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

"Because this is a 'grayscale test' that must be kept secret from everyone."

Lin Che's voice rang out in the closed lounge, steady, calm, and even with a hint of matter-of-fact.

Mr. Ma squinted his eyes.

He didn't speak, but simply tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the leather sofa.

Once. Twice.

The dull pace felt like a countdown to the end of Lin Che's career.

Old Xiao, standing to the side, had a fine layer of cold sweat on his forehead.

He knew Mr. Ma too well; that finger-tapping gesture usually meant that the boss was weighing whether to fire the person or send them to jail.

"Explain," Mr. Ma uttered.

Lin Che did not avoid Mr. Ma's gaze. He took out the phone that he had prepared beforehand from his suit pocket and brought up a background interface.

That's actually the backend of Weiguang Media, but it's been disguised with a special UI to make it look like Alibaba's internal testing system.

"Mr. Ma, do you still remember 'Laiwang'?"

Lin Che uttered this word.

The moment those two words were uttered, the air pressure in the room noticeably dropped by several degrees.

"Laiwang" is a social software created by Alibaba with the full strength of the group, intending to strangle WeChat. However, it burned through more than a billion yuan and all it got was a bunch of zombie fans and internal employees having fun. This is Jack Ma's biggest pain and the biggest failure of Alibaba's wireless strategy.

"Why bring this up?" Mr. Ma's face darkened.

"Project W's seed users all came from abandoned traffic on 'Laiwang'."

Lin Che pushed the phone in front of President Ma, and the screen displayed a set of complex data flow diagrams.

"Six months ago, I discovered that although Laiwang had low daily active users, it had accumulated a large number of users who registered just to receive red envelopes. These users were essentially dead on Laiwang, but in the logic of e-commerce, they were the most sensitive 'price-sensitive users'."

Lin Che began to weave that 99% true lie.

"If we directly use Alibaba's name to do group buying, Tencent will block it instantly, and it will also lower Taobao's high-end image, so..."

He paused, observing Mr. Ma's micro-expressions.

Mr. Ma's fingers, which were tapping the armrest, stopped.

"So, I took it upon myself to borrow the edge servers from the wireless department, using a few shell companies as cover, to divert this traffic and incubate 'Project W' right under WeChat's nose."

Lin Che took a deep breath and uttered the core line he had prepared long ago.

"Boss, some flowers are only truly fragrant when they bloom outside the wall."

Dead silence.

The only sound in the lounge was a faint hissing from the air conditioning vents.

Old Xiao held his breath, staring at Lin Che with terrified eyes.

This kid's gone mad. This is called "misuse of public resources" in terms of compliance, which is a serious red line!

But Lin Che is gambling.

He wasn't betting on compliance, he was betting on human nature.

His desire for "social e-commerce" far outweighed his insistence on "procedural justice" at the horse racing betting company.

Especially now, halfway through the roadshow, in front of those wolf-like investors on Wall Street.

Jack Ma desperately needs a story to prove that Alibaba has a "social gene".

Even if the story is made up.

Even if this project is "unofficial".

As long as it can boost the stock price, it doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat.

Mr. Ma picked up the cup of herbal tea on the table.

He took a sip, staring intently at Lin Che, as if trying to see through the young man's soul.

"You're very brave."

Mr. Ma put down his teacup, the porcelain cup clinking against the glass coffee table. "Misappropriating company resources and building projects without authorization—according to the Anti-Corruption Department's rules, I can hand you over to the judicial authorities right now."

Old Xiao trembled and was about to plead for mercy.

"but."

Mr. Ma then changed the subject.

He turned his head and looked out the window at the towering skyscrapers of Manhattan.

"In this damn Wall Street, nobody cares where you come from, they only care about results."

When Mr. Ma turned around, the oppressive feeling on his face disappeared, replaced by a meaningful smile.

"Just now on stage, you said the customer acquisition cost for this project was 5 cents?"

"Yes," Lin Che nodded, "and the cost will be even lower as the fission index increases."

"very good."

Mr. Ma stood up and straightened his slightly wrinkled shirt collar.

"After returning to China, I immediately integrated the data interface of this project into the group's financial system. I want to see it become a core component of Alibaba's wireless strategy in the Q3 financial report."

At this moment, the nature of the situation changed.

At this very moment, Lin Che's "illegitimate son" officially received a royal "conferment".

What was originally a case of "stealing traffic" that constitutes embezzlement has been transformed into a far-sighted "internal incubation."

All violations were completely absolved by the phrase "strategic needs."

"clear."

Lin Che lowered his head, concealing the triumphant smile on his lips.

"besides."

