Chapter 274: Little Ma's Decision! The First Battle Against Meituan! You Guys

On July 16, Penguin publicly announced that WeChat's user count had surpassed 200 million for the first time.

"Did Ma Wenteng just step in dog shit luck? The traffic gateway of the PC era is controlled by Penguin—does that mean the mobile traffic gateway is going to fall into his hands too?"

Zhou Hongyi, at Yanjing 360's headquarters, was furious and couldn't help cursing under his breath.

The thought of suing Penguin, only to be counter-sued and forced to compensate Penguin five million, made his blood boil.

Is this reasonable?

Is this fucking fair?

What stung him most was that WeChat saw explosive growth in the second half of the year, showing signs of becoming the hegemon of mobile social software.

"Lei Buqun is useless too. MiChat launched before WeChat, yet got overtaken by Ma Wenteng."

Zhou Hongyi had just finished cursing Ma Wenteng when he turned his spearhead toward Lei Yijun.

After the cumulative online sales of the 360 G800 Pro flash-ship phone surpassed 3 million units, his attitude toward Xiaomi and Lei Yijun grew increasingly dismissive.

Making phones—how hard can it be?

Full of confidence, Zhou Hongyi, after the celebration banquet, set about assembling a 360 phone R&D team, planning to bypass Huawei and build a truly self-developed product.

That bastard Ma Wenteng wants me to pay him? No way!

Thinking of this, Zhou Hongyi pulled out his phone, quickly typed a text message extending greetings to Ma Wenteng's relatives, and sent it off.

A minute later, Ma Wenteng replied with a single word: "joker."

Zhou Hongyi immediately fired back, only to find he'd been blocked.

At this moment, no one in the industry could help but sigh over Ma Wenteng's good luck, though some believed the real winner was Pin Duo Duo, which had secured WeChat's top-tier traffic gateway.

Without suffering any hardship, it could ride on WeChat's coattails and share in the mobile internet dividend.

Plenty of people inside Penguin shared this view, including Zhang Xiaolong.

"Are you saying that once Penguin's contract with Pin Duo Duo expires, we won't renew with Chen Yansen?"

At Penguin's Shencheng headquarters, Ma Wenteng's gaze swept from left to right as he asked with a smile.

"Renewing isn't a problem, but I think we could take the opportunity to sell the equity of Paipai Net, QQ Tuangou, and Yixun Net to Senlian Capital. On one hand, we can shed the burden of negative assets; on the other, we can swap them for high-quality equity in Pin Duo Duo."

A director of the Penguin Group pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and tossed out a proposal.

Whether it was Paipai Net, QQ Tuangou, or Yixun Net, which had been acquired in the first half of the year, none of them performed up to expectations—they couldn't make money, nor could they fill Penguin's e-commerce shortcomings.

Ma Wenteng frowned slightly, a thought stirring in his mind: Would Chen Yansen really take on a pile of junk projects just for QQ and WeChat's top-tier traffic gateway?

"I disagree with doing that!" Liu Zhiping was the first to stand up and oppose.

He had the most contact with Chen Yansen, so naturally he understood the other's temperament best.

Besides, Pin Duo Duo was no longer in its startup phase—its cumulative registered users had reached 350 million, with daily sales stably around 800 million, no less impressive than JD.

In terms of daily active users and average daily orders, it had already surpassed JD.

Recklessly falling out with Chen Yansen would only cause more loss than gain.

Zheng Chunbin, sitting in the corner, went pale and flushed by turns. He hadn't expected that in just two short years, his and Chen Yansen's positions had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Back then, he was the general manager of Paipai Net's business division, and his gaze toward Chen Yansen was one of looking down.

In the blink of an eye, the other's net worth and industry influence had reached a level equal to sitting at the same table as Little Ma.

Yet now, he had become the person in charge of junk projects in the big boss's mouth.

"I agree with Director Liu's thinking. The company holds 15% equity in Pin Duo Duo, which may bring the group hundreds of billions in returns in the future. There's no need to make a fuss over the renewal."

Another director spoke up.

"Xiaolong, what do you think?" Ma Wenteng didn't show any obvious lean, instead turning to ask Zhang Xiaolong, the person in charge of WeChat.

"President Ma, WeChat shouldn't be commercialized too early, but I know Pin Duo Duo carries the group's e-commerce mission and can create substantial investment returns. I don't object."

Zhang Xiaolong thought it over carefully, then looked up and answered.

The implication was: he didn't support it, but he wouldn't resist either.

"Martin, when Kuaidi Dache starts its Series B financing, please make a trip and finalize the cooperation matters with Pin Duo Duo while you're at it."

Ma Wenteng did a rough calculation—more than half the directors favored betting heavily on Pin Duo Duo, so he felt reassured. He then looked at Liu Zhiping and gave the instruction with a smile.

