Chapter 302: Yanjing Food Delivery Turmoil! A Million-Vehicle Mega Order, Thieves' Buffet!

The next morning, the sky over Yanjing was just beginning to lighten.

Qian Du Waimai officially launched operations; channels were added to Qian Du Search, Tieba, News, and Maps, providing massive exposure for the project's start.

Delivery riders in red short-sleeved uniforms, all riding yellow electric scooters with large delivery boxes on their backs, rushed through the streets and alleys of the Haidian District.

The moment it went live, the morning rush exploded with orders!

New customers get an instant 15 yuan discount; users can eat breakfast for free. Why not grab freebies when they're available?

The order volume for Kuai Pao and Meituan inevitably suffered.

It had been a few days since they last met, and Jiang Hao had already switched to an orange Kuai Pao rider uniform. From seven to ten, he delivered 19 orders in three hours, earning 137.5 yuan. At this pace, a full day's run would easily net three or four hundred.

"Hey! I was wondering why you looked familiar. It's little Jiang!" A Meituan rider pulled out a pack of Liqun cigarettes and grinned as he approached.

Jiang Hao was leaning against his electric scooter, resting. He turned his head and saw it was his former colleague, Big Lao Wang.

"Want a puff?" Big Lao Wang offered a Liqun cigarette, then busied himself rummaging through his pockets.

"Thanks, Old Wang. I have a lighter. Let me light it for you!" Jiang Hao took the cigarette, pulled a lighter from his pocket, lit it for Big Lao Wang first, and only then lit his own.

Leaning together, they gazed at the bustling capital streets, puffing away clouds of smoke.

"Damn! Life is getting harder and harder. Even Qian Du is doing food delivery. Meituan's orders are so freaking few; I only ran seven this morning. I should have just stayed home sleeping."

Big Lao Wang skillfully blew a smoke ring, cursing under his breath.

"Seven orders? That's not bad. Don't be too greedy," Jiang Hao chuckled.

"How many did you get?" Big Lao Wang sensed something off in the other's tone and couldn't help but ask.

"Not many, just 19," Jiang Hao said with a crooked smile.

"Damn! Are you trying to show off, you brat?" Big Lao Wang demanded angrily.

"Old Wang, Meituan has no requirement for online hours, which is indeed free, but you can't earn much. Kuai Pao, though strict in management, pays well," Jiang Hao said earnestly, trying to persuade him for the sake of the 150 yuan referral bonus.

"Cut the act, kid. You just want to earn the headhunting fee from me, right?" Big Lao Wang had heard rumors and teased with a smirk.

"I'll give you fifty," Jiang Hao compromised.

"So you want to sell me out and still take the bigger share? Let's split it fifty-fifty." Big Lao Wang deliberately leaned in, offering cigarettes and chatting. In truth, he had already made up his mind to jump ship to Kuai Pao.

A few days ago, a Meituan rider on Meishijie in Xiaoyun Road had ridden against traffic and collided with a car. The traffic police initially ruled the rider primarily at fault and the car secondarily at fault, but the car owner appealed, and it immediately changed to the rider being fully at fault and the car having no responsibility.

Simply put, this guy not only had to pay his own medical bills but also had to fix the other person's car.

After all that fuss, two or three thousand yuan were gone.

Big Lao Wang finally understood why Kuai Pao provided social security, commercial medical insurance, and third-party liability insurance for its riders.

Before an accident, everything is fine; once an accident happens, having no insurance means disaster.

"Old Wang, are you really quitting?" Jiang Hao, surprised by the other's quick agreement, asked curiously.

"Sigh, brother, let me spill the beans. I'm truly scared. Do you remember that little Xiao Xijiang at our station?"

Big Lao Wang sighed, wearing an expression that suggested a long, tragic story since childhood.

"Yeah, I know. The grandson who scolded me last time for being bad at math. What happened to him?" Jiang Hao retorted.

"He rode against traffic and hit an Audi, scratching two panels of paint. His own leg was fractured. Just the car repair costs came to two thousand yuan, and Meituan wouldn't even pay the medical bills."

Although this incident had nothing to do with Big Lao Wang, he felt a sense of sorrow for a fellow rider, like a fox mourning a dead rabbit.

"He got screwed, right? Repainting doesn't cost much," Jiang Hao said dismissively, though he didn't add anything harsh.

They were all poor workers; the minor conflict between him and Xiao Xijiang was just a few arguments, something that could be resolved with a shared cigarette.

"He wanted to go to a 4S shop for repairs. Who would agree to a roadside shop?" Big Lao Wang replied with a bitter smile.

"Then he was pretty unlucky," Jiang Hao swallowed, unsure what else to say.

"Tell me, do I dare still sell my life for Meituan? I heard that when a Kuai Pao rider gets hit by a car, the company pays and helps out. Meituan copied their business model but learned all the bad parts instead of the good ones."

Big Lao Wang shrugged, looking utterly speechless.

