Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 524 Everything is ready
As the head of the Alipay project and president of Alipay, Lu Zhaoxi is also well-versed in internet technology.

He quickly entered 8.8 yuan on the Alipay payment page.

With his practiced ease, the 8.8 yuan was transferred to his Alipay account in less than 3 minutes.

After topping up, he refreshed the interface and smiled, "Look everyone, the 8.8 yuan has now been recharged..."

Ok?
Why is it 88 yuan?
Lu Zhaoxi stared blankly at the remaining balance of 88 yuan.

Did I forget to enter the decimal point?

At this moment, a murmur rippled through the audience.

Ma Yun is always very meticulous, and he clearly saw that Lu Zhaoxi had indeed entered the decimal point.

Lu Zhaoxi subconsciously wiped his sweat and laughed, "I might have forgotten to enter the decimal point just now. Sorry, let me demonstrate it for everyone again."

At this moment, Ma Yun stood up, walked onto the podium, and said with a smile, "It's inevitable to be nervous, after all, today is a big day. There's no need for a second demonstration; everyone should have seen the operating procedure just now."

Lu Zhaoxi glanced at Ma Yun with some surprise, a hint of worry in his eyes.

A bad feeling crept into his mind.

Such a decimal point error is not particularly noticeable in a blurry slide. Although some of the guests and media present thought that the person in charge seemed to have entered a decimal point, the presentation was so fast, and with Ma Yun suddenly getting up to interrupt, they themselves were not sure.

It's just a decimal point, which is harmless and won't affect the holding of the press conference.

The press conference lasted only one hour.

After everyone left, Ma Yun returned to her office in the e-commerce industrial park with a gloomy expression.

His back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Lu Zhaoxi quickly followed in and said, "Mr. Ma, I think I didn't forget to enter the decimal point just now."

“I’m sure you typed it in,” Ma Yun said in a deep voice.

As soon as Ma Yun finished speaking, the office door was pushed open abruptly, and the technical director in charge of security rushed in, his face pale. He shouted, "President Ma, President Lu, the backend... the backend has been hacked! It's not that the recharge amount is displayed incorrectly; someone tampered with the data stream in real time during the demonstration, changing 8.8 yuan to 88 yuan! Moreover, all our security logs have been cleared, leaving no trace!"

"What?!" Ma Yun and Lu Zhaoxi exclaimed in shock at the same time, a chill instantly rising from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads.

Real-time data stream manipulation?
At the press conference in full view of everyone?
Under their self-proclaimed top-tier domestic security protection system?

This was a devastating blow to their entire technical team. What's even more terrifying is that the other party was able to erase all evidence of the intrusion without leaving a trace, which means they have no way of finding out who the opponent is or what methods they used.

Security is the foundation upon which Alipay survives; without security, Alipay would have no reason to exist.

At that point, it will be an endless series of zero-yuan purchases.

The office fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the heavy breathing of the technical director and the hum of the computer fans.

My confidence was shattered, replaced by a deep-seated sense of powerlessness.

Their proud achievements are as fragile as a piece of paper in the face of true masters.

Many of their security team members are cybersecurity experts brought in from Japan and South Korea.

Just then, Ma Yun's cell phone suddenly rang in her pocket.

He stiffly pulled out his phone, and the name on the screen made his pupils shrink.

Cheng Yi!

Ma Yun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her anger, and answered the phone, saying, "President Cheng, what's the matter?"

Cheng Yi's gentle voice came from the other end of the phone: "I just heard that we are holding a press conference. If it's not over yet, could I also take a look?"

To Ma Yun, Cheng Yi's words sounded more like a warning.

It's him! It's definitely him!
Only Momo Group can do this.

Everyone in the industry knows that Momo Group's parent company, Enze Capital, has a research institute called the European Monster Room, also known as the Gods Network Research Institute.

It is said that the members of that research institute are almost all freaks who fall somewhere between geniuses and madmen.

Even some of Microsoft's senior tech experts have publicly stated that the Gods Network Research Institute has gathered the most extreme group of technicians in the world.

It's not that it's the most technologically advanced, but rather the most perverse.

His thoughts are perverted, his behavior is perverted, and his technology... is also perverted.

Besides these perverts, who else could carry out such a precise and silent surgical strike?

Ma Yun's knuckles turned slightly white from gripping the phone so tightly, and she felt as if something was blocking her throat.