"No problem!" Liu Zhiping made an "OK" gesture and agreed readily.

After that, the office was filled with noisy discussion again.

Listening carefully, one could tell it was mainly about Kuaidi Dache's Series B valuation, as well as the prospects of the ride-hailing market and when the subsidy war would end.

Meanwhile.

Hucheng, Longcao Road, Lane 200, Yiyuan Office Building.

The large conference room on the second floor of Building A was currently packed with a sea of people, mostly new employees.

"There are three core points to expanding the takeout market. First, we must meet user needs—enrich dish choices, ensure delivery efficiency and quality, and pay attention to user experience…"

Wang Yuan stood on the podium, in his capacity as Kuai Pao Marketing Department supervisor, training the new recruits below.

He had heard that in Luzhou, Jin Ling, Hangcheng, and other places, there were also centralized new-hire training courses.

This was the "Thousand People, Hundred Cities" plan Pei Yi had prepared.

Simply put, train 2,000 pioneers in advance, including operations, business, marketing, and delivery positions.

Once the time was ripe, deploy them directly into 100 target cities to further accelerate expansion and seize more market share.

Catch the opponent off guard and raise the industry's entry barrier.

"President Wang, what should we do if we run into Meituan's offline promoters on the street and get into a dispute with them?"

A newly graduated college student raised his hand and asked.

"Kuai Pao always adheres to the bottom line of legal and compliant operations and strictly prohibits any form of violent communication. But 'don't panic when things happen, don't fear when trouble comes' is also the code of conduct for us Kuai Pao people. If you can't win, run. The Kuai Pao Delivery Department, Yun Su Express, Kuaidi Dache brothers, and the group's legal team will always be your strong backing."

Wang Yuan said in a calm tone.

The first two sentences were normal, but as he went on, the whole tone went completely off the rails.

Laughter and commotion erupted from below the stage.

After all, who didn't know that employees of subsidiaries under Senlian were famous for their unity and fighting ability?

During the fierce battle against Ele. me in the first half of the year, the employees who charged to the front not only avoided punishment, but the company actively provided money and manpower; besides compensation for lost work and nutrition fees, each person also received a ten-thousand-yuan bonus.

In an office on the sixth floor, Pei Yi and Kang Guodong finished their conversation, then put down the phone.

"Wait another half month, and the Thousand-Person Baicheng Plan can go live; we can't let that guy Cheng Weixing surpass Kuai Pao's expansion speed."

Pei Yi thought silently.

He and Cheng Weixing shared the same boss; although they fought side by side with Kuai Dache in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Tianjin, Anci, and Tangshan, they were also secretly competing behind the scenes.

On the other side.

Wang Xin, far away in Beijing, personally monitored the development progress of Meituan Waimai every day, making the development staff suffer bitterly.

Working overtime until eleven or twelve every night just to clock off; the scariest part was no overtime pay—who could stand that?

People come out to work, isn't it just for money?

"The UI page for the order system must be finalized today; I want to see the results before clocking off. @Development @Design @Operations @Testing, everyone, thanks for your hard work!"

Tang Ling, the project manager responsible for the order module, at eleven o'clock late at night, was still tagging department owners in the group chat, urging project progress.

"Damn! Is this person a dog? She won't clock off herself, yet forces us to work overtime."

A development engineer from the technical department suddenly stood up, slapping the table so it went bang-bang; his voice was neither loud nor quiet, just drifting perfectly into Tang Ling's ears.

The designers, testers, and operations staff around couldn't help but exchange glances, a trace of satisfaction appearing on their faces.

Who the hell doesn't want to clock off early?

They also wanted to stand up and curse along, but they just lacked the courage.

"Brother Bao, keep your voice down, others have heard it," someone nearby advised.

"I'm saying it just for her to hear! Workaholic dog, idiot; if people didn't know, they'd think she's Wang Xin's own mother, finding ways to squeeze us." Zhu Qingbao cursed while packing his things.

As a senior backend developer, years of workplace experience told him he shouldn't be so impulsive.

But a week of continuous overtime made him unable to hold back anymore; screw it, let's enjoy it first.

"Brother Bao is truly brave!"

"Pity, I have elders above and children below; finding a job isn't easy, I can't be as carefree as Brother Bao."

"Hahaha, Tang Ling, that workaholic dog, deserves it!"

Although no one spoke, they all exchanged looks, venting wildly in their hearts, and looked at Tang Ling with a mocking expression.

"Zhu Qingbao? What do you mean? Waimai is the company's S-level strategic project for the second half of the year; do you have any big-picture thinking? Do you still count as a Meituan person?"

Tang Ling's face flushed red; she ran over angrily and questioned with a shrill voice.

