Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

The firecrackers went off incessantly, crackling and popping.

Shen Mo sat in front of the computer, looking at the QQ chat box where Qin Feng was typing a reply.

"Brother Mo, I've found out everything you asked me to investigate."

"What are the prices of garlic and ginger in Anqiu?"

"Brother Mo, the wholesale price of garlic is about 0.2 to 0.4 yuan per jin."

Qin Feng replied, "The wholesale price of ginger is between 0.5 and 0.6 yuan per jin (0.5 kg), and the retail price is between 1 and 1.2 yuan."

Shen Mo was shocked. Even if he didn't know much about vegetable prices, he couldn't believe that the prices could be so low.

"How can it be so cheap?"

"That's right. In Anqiu, ginger, garlic, and scallions are basically harvested in October and November."

Qin Feng explained in detail: "After the harvest, these ginger and garlic will be stored in cellars or temperature-controlled warehouses, and then sold in the spring and summer of the following year."

"So, the ginger and garlic circulating in the market in the first half of this year will be from the 2008 inventory?"

Shen Mo's eyes lit up. Before the new garlic and ginger were planted, he could buy in bulk and hold onto the stock.

"right."

Qin Feng said, "Because in the past few years, the planting area of ​​ginger and garlic expanded wildly, the supply exceeded the demand, which is why the price is so ridiculously low."

"Storing that much ginger and garlic must have cost a lot of money, right?"

Shen Mo couldn't help but think of the unsold garlic scapes in his previous life, which farmers in southern Henan gave away for free but no one wanted them.

They were so outrageous that when a customer bought 1 jin (500g) of garlic scapes, the merchant simply sent a full 5 jin (2.5kg).

"you do not say!"

Qin Feng said helplessly, "Wholesalers are not very willing to charge more this year. The rent and electricity fees for cold storage are not a small amount."

Shen Mo smacked his lips. No wonder so many people used to get rich overnight by frying ginger and garlic.

The wholesale price was only a few cents per kilogram, but when the H1N1 influenza outbreak occurred, ginger and garlic prices skyrocketed to four or five yuan per kilogram.

It increased more than 10 times!

Making huge profits from stocks is even more lucrative than trading stocks! Haha, even a dog wouldn't trade stocks in the A-shares market!

"Fengzi, please find out for me the supply channels for ginger and garlic and the situation regarding cold storage rentals in your area."

Shen Mo earnestly instructed, "Especially cultivate good relationships with farmers and wholesalers, understand?"

Qin Feng was even more confused: "Brother Mo, you're not going to buy garlic and ginger, are you?"

"Didn't I tell you before that Lingyun was going to launch a new project?"

Shen Mo revealed with some reservation, "This project is related to vegetables and fruits; garlic and ginger are our first batch of pilot products."

"???"

Qin Feng looked confused, Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ.

"Garlic and ginger are easy to store and transport, and their prices are currently low, so they can be bought in large quantities."

Shen Mo said half true and half false, "Even if they can't be sold in the end, as an essential ingredient for every household, they can still be used as prizes for the Super Flash Sale and 'Everyday Farm'."

………………

Qin Feng was given an extra 5 days off by Shen Mo, and he stayed in eastern Shandong to figure out the details of ginger and garlic procurement, storage, and transportation.

During his New Year's visit, Shen Mo briefly experienced what it felt like for Liu Qiangdong to return to Suqian.

Almost everyone was surrounding Shen Mo, he was surrounded by kind people, and all he heard were kind words.

When you're poor, no one cares even in the bustling city; when you're rich, even distant relatives come to visit you in the deep mountains!

After dealing with the situation for a while, Shen Mo packed his bags and headed north to Yanjing to meet up with the finance, legal, and other personnel.

On February 1st, the Yanjing Hotel was packed with media outlets of all sizes, their cameras and microphones aimed at the podium.

Shen Mo confirmed that the investment agreement, equity transfer agreement, and employee stock option plan were correct before signing his name and affixing the company seal.

"Click click click!"

In the footage, Shen Mo, Liu Chiping, Xu Xin, and others are holding up financing agreements, their faces beaming with smiles.

The overall valuation is $2.25 million!

