Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

The rain stopped sometime during the day, and the sky gradually brightened.

Yuan Hua, Lu Wenbin, and the others whispered among themselves, their eyes darting back and forth between Shen Mo and Lin Qingyan.

Lin Qingyan remained expressionless, sizing Shen Mo up and down, secretly labeling him in her mind.

Despite her young age, she is incredibly shrewd and cunning; she's practically a little fox spirit.

"According to you, if there's a crisis in the US stock market, wouldn't it affect the Chinese stock market?"

"Of course, this is a globalized era, how can China remain unaffected?"

Shen Mo asked meaningfully, "What, does Lawyer Lin also invest in stocks?"

Lin Qingyan shook her head and said, "Uh, I don't touch stocks, but a friend of mine has recently been stuck in the stock market."

"Then I suggest to your friend that he either hold onto it for a few years, or get out as soon as possible and cut his losses."

He saw through it all but said nothing.

Lin Qingyan said with mixed feelings, "My friend thinks the same way, but she's a little reluctant to part with it."

"Cutting off a piece of flesh is like castrating yourself; a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one, and it's better to cut it off sooner rather than later, especially in this environment."

Shen Mo said, seemingly alarmist, "Perhaps we won't even be able to hold 2000 points."

Lin Qingyan became increasingly conflicted. "No...it can't be that bad, can it? My friend thinks we're already at rock bottom, and no matter which way we go, it's upwards."

"What if we could continue drilling deeper?"

Shen Mo, a seasoned investor, stood there, gazing affectionately at this newcomer, his eyes filled with the memories of being exploited in his youth.

"this……"

Lin Qingyan took a deep breath.

Shen Mo casually remarked, "Let me give you a final piece of advice: don't think stocks can only fall to rock bottom. Below the floor is a basement, below the basement is hell, and hell has eighteen levels."

Lin Qingyan said, "Thank you, ah, no, I mean thank you for your advice on behalf of my friend."

Shen Mo raised his hand. "Your friend is just blinded by his own involvement, isn't he, Lawyer Lin?"

"Yes! I will pass your suggestion on to my friend, definitely!"

Lin Qingyan's thoughts were in complete disarray.

"Speaking of which, there's something I'd like to ask you, as a lawyer, for some professional advice on."

Shen Mo opened the part-time contract in the folder.

Lin Qingyan stared intently, then gasped in astonishment, "Under normal circumstances, part-time employees are not required to sign labor contracts..."

"I have always been a law-abiding citizen, and I always abide by the rules that should be followed."

Upon hearing Shen Mo's words, Yuan Hua, Lu Wenbin, and the others instinctively looked at the handshake network on the screen.

………………

After letting Lin Qingyan do some unpaid work, Shen Mo smiled and saw her off at the door.

"Take care, Attorney Lin."

"Just call me Qingyan."

Lin Qingyan shook hands. "I had a very enjoyable chat today. I look forward to having the opportunity to work together again next time."

Shen Mo released his grip. "There will definitely be a chance."

Lin Qingyan took out a business card from her bag and handed it over.

"This accounting firm has a long-term partnership with our law firm."

"If Mr. Shen is looking to outsource his finances, you might want to consider this company. It also has connections with Zhejiang University of Commerce and Industry."

"Okay, I've got it."

Shen Mo verbally agreed, but he already had a plan in mind.

The startup park that Fan Jin was in charge of had already recommended an accounting agency to him, which was run by a senior alumnus from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, and they knew the company well.

Watching Lin Qingyan's beautiful figure disappear at the top of the stairs, Shen Mo called into the house, "Wenbin, bring out those two plaques."

Lu Wenbin responded and took out a sign that read "Lingyun Technology Holdings Co., Ltd."

Accompanied by a series of clanging hammer sounds, Zhong Mixue, Zhuang Bifan, and others came out following the sound.

Even Du Manqing, Ye Xiao, and the others were drawn over by their commotion.

"I hereby declare that Lingyun Technology is officially established from this day forward!"

Shen Mo stood on the chair, holding up the hammer, and raised his arm to shout.

"Clap clap clap!"

Lu Wenbin clapped first, followed by Yuan Hua, Qin Feng, and others.

"I never thought Brother Mo would actually start a company!"

"Yeah, I thought those posts on Tieba were just made up!"

"I heard that registering a company requires a minimum of 30,000 yuan, right? That's almost a month's salary for us!"

Whispers and exclamations rippled through the crowd.

"Vulgar! Talking about money during the startup phase is vulgar. We're a team; what we need is boundless passion and a youth without regrets!"

"What we want is to make good products and receive praise and a sense of accomplishment!"

Shen Mo raised his voice and said, "Perhaps in the near future, this place will become a pilgrimage site for many entrepreneurs, just like Steve Jobs' garage! It will become a famous historical site of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology! It will become a cultural heritage that we leave for our alma mater!"

These words stirred the blood of Zhang Wei, Xu Kun, and others.

Lu Wenbin silently kept it in mind, and couldn't help but sigh, "When will I be able to act as cool as Brother Mo?"

But Ye Xiao frowned, thinking, "Shen Mo is such a braggart!"

"That depends on whether he can keep his promises."

Du Manqing looked at Shen Mo and said with a smile, "If we succeed, it won't be bragging, it will be real bragging."

………………

"To celebrate the company's founding, I'm treating everyone to... the cafeteria today!"

Shen Mo got off the chair and dusted off his hands.

Everyone was taken aback and looked at each other in bewilderment.

