38: Chapter 38 System Settlement, Trident Recruitment

January 20th.

The winter chill enveloped Shanghai. Students from Huahai University of Finance and Economics packed their bags and embarked on their journeys home.

At this time, Shen Du's reputation in Shanghai was firmly established.

After experiencing the harvest of the "zhengzhou cotton futures" market and the expansion of "Meituan," the mention of "Young Master Shen" in Shanghai circles was always accompanied by a hint of dread.

The former "The Three Young Masters of Shanghai" — Young Master Jie, Zhou Wennan, and Zhu Shuyan — had now become his steadfast executors, expanding his business territory.

On the eve of leaving school, the dormant system in Shen Du's mind issued a notification: "Ding! Rise Main Quest 2: 'Iron-Blooded CEO' completed!"

"Task Assessment: You have successfully assisted Meituan in emerging from the 'Thousand Group War' and established its status as an industry hegemon! At the same time, within Huahai University of Finance and Economics and among the second-generation peers in the same industry in Shanghai, you have become an unshakable 'Shanghai Gentry'!"

"Reward settlement in progress... Congratulations to the host for obtaining: 'Era Genius Selection of Three Recruitment Card'!"

As the system's voice faded, six names shimmering with dark gold light appeared in the void before Shen Du: Gan Jiawei, Hou Yi, Technical Expert Su Hua, Yu Jun, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, General Manager Chen Shengqiang.

To ordinary people of this era, these names might seem unfamiliar. But for Shen Du, with his perspective as a reincarnator, every single one of these names represented a hegemon in the future Chinese internet landscape over the next decade.

Shen Du gazed at the six names in mid-air, his eyes calm and without ripples, only possessing the composure of one who had seen through the trajectory of fate.

In the chaotic world of 2010, these six people were either in a period of career confusion, lying dormant in large companies, or struggling in the quagmire of entrepreneurship. But in Shen Du's eyes, each of them was a heavy weapon capable of supporting a market valuation.

He scanned over Gan Jiawei. In his past life, this soul of the "Alibaba Iron Army" joined Meituan during Wang Xing's most difficult time, building an offline iron army that swept across the country.

But in this life, due to Shen Du's intervention, Meituan's expansion speed was several times faster. Gan Jiawei's historical trajectory had shifted, making him a "recruitable talent" in the system's evaluation.

Next was Hou Yi. At this time, he was still leading warehouse construction at JD.com, a hardcore supply chain architect. Shen Du knew that this man would later pioneer the retail model of "Hema Fresh".

Subsequently, his gaze rested on Yu Jun. This genius, recognized as the first generation of "Product Gods" in the internet industry, had a profound understanding of products that once kept Baidu at the pinnacle of search. But in Shen Du's blueprint, he needed more aggressive "offensive" talent.

Shen Du's gaze locked onto the remaining three: General Manager Chen Shengqiang, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, and Technical Expert Su Hua.

General Manager Chen Shengqiang, the future helmsman of JD Digits. He was a natural "vault keeper" who could turn every cent of cash flow into leverage. With Shen Du holding ninety million in cash and Meituan becoming a cash cow, he desperately needed such a steward who could manage funds and build a supply chain finance system.

Operations Manager Zhang Nan, the woman currently worrying about a niche image app, would become a figure commanding hundreds of millions of traffic. Her precise insight into human nature and her use of social fission were key to Shen Du's future layout of traffic portals.

Finally, Technical Expert Su Hua. This Tsinghua engineering graduate who had just resigned from Baidu and was filled with algorithms was, in Shen Du's eyes, the future "algorithmic core." The recommendation algorithm in his hands would become a solid technical moat in Shen Du's business empire.

"Capital, traffic, algorithms." Shen Du curled the corners of his lips. These three people would become the trident in his hands. Time waits for no one; he had to set the stage before the curtain of the mobile internet era rose.

Shen Du did not hesitate for too long. Among the six names in his mind, his fingertips decisively landed on three of them.

The first card: General Manager Chen Shengqiang. Shen Du knew that if the ninety million in cash flow just lay in a bank account earning interest, it would be a complete waste of capital. He needed a "steward" who could make money perform miracles.

