Chapter 264: 30 Million a Month—Wouldn't That Be 3.6 Billion a Year?

East Gate of the Virtual Academy, Shuangqing Restaurant.

"I didn't expect Meituan, Dianping, and Lashou to all drag the price war into Virtual City. Brother Sen, when will your Kuaipao takeout start service around the Virtual Academy?"

"Yeah, I want to experience the feeling of lying in the dorm while food comes from outside before graduation."

Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang exchanged a glance and said with a grin.

"Soon!"

Chen Yansen raised his glass, took a sip, and replied.

After Kuaipao had established its footing in Luzhou, it had already drawn up a city-launch plan for Hui'an Province. In less than three months, Kuaipao takeout riders should be seen around the Virtual Academy.

"Brother Sen, my girlfriend is a senior next semester, majoring in Fine Arts. Could she intern at the design department of Pinbei or Sister Chengzi Tech?"

Song Yang leaned over and asked in a low voice.

"Just report in directly when the time comes."

Chen Yansen agreed readily.

"Thanks, Brother Sen." Song Yang thanked him quickly.

"Sigh, Brother Sen, you were right. If you can't find a partner in freshman or sophomore year, the probability of being single for all four years of college can reach 99.99%."

Tang Zhenzhe, sitting nearby, looked enviously at Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang.

Those two—one had a senior chasing him, the other had a long-distance girlfriend. In Room 8302, only he, Meng Xibo, and Zhu Xiaopeng were still single.

Chen Yansen smiled. He hadn't expected Tang Zhenzhe to fall into Su Meiling's hands again in this life, having slavishly courted her for two years without even holding her hand.

Useless!

"A man should put his career first—establish a career before starting a family." Meng Xibo cut in.

He served as the head of the client department at Pinbei, with a base salary of around ten thousand. Counting overtime, he was among the top earners in all of Virtual City.

"Cut it out. Last month, under the guise of a fellow-townsmen gathering, who was that pestering a junior for the entire day? I'm looking, and he looks exactly like you."

Tang Zhenzhe said with a smirk, teasing him.

"Hahaha…" Zhu Xiaopeng couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Laugh all you want, you're also a single dog." Tang Zhenzhe fired off passionately, roasting two people at once.

"Bullshit! That junior couldn't find her way home, what's wrong with me walking her back?" Meng Xibo's face stiffened, and he forced himself to explain.

"Pfft—!" Tang Zhenzhe looked utterly disdainful.

"In another three months, another batch of fresh juniors will arrive. Brother Zhe, don't worry. If it really doesn't work out, I'll set you up with my sister."

Song Yang stood up, filled everyone's glasses, and said with a smile, offering comfort.

"Your sister? Got a photo?" Tang Zhenzhe perked up immediately at the mention.

But when Song Yang handed Tang Zhenzhe a photo of his five-year-old sister, another burst of laughter erupted in the room.

Almost junior year already?

Chen Yansen sighed inwardly. College days really flew by. The pity was, he had only tried with a senior, never with a junior.

Meanwhile.

Didi Taxi headquarters.

Cheng Wei looked at the nearly empty balance in the account and said to the head of the marketing department: "Marketing costs are burning too fast, much faster than I expected. Looks like we'll need to raise funds as soon as possible."

"This money was well spent. We currently have 1,600 drivers, with daily orders hitting 80,000—up seven or eight times compared to the start of the month."

The marketing department head pushed his glasses and answered firmly.

Cheng Wei nodded, quite convinced by the other's reasoning.

Under Didi Taxi's counterattack, Kuaidi Taxi still held sixty percent of the ride-hailing market in Yanjing, but the advantage wasn't clear.

After the meeting, Cheng Wei called the contacts at Today Capital and Baidu separately. The core message was five words: "It's me, Cheng Wei. Send money."

"30 million, and you burned through it in just one month?" Baidu VP Liang Zhixiang asked back, visibly astonished.

"President Liang, fighting Kuaidi Taxi for the Yanjing market naturally burns subsidies a bit faster." Cheng Wei replied.

30 million in one month—wouldn't that be 360 million a year?

Liang Zhixiang felt things were getting serious. He had originally invested in the project as a favor to Today Capital, and combined with Kuaidi Taxi's explosive popularity and the potential need to promote Baidu Intelligent Driving, he had allocated 30 million to Didi Taxi.

