I'm reborn and I'm an international student again?

"As soon as possible!"

"Yes Yes Yes."

Since it was the first time he had encountered this situation, Chen Yifeng didn't take it too seriously and just waved his hand dismissively.

His funds are not held in just one bank, but are spread across multiple institutions throughout the country.

Chen Yifeng planned to inquire at other banks.

He doesn't usually trade stocks and was unaware of the news of the sharp drop in bank stocks. He just thought that the bank manager had encountered some temporary trouble and wanted to delay things.

But when Chen Yifeng arrived at the second bank and received the same response, he could no longer remain calm.

The bank manager's words were exactly the same as the previous one surnamed Wang: full of apologies, but unwilling to pay a single penny. This infuriated Chen Yifeng, who even threatened, "If we don't get the money within three days, this bank will be in big trouble."

Faced with such a threat, the bank manager didn't get angry. After all, he was in the wrong, but he still patted his chest and promised to do his best to handle it.

"Something's not right, something's really not right... It's one thing if one bank can't come up with the money, but why are other banks doing the same thing? Could there be something wrong with the banking system here in Huajing? I'll ask again when I get back to Xinlu tomorrow." Chen Yifeng muttered to himself as he sat in the car.

At this time, the battle between a certain group and Ele.me was also in full swing.

Initially, both sides adopted a strategy of burning money on subsidies, which was essentially a competition to see who could offer more discounts to merchants, customers, and riders.

But gradually, due to financial pressure, the group adjusted its tactics, which was to create idols!

This method is actually similar to many live streaming platforms: create a leaderboard and publicly display the rider's daily order volume and income data.

The goal is to make ordinary riders envious of the high income of top riders, motivating them to work harder, while also attracting riders from other platforms to switch over.

It has to be said that this tactic employed by a certain group has been quite effective. Similar methods are frequently seen in live streaming, online literature, and even some pyramid schemes.

Many people think that food delivery is a matter of more work, more pay, and that as long as you're willing to work, you can earn more. But that's a misconception.

In today's big data era, the number of orders you can take each day, the price of each order, and your final income are all calculated by the system.

Platforms generally don't allow ordinary riders to earn outrageously high incomes. Even if you run more and more every day, they will quietly lower the average price per order.

After all the calculations, your total income is actually not that much different.

Then some people might wonder if the data of the top singles player on the leaderboard is fake.
That's not entirely wrong, but the orders they receive are often the good ones.

What makes a good order?

It refers to orders that are short in distance, high in unit price, light in weight, and not easily damaged (such as cakes and flowers, which are considered difficult to deliver).

Each area has a station, which is managed by a station manager.

There is no strict ownership relationship between food delivery platforms and local stations; it is more of a contractual system.

The platform has established a few core management companies and offices across the country, and the relationship between them and the sites is essentially one of sharing the pie.

Orders for dedicated delivery riders are assigned by the system or administrators; frankly, it's just a matter of permissions.

If you have a good relationship with the site administrator, he might be able to adjust your permissions so you can take on more good orders.

This is why some people earn over ten thousand yuan a month delivering food, while others only earn a few thousand.

It's not that you're not trying hard enough, it's that you haven't figured out the rules of the game yet.

When Chen Xi was working on a platform in his previous life, he had also personally experienced other food delivery companies.

He calculated that if it's a crowdsourcing (i.e., part-time rider) order, the orders they receive are usually junk orders that dedicated riders can't handle or don't want to deliver.

According to his calculations, the actual income from running fewer than three orders at a time is not as good as working in a factory.

If you run orders one by one, you'll only earn an average of 8 to 10 yuan per hour.

He was riding a shared bicycle at the time, and he had to pay 2.5 to 3 yuan for insurance every day, so his daily cost was about 10 yuan.

After several days of continuous testing, the results were similar for both long-term and short-term orders.

Of course, this doesn't include the event rewards.

Chen Xi felt that without promotional subsidies or price increases due to bad weather, he really wouldn't make much money even if he rode the electric bike until it was scrapped.

(I was delivering to an old neighborhood the other night, and there was roadwork going on, leaving a large crack in the ground. The shared bike's tires weren't very good, and it got stuck in the crack, causing it to tip over and the rider to fall. It felt so much more comfortable delivering food in Australia back then; no smartphones, no algorithms, and no time constraints. The food delivery system in China is really… Shared bikes have a top speed of 25 km/h. If you're only delivering one order, the system schedules everything for you, giving you only a few extra minutes to pick up the food and find a place to go. Taking two orders usually won't result in a timeout, but with three orders, at 25 km/h, it's almost always time-outs. That's why delivery drivers on the street run so fast, even going against traffic and running red lights.)

