2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 787 A Moment of Leisure in Married Life

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Have you noticed that there are more and more taxis on the road?

The capital city was still a bit chilly under the night sky. A few slightly tipsy people stood by the roadside waiting for Lei Jun to smoke. Zhang, on the other hand, neither smoked nor drank; this guy was frighteningly self-disciplined.

"That's right, but Didi still has a long way to go in the capital. Didi basically dominates the capital."

The taxis were basically covered with advertisements, and Didi's orange advertisements covered most of the taxis in the capital. After receiving funding, Didi developed rapidly.

After learning that Kuaidi had been snatched away by Tencent, Jack Ma immediately gave Didi $1500 million.

Chen Wei's abilities are indeed outstanding. After securing Series B funding, Didi rapidly expanded, gradually eroding the market share of established players in Beijing through various tactics.

In the ride-hailing industry today, Didi has almost completely captured the market share in Beijing, while Yidao and Yaoyao are basically powerless to recover.

It's a real shame about Yaoyao. Their founders were financially independent and had deep connections in Beijing's transportation circles. Their management team consisted of overseas returnees who were elites. With money, connections, and expertise, they quickly gained the largest market share in Beijing.

They easily captured markets like airports and train stations that Yidao and Didi couldn't.

After investing in Kuaidi, Tencent planned to invest in another company in Beijing, with its first choice being Yaoyao, which was highly professional and had the largest market share. Unfortunately, the founder rejected the offer.

The reason was that their founders hadn't decided whether to pursue a car rental route or a ride-hailing route.

YaoYao's positioning is as unpredictable as their company name.

"Indeed, there is still a long way to go for ride-hailing services, but it is still a good thing for us. With more ride-hailing vehicles, we can sell more cars."

The development of express car services is actually quite fast. According to Chen Weixin and Lü Chuanwei's plan, by June this year, Kuaidi will cover 30 cities across the country, and Kuaidi 2.0 will be released in Beijing at the end of August.

The 2.0 version of the Kuaidi app has added new features such as real-time distance tracking, intelligent push mechanism, user points and VIP functions, and the location is more accurate.

Following Gaode Maps, Kuaidi has now partnered with Baidu Maps to continuously optimize ride-hailing location services.

"That's true. As long as you sell enough cars, it doesn't matter too much who's in charge."

Lei Jun seems to have a really strong smoking habit. After taking two deep drags, he sighed. Tan Jincheng also lit one up with him. When he first started his business, he was also inseparable from cigarettes and alcohol, but he rarely smokes now.

"Yes, our Aion S sales have increased significantly in the first two months of this year, which is largely due to the popularity of ride-hailing services."

The first quarter is not typically a peak season for car sales, and this year is no exception. However, sales of electric vehicles have seen a significant change in the first quarter of this year, especially for mainstream electric vehicles like the Aion S and BYD Qin.

All of this is related to the rapid expansion of Didi and its express car service. There are significantly more electric cars on the roads in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other cities, and the same is true in Ningbo.

Having expanded to so many cities, Chen Weixin naturally wouldn't leave Ningbo behind, as it was, after all, the territory of his benefactor.

Unlike the orange advertisements that float through the streets of Beijing, blue taxi body advertisements are everywhere in Ningbo, with the latter almost dominating the entire market share of the city.

"You're so smart! You've heated up the ride-hailing market, which will boost the electric vehicle industry. Your Weilai is doing really well now."

The ride-hailing and car rental markets have existed for a long time, and we've always known that this market is huge, but it has never really taken off. Why? It's simply because no one has hyped it up.

Mr. Tan's involvement has attracted more capital, especially from BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent). Now that all three have entered the fray, the entire ride-hailing market has immediately become lively.

Baidu's Bumblebee, Tencent's Express, and Ali's Didi have been expanding rapidly, with the number of drivers growing at an astounding pace. For example, Kuaidi's driver count has increased from just over a thousand to tens of thousands.

