After the Divorce, I Could Hear the Voice of the Future-Chapter 263 - 262: Dangerous Idea

Old Ma chuckled and suggested, "How about we go next door and have some tea, talk a bit?"

"That works."

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Lu Liang nodded and followed Old Ma to the neighboring teahouse.

In the midst of their conversation, they inevitably talked about the recent US elections.

Unlike ordinary people who are all talk and no action, Old Ma had truly supported it with actions and funds.

He was on very good terms with Obama, and in the past year alone, had engaged in cordial talks more than once, which also led him to donate several million US dollars in political contributions to Larry.

Thus, when Old Ma met with Lu Liang earlier, he genuinely felt regret.

It's a pity that the previous meeting was in Tokyo instead of Hang City because if it had been, maybe in talking to Lu Liang he would have recognized a better business perspective and therefore changed his subsequent decisions.

This wouldn't have led to him backing the wrong horse, and now he might have to personally apologize next year.

Ever since Pinduoduo was founded, Ali had successfully shifted the blame for counterfeit goods, but only domestically.

Ali was still listed on the United States' "notorious market" list, and this issue continued to trouble Old Ma and Ali.

He thus wanted to use the political arena to lift the limitations of the US market on Ali Group.

"Even if it was told, Mr. Ma probably wouldn't take it to heart."

Lu Liang sipped his tea, offering a faint smile, having long stopped saying that it was all due to luck.

Once or twice might be attributed to luck, but three, four, or more times pointed to competence.

At least to outsiders, he possessed that strength; excessive humility was just arrogance.

Lu Liang didn't think that Old Ma telling him the truth about getting the United States to lift restrictions on Ali was the whole story; it was just one aspect, but definitely not all.

On the other side, Old Ma probably wanted to pursue politics, following the traditional route of Western capitalists.

Earning money, monopolizing the market, getting involved in politics, benefiting through policies, reflecting back to the market, and then earning more money.

This wasn't hard to see, because among all the domestic capitalists and companies, only Old Ma was always traveling abroad.

Every day either meeting this deputy head or that head, appearing in organizations like the United Nations.

If it wasn't for political ambitions, then these actions would be meaningless.

"It seems so," Old Ma laughed with relief.

Successful people are basically stubborn; once they're set on something, even with only a one in ten thousand chance, they go down that path alone.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying that the road to success is always lonely.

Old Ma brewed the tea, then paused and asked, "Mr. Lu, is the Public Fund confirmed?"

"Pretty much," Lu Liang nodded.

As they chatted, he suddenly realized that their goals were remarkably aligned; they were both seeking collaboration, though their purposes differed.

Old Ma hoped Lu Liang would take over Tianhong Fund and attract more funds to facilitate Alipay's entry into the water and electricity market among other public services.

Lu Liang sought collaboration simply to channel public fund inflows through Alipay's traffic channels.

Compared to Old Ma's idea, he felt like a little child playing with mud in a pond.

Lu Liang was astonished and had always heard of Old Ma's great ambition; now he truly understood what ambition meant.

If Old Ma was not boasting excessively, then Alipay's target would essentially be Huaxin + Ping An.

One was the uncrowned king of the domestic public service market, the other could be the fifth, or even sixth, among the state-owned banks since there was another called Citic.

Benchmarking against Huaxin alone was preposterous since it was directly supervised by the Ministry of Commerce under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

Old Ma even wanted Alipay to benchmark against both and to become a super conglomerate that surpasses them.

"Mr. Ma, you've had too much to drink," Lu Liang said quietly.

He felt that such a dominant powerhouse was not allowed in the country, especially one that was privately-owned and assetless.

Alipay's existence was in itself a miracle with registered capital of only two billion US Dollars but had hundreds of billions in saving funds.

Such a company, and Old Ma still thinking of inviting Lu Liang to join, raising more funds, and even considering going public.

If a scandal erupted, he would be liable for two billion US Dollars, while the rest, hundreds of billions, would be left for society to take over.

Just like the public fund, the reason for its numerous restrictions is because it's accessible to millions of ordinary people.

Once there were issues with the funds, it could affect thousands of ordinary families, and could even lead to social unrest.

However, from a certain perspective, their ideas aligned as both aimed for the ultimate goal of building something too great to fail.

But Lu Liang, after all, was considering investing in the new energy industry and had fixed assets with strong resistance to pressure.

Old Ma purely thought of marching into space by stepping from one foot to the other, trying to achieve something out of nothing.

Old Ma stopped mid-sentence, swallowed his words, exhaled a breath smelling of alcohol, and said with a smile, "Indeed, I did drink a bit much."

"Mr. Lu, if you ever have any ideas, feel free to contact me; the doors of Ant Financial are open for you."

After finishing, Old Ma also walked away,

leaving Lu Liang alone in the tea room, immersed in deep thought.

He couldn't frankly tell whether it was just boastful prattle and pie in the sky, or a spontaneous truth revealed under the influence of alcohol.

If it was false, so be it.

But if it was true, what could Old Ma have gone through to harbor such expansive thoughts?

"Will it succeed?"

Old Ma was an exceptional orator, his words compelling Lu Liang to ponder deeper.

If it succeeded, it would be like Samsung.

"This idea is too risky."

Lu Liang lay back on the soft tatami, closed his eyes to clear his mind, yet decided to stick with his own plans.

"One can walk on two legs in finance and industry; perhaps let Old Ma explore first. If feasible, joining later wouldn't be too late."

Suddenly, the curtain behind him was drawn, and Lu Liang opened his eyes to see a pair of striking, long legs.

"I just saw you and Mr. Ma come in, and saw Mr. Ma leave, so I came to check on you."

Wang Chuting smiled slyly, took off her high heels, knelt beside Lu Liang, and reached out to touch his forehead, "Is your illness better, drinking now?"

"It's almost better," Lu Liang turned to see, legs wrapped in flesh-colored stockings.

He stretched out his nail-bearing index finger and thumb, plucked a few elastic fibers, and asked with a smile, "Busy today?"

"Not really, but I will be tomorrow," Wang Chuting glared playfully, swatted Lu Liang's naughty hand away, and slightly lifted to hide the damaged area under her over-the-knee skirt.

Lu Liang grabbed again, then suddenly stood up, leaned to Wang Chuting's ear, and whispered, "I'm staying in room 5102 on the fifth floor."

White blouse, grey skirt, flesh-colored stockings—an ordinarily professional outfit for women, but on Wang Chuting, it always carried a hint of uniform temptation.