Chapter 2452 - 2250: Pushing Forward Despite Reluctance

"Hello? Deputy Director Zhang, where are you?" Boss Niu asked warmly.

"I'm almost there, I can already see your restaurant." Deputy Director Zhang replied.

"Oh, that's really great! If you arrive any later, we'd be almost done eating!" Boss Niu said with a cheeky grin to Deputy Director Zhang.

"Didn't I say not to wait for me? I'm not here for a meal." Deputy Director Zhang said seriously to Boss Niu.

"Deputy Director Zhang, you personally spoke, how could I not comply? We've already started actually. I originally planned to greet you after the meal, but never thought you'd arrive so soon. I am truly honored!" Boss Niu said to Deputy Director Zhang.

"The meeting at the bureau went faster than I expected, so I came a bit earlier." Deputy Director Zhang replied.

"Oh, Deputy Director Zhang, that's wonderful. Just as the pork banquet from my own pig farm is about to be served, could I invite you to taste it?" Boss Niu asked Deputy Director Zhang.

"No thanks, I've already eaten. I'm just here to see how many internet giants you've brought in, to widen my perspective!" Deputy Director Zhang said to Boss Niu.

"Deputy Director Zhang, what you're saying, they're just small bosses who run internet companies, hardly worthy of your attention! When our humble group gets to meet the leader from Ningjian Province's tax bureau, that would be such an honor!" Boss Niu flattered Director Zhang.

"Alright, that's it for now, I'm almost there." Director Zhang said to Boss Niu.

"I'll come down to greet you right away!" Boss Niu said before hanging up.

"Boss Niu, you actually invited the province's tax bureau leader? Your influence is really impressive!" Wang Shangjin gave Boss Niu a thumbs up.

"When you need others to do things for you, what influence do you have?" Boss Niu and Wang Shangjin bantered.

"I wonder what big moves Boss Niu is planning by inviting the tax bureau leader here?" Ma Jiayi asked Boss Niu.

"It's just a plan really. If we can reach an agreement with Deputy Director Zhang, everything will be great; if not, then nothing would work."

Boss Niu paused and continued, "Recently, seeing Jingxi Mall's successful self-run operations, I think their business model is worth learning from. Local people buying local goods, utilizing local logistics, same-day delivery specifically addressing the issue of slow logistics delivery. So I thought I could learn from their experience, facilitate some online and offline linkage, attract some local businesses, and build some self-run logistics centers and warehouses."

"What's the connection between this and Deputy Director Zhang from the tax bureau?" Ma Jiayi asked Boss Niu.

"Of course there's a connection; Mr. Song should understand this best. The tax on real industry is so high now: labor cost is high, venue cost is high, operational management cost is high, and taxes are high too. I asked several accountants to make calculations, and they believe that unless it's like Jingxi Mall with unified online and offline operations, otherwise with this kind of business the offline entity will certainly lose money." Boss Niu answered.

"So today Boss Niu invited Deputy Director Zhang with the intention of discussing tax reduction issues, right?" Zhou Yuanzhi understood and asked Boss Niu.

"Yes, if there's no way to compress costs, just rashly going into offline operations would incur high costs. Actually, I also considered focusing on online operations, outsourcing offline aspects to industrial moguls like Mr. Song, but then I thought if not directly managed it'd harm offline reputation. So, there's no choice but to brace myself and do it."

While speaking of his affairs, Boss Niu didn't forget to mock Song Xiaodong a bit.

"I'll first conduct a trial run in Ningjian Province, explore the business model. If viable, expand nationwide. If it can't be implemented even in Ningjian Province, then I'm helpless, just watch the local self-run market taken by Jingxi Mall. At that time, all of us present, well, we'd just watch Boss Wang enjoy the profits, but none of us bosses could even dip a spoon into the soup." Boss Niu glanced at Wang Shangjin and Ma Jiayi.

Wang Shangjin and Ma Jiayi both lowered their heads in shame.

Because what Boss Niu said was entirely correct, in online shopping, the only one who could match Boss Niu was Jingxi Mall's Wang Siqi. Other e-commerce companies were small scale, hardly noticeable.

Boss Niu and Wang Siqi had already determined their respective market shares and business directions, and the online shopping cake was mostly divided between the two of them. Boss Niu mainly handled the online trading of cheap goods, while Wang Siqi focused on locally self-run products. Boss Niu's main market competitiveness was low prices, while Wang Siqi's was fast delivery.

Generally speaking, Boss Niu had an advantage in sales volume and total transaction amount over Wang Siqi due to the price advantage of cheap goods. Therefore, Boss Niu had the energy to study Wang Siqi's offline business model, intending to expand into the market field Wang Siqi excels in.

However, offline operation costs are much higher than online, facing uncontrollable risk factors in operational management, especially policy changes. So Boss Niu wanted to try out offline self-run in Ningjian Province, and the first thing was to invite provincial leaders for a meal, and the second thing was to invite Deputy Director Zhang from the tax bureau for a meal.