The planned Kuaidi app covered 40 cities and had over 30 drivers in 2013.

In addition, according to information obtained from Gaode Chengwu, Didi's plans are similar. Bumblebee's ambitions are actually quite large. Once the three BAT companies enter the market, they will make a big splash, just like the group-buying war back then.

Lei Jun was impressed by Tan Jincheng's strategic planning and actions. Tan Jincheng had announced before the Lunar New Year that he would invest 30 billion yuan in the new energy vehicle industry this year. Lei Jun had only recently come to understand Tan Jincheng's keen sense of opportunity.

Although he was also a representative, and even a representative from the capital, there was still a gap between him and Tan Jincheng in terms of status and position, mainly because he did not own a factory.

Miss Dong and Wang Xiaomu dare to speak sarcastically to him in public, but they wouldn't dare in front of the younger Tan Jincheng; in fact, they would have to be quite respectful.

There was no other way. When Tan Jincheng set up a factory in a certain city, in addition to boosting local employment, it could also drive up local housing prices. With housing prices rising, air conditioners would sell better.

"You can't say it like that. Actually, the pressure is quite high. There were quite a few companies that were very successful in the automotive industry a few years ago. If you don't improve, you'll be eliminated. You've seen the recent regulations from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, right?"

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reiterated that by 2015, the top ten automobile manufacturers should achieve a market share of 90%, and strive to create three to five automobile manufacturers with core competitiveness.

Currently, there are more than 3000 car manufacturers of all sizes across the country, including 171 companies engaged in the production of complete vehicles. In addition, there are plans to revoke the production licenses of another 48 car companies this year.

Those shell companies that used to hold onto their production licenses and wait for a good price have been trying to sell them since the beginning of the year, but no one is buying them. Some provinces simply don't have the conditions to manufacture cars, so buying the licenses is useless.

The top ten companies need to account for 90% of the market share, and the remaining 10% needs to be shared by more than 100 companies. This bottom-ranking elimination mechanism is quite brutal.

Weilai has indeed had a very successful two years. In 2012, it was even called one of the "Five Tigers" of domestic brands, along with Chery, Geely, and BYD Great Wall. However, it also faces considerable pressure, as its overall sales have not yet entered the top ten.

In previous years, car companies like Lifan and Zhongtai were doing very well. If you don't improve, you will only be slowly eliminated.

Although touted as one of the five major domestic automakers, those in the know understand their own situation. Weilai's success came from choosing a 'shortcut,' and in terms of gasoline vehicles, it almost completely imitated Great Wall's operating strategy.

After launching the Haval H6, Great Wall Motors has experienced astonishing growth. Although the two companies are direct competitors, they are both thriving due to the large market size.

Once new energy vehicles take off and the market for gasoline vehicles is squeezed, it will be difficult for companies like Weilai and Great Wall, which are the most similar to each other, to peacefully divide the market as they are now.

In the field of new energy vehicles, Tan Jincheng has even greater ambitions. The Aion brand is competing with BYD for market share, and the Weilai brand is targeting Tesla. This is much fiercer than the competition with Great Wall Motors for gasoline vehicles.

If we don't seize this great opportunity to expand and strengthen our internal capabilities now, it's hard to say whether we'll end up like Guozhongtai or Lifan in the future.

"That's right, if we don't improve, we'll all be eliminated."

This applies to car manufacturers and OEMs, and it's the same for mobile phone manufacturers. If you don't keep up, you'll be eliminated. Look at Nokia. Two years ago, who would have thought that this company would be struggling to survive in the mobile phone snack market?

Samsung did a great job in this regard. In the traditional mobile phone industry, Samsung's market position was not low. However, they transformed in time and embraced the Android system. The transformation was very successful, and they surpassed Nokia to become the number one in the global market.

Xiaomi can currently attract a large number of fans with its price advantage, but once companies like Huawei and OPPO/Vivo transform their businesses, their advantages will not be as obvious as they are now.

