Chapter 332: No Suckers? Then Do It Yourself! Another 800 Million in Funding! Where

On November 4, Dangdang simultaneously joined Pinduoduo and Taobao Shangcheng.

Liu Qiangdong mocked Li Guoqing on Weibo for "clinging to big bucks"—harsh words, but they hit the mark.

Li Guoqing didn't coddle him, retorting: "When Daqiangzi joined Pinduoduo Shangcheng last year, I never criticized him."

The implication was that Liu Qiangdong lacked thickness.

If JD could do it, why couldn't Dangdang?

Thus, the e-commerce landscape in 2012 was quietly shifting, as vertical e-commerce faced mounting pressure under the squeeze of comprehensive platforms.

Li Guoqing's "defection" to Pinduoduo and Taobao Shangcheng was a move of desperation.

That afternoon, news broke that JD had signed an 800-million-yuan procurement contract with Meizu.

Liu Qiangdong and Huang Zhang jointly subsidized the Meizu MX quad-core 32GB model, slashing its price to 2,499 yuan; within six hours, the Meizu MX topped JD's real-time bestseller list for phones, ranking just behind the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III, and iPhone 4S.

After Chéngzi Phone exited JD, Liu Qiangdong found a new partner.

An hour later, Wowo Group announced it would cease operations on December 31 due to failed financing, its corporate life entering countdown.

Of the top five group-buying platforms, one vanished instantly, leaving only Dazhong Dianping, Lashou, Meituan, and Kuai Pao still fighting.

The subsidy war raged for two months; countless group-buying sites were crushed to death—Wowo Group was merely the most famous; when other competitors collapsed, no one cared.

…

…

Xucheng, Zhuxianzhu Technology Park, Building No. 9.

Chen Yansen leaned back in his chair, feet propped on the desk, played Subway Surfers for three minutes, then tossed his phone aside, bored.

With his current reaction speed, the game felt like slow motion—no fun at all.

Chen Zong glanced out the window; a few sparrows flew past the sky, heading toward the distant dense forest, leaving behind crisp chirps.

At that moment, Pei Yi called.

"Boss, Meituan Waimai has expanded beyond Beijing, launching delivery services in eleven cities including Tianjin, Anci, and Tang Cheng."

Pei Yi reported calmly.

"Hongshan Capital gave Wang Xin a sum of money; clearly his confidence is back. Keep a close eye on Meituan and hit them hard."

Chen Yansen sat upright, instructing into the phone.

In his eyes, Wang Xin was like a shit-stirrer.

The delivery rider model should primarily rely on full-time staff with part-timers as supplements—ensuring stable monthly income for regular employees while flexibly augmenting delivery capacity.

But Wang Xin immediately copied the outsourcing model into food delivery, solving Meituan's capacity issues while creating major headaches for Kuai Pao.

Because Meituan imposed numerous penalty policies, riders faced skyrocketing delivery pressure, frequently clashing with customers—sometimes even physical altercations—causing users to develop aversion to ordering takeout, fearing they'd get beaten up before even taking a bite.

Negative news piled up, dragging Kuai Pao down too; users who'd never ordered takeout now held the industry's stereotype: frequent delays, high food damage rates, and terrible attitudes.

Upward, they antagonize customers; downward, they antagonize merchants.

Moreover, after Wang Xin's part-time rider count surpassed fifty thousand, he continuously tested the lower limit of delivery fees, slashing the per-order rate from 8 yuan to 5 yuan.

Logically, with no base salary, no social insurance, no benefits, and such low pay, no one should take the job—but there were too many cutthroat competitors; even after three consecutive yuan cuts, delivery efficiency remained unaffected.

Thus, Wang Xin was considering lowering it another 0.5 yuan to match Kuai Pao's rate.

"Understood, Boss. I've sent Shan Jiawei to North China—he knows Meituan's operations inside out. Let him lead the charge; Wang Xin will have his hands full." Pei Yi replied immediately.

In truth, without Shan Jiawei's joining and bringing Meituan the supply chain expansion model from Huaguo, Wang Xin alone could never have stood out in the Thousand Group-Buying War.

The school network and Fanfou he founded were both social software—what did either have to do with offline?

Wang Xin didn't know a damn thing about sales!

Pei Yi was confident: with Shan Jiawei and Zhang Xuhao as his two top generals, if they couldn't beat Meituan, he might as well go smash his head against a tofu block.

"Shan Jiawei? His abilities I trust. By the way, where's Zhang Xuhao?" Chen Yansen asked casually with a faint smile.

"He went to Beijing with Old Shan," Pei Yi grinned.

"Pinduoduo 3.0 is about to launch; it will move Kuai Pao's entry from the icon area to the homepage's primary tier—users can swipe left to see the food delivery channel," Chen Yansen reminded.

"Boss Huang mentioned it to me—I have no objections," Pei Yi replied instantly.

Pinduoduo has over 60 million daily active users, but its e-commerce users order infrequently; Kuai Pao has 6 million daily actives but boasts high-frequency ordering—combining them creates a "high-frequency driving low-frequency" business ecosystem.

