Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

Chapter 114 Wouldn't that be like begging on your knees?

The summer heat lingered in Shanghai in September.

Wang Wenzhi sat in his office, looking irritable, with an ashtray on his desk piled high with cigarette butts.

These days, he can't sleep or eat at all. Since the fake liquor incident, Huitong's business volume has been cut in half.

Unfortunately, bad news kept coming one after another, and it just wouldn't stop.

"Mr. Wang!"

Li Chun said helplessly on the phone, "Breaking news: Pinduoduo and Jiuxian.com are preparing to formally file a lawsuit."

"A lawsuit? How did things get to this point?"

Wang Wenzhi had faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Their compensation demands are that Huitong bear all the costs of refunding one and paying one, and also issue a public apology to Pinduoduo, Jiuxian.com, and the victims of this fake liquor incident."

Li Chun said, "If Huitong does as instructed, there might still be room for redemption."

Wang Wenzhi pulled out the last cigarette from the pack, put it in his mouth, and held the lighter in his hand, opening and closing it several times.

The deputy general manager, who was sitting face to face with him, finally couldn't hold back any longer, took out his lighter from his pocket, and leaned over.

"Mr. Wang, you have to know when to bow your head. Now, because of this incident, we've lost all face and substance. Merchants and platforms are canceling their cooperation. If this continues, Huitong will be finished sooner or later."

I admit defeat.

Wang Wenzhi sighed.

The deputy general manager said with a sigh of relief, "There's one more thing. I heard that Pinduoduo is currently looking for courier companies to cooperate with, which may also involve investment."

"What, you want Huitong to get close to you?"

Wang Wenzhi frowned slightly.

"Mr. Wang, it's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. Shentong, Yuantong, and Zhongtong have developed so rapidly because they've latched onto Jack Ma's coattails and signed strategic cooperation agreements with Taobao. Although we can't connect with Taobao, Pinduoduo is no slouch either, and it might just be able to develop in the future."

The deputy general manager tried his best to persuade him.

Wang Wenzhi frowned even more. Huitong had just been humiliated, and now they were eagerly trying to curry favor with him. How shameless!

"If we actively seek out Pinduoduo, wouldn't that be like begging on our knees?"

"Mr. Wang, if you put it that way, it really is like begging on your knees, but doing business is nothing to be ashamed of."

The deputy general manager could only manage a wry smile.

"It's shabby, it's fucking shabby."

"So, would you rather stand, or earn money?"

"I want to stand up and still make money."

Wang Wenzhi gritted his teeth, damn Shen Mo!

"I might not be able to earn this money."

The deputy general manager said seriously, "If you think kneeling to Shen Mo is shameful, then let me be the one to lose face. I'll go talk to Pinduoduo."

"Is this shameful? This is about taking the initiative!"

Wang Wenzhi waved his hand, "We just got kicked, and now we're all smiles and eager to talk about cooperation. Do you think Pinduoduo will give us a good price?"

Then, in a low voice, she asked, "Are the courtesans of the Qinhuai River and the prostitutes of the Eight Great Hutongs the same price?"

Meanwhile, in Hangzhou.

Sun Tongyu pushed open the door and entered, picked up the tea that had just been poured on the table, and took a big gulp.

"All done! Everything's settled! Tiantian Express is very willing to be acquired!"

"How many?"

Shen Mo raised his glass.

"1 million, 80% of the shares."

Sun Tongyu said, "The remaining 20% ​​will be left to Zhan Jisheng and his core team, and they will retain a certain degree of decision-making power at the operational level."

Huang Zhengzai calculated carefully: "This price is not expensive among mid-tier courier companies in the second tier. Tiantian Express's network and warehouses are real assets. Taking 80% of the 1 million, we can say we got a small bargain."

Sun Tongyu sighed: "But Pinduoduo's Series A funding round was just signed, and the money hasn't even been fully invested yet, and nearly one-seventh of it has already been used up."

