Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 930 The Storm Unleashed on the Other Shore
These meticulously crafted professional reports and analytical articles seem to be thrown into an invisible media machine, rapidly dismantled, reassembled, and transformed, flooding the public eye in various forms.

On Bilibili, several financial content creators with millions of followers updated their videos almost simultaneously, and the videos quickly rose to the top of the trending list.

One of the works, titled "A video tells you where the money you borrow from financial platforms comes from and where the risks go," uses vivid cartoon illustrations to explain complex financial operations: an ant, with its tiny body, is seen leveraging a huge amount of bank funds, teetering on the brink of collapse.

The starkly contrasting bar charts visually reveal the vast difference between its capital requirements and those of traditional financial institutions.

Even more ruthless is Douyin (TikTok), some of which directly invite financial experts to explain "what is an ABS cycle" in the most straightforward and plain language;
Some film short dramas depicting how an ordinary family goes from easily obtaining loans to being harassed by debt collectors and on the verge of collapse. The videos always end with a striking line: "All of this stems from an unregulated financial game."

The topic instantly went viral.

Millions of discussions have emerged under hashtags such as #Ant's Leveraged Empire#, #Financial Behemoth Under the Cloak of Technology#, and #Who Decides My Investment Risks#.

The authenticity of the information is hard to discern, but the emotions are real and shared: anxiety, anger, and a sense of being deceived spread in layers.

Public anxiety quickly grew, and the calm analysis from the elite public opinion field provided solid evidence for this sentiment.

From mid-July to the end of July, these contents were released at a precise pace.

Whenever public sentiment calms down or is affected by other events, new 'material' immediately reignites the topic, drawing public attention back.

All voices, regardless of their form, share a highly consistent core message: strip away the technological halo to reveal the financial core and warn of potential risks.

The wave of criticism quickly spread online, and some traditional media began to follow up with reports, using cautious wording, but without exception, the focus was on the huge controversy caused by its business model and potential regulatory blind spots.

A shared concern is spreading from the virtual space and gradually settling into broader public perception.

People are beginning to re-examine that familiar ant—it is no longer just a symbol of convenience and innovation, but also carries a vague sense of unease.

This was exactly the effect Chen Mo wanted.

As the chief commander of the "Horse Has Now Been Subdued" project, he was stationed at the central command on the other side, handling the group's important affairs and focusing all his attention on the progress of the battle.

The information warfare campaign is proceeding according to plan and appears to be achieving its objectives.
First, tell stories and expose various cases to attract public attention. Then, use various types of stories to evoke people's painful memories of P2P lending and deepen their impression.

Then, explain the reasons, and subtly guide the public's perception to the Ant Group's IPO through previous stories, forming a memory chain and binding public opinion together.

The goal is to establish that Ant Financial is an unprecedented super P2P platform, and that if it were to collapse, it would be an unprecedented event.

There are no fixed strategies in warfare, and Chen Mo felt that this was more like playing a turn-based game.

He has already made his move and is now waiting for the opponent's reaction. Knowing Old Ma's temperament, he will never sit idly by and wait for his doom.

I've made my move, how should you respond?

Each plan of the other side is like writing a program. There are predictions and contingency plans for the different possible branches and results corresponding to each link, just like the root node and leaf node of a tree. As for how lush the branches and leaves are, it depends on the upper limit of their group's capabilities.

Sure enough, not long after the public outcry began, Ant Group launched its counterattack as expected.

Public opinion, primarily on platforms like Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, and Sina Weibo, began to feature articles and short essays defending Ant Group.

"Safeguarding Innovation – Ant Group's IPO: A Milestone Moment for China's Fintech Industry"

"The Engine of Inclusive Finance: Why Ant Group Deserves a Higher Market Valuation?"

Regulation and innovation are not contradictory; a rational view of Ant Group's path of technological empowerment.

Why are international investment banks unanimously optimistic about Ant Group's long-term value?

Saying Goodbye to the "Old Era of Banks": The Democratization of Finance Represented by Ant Group is Unstoppable

Data Insight: Ant Group's Risk Control Capabilities Far Exceed Traditional Banks

The emergence of these articles signifies that the other side has sounded the charge. Many self-media outlets and netizens have appeared out of nowhere, raising their banners to launch a counter-offensive, effectively countering the previous public opinion and attempting to break through the encirclement formed by the other side.

As time went by, the debates between articles and the passionate online exchanges between netizens intensified.
If data is tangible, then take a panoramic view of the entire country.

You will find that the battlefield of public opinion in China is divided into two parts, with the red and blue sides fighting each other in the invisible land of the Chinese Internet. The borders are intertwined, and the public is pulled back and forth by the emotions of both sides. Some people get involved, while others watch coldly.

On August 1, Chen Mo made several phone calls: "Qiangdong, Xuhao, Yiming, it's your turn to make a move."

Following the initial public outcry, multiple attacks were launched.

