Lou Wensheng was genuinely concerned about his friend. After work, he went directly to Sun Tongyu's home. He found the large house empty, with no lights on, and only Sun Tongyu sitting in the living room watching television.
"Old Sun, where's your wife?" Lou Wensheng asked casually.
"The boss hasn't gotten off work yet!" Sun Tongyu shrugged his shoulders. "As long as the boss doesn't get off work, she won't get off work either!"
"Ah, there's nothing to be done about that. Your wife is the company's administrative director, managing all the administrative work. It's not appropriate for her to come home early before the boss leaves!" Lou Wensheng said.
"It's fine. I haven't taken these things to heart. She has her work, and I support her!" Sun Tongyu said calmly. "So, brother, what brings you here? You're quite a rare visitor!"
"It's nothing major. It's just that the boss mentioned you again today. I wanted to say that there's nothing major between you and the boss. The company is indeed developing rapidly, so why are you still dwelling on it? You are the developer of Haigou.com and Gouhua Suan, and you even developed Youqianhua and Zhuanqianbao with your own hands. Without you, everyone in the company feels uncertain!" Lou Wensheng sighed.
"It's okay. Even without me, you all have been working as usual for the past ten days, and the company has been operating normally," Sun Tongyu scoffed.
"Alas!" Lou Wensheng sighed. "I really can't understand. The company's current activities are clearly a good thing, which can help the company develop at an extremely fast pace. And indeed, the company's data is improving by leaps and bounds every day. It's only a matter of time before we catch up to Jiangnan Mall. Isn't this what you've always wanted to achieve? What are you still unhappy about?"
"That's right, defeating Jiangnan Group has always been my goal. But the problem is, the company is heading down the wrong path and there's no turning back. If I don't stand up and tell the truth, I'll have to watch our venture be destroyed," Sun Tongyu said frankly, unable to hold back his pent-up thoughts.
"I just don't understand, on what grounds do you say the company's path is wrong? Isn't it doing very well now?" Lou Wensheng asked.
"The boss likes to read Jin Yong, so let me use Jin Yong as a metaphor. Our company is like鸠摩智 (Jiumozhi), forcibly pushing Shaolin martial arts with the inner energy cultivated by the Little Formless Skill. It appears very powerful, as one can use any of the Shaolin Temple's seventy-two unique techniques. However, the problem has become deeply ingrained. Once the inner energy becomes chaotic and one falls into a state of demonic possession, all the功力 (gongli - cultivation/power) will be given to段誉 (Duan Yu), and one will have to become a monk oneself!" Sun Tongyu said.
"Get to the point, don't use these irrelevant metaphors. I don't understand!" Lou Wensheng said.
"Okay, first of all, there are Zhuanqianbao and Youqianhua. These appear very useful, but they are a double-edged sword that hurts both the attacker and the attacked. Moreover, the more money these two products accumulate, the greater the risk."
"Especially Youqianhua, if the bad debt rate becomes too high, Zhuanqianbao is bound to collapse. Once Zhuanqianbao collapses, the entire company will have only one path to destruction!" Sun Tongyu said.
"You're wrong about that!" Lou Wensheng said dismissively. "To be honest, the boss has already considered this matter. Therefore, Zhuanqianbao and Youqianhua are not products of our Forty Thieves. They are products of Mantis Finance. If they were to collapse, it would be Mantis Finance that collapses, and it would have nothing to do with us Forty Thieves!"
"Heh heh! Naive, truly too naive!" Sun Tongyu suddenly laughed. "You and the boss both treat people like fools. But how foolish do you think people have to be to believe that we have no relationship with Mantis Finance?"
"As long as there is no relationship in the eyes of the law, then there is no relationship!" Lou Wensheng said firmly. "We have studied relevant laws before launching the products and have successfully avoided all legal risks. Even if everyone knows about our relationship, it's useless!"
"Wensheng, let me ask you, which market is our company operating in?" Sun Tongyu asked.
"Of course, it's the Chinese market! What's the problem with that?"
"Stability outweighs everything."
"..." Lou Wensheng fell silent, beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. After a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "We can go abroad to stay. If anything happens..."
"Yes, we can stay abroad. If anything happens, it's better to be an American!" Sun Tongyu chuckled and said no more.
"Actually, you're overthinking it. Zhuanqianbao is doing very well right now. We have over 1 billion yuan in surplus funds, and this amount will grow to over 10 billion yuan within the next year. The momentum is good, so there will be no risk of a 'bombing'!" Lou Wensheng said.