Only by making continuous progress can we ensure that we are not pushed out of the front row in the future.

Zhang Yiming doesn't own a house or a car in the capital. He lives in one of the apartments that Tan Jincheng bought before. Besides him, his classmate also lives there. He went back to Zhongguan Village with Lei Bus.

Tan Jincheng returned to his residence in the capital, and Gu Qingqing came to the capital with him. They were both representatives, but she was not a representative of REN. As a woman of the new era, Gu Qingqing was quite well-known among the post-80s generation.

Many media outlets are used to comparing her to that of a certain longan seller. While Gu Qingqing's wealth is not as great as that of the longan seller, and the scale of the industries she operates in cannot be compared, it would be a gross underestimation of her influence to ignore it.

As the woman who has accompanied Tan Jincheng all the way, Gu Qingqing has become more mature after giving birth. Although Orange Technology is actually controlled by Tan Jincheng, her influence in Orange Technology is no less than that of Tan Jincheng.

After all, she was one of the founders of Orange Technology, having participated in the company's establishment and operation from the very beginning. She has quite a few loyal followers within the company.

In addition, she is also managing one of the core future development strategies of Orange Technology, namely the game studio.

In addition, Gu Qingqing also manages the Tan Jincheng family's trust fund. Over the years, the assets in this fund have expanded rapidly through investment. In terms of scale, the assets actually managed by Gu Qingqing are definitely not comparable to those of a certain Guiyuan.

However, in terms of cash flow, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Orange Technology and its fund have a huge amount of cash flow that they can do a lot of things.

"Have you finished chatting?"

The house was warm, and Gu Qingqing, dressed in her pajamas, was watching TV in the living room. The heating in the capital city ended just in time for the Two Sessions, but their house was in a high-end community, so they didn't have to worry about these issues.

Three years after giving birth, 26-year-old Gu Qingqing has long since regained her pre-pregnancy figure. Coupled with the pampered life she has enjoyed over the years, her already great figure has gained an added charm unique to a young married woman.

"What do you mean, 'I don't know my wife is beautiful'? That's utter bullshit."

Tan Jincheng, who had drunk some alcohol that evening, stared blankly at Gu Qingqing, and suddenly this sentence popped into his head in a somewhat nonsensical way.

"Well, we've finished talking. Mr. Lei got a $200 million investment share. Zhang Yiming said he wanted to treat us, but in the end, he insisted on paying." That was the ticket to the event. Lei Jun was indeed very happy. Besides, he was also the host, so he didn't let Zhang Yiming, this 'poor guy,' pay the bill.

"What are your plans for tomorrow? My meeting is over. If you're free, let's go shopping together. I have to head back soon."

Since they met in 2004, whether they were rich or poor, or now their statuses are completely different, what makes Gu Qingqing happiest is that Tan Jincheng has always put her at ease.

Every time Tan Jincheng came home, she didn't smell of rouge, which even her parents found incredible.

She had asked him before, and Tan Jincheng replied that socializing outside was unavoidable, but at home, they still maintained a family atmosphere and couldn't bring the mess from outside home.

Lei Jun is actually the same way. He said that he smoked and went to bars a lot when he was young, but you should be clear about what to do and when.

"Okay then. I only have one interview tomorrow, so I'll try to finish it early. Speaking of which, it's been a long time since we went out alone together."

"That's right, so where should we go for fun?"

Back when he was in foreign trade, Tan Jincheng was busy and needed to travel frequently, but his work was actually quite relaxed. After receiving a few orders, he could secretly hand over the company to Zhang Xupeng to manage.

At this time, it was either the weekend or when Gu Qingqing didn't have classes, so the two of them could go out and play.

After starting FlashTech and then Orange Technology, such days became less and less frequent, and even less so later on.

However, even when the two of them go out alone now, they will be accompanied by someone. Although Tan Jincheng does not like to make a big show, he would not risk his life.