"President Cheng, you're very well-informed." Ma Yun's voice was hoarse, as if all her strength had been drained, and each word was uttered with great difficulty.

Cheng Yi's tone remained relaxed as he chuckled, "Hehe, Mr. Ma, you flatter me. After all, I genuinely believe in Alipay and have been following it closely."

Ma Yun was silent for a few seconds, then sighed, "President Cheng, please stop acting. Let's talk. You can choose the location."

The atmosphere inside the conference room of Black Panther Security's Lin'an branch was so oppressive it was almost palpable.

Ma Yun sat alone opposite Cheng Yi, her face ashen, her eyes filled with exhaustion and resentment.

Lu Zhaoxi did not come because he could not bear the humiliation of the negotiations.

Huang Wenrong sat quietly to the side and behind Cheng Yi, acting as the recorder.

"Mr. Ma, have you figured it out?" Cheng Yi leaned back in the comfortable leather seat, relaxed, with a harmless smile on his face.

Ma Yun raised her head, looked directly at Cheng Yi, and said, "President Cheng, you really have a good strategy. I admit defeat this time. Our group is willing to give up 40% of Alipay's equity to Momo Group, but Momo Group needs to provide us with traffic, security technology support, and banking channel resources. We will operate Alipay together."
"40%?" Cheng Yi chuckled and shook his head.

“Mr. Ma, it seems you haven’t grasped the current situation.” Cheng Yi said, word by word, “Alipay’s core value lies in its model, and its Achilles’ heel is security and user trust. You have just been proven in front of everyone to have extremely weak security. Without the technical support of our Momo Group, it is worthless.”

He paused for a moment and then said, "I'll take a step back. We'll invest 2500 million yuan, taking 90% of Alipay's shares, and leave you 10%. In return, Momo Group will provide you with basic traffic entry points and free payment interfaces for Taobao."

"90%? What's the difference between that and a full acquisition?!" Ma Yun suddenly stood up, her face flushed, and said angrily, "President Cheng, you're trying to kill me!"

"Take your life?" Cheng Yi's eyes were calm as he said, "Mr. Ma, I also took 80% of Tencent's shares, but they are living much better now. Looking across the country, how many internet groups can compete with Tencent? Do you think Alibaba is more valuable than Tencent? Or do you think Alipay is more irreplaceable than QQ and QQ Games?"

When Cheng Yi mentioned Tencent, Ma Yun's heart sank.

He certainly knew about Tencent's acquisition by Momo Group; it was a well-known business battle case in the domestic internet industry. Cheng Yi's mention of it now was a blatant way of telling him: even Tencent had bowed down, so what could Ma Yun and his Alibaba possibly use to resist?

The immense psychological pressure almost suffocated Ma Yun.

He slumped back into his chair, all his anger and resentment crushed by the cruel reality.

Yes, compared to the giant ship that Momo Group has already sailed to the world, their group is like a small boat that has just been launched, and they are powerless to resist.

This world is so unfair. Are small and weak companies just destined to be bullied?
Silence enveloped the entire reception room, and every second felt like an eternity.

At this moment, Ma Yun was engaged in a fierce internal struggle.

Completely handing over Alipay is tantamount to cutting off one's own arm, personally strangling one's own envisioned future empire.

However, if he doesn't hand it over, Cheng Yi is absolutely capable of making Alipay completely rot in Alibaba's hands, and even dragging the entire Alibaba down with him.

Seeing Ma Yun's hesitation, Cheng Yi smiled and said, "I think your C2C model is excellent. I can also make you a promise: if you are willing to work together to develop Alipay, I guarantee that there will only be one C2C e-commerce platform in China, and that will be your Taobao."

Upon hearing Cheng Yi's promise, Ma Yun's eyes suddenly lit up.

He created Alipay to counter the increasingly powerful eBay.

Currently, in China's C2C market, eBay holds 92% of the market share, while Taobao holds 8%.

Despite accounting for only 8%, their revenue in 2004 reached 2300 million.

This indicates that there is significant potential in the C2C market.

C2C stands for C2C, which is a transaction between individuals, also known as a second-hand goods guarantee transaction. This is currently the most popular e-commerce model.

Cheng Yi added, "To be honest, with the R&D capabilities of our Momo Group, we can develop a product that surpasses Alipay's within a year. It's just that I'm soft-hearted and always like to do things for others. I don't like to plagiarize other people's ideas."

