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

The wooden table in the rented room was vibrating.

The phone screen was lit up, displaying a recently received MMS image.

The photo shows the doorknob of this door. A copy of yesterday's *Qianjiang Evening News* is tucked inside; the edges of the newspaper are yellowed and curled, and a black mark has been rubbed off by the metallic paint of the doorknob.

From: Brother Dao.

Below that was a line of text: "Hey bro, I'm at the door. The tea's gotten cold, could you refill it?"

Lin Che did not open the door.

He sat in the chair, listening to the noises coming from outside the door.

The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on and off. Heavy footsteps stopped at the door, scraping against the concrete floor.

"Snap."

A crisp click of a lighter.

A few seconds later, the smell of cheap cigarettes drifted in through the crack in the door, swirling over the unfinished bowl of instant noodle soup.

Lin Che glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen.

There are 42 hours left until the monthly wireless business unit operations analysis meeting.

If we call the police now, Brother Dao will run away, and this debt will become a permanent mess. It will also escalate the situation and solidify the charge of "colluding with idle members of society."

If he opens the door now, this pack of wolves will take everything of value from the house, including his dignity.

Lin Che opened a file.

This is a list of top-selling pre-sale items for Tmall's Double Eleven shopping festival, indicating the inventory levels and hidden discount coupon codes for each product.

On the black market, this thing is worth six figures.

He dragged the file into the dialog box.

The progress bar is moving very slowly.

The thin green line stopped at 99% and paused for a second.

The smell of smoke outside the door was even stronger.

"bite."

Sent successfully.

Lin Che typed: "This is an insider list for Singles' Day. The profit margin is 40%. Take it and distribute it to the brothers below. It's enough to cover the interest for the past two days."

Settlement time: 10:00 AM the day after tomorrow. No waiting after that.

There were footsteps outside the door.

My phone vibrated.

Brother Dao replied with a single word: "Okay."

Next came an emoji: a bloodstained knife stuck in a table.

The footsteps faded into the distance, disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Lin Che picked up the bottled water on the table, took a sip, and the bottle made a cracking sound as he squeezed it.

He used this priceless trade secret to buy himself 48 hours of life.

At 3 p.m., at the Starbucks next to the Binjiang Industrial Park.

This is Alibaba employees' second meeting room, where the air is always filled with the mixed smell of coffee beans and "business models".

Da Liu walked in carrying a corrugated cardboard box.

He wasn't wearing a work uniform, but the orange name tag strap around his neck was still quite noticeable.

"Bang."

The box was placed on the round table.

Inside was a tangled mess of data cables, an unwashed mug, and several bestselling books on "Internet thinking" that were not even opened.

That was all of Lin Che's belongings at his workstation.

"Li Mo's report has been submitted."

Liu sat down, lowered his voice, and glanced around. "It's been classified as 'embezzlement.' The Ministry of Justice is drafting a termination letter, and I heard... they're going to call the police."

Lin Che didn't speak. He was wearing a gray T-shirt today, sitting in the shadows, like a passerby without a backdrop.

"Where's Lao Xiao?"

"Don't even mention it," Liu sighed. "Old Xiao went to plead for you this morning, but the VP yelled at him and kicked him out. Now he even has to write a self-criticism, saying he failed to supervise properly."

Da Liu took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to Lin Che.

Lin Che did not answer.

He reached into the cardboard box and picked up a black portable hard drive. The hard drive's casing was covered in a layer of dust, which he slowly wiped clean with his sleeve.

"Brother, listen to my advice."

Da Liu put the cigarette back in his mouth without lighting it. "Find a lawyer quickly. Before the police are called, return that money, even if you have to borrow from loan sharks to pay it back. If you go to jail, your life is over."

Outside the glass window, a group of young people wearing name tags walked by, holding milk tea and chatting happily.

The sunlight shone on their faces, reflecting a blinding glare.

That's the halo effect of a big company.

Lin Che, sitting inside the window, had already been stripped of his halo and was now just trash about to be swept out the door.

"We can't go back."

Lin Che placed the cleaned hard drive on the table. "The money has now become the user's money."

"Talking about users at a time like this!" Liu exclaimed, exasperated. "Those are just 'coupon hunters'! They're zombies! I've seen Li Mo's data report too; they're all just taking advantage and running away. The retention rate is less than 1%!"

Lin Che raised his head.

"Da Liu, take the box back."

"Huh?" Liu was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Put it back under my workstation."

Lin Che stood up, put the hard drive in his pocket, and said, "I need to use it again the day after tomorrow."

"Are you crazy? I've already suspended your access control!"

Lin Che did not explain.

He pushed open the glass door of the coffee shop, and a wave of heat hit him.

He didn't turn around, he just waved his hand.

Late at night, in a rented room.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut.

The old computer, which served as the server, emitted a dull hum, and its chassis was very hot.

Lin Che sat in the darkness, with only the cold light from the screen reflecting off his glasses.

The log stream with black background and green text was scrolling wildly, as fast as a torrential downpour.

[23:45:12] User_89757 -> Coupon_Used -> Order_Create -> SKU: 23901 (Down Jacket)

[23:45:15] User_33421 -> Coupon_Used -> Order_Create -> SKU: 1102 (Baby Milk Powder)

Li Mo only read the first half.

He saw users registering, claiming coupons, and withdrawing money.

He defined this as "arbitrage".

But he didn't read the second half.

These "wool party" members, who were labeled as "trash," did not leave immediately after receiving the 50 yuan red envelope.

To spend the 50 yuan, they had to place an order on Taobao.

Human greed lies in the fact that in order to use up the 50 yuan discount, they will often buy 200 yuan worth of goods.

Combine orders to reach the minimum order amount.

This is the magic at the very core of e-commerce.

Lin Che typed the last line of code on the keyboard and ran the cleaning script.

The screen flickered.

An Excel spreadsheet is automatically generated.

The data in the last line is bolded and enlarged:

New users: 524,103

Total investment cost: RMB 3,120,000 (including the frozen portion)

7-day repurchase rate: 45.2%

GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume): 12,450,000 yuan

Twelve million.

Without any official promotional resources and relying solely on those "loophole bonuses," this group of "beggars" generated over ten million yuan in transactions within 48 hours.

The ROI (Return on Investment) is as high as 1:4.

What does this mean?

At that time, Alibaba's core channel, Juhuasuan, barely achieved an ROI of 1:3.

Lin Che looked at that number.

A bowl of braised beef noodles sat on the table. The broth had cooled completely, and a layer of white fat had formed on top, solidifying into a waxy consistency.

He picked it up and took a sip.

The cold oil stuck in my throat, with a plastic taste.

He swallowed it without expression.

This is the taste of hunger.

He closed the code window and opened a blank PowerPoint presentation.

On the first page, he wrote only three numbers. The font size was set to the maximum, almost filling the entire screen.

No need for fancy charts or complicated models.

In this arena where KPIs matter, these three numbers are nuclear weapons.

Its daybreak.

A sliver of grayish-white light shone through the gap in the curtains.

Lin Che closed his laptop.

He got up and pulled out the black suit he had worn when he started his job from deep inside the closet.

The collar of his shirt was a little yellow, so he wiped it vigorously with a damp towel.

Put on your clothes and button them up.

The person in the mirror was pale, with dark shadows under their eyes, but their gaze was as cold as ice.

He picked up his laptop bag and opened the door.

The yellowed newspaper was still on the doorknob. He casually tore it off and threw it into the trash can.

The elevator goes down and then goes up.

He did not report to the legal department on the first floor.

He pressed the button on the top floor—the venue for the wireless business unit's monthly operations meeting.