Reborn in 08, Public Enemy of Competitors

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Xu Kun, Zhuang Bifan, and others, the "0 Yuan Bargaining" module took initial shape within a week.

The testing phase was conducted internally. The moment the link to the "Cut a Knife" feature was added to Lingyun Technology's company group chat, the office erupted in chaos.

"Wenbin, if you're a brother, help me cut this!"

"Are you guys crazy?! Fengzi asked me to chop him up, and now you're asking me to chop you up too? I'll chop you up like a watermelon!"

"Who designed this progress bar?! I had to get 10 people to finish collecting the gold coins, and now it wants 10 more red envelopes! And then it wants 10 more diamond fragments! When will this ever end?!"

"Who can help me cut the price? I'm just 1 cents short!"

Seeing everyone in such a chaotic situation, Shen Mo's lips curled into a slight smile.

The essence of Pinduoduo's "cut a price" strategy is actually similar to the tactics of pay-to-win games like "Zhengtu" and "Greedy Wolf Moon".

Weapons can be enhanced, upgraded, smelted, and inlaid with gems...

After going through all that, I thought I was finally graduating, but then a new enhancement system popped up, forcing me to keep spending money.

The same principle applies to cutting. First, they give you a big cut, cutting off 70% or even 90% directly, making you think, "Wow, that's easy." Then, you enter hell mode.

Gold coins, diamonds, and fragments are nested in layers, and by the time you realize something is wrong, you've already wasted time, relationships, and face, so you can only grit your teeth and keep cutting.

The test continued until 7 p.m. Following Shen Mo's instructions, Zhong Xue ordered KFC family buckets for everyone.

Xu Kun ate a chicken wing while staring at the screen.

"I'm all set on my end, all the bugs are fixed."

"I'm all set now."

Zhuang Bifan let out a soft breath.

Shen Mo glanced at the test report. "It will officially launch at 12 noon tomorrow. Yuan Hua and Wen Bin, you two will control the promotion pace. The event page must reach all users' attention as soon as possible."

"Yes, Brother Mo!"

Lu Wenbin, Yuan Hua, and others immediately agreed.

The next day at noon, the activity page of YiTaoGO was refreshed on time.

A brand new banner has been put up in the most prominent position on the homepage. It has a red background and white text, with the words "Bargain for 0 Yuan, Get Free Gifts" written in bold and large font.

A pop-up window will appear simultaneously, so users will see the words "Free for 0 Yuan" as soon as they enter the site.

GG's image dynamically changes, displaying the prize pool for the 0-yuan price-cutting event: Meizu M8, 500 yuan cash, 1000 yuan cash, a box of tissues, a box of milk, toothpaste, garbage bags...

From large items costing thousands of yuan to daily necessities costing just a few yuan, everything is available, with clear rules and simple, straightforward gameplay.

Invite your friends to help you cut the price down to 0 yuan and you can take it away for free.

As the saying goes, "being near the water tower, one gets the moon first," and when the 0-yuan price-cutting event of YiTaoGO spread to Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, the alumni group, part-time job group, and class group almost simultaneously exploded with excitement.

"@Everyone, please help me cut the price! Thank you!"

Chen Dong is a freshman who has been trying to buy a Meizu M8 since the start of the semester. However, the phone is so hard to find that it sells out instantly every time it goes on sale.

When I saw that Meizu M8 was included in the price-cutting activity on YiTaoGO, I felt that my chance had finally come.

"Holy crap, your account got hacked? This link is a virus, right? Don't click it, everyone!"

"Slash you? You're not kidding?"

"This is an official YiTaoGO promotion, and the discounts are amazing! Get it for free once the progress bar is reduced to 100%!"

"Really? You can get a phone just by cutting it open?"

"Why would I lie to you! My roommate just got together with a few other dorm rooms, and they've already cut down a whole box of tissues!"

These words caused an uproar in the entire group.