I'd ordered takeout before and always complained about how many orders the delivery drivers took, resulting in late deliveries. After experiencing it myself for a few days, I have a completely different perspective. I used to think that with so many takeout platforms, the riders on each platform were all competing and forming factions. But that's not the case. Those red, blue, and yellow riders, if you encounter them while delivering, will almost always help each other. They'll either give you directions or deliver your order along their route; they don't care what faction you belong to. On the contrary, when they're not busy, they might curse the platform a bit, or complain about those stupid customers who didn't answer the phone.

Although delivering food is tiring and doesn't make much money, it's quite addictive. I feel it's much better than going to the gym. I lost several pounds after a few days of running, and I feel uncomfortable all over if I don't run for a few days, hahaha.
There are different types of food delivery riders, with crowdsourcing being a part-time job.

Chen Xi used to think that crowdsourcing would be disliked by full-time riders because there would be too many part-time riders taking away their jobs.

However, after he actually experienced domestic food delivery, he discovered that crowdsourcing was actually a special case among delivery drivers.

Other delivery drivers call them "crowdsourcing masters"!
The reason is that the orders that the dedicated delivery service can't handle are all accepted by crowdsourcing. Without crowdsourcing, the dedicated delivery service would definitely be late or accept some junk orders.

Especially during bad weather, orders are usually filled by crowdsourcing experts.

Some people say that crowdsourcing is so risky because it involves indebted business owners and gamblers who have lost money...

That's not entirely unreasonable; Chen Xi has indeed encountered several elderly, indebted business owners who were doing crowdsourcing.

A few days later, in Shanghai, at the headquarters of Eleba.com.

“Mr. Chen, what you just said is a bit too idealistic. We already lowered the penalties for exceeding the time limit last time. If we continue to loosen them, the platform can forget about making a profit. We are business people, not a charity,” Ele.me CEO Zhang Xu said with a stern face.

"It's understandable that platforms want to make money, but shouldn't the rules at least be reasonable? With the current pricing and penalty system, it's practically forcing riders to drive against traffic, run red lights, and speed recklessly. As a company, they should have some social responsibility. I've personally experienced delivering food. Newly registered riders always get high-quality orders at first, which is clearly bait the platform uses to attract new riders. But after a few days, once the so-called 'newbie period' is over, junk orders start pouring in. This tactic will be exposed sooner or later, and then Ele.me will face a massive loss of riders," Chen Xi replied, arms crossed.

"So what? Isn't that how Meituan operates too? The price per unit is determined by market supply and demand. It goes up when there are fewer riders and down when there are more. What's wrong with that?" Zhang Xu said, somewhat unconvinced. In fact, what he said wasn't without merit.

“But the platform’s penalty mechanism is outrageous now, and it’s not just about being late. For example, if the food is delivered as requested, but the customer doesn’t answer the phone or leave a note saying where it was left, and the rider marks it as delivered, but the customer picks up the food and then says they didn’t receive it, the platform will directly deduct money from the rider’s pay. Another example is delivering fragile items like cakes, which riders simply don’t want to do. The price per order isn’t much higher, but even a slight bump can cost them hundreds of yuan in compensation. Is that reasonable? Even if the journey is smooth, if the weather gets hot and the cake isn’t made with animal cream, it will collapse and melt on its own…” Chen Xi recounted his real experiences as a food delivery rider.

Some delivery riders jokingly refer to delivering cakes as celebrating their own birthdays. Because if a customer refuses the cake, they'll just have to eat it themselves. Some riders even celebrate several birthdays in a single day.

"So what? Mr. Chen, you and we are all businessmen at heart, why bother caring about the feelings of your subordinates?"

Zhang Xu simply couldn't understand how Chen Xi, with such a compassionate heart, could earn so much money.

He had never seen any boss in China who could survive on this kind of thinking.

"It's not good. If you insist on not changing, then going to pick up goods will just mean joining the chaotic battle in the food delivery industry."

"I will relay these words to General Manager Feng verbatim."

Zhang Xu was quite angry at Chen Xi's last words, so he turned around and went into his office to make a phone call.

Sure enough, not long after, Feng Yun, who was talking business nearby, called Chen Xi.

Half an hour later, in Feng Yun's office.

“Zhang Xu told me that you’re planning to drag the delivery riders into the food delivery war? I don’t believe you would actually do something like that for the sake of the riders’ interests. We’re all sensible people, so please save your high-sounding words.”

Feng Yun leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and said.

"Haha, I'm not kidding. I do plan to get involved, but only in delivering things that are hard to deliver, like cakes and flowers. And most deliveries will be done by car."

