Starting Check-in Reward: Tomson Riviera

This was another reason Ye Ling didn’t want Shengding Group to get involved in this mess. It was a thankless task, and they might even become the target of concentrated fire.

Besides, Shengding Group was developing just fine in Modu. Why go and meddle in the Imperial Capital?

「The next day.」

At 2:50 PM, Ye Ling let Ning Ruoxi know where he was going and headed to the Drunken Immortal Inn Restaurant.

With his status as the hidden boss of the Drunken Immortal Inn, he naturally didn’t have to wait in line. He followed a waiter directly into the reserved private room number one.

’One really has to marvel at the power of money!’

People often say money isn’t everything, but in this day and age, it can solve 99% of your problems, can’t it?

Take this situation, for example. If Ye Ling didn’t have capital, he would have had to make a reservation days in advance!

’Want to eat?’

’Go eat dirt at the entrance!’

Once inside the private room, Ye Ling sent Yu Peng a message, telling him he could just give the staff his name.

About five minutes later, a man with a square-jawed face walked into the room.

"President Ye, my apologies. I got caught in a bit of traffic and am running a little late."

Seeing that Ye Ling had already been waiting in the private room for some time, Yu Peng said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Don’t worry about it. I came early. We’re still five minutes ahead of schedule."

Ye Ling chuckled, waved his hand, and then looked at the waiter. "You can start bringing out the food now, thank you."

"Yes, sir."

The waiter nodded respectfully and left the private room.

Meanwhile, Yu Peng sat down and looked at Ye Ling, a clear flash of surprise in his eyes.

He had received information about Ye Ling beforehand, saying he was just eighteen and barely an adult. But seeing Ye Ling in person, he still couldn’t help but feel a sense of disbelief.

"President Ye, you’re so much younger than I expected."

Yu Peng stated his thoughts directly.

Ye Ling smiled and made a lighthearted joke. "President Yu, you didn’t come all the way to Modu just to see if I’m really eighteen, did you?"

"HAHAHA, of course not, of course not."

Hearing this, Yu Peng burst out laughing, then added:

"Regarding DJI Technology, I’m sure President Ye already knows a bit about us. Although DJI’s current market value isn’t high, our potential is enormous."

"I know."

Ye Ling nodded in deep agreement.

"Lately, we’ve been facing one problem after another. The biggest issue is still with our core technology. Just look at Xia Wei Group, they’ve been in a lot of trouble recently."

Yu Peng couldn’t help but sigh.

"That said, if DJI hadn’t independently poured so much effort into developing our drone flight control and gimbal technology back then, our current situation probably wouldn’t be much better than Xia Wei Group’s."

"So, what you’re saying is, President Yu..."

Ye Ling asked tentatively.

"Even though our situation isn’t that dire yet, we still have quite a few problems."

Yu Peng shook his head.

"We may hold seventy percent of the market share, but to be honest, we’re not as untouchable as the outside world makes us out to be. To put it simply, DJI’s main business is in consumer-grade drones, and the barrier to entry for that sector isn’t actually that high."

Ye Ling remained silent, already having a good understanding of what Yu Peng was saying.

DJI Technology holds seventy percent of the market share, yet its market value is lower than Shengding Group’s. ’Does this mean the drone market is small?’

’Obviously not. DJI Technology’s main business right now is consumer-grade drones—the kind regular people can use. That sort of thing...’

’To put it this way, some people online can just buy some materials and cobble together a drone themselves.’

’The barrier to entry is pretty low, isn’t it?’

Therefore, even though DJI occupied a huge market share, it was still a long way from being a true giant. Its current status was simply due to its early start.

Now, many high-tech companies overseas were also gradually starting to pay attention to the drone sector and beginning their own research.

Moreover, drones were gradually transitioning from civilian to industrial applications.

And in this area, DJI was also starting from scratch!

If DJI couldn’t break into the military drone sector, it would likely be confined to the consumer-grade market.

"So, DJI still needs to grow."

Yu Peng had always been very clear-headed. He never became arrogant or complacent just because he had achieved some success.

And indeed, DJI still had a long way to go.

"I think DJI’s top priority should be to develop military-grade drones as quickly as possible and solve a series of related issues, such as battery life."

Ye Ling shared his thoughts.

"That makes sense!"

At his words, Yu Peng’s eyes lit up.

In fact, DJI had indeed been gradually moving toward industrial applications recently, but their primary research focus wasn’t military, but agricultural.

For example, using drones to spray pesticides and so on...

To be honest, the technological sophistication involved in that wasn’t that high.

But the technological value of military-grade drones was truly immense!

"Alright, let’s eat first. We can discuss this while we eat."

Ye Ling chuckled as the waiter began bringing the dishes to the table.

The service at Drunken Immortal Inn had always been excellent. It was expensive, but it was definitely worth the price.

Ye Ling’s favorite dish at Drunken Immortal Inn was the bluefin tuna. The meat was firm and delicate, and even though he’d had it a few times, he still found it delicious.

In comparison, he found things like king crab to be just so-so.

Yu Peng, however, was full of praise as he ate.

"I’m really lucky today. I’ve heard about Drunken Immortal Inn so many times, and I’ve been to Modu many times, but I’ve never had the chance to try it myself."

Yu Peng said with a sigh of admiration.

For him, money wasn’t the issue when it came to a high-class meal like this; the key problem was the reservation.

It was said that reservations for Drunken Immortal Inn were already booked a month out!

He only ever came to Modu on short-notice business trips, so even though he really wanted to try it, he had to give up on the idea.

"Then you should eat more. This one’s on me."

Ye Ling chuckled as well, raising his glass and clinking it against Yu Peng’s.

"Oh, I couldn’t possibly."

Yu Peng said immediately.

To be honest, although he hadn’t spoken with Ye Ling for very long, he felt he had gained a lot.

This included Ye Ling’s earlier suggestion to shift DJI’s focus from agriculture to military applications. He found it very reasonable and planned to start working on it as soon as he got back.

"Just fulfilling my duties as the host," Ye Ling said casually.

"In that case, thank you, President Ye."

Yu Peng also chuckled lightly.

...

After returning from Drunken Immortal Inn, Ye Ling looked up some news about DJI Technology online and couldn’t help but sigh again.

His conversation with Yu Peng today had covered a lot of ground, and it had given him a very direct sense of the predicament currently faced by high-tech companies in Xia Country.