Chapter 251: No Victor, Yet Everyone Is a Winner!

Zhuxian Village Technology Park, Building 8, balcony rest area.

Chen Yansen leaned back in a wicker chair, gazing at the distant night sky, his finger pressing the answer button.

"Chen Zong, it's about time—shall we all wrap up tomorrow?"

Liu Qiangdong cut to the chase, smiling as he proposed.

"You want to start, you start? You want to end, you end? So Pinbei is just a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jingdong? Mr. Liu!"

Chen Yansen's lips curled slightly as he replied calmly.

In terms of financial reserves, he was dozens of times stronger than Jingdong—he didn't care if the campaign ran from 418 to 618.

Of course, that assumed he could withstand losses of several billion.

"Today, everyone's traffic and output were solid—we've achieved our goal. No need to keep pushing; users' latent consumption demand is limited."

Liu Qiangdong sat in his office, smiling as he urged.

He paid no mind to Chen Yansen's sarcasm.

Jingdong lost two hundred million; investors' patience could only endure two or three days. Since the desired effect was achieved, it was time to cut losses.

"Hold on one more day," Chen Yansen said coolly.

Fuck!

Two hundred million a day—you pay for it?

Liu Qiangdong looked helpless, unconsciously rubbing his temples—he hadn't expected Chen Yansen to be this hard to deal with; money really did give you guts.

One wanted to fight, the other wanted to quit—they couldn't reach an agreement.

Per the original plan, the 418 promotion lasted only one day, but since Pinbei could start early, it might also extend its end.

Suning feared this scenario; after consulting Zhang Jindong, they received only one instruction: keep fighting! Crush Jingdong outright!

Zhang Jindong had just successfully issued bonds—he had no shortage of cash. He knew exactly where Liu Qiangdong's weakness lay; as a seasoned player in the business world, he understood the principle of striking the snake's seventh inch.

A few more days, and Liu Qiangdong would definitely fold.

In his view, Suning—with over a thousand chain stores—was the adult, while Jingdong was like a child; fighting Jingdong was like beating a kid.

But Pinbei 's revealed ambition made him more cautious.

The next morning, Weibo was flooded with promotional articles about Jingdong's 418 sales figures. The content appeared objective and fair, but reading through it gave the impression: "Buy appliances—go to Jingdong."

Ali didn't coddle Jingdong; immediately, under the FoxTaobao name, it released a survey report on the 418 appliance festival, using Tuwenjiehe to subtly suggest to users: "Guomei has the lowest prices, Pinbei and Suning come second, Jingdong is the most expensive."

The PPT included dozens of screenshots—hundreds of scattered products, whether black or white appliances—every price list showed Jingdong as the most expensive seller.

Liu Qiangdong glanced at it and cursed: "Disgusting."

For example, the Shanxing i9100 smartphone: Jingdong sold it for 3, 69 yuan, Suning for 2, 99, Guomei for 2, 89, Pinbei for 2, 79.

Each website's price came with a high-definition screenshot!

But Liu Qiangdong clearly remembered that this product had dropped to 2, 69 yuan by 4 p. . yesterday—yet FoxTaobao's editors ignored it, deliberately screenshotting the product's main image before the price cut.

Is that fair?

Liu Qiangdong immediately responded on Weibo, questioning FoxTaobao's stance.

"How much did Ali take from Guomei to work so hard?"

Chen Yansen walked into the conference room, first reviewing yesterday's promotional data recap, then turning his gaze to Hu Yun.

"Guomei has the highest commission rate—after all, FoxTaobao is a Daogou e-commerce site," Hu Yun chuckled.

This information came partly from data comparison, partly from discreet inquiries with former FoxTaobao colleagues.

"Make sure you coordinate well with Liang Bo—don't spend the money if users don't even notice."

Chen Yansen instructed Hu Yun.

Unlike Jingdong, Pinbei had its own promotional channel; though Toutiao had only ten million users, it was still far stronger than Liu Qiangdong's reach.

"Got it, boss," Hu Yun grinned.

