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

January 2015. The 1th day of the twelfth lunar month.

It's snowing in Hangzhou.

The snowflakes, as large as goose feathers, danced wildly in the gray sky, eventually being swallowed by the damp, cold ground, turning into puddles of muddy sewage.

The top floor of the Weiguang Building.

The heating was turned up to 28 degrees Celsius.

Lin Che stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, wearing only a thin shirt.

He was holding a red pen in his hand.

On the calendar pasted on the glass, a red date was circled.

2 month 14 day.

Valentine's Day.

"There are still two weeks left."

Lin Che muttered to himself.

His fingertips gently traced the date through the glass.

That's not an ordinary holiday.

In my memories of my previous life, it was the most famous "Valentine's Day marriage" in the history of the Chinese Internet.

Didi and Kuaidi, two bitter rivals who have been battling for three years and burning through billions of dollars, will announce their merger on this day.

That moment will mark the temporary end of the battle in the travel market.

Monopoly formed.

Capital frenzy.

"Boss."

Fatty Wang pushed open the door and came in, holding a bowl of freshly made braised beef noodles, steaming hot.

"There's some movement over there."

"Didi and Kuaidi both stopped large-scale subsidies yesterday."

"I heard from inside sources that both finance teams are freezing their accounts, it seems... the merger is really going to happen."

Fatty Wang slurped up a mouthful of noodles and mumbled something indistinctly.

"They thought the war was over and were preparing to close down and go about their lives."

"Making a living?"

Lin Che turned around.

He walked to the table and pulled out a blue folder from the pile of documents.

Spring Festival Travel Rush Plan.

"Marriage is a joyous occasion."

Lin Che's lips curled into a wicked smile.

"But as old friends, how can we not send some 'gifts'?"

He tossed the folder to Fatty Wang.

Snapped.

The file slid across the desktop and hit the instant noodle bucket.

"Fatty."

Do you know what the biggest pain point is during the Spring Festival?

"We'll just have to snatch tickets." Fatty Wang wiped the grease from his mouth. "Train tickets are hard to buy, and plane tickets are too expensive."

"right."

Lin Che snapped his fingers.

"Didi and Kuaidi's current transportation capacity is concentrated within cities."

"But during the Spring Festival, the city is empty."

"Hundreds of millions of people need to go home, travel to other cities, and migrate."

He walked up to the map.

The finger drew a huge circle over the Yangtze River Delta region.

"This is a vacuum zone."

"This was also when Didi's defense was at its weakest."

"Because they're busy negotiating, busy calculating valuations, and busy dividing the pie."

Lin Che turned around abruptly, his eyes becoming sharp as knives.

"Pass down the order."

"Launch the 'Light of Home' campaign."

"We'll hire all the idle buses and commercial vehicles in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai areas."

"Launch a dedicated 'cross-city carpooling' service."

"price?"

Lin Che held up one finger.

"Half the price of a bus ticket."

Fatty Wang was stunned, his chopsticks hanging in mid-air.

"Brother, how much money will this cost?"

"And this is long-distance bus service, wouldn't that...?"

"in spite of."

Lin Che interrupted him.

He walked to the window and looked at the snow falling heavily outside.

"I want Cheng Wei to find out the moment he signs."

"His backyard is on fire."

……

The night before Lunar New Year's Eve.

Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station.

This is a microcosm of the largest migration in human history.

Crowds of people.

Anxiety, fatigue, and sweat, mixed with the smell of instant noodles, filled every corner.

The electronic screens in the ticket hall were all glaringly red.

No ticket available.

Xiao Zhang stood shivering in the cold wind, dragging two huge suitcases.

He couldn't get a high-speed rail ticket back to his hometown in Anhui.

The scalped tickets were being sold for three times the price, so he couldn't afford them.

In desperation, he took out his phone and habitually opened Didi.

Intercity orders are not yet available.

Expected.

Just as he was about to try his luck at the long-distance bus station.

A young man wearing a purple vest came over.

"Brother, where are we going?"

Anhui.

"Want a ride in the Buick GL8? We need one more passenger, we're leaving right away."

The young man pointed to a row of black minivans parked on the side of the road.

