Chapter 538 Power is Like Water: The Internet Changes the World

Once inside the hotel, Wang Xiao still felt it was unbelievable: "I was all bundled up like this, how did they recognize me?"

Is she really that famous? A shining red star, radiating boundless light.

The assistant glanced at his boss silently and decided to tell the truth: "Boss, actually, you are very well-known."

Because the boss rarely gives interviews, the few public photos of her that are available on international online forums have been widely circulated.

She has all the hottest elements combined! A self-made tycoon, a powerful fiancé, and most importantly, she's lived a lifetime like most people, and she's only in her early thirties when she returns.

The assistant pressed on: "Boss, you are actually a millennial internet icon. Your fame is in no way inferior to Bill Gates."

Boss Wang's reaction was a chuckle. Is this something to be proud of? She certainly didn't want her name to be associated with Bill Gates, because the next name to be associated with him would be Epstein.

Besides, she'd bet that even a superstar with top-tier popularity would be unrecognizable to their own parents dressed like this.

The assistant looked at his boss and stammered, "Is there any possibility that it's because of your outfit?"

Lyuba finally lost her temper and bluntly told the boss, "You wouldn't be allowed to leave my grandmother's house dressed like that today."

Grandma would never allow a lady to leave the house so hastily!

Good heavens! This is Davos. Even in the freezing cold, everyone is dressed smartly. Who goes out dressed like a bear?

Mr. Wang spoke with righteous indignation: "It's the 21st century! A new era! Women's freedom of dress not only means the freedom to dress up, but also the freedom not to dress up."

Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao were both stunned.

The main reason is that when they were young, women who liked to dress up were considered to have committed a heinous crime; dressing up was a synonym for engaging in capitalism.

So later, with the opening up, women could dress themselves up nicely and make themselves look beautiful, which became a symbol of freedom.

Now their boss says that it's a woman's freedom not to dress up.

Wang Xiao had her own reasoning: "Women have no obligation to dress up; whether or not I dress up is entirely up to me."

Lyuba took a deep breath, looked her up and down with disgust, and decided to just let it go and not look at her anymore.

Mr. Wang turned around triumphantly and walked inside, only to bump into Mr. Wei, the general manager of the shipping group.

The other person looked at her and laughed: "Mr. Wang, it's lucky we still have you and I buy, otherwise our e-commerce would be a joke."

This year's Davos Forum left the Chinese participants feeling deeply impressed; the whole world is talking about e-commerce.

In fact, China is also paying close attention to e-commerce. Just earlier this month, a high-level seminar on e-commerce was held in Beijing.

But if you compare the Beijing and Davos venues side by side, the latter is full of senior executives from large companies, while Beijing? The attendees are mostly young people in their twenties and thirties, mostly salespeople, who went there with the intention of learning.

It's practically like an extracurricular class.

This glimpse reveals a lot: even today, China's business community still treats e-commerce as a hobby.

Wang Xiao listened with a smile, and only spoke after the other person finished expressing their feelings: "But we will definitely catch up and surpass them."

General Manager Wei laughed: "Is it because we have a large population and a large consumer market?"

Wang Xiao laughed along, "Yes, we have many factories and the manufacturing industry is developing rapidly. We have products to sell and people to buy them. Plus, you provide convenient transportation, so you handle the whole process."

Mr. Wei immediately waved his hand: "No, no, we ship in large quantities. Your own logistics network is much better."

He sighed again, "But some of the things we have, others do too. They are indeed more advanced than us and are ahead of us."

Although the United States had already actively pursued a strategy of moving from secondary to tertiary industries as early as the 1980s, it was far from being severely hollowed out by the turn of the millennium, with its industrial pillars collapsing significantly.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the output of computers and electronic products alone was $420.348 billion in 1999.

The total industrial output value of China's computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing industry was 818.88 billion yuan.

Needless to say, in all other aspects, whether it's transportation or network support, the United States is undoubtedly the leader.

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "Because it's so good, there's not enough motivation to do online sales. Every household there has a car, lives in the suburbs, and goes to the supermarket for a big shopping spree every weekend. We don't have that. If we buy a lot of things, we don't even know how to carry them onto the bus."

When offline businesses thrive, the online space becomes extremely limited.

Walmart, Carrefour, and other highly efficient and dense nationwide supermarket chains and specialty stores offer low prices, a wide selection, and convenient parking experiences through strong supply chain management, centralized procurement, and mature logistics.

