Chapter 260: Reject the Acquisition! The Yan Jing Battle!

After the press conference, Xiaomi arranged a dinner reception for its core suppliers and select partner companies.

Only then did Luo Yonghao realize that Lei Yi was too cunning—he gave him no chance to approach the suppliers.

Unlike Luo Yonghao, Chen Yansen was also invited.

As soon as he entered the banquet hall, Chen Yongming from OPPO came over and teased with a smile: "I heard you stole Duan's final disciple?"

"The CEO position of Pinbei isn't beneath Huang Zheng."

Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow and replied coolly.

OPPO's Find3, released in February, and the upcoming Finder will both use Sister Chengzi Tech's memory cleanup algorithm; they are rivals and partners alike.

With Huang Zheng's connection, Chen Yongming actually took the initiative to greet him.

"Looks like Zhou Hongyi pushed Lei Yi hard—Xiaomi 1S dropped from 1999 yuan to 1299 yuan; he's happy, but OPPO's in trouble."

Chen Yongming sighed, staring at Lei Yi in the distance with bitter hatred.

OPPO Find3, launched just a few months ago, also has a 4-inch screen, 1GB RAM, a 2-megapixel front camera, and an 8-megapixel rear camera—its only advantage is 12GB more storage than the Xiaomi 1S, but that doesn't justify its 3699-yuan price.

Yes, OPPO Find3's launch price is 3699 yuan!

Chen Yansen glanced at Chen Yongming, wondering where he got the nerve—Sister Chengzi C2 only sells for 2699 yuan, and OPPO Find3's hardware and system are far worse than Sister Chengzi C2's, yet it dares to sell for 3699 yuan.

Now that the Xiaomi Mi2 has launched, anyone who buys OPPO Find3 is either offline or just stupid and rich.

"So, will you adjust the specs and pricing of the OPPO Finder?" Chen Yansen looked at Chen Yongming with a mocking expression.

"If we don't change, we'll die! If not for you and Lei Yi messing things up, Find3 wouldn't have sold only a few ten thousand units."

Chen Yongming snapped back.

A few ten thousand units?

Chen Yansen froze—he'd underestimated the number of fools.

Before they could chat long, Yu Chengdong from Huawei walked over, pulled both of them to a table, where representatives from Gao Tong, Sony, Jingdongfang, and BYD sat around.

"Mr. Chen, hello," the Jingdongfang representative greeted Chen Yansen respectfully.

After all, Senlian Capital holds 10.9% of Jingdongfang's shares; as the third-largest shareholder, Chen Yansen wields considerable influence there.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly and exchanged a few pleasantries.

He glanced around—the suppliers mostly smiled, but representatives from OPPO, Huawei, and Ku Sect wore far more complex expressions.

From their conversations with suppliers, it was clear they all shared Chen Yongming's thoughts: they'd return home to adjust their new products' specs and pricing strategies.

"Mr. Chen, sorry I'm so busy today—let's meet tomorrow; I'll make it up to you personally."

At that moment, Lei Yi walked up with a wine glass, smiling warmly, feigning regret for poor hospitality.

"Mr. Lei, you're too kind—may Xiaomi phones sell like hotcakes!" Chen Yansen raised his glass and clinked it with Lei Yi's.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen. My goal isn't high—just ten million units total this year."

After the press conference, Lei Yi learned Xiaomi Mi2 and Xiaomi 1S were receiving positive online reviews, and his confidence surged.

Chen Yongming frowned inwardly: Ten million units isn't high? How arrogant.

Yu Chengdong and Guo Yingde from Ku Sect exchanged glances and silently spat in their minds—so you're playing value-for-money? Do Huawei and Ku Sect not know how?

Both resolved: return home and launch a 2000-yuan phone specifically to target Xiaomi.

Meanwhile.

Cheng Weixing pulled a group of key staff from Hangcheng and Jin Ling, rushing them overnight to Yan Jing to crush competitors before they could grow.

Early the next morning, he arrived at Didi's headquarters with his assistant.

"Tap-tap-tap!"

His assistant knocked on the door.

The Didi receptionist looked up and asked: "Hello, this is Didi. Who are you here to see?"

"Is Cheng Wei here? Tell him Cheng Weixing from Kuai's Taxi is here."

Cheng Weixing said.

Kuai's Taxi?

Isn't that a competitor?

The Didi receptionist looked puzzled, but she'd heard of Cheng Weixing—knew he was Kuai's Taxi's CEO.

So she didn't hesitate, picked up the desk phone, and called Cheng Wei's office.

"Cheng Zong, the head of Kuai's Taxi is here," the receptionist said.

"Cheng Weixing?" Cheng Wei reacted immediately, pressing urgently.

"Yes," the receptionist replied.

"Understood," Cheng Wei frowned slightly, hung up, and walked out while pondering Cheng Weixing's purpose.

But as he crossed the office area and finally saw Cheng Weixing, he still couldn't figure it out.

"Cheng Wei?" Cheng Weixing probed, confirming the man before him.

"Cheng Zong, hello. I'm Cheng Wei, project lead at Didi." Cheng Wei extended his right hand, hovering midair.

"Pleasure! I'm Cheng Weixing, CEO of Kuai's Taxi."

Cheng Weixing gripped Cheng Wei's hand firmly and introduced himself with a smile.

As he spoke, he observed Cheng Wei—the man looked young, about his own age, clean-faced and refined, wearing glasses, more like a teacher than a businessman.

Cheng Wei was also sizing up Cheng Weixing—sharp suit, an assistant trailing behind, barely over thirty, equally young.

But their circumstances were vastly different: Cheng Weixing had Senlian Capital behind him—money and resources poured in; within two months, he raised 90 million USD, valuation over 600 million USD.

