Chapter 299: September, the Great Battle Begins—Face Off Against Apple

September 1st, a gentle breeze carried the faint chill of autumn.

At the eastern gate of Xuyuan, an inflatable archway had been erected, bearing a prominent banner: "Open Your Warm Embrace, Welcome the Class of 2012! Xuyuan Welcomes You!"

Lanterns hung, decorations abounded—the atmosphere was thick with excitement!

Compared to yesterday, far more freshmen arrived today.

Private cars lined the entrance; the campus teemed with first-years dragging suitcases, parents trailing behind with heavy bags, glancing around, silently assessing this second-tier university in northern Hui'an.

Upon entering the gate, the library stood directly ahead; to the left was the lab building, to the right, the teaching building.

"Senior, what's the meaning of that big ball on the roof?" asked a freshman in a pleated skirt and white T-shirt, curious.

"That ball isn't simple—it represents Xuyuan's global vision and educational ambition."

The senior ahead made it up on the spot, though his mind was already racing: how to steer the conversation toward phone cards? He hadn't gone through all this effort just to be a nice guy.

First, to earn commissions selling cards; second, to find a sweet, innocent freshman girl and end his two-year bachelorhood.

In truth, the ball on the lab building was just a passive wind cap, designed to improve indoor air quality, lower temperature, prevent mold, and extend the building's lifespan.

Of course, most Xuyuan students explained it as: "Studying? What's the point?"

Starting in 2012, China was entering the golden decade of mobile internet development, with entrepreneurial opportunities seemingly everywhere.

That year, university students' obsession with civil service exams and graduate school had not yet peaked.

The mainstream aspiration for eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds was to join big tech firms, mine wealth online, and achieve financial freedom.

It felt as if stepping into society meant instantly dominating the industry, rising to CEO, and marrying a rich, beautiful woman.

All things flourished, bursting with vitality!

Youthful spirit soared straight to the heavens!

Chen Yansen stood on the balcony, taking in the entire Xuyuan scene, smiling faintly: Another batch of quality workers has arrived.

A semi-transparent system panel appeared before him: the Human Dao Firewood value stood at 156, 27 strands—enough to synthesize 1, 61 strands of Divine Dao Firewood.

Chen Yansen did not rush to strengthen himself; this time was different—his spiritual power was about to break 100, and he feared causing a commotion, so he suppressed his urge and waited until midnight.

The only downside: Chen Zong would sleep alone tonight.

"I've got it so hard!"

Chen Yansen shook his head and walked out directly; his phone and car keys on the desk, as if alive, chased after him without pause, automatically slipping into his pockets.

He descended to the first floor, got into the driver's seat of his Bentley, and headed toward the tech park.

Xuelin Road and Xuehai Road were packed with people, so he drove slowly; as he passed the Wen Chuan Academy's welcome station, he spotted Tang Zhenzhe in a red vest from afar.

Beside him sat a middle-aged man, forty-something, not yet fifty, wearing a herringbone shirt and black dress pants, his counselor aura so thick it seemed about to spill over.

"Teacher Zhao, Ahzhe, busy?"

Chen Yansen rolled down his window and greeted casually.

After Guo Dongchen was admitted to Fudan's journalism PhD program, the school assigned a new counselor to Class 10 News—this very man.

Zhao Jinfeng looked up, saw Chen Yansen, and nodded with a smile.

"Sen, are you going to the company?" Tang Zhenzhe dropped his work, hurried over, and asked.

He had intermittently interned for nearly a year at Orange Tech's branding department, but today was Saturday, and as class president of Class 10 News, he'd been drafted by Zhao Jinfeng to assist the Wen Chuan Academy's student union with new-student registration.

"Found any cute freshmen?" Chen Yansen cut straight to Tang Zhenzhe's other goal.

"A few girls—I can already feel the romance," Tang Zhenzhe whispered, afraid Zhao Jinfeng might overhear.

"Fix the quantity first, then worry about quality. Keep at it," Chen Yansen teased.

At that moment, Zhao Jinfeng walked over, hesitated for a long while, then awkwardly greeted: "Student Chen."

He was even busier than Chen Yansen; they'd only briefly met once, at the ceremony for outstanding students and national scholarships.

Sometimes he wasn't even sure whether to call him by name, or address him as Chen Zong or Boss Chen.

