2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 967 "Bald Programmer Begs for Forgiveness Online!"

"In eight months, the investment returns approached 900 million yuan."

Tan Jincheng's profits from Inco Medical are remarkable. On February 11, the total turnover of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was 786 billion yuan, a decrease of more than 100 billion yuan compared with the previous few trading days.

Under special circumstances, the overall performance of A-shares has been relatively sluggish, and investors remain relatively cautious about trading under uncertain factors.

Benefiting from improved expectations for the resumption of work, A-share sectors such as home appliances, steel, and food and beverage performed well today. The medical sector, which had previously surged, has entered a period of adjustment, and the medical device sector, in which Inco Medical is located, is also in a period of adjustment.

However, Inco Medical performed quite well throughout the day. Following the market and sector's significant drop at the open, Inco Medical's stock price rose rapidly after a half-hour adjustment.

By the afternoon, Inco Medical's trading volume had increased significantly, and its trend was extremely strong. It finally closed the day's trading at the limit-up price of 30.42 yuan. Inco Medical's total trading volume for the day was 3.84 million yuan, with a fluctuation of more than 13 points.

The stock price, which was on the verge of breaking down, was pulled back up by a single limit-up move today.

Based on today's closing market value, Tan Jincheng's holdings in Inco Medical are worth 23.9 billion yuan. In the process of acquiring Inco Medical shares, including acquisition, share issuance and handling fees, Tan Jincheng's total expenditure was approximately between 14 billion and 15 billion yuan.

"Market expectations have changed, so the trend is different. We don't need to pay too much attention to the stock price; we just need to do our own thing."

The series of efficient deployments by the ByteDance Group, the resumption of work and production at the Weilai Automobile Yongcheng Industrial Park, and the surge in Inco Medical's stock price over the past month and a half have all put Tan Jincheng in the spotlight. So far, among the domestic companies that have responded to this emergency, Weilai is undoubtedly a model among private enterprises.

Regarding the company's efficient response system and its contributions to society, the ByteDance Group, led by Weilai Auto, has demonstrated an extremely efficient response system. In particular, Lotus in Jiangcheng, which was at the center of the storm, put a lot of effort into appeasing its employees.

Li Xiang also made a significant appearance during this period.

"Take care of your personal safety. Don't rush to start work. I estimate that Jiangcheng will be the last city in the country to start work. Just calm down and make arrangements for your employees during this time."

At the behest of Tan Jincheng, Orange Group began developing a digital management system for the incident at the early stages of its full-blown outbreak. The system tracks employees’ health status in real time, monitors their physical data daily, and analyzes and reports the data to ensure transparency.

In addition, there are intelligent digestion, remote work, and intelligent production lines to reduce employee gatherings. These advanced systems were first implemented at the Lotus Jiangcheng plant to ensure its stability.

"The controlling shareholder will approve a sum of money, which will be transferred to Lotus's account in the next few days to help you get through this difficult time."

Tan Jincheng makes a video call to Li Xiang every day to listen to Li Xiang's work report and maintain timely communication. As of now, the biggest difficulty for Lotus, which cannot produce, is the cash flow problem.

When I took over Lotus, the company was practically on its last legs. The increase in sales in recent years has helped a bit, but it's only a temporary relief. Lotus is not yet truly profitable.

At this critical juncture, ensuring a smooth transition for Lotus requires crucial cash flow, which is precisely what Lotus currently lacks most.

As the controlling shareholder of Lotus, ByteDance has an obligation to help Lotus overcome its difficulties; of course, this money is a loan to Lotus, not a gratuitous assistance, and if it cannot be repaid on time, it will automatically be converted into Lotus shares.

Currently, ByteDance holds 51% of Lotus's shares. Under the current circumstances, Tan Jincheng has no intention of increasing his shareholding in Lotus. After all, Lotus still has a plan to rush for an IPO, and as a well-known international brand, it is obviously more advantageous for Lotus to be listed overseas.

Having overseas shareholders is also more conducive to Lotus's overseas IPO plans and channel layout.

On February 12, Lotus Jiangcheng Co., Ltd. officially announced that it would soon receive RMB 5 billion in financial assistance from its controlling shareholder. The RMB 5 billion will be used entirely to ensure the income of employees and their families during this special period.

