hangzhou within ten years.

If Da Ma is happy, then Hangzhou can be happy.

“I didn’t expect Mr. Yang to invite Mr. Ma as well,” Mayor Liu said with a smile.

Da Ma quickly explained, “No, no, no, I took the initiative to come along. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Mayor Liu, so I’m taking this opportunity to come and see you.”

Mayor Liu: “Haha… Mr. Ma is very thoughtful. So, you want to participate too?”

Yang Chen: “Mr. Ma can listen in. It’s not like it’s anything shady.”

Da Ma: “Haha… If Mr. Yang doesn’t mind, then I’ll listen in. Anyway, I have nothing else to do, so I’ll just treat it as listening to a story. I’ll remember the interesting parts and forget the boring ones.”

Mayor Liu nodded with a smile, took them to a small conference room, and instructed that no one was allowed to approach the small conference room, otherwise, they would be demoted.

The Merck delegation was still the same people as yesterday, led by the factory director, Thomas.

Mayor Liu: “You’ve all met, so I won’t introduce you. I’ll just listen and not express any opinions. You can negotiate on your own.”

Yang Chen motioned for Mr. Ma and Director Li to sit down, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Thomas and his group with a slightly contemptuous gaze.

Thomas said very directly: “I have already told Mayor Liu my position. If Enbei Pharmaceutical cannot fulfill the verbal agreement reached between the two parties, Merck will prohibit all companies in Dragon Country from producing any of our company’s products. Even products whose patents have expired, companies in Dragon Country cannot produce. Otherwise, we have ways to make the pharmaceutical companies in Dragon Country pay the price. We have a benign competitive relationship with companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. When it comes to our common interests, they will definitely stand with Merck. If you don’t believe it, you can try it.”

It seems that Thomas still doesn’t understand why Yang Chen insists on not using their product patents and insists on independent research and development; otherwise, he would never have said those words just now.

Yang Chen sneered and said, “Your attitude, your words, are precisely why I insist on independent research and development and will never use foreign company patents. If one day you have products that we also have, would you still dare to talk nonsense here? The more aggressive you are, the more I will insist on my position. I can tell you clearly now that Enbei Pharmaceutical will no longer use any patents from foreign pharmaceutical companies. At worst, we’ll stop production. We’ll independently develop a product, and we’ll open a production line. I have a lot of money and can afford to support the workers. If you want to use this to threaten me, then you’ve miscalculated. In addition, I want to tell you that the money I spend on supporting workers must be earned from Merck.”

Thomas: “I really don’t understand. Why do you have to spend so much money on research when there are ready-made things you can use? And no one can guarantee that you will be able to develop it successfully. You might waste time and money. Do you know how to manage a company? Isn’t the purpose of opening a company not to make money, but just to compete?”

Yang Chen: “Hey, that’s right. I’m not interested in money now. I just like to compete with some awesome companies and people. Especially you foreign companies, who have taken all the advantages here for so many years, earning a lot of money, but still stabbing us in the back from time to time. I just can’t stand your ungrateful behavior and must get to the bottom of it with you.”

Thomas: “Arrogant, conceited, and overestimating yourself! Who do you think you are? You think you can compete with us just because you say so!”

Yang Chen: “If I’m not more arrogant, I’ll be old. Alright, I don’t want to waste time talking to you. I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Go back and report to your headquarters that I want to get tens of billions from the Merck Group to support the workers. I’m showing my cards to you now. Let’s see how you play them. Mayor Liu, we’re done talking here.”

Mayor Liu had been staring at Yang Chen the whole time, and Yang Chen’s words deeply touched him.

When he was young, he was also a person with ideals and ambitions, dreaming of making Dragon Country stand tall in the world.

But as he got older, his former ideals had gradually faded.

Fortunately, he saw his former self in Yang Chen.

But…

Yang Chen’s hard-line stance against Merck might have serious consequences.

While he admired him, he still had to make the stakes clear to Yang Chen.

“Mr. Yang, I admire your ideas very much, and I hope you can get your wish. However, I still have to say a few words to you. Many domestic pharmaceutical companies do rely on international pharmaceutical giants such as Merck to survive. If they really join forces to do something, it could be a disaster for these domestic pharmaceutical companies, and the consequences would be too serious. For example, Zhifei Biological, 90% of its revenue comes from Merck’s products. If Merck suspends their authorization, Zhifei Biological’s more than 10 billion profits and 100 billion market value will collapse overnight, the hard-earned money of hundreds of thousands of shareholders will be gone, and tens of thousands of employees may lose their jobs. I know that from your perspective, you don’t have to consider these issues, but from the government’s perspective, we must consider these issues. Can you understand what I mean?”

Even if Zhifei Biological’s 100 billion market value collapses overnight, it will not have any impact on Yang Chen. He won’t even blink an eye.

But for the government, this is a big problem because it involves hundreds of billions of funds and the jobs of tens of thousands of employees.