Tan Jincheng thought for a moment and said, "How about going to the Forbidden City? And then we can go shopping and stroll around Wangfujing?"

The whole family really enjoys visiting the Forbidden City. Little Tan Jinyue even filmed several promotional videos for Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) in the Forbidden City during a snowy day to promote her children's clothing brand.

It's too far to go anywhere, especially since it's during the Two Sessions, and Tan Jincheng could be in trouble at any time. These two places are relatively good places to relax and unwind.

"Okay, let's go to these two places then. I'll head back first. Honor of Kings is currently in closed beta, so I can't be away for too long."

The originally planned public beta test was ultimately postponed to the summer vacation in order to achieve better optimization. During the development of Honor of Kings, some materials will be released from time to time.

This game, with its grand setting and integration of traditional culture, attracted a group of enthusiasts during its development. Many interested gamers have been waiting for the public beta, so the delay naturally drew a lot of criticism.

Although game delays are common, TiMi Studio, especially the Honor of Kings development team, is under a lot of pressure, as this is Orange Technology's first super-large-scale mobile game.

To be honest, given the current network environment, it's quite difficult to really bring this kind of game to life. TiMi Studio also thinks so, which is why they postponed the open beta, waiting for the release of the new phone.

In addition, Honor of Kings is currently developing a PC version. Through a partnership with Microsoft via App Store, Windows users can download and install the mobile application from the Microsoft Store, thus enabling seamless operation of the mobile application on the Windows platform.

It's essentially just an Android emulator that only supports Android users. It's a last resort, but it does alleviate some of the complaints from mobile users about the poor gaming experience.

Tan Jincheng didn't have a good solution for the network issue either, as there was a significant difference between 3G and 4G.

However, if we don't develop it now and occupy the space, it will definitely be taken over by Tencent in a few years. This is a cash cow, and having it can basically guarantee the future of Orange Technology. We can't let Pony Ma take it over.

Tan Jincheng also knew that Gu Qingqing had been under a lot of pressure lately because of King of Glory, and that's what she kept an eye on when she got back.

"Why don't you let Orange Live start broadcasting Honor of Kings from the closed beta? Talk to He Jia about this and find some really good streamers to have a PK match."

Orange Live has done quite well over the years, attracting a large user base through game and singing live streams. In addition, this year Orange Live is also preparing to cooperate with Hunan TV to become the internet cooperation platform for the 2013 Super Boy competition.

As a first-generation live streaming platform, Orange Live's functions are somewhat similar to those of a certain platform, focusing on games and entertainment, and currently holding a good market share in these two areas.

Orange Live, which was incubated by them, has also made a name for itself. They have already secured multiple rounds of financing, and their total revenue last year reached 8.5 million yuan. They are currently planning to go public on Nasdaq.

He Jia used his passion to finally make a name for himself.

For Orange Technology, this is an unexpected surprise. Although YY, another live streaming platform invested by Lei Jun, went public on November 21 last year, the title of the first listed company has been stolen.

However, this also has an advantage, which is that there is a market value reference. YY's current market value is around 600 million US dollars, and Orange Live can be valued based on this when it goes public.

Based on this valuation, the current management team led by He Jia is considered to be at least a multi-millionaire on average, and He Jia herself is a billionaire.

After several rounds of dilution, the management team, including He Jia, still holds 7% of the shares, Orange Technology holds 30.7%, and Tan Jincheng personally holds 10.4%, which is the return he received for investing in the acquisition of AcFun.

“We’re already doing that. We’re currently training players, and He Jia is also planning to set up a gaming team and organize a competition when the network environment is better.”

By then, Orange Live should have already successfully completed its IPO, and will be even wealthier.

"Haha, this kid is quite clever. Don't worry, even if King of Glory is lukewarm for the first two years, it will definitely improve later. You don't need to put too much pressure on yourself. It doesn't matter if you lose money. After all, we started out making mini-games. At worst, we can just go back to making mini-games."

