I won 90 million, all I want to do is lie down and relax!

To be fair, A Xiang Barbecue's current profitability is nothing short of terrifying.

Li Jianxiang only needs to let slip a hint, and the number of people wanting to cooperate with him will be so great that they might even start fighting.

Lu Zhaoyang was still self-aware.

He had no experience in the catering industry whatsoever; all he had was this money, which came out of sheer luck.

But so what?

There are many more people with money now.

Putting everything else aside, in this small county town alone, there are countless places that are richer and have more resources than him.

If it weren't for the fact that he happened to meet Brother Xiang, who was at the lowest point in his life, at that time and place.

He wouldn't even need to think about investing in this stock; he wouldn't even be able to find the door.

Back then, Lu Zhaoyang voluntarily relinquished his controlling stake without giving it much thought.

In retrospect, this move actually made him feel more at ease.

Lu Zhaoyang felt he had gotten a great deal by partnering with Brother Xiang.

In fact, Lu Zhaoyang already knew that people would come to Brother Xiang's door from time to time to discuss cooperation or open branch stores.

He explicitly rejected them all.

While Lu Zhaoyang was deep in thought, he followed Qian Lei to the second floor.

"These are the rooms in our e-commerce department."

Upon hearing Qian Lei's introduction, Lu Zhaoyang looked up and saw a sign on the door that read "Customer Service Department".

Looking through the door, you can see several young girls sitting in front of computers.

Further on, this house is different from the others; it has a sign that says "Live Streaming Room."

Although the door was closed, there was a small window through which one could see inside.

There were only two people; a female anchor was introducing the product in front of the camera.

There's another person behind the camera; that's probably the operations manager.

The two didn't exchange many words, and Qian Lei led Lu Zhaoyang in another direction.

On the other side, right next to the corridor, is the general manager's office.

Upon entering, the interior was sparsely furnished but very tidy.

There are two desks placed together near the window.

"Junsheng and I share this office, but we don't usually stay here much. I'm always running around outside, while he practically lives in the lab."

Qian Lei turned on the air conditioner and smiled as he gestured for Lu Zhaoyang to sit down, "Zhaoyang, sit down, don't be shy."

"Okay, Brother Qian."

Lu Zhaoyang casually glanced around the office in front of him. Just as he sat down, he saw a woman in her thirties standing at the door and gently knocking.

"Mr. Qian."

"It's okay, you go about your business, don't worry about me."

Qian Lei waved his hand to dismiss the other party and went straight to the tea table to turn on the tea machine.

"I'll do it, Brother Qian."

Lu Zhaoyang didn't treat himself as a guest and casually pressed the flush button.

While boiling water, Lu Zhaoyang noticed Le Chong's information on the table.

It's the exact same one that Qian Lei gave him back then.

With nothing else to do, he picked it up casually and, with a touch of curiosity, opened An Junjie's profile and glanced at it.

Qian Lei glanced at the documents in Lu Zhaoyang's hand, remembered what they had talked about before, and asked with a smile, "Zhaoyang, that knowledgeable friend you mentioned a while ago, did you show him this information? Did he have any comments?"

Lu Zhaoyang's heart skipped a beat. He was just worried about not finding a suitable excuse to get to the point when Qian Lei spoke first.

He nodded in agreement: "I saw it. My friend had a very high opinion of LePet. She felt that the company's fundamentals were very healthy, and its locational and cost advantages were very obvious. My friend said that the startup team is especially crucial for a startup. She felt that the development path your team has chosen at this stage is absolutely sound and precise, almost the ideal approach for a small startup brand..."

Lu Zhaoyang tried his best to recall Xia Ran's evaluation and repeated it to Qian Lei.

Without realizing it, I also made some optimizations to the wording.

It wasn't exactly flattery, but it was definitely much better than Teacher Xia's objective description.

Qian Lei listened and nodded, naturally aware of these advantages himself.

However, he didn't just want to hear nice things.

Finally, after Lu Zhaoyang finished speaking, he smiled and asked:

"Zhaoyang, your amazing friend couldn't have only mentioned the good points, could he? He must have pointed out the shortcomings too, right? Don't hold back!"

Lu Zhaoyang smiled and said truthfully, "That's right, Brother Qian. She did mention what she thought might be challenging for LeChong."

"Oh? Tell me more about this part."

Upon hearing this, Qian Lei became interested.

At this stage of working in a company, it's no longer the time to listen to flattery.

He wanted to hear opinions.

Constructive suggestions.

If it can be truly enlightening and thought-provoking, that would be the best outcome.

Lu Zhaoyang also knew that this was the part that Qian Lei cared about more.

His expression became more serious. He thought it over carefully before slowly speaking: "On the one hand, my friend believes that improving efficiency and increasing production through OEM production lines is an effective and necessary path for the current development of LePet. However, at the same time, it is easy to cause a problem... that is, in the long run, it is easy to become overly dependent on the OEM path. She thinks that this aspect may need special attention and efforts to balance the relationship between the two."

At first, Qian Lei didn't take it too seriously because he still thought it was just an acceptance of OEM manufacturing.

But when he heard the rest of the conversation, he heard Lu Zhaoyang's concern about over-reliance on OEM manufacturing.

His heart skipped a beat.

It must be said that this is a very accurate assessment of the issue.

Moreover, it dialectically recognized the contradictions and was able to point them out so clearly.

Qian Lei wasn't in a hurry and patiently said, "Zhaoyang, please continue."

"On the other hand, Brother Qian, my friend thinks that while you've maintained product quality, you're clearly stuck on the ultimate problem that all small brands face."

He looked at Qian Lei and said seriously, "Her point of view is that LePet's market segment is fine, and its product quality is excellent, but the transition from a 'good product' to a 'good brand' is the most difficult hurdle for any local startup. Establishing a foothold locally is easy, but going nationwide is extremely difficult. She feels that this is a life-or-death hurdle for LePet, in particular."

"This hurdle might be due to a lack of patience, a misaligned product positioning, or perhaps... it might be related to funding."

"There's also the issue of technology. If we can't take that first step forward with our own products, it might not just be a matter of stagnation. It could affect the first problem I just mentioned, or even cause a chain reaction that leads to other problems."

At this moment, Qian Lei sat upright.

These words struck him like thunder, sending a jolt through his heart.

He even felt cold sweat trickling down his back.