But he never imagined the ride-hailing industry could burn through 30 million in a single month!

Thinking of this, he didn't rush to agree, but politely declined: "I need to sync with the boss first. Wait for my word."

In his view, Cheng Wei was a founder who wasn't good at managing funds, and they had to send a finance person to keep an eye on things.

Arriving at Li Yanhong's office door, Liang Zhixiang deliberated for a long time, but still knocked on the boss's door.

"Come in!" A steady male voice came from inside.

"Boss, there's an investment project I'd like to report to you." Liang Zhixiang said, uneasy.

"Didi Taxi? I've heard about it. They've been in a fierce price war with Kuaidi Taxi lately. What? Out of money again?"

Li Yanhong set down the document in his hand and asked lightly.

"Yes. Didi Taxi burned through 30 million in one month. At the current pace, it'll need at least three to four hundred million a year."

Liang Zhixiang replied.

"A few hundred million is nothing. Since Chen Yansen is so bullish on the ride-hailing market, let's play along with him. You go find a few more investment institutions. Baidu can lead the round, but we also need to consider the high-risk issue."

Li Yanhong said calmly.

Little did he know, it was precisely this style of never going all-out, never daring to go all-in, that shaped Baidu's fate of always starting early but arriving late.

Baidu Tieba, which could have been a trump card in his hand, was, through a series of missteps, allowed to slip away from becoming a mobile internet gateway, becoming the turning point of Baidu's decline.

Over the ten years before and after smart driving, he poured in tens of billions, only to be overtaken by new-energy makers like Huawei, Li Auto, and IM Motors.

More than a decade later, when OpenAI exploded in popularity, Baidu was once again the first to jump out and build an AI large model, but within a year, its market share had fallen behind again.

Top-tier strategic vision paired with an execution that defied description—repeated defeats were only to be expected.

At the same time.

Today Capital, Haina Asia, and Gao Ling Capital had all received the news as well.

Zhang Lei of Gao Ling Capital had not participated in Kuaidi Dache's Series A round last time; he had originally looked down on the ride-hailing track, but after seeing that Kuaidi Dache had captured only three cities yet achieved an average of a million orders per day with over 20 million yuan in revenue, he regretted it.

And Wang Qiong of Haina Asia had long noticed the two ride-hailing platforms, Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache.

The moment Liang Zhixiang of Qiandu spoke, she agreed without hesitation.

With the rise of mobile internet, ride-hailing, as a high-frequency, essential means of transportation, may not have high profit margins, but the market prospects are vast. Even capturing only half the national market, the annual total revenue would not be less than 100 billion.

Worth investing in!

A day later, in the banquet hall of the Junyue Grand Hotel in Yanjing.

Didi Dache, Qiandu, Today Capital, Haina Asia, and Gao Ling Capital—a total of five parties—signed the Series C financing agreement.

Cheng Wei once again obtained 200 million in funds, and Didi Dache's valuation soared directly to 1 billion.

In reality, Didi Dache's valuation was at most only around 700 to 800 million.

But during the negotiations, Cheng Wei dug in his heels at the 1 billion price and refused to budge!

So after arguing for most of the day, the four investment institutions, including Qiandu, could only close their eyes and agree to the 1 billion valuation.

Liang Zhixiang had received Li Yanhong's instructions, and Qiandu was the lead investor. After the negotiations reached an impasse, he voluntarily took on 60% of the financing share.

The objections from Today Capital, Haina Asia, and Gao Ling Capital gradually faded away.

Back at the company, Cheng Wei immediately convened meetings with the marketing and operations departments, preparing to further expand Didi Dache's coverage to Chaoyang, Dongcheng, Xicheng, and the HD district, bringing all the core areas within the Fourth Ring Road into the operating territory.

Additionally, increase subsidies for drivers and passengers, and continue to compete with Kuaidi Dache for market share.

The next day, the news that Didi Dache had secured another 200 million in financing and was waging a subsidy war with Kuaidi Dache in Yanjing shot to the top of the trending searches.

"Envying the Beijing lords! Every morning, wake up, have a bowl of old Beijing douzhir, then call a free ride-hailing car."