Testing of 4G networks actually began in 2013. Although the initial promotion was difficult, by the beginning of 2014, the three major operators had already launched 4G services to the public.

Once the iPhone 5S supports 4G, the rollout will be much faster; therefore, Tan Jincheng isn't too worried about network issues. He'll postpone the public beta by a quarter and optimize it further next year, so it won't be too much worse than in his previous life.

As for He Jia's idea of ​​forming a team, Tan Jincheng was quite supportive of it; indeed, some things don't require one to do anything; just give some people a platform, and they can showcase their talents.

The success of Orange Live and He Jia has also brought some alternative vitality to Orange Technology. Some programmers with ideas have started brainstorming to see what entrepreneurial projects they can do.

The company does not prohibit this, and may even encourage it, since most people with entrepreneurial ideas will first look for investment opportunities in either their former company or someone they know.

Given Tan Jincheng's reputation as a venture capitalist in China's investment world, what could be more suitable than his connections?
Gu Qingqing looked at Tan Jincheng with some suspicion: "Do you know something?"

Tan Jincheng didn't hide anything and said with a smile, "The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is already planning to promote 4G. It should be able to officially launch for ordinary users around next year. In addition, I will cooperate with mobile phone manufacturers to create a gaming phone brand and produce a batch of phones to promote Honor of Kings."

Automobiles are also products that need to be dealt with by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Tan Jincheng has close ties with these departments and is able to know things in advance that some people do not.

Gu Qingqing suddenly realized, "I see. That explains why you supported postponing the release of Honor of Kings."

Although he doesn't really care about Orange Technology's affairs, and rarely goes to TiMi Studio, Honor of Kings was, after all, developed and invested in by Tan Jincheng, so the postponement of the public beta plan must have been discussed with him.

The postponement of the public beta test for Honor of Kings was also strongly advocated by Tan Jincheng.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I'm going to take a shower, let's go to sleep."

Nothing happened that night. The next day was March 17, which was also the closing ceremony of the Two Sessions, but Tan Jincheng had nothing to do with the closing ceremony.

The CCTV interview was scheduled for 10 a.m. and would last for two hours. This way, Tan Jincheng could spend half a day with Gu Qingqing visiting the Forbidden City and then go shopping in Wangfujing in the evening.

The Palace Museum was quite crowded on the weekend, and many tourists recognized Tan Jincheng and his wife, taking photos and asking for pictures with them.

Tan Jincheng was in a good mood and responded to each question. Being recognized wasn't a bad thing; his photos of visiting the Forbidden City were probably already circulating online.

As the saying goes, one can be low-key in life, but one must be high-profile in public relations.

"Jin Yue is eight years old now. Should we bring her to the Forbidden City to take some photos again? She hasn't been here in the last two years."

"That depends on whether she's willing or not. She's not so easy to fool anymore."

Tan Jinyue, nicknamed "Dr. Tan" because of her large vocabulary from a young age, is noticeably more mature and has more ideas than other children her age. In previous years, it was easy to persuade her to take some advertising and promotional photos, but since she turned six, it has become more and more difficult.

"Haha, that's true. If she needs it, I can tell her. She listens to me quite a bit."

Indeed, the Tan couple had their daughter late in life and doted on her. In addition, there was a significant age gap and generational divide, so Tan Jincheng, her older brother, also raised her as a daughter, playing the role of a 'loving father'.

Gu Qingqing, as the sister-in-law, had no choice but to play the role of a 'strict mother'.

It's funny, though. Tan Jinchuan, who's a mischievous troublemaker at home, is afraid of his little aunt. His little aunt really spanks him. Maybe that's what they mean by "everything is in its own way"?
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, Factory Director Ma, who was waiting for the meeting to end, was packing his luggage, preparing for his first trip to China.

(End of this chapter)