Chapter 84

On November 11th, it rained lightly in Pengcheng, and the temperature dropped.

Yu Xing booked a flight back to Shencheng that day and finally made the painful decision to move from the hostel to a hotel, counting as a final luxury before the return trip.

This was truly because the soundproofing in the hostel was too poor. In the dead of night when he couldn't fall asleep, the movements next door... listening was inappropriate, and not listening meant they drilled into his ears, resulting in him tossing and turning.

There was nothing left to do in Pengcheng. Yu Xing submitted his identity information, became a beneficiary of the trust together with Liu Wan Ying, and signed multiple targeted clauses to control the shell company.

Honestly, becoming a joint beneficiary gave him the illusion that their relationship was more stable than a romantic one.

Yu Xing originally had the heart to go to Xiangjiang for a stroll, but because he didn't have a Hong Kong and Macau pass, he could only sigh at the border.

At seven in the evening, he tentatively sent a text message to Liu Qiangdong, expressing his optimism for JD's future again, but received no response.

After a while, Yu Xing casually turned on the television and called his old father to report on his work changes.

"What? You were fired?" Yu Guosheng knew about the three-month arrangement and that it was just going through the motions, but he was still surprised by the early termination.

Yu Xing said calmly: "It's fine, the salary is still being paid. I bought gifts for you two today before I head back."

"Oh, still getting paid? That's fine." Yu Guosheng's attention shifted to the gifts. "Did you buy me cigarettes in Pengcheng? What kind of cigarettes do they smoke there?"

"I see them smoking some 'Good Days' here, but I didn't buy those. I usually buy 'Furong Wang'," Yu Xing answered the question. "I didn't buy you cigarettes. Mom called me two days ago and said she wanted to help you persist in quitting smoking without wavering. I bought you the 'Pengcheng Evening News'. There happens to be an issue today discussing the spirit of Pengcheng's development. I thought it would be nice to bring it back for you as a souvenir."

Yu Guosheng praised: "That's not bad. A city like Pengcheng doesn't have many local specialties, right? Bringing a newspaper is quite meaningful."

Having said this, he habitually asked: "Then what did you bring for your mother?"

Yu Xing answered: "I bought her a gold chain."

Yu Guosheng: "..."

Silence, silence is tonight's gold chain.

"Hello, hello, is the signal bad?" Yu Xing was a bit strange. "Dad, Dad, speak up."

Yu Guosheng took a long breath and questioned: "Is this how you treat your father and mother differently??"

"You're a public servant, could I buy you a big gold chain?" Yu Xing laughed. "Besides, in my heart, my dad has never been a materialistic person."

Yu Guosheng emphasized: "This can be materialistic!"

"No, I can't objectify my dad!" Yu Xing insisted on his principles. "I want to bring the spring breeze from Pengcheng to my old father at the Agricultural Machinery Bureau in my hometown."

Yu Guosheng was silent for a moment: "You don't have to objectify it too much. Bring a carton of cigarettes, just one carton, is even one carton not okay?"

Yu Xing finally agreed: "Alright, I'll buy a carton tomorrow and put it in my bag."

Seeing his son agree so readily, Yu Guosheng guessed and asked: "How much was the chain you bought for your mother?"

"Don't ask, it's easy to get stimulated," Yu Xing advised his father.

Yu Guosheng hesitated for a few seconds before silently ending the call, comforting himself in his heart. At least he got a carton of cigarettes, and furthermore, there was the spirit from the Special Economic Zone.

Yu Xing had just happily put down his phone when Liu Qiangdong, who hadn't replied to the text earlier, called him directly.

"I heard you went to Zhen'ai Network?" Liu Qiangdong's opening remark shocked Yu Xing greatly.

"How does Mr. Liu know about this?" Yu Xing was very surprised; he was just a nobody.

"I met JD's investor Xu Xin last week. I chatted with her about the different stages of the internet, and she agreed very much." Liu Qiangdong stated the reason directly. "I said this was a speech by a medical student at the Internet Conference, but he made a very strange Gui'ai Network. As a result, she said her husband bought your company, and you stayed there too."

Yu Xing laughed: "Yes, I was indeed at Zhen'ai Network before, but I just left a few days ago."

