Chapter 579 - 415: With 30 Billion Lying in the Account, I Wonder if It’s Enough to Play a Round with President Li?

Chang Wei decisively backed down, proactively canceling the ride reward promotions.

Seeing this, Cheng Wei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed suit, ending the daily loss of nearly ten million yuan.

But to their surprise, Wang Zihao only lowered the amount of each reward, from an average of 2 yuan down to 0.5 yuan, and changed the guaranteed rewards to random draws.

Clearly, OFO had no intention of ending the subsidy war.

"You think you can start this whenever you want and end it whenever you want? It’s not that simple."

Wang Zihao sneered.

He had come to North China to fight for market share, not to play house with Cheng Wei and Chang Wei.

His plan was crystal clear: drive DiDi Bike and Little Yellow Bike back north, then slowly chip away at the North China market.

Cheng Wei and Chang Wei, thinking Wang Zihao was still not satisfied, acted in perfect unison and reverted their subsidy promotions for new and existing customers back to the mid-April policies.

This time, Wang Zihao chose to follow their move, but he still didn’t cancel the reward promotions.

But Cheng Wei and Chang Wei were helpless. They didn’t dare restart the reward promotions.

They both knew that countless hidden eyes were watching DiDi Bike and Little Yellow Bike.

Until their anti-cheating systems were improved, all they could do was passively take the beating.

...

...

Meanwhile, in Yanjing, Wang Xin sat in his office, a mix of joy and worry on his face as he stared at the monthly business report on his screen.

The good news was that Meituan’s transaction volume for April had risen from 240 million to 330 million, halting the downward trend.

The bad news was that 29% of this performance came from the e-commerce module, which was dominated by low-priced group-buy products and had a gross profit margin of only 7%.

Seeing this, he couldn’t help but sigh, silently thinking to himself: ’Meituan is a group-buy website, not an e-commerce site.’

’Once the service changes, the product’s positioning gets skewed.’

’It’s easy for users to label us as unprofessional!’

But Wang Xin was powerless to change it. He couldn’t just sit around and wait for the company to die. Stabilizing their performance came first.

When he opened Weibo and searched for Yiguan Data, he quickly found the group-buy industry report for April.

Wang Xin gritted his teeth and clicked on the high-resolution image.

Kuai Pao was still firmly in first place, its sales volume breaking the 3 billion yuan mark for the first time, leading by a landslide with a transaction volume of 3.16 billion.

Qian Du Group Buy was at 870 million, falling below the 1 billion mark.

Dianping was at 590 million, a slight increase compared to March.

Then he looked at Meituan. Wang Xin froze. Why was it 230 million?

He was so angry he wanted to curse. This Yiguan Data was playing dirty; Meituan’s sales were clearly 330 million!

A moment later, his peripheral vision caught a line of small text in the bottom-right corner: To ensure the fairness of the data comparison, the takeout, e-commerce, and grocery businesses of each platform have been excluded.

In the eyes of users and investors, Meituan’s performance had now been declining for three consecutive months. It was questionable whether they could even hold the 200 million mark in May.

Meituan was being suppressed by Kuai Pao and Dianping in first and second-tier cities, while also battling Qian Du Group Buy in third and fourth-tier cities. Trapped on both ends, it was like a turtle in a jar—wanting to escape but with no way out.

Meanwhile, after successfully establishing its business model in the county-level markets, Kuai Pao immediately replicated it across the East China, Central China, and Southern China regions, continuously recruiting new talent.

Many of Meituan’s operations, tech, and ground-promotion staff left of their own accord, without Wang Xin even needing to drive them away.

Generally, the most capable and intelligent people are the first to jump ship before a project fails or a company collapses.

As frontline employees, no one understood the company’s true situation better than they did.

’An e-commerce business making up nearly 30% of a group-buy website’s performance—could you even call it a group-buy platform anymore?’

’If we don’t leave now, we’ll just be waiting to get laid off!’

Meituan was a sinking ship, while Kuai Pao was vibrant and thriving. With its high salaries and good benefits, it became the top choice for job-hopping Meituan employees.

These people were assigned to the grocery, group-buy, or takeout businesses.

Kuai Pao’s expansion in the south accelerated, its scope of operations widened, and the depth of its services grew.

From food, entertainment, hotels and travel, hair and beauty, and movie tickets to groceries and takeout, it covered almost every O2O category, and its transaction volume grew at an incredible rate.

Every day, new cities were brought into Kuai Pao’s sphere of influence. With its one-two-three punch of group-buy, groceries, and takeout, competitors like Meituan, Qian Du, and Dianping all had to be on high alert and guard themselves carefully.

In terms of product experience and fulfillment capability alone, the other three competitors were no match. Forget counter-attacking—they were struggling just to defend.

After burning through more than a hundred million yuan on its takeout business, Dianping quickly faced reality. It followed Meituan’s lead in pulling back its defensive lines to focus its energy on the group-buy track.

Zhang Tao had to admit he just couldn’t make the takeout model work.

For a time, both Dianping’s and Meituan’s takeout services fizzled out, leaving only Qian Du Delivery to continue fighting Kuai Pao head-on.

Relying on Qian Du’s immense capital and traffic resources, Qian Du Delivery’s stations also blossomed across the coastal, central, and northern markets. However, their order volume was not high, averaging only about 700,000 orders per day—less than a tenth of Kuai Pao’s.

Li Yanhong, feeling his strategic layout was complete, summoned Wang Zhongpu, Gong Zhenbing, and Xiang Hailong, among others, to launch a counter-offensive against Kuai Pao and Fast Taxi.

