Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Before even launching, Little Yellow Bike had secured 30 million in funding from Wei Lie Capital and Jinsha Venture Capital. Including user deposits, these funds were enough to support a deployment of up to 500,000 bikes.

”Right away, Boss,” the market head replied hurriedly.

Chang Wei was completely unaware that DiDi Bike’s operations team was already out on the streets, using their phones to input the serial numbers of Little Yellow Bikes and record each one’s fixed password.

After half a day of diligent work, an Excel spreadsheet containing the unlock codes for 2,700 Little Yellow Bikes began to quietly circulate on social platforms like online forums, Renren Network, BBS boards, and QQ.

Furthermore, thanks to the efforts of some ”helpful” netizens, the number of passwords on the sheet grew, eventually exceeding 3,900.

Then, a tech-savvy user emerged and converted the spreadsheet data into a searchable app. All you had to do was enter a bike’s serial number to instantly get its unlock code, saving everyone the time of manually searching the list.

The app was an instant hit.

Because the bikes used mechanical locks, people didn’t even have to download the official Little Yellow Bike app.

And the deposit? Of course, they didn’t have to pay that either.

For the first few days, Chang Wei didn’t notice anything was amiss. He just found it odd that Little Yellow Bike’s daily usage rate was unexpectedly low at only 1.4 rides per bike, with daily revenue hovering between 4,000 and 5,000 Hua Yuan—nothing like he had projected.

It wasn’t until he was browsing an online forum that he stumbled upon a pinned post: [STICKY] Little Yellow Bike Passwords (Live updates, currently at 5,684 bikes).

Chang Wei froze. His face instantly turned ashen.

’Fucking hell! We only have 8,000 bikes, and these bastards have collected the passwords for 5,684 of them?!’

He frantically downloaded the spreadsheet and sent it to his operations department for verification.

Ten minutes later, he received a confirmation: ”Boss, the passwords are 98.7% accurate.”

The implication was clear: in the eyes of freeloaders, Little Yellow Bike’s mechanical locks were a complete joke.

’Looks like I overestimated people’s integrity,’ Chang Wei sighed. He couldn’t understand why users would rather exploit a loophole than spend a single Hua Yuan.

Unlike Cheng Wei, who had used mechanical locks purely to cut initial costs, Chang Wei had been plain stupid. He didn’t even have a backup plan for smart locks. Finding a new supplier and replacing the hardware would take at least a week.

With no other choice, Chang Wei could only watch helplessly as people mercilessly exploited his Little Yellow Bikes for free rides.

When Zhu Xiaohu of Jinsha Venture Capital heard the news, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’With a brain like that, he wants to be an entrepreneur?’ he thought to himself. ’Is this a fucking joke?’

In any case, the first round of funding had already been transferred. Whether Little Yellow Bike lived or died had little to do with him now.

He hadn’t invested because of the project’s potential anyway. In the world of business, while cutthroat competition is important, managing relationships and social obligations is even more critical.

Seeing Chang Wei being run around in circles, Cheng Wei let out a contemptuous laugh and threw himself back into his own market expansion efforts.

「December 21st. The winter solstice, and the day the world was supposed to end according to the Maya prophecy.」

After ironing out its operational flow and business model, a company called OFO Bike deployed a total of 75,000 shared bikes across six cities—including Jinling, Luzhou, and Hu City—all in one go. Its expansion was incredibly rapid.

Cheng Wei breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the news. It seemed his new rival had no immediate plans to move north.

He had someone look into it and learned that the project lead for OFO Bike was the former CEO of an automotive magazine. While he had some business experience, he was a newcomer to the bike-sharing industry.

Still, OFO Bike’s expansion put him on high alert. He immediately convened a meeting with his senior management, laying out a plan to completely swallow the North China Market before Q2, after which they would head south for a final showdown with OFO Bike.

As for the fledgling Little Yellow Bike, he didn’t even consider it a threat.