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

Chapter 933 Little sister-in-law~ You don't want anything to happen to Brother Dong, do you?
When Chen Mo heard that Liu Qiangdong would be going to the United States at the end of the month to participate in the DBA program jointly offered by the University of Minnesota and Tsinghua University, he remained silent for a moment.

On the other end of the phone, Liu Qiangdong sounded relaxed: "Mr. Mo, interested? Let's go together."

Let me tell you, this project is specifically designed for our Chinese senior management team. It's a short-term, intensive, and high-intensity program—to enhance strategic thinking, broaden global perspectives, and learn from the West to defeat the West!

It didn't take long, only a week. It's like a woman's breasts—even if they're small, you can always squeeze them out.

Chen Mo hesitated for a moment and replied, "Me? You know I won't go. The fighting is fierce down below, and it's a critical time. I have to stay and oversee things."

"Okay, I'll hang up now."

The call ended, but Chen Mo's brow remained furrowed. He immediately instructed the Tianji Pavilion to conduct a background investigation into the DBA project.

An hour later, the report was presented.

The project itself was indeed legitimate, but what really caught Chen Mo's attention was the list of participants—it didn't consist of ordinary executives, but rather leaders, founders, and even investment gurus from various industries.

This is a true "Chinese Business Leaders Class": Ning Gaoning of Sinochem, Wang Shi of Vanke, Jiang Nanchun of Focus Media, Shen Nanpeng of Sequoia Capital, and Zhang Lei of Hillhouse Capital.
When he saw the last name, Chen Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he even remembered Yang Yuanqing.

The value of this class goes far beyond the courses themselves; it is more about creating a rare platform for top business elites to engage in in-depth exchanges, brainstorm ideas, and even foster collaborations.

For Liu Qiangdong, this is not only an academic opportunity to enhance his resume, but also an excellent chance to expand his network of top-tier contacts and find inspiration for JD.com's next strategic move.

But he knew even better that in the original timeline, it was this trip abroad that became a major turning point in the fate of Liu Qiangdong and JD.com—that "accident" led to Liu Qiangdong being given a handle to use against him, forcing him to relinquish power, and plunging JD.com into turmoil that lasted for several years.

Although it's impossible to determine who set up the scheme in the first place, this time, Chen Mo knows exactly who it is.

Without hesitation, the prime suspects were pointed to Ant Group and Lao Ma.

First of all, this list includes Yang Yuanqing of Lenovo, who has a close relationship with Jack Ma.

The timing was too perfect, and the motive too obvious: JD.com is a crucial part of the strategic layout of the Beyond Group.

If Dongzi gets into trouble, JD.com will be thrown into chaos, and may then be forced to sever ties with the other side.

On the surface, the other side has gained the initiative by striking first, but Chen Mo is keenly aware that although Alibaba is in trouble everywhere, it has not gained absolute power.

Moreover, from a higher perspective, they are at an absolute disadvantage.

If JD.com were to fall at this point, it would be tantamount to cutting off its own arm.

Regardless of whether the person behind the scenes is Ma or not, from the moment he received Liu Qiangdong's call, it was either him or not!
Dongzi must be saved—but it cannot be said outright; the method and approach must be carefully considered.

You can't just say, "Don't go, you'll get scammed if you go," that's not only unconvincing, it's more like a curse.

The reason Chen Mo didn't say earlier was, "Forget it, it's too dangerous abroad, don't go."

Moreover, Chen Mo knew Dongzi well: studying abroad was his long-cherished wish.

Back when they participated in "Win in China" together, he often heard Dongzi say, "If you have the chance, you must go out and read books."

Don't be fooled by Lei Jun's apparent willingness to heed his advice; it's because Lei Jun is well aware that these suggestions will bring absolute benefits to Xiaomi.

Take car manufacturing for example. Chen Mo had advised him several times before, but did he listen? No.

Therefore, once entrepreneurs like Liu Qiangdong and Lei Jun have made up their minds about something, it is extremely difficult for others to sway them.

But Chen Mo wasn't entirely helpless; he knew all too well how much energy Dongzi had.

Just like the unit of measurement 1 Kun equals 2.5, 1 Dong equals 2 minutes afterward, which also became a unit of time.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Mo suddenly had an idea.

He first called Liu Qiangdong back: "Where are you now? In Suqian? It's okay, just let me know before you leave so I can give you a farewell dinner. Okay, it's settled then."

After hanging up the phone, he pulled out a number in his contacts that he had almost never dialed—the contact information that Dongzi had left when he entrusted his "final affairs" before his speech.

As soon as the call connected, Chen Mo's voice suddenly softened.

"Hello~ Is this your sister-in-law? This is Chen Mo."

Two hours later, in a very private tea room.

This was the first time Chen Mo met Zhang Zetian—or rather, Mrs. Liu—in the absence of Liu Qiangdong.

In their previous meetings, she always quietly stayed by Dongzi's side, obedient and submissive, and apart from her youthful innocence, she had no real presence.

From a young internet celebrity who became famous for holding a milk tea, to Mrs. Liu who can drink tea with him across the street.

But Chen Mo knew in her heart that to become an internet sensation from a photo of her holding milk tea and gradually step into the top business circles, her innocent appearance was far from enough. Behind it all lay the halo of a prestigious university, shrewd decision-making, and strong image management skills.

Based on his limited interactions, he knew clearly that the woman sitting opposite him appeared youthful on the surface, but was actually intelligent, goal-oriented, and strong-willed.

