"My boss, you're the one who cares about me the most!" The meeting finally concluded. Although there were countless reversals and the investors were all bastards, everyone eventually reached a consensus. They would collectively invest another 5 billion yuan into Dida Waimai for the final war.
The reason was simple: this was an almost guaranteed victory.
While it was true that no one who had competed commercially with Boss Huang had ever emerged unscathed, this time was different. Boss Wang clearly lacked information. He had no idea about Chen Hu, who had secretly hidden 12 billion yuan in funds. The actual situation was 17 billion against 5 billion. xxs
Huang He probably still foolishly thought it was 5 billion against 5 billion and would naturally make a wrong judgment. They would then become the first to defeat Boss Huang in history, which made everyone a little excited.
However, even if they ultimately defeated Huang He, they wouldn't be the first to do so in history.
After all, the person who had tricked Huang He into investing heavily in the leather goods industry and borrowing heavily to build new production lines was the true first person to defeat Huang He in history, and so far, the only one.
"You don't need to thank me. After all, the other thing you promised me is the most important!" The representative from Sequoia Capital said expressionlessly. "Can I have it now?"
"Boss, my company is facing a life-or-death situation right now. Can we not discuss this for now?" Chen Hu said with a chuckle.
"What? Do you intend to break our agreement?" The representative's expression changed drastically, and he stared fiercely at Chen Hu.
"Boss, I swear to heaven, I never thought of violating our agreement. In fact, our interests are aligned. I can't stand being in this damned country for another minute. I just want to make enough money and then live a free life with you in the US," Chen Hu said with a smile.
"Then give me what you promised, and the adults behind me will give you what you want! Even direct naturalization is very simple!" the representative said.
"Boss, it's not that I don't want to give it to you, it's just that this thing is really difficult to give!" Chen Hu sighed. "This is not simple data, but the daily dining data of a total of 18 million users, and the order data for takeout covering the entire map of China. This data is very massive, tens of thousands of terabytes. Tell me how I'm supposed to hand it over to you."
"The simplest method is through network transmission, but this is the least likely. After all, this country has the most stringent network defenses and monitoring. Such a massive data flow would be discovered immediately, and neither of us would be able to get away with it."
"The only feasible method is to copy and transfer this data internally within the company to a mobile storage server, and then find a way to smuggle those storage devices out of the country to take the data away physically. This is the only feasible solution."
"But this kind of thing would cause too much commotion, and it's impossible to keep it from people within the company. Therefore, those in charge of data are all my trusted confidantes, but it's hard to guarantee that someone might betray me. If someone reports it, then I'll be finished!"
"So, if what you're saying is true, neither method is feasible, and you'll have to hold onto this data for your entire life!" the representative from Hongshan Capital gritted his teeth.
"No, don't misunderstand. There is definitely a way, but now is not the time," Chen Hu said.
"Then tell me, when is the right time?"
"When we go public in the US!" Chen Hu narrowed his eyes. "As long as the company can list on the US stock market, I can withdraw a large sum of cash from the stock market. At the same time, I will copy the data from the company's internal servers and take all the data with me to the US under the guise of the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony."
"After that, I can stay in the US all the time and control the entire company remotely. If my confidantes don't betray me, then the outcome will naturally be the best. You get the data, I still control the company, and we all get what we want."
"But if things are exposed, it's also easy to handle. I'll just abandon the company. As long as I'm in the US and have a large amount of cash, China won't be able to do anything to me. I can live a peaceful life in the US for the rest of my life without worrying about other dangers!" Chen Hu said with a smile.
"You've thought it through quite comprehensively!" the representative snorted. "But how long do you have to wait? The important people behind me can't wait another day. They desperately need this data!"
"Then it depends on the outcome of this battle!" Chen Hu sat down. "Boss, I won't hide anything from you. My entire fortune and life are riding on this battle. I've even handed over the 12 billion yuan in cash that I was preparing to secretly transfer to the US, all for the sake of winning this battle and defeating Huang He!"
"If we win this battle, then the company will be able to leverage its great victory against Jiangnan Group and successfully list on Nasdaq, receiving massive funding. Both you and I will become billionaires, and everything will be fine."