"You said it! Oh my, now that's what you call truly, truly, truly authentic!"

"When are Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache coming to Gangcheng? I also want to ride a free taxi."

Netizens chattered away in the comment section.

Seeing this information, Cheng Weixing only felt exceptionally frustrated, but helpless.

Whose fault was it but that his acquisition strategy had failed!

Cheng Wei had also walked into a streak of dog-shit luck—first hooking up with Today Capital, then being favored by Qiandu.

One had to know that in 2012, Qiandu Net was an internet giant with a market value exceeding 50 billion US dollars.

Even a little soup and water dripping from its hands could let Didi Dache keep fighting Kuaidi Dache for a few more months.

However, after Cheng Weixing finished handling affairs in Yanjing, he handed over his upcoming work.

Kuaidi Dache's city-opening plan for Hui'an Province, Su Province, and Jiangzhe Province had already been fully prepared, expanding from the provincial capitals to surrounding cities.

The Yanjing market was important, but the layout of the East China region was even more important.

When Cheng Weixing left Yanjing, Cheng Wei, whose wallet had bulged, unleashed Didi Dache's frenzied mode.

In one breath, he expanded the service area more than tenfold.

After the two sides finished battling over new-customer subsidies, they started tinkering with old-customer subsidies. Didi Dache took the lead, issuing 8-yuan no-threshold ride coupons to old customers.

Kuaidi Dache quickly responded, issuing a 10-yuan no-threshold ride coupon to old users every day.

At this stage, local Yanjing ride-hailing passengers could almost take a free ride every day.

For a time, Yanjing residents were overjoyed; even going out to buy groceries every day required calling a taxi.

Taxi drivers were equally happy, earning several hundred yuan more in extra daily income. They wished the subsidy war between Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache would last a lifetime.

But an even happier group was at this moment holed up in a residential building in the outer ring. Brother Hui, carrying a sack of cash, pushed open the door to the studio.

"Damn! So much money?"

"Brother Hui, let me carry it for you, don't tire yourself out!"

"Get lost! Everyone stop! Payday first!"

Brother Hui grinned and shouted to the remaining four people.

Ever since Didi Dache started giving coupons to old users, their money-grabbing speed had become even faster.

At most eighty or ninety thousand a day, in just twenty-something days, they had earned over 1.3 million.

"Liuzi, eighty thousand."

"Chaozi, one hundred thirty thousand."

"Yaozi, ninety thousand."

"A-Zhen, one hundred twenty thousand."

One stack per person, Brother Hui neatly arranged the money and pushed it in front of the four.

"First time in my life I've seen so much money." Chaozi, a young man with a buzz cut and round face, hugged the money to his chest with an intoxicated expression.

"Alright, hurry up and make money! Didi Dache just raised another 200 million. Boss Cheng eats the meat, and we get to sip some soup too, haha."

Brother Hui said smugly, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Didi Dache's risk-control mechanism was full of loopholes—one could even say it had no defenses at all.

People like Brother Hui were actually not few in number; it was just that his operation was the largest.

Cheng Wei never imagined that about 20% of the money he threw into marketing and promotion was being siphoned off by gray-industry studios.

A punch thrown, before it even landed on the opponent, had already lost twenty percent of its force.

The subsidy war between Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache dragged on from early May all the way to June—purely throwing money around, no technique involved.

But as time passed, users with rigid demand for ride-hailing gradually discovered that in terms of service quality, Kuaidi Dache was still better.

First, precise positioning—unlike Didi Dache, where a person standing under an overpass had the system set the starting point on top of the overpass;

Second, abundant driver resources, fast order response, and short waiting times;

Third, the route planning is reasonable, reducing congestion and travel time.

For drivers, an even more important point is that Kuaidi Dache has more orders, so they can earn more money.

After securing funding, Didi Dache is no longer short on capital, but its internal strength still falls far short of Kuaidi Dache's.

Market share is not growing but shrinking!

Cheng Wei finally realized something was off: the subsidy war had to be fought, and the Didi Dache app also had to be optimized and upgraded, otherwise it simply couldn't bring its strength to bear.

With ample capital, Didi Dache began recruiting talent and accelerating the expansion of its technical department.

(End of this chapter)