Pinbei 's data, design, and marketing teams had already coordinated with Toutiao's operations team yesterday; today, they'd launch full-scale promotion of Pinbei 's 418 appliance festival results across Weibo, Sina, NetEase, QQ, Sohu, and Toutiao's homepage.

"Meeting dismissed!" Chen Yansen waved his hand.

Whether Jingdong, Suning, or Guomei responded or not, Pinbei 's promotion would proceed as planned.

At 11 a. ., Pinbei released its 418 battle report.

Sales of major appliances: 390 million yuan!

Sales of digital and home appliance brands: 840 million yuan!

Total sales across all categories: 1. 7 billion yuan!

The report also included a price comparison table for identical products across platforms, with Pinbei 's prices highlighted in red—clearly showing Pinbei as the cheapest e-commerce site.

"Bought an Orange C2 phone on Pinbei yesterday—only 2, 99 yuan, 100 yuan cheaper than launch price."

"Snagged a three-door fridge for 999 yuan."

"Jingdong's dishonest—just plays tricks. Wanted to buy a TV after work, but everything was out of stock—trying to fool who?"

"Suning's worse—the website won't even load, can't pay!"

"From now on, I'll only buy on Pinbei —prices are genuinely cheap, and they don't play the 'raise first, then slash' game."

After Toutiao's "Featured" section filtered comments, it easily steered netizens toward the impression: "Buy appliances on Pinbei —prices are discounted, and they're honest with users."

This was called capturing user psychology!

Weibo, the three major portals, and QQ News soon published Pinbei 's battle report news—detailed, well-reasoned, and amplified by Pinbei users sharing their shopping experiences, deepening netizens' impression of Pinbei.

Turns out Pinbei wasn't just selling fruits, vegetables, clothing, and sundries—it had its own central warehouse, partnered with Yunsu Express, and delivered even faster than Guomei and Suning.

Upon learning this, Zhang Jindong immediately ordered his branding department to publicly release Suning's 418 battle report.

Yesterday, fighting for users; today, fighting for traffic.

"Boss, Jingdong and Pinbei 's 418 promotions are still live on their homepages," Han Pengde walked into the boss's office, reporting solemnly.

"Mm, got it," Zhang Jindong nodded.

E-commerce competition differed greatly from offline—fewer dirty tricks; whoever had more money spoke louder.

The Thousand Group War proved this: the last ones standing either had deep pockets or brilliant operational skills—those with both had an 80% chance of winning.

Zhang Jindong didn't want to end this so soon—at least until Liu Qiangdong surrendered, Suning would keep hammering Jingdong.

He wanted to make it clear: even online, Jingdong couldn't dare to challenge Suning's authority.

Dangdang and Yixun, seeing no one would back down, gritted their teeth and kept fighting.

Near noon, Liu Qiangdong hung up the phone, his face grim—both DST and Sequoia Capital had refused additional investment.

Fortunately, Xu Xin from Today Capital promised to raise another hundred million for him, willing to pull Jingdong back from the brink.

This filled Liu Qiangdong with gratitude—he kept calling her "Sister Xu."

"If we hold on through today, Jingdong will have won this 418 appliance festival."

Liu Qiangdong clenched his fists, thinking inwardly.

From a financial perspective, this battle had no winner—everyone had lost a lot of money.

But in reality, everyone was a winner.

According to third-party data platforms, Pinbei 's traffic surged 57%, ranking first; Jingdong at 31%, second; Suning at 22. %, third.

Guomei, Dangdang, and Yixun followed closely behind.

Everyone had amassed massive traffic; reputation would depend on each company's subsequent marketing strategy.

Until 19th at dawn, Pinbei voluntarily took down its promotional page; Jingdong, Suning, and Guomei followed suit.

This three-day e-commerce war, with total losses of two billion yuan, finally came to an end.

Pinbei 's outstanding performance naturally drew attention from venture capital firms.

Suddenly, Gao Weilin's phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Domestic VCs like Huake, Dachen, Jiuding, and Jishi, as well as overseas giants like IDG, DST, Source Capital, and Morgan Stanley Asia—all called.

"Zhou Zong, looks like DST wants to invest in every e-commerce platform in China!"

