2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 446 Meeting Before Leaving Hangzhou
"Is Mr. Ding trying to recruit us?"

"That's exactly what he meant. Otherwise, why would he be so enthusiastic? Even if we manage to recruit Sun Tongyu, it won't benefit him much. Why would he be so eager to help us find out and make contacts? There's no need to go to such lengths to repay a favor."

"Then what should you do?"

Upon hearing this question, Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "It's your responsibility to do what you want to do. This shouldn't be my problem. I'm just the president of Flash Group, and I don't have much to do with Orange Technology."

Although Tan Jincheng has been working hard to establish Gu Qingqing's role in Orange Technology, this still takes time, and Gu Qingqing still relies on Tan Jincheng for any major decisions.

As for Tan Jincheng, he actually quite enjoys this feeling. Being relied on and trusted by someone, especially his bedmate, is a kind of vanity that any man would enjoy.
Sun Tongyu declined Tan Jincheng's invitation to meet, and Tan Jincheng understood.

The other party is in the quiet period before listing, and it's in Hangzhou, Jack Ma's territory, so there were already some rumors circulating. If they are photographed contacting the actual controllers of other e-commerce websites at this time, it will cause quite a stir.

If the rumors that the second-in-command absconded during the critical period of the IPO are confirmed, Lao Ma will probably hate them both. Moreover, this is in Hangzhou, and no matter how discreetly they do it, Lao Ma may still find out.

However, it didn't matter that they didn't meet. Sun Tongyu took the initiative to exchange personal contact information with Lao Ding, which was actually a better sign than meeting in person.

Don't worry, I type fast, I guarantee I'll convince you.

Taken aback by Tan Jincheng's words, Ding realized that she was indeed trying to win over Orange Technology. As the CEO of Orange Technology, it was indeed her responsibility to consider such matters, as they involved the company's strategic issues.

But then again, she's a woman.

For a moment, Gu Qingqing gently patted Tan Jincheng: "You're a major shareholder, how can you say such irresponsible things?"

"Haha, whatever, let him try to win me over. I can personally lean towards him a bit. The company should just do what it needs to do and not worry about him. We can cooperate with whoever we want."

Pig farms didn't seem to have anything worth cooperating with. Several years later, they also created an e-commerce app called Koala, which took a high-end approach and did quite well during a time when everyone was advocating for advance consumption.

But it was later sold to Ahri, and then it seems to have disappeared.

He capitalized on the lipstick craze and even successfully sold it to Ali, which can be considered quite successful. In fact, for a company, if a business is not its core business, there is no need to be too concerned about saving face.

If you make a quick profit and then sell it to a sucker, you've succeeded.

Old Ding is a very shrewd man with a high status in the industry. In the early years of the Wuzhen Internet Conference, he seemed to be the host, gathering a large number of big shots at his dinner parties.

He tried to win over Tan Jincheng, but Tan Jincheng had already thought of a way to deal with it. After all, he was in the physical business, and although he also had a part in the internet industry, it was not his main business.

Around 2000, Mr. Ding's name was a household name.

On a personal level, because the company is located in Ningbo, and because he has a good relationship with Huang Zheng, he can be closer to Lao Ding in terms of personal relationships. As for the company level of Orange Technology, things will remain the same.

From a profit perspective, Orange Technology has a greater advantage by being close to Tencent. QQ's traffic has already been established, and WeChat will be another major source of traffic in the future. These two powerful traffic drivers are coveted by many small companies.

If you can't generate traffic yourself, then you need to attract traffic from other sources, just like with QQ lingerie stores.

The wisdom of simplicity, as passed down from our ancestors, is still very true. Many principles are interconnected, whether in life or business. Once you understand the deepest principles, doing things becomes quite simple.

Just like stock trading, simplify things. Forget all that technical indicators and divergence. I'll just throw in a hundred million right away, and even the two biggest petrochemical companies will make a splash.

It's that simple.

During Tan Jincheng's stay in Hangzhou, the market index had already surged by over 4600 points, and the traders at ByteDance's securities investment division were working like crazy, as if they were on steroids.

They really wish the stock market were open every day. Xiao Liu, who is good at short-term trading, is now one of the star figures on the stock exchange's daily trading list. Qilu Securities Beicang branch often appears on the daily trading list of several stocks at the same time.

Of course, the funds that appeared at the same time were not only controlled by Xiao Liu's account, but also by other coordinated accounts controlled by other traders. This guy does have short-term trading talent, with a high win rate. He is also very quick to cut his losses and run away when he senses something is wrong.

Once other traders discovered this, they would also allocate some funds to follow suit and try their luck, which led to Qilu Securities branch appearing on the list of top traders even more frequently.

These guys were having a blast. They'd already completed their mission, so now they could do whatever they wanted. They were even more impressed with their boss's foresight.