"Big-picture thinking? Screw your whole family! I'm quitting! Settle my wages for me tomorrow, or I'll go to the Labor Association entrance every day holding banners, let's see if Wang Xin dies or not!"

Zhu Qingbao knew clearly that as soon as dawn broke, the company would fire him.

"Aren't you afraid of being blacklisted and banned by the entire industry?" Tang Ling sneered, threatening blatantly.

"Who the hell are you? Really think you're some big shot? Always representing the entire industry?"

Zhu Qingbao pouted, slung his computer bag over his back, and walked out without looking back.

Tang Ling was so angry she jumped up and down, pointing at Zhu Qingbao's retreating back and cursing loudly.

"Going home to sleep! I'm human, not a beast! Even a donkey pulling a mill isn't this hard."

After a moment of silence, a young man from the operations team let out a venting roar, clicked his computer shut with a 'click', and strode out of the office.

Tang Ling was slightly stunned; she didn't understand why Zhu Qingbao suddenly went crazy.

This matter quickly reached Wang Xin's ears.

Seven or eight hours later, the sky gradually brightened.

As soon as Zhu Qingbao arrived at the company, HR called him into the office; the conversation content was exactly as he had imagined.

N+1 compensation, get out immediately!

Zhu Qingbao remained silent, signed the resignation agreement; as for overtime pay, he didn't even mention it.

To put it plainly, although he said he wasn't afraid, he was still worried that when joining the next company, Meituan HR would make things difficult for him during the background check.

Leaving Meituan headquarters, Zhu Qingbao actually felt a sense of relief.

Back in his rental room, he started submitting resumes.

At that moment, a graduate from Beijing University of Science and Technology posted on Zhihu asking: "How are the benefits at Meituan? Should I accept the offer?"

Zhu Qingbao grinned and started typing on the keyboard: "Little brother, take my advice: run! Clocking off at ten PM is considered early; often working overtime until midnight, low pay, few benefits, only 24-hour supply of plain boiled water; my two years at Meituan were the most exhausting six years of my life."

The poster understood instantly and immediately abandoned the plan to join Meituan.

Because Zhu Qingbao's reply was witty and interesting, this Q&A actually received over a thousand comments.

Meituan's nickname, the 'Boiled Water Group', spread rapidly throughout the industry without legs.

A few days later, Zhu Qingbao, with a gloomy face, after being rejected by three companies in a row, also realized that Meituan must have pulled some tricks behind the scenes.

Zhu Qingbao simply made up his mind, tagged Wang Xin on Weibo, started cursing immediately, and posted his clock-in records, detailing Meituan's various behaviors of squeezing employees.

Initially, there wasn't much traffic, but when Chen Yansen discovered it, he immediately tagged the other party without hesitation:

"Welcome to interview at Kuai Pao! All subsidiaries of Senlian Capital strictly follow labor law regulations, paying employees their full overtime wages; our company has no compensatory time off; not paying overtime wages is shameful!"

Chen Yansen had over thirty million Weibo followers; under his promotion, Zhu Qingbao's Weibo quickly climbed the trending searches.

"Thanks, Mr. Chen; I'll send my resume to you." Zhu Qingbao was also a smart person and responded immediately.

"Wow! The boss is interviewing online!"

"Really or fake? I don't believe Kuai Pao delivery riders get overtime pay!"

"Mr. Chen isn't lying; my brother is a Kuai Pao delivery rider; the daily online requirement is eight hours, but any part exceeding eight hours gets overtime pay."

Someone in the comments section replied.

In reality, the base pay for Kuaipao delivery riders is generally around 1,400–1,600 yuan, so that bit of overtime pay barely costs them anything.

"I'm a courier at Yunsu Express. We get overtime pay too."

"I'm an operator at the Luzhou Sister Chengzi phone factory. I can testify for Chen Zong."

"Huh?! So there are actually companies that don't pay overtime? Good thing I'm an employee at Pinbei Tech."

Chen Yansen's move both struck a blow to Meituan's morale and boosted Kuaipao's standing in the industry.

Until one netizen said: "I will absolutely never use this company's products. They make money off the workers and bleed the workers dry."

That line struck a chord with tens of millions of netizens in an instant!

Meituan's order volume plummeted on cue!

Wang Xin panicked immediately, rushed out a PR response, muddled the concepts of compensatory time off and overtime pay, and declared: employees are free to choose.

This clumsy cover-up made netizens suddenly realize: so Meituan really doesn't pay overtime.

Before the competition between Meituan and Kuaipao had even properly begun, Wang Xin had already lost the upper hand in public opinion.

He could only try to retain customers by handing out discount coupons.

But netizens cursed again: "See that? They'd rather throw money at promotions than pay overtime."

For a moment, Wang Xin was caught between a rock and a hard place.

(End of chapter)