Using Ele.me as its spearhead, and collaborating with JD.com and Douyin for traffic support, with Pang Donglai providing logistical support, this strategy directly targets Meituan's (Alibaba's) cash cow business, forming a pincer attack combining "public opinion and commerce." This tactic, aptly named "using one's own spear," aims not merely to seize market share, but to exert pressure from multiple dimensions, forcing the Alibaba group to become overwhelmed.

Just one day later, on August 2, the Other Shore faction launched a full-scale war.

The "Instant Delivery (Food Delivery)" entrance is prominently displayed at the top of the JD.com app homepage.

When users clicked through, they discovered a different kind of 'JD.com,' with all the embedded services coming from Ele.me: group buying, food delivery, digital products, apparel, cosmetics, and same-city express delivery.
Among them, supermarket, fresh food, and daily necessities categories are all connected to Pang Donglai's supply chain system.

In the past two years, Pang Donglai has established 7 stores in Beijing and 3 stores in Tianjin.

Since the end of last year, Yu Donglai has suspended expansion and devoted all his energy to cooperation with Ele.me and JD.com. With the help of JD.com's warehousing, SF Express's transportation capacity and Ele.me's delivery, he has invested nearly 10 billion yuan to add 20 new supply chain nodes covering the whole country.

Douyin has also added a 'Group Buying' category to its top navigation bar, which is also integrated with Ele.me's group buying business.

同时饿了么团购APP突然开始大量发放团购优惠券，满10减8、满20减15、满50减45，满100减70，每天每个额度限领一张。

The subsidy war version 3.0 has been ignited, directly and unpretentiously striking at Meituan's heartland.

This profoundly illustrates what it means to say: war is like hosting a dinner party.
The unusual activities of the Bi'an Group have once again attracted media attention, and combined with the current public opinion context, they provide ample room for imagination.

Finance? Group Buying? Who is Really Promoting Inclusive Finance?

Ele.me's 10 Billion Yuan Subsidy Targets Meituan's Core Market, Igniting the Local Services 3.0 War

On one hand, they are trying every means to swindle money from ordinary people's pockets; on the other hand, they are finding ways to reward users with discounts in the form of consumer vouchers.

A daily cup of milk tea for just a few dollars, movie tickets at 30% off, and meal sets at less than 50% off per person.
Consumers voted with their feet, resulting in Ele.me's daily order volume doubling to over 6 million orders, thanks to the traffic support from JD.com and Douyin (Douyin's 1 million daily active users form a giant traffic pool).

Even with the powerful technology and resources of Beyond Cloud, a long-absent lag issue occurred, becoming an unexpected interlude.

In less than a week, Meituan, caught off guard, suffered a severe blow to its core group-buying market.

Alibaba's overall public opinion has also entered a defensive phase.

On August 11, Meituan issued a strongly worded statement through its official channels, filled with terms such as "unfair competition," "malicious subsidies disrupting the market," and "holding merchants and consumers hostage."

This manifesto was quickly reprinted by major financial media outlets and was seen as Meituan's first formal counterattack against the recent dramatic changes in the market.

However, the statement failed to stop the fighting from continuing to spread.

Two nights later, the "Bright Summit" conference room in Building 1 of Hangzhou Xixi Park was brightly lit.

This place was once a sacred site for creating countless commercial miracles—every year on Singles' Day, hundreds of Alibaba elites would gather here, and the transaction data scrolling on the giant screen would be like a war horn, directing this vast commercial empire to win one battle after another.

Tonight, the atmosphere here is equally somber, but it is filled with a solemnity unlike any other night.

An emergency meeting, no less important than Singles' Day (November 11th), is being held.

On either side of the long table sat not only Alibaba's core decision-making team, but also Meituan's senior management team, who had come specifically for the occasion.

They discussed ways to break the deadlock in response to the surprise attack from the other side, but were temporarily at an impasse.

Both sides wore solemn expressions, and a somber atmosphere filled the air.

Wang Xing coughed and spoke first, "I don't think there's much to say. If they can do the first thing, we can do the fifteenth. I suggest we add a Meituan button to Taobao so we can use Taobao's traffic to fight back."

Zhang Jianfeng, nicknamed "Xingdian" who is in charge of Taobao's technology team, said, "This is not a matter of a single button! User system integration, order system connection, and payment channel compatibility all take time!"
The other side clearly came prepared this time, seizing at least three to six months' advantage. We're trying to catch up at the last minute; technically, it's simply too late!

"Then what do you suggest we do? Just watch the market get eroded? By the time the system is fully integrated, it'll be too late!" Wang Puzhong said anxiously.

Zhang Jianfeng thought for a moment, "We can directly redirect from Taobao to Meituan first, let the technology team handle the data temporarily, and at the same time, another team will do the system integration work. But it will take at least a month, and since they are subsidizing us, shouldn't we also keep up?"

"Of course, otherwise even if the system is successfully integrated, it'll be too late."

Alibaba's financial guru, CEO Cai, sighed speechlessly, "I hate this kind of money-burning war with no technological content the most. Why is the other side never making any progress!"
"Jack, how much are you betting this time?"

All eyes were on Old Ma.

(End of this chapter)