E-commerce companies face immense challenges in competing with these giants, as finding a substitute is extremely difficult.

This is why I Buy was able to succeed in the US. Because I Buy's business in the US is essentially cross-border e-commerce, it takes a differentiated competitive approach, offering products that are not typically sold in US chain supermarkets and specialty stores.

Mr. Wei paused for a moment, then nodded with a smile: "Ah, it seems that's indeed the case. There are advantages to being underdeveloped."

In big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, it's fine; there are shopping malls everywhere, and you can buy almost anything you want. But in other cities, especially at the county level, like his hometown, there are some things he can only bring back from Beijing.

Since he's in the shipping business, he's definitely sensitive to transportation, so he jokingly said, "Then you'd better hurry up and do your job well. Our country's automobile industry is developing very quickly. When every household has a car and there are lots of big supermarkets, your competitors will be very strong."

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "If every household in our country has a car, where would we park it? Unlike in Europe and America, where most families live in the suburbs."

After thinking about it, Mr. Wei realized that this made a lot of sense.

Parking spaces are indeed a big problem.

He goes out and runs errands in half an hour, but it took him an hour to find a parking space in Beijing.

The problem is, how many people are there in China? How many people are there in Europe and America? We have a large population but limited land, while they have vast land and sparse population.

This means we can't simply copy other people's methods.

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "The new generation of housing, with a lot of underground parking, will take several years to build, which gives us some breathing room."

President Wei quickly realized: "Heroes emerge in chaotic times. We are still exploring, and anything is possible and there is always an opportunity."

Wang Xiao clapped his hands with a smile: "That's why I say only a big shot like you can come up with truly insightful opinions. You've hit the nail on the head in just one sentence."

Mr. Wei chuckled and said, "Not at all, you flatter me. You are the expert in this field, you've answered my questions."

He does now feel a sense of sudden enlightenment.

He was gripped by anxiety from the very first day he arrived at the Davos Forum.

He originally thought that after 20 years of reform and opening up, the distance between China and the world had shrunk.

But once he arrived in Davos and heard the topics being discussed, he felt that they had been left behind.

They've already entered the next level; it's a true new era.

They were still living in the old century, sighing in despair.

But after Mr. Wang said that, he felt that there was still hope of breaking through.

After all, everything is done by people, and human initiative and organizational ability can exceed the world's imagination.

The United States was powerful back then, wasn't it? It had plenty of manpower, including veterans from the battlefields of World War II with outstanding military achievements; it also had plenty of weaponry. Even the Soviet Union had to rely on American weapons and support to defeat Germany.

So what if they encountered the Chinese People's Volunteer Army when they arrived in Korea?

What did the Chinese People's Volunteer Army have? People! Human initiative can create miracles.

Who says a hero doesn't reminisce about past glories? The facts prove that if you could win back then, you possessed the ability and qualities to win. And you still have the opportunity to win now and in the future.

Wang Xiao chatted with someone with a smile: "Not only that, we have an advantage in the buyer's market, but an even greater advantage in the seller's market."

Mr. Wei got so engrossed in the conversation that he originally planned to attend a lecture, but now he doesn't want to move an inch.

He asked with great interest, "What advantages do we sellers have?"

Wang Xiao sighed: "Opening a shop these days is so difficult. There are 12 different kinds of officials from the industry and commerce bureau, tax bureau, fire department, sanitation department, urban management bureau, and so on. They'll come in every few days and spend half a day inspecting you."

President Wei chuckled; it was an unspoken understanding.

Theoretically speaking, there's nothing wrong with your store, so what are you feeling guilty about? You should be completely at ease even if you inspect it 24 times a day.

But the person who said that has probably never run a shop, or even been inspected; they've always been the one inspecting others.

These inspections are essentially institutional transaction costs in business activities. They require a significant amount of your time, impact your business, and are fraught with uncertainty, potentially causing you financial losses at any time.

To put it bluntly, why do the "Route 12 Gods" love to inspect so much? Are they really that passionate about their work? They come to inspect every other day.

The potential for rent-seeking within this system is staggering.

However, there are some things that can be done, but are not suitable to be openly discussed, especially in international settings.

Everyone exchanged a glance and a smile; they knew exactly what was going on.