This time it was Liu Qiangdong's turn to be surprised: "You're not there anymore?"

"Mm, I pulled together a small team to make a website about the workplace," Yu Xing said generously. "When the website takes shape, JD employees are welcome to join."

Liu Qiangdong lamented: "I think your judgment of the internet is very insightful. The prospects for e-commerce are huge."

Yu Xing still politely declined: "We have already contacted angel investors. If we can make a name for ourselves, I hope Mr. Liu can recommend me to more investors."

"No problem, as long as your website has value," Liu Qiangdong laughed. "As long as things have value, investors can make up their minds."

Yu Xing heard the underlying meaning: "It seems I should congratulate JD on overcoming the difficulties. Mr. Liu, to be honest, when I sold my company this time, the thing I worried about most was the brothers in my company. It was only after receiving the promise of kind treatment from Zhen'ai Network that I breathed a sigh of relief."

Although he couldn't remember the names of some brothers, that was the situation.

He added: "Mr. Liu, I am also a JD user, but when I use JD and Taobao now, I always feel that you have too many flaws in payment. JD must do its own payment."

Yu Xing was a real JD user, but from his later mature perspective, the current JD didn't even have its own payment system. Online payment mainly supported third parties like Online Banking and Alipay, which was particularly strange and awkward.

Liu Qiangdong said dismissively: "Payment is useless. You know JD supports cash on delivery, right? It's this that established trust between us and our users. This is our main source of revenue. Do you know what percentage this accounts for?"

"80%, I guess," Yu Xing answered.

Liu Qiangdong was stunned; he guessed so accurately.

Yu Xing wasn't guessing randomly. In fact, the evaluation that JD did payment too late came from Liu Qiangdong himself. He later listed this as the biggest mistake he made in his eleven years of running JD.

Liu Qiangdong swallowed the words he wanted to say, eased his mood, and discussed seriously: "Many of the things we sell are relatively high-priced, which naturally makes customers worry. I think online banking quick payment, Kuaiqian, Tenpay, and Alipay are enough."

Yu Xing was very happy to stir up trouble between these giants and future giants. He gave his own thoughts: "Mr. Liu, from the perspective of competition, Taobao has now made Taobao Shangcheng, and the goal is B2C. It wants to unify the domestic e-commerce market. You are still using your competitor's interface. If Taobao Shangcheng exerts its strength and the payment channels offer subsidies or discounts, they might divert your users."

"From the industry perspective, online payment and even mobile payment will inevitably develop faster and faster. Payment is not just a tool; it will be an account system."

"From the perspective of how much opponents value it, Alibaba makes Alipay, Penguin makes Tenpay. Do you think those two look like people who are easy to deal with?"

"Mr. Liu, I'm not advising you to do it tomorrow, but when you have a little spare energy, you need to try it."

Yu Xing talked eloquently, hoping that the competition between these people could be more intense.

Liu Qiangdong thought for a while, not looking down on the college student entrepreneur on the other end of the phone, and said: "I will discuss this matter. We really don't have the energy right now, but your words make sense. I'll think about it, I need to think about it more."

"Mm, oh right, Mr. Liu, there's something I want to ask you about, it's related to my current workplace website," Yu Xing asked. "Has JD's management trainee program been frozen this year?"

Hearing this, Liu Qiangdong laughed: "Mr. Yu, you really pay close attention to JD. The situation this year is very difficult, and it has been narrowed."

"What I'm doing now is information in this area, and I'm more concerned about college student employment, hoping to bring them more accurate news," Yu Xing said seriously. "Mr. Liu, since JD is about to ease its funding pressure, how much can a college management trainee cost? I really think your program is very good."

Liu Qiangdong was quite happy to receive recognition from the outside world.

JD's management trainee program only started last year. The first thing he did after getting 10 million USD in financing wasn't to do logistics, but to start the management trainee program, intending to continuously cultivate talent for the company.

He pondered for a moment and said: "Once this financing is finalized, the training scale will return. We only recruited 2 people last year. We originally planned to recruit 20 people this year, but the funding pressure is relatively high, so we currently plan to change it to 8."

Inside JD, the management trainee program is called the "Jingying Association", and it is highly valued.