Lotus Jiangcheng pays full salaries to nearly 5000 employees, provides technical support for remote workers, provides free disinfection supplies to employees, and has established a special medical fund to cover the treatment costs of employees and their families.

In addition, the online psychological counseling service launched by headquarters will help employees cope with current psychological stress, and priority will be given to employees in Jiangcheng. Furthermore, Lotus will provide interest-free loans to employees facing financial difficulties, with a maximum interest-free loan of 30 yuan, and provide online education support for employees' children, including equipment subsidies and course resources.

With the announcement and internal emails released, morale at the Lotus Jiangcheng factory was greatly relieved, and Li Xiang had solved the biggest problem.

"See? It's good to have money."

Tan Jincheng's emphasis on cash flow played a crucial role at this time. No matter how the company was structured, it required substantial financial support. The employee benefits at the Jiangcheng Lotus factory are also applicable to other regions.

He couldn't possibly favor one over the other, lest it create a hazard to employee stability after work resumes.

"Ordinary employees don't ask for much. If you help them when they are in trouble, they will remember the company."

Of course, they will naturally switch to other companies when they encounter better opportunities, but at least they retain their reputation, which is actually very important for large employers. In recent days, major companies have been trying to find ways to solve their employment problems.

On February 15th, Dingding updated its app client in response to this emergency. This update, defined as version 5.0, added a large number of online office and online education functions.

With this update, Dingding has officially solidified its position as the leading online office solution provider in China.

"Back then, we almost had the opportunity to invest in Dingding, which was a real pity."

Ding Sanshi, a gaming industry mogul based in Hangzhou, felt genuinely threatened after experiencing Dingding's online office and online education functions for a while. NetEase is known for its excellent games.

However, NetEase has a deep presence in education, with a significant presence in primary and secondary education centered around Youdao Dictionary, as well as higher education, adult education, and even professional courses in science, technology, and engineering.

Dingding has also had investments in education, but it is not the focus compared to NetEase. Dingding's focus is more on online office work, just like NetEase's focus is on education, but it also has some involvement in online office work.

This time, Dingding's powerful offensive has gradually influenced the pig farm's educational strategy.

At this moment, Ding Sanshi couldn't help but feel emotional.

He had a very high opinion of Dingding. Back then, he had talked to Tan Jincheng about investing in Dingding. Tan Jincheng had promised to give him the corresponding investment opportunities. Unfortunately, he missed several major investment opportunities in Dingding.

Thanks to this incredible opportunity, Dingding's daily active users exceeded 100 million. Dingding's momentum was established, and it was simply impossible for it to secure further investment.

Moreover, Tan Jincheng is not short of money at all now. He is fully capable of supporting Dingding and does not need external investment.

"Investment opportunities are sometimes like that; they're fleeting, which is a bit of a pity."

The internet industry has paid close attention to Dingding's rapid growth, and Dingding has lived up to expectations, growing at an extremely fast pace, especially in the field of online education. Now, the vast majority of schools have officially started offering online courses on Dingding.

After years of hard work, Tan Jincheng has incubated another nationally popular APP. In addition to these, Dingding's growth has extraordinary significance for Tan Jincheng's internet business.

This is because it is the first national-level software independently developed by Tan Jincheng in the internet field.

Originating from Flashpoint Technology's office system, Dingding has gradually become independent. Over the past decade, Dingding has become strategically significant to Tan Jincheng's career, and its success demonstrates that Tan Jincheng's team has the ability to incubate independently.

In the past, whether it was Kaixin.com, Kaixin Farm, or even Orange Products Club, although they had considerable influence, they could not be considered national-level software. At best, they were just further down the path of imitation.

While Dingding's online office solutions may seem like imitations, they are the result of Tan Jincheng's team's continuous exploration and gradual improvement over more than a decade, forging their own path. Dingding's current influence is comparable to WeChat.

However, as Tan Jincheng said, there are gains and losses.

As the number of installations of Dingding has increased rapidly, some of its shortcomings have been fully exposed. For example, the functions of reading and field attendance tracking have long been criticized by working people who cannot work, and now students have also been added to the list.

Within just a few days, Dingding's rating on the App Store quickly dropped to 2.4 stars. According to the App Store's rules, apps with ratings below two stars may be removed from the App Store. Users don't know how likely Dingding will be removed.

However, they wanted to vent their dissatisfaction in this way, especially the student group that recently joined in. They frantically gave Dingding extremely low ratings, and millions of reviews under the Dingding app on the Apple Store complained about their dissatisfaction.