Wang Xiao skipped directly to the next point: "There are no such problems when you open a store online. You can't be bothered or solicited for bribes face-to-face or point-to-point. Moreover, sellers don't even need to find a storefront. As long as they have a source of goods, they can sell their products."

The more Mr. Wei listened, the more interesting it became.

When institutional transaction costs are too high, any new channel that can circumvent or reduce them becomes extremely attractive.

E-commerce is precisely such a channel.

It's not that developed countries don't have these institutional transaction costs, but rather that their legal systems are more robust. Even if they still need to incur costs, it's done within a legal framework and is predictable.

With relatively little room for rent-seeking, physical stores don't have to constantly face unpredictable extortion, and business is easier, so there's no need to flee from physical stores to the internet.

General Manager Wei nodded repeatedly, smiling as he looked at Wang Xiao: "Mr. Wang, you truly have insightful views. No wonder you were able to lead our e-commerce cause. When other people look at e-commerce, they look at the basic conditions, payment, logistics, and superficial things. You look at the inside, you look at the system."

In economies with poor institutional environments, the direct driving force of e-commerce is not network technology, but rather the pressure from the environment.

It forces those involved in this economy to seek alternatives and find a way to survive.

Just like those small vendors during the planned economy era.

He thought of a book he had read that talked about the 20 years of reform and opening up.

There's a sentence in it that roughly means: When the formal institutional system fails to efficiently and fairly meet the real needs of society, informal, marginal, and flexible market forces will grow wildly in the gaps, forming a kind of "institutional arbitrage" or "suppressive innovation".

Mr. Wei slowly recounted the events, asking questions as he did so: "Could this be considered a universal and core principle between economic systems and market behavior?"

He nodded before Wang Xiao could answer, saying, "I think it counts."

The more he thought about it, the deeper he went, even recalling the rural economic reforms of the early 1980s—the household contract responsibility system, which was also a bottom-up change driven by demand.

Mr. Wang really wanted to applaud.

Look at him! No wonder he's a leader of a large state-owned enterprise. He can be directly transferred to the government to become a high-ranking official. He's so capable; he can understand things from a different perspective so quickly.

Unlike her, a businesswoman is a businesswoman; she thinks about the power of the market.

The market is like flowing water; it will always try to find the path of least resistance.

When the main channel of a river becomes blocked and silted up, the water will not disappear; it will scour out another channel and then turn it into a new main channel.

If you don't believe me, just look at the Yellow River after it changed its course.

Mr. Wei was amused by her words and nodded repeatedly in admiration: "Hearing your words is better than reading ten years of books. Mr. Wang, you should be the one to go on stage and give a speech to guide everyone."

Wang Xiao waved his hand with a smile: "What directions can I give? I'm just feeling my way across the river."

As she spoke, she looked at President Wei with a smile, "Today I just want to touch the stone of our shipping group."

Mr. Wei was in a good mood and replied with a smile, "What kind of stone do you want to touch? A reef or a pebble? If you like, I'll give it to you."

"Mr. Wei, I'd be embarrassed to accept your gift," she laughed. "I can't possibly use your bonded warehouse for free, can I?"

Mr. Wei sensed something was amiss: "Use our bonded warehouse?"

Wang Xiao nodded: "Yes, I buy wants to cooperate with your shipping group."

Mr. Wei's interest was immediately piqued; he even wanted a cigarette so they could have a long talk.

But at least he knew how to respect women, so instead of pulling out a lighter, he asked, "How do we plan to cooperate?"

If he hadn't come to Davos, he probably wouldn't have been interested in partnering with shopping websites.

After all, the volume of ocean freight is enormous. Shopping websites sound trendy, but in reality, that volume is simply insignificant. The group doesn't need to create trouble for itself.

But he's already in Davos. He's seen the global trend of e-commerce and he urgently feels the necessity of developing integrated logistics to adapt to this e-commerce era.

Otherwise, as is well known, shipping is the link in the entire logistics process that requires the most investment, yields the least return, and carries the highest risk.

The return on investment in logistics is twice that of investment in shipping alone.

However, if you do logistics, it requires a whole supporting system.

As for how to implement this supporting infrastructure, that's a rather complex issue.

So now he's very willing to listen to Mr. Wang's ideas and see if he can find a starting point.

Wang Xiao smiled and said, "The cooperation is simply a matter of setting up the shipping route. You provide full container shipping and bonded warehousing, while we are responsible for sales and system integration."