Chen Yansen joked after receiving a call from Zhou Shouzhi.

"I only invest in promising projects," Zhou Shouzhi replied.

As an experienced investor, he understood one truth: no single player could dominate a Saidao.

The ROI of investing in the #1 player was staggering, but investing in #2 or #3 still yielded substantial returns—Zhou Shouzhi wouldn't miss out.

"What's DST—or Mr. Yuri's—valuation offer for Pinbei?"

Chen Yansen asked bluntly.

At Pinbei 's current scale, the investment amount clearly exceeded Zhou Shouzhi's authority to decide.

He was certain that before calling, Zhou Shouzhi had already reported to Yuri and received negotiation authorization.

"Six billion U. . dollars," Zhou Shouzhi paused a few seconds, then slowly gave the number.

" Pinbei 's daily sales are nearly equal to Jingdong's. I heard Liu Qiangdong publicly announced a 12-billion-dollar valuation during his Hong Kong roadshow last month—yet DST only offers six billion. Do they not believe in Pinbei?"

Chen Yansen wasn't angry—he asked calmly.

"That's true, but Hong Kong brokers only valued it at under six billion," Zhou Shouzhi explained.

"So Liu Qiangdong gave up on listing in Hong Kong," Chen Yansen said with a smile.

His implication: DST's offer was too low.

"Chen Zong, I'll contact you again later," Zhou Shouzhi said—he needed to discuss further with his boss.

Pinbei had grown too fast, unable to prove stable performance—too risky, so investors refused to offer high valuations.

After brief thought, Chen Yansen decided to close the fundraising window.

Unless it was QQ Investment or a VC with state-owned backing—the former could provide free traffic support, the latter policy compliance support.

Chen Yansen didn't move Pinbei's headquarters to Hangcheng, Hushi, or Jin Ling because staying in Xu City or Luzhou meant having powerful patrons above him.

Otherwise, with Pinbei's user-acquisition tactics, in any city without connections or influence, the fines from the Municipal Supervision Association would pile up to fill an entire building.

Although the zero-yuan bargaining, cash wheel, and money-printer tactics worked well for user acquisition, if a day passed without hundreds of complaints, it meant the new-user growth was suspect.

Before quitting time, Liu Zhiping called, confirmed Chen Yansen had no intention of raising capital, exchanged a few pleasantries, and hung up.

After all, Tencent wasn't in a hurry—it already held 15% of Pinbei's equity and had long since reaped massive profits.

Meanwhile.

The phones of municipal supervision associations across the country were ringing off the hook, with countless complaints against JD, Suning, and Gome over false marketing.

Many users who failed to secure discounted products felt the entire 418 Home Appliance Festival had been nothing but an e-commerce platform's publicity stunt.

Screenshots of products that had first been raised in price, then slashed, began spreading wildly on social platforms.

At five p. ., the Business Association announced it would intervene in the investigation and would impose severe punishment if price fraud was found.

But after the investigators looked into it, they were stunned—from their perspective, not a single one of these bastards was innocent.

If actual penalties were to be handed out, no one would escape.

Remember, the top bosses had declared at the beginning-of-year meeting that the 2012 e-commerce market's total target was set at one trillion yuan.

He feared that announcing penalties would cause excessive negative impact on the e-commerce market.

Thus, though the incident appeared massive—with famous lawyers analyzing daily that platforms participating in the 418 e-commerce promotion might face fines ranging from 50, 00 to 500, 00 yuan—

the thunder was loud but the rain light; aside from being summoned for talks, JD, Suning, and Gome suffered virtually no impact.

In this struggle, Pinbei also secured second place in the industry, with home appliance sales revenue second only to JD.

That evening, Chen Yansen announced that all Pinbei Tech employees, including part-time customer service staff, would receive a 1. multiplier on their Q2 bonuses—immediately, cheers erupted from Building Eight.

Meanwhile.

Far away in Yancheng, Cheng Wei finally, at 11 p. . on April 20th, had the outsourced team complete development ahead of schedule; after testing, Didi Taxi 1. was ready for market launch.

(End of Chapter)