In Shen Du's vision, the future Meituan would not just be a group-buying platform; it would become a huge pool of funds. And General Manager Chen Shengqiang, this "cold-faced abacus," was the candidate who could utilize merchant account periods to precipitate funds and leverage supply chain finance. With him, Shen Du would effectively possess a capital ammunition depot.

The second card: Operations Manager Zhang Nan. In 2010, when most people were still studying how to hand out flyers, Shen Du's gaze was already cast toward the Short Video era. Operations Manager Zhang Nan, a traffic operator known as a "human nature hacker," was the pawn he used to lay out traffic portals in advance.

Shen Du did not want simple marketing; he wanted to harvest users in the sinking market through social fission. As long as Operations Manager Zhang Nan joined the game, he could forcibly create a traffic black hole.

The third card: Technical Expert Su Hua. If General Manager Chen Shengqiang was the shield and Operations Manager Zhang Nan was the spear, then Technical Expert Su Hua was that invisible moat. In the future O2O war, the key to success lay in the efficiency of algorithmic order dispatching.

Shen Du needed Technical Expert Su Hua to build that intelligent system capable of supporting the dispatch of tens of millions of riders. When opponents were still relying on manual dispatching, his algorithms would have already completed the optimal path planning in one second.

"Capital, traffic, algorithms." Shen Du looked at the three names frozen in the void, a smile crossing his lips. His goal was clear: assemble this money-printing machine before anyone else noticed. He wanted to be the dealer who set the rules, not a gambler looking for an entry ticket when the trend arrived.

As the command was issued, three karmic lines invisible to ordinary people traversed the void, tying themselves to the three geniuses standing at the crossroads of their lives. After making this decision, Shen Du did not rush to use the contact information provided by the system to disturb these three.

A superior knows how to create mystery and pressure. Shen Du picked up the old Nokia 5230, his fingers pressing on the chipped buttons.

He mass-texted the same ten-character message to the three future bigwigs—General Manager Chen Shengqiang, Operations Manager Zhang Nan, and Technical Expert Su Hua—who were in different cities and facing difficulties: "After the New Year, I will arrange everything."

No long-winded talk, no groveling. This brainless text message, without even a signature, was thrown into the destiny trajectories of these three people with the aura of a ruler.

After finishing all this, Shen Du threw the phone into his pocket. When he turned around and looked at the brilliant sea of neon lights of Shanghai outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the calculations in his eyes faded. Replacing them was a rare, slightly weathered tenderness.

Shedding the outer shell of "Young Master Shen," casting aside the tens of millions in net worth, Shen Du was, after all, a son. He came from a remote and backward mountain village in the mountains of Zhejiang and was from a single-parent family.

His father passed away early due to illness when he was very young, and it was his mother who gritted her teeth alone to support him through Huahai University of Finance and Economics. In his past life, Shen Du was battered and bruised in Shanghai, burdened with mortgages and car loans. He had to calculate carefully even the money to buy his mother a coat when returning home for the New Year, and ultimately watched his mother grow old in the despair of bankruptcy. That was the reverse scale in his heart that he could not touch and had to make up for after being reborn.

"Mom, this year for the New Year, your son is coming home to accompany you." Shen Du gazed in the direction of the southern mountains, whispering softly. Now, his foundation in Shanghai was stable. Now, he had only one most important goal: Go home, celebrate the New Year!

The next morning, the sky in Shanghai was chilly. There were not many people in the campus of Huahai University of Finance and Economics. Shen Du did not bring any entourage.

Xu Hao, Lin Zimo, and Chen Fei and others, after the revelry at Lanting Mansion last night, had been sent off by him to return to their hometowns for the New Year. He carried a travel bag alone and came to the exclusive underground constant-temperature garage of the large flat.

On the spacious VIP parking space, a black steel beast lay dormant. For Shen Du, who had just received his driver's license a few days ago, this Mercedes G-Wagon with its extremely high chassis and square shape was the perfect mount for him, this "Young Master Shen."

"Click." Pulling the door open, Shen Du sat into the cockpit. As his finger pressed the start button, "Boom—!!!" The thick roar of the 5.5-liter V8 supercharged engine exploded in the empty underground garage, shaking the alarms of several supercars around it.

Shen Du controlled the steering wheel with one hand, his eyes without ripples. Stepping on the gas pedal, this giant beast weighing nearly three tons let out a low roar. It rushed out of the garage, tore through the morning mist, and drove onto the highway heading south.