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

In Beijing's winters, the wind is always dry and cold.

Lin Che crouched in a sheltered corner under the Guomao overpass.

This is Beijing's most bustling CBD. Above you are office buildings with rents of just over ten yuan per square meter, but under your feet is a dusty cement floor.

In front of him was a small "mountain of corpses".

Those were more than a dozen ofo shared bikes tangled together.

They looked like a group of defeated soldiers, lying together with missing limbs.

Some of the car seats had been cut open, exposing the yellow foam;

Some of the foot pedals had disappeared, leaving only a bare iron rod;

The worst one had a broken chain, the QR code on the license plate was blacked out, and there was a small "document processing and stamping" sticker on it.

"Shen Nan, do you know how much this car cost to make?"

"I heard it's less than 300?"

"260 yuan."

Lin Che stood up and patted his hands to remove the rusty smell.

"With a cost of 260 yuan, we collect a deposit of 99 yuan or even 199 yuan from users. As long as this car can be transferred to 3 users, the amount in the deposit pool will exceed the cost of manufacturing it."

"For capital, this is no bicycle."

Lin Che kicked the deformed wheel.

"This is a money printing machine."

"But..." Lin Che pointed to the pile of wreckage, "they overlooked one thing: they overestimated human nature and underestimated destructive power."

"This car was designed to last three years, but on the streets of Beijing, its actual lifespan may only be three months."

"When maintenance costs exceed the construction cost, and when the deposit pool becomes a black hole to cover losses, this game turns into a game of musical chairs."

Shen Nan seemed to understand but not quite: "So we should stay away?"

"No."

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

"It's cheap precisely because it's garbage."

"Let's go see that 'unicorn hunter,' he's probably in a hurry to find someone to take over."

……

……

China World Trade Center Phase 3, 80th floor, Cloud Club.

Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire city of Beijing can be seen.

Zhu Xiaohu sat on a leather sofa, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand.

As a partner at GSR Ventures, he has been enjoying immense popularity lately.

He launched Ele.me with one hand, made Didi a star with the other, and now he has become the guardian of ofo.

"Mr. Lin, I've heard so much about you."

Seeing Lin Che push the door open and enter, Zhu Xiaohu did not get up. He simply raised his wine glass, his face bearing the kind of aggressive, confident smile typical of investors.

"Weiguang's 10 billion yuan subsidy is brilliant. Even Liu Qiangdong was forced into a corner by you. You are a force to be reckoned with."

Lin Che sat opposite him, and instead of ordering alcohol, he ordered a glass of iced water.

"Mr. Zhu didn't invite me here just to praise me, did he?"

"readily."

Zhu Xiaohu put down his wine glass and leaned forward, adopting a coercive negotiating posture.

"President Lin, Weiguang now has traffic and e-commerce, but it's missing one thing."

"What?"

"Offline entrance".

Zhu Xiaohu pointed out the window, as if the entire city of Beijing were his chessboard.

"Travel is the most frequent offline entry point. It's a sector with tens of millions of orders every day, and it's the next billion-dollar opportunity."

"Mr. Lin, if Weiguang joins now, I can reserve a 5% share for you."

Zhu Xiaohu extended a palm.

"The valuation is 20% of the previous round; this is my sincerity towards my 'comrades-in-arms'."

In Zhu Xiaohu's view, this was an irresistible temptation.

Ofo is currently the darling of the capital market, with countless institutions lining up with money but unable to invest.

Lin Che took a sip of ice water, the coolness flowing down his throat into his stomach.

"General Manager Zhu."

Lin Che put down the glass, and the bottom of the glass hit the marble tabletop with a crisp "ding".

What was ofo's attrition rate last month?

Zhu Xiaohu's smile froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered: "Losses are inevitable; we are expanding rapidly..."

20%.

Lin Che gave a number.

"The Beijing operations team told me that for every 10 bikes deployed, less than 8 can be ridden normally after a month. The rest are either locked with private locks, thrown into the moat, or damaged."

Lin Che leaned back on the sofa, his eyes sharpening.

"Mr. Zhu, this is not the sharing economy at all."

"This is a leasing business."