"The speed of internet development is too fast, and the financial crisis cannot stop it," Yu Xing laughed. "I just came out of university, and the employees of my last project were all college students. Even the customers were basically on campus. I know their confusion and anxiety when they are about to step out of the school gate. Mr. Liu, JD persisting in cultivating 20 talents despite experiencing a crisis might not be a beautiful story in the future."

Liu Qiangdong said: "You are... quite thoughtful for others. Are you willing to come? Come over and discuss the future of electronic payment together."

"If this project of mine fails, I'll go to JD then," Yu Xing laughed. "Mr. Liu, one more question, what is Xu Xin's working style?"

"She has great vision and courage. Like this management trainee program, it was me adopting her suggestion," Liu Qiangdong said slowly. "But she has a relatively tough working style and likes to interfere with the companies she invests in."

Yu Xing was a bit surprised: "Does she interfere with JD's operations?"

"No," Liu Qiangdong said with a hint of pride. "She is very tough, but I am tougher. If you really want to get more financing, I'll give you a small piece of advice."

He paused for two seconds and gave the advice: "Be careful of investors; they are all very cunning."

Yu Xing asked bluntly: "Including Xu Xin?"

Liu Qiangdong smiled without answering.

But the answer was obvious.

Yu Xing sketched out the image of some investors and finally asked: "Mr. Liu, can I publish this news about your management trainees? It happens to be useful when making the website. I will talk about JD's bright prospects and also mention the past pressure." Liu Qiangdong laughed: "Is it good to talk about this?"

"A warrior's scars are medals," Yu Xing said. "JD encountering pressure is not an embarrassing thing. Looking back after overcoming it, this is worth everyone taking a look at, and perhaps it can attract more talent."

Liu Qiangdong didn't care about this and agreed: "That's fine."

"One last, last thing, Mr. Liu, do you have Mr. Ma's phone number? I'll see if I can get some news about their campus recruitment," Yu Xing didn't hide his thoughts.

Liu Qiangdong thought for a moment: "Which Mr. Ma?"

"Any one is fine, having both is best," Yu Xing was slightly happy.

"I'll send it to you later," Liu Qiangdong finally said. "If the project fails, come to me."

Yu Xing laughed: "If it fails, I'll definitely go, but don't forget to introduce me to investors!"

The call with the future big boss ended.

Yu Xing put down his phone and seriously wrote down the relevant information obtained in this call. This time, besides bombarding internet matchmaking companies to attract traffic for Baixiaosheng, he also intended to provide valuable information on the campus recruitment situation of major companies.

This year's situation was quite special. The financial crisis caused many companies to start laying off employees, and campus recruitment and internships, which were closely related to college students, were also affected.

Yu Xing was quite familiar with the campus field and still didn't intend to let go of the value here. He was willing to act as an information medium between campuses and companies, which could be considered carrying vertical segmentation to the end.

When he put down his pen, reviewed his communication with Liu Qiangdong, and picked up his pen again to write a few words in his notebook.

——The limitations of big bosses.

Big bosses are definitely very strong, with sharp eyes, methods in doing things, and courage in judgment, but they also follow the limitations of the era. Like Liu Qiangdong, he currently thinks payment doesn't have much value.

Yu Xing felt that besides stirring up the situation, utilizing the limitations of big bosses at this time should also be able to find greater profit space.

He drew several circles with his pen and fell into deep thought.

A moment later, he received a message from Liu Qiangdong on his phone, containing the numbers of the two Mas from Alibaba and Penguin.

Yu Xing created a new contact in his address book and remembered the famous six degrees of separation theory: "The number of people between you and any stranger will not exceed six, which means you can know any stranger through at most six people."

So, how to get information about major companies after the financial crisis?

Six degrees of separation, mobilize everyone who can be mobilized.

Never turn a blind eye to the anxiety of the juniors!

This anxiety is one of the driving forces for Baixiaosheng's development!

Yu Xing still had the information of Gui'ai Network's previous graduate customers. He originally intended to exchange roses for them after he became successful. Now, they should all have joined various companies, right?

Customer follow-up!

Customer help!

On November 13th, Yu Xing took a flight back to Shencheng.

This time, he didn't take a bus at the airport but was picked up by Baixiaosheng chairman Song Yufeng.

"Where did the car come from?" Yu Xing was very curious.

Song Yufeng laughed: "An employee's."