He, by contrast, was worse off—he and his colleagues pooled 800,000 yuan, got scammed by a contractor, then betrayed by a tech partner; only after securing 2 million yuan in funding did Didi finally launch.

If Kuai's Taxi was blessed by fortune, Didi was cursed from the start—no comparison at all.

"Cheng Zong, please come in—let's sit down and talk in detail."

Cheng Wei led Cheng Weixing through the corridor, pushed open the door, and entered a small conference room.

Walking the whole way, Cheng Weixing saw only a little over twenty people; even counting the ground-promotion staff outside, Didi Taxi probably wouldn't have more than fifty employees in total.

Instantly, he had a rough idea of where things stood.

After the two sat down, Cheng Wei got straight to the point: "Cheng Zong traveled all the way from Hangcheng to Yanjing—what would you like to discuss with me?"

"I want to buy out Didi Taxi for 20 million." Cheng Weixing answered with a smile.

The best way to eliminate a competitor is to acquire them.

Moreover, Kuaidi Taxi could also integrate Didi Taxi's resources along the way, expanding its market share in Yanjing.

Cheng Wei froze for a moment—he hadn't expected Cheng Weixing to open his mouth and want to acquire Didi Taxi outright.

Was the other party scared?

Cheng Wei shook his head instinctively: "Cheng Zong, I'm very sorry, but I currently have no plans to sell the company."

He had resigned from his position as General Manager of the B2C Business Division at Zhifubao absolutely not for a mere ten or twenty million.

"Kuaidi Taxi enters the Yanjing ride-hailing market tomorrow—10 yuan subsidy for new passengers, 2 yuan per-order subsidy for drivers. How much does Didi Taxi have in its account? Can it last a month?"

Cheng Weixing said with a cold laugh.

Having money meant he could afford to be tough—he still had 500 million on hand and could keep subsidizing until Didi Taxi didn't get a single order.

Cheng Wei opened his mouth, just about to retort, but helplessly swallowed his words back. He understood in his heart that if the roles were reversed, he would have made the same choice as Cheng Weixing.

Kuaidi Taxi had no reason to sit back and let Didi Taxi grow.

"Cheng Zong, the ride-hailing market has plenty of room. You're developing well in the south—no need to come north and wade into troubled waters."

Cheng Wei's face showed difficulty, and he said one sentence dryly.

"From what Cheng Zong is saying, you've already taken the northern ride-hailing market as your own?" Cheng Weixing asked with a smile.

"The market is big enough to accommodate both Kuaidi and Didi. There's no need for us to burn through marketing funds for the sake of one Yanjing market." Cheng Wei said patiently, trying to persuade.

His strategy was simple—stall first!

Once Didi Taxi captured the Yanjing market and built up order volume, his voice when speaking with investors would be louder too.

Once he secured funding, would he still need to fear Cheng Weixing?

"Cheng Zong, sell the company to Kuaidi Taxi and you'll immediately receive a handsome payout. If you want to keep working in the ride-hailing industry, I can also introduce you to Mr. Chen of Senlian Capital."

Cheng Weixing eased his tone slightly and said with a smile.

"Sorry, I won't be selling Didi Taxi for the time being." Cheng Wei refused again.

"Cheng Zong, then let's let our products do the talking."

Cheng Weixing stood up, looking down at Cheng Wei.

In his view, selling Didi Taxi to Kuaidi Taxi was Cheng Wei's best option.

Comparing hard strength, Didi Taxi simply wasn't a match!

The meeting ended on a sour note. Cheng Wei politely saw Cheng Weixing to the door.

Staring at Cheng Weixing's retreating back, Cheng Wei knew in his heart: Kuaidi Taxi wouldn't be easy to deal with—this battle was unavoidable.

In fact, if Cheng Weixing had come to Yanjing three days earlier, Cheng Wei might have agreed.

But yesterday, an investor from Today Capital had taken him to Baidu headquarters, where he not only got the data interface for Baidu Maps but also secured 30 million in strategic investment.

Although his shareholding ratio shrank significantly again, Cheng Wei had also given Didi Taxi the strength to compete head-to-head with Kuaidi Taxi.

After leaving Digital Valley, Cheng Weixing still couldn't figure out why Cheng Wei had refused the proposal to merge into Kuaidi Taxi.

Based on the information he had gathered, Cheng Weixing was certain Cheng Wei would very likely agree—that was why he had chosen to visit in person.

Unless he had missed some critical information.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Cheng Weixing's mind: Could Didi Taxi have secured new funding?

Damn it! Whatever!

Since Cheng Wei wanted to have a go at him, he'd see just how much strength the other side really had.

Back at the hotel, Cheng Weixing immediately began deploying the next phase of work: speed up driver and user-side expansion, find a fixed office space, recruit ground-promotion staff.

"Hong Jun, what's Didi Taxi's commission rate?"

After finishing his instructions, Cheng Weixing asked the head of the marketing department.

In the afternoon when he went to Didi Taxi's headquarters, Hong Jun had taken people to Yanjing Airport's Terminal 3 to gather intel on Didi Taxi's operating strategy.

"12%, the same as ours." Hong Jun answered.

"Then what should Kuaidi Taxi's commission rate in Yanjing be set at? 10%, or 8%?" Cheng Weixing asked again.

"Anyway, in the early market-development phase, new customers' first orders usually account for over 80% of the total. Instead of lowering the commission rate, we might as well run a commission-free period—the promotional effect might be even better." Hong Jun thought for a moment and answered.

"Then 14 days commission-free for new drivers—let's see how long Cheng Wei can hold out!"

Cheng Weixing narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly.

(End of chapter)