"Yes, I thought so too. As long as Zhuanqianbao and Youqianhua complement each other well, this can indeed be a business that can be carried out for a long time. We might not even see it explode in our lifetime. And after we die, all the blame will naturally fall on us, and there will be no problem!"
"That's why I followed his orders and developed these two products, even though I opposed the boss's approach at the time."
"But I told the boss at the time that the key to stabilizing Zhuanqianbao and Youqianhua was to stabilize ourselves. Only when Haigou.com itself forms a stable e-commerce platform can these two financial tools be stable, and our company can continue to develop."
"So, my suggestion to the boss then was that the company should deeply cultivate and expand in the Haigou market for more than three years, building it into an impenetrable fortress that even Jiangnan Mall would hesitate to enter."
"Only by stabilizing this foundation can we continue to attack and compete with Jiangnan Mall for the entire product category market."
"But now, after only a few months, the foundation of the procurement market is not yet firm, and everything is still on the surface. The boss wants to enter the entire product category market and compete with Jiangnan Mall impatiently."
"Have you considered that if we fail in this competition, all our investments will be in vain, and our capital chain will be broken? Those who invested in Zhuanqianbao will want to withdraw their funds, causing a run, and Zhuanqianbao will not have enough money. You can imagine the scene, right!"
"It is precisely because of this that I couldn't help but tell the boss my thoughts. But the boss told me to get lost. Fine, I'll get lost for him to see. I'll just lie on this sofa and never come out again!" Sun Tongyu said indignantly.
"Don't torture yourself. Yes, I admit that the risks you're talking about are huge. But you should also see that if we succeed, we don't even need to defeat Jiangnan Mall. As long as we secure a stable share in the mainland's entire product category market, we will gain more Zhuanqianbao users, and Zhuanqianbao can accumulate funds at a faster pace. Then a virtuous cycle will be formed, which will actually help stabilize our entire company," Lou Wensheng said.
"Yes, but your method of seizing the market is to use Zhuanqianbao's funds to subsidize merchants, allowing them to compete in the market at lower prices. This is truly a stroke of genius! You came up with this idea, didn't you!" Sun Tongyu suddenly stared intently at Lou Wensheng, making Lou Wensheng feel uneasy.
"I only offered a suggestion..." Lou Wensheng was a bit guilty at first, but his voice soon grew louder. "But this suggestion was very successful. You might not know, but I have already swayed 90% of the top sellers from Jiangnan Mall. They have all agreed to join our newly launched Gouhua Suan Mall. Then we can take the opportunity to promote it and create a massive online promotional event to attract more customers with lower prices, making them users of Gouhua Suan. This way, our foundation in the entire mainland market can be established, and more funds will flow. There will be no risk you mentioned!"
"Oh, how impressive! 90% of the top sellers, and a large-scale promotional campaign. This must cost at least tens of millions. Is this money also taken from Zhuanqianbao's funds?" Sun Tongyu retorted.
"We have 1 billion yuan. A mere tens of millions is insignificant!" Lou Wensheng said.
"Yes, tens of millions are indeed insignificant compared to 2 billion yuan. But you are so capable, you've brought over 90% of the top merchants. According to my information, these 90% of top merchants bring in over 5 million orders to Jiangnan Mall each month."
"According to your plan to subsidize at least 2 yuan per order, that's at least 10 million yuan in subsidies per month! And believe me, the actual amount will surely be more than double 10 million yuan. You won't even have enough with 20 million yuan in subsidies per month!" Sun Tongyu said.
"That's still only twenty million yuan. We have 1 billion yuan, which can support 50 months. And these 50 months are enough for us to attract more users and tens of billions of funds!" Lou Wensheng said. "Old Sun, your concerns are unnecessary. Although subsidies will cost money, they are small amounts. We can earn big money with small amounts, and the big money can easily fill the holes left by the small amounts. This will be a perfect cycle, and we will definitely win!"
"You forgot, the boss promised us that we will all be billionaires in the future!"
"Brother Lou, everything you've said is correct, but it depends on a premise!" Sun Tongyu said.
"What premise?"
"You have to truly take a piece of meat from Jiangnan Mall. You must defeat Huang He, who has never been defeated so far!" Sun Tongyu's words cast a silence over the living room, with not a sound to be heard.
"I think success depends on human effort!" Lou Wensheng finally stood up, took a deep breath, and said calmly.