Currently, Pinduoduo offers Kuai Pao greater support, so Kuai Pao must pay Pinduoduo advertising fees as CPS commission.

Pei Yi saying "no objections" meant he was willing to pay Huang Zheng the "toll."

After all, both belonged to Senlian Capital; Huang Zheng's fee standards were not high.

"What about Baidu Waimai? Still hiding in Beijing like Wang Ba?" Chen Yansen asked again.

"Yes, but I believe that since Baidu established its LBS division, it won't stay confined to Beijing—Li Yanhong and Wang Zhongpu are probably brewing a big move," Pei Yi replied after thinking.

Baidu's $50 billion market cap isn't fake; though Li Yanhong currently lags in the ride-hailing market, that doesn't mean Baidu will ultimately lose.

If Li Yanhong keeps ramping up, Cheng Weixing can only keep responding.

"Then accelerate expansion—strike fast, don't fear losses. Cheng Weixing loses 1.2 billion a month—I haven't complained, so why should you?"

"Then just speed up the pace of expansion—use speed to beat slowness. Don't be afraid of losing money. Cheng Weixing lost 1.2 billion in a single month, and I didn't say a word about it. What are you afraid of?"

Pei Yi smiled knowingly and nodded quickly; Kuai D's valuation didn't even make the top tier within the group, yet its monthly marketing expenses were the highest.

Chéngzi Tech and Pinduoduo Shangcheng didn't spend nearly this much!

After hanging up, Chen Yansen paused, then summoned Wang Teng, instructing him to contact Daniel Ek to integrate Spotify's music data into Mo Si smart speakers and add Penguin Music, Kugou, and Kuwo libraries to Alexa smart speakers.

Overseas Chinese and domestic foreigners—though their proportion is small, they shouldn't be ignored.

Moreover, many domestic users enjoy Western music; even if this move's impact on smart speaker sales is uncertain, doing it is better than doing nothing.

Besides, there are no shortage of domestic users who like European and American music. Even though it's impossible to gauge exactly how much this move will boost smart speaker sales, doing it is still better than not doing it.

Rejected in negotiations, Li Yanhong spent the past few days hunting for investors (fools), and since Didi's subsidies stopped, daily orders have declined, now down to 600,000 per day.

Li Yanhong, whose peace talks had been rejected, had spent the past few days busy looking for investors (suckers). Once Didi Dache's subsidies stopped, the average daily order volume began to slide, and had now dropped to 600,000 orders per day.

He thought Li Yanhong should invest alone, but he felt the risk was too high.

Among the three giants of BAT, Tencent and Mama Ali both sided with Kuai Di Dache.

Among state-owned institutions, Huake and Huaxin provided funding and manpower to Kuai Di Dache.

Among foreign companies, Gao Sheng and DST chose to back Kuai Di Dache.

The opportunity left to Baidu Net was minuscule; after negotiations, only An'An and IDG Capital showed investment interest, but what angered Li Yanhong was that both companies' contacts rejected the 8 billion Huayuan valuation.

They offered at most 6 billion! In other words, Baidu Net's 1.2 billion in Series E funding would shrink by a quarter in less than a month.

Li Yanhong naturally refused!

Negotiations between both sides stalled; neither side was willing to compromise.

Who would have thought that Junlian Capital, armed with a preferential exit clause, proactively approached IDG Capital and sold its 8.1% stake in DiDi Dache for 500 million Huayuan, valuing the company at just over 6 billion?

Zhu Nanli's intention in investing in DiDi Dache was never pure; after Liu Yiqing took the position of Chairman of Gao Sheng Asia, he immediately lost interest in the CEO role of DiDi Dache.

In one back-and-forth, Junlian Capital made a hundred million profit and successfully cashed out and escaped.

Upon learning this news, Li Yanhong nearly reached out to IDG Capital's Xiong Xiaoge, wanting to sell Baidu's equity to them too.

At least Xiong Xiaoge's offer showed more sincerity than Chen Yansen's!

But after thinking of Baidu Net's LBS division and its O2O strategic layout, he sighed deeply and forcibly suppressed his negative emotions.

Temporary wins or losses meant nothing; DiDi Dache had not yet reached the point of surrender.

Baidu Net did not lack money!

After careful consideration, Li Yanhong decided to increase his investment.

The next morning, under his strong push, Baidu Net injected another 800 million Huayuan into DiDi Dache, maintaining the same valuation as Series E.

This time, Li Yanhong dared not provoke Cheng Weixing; instead, he summoned Xiang Hailong and spoke with him for three or four hours, with the core strategy being: do not directly compete with Kuai Di Dache, reduce subsidies, and redirect funds toward product feature improvements and operational expansion.

"Boss, I don't want to clash head-on with Cheng Weixing either, but every time DiDi Dache enters a new city, Kuai Di Dache shows up the next day, right on our heels."

Xiang Hailong said with a bitter smile.