Yuan Hua was the first to jump out, "Brother Mo, we've followed you with boundless passion and a youth without regrets, so how about you treat us to a meal in the cafeteria?"

"If we don't eat at the cafeteria now, where will we find such affordable and delicious food when summer vacation comes?"

Shen Mo grinned and said, "How about this, once the website is online, I'll treat you all to a big meal. This time, well..."

Xu Kun chimed in, "Brother Mo, at least give me a chicken leg!"

You want to eat chicken, right?

Shen Mo readily agreed, "Okay, let's have stir-fry for lunch, and each of us will get a big chicken leg!"

"That would be great!"

Upon hearing that they were going to the cafeteria for stir-fries, they realized that Shen Mo was joking, and they laughed and were quite satisfied.

Shen Mo returned to room 310, closed the door, and glanced at Lu Wenbin, Yuan Hua, and the other two.

How's the handshake network doing?

"The number of mobile payment methods has risen to 3.1."

Yuan Hua said excitedly, "We only need 203 more merchants to reach 1 registered users."

"Brother Mo, we've received a total of 617 complaints from merchants these past few days."

Qin Feng added, "Most of these cases involve people who didn't strictly simulate the real shopping process, while a small portion involve various violations."

Shen Mo said with a serious expression, "There are all sorts of birds in a big forest. How did you handle it?"

"Those who violate the rules by engaging in fraudulent activities will be penalized and their accounts banned as appropriate, without any leniency."

Qin Feng replied, "As for the merchants' reasonable demands, we should calm their emotions and follow the platform's compensation process for those who deserve it."

"Great, let's do it that way!"

Shen Mo offered a few words of encouragement, then turned to Wenbin and asked, "Wenbin, how's your connection with those empty package websites going?"

"Everything's settled, Brother Mo. The empty package delivery website saw that we have a large order volume, so they gave us the bottom price directly."

Lu Wenbin explained in detail: "An empty package costs at least 2 yuan on the market, but we get an internal price of 1.3 yuan."

"Fengzi, if it were you, what are your next steps in promoting our empty package service?"

Shen Mo sat down. Empty packages, to put it bluntly, are simply paying money to fabricate a complete logistics process from shipment to receipt.

Merchants don't need to actually ship the goods, and those who participate in the "brushing" (fake reviews) don't need to actually receive them.

After filling in the information on the empty package website, the branch will directly sign for the package on your behalf, generating a "person signed for receipt" record and completing the transaction loop.

These empty packages are sold for much less than the cost of a single delivery, usually two or three yuan, while the cost may only be one or two mao (0.1-0.2 yuan).

When Woshou.com was just starting out, it had no bargaining power and could only give up this profit to empty package websites.

But now, with nearly 10,000 merchants and over 10,000 orders per day, Woshou.com naturally wants to take back this business.

"Well……"

Qin Feng racked his brains and said, "Brother Mo, we can just put up a banner on Woshou.com that says, 'Official empty package service launched, only 1.8 yuan per order.' The price is cheaper than what merchants find themselves, and it's more convenient. We definitely won't have to worry about finding customers."

Shen Mo remained silent, then asked Yuan Hua, "And you?"

Yuan Hua's eyes darted around, and he said with a grin, "Just being cheap isn't enough. We can also implement tiered discounts: a discount for every 10 orders, a discount for every 30 orders, and a further discount for every 50 orders. The more merchants place orders, the more they save."

Lu Wenbin met Shen Mo's gaze and touched his nose.

"Brother Mo, Fengzi and Yuan Hua have similar thoughts."

"Just one question: could you include discounts on empty packages as rewards for new customer acquisition activities on the merchant side?"

"For example, if you bring in a few people, you get a discount on those orders; once you reach a certain number of people, the order is free..."

"Your ideas are all good, but your thinking is still too limited."

Shen Mo rubbed his fingers together. "Don't just focus on the empty package service; you can totally link it to membership top-ups!"

Lu Wenbin's eyes lit up immediately. "Brother Mo, you mean something like QQ Red Diamond or Yellow Diamond...?"

Shen Mo snapped his fingers. "Right, we can create a gold and silver merchant certification system."

「比如金牌商家一个月30元，一单空包1块5，银牌商家一个月15元，一单空包1块8。」

"Furthermore, you can enjoy VIP services such as priority order placement and dedicated customer service."

"Even after our shopping guide platform goes live, top-tier and silver-tier merchants will receive some support!"

"hiss!"

Yuan Hua and Qin Feng were dumbfounded and gasped.

Lu Wenbin asked, "Brother Mo, isn't what you're doing against the rules?"

Shen Mo shrugged. "The prerequisite for following the rules is that there are rules in the first place."

Lu Wenbin said in a low voice, "Brother Mo, recently several courier outlets and empty package websites have approached us, wanting to discuss a cooperation agreement."

"What kind of cooperation?"

"They have accumulated a large number of shipping records from merchants, including Taobao store owners' phone numbers, store names, and other information."

"What, you're going to sell us this business information?"

"Yes, they asked us if we wanted some. It was one cent per piece, and if we took it all with us, it would be even cheaper."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Shen Mo wagged his finger. "Send mass text messages to harass merchants, then have someone leak this to Taobao?"

Yuan Hua nodded. "Brother Mo is right. This is a high-risk, low-return deal, not worth it."

"That's true. We have a shopping guide platform. As soon as it goes online, there will be a constant stream of new merchants. There's really no need to take this risk."

Lu Wenbin immediately dismissed the idea.

"More importantly, this is illegal."

Shen Moyi said sternly, "We are law-abiding citizens, how could we do such a thing!"