Mr. Ma walked to the door, stopped, and looked back at Lin Che.

"Lin Che, you're a smart man. A smart man should know that some things can only belong to the company."

This sentence is meant to be a warning.

It's also a warning.

Mr. Ma was telling him: I can tolerate your unorthodox methods, but don't even think about taking over this project.

Lin Che raised his head, his eyes crystal clear.

"Of course, Mr. Ma, everything I have is given to me by Alibaba."

Mr. Ma nodded in satisfaction, opened the door, and went out.

The instant the door closed.

Old Xiao slumped on the sofa like a lump of mud.

He was panting heavily, and frantically wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"You...you're a madman..."

Old Xiao pointed at Lin Che, his fingers trembling, "Do you know how close that was? If President Ma had taken it seriously and checked the specific shareholding structure, you'd be finished!"

The equity of Weipintuan is now entirely in the hands of Wang Pangzi, Lin Che's front man, and has nothing to do with Alibaba.

"He won't investigate."

Lin Che walked to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of whiskey.

The amber liquid sloshed in the glass, reflecting his cold, handsome profile.

"He will definitely not investigate, at least not before the IPO."

Lin Che tilted his head back and downed the strong liquor in one gulp.

The spicy liquid slid down my throat, like a fire burning in my stomach.

"Old Xiao, remember one thing."

Lin Che put down his wine glass and looked at his boss, who was still in shock.

"When the benefits of a lie are great enough, the truth becomes the least valuable thing in the world."

......

into the night.

It was 9:30 p.m. in New York.

That is, 9:30 AM Beijing time.

US stocks open.

Lin Che did not attend the victory celebration banquet.

He returned to his hotel room alone and locked the door.

Outside the window, the lights of Manhattan shone like a galaxy.

But he didn't look at the scenery.

He sat down at his desk and opened the laptop covered in stickers.

The screen displays a real-time chart of the Nasdaq index.

The success of the daytime roadshow, especially the "Project W" concept introduced by Lin Che, greatly stimulated market sentiment.

Alibaba's valuation expectations have already been raised by a full 10% in pre-market trading.

All stocks even remotely related to Alibaba are rising.

SoftBank's stock rose, and so did Yahoo's.

Lin Che watched as Yahoo's stock price continued to soar.

$41.20.

It has deviated by nearly 20% from the strike price of the Put option he bought.

His account has suffered a paper loss of 90%.

If you disregard the success of "Project W" and only look at this account, he's already a bankrupt pauper.

"bite."

The phone rang.

It was a text message from David, a brokerage manager, filled with despair:

[Margin Call Warning: Sir, please deposit funds immediately. Your position is facing forced liquidation.]

Margin call notice.

If you don't pay up, your position will be forcibly liquidated.

Lin Che looked at the text message, but his face showed no panic.

He picked up a cigarette from the table and lit it.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he glanced at the clock on the wall.

9:45.

"Let the bullets fly a little longer."

Lin Che exhaled a smoke ring and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

he knows.

At that very moment, on the other side of the ocean in China.

A panic about a valuation bubble in tech stocks is quietly brewing.

This is not just because of historical cycles.

It's also because... he planted another time bomb.

......

At the same time.

Hangzhou, China.

The underground studio of Weiguang Media was filled with smoke, making it look like a fairyland.

Fatty Wang, sporting two huge dark circles under his eyes, was directing dozens of part-time college students to work frantically.

"Send them out! Send them all out!"

Fatty Wang gritted his teeth, clutching the command Lin Che had sent him.

Hundreds of popular WeChat accounts and thousands of WeChat groups simultaneously received a sensational news push notification:

Exclusive Scoop: Mobile Data of a Pre-IPO E-commerce Giant Suspected of Serious Data Manipulation! So-Called "Group Buying" Actually Inflated Follower Counts?

The article detailed the data anomalies of "Project W" and even included several blurry screenshots of the backend.

That was Lin Che revealing his own secret.

This is also part of the plan.

Only by stirring up trouble and creating panic can the tech stock market be shaken.

Once the market falters, Yahoo, as a shadow stock of Alibaba, will become the first domino to fall.

new York.

Lin Che looked at the screen.

9:50.

The Nasdaq index, which had been trending steadily upwards, suddenly dipped downwards.

It looks like an electrocardiogram (ECG) taken when someone has a heart attack.

Followed by.

It is a long, green, dark line.

The sell-off has begun.

Lin Che stubbed out his cigarette.

He watched the numbers on the screen begin to plummet, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

"Mr. Ma, I'm sorry."

He said softly.

"Your flowers have bloomed."

"But my fruit is ripening too."