"Teacher Zhao, is there anything I can help with?"

Chen Yansen asked casually, like a genie offering a wish.

Zhao Jinfeng froze slightly; before Chen Yansen, he always felt like a primary school student or a raw recruit.

"Sen, there actually is! Only 40% of freshmen have completed registration, but six have already applied for financial aid loans—likely most of Class 12 News come from poor families."

Tang Zhenzhe frowned slightly and spoke up.

"Pianbei is hiring another batch of part-time customer service reps—I'll give you ten slots. Send me the list later."

Chen Yansen arranged it directly.

"Sure, thanks, Sen!" Tang Zhenzhe's frown vanished instantly; he grinned gratefully.

He genuinely wanted to help the freshmen, and he genuinely lusted after them—both were true, and not contradictory.

Beside him, Zhao Jinfeng opened his mouth but couldn't think of what to say; the man had solved the problem of insufficient aid slots in three sentences.

The school offered some work-study positions, but there were too few; spread across the entire Xuyuan, it was a case of too many monks and too little porridge.

With that, Chen Yansen waved goodbye and drove on.

The sleek body of the Bentley Mulsanne faded into the distance, leaving a lingering shadow that startled many.

"Senior, who was that guy just now?" asked a sweet-voiced freshman.

Tang Zhenzhe turned; his eyes lit up immediately—this was his fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth heart flutter today. He enthusiastically explained: "Chen Yansen, founder of Orange Tech, our Xuyuan celebrity. Want me to send you his WeChat?"

"Wow! He's Chen Yansen? Even handsomer than his photos—I didn't recognize him!" The freshman lowered her eyelids, feigning disappointment, but upon hearing "WeChat," she immediately pulled out an Orange C3 and added Tang Zhenzhe.

Meanwhile.

Chen Yansen exited the east gate and sped straight to Zhuxianzhuang Tech Park.

Parked the car, stepped into Building No. 9.

Took the elevator to the top floor, pushed open the office door, and sat down heavily.

Turned on the computer, logged into the backend, and checked Pianbei's daily data first.

Cumulative registered users: 390 million, with 249 million on PC and 141 million on mobile—36% mobile penetration, proving Huang Zheng had strictly executed the mobile-entry strategy.

August's average daily sales: 870 million yuan, up 5. % from July. Seemingly modest, but if this 5% monthly growth continued, Pianbei's daily sales would surpass one billion before year-end.

Meanwhile, JD. om, the former e-commerce #2, had seen its daily sales drop to 400 million—less than half of Pianbei's. Clearly, the psychological pressure on Liang Qiangdong was immense.

In Chen Yansen's view, JD. om had transitioned too late.

For years, it had stubbornly focused on 3C electronics and home appliances, building low-frequency, low-repurchase consumption scenarios; by the time Liang Qiangdong finally realized he needed to expand boundaries and boost profits, it was too late.

Though JD. om had poured money into maternal & infant, alcohol, snacks, books, and home goods over the past six months, results were negligible.

After reviewing Pianbei's core data and finding no anomalies, Chen Yansen opened Orange Tech's business report: total August sales of Qingcheng D1S and Orange C3 reached 6. 17 million units, capturing nearly 35% of the market.

Shanxing's mid-to-low-end market had been shattered by Orange Tech; even Apple 4S sales were declining, daily figures dropping steadily.

After careful consideration, Cook moved up the scheduled launch of the iPhone 5 by one week, planning a product reveal on September 6 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Chen Yansen didn't care; knowing Americans, from launch to actual sale, they'd need at least three months of preparation.

After all, Apple had no production facilities of its own—it still had to negotiate manufacturing plans with Foxconn, and the first batch would likely go to Europe, America, Japan, and Korea.

By the time the iPhone 5 launched, Orange C3 and Qingcheng D1S combined sales would have already shattered the 20-million-unit record.

Next, Chen Yansen processed his work emails one by one, then began coding AuroraFutureOS.

At 10: 0 a. ., Pei Yi called to report progress on the investigation into the leak of Beijing residential building maps.

After obtaining the original screenshot, they easily traced the hidden watermark to the corresponding KuaiPao rider.

After collecting and securing evidence, Pei Yi did not report to the municipal supervision association or sue Meituan; instead, he pretended ignorance, lowering Wang Xin's guard.

