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

A week later.

Beijing, Weiguang Technology Headquarters, Top Floor Office.

Shen Nan placed a thick report on Lin Che's desk.

His steps were light, and he had an irrepressible smile on his face.

"Boss, you need to take a look at this."

Lin Che put down his pen, picked up his slightly cold coffee, and took a sip.

"The data is out?"

"It's out." Shen Nan opened the report and pointed to a page with user profile analysis circled in red.

"In the past seven days, our '10 Billion Yuan Subsidy' channel has achieved a total transaction volume of over 3 billion yuan."

"That's not the most important thing."

Shen Nan's fingers slid towards the complex pie charts.

"Most importantly, among the 300 million new users who placed orders, 45% came from the core urban areas of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and even 12% of their delivery addresses highly overlapped with those of JD.com's 'Diamond Members'."

Lin Che looked at the data with a calm expression.

This was within his expectations.

In this world, no one will turn down money.

So-called "loyalty" cannot even last a second when faced with a price difference of 1000 yuan.

"There's something even more interesting here."

Shen Nan retrieved a special order record from the backend and projected it onto the screen.

Order Number: WG20171109...

【Products: iPhone X 256G (Space Gray) x 1, Vinda Facial Tissue (Full Box) x 2, Yunnan Baiyao Toothpaste x 3】

[Delivery Address: Building A, Tomson Riviera, No. 28, Huayuan Shiqiao Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai...]

[Recipient: Amy (Please leave at the front desk, do not call)]

The most interesting part is the [Buyer's Notes] below:

"Could you please cover the 'Weiguang Group Buying' lettering on the packaging box with tape, or use a box without any lettering? I don't want my neighbors to see it. Thank you. Is the cashback for positive reviews transferred to WeChat?"

Shen Nan couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Boss, this is Tomson Riviera! People who live in apartments worth 200 million are going to write a special note just to save 1,000 yuan on a phone, just for that '2 yuan cashback for a good review' offer."

Lin Che looked at the note and a smile curved his lips.

"That's human nature."

He closed the report, leaned back in his chair, and looked out through the floor-to-ceiling window at the hazy sky.

"They verbally cursed the 'low light' and called us a garbage dump, but in the dead of night, when no one was watching, their bodies told a different story."

"Because we gave them an irresistible reason—to save money."

"Shen Nan, remember this Amy."

Lin Che's fingers tapped lightly on the table.

"She represents the last stronghold we have conquered."

"From today onwards, Weiguang is no longer the 'agricultural assistance platform' that can only play in the mud outside the Fifth Ring Road. We are a sharp knife that has been plunged into the heart of JD.com and Alibaba."

……

……

JD.com headquarters, Yizhuang.

Liu Qiangdong looked at the battle report in his hand, his face ashen.

This week, JD.com followed suit with its "Super 10 Billion Yuan Subsidy" program, also investing over a billion yuan.

Although they managed to stabilize their core user base and prevent a large-scale loss of key users, their financial reports were extremely poor.

Profit margins were cut in half.

What worries him even more is that users' consumption habits have changed.

Previously, when users bought 3C products, the first thing they would do was open JD.com.

Now, they will first open Weiguang (a mobile payment platform) to check the subsidized price, and then use that price to compare with JD.com.

JD.com was forced to transform from a "price setter" into a "price comparison player".

"Mr. Liu..."

The vice president next to him cautiously spoke up, "Should we continue? The finance department has issued a warning; if we maintain this level of subsidies, the fourth-quarter financial report will show a loss..."

Liu Qiangdong remained silent for a long time.

He looked out the window at the e-commerce territory that once belonged to him, but now Lin Che had forcibly torn a hole in it.

"Let's stop."

Liu Qiangdong's voice sounded tired.

"Restore the original price."

"This battle isn't fought like this. Lin Che, that madman, is using the money from traffic monetization to subsidize e-commerce. We make money through e-commerce. Fighting him by attrition is using our weaknesses to attack his strengths."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Although I don't want to admit it.