Yes, yes, yes, now I buy's cross-border e-commerce platform is taking the route of small parcels. This can avoid export quota restrictions on the one hand, and also take advantage of tax loopholes to reduce costs on the other hand.

However, as the saying goes, "both hands must be used firmly," and the operation of a website cannot rely on only one model. If it is necessary to go through the formal customs clearance channels, then it must go through the formal customs clearance channels.

Otherwise, given enough time, the legal and tax systems of developed countries will soon bring e-commerce under regulation, and how will it continue its small-value parcel route? It will only be able to go through formal customs clearance.

Shipping groups are precisely the type of service they can provide. They are not simply transport fleets; they have stable international trunk lines, customs clearance capabilities at key ports, and initial warehousing services.

Mr. Wang can't build a fleet on his own, so he needs to secure major partners as soon as possible.

Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao were both impressed by their boss.

No wonder she was so patient earlier, chatting away about business for ages; it turns out she was just setting up a breeding ground.

See, the fish has taken the bait!

Mr. Wei was clearly interested and kept asking about the specific steps, such as how to select the products and how to pick them up from the source.

He is indeed very interested. Cooperating with I Buy would be an excellent testing ground, allowing for the rapid accumulation of data, processes, and experience, and the development of a comprehensive logistics team.

This aligns with the group's next strategic move.

The two discussed everything from buying to selling, drafted an agreement, and prepared to show it to their respective legal counsel.

Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. If things are explained clearly from the beginning, it will prevent disputes and potential falling out later.

Both sides talked enthusiastically and waved goodbye with great joy.

As soon as he turned around and entered the elevator, Mr. Wang's face fell, and he instructed his assistant, "Go and investigate that guy's background."

Even her assistant couldn't keep up with her, and subconsciously said, "Mr. Wei is indeed the president of the shipping group."

This is something that can't be faked.

Lyuba was speechless and quickly reminded him, "It's not President Wei, it's the man giving the speech outside, the man who's blocking our boss."

Why can't you think of that?

The assistant then came to her senses: "Him? Him?"

Wang Xiao's eyes widened: "If it's not him, then who is it? I don't believe it's such a coincidence."

There are always treacherous subjects trying to harm me!

The Davos Forum attracted the US President, the British Prime Minister, and Yasser Arafat, not to mention Bill Gates and other prominent figures.

Why stop her instead of them? It's no wonder she suspects something's fishy!

With a wary mind, Boss Wang waited to expose the person thoroughly.

But the results of her investigation surprised her a bit, and she even felt like scratching her head.

Well, it's hard to put into words.

The assistant who placed the documents in front of the boss also had a constipated expression on his face, and it was hard to describe.

This audacious scoundrel who dared to embarrass his boss in public was named George Bull. An ordinary name, an ordinary appearance, and apart from being a student at Harvard University, he really didn't seem to have anything special about him.

But he's a celebrity online, with millions of followers.

Considering the size of the internet user base in 2000, this number is quite astonishing.

As for which network's followers? Ahem, it's I-network.

Yes, it's the social network that Ms. Wang created, modeled after Renren and Facebook, plus her own imagination. It's currently being promoted in universities around the world.

Because we are now in a typical forum era, users are generally behind the scenes online. Therefore, the public identity of "I" has become a niche market, which has attracted a lot of attention from students, and the number of users is constantly increasing.

This is why George Bull has so many followers.

In other words, the internet celebrities cultivated by Boss Wang's own website jumped out and tried to stab her in the back.

Seeing the complicated expression on his boss's face, the assistant cautiously reported, "He probably doesn't have any powerful backers. He liked to act like this when he was in school."

What does "like this" mean? It means that whenever a celebrity goes to Harvard to give a speech or lecture, he always asks pointed questions that leave the other person speechless.

As is well known, it is easier for a celebrity to cause a sensation when they make a fool of themselves than when they make a brilliant one.

Those who humiliate them are seen as spokespeople for the common people, demonstrating a defiant and rebellious force.

That's how George Bull gradually amassed a following of millions of fans in less than a year.

Keep in mind, these are real followers; websites don't offer fake followers anymore.

It's easy to imagine that his influence was quite astonishing.

"When we arrived in Davos, besides you, he also tried to intercept the US President and the British Prime Minister, but he didn't get a chance to get close. In addition, Dell's president was also interrogated by him today. So he's gained a lot of followers recently."

Wang Xiao couldn't help but grind her teeth. After all that, she had become someone else's blood source for gaining followers.

