Chapter 264

East Gate of Xu Yuan, Shuangqing Restaurant.

"Didn't expect Meituan, Dazhong Dianping, and Lashou. om to bring their price wars all the way to Xu City. Sen Ge, when will Kuai Pao Waimai launch service in Xu Yuan?"

"Yeah, I want to experience lying in my dorm while food arrives from outside—before I graduate."

Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang exchanged glances and chuckled.

"Soon!"

Chen Yansen sipped his wine and replied.

After stabilizing in Luzhou, Kuai Pao had already prepared its city-opening plan for Huian Province; within three months, Kuai Pao delivery riders would appear near Xu Yuan.

"Sen Ge, my girlfriend's in her final year next semester—she's majoring in fine arts. Could she intern at Pinbei or Orange Tech's design department?"

Song Yang leaned over and asked quietly.

"Just show up to report."

Chen Yansen agreed readily.

"Thanks, Sen Ge!" Song Yang hurried to thank him.

"Sigh, Sen Ge, you're right—if you don't get a partner in freshman or sophomore year, your chance of staying single all four years of college hits 99. 9%."

Tang Zhenzhe, beside them, gazed enviously at Song Yang and Wang Zhengqiang.

These two had one chasing after them from upperclassmen, the other a long-distance girlfriend—8302 was the only dorm where he, Meng Xibo, and Zhu Xiaopeng remained single.

Chen Yansen smiled; he hadn't expected Tang Zhenzhe to get tangled up with Su Meiling again, groveling for two years without even holding her hand.

Waste!

"Men must prioritize their careers—establish yourself first, then marry." Meng Xibo chimed in.

He was head of customer service at Pinbei, earning a base salary of around ten thousand, and with overtime, one of the highest earners in all of Xu City.

"Enough. Last month, who was the guy chasing after underclasswomen under the guise of a hometown gathering? I swear he looked just like you."

Tang Zhenzhe sneered teasingly.

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

"Laugh it up—you're a single dog too!" Tang Zhenzhe fired back at both.

"Bullshit! She couldn't find her way home—I was just helping her out!" Meng Xibo's face stiffened, forcing an explanation.

"Pfft—!" Tang Zhenzhe looked disgusted.

"In three months, another batch of fresh underclasswomen will arrive. Zhe Ge, don't rush—if all else fails, I'll introduce you to my sister."

Song Yang stood up, refilled everyone's cups, and smiled reassuringly.

"Your sister? Got a photo?" Tang Zhenzhe perked up instantly.

But when Song Yang showed him a picture of his five-year-old sister, the room erupted in laughter again.

Almost a junior?

Chen Yansen sighed inwardly—college time flew fast. Too bad he'd only ever tried dating upperclasswomen, never underclasswomen.

On the other side.

Didi Taxi headquarters.

Cheng Wei stared at the nearly empty account balance and told the head of marketing: "Marketing expenses are burning through faster than I expected—we need to raise funds soon."

"This money is worth it—we now have 1, 00 drivers and 80, 00 daily orders, up seven or eight times since the start of the month," the marketing head replied, adjusting his glasses firmly.

Cheng Wei nodded, agreeing with his reasoning.

Under Didi Taxi's counterattack, Kuai's Taxi still held 60% of Beijing's ride-hailing market, but its advantage was no longer clear.

After the meeting, Cheng Wei called contacts at Today Capital and Baidu, his core message five words: "I, Cheng Wei, am paying."

"30 million in one month?" Baidu's vice president Liang Zhixiang asked in shock.

"Boss Liang, competing with Kuai's Taxi for Beijing's market naturally burns through subsidies faster." Cheng Wei replied.

30 million a month—wouldn't that add up to 360 million a year?

Liang Zhixiang realized this was serious. He'd invested 30 million in Didi Taxi partly out of goodwill toward Today Capital, partly because Kuai's Taxi was exploding, and partly due to Baidu's potential interest in promoting Baidu Smart Drive.