But he knew that the landscape of the e-commerce industry had changed.

The former Three Kingdoms (Alibaba, JD.com, and Suning) has now been replaced by a more savage and bloodthirsty company called Weiguang.

……

……

Streets in Beijing.

As the cold wave passed, pedestrians on the street hunched their shoulders and hurried along.

A black Maybach slowly pulled up to the side of the road.

Lin Che rolled down the car window.

A cold wind blew in, dispelling the somewhat stuffy warmth inside the car.

"Boss, why did you stop here?" Shen Nan asked, sitting in the passenger seat, somewhat puzzled.

This is an exit of the Guomao subway station, a place with huge pedestrian traffic and a noisy, chaotic atmosphere.

Lin Che did not speak.

His gaze was fixed on a row of railings at the subway entrance.

That area, which used to be a parking spot for private bicycles, is now occupied by a bunch of brightly colored "metal contraptions".

Those were dozens of brand-new yellow bicycles.

The vehicle is bulky and has a simple design. It lacks a chain guard and even uses an old-fashioned mechanical rotary lock.

ofo shared bikes.

On this gloomy winter street, that glaring yellow spot is like some kind of wildly growing virus, spreading rapidly.

And next to them, a few orange Mobike bicycles were parked sparsely.

A few young people who had just exited the subway scanned the QR code on the bicycle seat with their phones, and with a "beep," the lock opened. They got on the bikes and rode away into the cold wind.

"Shen Nan."

Lin Che stared at the yellow bicycle abandoned by the roadside, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

"Don't you think there's more of this stuff now?"

Shen Nan glanced at it: "Oh, shared bikes. They're pretty popular lately. Zhu Xiaohu seems to have just invested tens of millions of US dollars in ofo, saying it's to solve the 'last mile' problem. There are quite a few piled up downstairs at our company."

"Boss, should we invest?"

Shen Nan turned his head, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

"The venture capital world is going crazy right now, saying this is the next Didi, a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and if we get involved now..."

"Enter the game?"

Lin Che sneered.

He pushed open the car door and got out.

The leather shoes made a crisp sound as they stepped on the hard asphalt road.

I walked up to the row of yellow bikes, reached out, and patted the cold seat.

The workmanship is rough and the paint is cheap.

"This is not a hot trend."

Lin Che's voice was very soft.

"This is a cemetery."

"Shen Nan, look at these cars."

Lin Che pointed to the bicycles that hadn't been ridden away yet, but were already lying on the ground with their handlebars askew.

"They are not assets; they are industrial waste."

"Capital is burning money like crazy, creating this iron waste to fill the city. They think they are doing traffic business and that they can form a capital pool through deposits."

"But they forgot one of the most basic things."

Lin Che raised his foot and gently kicked the mechanical lock.

Click.

The lock wasn't open, but it made a loose, crisp sound.

"human nature."

"Weiguang Group Buying takes advantage of human greed, but it also offers real benefits. These bicycles, however, are challenging the bottom line of human nature."

"Credit without constraints is just a piece of paper."

Lin Che turned around and got back into the car.

The car door closed, shutting out the cold wind and noise from outside.

"Back to the company."

Lin Che leaned back in the leather seat and closed his eyes.

The horrifying images from my previous life flashed through my mind:

A mountain of bicycle graveyards, with rusted iron frames stretching for kilometers.

Millions of users lined up outside the ofo building to get their deposits back, only to receive a promise that could never be fulfilled.

That was the craziest and most absurd chapter in the history of the Chinese Internet.

"Shen Nan."

Lin Che suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a bloody undertone, like the prelude to a hunt.

"Isn't Zhu Xiaohu trying to drag us into this?"

Tell him I'm not investing any money.

"But I'm very interested in these cars... or rather, in the people who ride them."

"I will use this pile of scrap metal to build a credit empire that belongs to Glimmer."