The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

on Monday.

The darkest moment before the stock market opens.

The atmosphere in the conference room of the Weiguang Building was so cold it felt like it could freeze.

Two newly released announcements were placed on the table.

Didi Chuxing: [Thank you for your support! Get ¥15 off every ride! Drivers get an extra ¥20 bonus!]

Kuaidi Dache: [Citywide celebration, starting price 0 yuan! 15 yuan subsidy per ride!]

That was a declaration of war.

It is also a noose woven by the two giants together.

"ruthless."

Shen Nan pushed up his glasses, his fingertips tracing a deep crease on the financial statement.

"They're trying to drive us to our deaths."

"With a subsidy of 15 yuan per order, based on the current daily order volume in Hangzhou, these two companies would be burning through 20 million yuan a day."

Shen Nan raised his head, his eyes revealing a fear stemming from the rationality of capital.

"This is what is known as the 'clearing out' style of play."

"If we can't keep up, all the users will leave within three days."

"If we..."

He paused, then typed rapidly on the calculator.

"We're burning through 600 million in a month."

Six hundred million.

This is an astronomical figure for a startup that has been established for less than a month.

It was suicide.

Fatty Wang sat next to him, the cigarette butts in the ashtray piled up like a small mountain.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette, the sparks flickering between his fingers.

"Brother, we may have money in our account, but we can't just squander it like this."

"How about... we lay low for a while? And reduce the subsidies?"

avoid?

Lin Che sat in the main seat.

He didn't look at those alarming reports.

He was fiddling with the 25-cent coin he had brought back from Silicon Valley.

The coin rolled on my knuckles like an obedient sprite.

"It's unavoidable."

Lin Che suddenly gripped the coin.

Snapped.

The sound of metal striking the tabletop echoed in the deathly silent room.

"This is a cowardly game."

"In a head-on collision, whoever swerves first loses."

He stood up.

Walk to the floor-to-ceiling window.

Outside the window, countless cars adorned with purple, orange, and green decals weave through the streets of Hangzhou.

That was a war that was happening.

Each vehicle is a battleground.

"Shen Nan."

Lin Che turned around, standing with his back to the light, his expression hidden in the shadows.

"Open your account."

Shen Nan paused for a moment, but quickly operated the computer to project the screen.

The screen lights up.

That long string of numbers with dollar signs reappeared before everyone.

$2,100,000,000.

In that instant, the anxiety in the room seemed to be somewhat diluted by the glitter of money.

"I have two billion US dollars."

Lin Che walked to the screen and tapped the number heavily with his finger.

Thump. Thump.

"How much funding did Didi raise? Seven hundred million."

"What about fast? Six hundred million."

"All of them combined don't even amount to what I have."

Lin Che's eyes turned wild, like an enraged lion king.

"Want to play with fire?"

"Let's see who has more oil."

He turned to look at Fatty Wang.

"Pass down the order."

"and."

"A subsidy of 20 yuan per order."

"What?!"

The pen in Shen Nan's hand fell to the ground.

Fatty Wang jumped up from his chair.

"Twenty yuan?! Dude, the starting fare is only eleven yuan! This is like letting passengers ride for free, and we even have to pay them to buy breakfast!"

"right."

A cruel smile curled at the corner of Lin Che's lips.

"I'm going to let them sit here for free."

"I want all the elderly people in Hangzhou to be able to take a taxi to the market to buy scallions whenever they have free time."

"I want to increase the order volume in this market to an astronomical number that Didi and Kuaidi wouldn't even dare to dream of."

"Then."

Lin Che walked back to the table.

From that pile of neglected documents, I pulled out a product iteration document that I had prepared long ago.

Project: Carpooling Launch Plan

Throw it on the table.

"Start this."

Shen Nan picked up the document and quickly flipped through it.

The more I look, the brighter my eyes become.

"Carpooling..."

"Merge two orders going in the same direction and assign them to the same driver."

"Although we subsidized users with 20 yuan per order, the drivers only had to make one trip, reducing costs by 40%!"

Shen Nan suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with admiration as he gazed at Lin Che.

"This...this is cheating!"

"While Didi is still paying the full cost for each order, we've already sold the cost of a seat twice!"

Lin Che sat back down in his chair.

His feet were propped up on the edge of the table.

"This is not cheating."

"That's called...efficiency."

He picked up the coin and flicked it with his finger.

Ding--

The coin flew into the air, tracing a silver parabola.

"They're burning through investors' money, and they have to write reports for every penny they spend, and they have to watch their boss's face."

Lin Che caught the coin.

Clench your fist.

"What I'm cooking is the meat I've cut off from the retail investors in the US stock market."

"It's money that fell from the sky."

"I don't feel sorry for you."

Fatty Wang took a deep breath.

He felt like his blood was burning.

This feeling of taking money like it's nothing, of being able to crush people with money, is fucking awesome.

"Let's do it!"

Fatty Wang grabbed the walkie-talkie and roared.

"Notify the technical department! Push this message across the entire network!"

"Microlight Mobility: Get a ¥20 discount per ride! Carpooling gets an additional 20% off!"

"Let Cheng Wei cry!"

……

late at night.

Tencent Building, Shenzhen.

Ma Huateng stood by the window, watching the traffic flow on Shennan Avenue outside.

The phone in my hand was still on.

On the other end of the phone was Mr. Ma from Hangzhou.

Two of the most powerful men on the Chinese internet are currently exchanging views on the same "variable" via radio waves.

"Old Ma."

The receiver carried Mr. Ma's signature hoarse voice, tinged with a barely perceptible weariness.

"That Lin Che is a problem."

"Even the combined efforts of Didi and Kuaidi couldn't stop him. If this continues, the entire industry's valuation system will collapse."

Ma Huateng adjusted his glasses.

The mirror reflected the neon lights outside the window.

"He is indeed an outlier."

"He has 2 billion in cash on hand, but he doesn't play by the rules."

"Cheng Wei just called me and said that Weiguang has launched a carpooling feature, which is... very ingenious."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"You want to be recruited?"

Mr. Ma asked a very direct question.

I want to give it a try.

Ma Huateng's voice was soft, refined yet shrewd.

"Since we can't kill it, let's buy it."

"WeChat's payment scenarios are still missing this piece of the puzzle."

Mr. Ma smiled.

There was a hint of coldness in his laughter.

"What a coincidence."

"That's what I think too."

"but……"

Mr. Ma paused for a moment.

"I don't think this kid will necessarily sell."

"He's the kind of person... who wants to be the dealer."

Ma Huateng did not refute this.

He looked at the still brightly lit city in the distance.

"Then let him do it for a while."

"Wait until he burns through those two billion."

"Wait until he's banged his head against the wall and bleeds."

Ma Huateng hung up the phone.

The phone screen went out.

In the darkness, only his frighteningly calm eyes remained.

"At that time."

"Whether it's Tencent or Alibaba."

He has to...choose one.