Each car had that glowing purple logo on it.

"How much?" Xiao Zhang asked cautiously.

"120".

"How much?!" Xiao Zhang thought he had misheard. "The bus ticket alone costs 180!"

"Micro-light subsidy".

The young man grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.

"Get in the car and we'll take you right to your door."

Five minutes later.

Xiao Zhang sat in a warm leather seat, holding a hot milk tea given to him by Weiguang.

The car started.

We smoothly entered the highway.

He looked out the window at the scenery rushing past, took out his phone, and posted a message on his WeChat Moments:

[I couldn't get a ticket and thought I'd never be able to go home, but thank you, Weiguang, you're even kinder than my own mother! #WeiguangGoesHome#]

The accompanying picture shows the purple Buick and the comforting cup of milk tea.

This moment.

The same scene is playing out at train and bus stations in hundreds of cities across the country.

Thousands of buses and tens of thousands of private cars.

Like purple blood vessels, they frantically deliver nutrients into the huge void left by Didi and Kuaidi.

……

February 14th. Valentine's Day.

Beijing.

The joint press conference between Didi and Kuaidi.

The flashes of light turned the room into daylight.

Cheng Wei and Lao Lü stood on the stage, their hands clasped tightly together.

That was a historic moment.

China’s two largest internet travel giants have officially announced their merger.

The applause of the audience was thunderous.

The investors were moved to tears.

This money-burning war has finally come to an end.

Cheng Wei wore a victor's smile.

But his phone kept vibrating in his pocket.

It startled him.

The press conference has just ended.

He rushed backstage and pulled out his phone.

The screen displays the latest data report.

[Travel Data Report During the Spring Festival]

Didi/Kuaidi: Daily active users decreased by 40% (affected by the Spring Festival travel rush).

Weiguang Travel: Daily active users surged by 200% (intercity business boom).

"How is that possible?!"

Cheng Wei's hand trembled, and he almost dropped his phone.

"We're merging, and he's stealing our base?!"

Beside him, Old Lu's face was also extremely grim.

He pointed to the trending topics on Weibo.

The hashtag #LightUpHome# has climbed to third place.

The screen was filled with photos of purple convoys shared by users.

And it was at the top of the trending searches.

It's a poster that Weiguang Travel just released.

The poster is very simple.

There's only one line of text, paired with that cheeky purple logo.

Congratulations to the newlyweds on their marriage!

[WeLight Mobility: Forever Single, Forever Commission-Free.]

That was mockery.

It was also a declaration of war.

Cheng Wei stared intently at the poster.

He originally thought that after the merger, he would be able to free up his resources to deal with this small fry.

But now he has discovered.

This little bastard took advantage of their celebration to cut off the biggest piece of the cake that was rightfully theirs.

"Lin Che..."

Cheng Wei gritted his teeth and squeezed out those two words.

"You're ruthless."

……

Hangzhou.

Lin Che turned off the live broadcast of the press conference on TV.

The image freezes on the moment Cheng Wei and Lao Lü shake hands.

"They're a good match."

Lin Che commented.

He picked up the scissors from the table.

Click.

I cut a cigar in half.

"Boss, how much did we lose this time?"

Fatty Wang looked at the financial statements, feeling a pang of heartache, but his eyes were full of excitement.

"Cross-city carpooling, with a subsidy of 50 yuan per ride, has burned through nearly 100 million yuan in the past few days."

"value."

Lin Che lit a cigar.

Take a deep breath.

Smoke filled the air.

"One hundred million yuan was exchanged for millions of long-distance users."

"and."

He walked to the window and looked at the snow outside that was gradually melting.

Spring is coming.

But for the travel market, the harsh winter has only just begun.

"Do they think that marriage will guarantee a stable life?"

Lin Che flicked his cigarette ash.

Mars fell.

"As long as I'm here."

"The war will never end."

He picked up his phone.

He sent an instruction to Shen Nan:

[Series D funding round launched, target valuation: $30 billion USD.]

Now that the rival has merged and become a behemoth.

Then he should find some stronger allies for himself.

"The blizzard is over."

Lin Che looked into the distance.

"Next, the avalanche."