As Dingding experienced rapid growth, it also faced its first public relations crisis.

"Haha, I should have thought of that. Just follow the public relations crisis strategy we've already developed."

Dingding's current CEO is Chen Xing, who joined Orange in 2010 and worked on projects such as Happy Games and Orange Products Club before being transferred to Dingding in 2012 and joining Dingding's management team in 2014.

Over the course of six years, Chen Xing gradually demonstrated his talent and officially took over as CEO of Dingding in 2018.

"Those who are at work don't need to worry about them for now; just try to calm the students down."

Chen Xing smiled wryly. If you were to ask which team in Tan Jincheng's company was under the most pressure this year, it would definitely be Ding Ding's team. Ding Ding was not only responsible for the company's internal operations, but also for the needs of public services.

The boss has high standards for Dingding products and has recently been frequently visiting the Dingding business unit, personally overseeing operations. "Boss, that's a really harsh thing to say. We're just office workers too."

"Haha, sorry, sorry, I was a bit too blunt. I'll treat your group to coffee later, but you can't let that get out."

"Soothe the students' emotions, use language that is not harsh and is close to their language, such as classmates, we, etc., even if it is more colloquial, so as not to arouse their rebellious feelings."

"Most importantly, don't use a didactic approach to issue announcements."

"In addition, you can open an account on social networking sites with a large student population, such as Bilibili, to share the daily life of the development team and show how your engineers optimize lag issues, etc."

"As for tone, you can use self-deprecating language, such as saying that a bald programmer is asking for forgiveness online, to get closer to the student group."

In addition, students can be encouraged to submit stories about their learning process. Outstanding stories can be rewarded, which can increase student participation and evoke emotional resonance.

"In this special period, it's okay to play the emotional card. You should know that these people may become your colleagues in the future."

"We should also set up anonymous suggestion boxes. If you have any good suggestions, you should adopt them and not be complacent."

Tan Jincheng's explanation was meticulous. Li Xing was a tech-savvy person, and Dingding, as an office software, had always kept a low profile. Li Xing had never imagined such a large-scale explosion, nor had he ever thought that Dingding would encounter such a major public relations crisis.

Although the boss's words were a bit harsh, over the years, while office workers often complained about Dingding, including themselves feeling that some functions were simply anti-human, in the current environment, most office workers really don't need to care too much about their opinions.

Office software, to put it bluntly, is actually designed for bosses. If bosses think the software is good, it can be successfully promoted.

"If students, especially university students, offer good suggestions in public, you can extend an invitation to them, such as to participate in the optimization of Dingding, or to work for Dingding after graduation."

Chen Xing nodded repeatedly: "This is a good suggestion. Being able to work for a well-known company right after graduating from university is something that countless college students would find hard to refuse."

"Yes, few people can refuse such an opportunity, but as I said before, don't be aloof, always be approachable, and also interact with parents and the school."

After discussing the specific public relations crisis process, Tan Jincheng then said seriously, "Opportunities can also turn into crises. As a management tool, Dingding has some features that we have to add, but you still need to put more effort into maintaining the balance between management tools and humanistic care."

"Don't avoid the conflict. The emotions haven't fully erupted yet, so your public relations are actually much simpler right now. If it drags on, your reputation will be ruined."

Chen Xing also realized the seriousness of the problem. The post-90s and post-00s generations are a very individualistic group. They can really be hostile to a company because of a piece of software. Like that guy who did campus loans before, now he gets boycotted no matter what he does.

If this public relations crisis causes these new recruits to become hostile towards Dingding, it will create considerable trouble during the recruitment process in the future.

"I understand. I will personally oversee the public relations aspect."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work. Your team should also take care to rest. If you need more people, ask your boss for help."

Gu Qingqing also serves as the Human Resources Director of Orange Group. Although Orange Group's operating rate is not high, it has done a good job in working from home. By making full use of working from home, Orange Group is currently operating smoothly.

This is partly due to Gaode Maps and Dingding team, because thanks to these two software programs, Orange Group also became one of the first companies in Zhejiang Province to resume work.

"Okay, I will manage the employees' emotions and remind everyone to get some rest."

Resuming work is not a big problem, as the majority of people are willing to go to work. However, the daily data cannot eliminate the panic, which in turn affects work efficiency. Tan Jincheng does not have a good solution to this.