"What? You're serious? I thought you were just trying to scare Zhang Xu... I remember you said you didn't plan to enter the city market so quickly, and wanted Huodudu to compete with other logistics companies first." Feng Yun frowned upon hearing this.

If Chen Xizhen enters the scene, it will definitely not be good news for Ele.me.

"Want to know why I'm getting involved? It's not that I'm deliberately trying to steal your business. Have you heard of antitrust laws? It's not necessarily a good thing for a company to become too big. Even if there isn't a single dominant player, if there are only two giants left in the market, it will eventually attract the attention of the authorities. Since ancient times, a triangle has been the most stable. Why don't I join in and maintain the balance?"

Chen Xi's words were true.

The food delivery war in my past life, on the surface, was fiercely fought between several parties, but in reality, much of it was a show put on for the higher-ups and the masses.

"You're exaggerating. Eleba is a legitimate business. No matter how big it gets, the authorities have no reason to cause trouble for it," Feng Yun said dismissively.

"Hey, Mr. Feng, throughout history, those who have been able to build a large business and have a good ending are all businessmen who understand politics. You really need to pay attention to this."

"Ha, do you think they can take over my company just because I've grown big? That's a joke." Feng Yun laughed.

Believe it or not. Anyway, I'll definitely get in if I get the chance, so consider this a heads-up.

"Recently, bank stocks have plummeted, supposedly because a large number of credit card customers can't repay their debts, and bad debts are piling up. Most of the POS machines on the market are made by you guys, so don't tell me this has nothing to do with you." The cunning Feng Yun suddenly changed the subject.

Even without the takeout, he was going to ask Chen Xi to come over today anyway.

"The customer owes money... how can you blame me?" Chen Xi blinked innocently.

"Come on, how could it be unrelated? You guys provided the card-swiping machines, and there are tons of online forums for playing with credit cards, with a bunch of people exchanging experiences on increasing or decreasing credit limits. I bet you're the one who set up that website too, humph." Feng Yun was very well-informed.

Having the power to control the Aba Express, he certainly knew a lot.

"Haha, Mr. Feng, you suddenly brought this up... there must be another reason, right?" Chen Xi also changed the subject.

"That's right! Those snobs at the banks! When I needed money most for my business, they wouldn't lend me a single penny. But now that I don't need money anymore, they're desperately trying to give me a credit line. If I could have gotten a loan from the bank back then, I, Feng Yun, wouldn't be in this situation where I'm at their mercy!" He started grumbling.

Back when he was working on AbaAba, he went to every bank but couldn't get a loan, so he had to look for investors everywhere.

There are countless entrepreneurs like him who have persevered through sheer grit and determination in China. And every single one of them who succeeds harbors resentment towards banks.

Some say that banks never offer help when someone is in need, but only add to their existing success. Chen Xi thinks this is absolutely true.

"Then what do you want to do?"

Chen Xi blinked, waiting for him to continue.

"Of course, it's kicking someone when they're down! Now is the perfect time for Ant Financial to rise!" Feng Yun laughed heartily.

On the other hand, since Ding Ningwen was arrested, people who had improper dealings with him have also been taken away for investigation one after another.

The numerous businesses behind Yu Fen and Yang Dan were also uncovered and destroyed one by one.

Thanks to Yang Dingtian's series of covert maneuvers, Yang Dan himself was not directly implicated; he simply had his subordinates take the blame and shoulder the responsibility.

Australia.

To avoid the limelight, Yang Dan had no choice but to come here to find Zou Mihua.

"Hehe, isn't it always like this? They always want to hold onto the most profitable businesses tightly."

Zou Mihua handed Yang Dan a glass of wine with a smile.

"Who says otherwise? Just because I'm accused of operating an illegal casino doesn't mean T-Cai is legal. They even have their own offline slot machines! It's just that I threatened their profits, and they're using this as an excuse to get rid of me."

Yang Dan looked indignant and spoke with a resentful tone.

He wasn't wrong; there are indeed legitimate slot machine stores with signs advertising "T-C" offline.

Most people are familiar with scratch-off lottery tickets, but this slot machine is called a "snap-snap" machine, meaning it's electronic. (These are less common in stores because widespread installation would have a negative impact.)
Electronic slot machines... those who know, know...

(A few days ago, T-Lottery held another meeting because lottery sales have been poor in recent years. The main issues are the lack of in-play betting, low odds, and single-match betting, leading players to switch to online betting. Even with the government cracking down on online lotteries, it hasn't stopped those players. Soon the leaders will be coming up with something new, haha.) (End of Chapter)