Age of Legends

Chapter 364 Each Strives for Their Own Path, Yet Shares the Same Wind Across a Thousand Miles (Part 1)
On a clear autumn day in Fuzhou, the autumn wind was brisk, the sky was high and the clouds were light, and the yellow ginkgo leaves were scattered by the wind.

On Shuwa Street, where the brick walls of buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties remain, Zhang Chen strolled leisurely to the front of the first two-story Shengfeng Express store, his hands in his pockets, like a statue.

People were busy inside and outside the shop. Some were unloading goods, some were taking inventory, and some were idly chatting and bragging while waiting to load the truck. When they saw and recognized Zhang Chen, they all felt as if they had been electrocuted.

"Brother Zhang—!" Everyone stared wide-eyed at the young man.

"President Chen!" This was a clever way of addressing Zhang Chen, knowing he owned shares, but it wasn't flattery; rather, it carried a sense of respect.

Zhang Chen was clearly very young, even younger than them by half a generation, after all, Zhao Tao was Wang Shuowei's cousin, but at this moment everyone was solemnly facing the arrival of this eagle-like young man.

After Liu Qi's land was designated as the "Jinsha Site," the entire business community of Rongcheng was discussing the misfortune of Yipin Group. The more effort they put into competing with Huang Huifen for the land, the more severe the backlash became. When the land was awarded to Liu Qi, he was like a crowned king, his fame soaring to unprecedented heights. At that time, he practically wielded immense power, and Shengfeng Group faced numerous crises, even resorting to closing down at one point.

Everyone is saying, "Where is Brother Tao's trump card? What's his ultimate move?"
Many of the parties involved remember that Zhao Tao had planned to recruit people and confront Liu Qi openly. At that time, Zhang Chen came against the tide and immediately showed the spirit of a top scorer in the college entrance examination essay. He was eloquent and brute force, suppressing everyone.

According to many people who didn't know who this high school student was at the time, they later greatly admired his courage and eloquence, and all gave him a thumbs up. The fact that Zhang Chen later appeared in the newspaper, and that Zhao Tao would pull everyone he met to read the newspaper and show them Zhang Chen, further corroborated their initial assessment.

Zhang Chen held a closed-door meeting later that day and completely persuaded Zhao Tao.

What exactly he and Zhao Tao said that day that made Zhao Tao give up the idea of ​​going to war with Liu Qi using bravery remains unknown.

But then the pressure from Shengfeng Express suddenly disappeared, and Liu Qi stumbled upon the Jinsha Site. Was it really just a coincidence?
At that time, the battle between Zhang Chen's mother's Xuhui Real Estate and Yipin Group for the land king was making headlines, and in the end, Xuhui Real Estate was defeated. As a result, they narrowly escaped a huge disaster.

Are these all just coincidences?
Yes, what else can describe it besides coincidence?

Did Zhang Chen know what was underground? And why did he insist on letting Huang Huifen fight for it? And why did Liu Qi also want to take the bait?
It is said that Liu Qi consulted a feng shui master who said that the land was very auspicious and a sign of immense wealth. And indeed, it did become incredibly wealthy, but this wealth belonged to all the people of the country and had absolutely no bearing on Liu Qi, the one who made this astonishing discovery.

The feng shui master who was involved in this incident reportedly became quite famous in Hong Kong.

Liu Qi and his Yipin Group became the biggest victims of this incident. But he can't blame anyone else; if Liu Qi hadn't "taken too big a step and messed things up," this wouldn't have left him with such a huge debt.

If we really have to blame someone, we can only say that greed and tyranny ruined his life.

So that's the problem. It all seems like coincidences, even the person who got killed brought it upon himself. Everything is just too perfect, too seamless, like Boss Xiong's accidental death last time.

It all seemed like an accident.

But there is one problem: Zhang Chen was involved in the deaths or downfall of these two people.

Of course, we can't simply point the finger at Zhang Chen, because Zhao Tao is also involved in both incidents! Moreover, Zhao Tao was their direct opponent and the one who absorbed the damage. Logically, Zhao Tao is the more suspicious.

However, this doesn't prevent Zhao Tao's core group of brothers, who had experienced both of these phases, from seeing Zhang Chen again with such respect and solemnity. Because that day, the seemingly prophetic saying, "Liu Qi's steps are too big, he'll easily tear his balls," came true.

It originated from him.

……

Zhang Chen passed by his subordinates at the entrance and met Zhao Tao on the second floor.

Zhao Tao's core group of friends isn't here. Qian Junyi, the deputy manager of Shengfeng, is currently checking goods at the South Gate warehouse; he has difficulty walking, so Hong Yao is driving him. Bu Ruijie is in charge of the western area; his office is there now, not here.

Seeing the tea set in front of Zhao Tao, Zhang Chen was momentarily dazed. Zhao Tao actually had the leisure to drink tea?
"You've reformed?" Zhang Chen asked with a smile.

Zhao Tao fiddled with the tea set and brewed a pot of tea. He then poured the tea into two Kung Fu teacups and pushed one towards Zhang Chen: "Try it, it's Zhuyeqing new tea."

After Zhang Chen sat down, Zhao Tao stared into his eyes and asked, "How exactly did you predict that Liu Qi would dig up that piece of land?"

Zhang Chen took a sip of tea, looked up, and smiled helplessly, "It's probably just a coincidence."

Zhao Tao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and nodded. "I think so too. That piece of land has been there for so long, for so long before, and no one ever discovered it. It just so happened that it was unearthed this time. You could say Liu Qi was just unlucky. Or maybe..." He then gave Zhang Chen a deep look, "Your family is just too lucky."

"Of course! My mom kept saying how lucky we were. Otherwise, the news would have reported on my mom, and our family would have been in debt instantly," Zhang Chen said with a smile.

"Alright, you're incredibly lucky, practically a chosen one. Sometimes luck is a form of strength, I absolutely admit that." Zhao Tao said, "Without luck, I don't know how many times I would have been stabbed to death."

"So now I understand, you have to hide your sharpness. Those who laugh first may not laugh last." Zhao Tao poured Zhang Chen more tea. "So now, drink some tea, calm your mind, and let things settle down."

Zhang Chen had come on short notice intending to have a long talk with Zhao Tao, but things didn't turn out as leisurely as he had imagined. The two of them were discussing the future in the autumn of 2001. Behind Zhao Tao, there were many simple delivery forms on the wall, and every now and then a phone call would ring in his office, which he would have to answer and deal with.

Zhang Chen admired this guy. He was actually very busy in the office, but he pretended to be leisurely and set up a tea table, as if he was imitating those big bosses.

This actually made it difficult for Zhang Chen to have long conversations with him. Every time they exchanged just a few words, his phone would ring incessantly.

Finally, even Zhao Tao couldn't help feeling awkward and asked, "What did you come over for? Did you suddenly decide to sit here for a while?"

Zhang Chen was afraid that if he said a few words, the annoying phone would ring again, so he quickly and concisely expressed his views.

"I plan to enter the e-commerce market in the future. Shengfeng needs to develop quickly and occupy the western region faster than STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express, and then expand rapidly across the country. Only in this way can we seize the opportunity to become a surprise force capable of taking over this business!"

(End of this chapter)