The happiest person was undoubtedly the general manager of Qilu Securities' business department. Recently, due to the frequent trading on ByteDance's trading platform, the business department's turnover has increased rapidly, and it has also frequently appeared on the list of top traders, greatly increasing the business department's visibility.

It's important to know that it wasn't just the 4000 million yuan that Tan Jincheng later provided that led to frequent trading; towards the end of the bull market, Cheng Linfeng also gradually sold off some stocks that he felt were worth profiting from. For example, SAIC Motor, which he had previously bought, had seen its share price stagnate around 25 yuan, with high trading volume but no price increase, and Cheng Linfeng had already begun preparing to sell.

Unlike ordinary retail investors, the funds in the ByteDance Engine account after the price increase of up to five times are already enormous. With such a large amount of funds, the overall profit is also quite considerable, so it is time to start selling in batches.

In Mr. Tan's words, it's about selling stocks to those who need them, so that everyone can make money together.

Listen to this, isn't this the true face of capitalists? Making the act of harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people) sound so noble.
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After confirming that he would no longer meet with Sun Tongyu, Tan Jincheng met with Huang Zheng again. This guy was setting up his vertical e-commerce website. Having a big shot supporting him makes all the difference. Compared to Zhang Yiming's shabby startup days, Huang Zheng's e-commerce company was much more impressive.

He also came up with a name that he thought was quite good, but Tan Jincheng thought it was a strange and inappropriate name: "Oukuwang".

Ouku.com claims to have been founded by Huang Zheng, but it is actually controlled by BBK Electronics. The 3C products it sells are all brands under BBK Electronics, so it is essentially BBK Electronics' self-operated e-commerce business.

The big players certainly have a different perspective. The channel war for offline 3C products is becoming increasingly fierce. Even before the crisis truly arrived, they realized that if things continued like this, and large distributors like Gome and Suning controlled the market, their brands would only face certain death.

These days, even the notoriously arrogant Ms. Dong has to bow down to distributors like Gome and Suning. Be careful! The competition among 3C product brands is even fiercer. As a manufacturer, it's difficult to have any say with distributors.

If someone is unhappy, they can even remove your product from their channels.

Taking advantage of Huang Zheng's return to China to start a business, BBK is venturing into self-operated e-commerce, aiming to control the distribution channels in its own hands, which is certainly an experiment.

"You don't even own the controlling stake yourself, yet you're asking me to invest. Do you think your mentor would agree to that?"

"What's there to disagree about? Once we get to know each other, we're all family. We can make money together," Huang Zheng said nonchalantly.

Zhejiang entrepreneurs generally share this mindset. Huang Zheng may not have started his own business, but he seems to have the traditional Zhejiang business habit of preferring to work together with others. This is evident in the numerous partners that Pinduoduo later had.

To be honest, I really dislike the Pinduoduo app. Its "like and share" campaign is incredibly annoying. If you say you don't have this app, people will get even more excited to ask you to like it.

During the peak period of customer development, Tan Jincheng suffered greatly, but after gaining a deeper understanding of the software, he discovered that it did have many merits, especially its efforts in helping farmers.

Many people say that Pinduoduo is full of counterfeit goods, but in Huang Zheng's own words, many products on Pinduoduo don't even have a brand name, so they can't even be considered counterfeit goods.

But it really is cheap, and it has indeed helped a lot of poor people. Can you imagine someone who buys a down jacket for 59 yuan, replying seriously in the comments, and posting photos of themselves trying it on?
The Happy Farm + Farmers Assistance system was inspired by him. While making money is fundamental for businesses, it is also important to have a sense of social responsibility.

Marketing tactics can be a little ugly, but the fundamentals of a business cannot be ugly.

"I'm leaving soon. Our bet on the investment is still valid. But I still wish Mr. Huang all the best in his business and hope he can take down Jingdong."

Since Ouku.com is controlled by BBK Electronics, Tan Jincheng is even more certain that Huang Zheng won't be running this for long.

There's no other reason than that a lucky person like him, even if he were to help his master with work, couldn't last long; he was bound to be unwilling to lag behind others.

This is a sure thing; Pinduoduo now has a chance to invest.

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My Years as a Heavenly Official

Shen Dexian, who had no money, no house, no car, and no wife, finally encountered the greatest opportunity in his life: he received a decree from the Heavenly Court and became the local deity, who had no money, no house, no car, and no wife.

Although he was a local deity who didn't even own any land, he was still a ninth-rank official and could hire a female assistant.

Benefits available:
1. During the term of office, may you remain forever young and ageless.

2. During his term of office, he will live as long as the local earth god.

Third, during the term of office, one may enjoy some of the powers of the local deity (penetrating the earth, bestowing nectar, and sending dreams).
The Heavenly Court's recruitment process is fair and impartial.

A wealthy and beautiful woman worth hundreds of billions, a cold and aloof long-legged female lawyer, and a stunningly intelligent young woman, all frequently engage in illegal and unethical activities offline.

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(End of this chapter)