Tsk~ Aside from his good looks, he's too skinny and doesn't suit Chen Mo's taste. He'll probably only arouse Dongzi's 'fatherly love'.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Chen Mo got straight to the point, explaining in detail the potential risks that Dongzi's trip might bring.

“You can think carefully about what I just said.” His tone was calm, but his words were clear. “After all, you and Qiangdong met abroad, so you should have a better understanding of this matter.”

Zhang Zetian listened quietly, her expression unchanged, only a fleeting flicker in her eyes betraying her thoughts. Chen Mo didn't miss her subtle expressions.

Before parting, he walked behind his sister-in-law, gently patted her thin shoulder, his voice low but carrying an undeniable weight:
"Little sister-in-law, you don't want Brother Dong to bring back a few sisters for you when he goes abroad, do you?"

After seeing Zhang Zetian off, Chen Mo's expression turned serious, and he dialed Zhang Changfa's number:

"You can move things over there now."

Come and don't come, it's indecent.

Old Ma, since you can use underhanded tactics to mess with my brother, then I'll take care of your crown prince and crown princess.

Since the day Bing Xixi issued her statement, public opinion has gradually spiraled out of control.

Although some influential figures who were on good terms with the platform endorsed it, they soon discovered that they had "cried at the wrong grave" and were bombarded with angry netizens, forcing them to close the comment section.

The livestreamer's price-cutting incident was just a spark. People are not angry about one or two failed attempts at price-cutting, but rather about the opaque and unstandardized mechanism behind it.

If a platform explicitly states that a product priced at 5000 yuan requires 5000 cuts to guarantee success, with only a very low probability of success ahead of time, then it's understandable that both parties are willing to pay and accept the offer.

But if the first few cuts show "only 0.01% left", who can resist?

They said "Chinese people don't lie to Chinese people," but they ended up being treated like "Japanese people."

Coupled with past experiences of "getting a small bargain but suffering a small loss" while shopping on the platform, consumer dissatisfaction has continued to accumulate.

By August 20, public resentment towards Pinduoduo had reached a boiling point.

At the headquarters of Pinduoduo, Huang Zheng was also cursing loudly:
"Are you an idiot? Who gave you the audacity to issue such a stupid statement?"

The PR director was scolded like a grandson and didn't dare to say a word for a long time. Finally, he reluctantly said, "It was all done by my subordinates without authorization. I am also responsible for this because I did not supervise them properly."

He pursed his lips, adopting a righteous and awe-inspiring demeanor: "If there's a problem, you can punish me; it has nothing to do with those below."

"Don't you know what time it is? You've affected the overall situation, and you can't take responsibility for that! The employee involved should be dismissed immediately."

"Understood, I'll handle it immediately."

A few hours later, the director who had just fired the public relations specialist also couldn't escape being fired.

In Huang Zheng's office, he looked at the man sitting on the sofa and forced a smile, "I'm sorry, I've made President Jiang laugh."

Jiang Fan crossed his legs, expressionless: "The situation was initially very favorable, but there are always some rebellious individuals who disregard the overall picture. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many problems."

"Yes, the blame lies entirely with Chen Mo. Maliciously inciting public opinion, this man has already met his demise!"

"I think we must now adopt the right attitude. Even if we can't completely salvage our reputation, we must at least cut our losses in time."

"What General Jiang means is..."

"Money is the best medicine. I'm here to supply General Manager Huang with ammunition. Next, we can..."

Huang Zheng was present at the last meeting and witnessed firsthand how much President Ma valued Jiang Fan.

This "Alibaba heir" now represents Jack Ma's will.

Seeing that Jiang Fan had something to say, Huang Zheng quickly leaned in and listened, nodding repeatedly.

Late August.

Under Jiang Fan's overall command and with the support of 500 billion yuan, although the situation did not reverse, it showed visible improvement.

Firstly, just three days after Pinduoduo's initial public response, Huang Zheng gave an exclusive interview to CBN, a Shanghai-based media outlet.

He spoke earnestly and sincerely, reviewing the various difficulties that had arisen since the founding of Bingxixi, acknowledging that they had indeed taken many detours, and expressing that they would learn profound lessons from them.

Shortly after the interview was published, Pinduoduo officially released a second statement, which was completely different in style from the previous one:
Further Explanation and Improvement Commitment from Pinduoduo Regarding the "Livestreamer Price-Bargaining Incident"

"Recently, we have noticed the discussions and questions raised by users and the media regarding the platform's price-cutting activities, and we take this very seriously and are reflecting deeply on it."

First, we sincerely apologize for the unclear rules and opaque progress display during the activity. This exposed shortcomings in our user experience design.

Regarding the issues exposed in the livestreamer's price-cutting event, due to page display limitations, there were errors in the progress display, leading to user misunderstanding. We have begun optimizing the relevant logic to ensure fairness, impartiality, and transparency.

At the same time, we will introduce a "price-cutting progress guarantee mechanism": if a user fails to succeed after completing a specified number of assistance attempts, the platform will make up the difference.

To express its apology, QQ will add an additional 10 billion yuan in subsidies to increase the probability of users successfully "cutting the price".

We appreciate the oversight from all sectors of society and will continue to optimize the event rules and improve the user experience.

Bingxixi always aims to bring real benefits to its users, and we sincerely request everyone to continue to provide suggestions to help us grow better.

Huang Zheng, founder and CEO of Pinduoduo.

(End of this chapter)