Zhang Qing also had his eye on the Meizu M8 in the prize pool, so he immediately clicked the link and made his first cut, reducing the price by 60%.

I was incredibly excited and felt like I was incredibly lucky.

The second, third, and fourth cuts were also extremely smooth, pushing the progress bar all the way up to 90%, just 10% away.

"If we recruit a few more people, we can get a phone for free!"

However, the joy was premature; it seemed all the luck had run out. Progress began to crawl: 5% for one hit, 2.5% for two hits, 1.25% for three hits, and later it dwindled to 0.1%, 0.05%, and even turned into coins and red envelopes…

My roommate kept complaining, "Damn, this Meizu M8 is so hard to get a discount on! I've dragged over 40 people from my class into this, and I still haven't gotten it! Is YiTao GO messing with us?"

"Probably not."

Chen Dong seemed to be reassuring his roommate, but he was also reassuring himself. "I've participated in YiTaoGO's activities several times. If I win, I will definitely pay out. I've never renege on my promise."

"Perhaps there aren't enough people."

"Exactly! Just by casually recruiting a few people, you can get a Meizu M8 for 2388 yuan. The deals on YiTaoGO are just too easy to exploit!"

"..."

Amidst her roommates' gossip, Zhang Qing kept reassuring herself.

The Long March is just one step away!

Just one last cut!

With only a tiny bit of progress left and seeing the huge sunk costs he had already incurred, he didn't hesitate to share the link on Renren, QQ groups, QQ spaces, and even Baidu Tieba, going through almost everyone he knew.

He even dug up his elementary school classmates whom he hadn't contacted in years and shamelessly sent messages to each of them, all with the same message.

If you're a true brother, come and chop me up!

Especially when people kept posting screenshots on forums and QQ groups, showing off the prizes they got by cutting prices to 0 yuan, my wavering heart was strengthened again.

One more cut and it'll be done!

It will definitely succeed!

Just as Zhang Qing was racking her brains about whether or not to ask her parents for help, her QQ suddenly beeped.

The message came from his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had broken up. The two had not spoken since graduating from high school.

"Are you there? Do you use EasyGo?"

"Help me cut it one more time, it's just a little bit more."

Zhang Qing stared at the screen, lost in thought for several seconds.

To my utter surprise, my ex-girlfriend, whom I had previously blocked, contacted me again because of the discount offered by YiTaoGO.

This situation is not an isolated case.

With the viral spread of the "0 Yuan Bargain" campaign, many long-dormant classmate groups have suddenly become active again.

Classmates I hadn't contacted for years suddenly reappeared, their tone as warm as if we'd just seen each other yesterday. Work groups were flooded with requests to "help me cut the price," and some even joked on QQ Space: "To cut the price of a phone, I've used up all the favors I could ever owe in my life."

Even so, even if some people realized that the 0-yuan price-cutting event was suspicious, they still couldn't stop.

Because the progress bar has reached 99.9%, we have already invested too much time, effort, and favors.

Giving up is far more painful than continuing!

At the same time, YiTaoGO's external promotion team is actively promoting the event, spreading it through channels such as QQ groups and frantically forwarding the event link on campus networks, forums, and Tieba.

"Boss, this is amazing! It's incredible!"

Zhong Xue was as excited as a child.

Shen Mo didn't even look up, staring at the ever-increasing curve on the backend data panel: "It's over, so it's over. Don't call it awesome."

"Within 12 hours of going live, more than 5 new customers have registered through the event link."

Zhong Xue was thrilled: "Moreover, the rate of expansion is accelerating, and the conversion rate of new customers is also increasing."

Yuan Hua grinned and laughed, "That's great! What are we afraid of now? They have a trick up their sleeve, and we'll chop them down with our swords!"

Looking at the joyous crowd, Shen Mo smiled without saying a word, and looked out the window toward the location of Xixi Park.

With the long spear in hand today, when will we bind Ah Li?

Jack Ma, you just wait, you'll get what's coming to you sooner or later!