10% equity for $2250 million!

Once this news gets out, it will cause a sensation throughout the entire e-commerce industry.

After all, YiTaoGO is the second e-commerce company, after Jingdong, to find financing during the subprime mortgage crisis!

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Amid applause, Shen Mo shook hands with three investors, including Sequoia Capital, and couldn't help but feel emotional.

Even if I retire from this life now, I still have over a billion dollars in my account!

It wasn't a wasted rebirth!

"Congratulations, Mr. Shen!"

"With this funding, YiTaoGO will definitely see a qualitative leap in talent recruitment, marketing, and technology upgrades."

Shen Nanpeng subtly reminded him that the money must be used in accordance with the provisions of the investment agreement.

Young entrepreneurs are easily misled by money. It's not uncommon for them to use the funds raised to buy cars and houses in the company's name, or to set up third-party companies to embezzle venture capital funds.

"Please rest assured, we will use this money properly."

Shen Mo said, "We plan to begin our collaboration with Meizu and Jingdong soon."

Liu Chiping immediately perked up, "I wonder what kind of collaboration it is? Could we add Tencent as a partner?"

Shen Mo shook his head: "It's about mobile phones and home appliances, so it's probably not suitable for Paipai.com and QQ Space."

"That's such a pity."

A hint of regret flickered between Liu Chiping's brows.

Since partnering with Shenmo, QQ Zone's user growth rate and profit scale have far surpassed those of Xiaonei.com.

More importantly, the development of social e-commerce, driven by the collaboration between QQ Zone and Paipai.com, far exceeded the expectations of Ma Huateng and others.

Within Tencent, the importance attached to Shenmo and YiTao GO is increasing day by day!

"Mr. Liu, there's no need for that. There will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future."

Shen Mo waved his hand.

"Speaking of cooperation, there is indeed one."

Liu Chiping said, "Previously, General Manager Shen suggested that our B2C should start with maternal and infant products. Now we are all ready and will be launched soon. At that time, please ask YiTaoGO to tailor a few activities for QQ Mall."

"Definitely, definitely."

Shen Mo readily agreed.

Liu Chiping sighed, feigning a sigh, "Actually, more than cooperation, Pony and we would prefer that President Shen become one of our own."

Shen Mo politely declined, saying, "Mr. Liu, I've already spoken to Pony. I'm used to being idle and don't like working for others."

"As long as Mr. Shen is willing to join us, Tencent can acquire Lingyun Technology at a high price; you definitely won't lose out!"

Liu Chiping said sincerely, "Your rank and compensation are on par with Wu Xiaoguang's, with an annual salary of 1800 million yuan, plus Tencent stock options. You will be responsible for the entire Tencent e-commerce sector. In addition to the existing YiTaoGO, you will also be in charge of managing Paipai.com, QQ Mall, and other platforms..."

"The conditions you've offered are indeed very sincere!"

Shen Mo stated bluntly, "However, I refuse."

Even if Tencent's social e-commerce has improved, I am still not optimistic about Tencent's e-commerce sector.

Moreover, if YiTaoGO completely sides with Tencent, it will undoubtedly anger Jack Ma and Alibaba.

YiTaoGO currently boasts a peak daily user count of over 130 million, equivalent to one-tenth of Taobao's users. With traffic redirected through YiTaoGO to Taobao, how could Jack Ma allow such external traffic to fall into Tencent's hands?

In a fit of anger, they might directly sever all interfaces between YiTaoGO and Ali, including Zhifubao.

Unfortunately, Tencent and Paipai.com cannot make up for this loss!

In this way, the valuation and strategic value of YiTaoGO will shrink significantly, which would be a loss for them!

"President Shen's concerns are not without merit."

Liu Chiping nodded.

"The reason why Jack Ma can tolerate YiTaoGO flirting with Tencent is that although Tencent uses YiTaoGO to direct Taobao merchants and users to Paipai.com and QQ Space, it also directs QQ traffic to Ali and Taobao."

"EasyGO is like Outer Mongolia, a middle ground between you and Ali."

Shen Mo offered a reminder, "Tencent's e-commerce is just starting to take off. We're outnumbered and outmatched, so it's not the time to break our agreement."