"If we lose, the company will become worthless. At that time, I can let go of all my ambitions, directly abscond with all the remaining funds and data, and go to the US with you to start anew!"
"Simply foolish!" the representative said coldly. "Your best course of action would be to voluntarily sell the company to Jiangnan Group or Tiantian Waimai. Then, take your 12 billion yuan, along with the massive funds from the company's transaction and the data we need, and come directly to the US to live a life of luxury, instead of being in this perilous situation where you either advance or perish."
"I really can't understand why you would abandon the plan we had prepared and end up doing something so foolish!"
"Boss, why can't you understand!" Chen Hu's expression suddenly became agitated. "This is an opportunity to have a fair fight with Huang He! It's a chance to defeat Huang He with a very high probability! If I can defeat Huang He, what regrets will I have in my life?"
"After all, 100 million US dollars is enough for me, Chen Hu, to live a fulfilling life. No matter how much more money there is, it's not as enjoyable as defeating Huang He. This is an opportunity that countless people dream of. How could I let it go!"
"But don't you forget, Huang He has never been defeated since 2001!"
"Yes, so isn't that enough to drive people crazy?"
— — —
Things didn't cause much upheaval. Tiantian Waimai quickly agreed to join the fray. After all, Boss Huang's deterrence, or rather the deterrence of his funds, was too great. No one could bear the consequences when Boss Huang poured tens of billions of yuan into the takeout market and engaged in aggressive subsidies.
Therefore, the only limiting factor for Boss Huang's funds right now, and the best opportunity to put both sides on as equal a footing as possible, was to compete.
Moreover, each company believed it had an advantage. For example, Dida Waimai actually had 17 billion yuan in funds and the largest number of users, giving it a clear advantage.
Tiantian Waimai also had many users. Additionally, Tiantian Waimai's strategic layout focused on key cities. They had invested heavily in first-tier cities and believed that as long as they continued to focus their efforts on key cities and withdrew their forces from non-key cities, they could achieve an impact by breaking through from key points.
As for Ebufang Waimai, apart from service, it seemed to have no other advantage at the moment.
But Ebufang's greatest advantage was Boss Huang himself, a terrifying existence who could change the entire situation with a single word. Fortunately, Ebufang's boss, Zhao Yao, was too proud and had been refusing Boss Huang's kind offers. Otherwise, he would have already unified the entire takeout market.
And now, the actual war.
Let's talk about Chen Hu. The strategy he prepared for Dida was very simple: a defensive approach. He intended to use a strategy of striking only after the opponent had made their move to wear down Ebufang and Tiantian Waimai to death.
This was a tactic Chen Hu had learned from a competitor. In less than two years, his market and user base, built with subsidies exceeding 50 billion yuan, had been forcefully taken away by nearly half due to the competitor's subsidies for just half a month.
Chen Hu certainly didn't think it was his fault. He believed that the competitor had timed their move perfectly, striking precisely when he was not subsidizing.
Therefore, Chen Hu issued a strict order to his executive departments: when Ebufang engaged in subsidies, their own subsidies would be directly halted, with the exception of member subsidies. All other subsidies would be stopped.
And when Ebufang also stopped its subsidies, they would immediately follow suit, not only resuming subsidies but also aggressively promoting their services to win back the lost users with subsidies.
If Ebufang started subsidizing again, their subsidies would be halted until the opponent stopped subsidizing, and then they would follow.
In short, they would rely on having more money than Ebufang and use this attrition strategy to deplete the competitor's 5 billion yuan in cash, thus becoming the victor.
As for Tiantian Waimai, Chen Hu completely ignored them. After Chen Hu learned that Tiantian Waimai had decided to abandon the vast market and focus solely on a few provincial capitals and key cities, he knew that Tiantian Waimai was a lost cause.
After all, a great man had long said the principle of surrounding the cities from the countryside.
The plot quickly unfolded as Chen Hu predicted. The rather stingy 5 billion yuan from Ebufang was used, and after the competition began, Ebufang announced the suspension of its subsidy activities, focusing instead on improving user service.
At this point, Dida Waimai decisively took action, showering the market with various subsidies, followed closely by corresponding promotional marketing. The results were very significant. Dida Waimai's daily order volume began to rebound, quickly returning to over 8 million orders.