Turn the tables on them
The shocking news Wang Hao brought—that the mysterious hacker's trail ultimately pointed to the vicinity of Lei Yao Capital's headquarters—was like a pale bolt of lightning, instantly illuminating the chessboard in Li Ming's mind, shrouded in layers of mystery. Zhang Lei had just left, and there were already clues about the hacker? This was no coincidence!
Was this a scheme orchestrated by Zhang Lei himself, feigning reconciliation while secretly plotting against them? Or was there another force operating within Lei Yao Capital, one that even Zhang Lei might not be able to fully control? Or perhaps, someone far more cunning is using Lei Yao's servers as a springboard to meticulously plan this frame-up?
Countless thoughts raced and exploded in Li Ming's mind. But he forced himself to calm down. Anger and suspicion wouldn't solve the problem; the most important thing now was evidence, to catch the other side red-handed!
He immediately drove back to the company, summoned Wang Hao and Li Ziqing, while Liu Qiang was assigned to guard the perimeter to prevent eavesdropping.
"How confident are you that the signal points to Lei Yao?" Li Ming asked directly and urgently.
Wang Hao pointed to the complex network topology diagram and log records on the computer screen: "The other party is very cunning. It went through at least seven layers of overseas proxies, and the final exit node is indeed within the IP range of Lei Yao's headquarters server. Although we can't be 100% sure that the source is inside Lei Yao, the correlation is extremely strong. Moreover, the signal captured this time is more 'urgent' than any before, more like... anxious probing after failing to find something."
“Looking for something…” Li Ming pondered, the cold, synthesized electronic voice echoing in his ears again—“Hand over the ‘key’.” The other party’s persistence, even at the risk of exposure, indicated that they were certain the “key” was in “Mingyu’s” hands, or that it was closely related to “Mingyu’s” core data.
A bold, almost insane plan quickly took shape in Li Ming's mind.
“We can’t keep taking hits.” Li Ming’s eyes were sharp as knives as he swept over Wang Hao and Li Ziqing. “Since they’re so eager to find the ‘key,’ then we’ll make them a ‘key’!”
"Make one?" Li Ziqing asked, puzzled.
“That’s right!” Li Ming walked to the whiteboard, picked up a pen, and started drawing quickly. “Wang Hao, you get to work immediately. Deep within our user database, create a highly encrypted, seemingly extremely important fake data partition. Put some obfuscated file fragments that appear to be core algorithms or future strategic plans inside, and then embed a few carefully designed ‘hooks’ pointing to irrelevant or even misleading information. The protection needs to be realistic enough that the other party feels they have found something crucial, but they can’t get it easily. It must take a lot of computing power and time to ‘decrypt’.”
Wang Hao's eyes lit up instantly: "I understand! Set up a 'honeypot' within a 'honeypot,' a bait within a bait! As long as they touch this fake target, I can trace their real path and methods through their decryption process, and even... implant our tracking Trojan horse into them!"
“That’s it!” Li Ming slammed his hand on the whiteboard. “We’ll turn their attack into a counterattack! Ziqing, you work with Wang Hao to prepare some ‘bait’ documents that look like core business plans but won’t reveal our true strategy.”
"Okay!" Li Ziqing immediately understood.
"This matter is to be kept highly confidential, and is only known to the three of us," Li Ming said in a deep voice. "For the time being, do not reveal any details to Liu Qiang either."
With the plan finalized, Wang Hao and Li Ziqing immediately threw themselves into the intense preparations. Wang Hao was in charge of the technical architecture and trap setup, while Li Ziqing was responsible for content forgery and detail polishing, ensuring that this "key" looked even more real than the real thing.
Just as the "Mingyu" team was secretly laying a trap to lure out the mysterious hacker, the fierce competition in the business world did not stop.
With the backing of Lei Yao Capital's substantial funds, Zhao Zhen's "Zhenhua Commerce" launched a new and aggressive offensive. No longer content with simply replicating the "Mingqing Store" model, they began massively subsidizing users, selling goods at near-cost prices or even at a loss. Simultaneously, they invested heavily in advertising on major portal websites and offline media, with the catchy slogan – "Zhenhua Shopping, Fast and Cheap!" Their goal was clear: to use the power of capital to rapidly seize market share and suppress all potential competitors, including "Mingyu."
This simple and brutal "money-burning" tactic was extremely effective in the early stages of e-commerce development. Small and medium-sized merchants on the "Mingyu Life" platform, relying on unique features and word-of-mouth for survival, appeared precarious in the face of absolute price advantages. The platform's user growth and transaction activity were significantly impacted.
"Brother Ming! Zhao Zhen is too ruthless! He's not making any money but just trying to make a name for himself; he's clearly trying to bury us in cash!" Liu Qiang was frantic as he watched the data on the back end decline.