"Focus on the user experience for riders and drivers; suspend promotional subsidies until DiDi Dache accumulates sufficient order volume and fulfillment capacity," Li Yanhong gave an ambiguous directive.

In short: reduce subsidies, expand service areas.

Seeing Li Yanhong's firm stance, Xiang Hailong could no longer persuade him; he knew well that his boss already harbored dissatisfaction, and saying more might cost him his job.

In Baidu's headquarters building, perhaps someone else was more suited to be CEO of DiDi Dache—but so what?

Protecting personal interests mattered far more than company interests!

Unless Li Yanhong ordered it, he would not budge.

After leaving the office, Xiang Hailong returned to Digital Valley and summoned department heads and regional managers to re-plan DiDi Dache's Q4 development strategy.

Meanwhile, Cheng Wei, after securing his Series A funding of 300 million Huayuan, immediately launched a furious expansion.

The total number of DiDi Bikes deployed in Yanjing surged from 1,000 to 3,000; shared bikes were visible everywhere at the busiest subway exits and commercial districts.

Locals, seeing this, complained: "Hey! Wow, haven't seen this many bikes in years—this is insane!"

DiDi Bike's pricing: 1 Huayuan for the first 30 minutes, plus 1 Huayuan for every additional 15 minutes, with no upper limit.

But Cheng Wei never expected that as the number of DiDi Bikes increased, the number of lost bikes rose sharply.

Of the total 3,000, yesterday's count showed only about 2,860 remaining.

A sudden loss of 140 bikes!

Cheng Wei immediately recalled the old man with the angle grinder on DiDi Bike's first day online.

It was easy to imagine the fate of these bikes.

"We must install GPS tracking devices on the bikes; otherwise, when we reach 10,000 units, finding them will become impossible."

Cheng Wei thought to himself.

Besides, the first-generation mechanical locks had too many bugs—they were no better than covering one's ears while stealing a bell, since every bike had a fixed password; users simply memorized it and rode for free.

How could DiDi Bike make money this way?

Thinking of this, Cheng Wei resolved to replace the mechanical locks with smart locks.

Third-party companies had long offered technical solutions, but he had shelved them due to high costs.

Now, if he didn't act, even hiring more bike finders would be useless.

Without GPS, where would he even look?

…

…

Hangcheng, Fan Zhou Technology headquarters.

This was a bicycle factory with an annual output of 8 million units, equipped with four independent production and painting lines, primarily manufacturing for European and American bicycle brands.

"Boss Hu, nice to meet you! Who is this?"

In the first-floor lobby, Yuan Zhen, owner of Fan Zhou Technology, warmly shook Hu Weiyi's right hand and asked.

The visitor was CEO of OFO Bike; just that title alone warranted his utmost respect.

The shared-bike business model had already spread through the industry; whoever landed a purchase order from a shared-bike company would get rich.

Contracts for hundreds of thousands of bikes—who wouldn't be tempted?

"Hello, Boss Yuan, I'm Wang Zihao, COO of OFO Bike."

Wang Zihao, in a sharp suit, introduced himself calmly.

Though he was only twenty, he had a dark complexion and a sturdy build, looking more like twenty-six or twenty-seven.

"Welcome, Boss Wang! Let's go upstairs and talk in detail," Yuan Zhen said with a beaming smile.

Facing such a major client, he had to be extremely cautious.

"Boss Wang, please," Hu Weiyi nodded in agreement.

Behind the two of them followed several colleagues from the business department and two legal staff to safeguard the upcoming cooperation.

Unlike Didi Bike's low-cost strategy, Hu Weiyi's requirement for ofo bikes was: the frame, tires, seat, brakes, and other components must be sturdy and durable, with costs controlled below 400 yuan.

Because after equipping smart locks, solar panels, embedded chips, GPS modules, and SIM cards, the cost would skyrocket to over 500 yuan.

After hearing Hu Weiyi's requirements, Yuan Zhen's face showed a look of difficulty.

You get what you pay for, a principle fully embodied in manufacturing.

To meet ofo Bike's manufacturing requirements, the material cost alone would not be lower than 500 yuan; aluminum alloy frames, thickened tires, anti-rust chains, and so on, the cost of every single item could not be reduced.

Both sides discussed fiercely all morning, yet reached no conclusion.

Yuan Zhen raised his hand to check the time, then invited Hu Weiyi, Wang Zihao, and others to the restaurant to have lunch first, and continue the discussion in the afternoon.

"No need, President Yuan," Hu Weiyi politely declined.

Yuan Zhen understood her meaning, so after pondering for a moment, he said: "President Hu, I will reduce the specifications for some parts for you; the lowest quote is 460 yuan per bike."

"I'm sorry, to be frank, this price does not meet our company's cost-control bottom line," Hu Weiyi shook her head.

"President Hu, to be honest with you, if you travel all over the East China region, you won't find a lower price," Yuan Zhen said.

"Then I will go to North China again," Hu Weiyi smiled faintly, waved goodbye to Yuan Zhen, then got into a Mercedes-Benz E350 and had the driver drive to the next bicycle factory.

(End of this chapter)