Meanwhile, over a dozen reserve managers trained under the "Thousand People, Hundred Cities" program had gradually secured interviews at Meituan through headhunters and public recruitment.

"Fire him. Revoke his stock options. Blacklist him. Never hire again," Chen Yansen said flatly.

In other words, this KuaiPao rider, who sold core company data for cash, couldn't work at Orange Tech's factory—or even at YunSu Express.

As Senlian Capital grows, the blacklist's influence will expand accordingly.

"Understood, Boss," Pei Yi replied quickly.

In truth, he planned to reopen this case once Meituan collapsed—if the KuaiPao operatives hadn't been exposed yet, he'd not only punish this rider but also crush Wang Xin like a drowning dog.

Thinking of this, Pei Yi laid out his plan fully.

"Decide these things yourself from now on. Understood?" Chen Yansen said lightly.

"Understood," Pei Yi, a smart man, nodded instantly, smiling.

He paused, then added: "People down there spotted Baidu Food Delivery's storefront signs in Beijing."

In other words, Baidu was about to enter Beijing's food delivery war.

"So whether it's group buying or food delivery, the real competition has only just begun. When you defeat Meituan and Baidu, I'll grant another round of stock options—everyone gets one."

Chen Yansen's promises came as easily as breath.

After ten minutes of conversation, they hung up.

Meanwhile.

Beijing, Baidu Headquarters.

Baidu Food Delivery's app was complete; a channel icon had been added to the homepage of Lashou. om.

Leveraging Lashou's merchant resources, they secured their first batch of food delivery vendors.

For logistics, they carefully selected 100 riders from unemployed couriers.

Wang Zhongpu believed KuaiPao's strategy—full-time riders as primary, part-timers as auxiliary—was vulnerable in industry competition; Meituan's all-part-time model was too extreme, relying solely on penalties to improve delivery speed and user satisfaction.

He combined the strengths of both, designing a manpower plan with part-time riders as primary and full-time riders as auxiliary.

KuaiPao's full-time to part-time ratio was 9: ; Baidu aimed for 1: .

Li Yanhong listened to Wang Zhongpu's report, smiled faintly, and nodded approvingly.

"Launch on the 3rd. Baidu Search, Tieba, News, Maps, and Browser will all funnel traffic to Baidu Food Delivery. Beijing is the first stop; South China is the second."

Li Yanhong smiled and said.

Because KuaiPao is weakest in the southern market and its operational coverage is still incomplete, QianDu Waimai will develop from the south first, build up strength, then confront it head-on.

Avoid the enemy's initial thrust, gather strength, then strike!

"Boss, no problem," Wang Zhongpu replied firmly.

He knew that if he won this battle, he would enter QianDu Wang's decision-making circle; if he lost, the best outcome would be a lateral transfer.

But the most likely outcome was marginalization!

At the same time, Wang Xin also learned that QianDu Waimai was about to launch, and immediately felt immense pressure.

Meituan, before Sunlian Capital and QianDu Waimai, was clearly a gnat trying to shake a tree; to win this battle, funding could not be lacking.

Therefore, he immediately called Ji Gang, but to his surprise, Ji Gang's attitude was ambiguous—he neither accepted nor refused the investment.

When pressed, Ji Gang said he had no authority and needed to consult superiors.

Wang Xin's heart sank; he pondered Ma Liyun's stance, knowing that Ali had invested in KuaiPao, and perhaps Ma Liyun had not yet decided whom to back.

Helpless, he called Shen Nanpeng.

"Sequoia Capital can make a follow-on investment, but you must promise me that once the timing is right, you will merge with Dazhong Dianping," Shen Nanpeng seized the opportunity to demand.

"I have no objections," Wang Xin gritted his teeth and reluctantly agreed—he had no choice.

Ali had rejected him; if Sequoia Capital rejected him too, he would have to seek other financing opportunities.

But in 2012, after a year of brutal fighting, the group-buying market was not viewed favorably by investment institutions; even if he secured funding, the terms would not be more favorable than Sequoia Capital's.

The sunk costs were too high; Shen Nanpeng either had to cut his losses early and write off the previous $40 million investment, or increase his investment and trust Wang Xin's operational ability.

In early September, the great battle began; the chaos in the food delivery industry was no less intense than in group-buying or ride-hailing markets.

(End of chapter)