Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

After all, there was hardly such a thing as copyright on the internet, especially in 2012.

”Okay, Boss. I understand,” Xiao Jun replied through gritted teeth, planning to retaliate against Qian Du’s actions on the business front.

In the field of electronic maps and navigation software, Gaode was the big brother.

Xiao Jun was confident that he would absolutely not lose to Qian Du Map when it came to project operations.

Chen Yansen didn’t hang up right away. Instead, he asked about the progress of Gaode Map’s local life service integration.

The two talked for over twenty minutes before Chen Yansen slowly put down his phone.

Two weeks ago, Zhu Xiaohu had called him to test his price floor.

At the time, Chen Yansen had quoted 240 million US dollars.

This was a valuation calculated by Gao Weilin based on Lashou Network’s business operations, financial data, market share, and industry prospects, not a number he had pulled out of thin air.

Since Jinsha Venture Capital, Maitun Investment, and the Renite Fund sold Lashou Network to Qian Du, Li Yanhong’s offer must have been higher.

But he wasn’t too concerned. There were several other group-buying websites similar to Lashou Network. If he missed out on Lashou, there was still Nuomi, Dianping, WoWo Group, and even Meituan.

As for whether Wang Xin would sell Meituan?

Chen Yansen had no doubts about that at all.

As long as Kuai Pao and Lashou pushed Meituan into a corner, with funds running out and no new financing available, Wang Xin would only have two choices: die or sell.

With Qian Du’s acquisition of Lashou Network, its first target would be Wang Xin. The second would be Dianping. Kuai Pao would only be third in line, if at all.

Thinking of this, Chen Yansen opened his computer and quickly found the relevant report on the Qian Du News homepage.

”Qian Du Takes Control of Lashou Network for 420 Million US Dollars, Setting a New Acquisition Record in the Group Buy Market!”

”Group Buy + Mobility! Qian Du Spends Big to Fully Advance Local Life Services!”

million US dollars?

Chen Yansen’s brow furrowed slightly. He wasn’t sure how much of that figure was inflated, but he estimated the actual transaction price was around 400 million.

Two weeks ago, Zhu Xiaohu’s asking price was 320 million US dollars. In the blink of an eye, it had gone up by another 100 million.

That Li Yanhong, he’s a real sucker!

Chen Yansen cursed inwardly. If Qian Du hadn’t interfered, Senlian Capital’s influence in the ride-hailing and group-buying markets would surely be far greater than it was now.

But on second thought, his mood instantly calmed.

Without Qian Du, other major capital players would have appeared anyway.

As far as he knew, Zhu Nanli of Junlian Capital had privately spoken with Xu Xin of Today Capital, Wang Qiong of Haina Asia, and Zhang Lei of Gao Ling Capital about wanting to push Liu Yiqing into the CEO position at DiDi Dache.

He only failed because Qian Du’s shareholding percentage was too high.

With Liu Yiqing’s network, she could easily attract investment from Australia, Europe, and America, even without leveraging the power of Lenovo and the Liu Family.

The woman had spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs and undoubtedly had a wealth of connections.

Compared to Liu Yiqing, the indecisive Li Yanhong was clearly much easier to deal with.

The moment the losses from the subsidy war reached Li Yanhong’s psychological limit would be the start of peace talks between them.

That afternoon, Kuai Pao launched a ”meal card” top-up promotion. The mechanics were identical to those of Fast Taxi. Unrestrained by any competitors, it set a revenue record of 590 million yuan within six hours of launching.

After firmly establishing its footing in Huian, Sujiang, Hu City, and the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region, Pei Yi immediately ”marched his troops north.” Centering his efforts on cities like Yanjing, Jinmen, Changshan, and Tang City, he rapidly expanded into the surrounding prefecture-level cities, preparing to conquer the North China market in one fell swoop.

The businesses of Gaode, Kuai Pao, and Fast Taxi were mutually reinforcing. The three products complemented each other’s ecosystems in terms of user traffic and commercial monetization, leading to significant improvements in daily active user data and user stickiness.

Before leaving work, Chen Yansen received a call from Ma Wenteng. A confused look crossed his face, and he couldn’t help but wonder, ’What is that guy doing coming to Xucheng?’