"Alright, let's go sign up right now. Let me tell you, Kuai Pao's recruitment slots are extremely tight, and our station just happens to have some available."

Jiang Hao urged him urgently, afraid Big Lao Wang would delay his noon rush order pickups.

"Really? Then what are we waiting for!"

Big Lao Wang smashed his cigarette butt onto the ground, stomped it out, quickly mounted his electric scooter, and followed Jiang Hao, rushing toward the Kuai Pao service station.

Xiao Xijiang's incident spread quickly throughout the Meituan rider community in Yanjing.

On one side was Kuai Pao, with high pay and full benefits; on the other was Meituan, offering freedom and high per-order pay but no security.

Who to choose?

Anyone with a brain would make the wisest choice.

In an instant, the most experienced Meituan riders jumped ship to Kuai Pao, while those rejected by Kuai Pao went to Qian Du.

The riders remaining at Meituan mostly focused on familiarizing themselves with road conditions and delivery routes, treating Meituan as a stepping stone and Kuai Pao as their destination.

But no matter how many people ran, they couldn't keep up with the sheer numbers.

The number of registered users for Meituan riders didn't drop; instead, it increased by over a thousand.

Wang Huiwen didn't care, and Wang Xin wouldn't mind either.

Compared to the order volume, Meituan's delivery capacity was more than sufficient; fulfillment capability was not an issue.

As for fulfillment quality, after increasing penalty amounts, Meituan riders' delivery satisfaction ratings were rising rapidly.

"Qian Du Waimai has launched?"

At Meituan headquarters, Wang Xin looked across at Wang Huiwen and asked.

"Yes, currently the business scope is concentrated in the Haidian and Chaoyang districts," Wang Huiwen replied.

"One east, one west, separated by such a distance. Li Yanhong deliberately runs right under our noses. Who is he trying to annoy?" Wang Xin saw through the other's intent immediately, sneered lightly, and spoke with a cold gaze.

"The Huanan market expansion plan is complete. We can transfer a batch of personnel from the group buying business to handle market, operations, and business development. Riders can be hired locally."

Wang Huiwen continued reporting on his own.

"Ensure the group-buying business is not affected," Wang Xin said with lingering concern.

"Understood, I get it," Wang Huiwen nodded in agreement.

As Wang Xin's right-hand man, Wang Huiwen knew the boss's psychological pressure well; company management, financing, and fighting for market share—every single task was like a mountain pressing on his heart.

Starting a business is never easy; entrepreneurs lacking energy or intelligence are often beaten to death on the beach by fierce market competition in the project's initial stage.

After Wang Huiwen left, Wang Xin let out a slight sigh, his shoulders slumping downward, inadvertently revealing his most exhausted side.

Recently, Meituan had been teetering on the brink of life and death.

Fortunately, they secured investment from Sequoia and General Atlantic; once the funds arrived, Meituan could hold on.

A niche business track usually goes through stages of all-out war, five-to-four, four-to-three, and even three-to-two.

As long as Meituan doesn't fall behind, it is guaranteed to secure a top-three market position. In competition, what is the most feared thing?

One's own inner slackness!

Thinking of this, Wang Xin's back gradually straightened, and a spark of fighting spirit reignited in his chest.

Senlian and Qian Du are certainly powerful, but was Gao Peng Network, backed by Penguin and Groupon back then, not strong?

Yet he still cut them down from horseback, turning them into stepping stones for Meituan!

This day was a happy one for the citizens of Yanjing; the launch of Qian Du Waimai brought everyone a new wave of free lunches.

"Oh my, who said pies don't fall from the sky?"

Netizens in the Yanjing region joked on Weibo, their smug expressions making netizens in East and Huanan incredibly envious.

On the other side.

Xiang Hailong, who took over as CEO of DiDi Dache, finally understood Cheng Wei's hardships.

Kuaidi Dache was superior to DiDi Dache in positioning technology, order dispatch, and route planning; plus, with the first-order instant discount subsidy twice a day, he couldn't find a single flaw to counterattack.

Furthermore, due to the successful implementation of the "Thousand People, Hundred Cities" plan, Kuaidi Dache's coverage had extended from North and Huadong to the entire Central China market.

The daily average order volume reached a staggering 4 million orders!

Meanwhile, DiDi Dache barely reached 800,000 orders!

Its operating area was limited to the North China region; to date, it had not even entered the Huadong market.

Even after drawing personnel from various departments of Qian Du, manpower still couldn't keep up, so they could only accelerate recruitment to the fullest.

"President Xiang, our anti-fraud team discovered a fake-order software named Xiao Nai Niu, including a full suite of components like SIM registration, virtual positioning, and trip simulators. The data department traced Q3 order information; roughly twenty percent of the subsidy funds went into the pockets of gray-market studios."

At that moment, a technical director from the DiDi anti-fraud team knocked and entered Xiang Hailong's office, speaking with a solemn expression.