DiDi Dache restarted its promotional event offering existing customers a 12-yuan discount, with two opportunities per person each day.

The group-buy service launched a check-in event that gave out no-minimum-spending coupons: 5 yuan for three consecutive days, 10 yuan for seven, 20 yuan for fifteen, and 50 yuan for thirty.

In other words, by spending thirty seconds a day checking in on Qian Du Delivery for a month, a user could get 85 yuan in no-minimum-spending coupons.

The marketing for the takeout business was even more simple and brutal: a 10-yuan no-minimum-spending reward just for logging in daily, plus a limited number of large 20-yuan rewards available at specific times.

At the same time, Li Yanhong made a public statement through the media, announcing that Qian Du would invest a minimum of 20 billion yuan in its LBS business.

Anyone with eyes could see that Li Yanhong was officially declaring war on Senlian Capital.

The ride-hailing war of 2012 was just a skirmish; this time, he was going all out.

Meanwhile, Chen Yansen had just finished enhancing himself, raising his Spirit value to 100.76, when a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK sounded at the door.

"Come in!" Chen Yansen responded.

Wang Xueting gently pushed the door open and led a tall woman inside.

She looked to be in her late twenties, with a delicate and gentle beauty. While not stunning, her standout temperament was her strong point. The professional skirt revealed a pair of straight, slender calves, and a pair of glasses rested on the bridge of her nose.

Wang Xueting, having learned her lesson from last time, had specifically chosen a candidate who was married with children and a stable family life to avoid anyone else getting the wrong idea and knocking on the boss’s door in the middle of the night.

"Boss, this is Meng Yun," Wang Xueting said softly.

"Sit."

Chen Yansen gestured with his hand.

He then gave a wave, and Wang Xueting, taking the hint, immediately turned and left the office.

Meng Yun, actually twenty-eight years old, had a degree in management from Tsinghua and a master’s in strategy and consulting from Lyon Business School.

After returning to the country, she worked at a foreign consulting firm for just two years before getting married and having a child.

She was steady and composed in her work, with a calm personality and, notably, an extremely strong memory.

"Mr. Chen, hello," Meng Yun said respectfully with a smile on her face.

The job at Senlian Capital offered salary and benefits 50% higher than her foreign firm, and she was very tempted.

Meng Yun knew that whether or not she passed the interview depended entirely on the young man before her.

’Twenty-one years old, an entrepreneur for three years, controlling over a dozen unicorn companies—an internationally recognized business genius.’

’Even Kotsubagawa Takashi from the Neon Country and Zuckerberg from the Lighthouse Country paled in comparison to him.’

’Her only concern was that the boss was too young and she would have to accompany him on frequent business trips. What if he made inappropriate demands...’

"President Wang said you have a good memory. When you walked in just now, did I put down the mouse first or pick up my phone?"

Chen Yansen asked casually.

"Neither. Mr. Chen was holding a pen at the time," Meng Yun replied after a moment of thought.

"Perceptive. My requirements for an assistant are high. You need to be smart, but not too smart. You have to be organized and able to prioritize," Chen Yansen said with a slight nod.

"Mr. Chen, I’m confident I am up to the task. While studying at EMLyon Business School, I served as the executive secretary for the school’s business association. Also, I worked for three years as the executive assistant to the president of the Asian Region at Simon Consulting Company."

Meng Yun replied, full of confidence.

Chen Yansen had seen her file, and Wang Xueting had also run a detailed background check through a third-party company. Her resume and abilities were impeccable.

Next, he asked a few more questions. Meng Yun’s answers were flawless—logical, with high emotional and intellectual intelligence.

"Welcome to Senlian Capital."

Ten minutes later, Chen Yansen gave his approval.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." A flash of delight appeared in Meng Yun’s eyes. Getting an offer was, after all, something to be happy about.

Although Senlian Capital didn’t have a single publicly listed company to its name, its overall strength was immense, no less than that of a Fortune 500 enterprise.

The generous compensation and comprehensive benefits package made her very satisfied.

After Meng Yun left, Chen Yansen returned to his desk and continued browsing the top news from the last couple of days.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—!

Just then, the phone to his right rang.

Chen Yansen raised his palm, and the phone flew into his hand automatically. He glanced at the caller ID: Pei Yi.

"Old Pei, what’s up?" Chen Yansen asked.

"DiDi Dache, Qian Du Delivery, and their group-buy service have started another price war. Li Yanhong announced he’s going to sink 20 billion yuan into the O2O sector," Pei Yi explained.

"I knew he couldn’t hold back. Twenty billion? Business isn’t a competition of who has more money! Set up a video conference. Get Xiao Jun and Cheng Weixing on the line."

Chen Yansen scoffed.

"Yes, Boss." Pei Yi wasn’t worried; he was just reporting to his boss out of habit.

’Kuai Pao holds 60% of the group-buy market and 90% of the ride-hailing and takeout markets. With its powerful algorithms, intelligent dispatch system, and ample fulfillment capacity, what does Qian Du possibly have to compete with Kuai Pao?’

After hanging up, Chen Yansen opened Weibo and, sure enough, found a trending topic related to Li Yanhong.

’Twenty billion?’

’Who’s he trying to fool?!’

He felt there was no need for him to get involved personally, so he left the counter-attack to Pei Yi.

A short while later, Kuai Pao issued a public retort on its official Weibo account: "We’ve got 30 billion sitting in the bank. Wonder if that’s enough to play a round with President Li?"

You say 20 billion? Then I’ll just add 10 billion more!