Early the next morning, Zhang Yong and his secretary arrived in Shanghai from Hangzhou and called Lin Chen from downstairs at the Deji Building.
"Brother Lin, have you had breakfast yet?"
Lin Chen was taken aback. What was wrong with this guy? Why was he suddenly so enthusiastic? So he joked, "Not yet, I was just about to eat. Brother Yong, do you want to come and have some with us?"
"Haha, okay, I'll be right up."
You've come to Shanghai?
"Yes, I'm right downstairs from your company."
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen quickly ate the two tea eggs on the table.
Three minutes later, Zhang Yong appeared in Lin Chen's office. Lin Chen personally made him coffee—Nestlé instant coffee, of course, economical and practical.
"Brother, what brings you to Shanghai all of a sudden?"
"Well, it's a bit embarrassing to say. I went on vacation abroad a while ago. Before I left, I told my secretary to contact you as soon as the trial period for 'Guess You Like' ended to renew the contract. But he forgot. What a mess this is."
The secretary next to him stared wide-eyed at Zhang Yong in disbelief. "Wait, this wasn't mentioned before we came. So, Jack Ma asked you to take the blame, and you're just passing the buck to me? What? You don't manufacture pots, you're just a porter of these big iron pots?"
Just as he was about to speak, Zhang Yong gave him a look.
The secretary immediately became obedient, and the words "Zhang Yong, you shameless brat" that had been stuck in her throat came out as: "President Lin, it's all my fault."
Lin Chen took in the secretary's expression and thought to himself, "This is what it means for art to imitate life. Look at the acting on her face; it's enough to put all the young heartthrobs of later generations to shame."
"It's okay, it's okay. The 'You May Like' feature is still under development. It was just a trial version before. I should thank Taobao for giving us a free two-week trial. You see, we took it offline yesterday."
Zhang Yong rolled his eyes inwardly. "Offline my foot! This little fox doesn't even blush when she lies. She clearly canceled all the other companies' recommendations, leaving only Pinduoduo."
"I think the previous version was already pretty good. We can upgrade it while it's running, right?"
"No, no, no, I can't cheat you out of your money. I want to be a conscientious people's entrepreneur. How can I use immature technology to cheat people out of their money?"
"Our Taobao knew about this and still offered to continue using it. How can that be called fraud? Brother Lin, we've known each other for so long, right? We've known each other since your company was still in the Jiaotong University Entrepreneurship Center. Can you give your older brother some face?"
"Hey, Yong-ge, since you've put it that way, I can't very well refuse. But let's make this clear first: if it doesn't work well, you can't ask me for a refund."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong knew that Lin Chen, that little fox, was using the "You May Like" feature on Taobao, and its effectiveness was definitely worse than Pinduoduo's. But there was nothing he could do; it was better than nothing. Besides, Jack Ma had said that "You May Like" wasn't the main target; the main target was Pinduoduo!
"Of course, of course. This is the first version after all. It's normal to have some bugs. We'll just keep improving it."
“Hey, Yong, we’re such good friends, and this is a rather immature version, so I definitely can’t charge you the original price. How about a 50% discount? 30 million a month will be enough.”
"30 million? Uh, haha, good, good, good, thank you so much, brother, for such a favorable price." Zhang Yong replied while his heart was bleeding.
Although I knew I'd get ripped off today, I didn't expect to get the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Oh well, I'll figure out a way to sell this "You May Like" promotion opportunity to the big players on Taobao and make a little extra profit along the way.
"You're too kind, Yong-ge. Would you like more coffee? I'll make you another cup."
"No, no, it's been a long time since I've had Nestlé coffee. The taste is still quite unique. By the way, bro, your Pinduoduo model is very innovative. I wonder which genius came up with it? We at Taobao would like to learn from it."
"Brother Yong, I'm a little embarrassed by your straightforward praise."
"Huh? You came up with this?!"
"Yes, our Huasuan.com has both a group-buying channel and a shopping channel, so I thought I'd combine them and create a Pinduoduo to play around with. I didn't expect it to work so well."
"Uh, hehehe, you're really impressive. As expected of you. Well then, we'll take our leave."
"Take care, Yong-ge."
Zhang Yong and his secretary walked out of the Deji Building, found a restaurant outside to have breakfast, and after sitting down, Zhang Yong took out his phone and called Jack Ma.
"Mr. Ma, I asked Lin Chen about Pinduoduo. He said this idea was his, inspired by group-buying websites, a combination of group-buying and shopping. This guy truly deserves to be called a business genius. His nickname of charging five million for consulting is not just for show. It seems that the plan to poach him is not going to work."
Jack Ma pondered for a moment before replying, "Actually, I guessed yesterday that it might have come from him. If that's the case, then we don't need to poach his team. Let's just copy him. He has MiXin, and we have Alipay. Add a communication function, and we'll be just like him. Moreover, Alipay has a larger user base and higher user stickiness."
"Hmm, I think we can give it a try. We can develop an Alipay mobile client."
The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up, planning to discuss the matter in more detail when they got back.
Zhang Yong put down his phone, looked at his secretary sitting opposite him with a resentful look in her eyes, and coughed: "I'm sorry you had to suffer. I'll give you double your bonus this month."
The secretary immediately beamed: "Thank you, Mr. Zhang. It's my honor to contribute to the company."
Lin Chen, who was still in the office, received another call from Liu Qiangdong.
"Hey, Brother Lin, I went on vacation abroad a while ago. Before I left, I told my secretary to contact you guys as soon as the trial period for 'Guess You Like' ended to renew the contract, but he forgot. What a mess this is."
Listening to Liu Qiangdong's excuse, which was exactly the same as Zhang Yong's, Lin Chen thought to himself, "Being your secretary must be really dangerous. You always end up taking the blame. And this is just a small one. What if you end up taking the blame for a big one? Will you also get a silver bracelet as a bonus?"
"Ahem, Dong-ge, we're so close, this is nothing. Besides, the 'You May Like' feature isn't perfect yet; it was just a trial before. I should thank Taobao for giving us a free two-week trial. You see, we took it offline yesterday."
...
So, by the end of the morning, three contracts were on Zhang Yiming's desk: 30 million for Taobao, 25 million for JD.com, and 20 million for Amazon.
Zhang Yiming gasped, "My goodness, President Lin, you're practically a Robin Hood of the online shopping world! Your money-grabbing efficiency is terrifying. These companies are incredibly unlucky to know you."
Lin Chen's face darkened: "How can you talk like that? They are extremely lucky to have met me."
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