He never imagined a ride-hailing company could burn 30 million a month!

Thinking this, he didn't immediately agree, but politely declined: "I need to sync with the boss first—wait for my reply."

In his view, Cheng Wei was a founder bad at financial management—he needed a finance person sent to monitor him.

At Li Yanhong's office door, Liang Zhixiang hesitated, then knocked.

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

"Boss, I'd like to report an investment opportunity," Liang Zhixiang said nervously.

"Didi Taxi? I heard about it—fighting a brutal price war with Kuai's Taxi. So, out of money again?"

Li Yanhong set down his documents and asked lightly.

"Yes. Didi Taxi burned 30 million in one month. At this rate, it'll need 300 to 400 million annually."

Yes, Didi Chuxing burned through 30 million yuan in a month; at the current growth trend, it will need at least 300 to 400 million yuan annually.

"A few hundred million? Since Chen Yansen believes so strongly in the ride-hailing market, let's play along. Go approach a few more investment firms—Baidu can lead the round, but we must consider the high risk."

Just a few hundred million—since Chen Yansen is so confident in the ride-hailing market, let's play along. You go out and find a few more investment firms; Baidu can lead the round, but we must also consider the high risk.

Unaware that this half-hearted, never-all-in style was why Baidu always started early but arrived late.

The once-promising Baidu Tieba could've been his crown jewel, but after a series of blunders, it lost the mobile internet gateway—becoming the turning point of Baidu's decline.

Over the next decade of smart driving, Baidu poured tens of billions into it, only to be overtaken by Huawei, Li Auto, and Zhiji.

Years later, when OpenAI exploded, Baidu was the first to jump into AI large models—but a year later, its market share fell behind again.

Top-tier strategic vision paired with abysmal execution—repeated failure was inevitable.

Top-tier strategic vision paired with abysmal execution makes repeated failure only natural.

Today Capital, Hillhouse Capital, and Sequoia Capital also received the news.

Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital had skipped Kuai's Taxi's Series A—he originally dismissed ride-hailing—but after seeing Kuai's Taxi hit 1 million daily orders and 20 million in revenue across just three cities, he regretted it.

Wang Qiong of Sequoia Capital had already noticed both Didi Taxi and Kuai's Taxi.

When Liang Zhixiang spoke up, she agreed immediately.

With the rise of mobile internet, ride-hailing was a high-frequency, essential mobility tool—low profit margin, but vast market potential. Even capturing half of China's market would mean annual revenue no less than 100 billion.

With the rise of mobile internet, ride-hailing, as a high-frequency, essential transportation tool, may have low profit margins, but its market potential is vast—even capturing just half the national market would yield annual revenue no less than 100 billion yuan.

One day later, Banquet Hall, Grand Hyatt Beijing.

Representatives from Didi Taxi, Baidu, Today Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Hillhouse Capital signed the Series C funding agreement.

Cheng Wei secured another 200 million; Didi Taxi's valuation soared to 1 billion.

In reality, Didi Taxi's true valuation was at most 700 to 800 million.

But Cheng Wei held firm at 1 billion during negotiations!

After hours of debate, all four investors—including Baidu—reluctantly accepted the 1 billion valuation.

Liang Zhixiang, acting on Li Yanhong's orders and as lead investor, voluntarily took 60% of the funding share once talks stalled.

Opposition from Today Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Hillhouse Capital gradually faded.

Back at the office, Cheng Wei immediately called a meeting of marketing and operations to expand Didi Taxi's coverage to Chaoyang, Dongcheng, Xicheng, and HD Districts—fully incorporating all areas within the Fourth Ring Road.

He also increased subsidies for drivers and passengers to continue competing with Kuai's Taxi.

The next day, news that Didi Taxi had secured another 200 million in funding and was launching a subsidy war with Kuai's Taxi in Beijing trended nationwide.

"Envy the Beijing elders! Wake up, drink a bowl of old Beijing soybean juice, then call a free ride-hailing car."