"Moreover, it's an extremely inefficient leasing business. The little rent you collect isn't even enough to cover the cost of repairing your car. What you earn is the deposits from users and the money from the next round of investors."

"This is a Ponzi scheme."

The air in the room froze instantly.

Zhu Xiaohu's face darkened. He hadn't expected Lin Che to be so disrespectful, tearing away the glamorous facade so directly.

"President Lin, please don't put it so harshly."

Zhu Xiaohu sneered.

"Which sector in the internet industry wasn't built by burning money? Meituan burned money, Didi burned money. As long as you burn your competitors to death and monopolize the market, you can just raise prices."

"Mobike and ofo are currently locked in a decisive battle; whoever has the money will survive."

"It's okay if Weiguang doesn't invest; there are plenty of people who want to."

Zhu Xiaohu gave him the order to leave.

He felt that although Lin Che understood e-commerce, he did not understand the logic of venture capital.

When there's a strong trend, even a pig can fly; who cares if it falls to its death?

Lin Che stood up and straightened his collar.

He didn't leave, but looked down at Zhu Xiaohu.

"Mr. Zhu, you've misunderstood."

"I'm not investing money because I don't have a positive outlook on ofo's business model."

"But I'm very interested in this track."

Lin Che walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the traffic below, which moved like ants.

"You're fighting over bicycles."

"But I'm planning to try a different approach."

"A way to win without a deposit, without mechanical locks, and even without this pile of scrap metal."

Zhu Xiaohu frowned: "What do you mean?"

Lin Che turned his head and smiled mysteriously.

You'll find out soon enough.

"Mr. Zhu, keep your chips safe. It might not be long before you're begging me to take this pile of scrap metal."

……

……

Stepping out of the building, the cold wind still blew.

Shen Nan had been waiting downstairs. When he saw Lin Che come out, he quickly went to greet him.

"Boss, the negotiations broke down?"

Judging from Lin Che's expression, Shen Nan guessed the answer was pretty much correct.

"It's collapsed."

Lin Che climbed into the car, and the heater restored feeling to his stiff fingers.

"Zhu Xiaohu is too arrogant. He thinks that as long as he has capital, he can distort the laws of business."

"So what do we do?" Shen Nan asked. "Are we still going to keep the bikes?"

"Get it done."

A glint of light flashed in Lin Che's eyes.

"But we don't build cars."

"We make 'rulers'."

"A ruler?" Shen Nan was completely confused.

Lin Che took out his phone and opened the backend development interface of the Weiguang APP.

"Shen Nan, notify the technical department."

"I want to create a brand new system called—【Weiguang Credit Score】."

"Clean up all the data we've accumulated, including the data on red envelopes and e-commerce transactions."

"Give each user of Weiguang a score."

Lin Che's voice echoed in the carriage, carrying an ambition to build a new order.

"Frequent shoppers at Weiguang will receive bonus points."

"A stable delivery address is a plus."

"Never refunds or complains, that's a plus."

"Then."

Lin Che held up one finger.

"Let's go find ofo's arch-rival—Mobike, or that newly emerged Hello Bike."

"Tell them."

"As long as you connect to 'Weiguang Credit Score', and your score exceeds 600 points."

"WeChat users can ride without a deposit."

Shen Nan was stunned.

No deposit required?

This is practically digging up the ancestral graves of bike-sharing companies!

Ofo and Mobike are currently locked in a fierce battle, relying on their deposit pools to maintain cash flow.

If Weiguang suddenly offers "no deposit required", who would still pay the 199 yuan?

"This...this move is too ruthless."

Shen Nan swallowed hard. "This is a fatal blow. If Zhu Xiaohu knew, he'd probably be furious."

I don't care whether he vomits blood or not.

Lin Che looked out the window at the young people riding yellow bikes in the cold wind.

"What I care about is getting the key to everyone's 'credit account' through this pile of metal junk scattered all over the streets."

"E-commerce, finance, lending, social networking."

"All future transactions will be based on this score."

"This is the true 'empire'."

Lin Che closed his eyes.

"Let's drive."

"Where to?"

"Go to Mobike headquarters."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Since Zhu Xiaohu refuses to back down, I will support an opponent and beat him into submission."