Yu Xing clicked his tongue in wonder: "Not bad, you guys are doing well here."

He went to Pengcheng, and the work at Baixiaosheng was all handled by Song Yufeng and the other two, including renting the office, renting housing, recruiting, internal testing... they completed it quite well.

"It's all thanks to your guidance, Brother Xing. I'm becoming more and more confident in the future of the website," Song Yufeng said sincerely.

Yu Xing nodded: "Mm, otherwise, you wouldn't have called your little girlfriend over."

Song Yufeng smiled and chatted briefly about the development of his romance.

Yu Xing listened with great emotion. Good heavens, they were all in pairs, and he was the only one left alone. This was not reasonable at all.

The two chatted all the way. When the car gradually approached Baixiaosheng's headquarters, the scenery outside made Yu Xing become a bit silent.

"Brother Xing, we asked about quite a few office buildings." Song Yufeng had his own value positioning in the company and naturally paid extra attention to the boss's face. "The first one we asked about was the HSBC Building in Pudong. Guess how much a 200-square-meter office there costs?"

Yu Xing pondered: "Wouldn't it be 60,000, 70,000, or 80,000?"

Song Yufeng answered: "100,000!"

Yu Xing shook his head: "Really can't afford to rent that."

"Lu Haiying, Zhong Zhiling, and I also wanted to see the world. The HSBC Building is 16 yuan per square meter per day, and that's after the price dropped following the financial crisis," Song Yufeng laughed. "Then, we went to ask about Century Trade, and that also costs 100,000 a month."

"Mm, Hang Lung Plaza costs 75,000."

"Bank of China costs 70,000, Citic Square costs 60,000..."

"We asked all the way, and finally chose Shuohe International here in Yang Pu, 12,000 a month."

As Song Yufeng narrated, the car speed gradually slowed down; they had arrived.

Baixiaosheng's headquarters, 6th floor of Shuohe International in Yang Pu, Shencheng.

Shuohe International has 7 floors in total. It's called "International" and an office building, but in reality, it's surrounded by residential areas; it's just a commercial complex built by the developer.

Yu Xing got out of the car. What caught his eye was a small supermarket on the first floor of the office building, with grilled sausages displayed at the entrance. Turning his head, the windows of the residential building across the street were all covered with drying quilts and clothes.

He was currently standing at the entrance of the residential complex. The ground just two steps away was already pitted and bumpy. Further away on the roadside was an old tree, and there wasn't a single leaf on its listless branches.

Yu Xing looked up at the company on the sixth floor and found that at this height, as long as you opened the window, you could see the wires strung along the roadside.

"Hiss..."

Yu Xing stood downstairs, and there was only one feeling in his heart: It's over! It's over!

"Brother Xing, the house we rented is inside the complex, it's very convenient to commute every day," Song Yufeng parked the car and came over to introduce it. "There are fruit shops, wet markets, spicy hot pot, soup dumplings, and a Hualian supermarket nearby. Life is very convenient."

Yu Xing felt he had committed the sin of raising expectations too high.

He smiled: "It's okay, this 12,000 must be worth it."

After all, this place is jokingly called the Siberia of Shencheng.

"How far is it from here to the financial center?" Yu Xing asked.

"Uh, about 12 kilometers," Song Yufeng estimated.

Yu Xing boosted his spirits: "We used to be 42 kilometers from Songjiang University Town to the financial center. Now we've shortened it to 12 kilometers in just over three months! This is no small progress!"

Song Yufeng nodded repeatedly. Progress or not, it's cheap here!

He had just walked two steps when he suddenly urged: "Brother Xing, you should be respectful to our company's accountant."

Yu Xing focused: "Why? Is she a big shot poached from some company?"

Song Yufeng solemnly announced: "She is our landlord. The house in the complex is rented from her family."

Yu Xing: "..."

He walked into the office building and sighed: "Then we should be respectful. Did she give us a cheaper price?"

"Of course it's cheaper. It can be considered a bundled sale, I guess," Song Yufeng described the previous situation.

Yu Xing pressed the elevator to the sixth floor and walked into the new headquarters of the new project together with the chairman.

Baixiaosheng welcomed its actual controller, and thus welcomed the signal to set sail.

(End of chapter)