"Exactly! Oh my, this is real authentic!"

"When will Didi and Kuai's come to Hong Kong? I want free taxis too."

Netizens chattered in the comments.

Seeing this, Cheng Weixing felt only frustration—helpless.

What could he do? His acquisition strategy had failed!

Cheng Wei got lucky—first hooked up with Today Capital, then caught Baidu's eye.

Remember, in 2012, Baidu was a $50 billion internet giant.

Even a few drops of its leftovers could let Didi and Kuai's fight for months longer.

But after handling Beijing affairs, Cheng Weixing handed off the next phase of work.

Kuai's Taxi's city-opening plans for Huian, Jiangsu, and Jiang-Zhe provinces were ready—expanding from provincial capitals to surrounding cities.

Beijing mattered, but the East China region's layout mattered more.

As Cheng Weixing left Beijing, Cheng Wei—with a fuller wallet—launched Didi Taxi into hyperdrive.

He expanded service areas tenfold in one go.

After exhausting new-user subsidies, they turned to existing-user subsidies—Didi Taxi was first to issue 8-yuan no-conditions ride vouchers to loyal users.

Kuai's Taxi quickly responded, giving every returning user a 10-yuan no-conditions ride voucher daily.

At this point, Beijing riders could essentially ride for free every day.

Beijing residents were thrilled—every trip to buy groceries now meant calling a taxi.

Drivers were equally happy—earning hundreds more daily, they hoped the subsidy war would last forever.

But the happiest group of all? Huddled in a house on the city's outskirts—Hui Ge pushed open the studio door, carrying a sack of cash.

But a happier group now huddled in a residential building on the outer ring, where Hui Ge pushed open the studio door, carrying a sack of cash.

"Hui Ge, let me carry it for you—don't tire yourself!"

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

"Get out! Stop everything! Pay everyone first!"

Brother Hui grinned and shouted to the other four.

Since Didi Chuxing gave loyal users coupons, their rate of making money sped up even more.

On the best day, they made eighty to ninety thousand; over twenty days total, they earned over one million three hundred thousand.

"Liuzi, eighty thousand."

"Chaozi, one hundred thirty thousand."

"Yaozi, ninety thousand."

"A Zhen, one hundred twenty thousand."

One pile each, Brother Hui neatly stacked the cash and pushed it in front of the four.

"I've never seen this much money in my life," said Chaozi, a young man with a shaved head and round face, hugging the cash to his chest, lost in bliss.

"Enough dreaming—hurry up and make more money! Didi just raised another two hundred million. Boss Cheng eats meat, we get to sip the broth, haha."

Brother Hui, a cigarette dangling from his lips, spoke with smug satisfaction.

Didi Chuxing's risk-control mechanisms were riddled with flaws—so much so that they were practically defenseless.

People like Brother Hui weren't rare at all; he was just the biggest in scale.

Cheng Wei never imagined that around twenty percent of the money he poured into marketing and promotion was being siphoned off by gray-market studios.

It was like throwing a punch—before it even landed, two-tenths of its force was already gone.

The subsidy war between Kuai Di Chuxing and Didi Chuxing lasted from early May through June, with no strategy, only relentless spending.

But as time passed, users with genuine ride-hailing needs gradually realized that Kuai Di Chuxing offered better service.

First, location accuracy: unlike Didi Chuxing, which set the pickup point on the overpass when the user was actually underneath it;

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

Third, reasonable route planning that reduced congestion and trip duration.

For drivers, the most important point was this: Kuai Di Chuxing offered more orders and higher earnings.

After raising funds, Didi Chuxing had no shortage of capital—but its internal capabilities were far inferior to Kuai Di Chuxing's.

Its market share shrank instead of growing!

Cheng Wei finally realized something was wrong: the subsidy war had to continue, but Didi Chuxing's app also needed optimization and upgrades, or it could never unleash its true strength.

With ample funds, Didi Chuxing began recruiting talent and accelerating the expansion of its tech department.

(End of Chapter)