Li Ming frowned as he stared at the overwhelming advertisements and shockingly low prices of "Zhenhua Trading" on the screen. He knew this was the most common market cleansing tactic driven by capital. A direct price war would undoubtedly be a dead end.
“We can’t follow his lead,” Li Ming calmly analyzed. “He’s waging his price war, we’re waging our value war. Wang Hao, immediately launch the ‘Featured Merchant Certification’ and ‘User Recommendation Ranking’ features on the platform, highlighting the uniqueness and authenticity of our merchants and downplaying price comparisons. Zi Qing, plan an online themed event called ‘Discover the Beauty Around Us,’ encouraging users to share non-standardized, heartwarming life experiences, such as a hidden private restaurant in an alley or a skilled independent artisan’s studio. We need to strengthen the platform’s ‘community’ and ‘discovery’ aspects, which they can’t replace with standardized products and low prices.”
"Understood!" Wang Hao and Li Ziqing replied in unison.
Li Ming's strategy worked once again. While "Zhenhua Commerce" attracted some price-sensitive users with its low prices, "Mingyu Life" retained a group of loyal users who valued quality of life and personalized needs with its unique community atmosphere and human-centered "discovery" experience. The two platforms seemed to be operating on different tracks, one pursuing scale and efficiency, and the other focusing on community and unique features.
However, just as Li Ming was fully engaged in dealing with Zhao Zhen's overwhelming capital pressure, Zhou Ruilin reappeared, seemingly haunting him. He appeared to have learned from his previous mistakes, abandoning underhanded tactics and opting for a more "business-like" approach—using the Zhou family's resources to invest in and acquire a controlling stake in a local group-buying website, "Kuaituan.com." Using this website as a core, he began integrating merchant resources from the Zhou family's commercial real estate holdings, also focusing on local lifestyle services, directly competing with "Mingyu Life"!
Kuaituan.com has a natural advantage in expanding its merchant base due to the Zhou family's offline physical resources. Moreover, Zhou Ruilin has also launched a subsidy program, with discounts that are even greater than those offered by Zhenhua Commerce.
With Zhao Zhen's capital beast in front and Zhou Ruilin's resource wolf behind, the startup "Mingyu Technology" seems to be caught in a desperate situation, attacked from both sides.
The atmosphere in the office became tense again. They were fighting on two fronts, and resources were stretched thin.
"Brother Ming, can we... hold on?" Liu Qiang's voice was tinged with despair.
Li Ming looked at the ever-expanding red areas on the strategic map representing the two adversaries, his eyes unusually calm, even carrying a hint of cold mockery.
“One of them relies on capital, and the other on resources. They both thought they could crush us with their sheer size,” Li Ming said slowly. “But they forgot that what determines the outcome of a war is not just ammunition and positions, but also people’s hearts and the trend of the times.”
He pointed to the tiny yet remarkably resilient blue dot on the map that represented "Mingyu".
"What we have is something they can't buy with money—the trust of our users, the warmth of our community, and a precise grasp of future trends. As long as we don't act recklessly, they can't do anything to us."
He looked at Wang Hao: "How's our 'bait' coming along?"
Wang Hao nodded: "We're all in position, just waiting for the fish to take the bait."
A cold smile curved Li Ming's lips: "That's good. Let them cause trouble in the open for now. Once we catch the ghost underwater, let's see how long they can keep jumping around."
However, just when Li Ming thought everything was under control and he was waiting for the hacker to take the bait, Li Ziqing brought him a message that made his heart tighten suddenly.
“Li Ming, I just received a call from my dad…” Li Ziqing’s face was pale, and her voice was filled with unprecedented panic. “He said… he received an anonymous threatening letter that said… if I have any further dealings with you or ‘Mingyu,’ he will… he will cause several of our Li Group’s important overseas investment projects to suffer from ‘accidents’…”
Li Ming's pupils suddenly contracted!
The other party's sinister hand had bypassed him and reached directly towards Li Yuanshan! The target of the threat was none other than the Li Group's core overseas interests!
This is no longer business competition, nor even pressure directed at him personally. It's more like... an unquestionable warning and ultimatum from a higher level!
The behemoth hidden beneath the deep sea was no longer content with mere spying and petty actions. It began to reveal its ferocious fangs, directly threatening Li Yuanshan, who was closest to Li Ming and also the most powerful!
The pressure increased exponentially, instantly weighing on Li Ming's shoulders.
He felt as if he were standing on the crater of a volcano about to erupt, with the ground beneath his feet beginning to crack and burn.
Will his net still be able to catch the "fish" hidden in the shadow of Lei Yao Capital? And what kind of behemoth is behind this "fish" that can so easily use the overseas assets of the Li Group as a bargaining chip?
The night was deeper than ever before.
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