In the era of fan wars, this kind of behavior would be condemned as shameless and a blatant attempt to piggyback on others' popularity.

Before she time-traveled, her path to becoming a major internet celebrity was one of steady progress, far more shameless than that of people in the 2000s.

Seeing her boss's unhappy expression, the assistant racked her brains to comfort her: "Actually, you have even more followers, more than 3 million, and it's been growing particularly fast these past two days. Your response has even been analyzed, and everyone says that the new generation of business elites are indeed smart."

Wang Xiao stared in disbelief: "Me? 3 million!"

Are you kidding me? She does have a personal account on iNet, but she hardly ever manages it, only occasionally sharing a few landscape photos.

Even the photos weren't uploaded by her. She's too busy; when she gets busy, she's completely overwhelmed.

The assistant nodded very confidently: "Yes, it's 3 million. Judging from the number of followers, you're a top-tier internet celebrity."

Mr. Wang inhaled and exhaled, unsure how to describe his feelings.

After a decade, has she made a comeback as a top internet celebrity?

Back when she first became an internet celebrity, she put in so much effort to gain followers; just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

As a result, she hasn't done anything, yet she already has a bunch of fans.

"Power is wonderful," she muttered to herself.

Because she thought of Elon Musk, the top internet celebrity before she transmigrated, who not only became famous himself, but also made the people he followed famous.

Musk's identity is clearly that of an entrepreneur.

Power is like flowing water; it can permeate every corner.

Wang Xiao stood up and looked down out the window.

Outside, it was a snowy wonderland, but not far away on the street, George Bull was still giving a speech through a megaphone.

This time, he stopped Arafat. What were they saying? She couldn't hear them.

Xiao Gao and Xiao Zhao were watching too, and they sighed, "He really got away with it this time. He's probably going to gain a lot more followers."

Arafat was truly a prominent figure, dedicating his life to the national liberation and independence of Palestine. He remained a prominent figure in international politics throughout his life.

While people from other countries might not be able to explain things clearly, at least in China, people might not know the name of the Japanese prime minister, or whether the British prime minister has changed, but regardless of age or gender, everyone knows Arafat.

The assistant also remarked, "At this rate of increase in followers, George Bull is going to make a fortune from advertising fees."

Wang Xiao kept his eyes fixed on the window and sighed softly, "The advertising fee is probably just the beginning. He might go into politics later."

The assistant instinctively said, "Politics? His family doesn't have that background; they're just ordinary people."

Don't be fooled by the fact that all countries love to boast about freedom and emphasize that one can become a national leader from nothing, all of which are achieved by starting from scratch and fighting alone.

In reality, the vast majority of them are hereditary political families.

Roosevelt, yes, the 32nd President Franklin Roosevelt, was able to become America's loving father thanks to his distant uncle, the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

It is very difficult for a true commoner like George Bull to enter politics.

Wang Xiao laughed and said, "The existence of the internet has made it less difficult. If people want to gain political support, they must spread their political ideas. Traditional channels have been monopolized, and ordinary people simply cannot spread their political views through television, newspapers, or radio. But the emergence of the internet has opened up new paths."

She pointed out the window, “Look, he has already gained his first batch of supporters through the internet, and they are very likely to be fervent supporters.”

The group looked at each other, then turned to look out the window.

It was so cold, yet so many people didn't leave, but instead huddled around George Bull. Wasn't that a kind of fanaticism?

The assistant muttered to himself, "The internet is indeed changing the world order."

Wang Xiao smiled, her thoughts drifting away to the escalating social class conflict.

During the Cold War, the ideological confrontation between the two major camps shaped their respective unique domestic contractual models. Both sides used welfare systems and nationalist mobilization to mask and transform their class contradictions.

However, the Cold War has actually been over for almost ten years. Global capital flows have accelerated, neoliberalism has become mainstream, social welfare has been reduced, and class stratification has intensified further.

Together, they form the social foundation for the emergence of a new generation of opinion leaders.

The internet has provided a stage for new opinion leaders to showcase their talents.

So, in this situation, how can governments alleviate social conflicts? Only through economic growth.

Economic growth can delay the transformation of social contradictions.

However, history has shown that if the distribution of the fruits of growth remains unbalanced, then the contradictions will eventually break through the state of suppression.

That's when things really start to get complicated.

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[Starry-eyed] Good morning!