Reborn in 2014: A One-Man Tycoon

Upon returning to Shanghai, Meng Chuan immediately threw himself into intensive self-study.

Time is running out; the stock market frenzy is coming to an end.

What followed was a stock market crash that lasted for several months.

At that point, Meng Chuan wouldn't have time to study on his own.

While Meng Chuan was busy with his self-study, the domestic e-commerce war entered a fierce stage.

Because the Double Eleven shopping festival is just around the corner.

Perhaps even Meng Chuan himself has forgotten that he and Ge Wei have a bet—betting whether Pinduoduo's daily sales can exceed 300 billion yuan on Singles' Day this year.

In 2013, Taobao's Singles' Day sales reached 350 billion yuan.

This feat shocked the world and caused Taobao's market value to soar.

However, as an emerging platform, Pinduoduo's goal of achieving 300 billion yuan in sales within just one year is still not viewed favorably by many.

But Wang Zheng has not forgotten the bet, nor has he forgotten the humiliation he suffered when he sought investment from Ge Wei.

Even if it wasn't for his own sake, he wanted to stand up for Meng Chuan and prove him wrong.

Therefore, starting in October, Wang Zheng devoted himself to the promotion and preparation for Double Eleven.

In previous years, Singles' Day was the main battleground for Taobao and JD.com.

Other platforms also put in a lot of effort during Double Eleven, but they can't even reach the second tier.

But this year, with the addition of Pinduoduo, it has become a three-way power struggle.

Although Singles' Day was first created by Taobao, it has now become a carnival for all e-commerce platforms.

Subways, buses, and billboards in major cities are almost entirely occupied by advertisements from major e-commerce platforms.

Pinduoduo has attracted a large number of users with strategies such as "billions in subsidies, genuine products, ten times compensation for fakes, and sharp discounts for new users".

In particular, Wang Zheng's "use now, pay later" policy completely dispelled some users' concerns about linking their bank cards, further boosting Pinduoduo's user growth.

In 2014, although e-commerce platforms had been around for many years, many people still had doubts about online payments.

I'm hesitant to link my bank card to the platform.

Pinduoduo's "use now, pay later" policy undoubtedly addresses the pain points of this user group.

In addition, Pinduoduo has been rapidly seizing the market from the very beginning with strategies such as low prices, genuine products, and subsidies, and users are becoming more and more accepting of it.

In comparison, Taobao's promotional strategies appear much more monotonous.

Despite Taobao's aggressive promotion, its executives are not optimistic about Pinduoduo's money-burning model.

In numerous internal high-level meetings, Taobao's top management unanimously agreed that Pinduoduo's subsidy model, which disregarded costs, was destined to fail.

After all, for a company to achieve long-term development, it must rely on profits.

Without profit, even the biggest hype is just a flash in the pan.

Not only Taobao, but other e-commerce platforms also have doubts about Pinduoduo's model.

Of course, it's also because they can't imitate Pinduoduo's strategy, since their shareholders wouldn't agree.

One of the major drawbacks of listed companies is that shareholders pursue profits while companies want to burn money to expand, creating a natural contradiction between the two.

Pinduoduo is different.

It has only one shareholder—Meng Chuan.

The shares held by the previous shareholders have been bought back by Wang Zheng.

Although Meng Chuan is the largest shareholder, he never interferes with Wang Zheng's decisions.

Meng Chuan sees himself as an "outsider," believing that professional matters should be left to professionals.

It was this absolute trust and support that gave Wang Zheng the confidence to take a gamble.

This also enabled Pinduoduo to achieve exponential growth in a short period of time.

However, Meng Chuan was not concerned about the fierce competition among e-commerce platforms.

He was so engrossed in his studies that he was completely absorbed in them.

Hongda International's medical supplies manufacturing plant has started recruiting, and General Manager Ye is extremely busy.

He personally oversaw every aspect of the factory's installation, equipment debugging, and worker recruitment and training.

He wished he could split himself in two to use.

At the same time, the Meng Po Guild is also developing very rapidly.

With the launch of the "star-making plan," Huo Wanxi, Gu Shengnan, Zhu Yilei, Meng Jixiang, and others quickly rose to fame, attracting more and more live streamers to join the platform.

Meng Jixiang, in particular, quickly swept the music scene with the release of several new songs.

Although he calls himself an "internet celebrity," many industry insiders and netizens already regard him as a real singer.

His Douyin (TikTok) followers have surpassed 20 million, showing a trend of surpassing Huo Wanxi.

Many film and television companies even began inviting Huo Wanxi and Meng Jixiang to act in their films.

Their massive fan base is the best guarantee for box office success.

By November 10th, Meng Chuan had earned enough credits for the second semester of his sophomore year.

He originally planned to continue his self-study and try to get his third-year credits as soon as possible, but a sudden piece of news interrupted his plans.

At four o'clock in the morning that day, Meng Chuan received a call from George on the other side of the ocean.

The Li family held a press conference to announce their plan to acquire 02 for £120 billion.

"120 billion? Haha, it seems there's still a premium."

Meng Chuan thought to himself.

Under normal circumstances, 02 Company's share price is £3 per share, and the Li family's expected acquisition price is £105 billion.

However, thanks to Meng Chuan's instigation, 02 Company's share price fluctuated between £3.5 and £4.

This resulted in the Li family having to pay an additional £15 billion.

Clearly, the Li family is determined to acquire Company 02, and they are very likely to make a move even if the final transaction price reaches 150 billion.

How many shares have we acquired so far?

Meng Chuan asked calmly.

"Later, we acquired it for £3.5. Although the price was low, we had already acquired 80% of the outstanding shares of Company 02. Currently, we still have £12 billion of principal left."

George reported excitedly.

At this moment, George admired Meng Chuan immensely.

When Meng Chuan entrusted him with the management of £100 billion.

This enormous asset has been keeping him in a state of constant fear lately.

He really didn't understand some of Meng Chuan's actions, especially.

Because the stock of Company 02 simply doesn't offer much room for profit.

From his professional perspective, he should have sold off a large amount of stock long before the Li family announced that they would not acquire 02 Company.

After all, without the Li family's acquisition, the stock of Company 02 wouldn't have much room for profit.

Unexpectedly, things took an unexpected turn, and his initial false statement that the Li family would acquire Company 02 turned out to be prophetic.

Meng Chuan remained calm and gave a brief instruction:

“Very good. Continue to monitor market dynamics, especially when the share price reaches £9, and report back to me promptly.”

After hanging up the phone, Meng Chuan's lips curled up slightly.

He has gained an absolute advantage in this game.

Next, all we need to do is wait for the right opportunity to reap the rewards of victory.

This also gives Meng Chuan more confidence in preparation for the upcoming stock market crash.