"Our Momo Group is also developing e-commerce business, but we can focus on B2C to avoid affecting you."

Cheng Yi's promise tempted Ma Yun, who tentatively asked, "So what do you plan to do with eBay?"

“I don’t think eBay should exist,” Cheng Yi laughed. “In the C2C market, one company like yours is enough.”

Ma Yun was overjoyed.

He suppressed his excitement and said, "Okay! 90% it is! But you must keep our core Alipay team."

“No problem.” Cheng Yi smiled and said, “Then let’s do it this way. Alipay will be merged into Momo Group as an independent subsidiary, with Lin Qingyin as the chief technical advisor. The original core team will be retained, and Lu Zhaoxi will continue to serve as general manager, reporting to Huang Wenrong. Mr. Huang, you can draft the agreement yourself.”

"Okay." Huang Wenrong immediately replied, his heart already churning with turmoil.

For just 25 million, they acquired absolute control of Alipay. This is a textbook example of taking advantage of someone's misfortune.

However, Huang Wenrong also knew that Alipay could only exert its true power in their hands.

It would be completely useless in the hands of Alibaba Group.

They couldn't even solve the backend intrusion problem.

Ma Yun listened to Cheng Yi's arrangements, her lips moved a few times, but in the end she didn't say anything, she just nodded.

The agreement was quickly signed, and both parties were very happy.

Although Ma Yun didn't particularly like Cheng Yi, he knew that Cheng Yi was a man of his word.

Thinking that their Alibaba Group was about to take over the national C2C market, Ma Yun felt as if the clouds had parted and the sun was shining.

The national C2C market is worth nearly a billion yuan.

If Momo Group wants to suppress eBay, it would be incredibly easy.

Most importantly, eBay belongs to the Microsoft faction, and Momo Group has no reason to allow them to continue to monopolize 92% of the domestic C2C market.

After signing the contract, Huang Wenrong immediately connected with Alibaba Group and officially established Alipay Company, with Momo Group holding 90% of the shares and Alibaba Group holding 10%.

The day after Cheng Yi and Huang Wenrong returned to Jingzhou, they repaid Alibaba Group with practical actions.

Momo's entire platform is going all out to build momentum for Taobao's rise.

The featured article on Toutiao's homepage, with its striking red headline: "[Alipay Emerges, Momo Group Safeguards Online Payments!]"

The hottest topic on the school's intranet, #MyTaobaoProductRecommendationExperience#, instantly resonated with the student community.

All the pop-ups in the Momo Internet Cafe Management System directly send Taobao links and large coupons. Even the announcement of the launcher for the domestic version of Honghuang Zhanji has opened up an in-game lottery to win a 100-yuan Taobao coupon with no minimum spend.

At the same time, the technical team led by Lin Qingyin also began a comprehensive upgrade of Alipay.

After the upgrade was completed, Cheng Yi couldn't wait to use it in some payment scenarios within the Momo ecosystem.

The first to be affected are eBay and Taobao, followed by the flea market payment services of portal websites such as Sina and Sohu.

The flea market represents a large trading group. Although Xinlang Souhu doesn't make money from it, it provides members with a channel for private transactions.

The emergence of Alipay has led to a gradual shift of flea market members, who were originally limited to local transactions, to websites such as eBay and Taobao.

Within just half a month of its launch, Alipay's cash pool had more than 200 million yuan in liquid funds.

In addition, Lin Qingyin's team also began to develop an overseas version of Alipay, named MoPay.

MoPay, wholly owned by Universal Vision, has become the designated third-party payment platform for the Blizzard Cup global esports tournament.

With Universal Vision as its backer, securing interfaces with banks in various countries is only a matter of time; all that's needed is to connect with them one by one.

Until the integration is fully completed, they can only temporarily use Skrill for the overseas side.

Everything is now ready.

The second round of testing for the overseas version of "The Legend of the Primordial Era" has officially begun, with reports from various media outlets.

This test was only open to Asian countries. To prevent domestic players from accessing overseas servers, Cheng Yi arranged for the technical team to lock domestic IPs.

There's no way around it; domestic players are just too passionate. If someone gets bullied on a foreign server, they can just post it on any forum and immediately get a huge response.

Foreign players are too disorganized and act independently. If domestic players were to form groups and enter foreign servers, it would be a devastating blow.

(End of this chapter)