"Alright, I'm leaving now. You guys keep going."

After leaving the Dingding Business Unit, Tan Jincheng went home. Recently, he has been staying in Beicang obediently and has not been running around. It's not that he is afraid of death or does not want to visit other industrial bases, but that he does not want to cause trouble for the local government.

If someone like him appeared at the Lotus Jiangcheng factory, it would definitely boost the morale of the employees, but at the same time it would certainly cause a lot of trouble for the frontline staff.

"You're back? Don't come in yet."

Just as Tan Jincheng arrived at his doorstep, his father stopped him and gave him a thorough dressing-down.

Tan Jincheng sighed helplessly, saying that this kind of situation happens every day: "It's not that serious. We've done a great job in this regard. If something happens to me, it means that our system has been flawed for a long time."

“I don’t care. I have children at home. Whether you get hurt or not is another matter, but they can’t get hurt.”

Sixteen-year-old Tan Jinyue, ten-year-old Tan Jinchuan, and five-year-old Tan Jinqin are now the family's darlings. In the eyes of the elders of the Tan family, they are much more precious than Tan Jincheng and his wife, who are rarely home.

Since the start of winter break, the three of them haven't left the house. Fortunately, the yard is big enough that they can maintain a certain level of physical activity at home.

"Just like what's said online, this isn't exactly a good thing, but you two have been staying home lately, which hasn't happened in years."

As Tan Lihua carefully sprayed his son, he murmured with emotion that his son was 60 years old this year, which was the official retirement age. According to the latest personal income tax policy, Tan Jincheng could use his age to deduct taxes.

"Yes, that's right. I rarely stay at home for this long anymore."

From mid-December until now, for a full two months, Tan Jincheng has been very busy every day, but he has been able to go home every night and have time to have a meal with his family, unlike before when his two children would not see him for months.

The happiest people lately must be Tan Jincheng's two children. Their parents come home every day and occasionally play games with them. In their young minds, they don't understand what this incident means, but they are definitely happy that their parents come home every day.

"Okay, you can go in now. Go change your clothes before you hold the baby."

Tan Jincheng smiled and stepped inside. He heard these kinds of words every day. Sometimes they were his own parents, and sometimes they were his parents-in-law. Gu Qingqing's parents now lived in the same community as them, in the villa next door. The two families had become neighbors.

"understood."

He had heard similar things in his previous life. He was lucky to be able to reunite with his family both times. In his previous life, his family lived in their hometown. In this life, because of his identity, he lived a relatively peaceful life.

It's much better than those office workers who are alone and living far away from home.

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Tan Jincheng played games with his youngest daughter for about half an hour. Gu Qingqing also came home, following the same routine as Tan Jincheng, except that her mother took over.

When Gu Qingqing went to take a shower, Tan Jincheng's father-in-law and mother-in-law also came over. It was obviously because her parents had notified them. This was pretty much the procedure that had been followed since after the Spring Festival.

A short while later, Gu Qingqing, looking refreshed and carrying a faint scent of shower gel, came downstairs and sat down next to Tan Jincheng.

"The car market must have completely cooled down this month, right?"

When discussing some information she had come across at work recently, Gu Qingqing asked about the current situation of Weilai Automobile. Due to traffic restrictions, the demand for cars has changed significantly.

"That's right. According to the data we've collected so far, it's unlikely that any model will be able to sell more than 10,000 units this month."

Even though Weilai's offline stores have gradually started online live streaming, very few people are actually buying cars; most are just watching for fun. Other car companies are in a similar situation.

The global automotive market has been almost entirely stagnant this month.

Gu Qingqing nodded: "That should be about right, but I heard today that FlashTech might be different from what you think."

"Oh? Why is it different?"

In Tan Jincheng's previous plan, he thought that two-wheeled electric vehicles, whose online sales were not mature enough, would be the most difficult. However, it seems that Weilai Auto, which is hardly selling any cars, is actually the most difficult. On the contrary, the situation of Flash Technology is somewhat different from what he thought.

Gu Qingqing smiled and said, "Why don't you call Lao Zhang over and ask him? I passed by Flashcar today and went in to take a look. He seemed a bit excited and kept saying that Flashcar might not be able to send any more employees."

"Is that so? We should call him over and ask him about it."

(End of this chapter)