"How much? Twenty percent?"

Xiang Hailong suddenly stood up, asking in disbelief.

The anti-fraud team was established after he took office; in this way, a bad thing became a good thing.

Once compared, Cheng Wei's abilities appeared even more inferior.

"Don't alert the snake in the grass yet; let the group step in, join forces with the Inspection Office, and sweep these people up in one net."

Xiang Hailong continued.

Banning accounts, IPs, and devices is merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause; to completely eliminate the problem, the underlying industry chain must be uprooted.

At this time, far away in Shencheng, Brother Hui and the others sold another five sets of Xiao Nai Niu last week.

"Brother Hui, let's change the product's name, shall we? Calling it Xiao Nai Niu is wrong; it should be Da Jin Niu!"

"Hahaha, Yaozi is right! How about changing it to Da Jin Ji instead? Earning millions a month, isn't that a chicken that lays golden eggs?" Sixzi grinned.

Brother Hui and Ah Zhen exchanged glances, wearing satisfied smiles on their faces.

Over these past two months, they had earned over ten million just by selling the software.

The gray-market studios in the North China region were basically all their clients.

Xiao Nai Niu was sold in over seventy sets, causing huge losses to DiDi Dache.

A group of subsidy hunters, like barnacles, were firmly welded to DiDi's body, sucking blood desperately; the marketing fees they milked away probably exceeded seventy or eighty million.

"It's not safe staying in the country; Ah Zhen and I discussed it, and we plan to move the company to Annan," Brother Hui said slowly.

In his view, after Qian Du took over DiDi Dache, with the technical strength of BAT's big tech giants, they would sooner or later discover the existence of Xiao Nai Niu.

If caught, given the amount involved in their case, the minimum sentence would be seven years.

Last time in Yanjing, they almost got caught; the closer Brother Hui stayed to Shencheng, the more panicked he felt inside.

"Annan? A poor, remote place; how could it be as comfortable as Shencheng?" Sixzi frowned instinctively; he didn't want to go.

"The girls in Annan are young, beautiful, and very clingy," Ah Zhen said with a smile, his eyes squinting.

Hearing this, Sixzi's eyes lit up, and he instantly became interested.

After the group agreed, they bought tickets that very night to fly to Tan Son Nhat International Airport.

Meanwhile.

After receiving the alarms from Qian Du and DiDi, the Yanjing Inspection Office attached great importance to the matter and immediately launched an investigation.

However, the gray-market studios in the North China region had not the slightest suspicion; they continued to frantically register new accounts via SIM registration, using randomly generated device IDs and IP address information to bypass DiDi Dache's anti-fraud system and massively siphon platform subsidies.

A studio with a bit of scale could milk ten thousand yuan a day; over a month, they easily pocketed three million.

Digital Valley.

Cheng Wei waved his arms, announcing to all members of DiDi Bike, "We have secured funding!"

Li Fukai from Innovation Works invested 50 million Billion Huayuan, securing the angel investment for DiDi Bike, with a post-money valuation of 500 million Billion Huayuan.

Can DiDi Bike, which hasn't even built an app, be worth five hundred million?

Doesn't Li Fukai understand this principle?

Cheng Wei understood in his heart that financing was nothing more than a game of passing the parcel while the drums beat — as long as someone ended up holding the bag, that was fine.

As long as the business model was novel enough, and you dared to brag and knew how to package it, even a lump of shit could successfully go public.

Especially on the eve of mobile internet taking off, European and American venture capital firms were practically throwing money blindfolded at internet projects from Huaguo.

"Boss Cheng, awesome!"

"We've got money!"

"Didi Bikes rise up!"

The employees stopped what they were doing and cheered ecstatically.

When the boss secured financing, it meant the project could survive, and their jobs could be kept.

"Within this week, I'll draw up a stock option incentive plan — everyone gets a share."

Cheng Wei announced loudly.

He had studied Kuaidi's ride-hailing and Kuaipao, as well as Pinbei and Sister Chengzi Tech. He treated Chen Yansen's operational strategy as a business bible, and as a seasoned 'Chen Studies' enthusiast, Cheng Wei naturally wouldn't pass up such a great incentive tool as stock option rewards.

Watching his subordinates' reaction, Cheng Wei knew he had done the right thing!

That same afternoon, Cheng Wei took a group of business staff and rushed to Jinmen.

Over 300 complete bicycle factories had gathered here, forming a complete low- and mid-tier industrial supporting capacity, with annual output approaching 40 million units.

"One million units?"

After hearing Cheng Wei's request, the bosses of Feige, Fushida, Kelin, Jiema and other factories were instantly dumbfounded.

When they thoroughly figured out Didi Bikes' business model, each and every one of them was stunned, cursing in their hearts: Aren't these people idiots?

Tossing bicycles out on the street and inviting thieves to an all-you-can-eat buffet?

(End of chapter)