Back to the prime of life

Chapter 164 No choice but to cheat
In his previous life, Lu Changge was just a college student and didn't feel the financial crisis very deeply, but in this life, the impact in the business world is very obvious.

As the saying goes, "a duck knows first when the river water warms in spring." The first ones to feel it were actually the clothing companies in Jiangzhou that were engaged in foreign trade. The cancellation of a large number of orders made them try hard to grab any increase in orders.

Then someone withdrew his investment from Wang Hongcheng's Cuijingyuan project.

Just one night later, a tile maker named Sun, with whom he had previously worked, called him early in the morning. Generally, such calls were to sell goods, but Boss Sun asked to borrow money to tide him over the difficulties.

Although Lu Changge would do things to help others in need, he is not a Bodhisattva after all, and he does not have the ability of a Bodhisattva to save everyone.

So he declined with a sad heart.

Immediately afterwards, Han Jiayi, who worked at JD.com, called him. What warmed his heart was that Han Jiayi asked a caring question, meaning, "Is there any problem with your business?"
Lu Changge was packing up to go out. He tilted his head, holding his phone between his legs, and replied, "I'm doing fine here. The swimming pool received a large sum of money before the crisis, so there are no problems for now. That Taobao store I set up earlier... I haven't asked about it yet, but sales should be increasing. How about you, how are you doing?"

Although they were separated by a phone, he could imagine from the detail that the voice became smaller that Han Jiayi must be in some hidden corner at this moment, covering her mouth and talking secretly.

"Things are not going well here. Rumors are circulating throughout the company that the new round of financing is not going well. We had it all agreed upon, but something went wrong in the US and all the payments have been postponed!"

Of course Lu Changge knew about this.

However, he had only learned about it from the outside before, and this was the first time an insider shared his feelings with him.

"China's e-commerce is still in its infancy. Your company's performance is certainly strong, and your primary business is domestic. The crisis you face isn't in your operations, but in the loss of confidence in the external economic environment. So I think you can trust your company."

Han Jiayi said, "I believe it can be of any use?"

Lu Changge said: "It's of no use, I'm just trying to make you less anxious."

"That being said, you haven't called me once, so I'll call you first this time."

"It's different. I'm going to Shanghai. Are you free?"

Han Jiayi asked in surprise: "Is it true?"

"Really, let's go now."

Today is the day Chi Yongsheng leaves for the United States. He originally planned to leave in early September, but now it has been delayed for a month.

Because... Teacher Chi had a big fight with his family over his resignation.

His wife called Lu Changge directly and questioned him for nearly forty minutes, just like an investor listening to a report.

Because her emotions were not particularly stable, Lu Changge didn't understand whether she understood it fully, but she agreed in the end anyway.

It’s not because she is so wise, nor because Lu Changge is so eloquent.

It was because Mr. Chi's family had a house and a car, his father was a civil servant, and his mother worked in a public institution. Although Mr. Chi left home with the determination to bring honor to his family, in fact, he had no worries when he left home.

So don’t believe in any bloody chicken soup. You think that people are taking the risk of stepping into the abyss, but in fact, every time they take a step, there are steps paved by their families. In the end, the road may be lower, but they will not fall to death.

Anyway, he has to leave for Shanghai International Airport today.

I picked up Zhou Shuang on the way, and then went to Chi Yongsheng's house.

When he finally set off, his Audi was full of four people and there were two huge suitcases in the trunk.

Mrs. Chi was extremely anxious on the way. She stared at him and asked, "Changge, this situation is not right now. The economic situation in the United States is getting more and more dire, and Obama's reputation is getting worse day by day. If we go there now, even if the project is good, it will be very difficult to raise funds in the future, right?"

Hearing her words, Zhou Shuang in the co-pilot seat tilted her head to look at Lu Changge, thinking that although this person was not in the industry, he had received higher education after all, and he could still understand some situations as long as he studied them in detail.

These things were actually just pressure on him. Chi Yongsheng also advised: "We will only know what will happen in the future. No one can predict it now."

Lu Changge generously admitted, "When the economic environment is bad, it is certain that people will tighten their purse strings. So you are right, it will become more difficult to raise funds in the future."

"Then what?!"

“There’s a saying in the investment world: what’s really lacking isn’t money, but good projects.”

Zhou Shuang curled up the corners of her mouth. She has recently been working on developing a version for the Android system. Although it is different from a technical point of view, the product thinking and product concept are the same.

She used to just listen to Lu Changge's nonsense, but after doing it herself, she began to really believe that this little thing would be very powerful.

"A few days ago, I was checking the news and I came across you." She suddenly said this.

Chi Yongsheng also thought of it at once and echoed, "Yes, yes, I saw it too."

"No, don't change the subject..."

Zhou Shuang explained, "Sister-in-law, we didn't change the subject. This is Lu Changge's way. Just trust us. With the speed of information dissemination in this era of information explosion, I don't think it will take too long."

Lu Changge didn't say much. It wasn't that he was pretending to be cool, but he had really tried his best.

The farewell at the airport was of course another big drama, and Shen Mo also came this time.

She, too, was burdened by the financial crisis, a fact no one could ignore. So before they parted, Lu Changge took the initiative and said, "When you get to America, forget about BlackBerry and Symbian. Do your best to optimize the iOS version and then develop the Android version. But none of that is as important as operations. Do everything you can to get your user base to one million. That's the first priority."

“Why is this the first item?”

"Because instant messaging software is a winner-takes-all industry, the technical difficulty of developing this software is not as high as imagined. There are definitely many teams that can do it. Therefore, speed is king. Once you occupy users' phones first, it will be difficult for latecomers."

Shen Mo's expression was hard to hide her relief, but she still nodded, "I understand. If necessary, I will spend money on promotion."

Lu Changge didn't understand the development history of WhatsApp, but he knew in his heart that if it fell behind, there would be no hope.

He glanced at Shen Mo and then at Chi Yongsheng. He didn't know whether it was because they were going to a foreign country or because the task was too heavy, but their expressions did not look relaxed.

In fact, even he himself was a little worried. After all, there were too many factors that affected whether this thing could succeed or not.

After thinking about it, he felt that he still had to cheat. He could find the reason slowly, but he had to ensure a certain success rate first.

So he pulled Shen Mo aside and instructed him, "If you mean hiring someone to do the advertising when you say you're spending money on promotion, can you let me hire that person?"

Shen Mo felt very strange, "You have researched this in Europe and America?"

"I guess so. Wait until I've chosen someone, and then I'll send it to you. As the boss, I should be able to decide. Besides, with our budget, we can't hire someone very expensive anyway, right?"

"Okay... okay, send it to me when the time comes and I'll take a look."

Lu Changge didn't say any more. This matter was difficult to explain.

In fact, he already had a candidate in mind, and he was extremely suitable.

She had released an album before this year, but was only a minor figure in the country music scene and had yet to enter the mainstream. The real catalyst for her to gain widespread attention was the release of "Fearless," which sold 11 million copies in 2009 and catapulted her to the superstar status she has become.

Yes, her name is Taylor Swift.

(End of this chapter)