Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

The next morning, Jingdong officially announced on its Weibo account that it had completed a 400 million US Dollar Series D financing round, with a valuation exceeding 8 billion US Dollars.

This move was a counterattack against Li Guoqing’s claim that ”Jingdong’s capital chain is about to break and won’t last until October.” It was also a slap in the face to the brokerages on Hong Kong Island and in the Lighthouse Country that had valued Jingdong at 6 billion US Dollars. Furthermore, it served to boost the capital market’s confidence in the company.

Liu Qiangdong followed up shortly after, declaring on his personal Weibo account that Jingdong would pour a billion into promotional subsidies, increasing its investment in Singles’ Day to provide users with high-quality, affordable digital and home appliances.

All the way in Jinling, Zhang Jindong took the hint and immediately responded with enthusiasm. He blasted Jingdong for always making a huge spectacle, claiming their so-called subsidies were just the classic trick of raising prices before ”discounting” them.

Although both Sunning and Jingdong had been fined hundreds of thousands in cash by the Market Supervision Association over the ”August 15th Price War,” the fine was a mere slap on the wrist for the two of them.

Having experienced the benefits of the extra web traffic, Zhang Jindong didn’t even need a heads-up from Liu Qiangdong to tacitly play along with his rival’s publicity stunts.

And just like that, Sunning and Jingdong were at each other’s throats again.

Singles’ Day should have been Ah Li’s solo performance, but to suppress Liu Qiangdong, Zhang Yong had repeatedly challenged him by holding competing sales during Jingdong’s own ”618” anniversary event, aggressively siphoning off its traffic and orders.

Naturally, Liu Qiangdong refused to back down. He immediately elevated the Singles’ Day mega-sale to the same level of importance as his company’s own 618 event.

Half an hour later, Liao Wei, the CEO of Cloud Speed, announced that Cloud Speed Express would launch a time-sensitive delivery service (namely, Cloud Speed Air Freight) by the end of December. They would also establish Cloud Speed service points in rural areas, extending the reach of e-commerce and logistics into lower-tier markets.

When Ma Liyun found out, he cursed Chen Yansen and all his ancestors. ’Little Sith, copying my plan! Absolutely shameless!’

As the saying goes, you become like the company you keep. In Ma Liyun’s eyes, Chen Yansen, being so close to Ma Wenteng, had clearly picked up some of his bad habits.

「Meanwhile.」

Liao Wei submitted a technical proposal for electronic waybills to Zheng Shengyu of the Postal Association. The system converted sender, recipient, and logistics order data into a digital format, then generated a standardized waybill template to be printed as a physical paper label.

Compared to traditional paper waybills, electronic waybills could automatically capture order data, ensuring error-free entry. They also synchronized logistics statuses in real time, allowing customers to track their package’s entire journey and reducing disputes over lost or misdelivered items.

”This technology is excellent. It reduces costs while also increasing efficiency.”

Zheng Shengyu said with a smile, pulling Liao Wei to a seat beside him.

After all, processing a single traditional waybill took three to five minutes. With electronic waybills, that time could be cut to under ten seconds, increasing the average daily processing volume several dozen times over.

Furthermore, sorting centers could use the barcodes on the electronic waybills to sort packages automatically, pushing the entire logistics industry toward greater automation.

”Chairman Zheng, we’ll still need your guidance on standardizing the waybill format. And, by the way, would the Postal Service have any need for this electronic waybill technology?”

Liao Wei asked, looking up at Zheng Shengyu with a wide grin.

”Trying to make money off of me?”

Zheng Shengyu retorted, staring at Liao Wei with a faint, unreadable smile.

For a private logistics company to try to earn patent royalties from the Postal Service—this was utterly unprecedented.

”Chairman Zheng, improving the smart printing, image recognition, and data acquisition technology cost Cloud Speed a fortune in R&D funds. You’ve got to let me recoup some of that,” Liao Wei replied with a smile.

”I’ll bet that rascal Jensen put you up to this. Fine. What’s the pricing?”