Shen Mo shook his head: "I don't plan to pay all of this money through Pinduoduo."

Huang Zheng glanced at him: "You want to invest in this company under your personal name?"

"It's not me, it's us."

Shen Mo said, "Regarding YiTao GO, I have already reached an agreement with Ma Huateng to transfer 5% of the shares to Tencent. This amount is approximately US$1.05 million, and I plan to use a portion of it to invest in Tiantian Express."

"Then count as one share for me too."

Huang Zheng said, "After selling Ouku.com, I still have some savings. With Pinduoduo's backing, even if Tiantian Express can't reach the scale of Shentong, Yuantong, and SF Express in the future, surpassing Zhongtong, Yunda, and Huitong is definitely not a problem. This investment is absolutely worthwhile."

Shen Mo smiled. The reason why Tiantian Express declined in his previous life was because it mainly dealt with business documents and could not compete with SF Express.

Furthermore, it did not pay enough attention to e-commerce parcels and failed to enter the e-commerce logistics field in time, ultimately being left far behind by the Tongda Group.

E-commerce parcels are the future of Tiantian Express, and Pinduoduo is the perfect platform for it.

"I'll vote too."

Sun Tongyu said, "However, I don't have that much cash on hand, only Alibaba shares."

"Don't touch the shares yet."

Shen Mo said, "Once Ali goes public, it will be worth a lot of money. I'll lend you some money to tide you over and become a joint partner."

"Fine, then I won't stand on ceremony with you, you nouveau riche."

Sun Tongyu said, "I will calculate the interest based on the highest interest rate offered by the bank."

Just as everyone continued to delve into the details of Singles' Day and cargo insurance, there was a knock on the door, and Zhong Xue walked in.

"Boss, this is Cao Guowei from New Wolf. Mr. Cao just called and wants to talk to you privately."

The air conditioning was blowing loudly in the new wolf's office.

Cao Guowei was looking down at the various data reports on Weibo, his brow furrowing and relaxing intermittently.

A month has passed since Weibo was launched, and user growth has significantly exceeded expectations, but activity levels and content quality still fluctuate.

Just as I was considering getting more celebrities and famous people to join Weibo, my phone on the corner of the table rang.

Cao Guowei glanced at the caller ID and answered, "Hello, Mr. Shen."

"President Cao, your New Wolf team suddenly called. Do you have any instructions?"

Shen Mo said in a teasing tone.

"How could I dare to give any instructions to President Shen?"

After a few polite words, Cao Guowei quickly got to the point: "The reason I'm meeting with President Shen is to invite you to join our newly launched product, Weibo."

"Weibo?" Shen Mo asked, feigning confusion.

"Social platforms similar to Fanfou and Twitter."

Cao Guowei explained, "Users can post short content, interact with comments, and participate in topic discussions; it's kind of a mini-blog."

"Mr. Cao, Fanfou was just forcibly shut down due to inadequate content supervision, and it's only recently been unbanned. Aren't you afraid of repeating the same mistake?"

Shen Mo couldn't help but tease.

"We're afraid, of course we're afraid!"

Cao Guowei did not evade the question, stating, "That's why we specifically set up a Weibo monitoring center," to review content 24/7.

Shen Mo understood the situation roughly and said, "Alright, since President Cao has extended such a warm invitation, I will naturally give him the courtesy he deserves."

"Besides joining the platform, I also want to discuss a collaboration with Weibo."

"What kind of cooperation?"

"In two months, it will be Singles' Day. I want to organize a group-buying lottery event on Weibo for Pinduoduo and YiTaoG0. Users can participate in the lottery by forwarding the Weibo post. We will provide the prizes, and Weibo will provide the traffic and trending topics."

Shen Mo narrowed his eyes, preparing to use Weibo as a test to see how much traffic YiTaoG0 and Pinduoduo could bring to Weibo.