Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

On May 6th, Senlian Capital and Qian Du Network declared all-out war!

Li Yanhong had long anticipated this.

He had met with Chen Yansen several times and was well-acquainted with the operational style of Kuai Pao, Fast Taxi, and Gaode Map: when provoked, they would never back down.

”First, capture 40% of the market share. Second, hold the line. Third, gradually infiltrate and eat away at the mature markets Senlian Capital has painstakingly built.”

Li Yanhong instructed his three subordinates, Gong Zhenbing, Wang Zhongpu, and Xiang Hailong.

His vision had been a beautiful one: let Senlian Capital blaze the trail, while he orchestrated things from behind the scenes, waiting for the opportune moment to launch Qian Du’s full-scale counteroffensive.

And in Li Yanhong’s eyes, this was that perfect opportunity.

Qian Du’s Group Buy, food delivery, and ride-hailing businesses had already established a foundation in the North China, East China, Central China, and Southern China regions. Now, it was time to leverage its capital and user traffic to snatch a bigger piece of the pie from Senlian Capital.

But Kuai Pao and Fast Taxi were no pushovers!

First, look at Kuai Pao. Backed by the three giants of Senlian Capital, Penguin, and Ah Li, it controlled primary and secondary traffic portals from multiple apps like Pinbei, Gaode Map, QQ, WeChat, and Taobao, and held ninety percent of the market share.

It had successively crushed Eleme, Meituan Takeout, and Dianping’s food delivery service. With its rich combat experience and three great generals—Shan Jiawei, Zhang Xuhao, and Liang Changlin—it was more than a match for a cross-industry newcomer like Qian Du. Even if Ah Li itself entered the fray, it would likely retreat in defeat.

Then there was Fast Taxi. It not only received exposure and orders from Gaode Map, QQ, and WeChat, but also possessed powerful algorithmic technology for order distribution and route planning.

This priceless data was compiled from hundreds of millions of orders.

Qian Du had been in the ride-hailing space for just one year, give or take, with just over twenty million orders. What could it possibly use to fight Senlian Capital?

With its verbal commitment of 20 billion in funding?

Simply wishful thinking!

If throwing money at a problem alone could decide the outcome of a business competition, then Penguin’s Paipai Network would have long since joined the top echelon of the e-commerce industry.

Li Yanhong could make all the noise he wanted, but Chen Yansen had no interest in engaging with him.

The project structures, operational strategies, and marketing tactics for both Kuai Pao and Fast Taxi were already fully formed; there was no need for him to interfere excessively.

He could leave the on-the-ground execution to Pei Yi and Cheng Weixing.

But the high-profile war declared by Senlian Capital and Qian Du scared the daylights out of their smaller competitors!

The bosses of Meituan, Dianping, Fantongwang, as well as Dahuangfeng Taxi, Baimi Taxi, and Dudu Taxi were so furious they wanted to curse someone’s mother.

They had never imagined that after surviving the Thousand-Group-Buy War and the 2012 ride-hailing war, just when they hoped to follow behind the giants and sip some soup, Senlian Capital and Qian Du Network would ignite another subsidy war.

Everyone knew in their hearts that while the final winner was yet to be decided, they would most likely be the first to die.

Qian Du Group Buy, Qian Du Delivery, and Kuai Pao’s Group Buy and food delivery services were all handing out red envelopes and coupons. Should they follow suit or not?

Follow, and they’d run out of money.

Don’t follow, and their orders would plummet, leaving them to just sit and wait for death.

The ride-hailing sector was no different. After all, last year, when Fast Taxi and DiDi were locked in a slugfest, a single user could get three instant discounts per day, making the base fare free.

Who could withstand that kind of tactic?

In an instant, industry peers were blowing up the tiplines with complaints, taking to Weibo to curse Li Yanhong and Chen Yansen for malicious competition and attempting to establish a monopoly.

”I’d advise you to mind your own business and watch yourself!”

”If you can afford to play, then play. If you can’t, then get out of the game, got it?”

”I hope Senlian Capital and Qian Du fight forever, this is so damn awesome! The moment I logged into Qian Du Delivery, I got a 10-yuan no-minimum-purchase red envelope!”

”Kuai Pao is giving out red envelopes for 15 yuan off a 20-yuan purchase! Go get it!”

Netizens enjoying the discounts and benefits were ecstatic, flooding the comment sections with their posts.

That blissful feeling of getting food delivery for just two or three yuan and taking free taxi rides was back again.

The two sides barely traded a few verbal barbs before they began their insane money-burning spree.

Having been through several major wars, Pei Yi wasn’t the least bit flustered. Although he also invested a large amount of capital into marketing campaigns, compared to Qian Du’s crude methods, Kuai Pao’s operations were far more sophisticated.

While Qian Du Delivery and Qian Du Group Buy gave out no-minimum-purchase red envelopes, he gave users tiered-discount red envelopes, but with a larger value than Qian Du’s.

He knew full well that no-minimum-purchase red envelopes attracted users with low retention and poor loyalty; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them freeloaders.

Therefore, he preferred to increase the value of the red envelopes, giving the discounts to higher-value users.

At the same time, he launched a top-up promotion: for every 100 yuan topped up, users would receive a 10-yuan no-minimum-purchase coupon, with no upper limit. He planned to use this stored-value model to lock in users’ future spending in advance.

Cheng Weixing immediately followed suit, simply changing the dates on last year’s ride-credit top-up plan and launching it again.

「At the same time.」

Zhuxianzhuang Science and Technology Park, Office Building Nine.

Chen Yansen was leaning back on the sofa, calling Zhou Hongyi. ”Isn’t the design for the 360 F1 finished yet?”

”Thank you for your concern, President Chen. Just give me another half a month. There are still some minor issues with the hardware and Aurora Future OS compatibility.”

Zhou Hongyi replied with a chuckle, then paused before adding, ”President Chen, you didn’t call me just to ask about the 360 F1’s progress, did you?”

”Are you interested in joining forces to take a bite out of Qian Du Search?” Chen Yansen asked tentatively.

”I knew a man with your personality would definitely take the offensive, President Chen. And as for hitting Qian Du? I’m very interested.”

Zhou Hongyi agreed without hesitation.

One, it would solidify his cooperative relationship with Senlian Capital. Two, it would suppress Qian Du and increase the market share of 360 Search.