If things really get to this point, governments at all levels will definitely favor Merck and demand that Yang Chen accept Merck’s product patents and stop similar drug research and development.

It sounds magical, but that’s the reality.

Da Ma’s expression was solemn, and he said, “Mr. Yang should understand these principles, so be careful. Don’t be as high-spirited as I was back then, but now I have to deliberately restrain myself. The government always considers the interests of the majority, and most of the time it will sacrifice the interests of the minority to satisfy the interests of the majority. For example, demolition often leads to nail户 [stubborn holdout] problems, but demolition still has to be carried out. Without demolition, how can we build high-speed railways, expressways, and high-rise buildings to develop the economy? If we don’t do it to take care of the interests of a few people, we may still be stuck in the past.”

If it were five years ago, Yang Chen would definitely not consider these issues, and his ideological awareness would not reach this level.

But now he has to consider it. There is a morally charged saying that is very good: with great power comes great responsibility. If domestic pharmaceutical companies go bankrupt and tens of thousands of employees lose their jobs because of personal grievances, he will also feel uneasy.

However, he is still unwilling to give in.

Yang Chen: “Thomas, how about we make a bet? If I win, we’ll do it my way. If I lose, we’ll do it your way. I’m just an ordinary person. I don’t have to consider things from the government’s perspective. If you really push me, I’ll just ignore the life and death of those pharmaceutical companies, and no one can do anything to me. So, let’s use this bet to decide who has the final say. How about it?”

Thomas: “What bet?”

Yang Chen: “I just said that I want to short Merck. If I succeed in shorting it, you are not allowed to cause any more trouble. If I fail in shorting it, I will immediately sign a contract with you and suspend all research and development that conflicts with your patents.”

Thomas: “Haha… okay! Don’t say we’re bullying you. I’ll give you this opportunity. However, we have to set a profit standard. We can’t count normal stock price fluctuations as a successful short, right?”

Yang Chen nodded.

Thomas: “Like this, as long as you can profit more than 10 billion USD by shorting Merck’s stock price, we’ll count it as your win. If you don’t profit that much, then you lose.”

Mayor Liu, Da Ma, Li Enbei, and the other members of Merck all thought that Yang Chen would refuse, but to their surprise, Yang Chen accepted the standard of profiting 10 billion USD without any hesitation.

“No problem! If I can’t profit 10 billion USD by shorting Merck’s stock, I’ll let you do whatever you want!” Yang Chen said very confidently.

Thomas: “Haha… good! You will definitely pay a heavy price for your arrogance!”

Yang Chen’s casual acceptance of Thomas’s request shocked Li Enbei, Mayor Liu, and Da Ma.

Li Enbei hurriedly asked, “Mr. Yang, are you being a bit impulsive? Merck is not easy to short, and I can’t find any reason to short it. And the standard of profiting 10 billion USD is too high.”

Mayor Liu also quickly advised, “Mr. Yang, don’t be so competitive about this. If you lose, your reputation will be ruined. And… I don’t know if they will make additional demands on you.”

Da Ma also felt that 10 billion USD was too much and advised, “Mr. Yang, I don’t know why you are so confident. However, I think any investment should be evaluated after in-depth and careful investigation. You haven’t prepared anything and agreed to it in one go. Isn’t it a bit too hasty? It’s not that I don’t believe in your ability, but I think it’s better to be more cautious.”

Obviously, the three of them couldn’t understand why Yang Chen was so impulsive.

Thomas laughed and said, “Mr. Yang, did you hear that? Mayor Liu, Mr. Ma, Director Li, none of them are optimistic about you. I think you should stop wasting time and just admit defeat. We won’t make any additional demands on you. We just ask you to fulfill the verbal agreement you reached with us before. In the future, just use our product patents with peace of mind, like Zhifei Biological and other companies, and don’t do your own research and development.”

Damn it, Yang Chen just doesn’t want to do this kind of begging, but Thomas insists on forcing him to do it. Isn’t this asking for a beating?

Yang Chen: “Let’s judge heroes by results. There’s no point in talking nonsense. Alright, it’s settled. We’ll have the results before Double Eleven [November 11th, a major online shopping day in China]. You can leave. I have other things to talk about with Mayor Liu.”

Thomas sneered and left with his team.

Mayor Liu sent them off and then quickly ran back.

At this time, Da Ma and Li Enbei were persuading Yang Chen to reconsider, as this was a major event.

Mayor Liu also quickly said, “Mr. Yang, are you really not afraid of losing? At least so far, your image is perfect in everyone’s mind. But if you lose this time, your image will be ruined.”

Yang Chen: “Do I care about that? Not many people know me anyway. Why should I care what they think of me? Alright, let’s not talk about this sure-win bet. Let’s talk about moving the headquarters of Enbei Pharmaceutical.”

Mayor Liu, Da Ma, Li Enbei: “…”

A sure-win bet?

So, why is he so confident?