47: Chapter 47 The Emergence of Shared Bicycles

After returning to Modu from the industrial base, Chen Mo's life settled back into its usual routine.

In the mornings, he lounged on the sofa playing games. In the afternoons, he accompanied Yang Mi, Bai Fengjiu, and the others shopping or watching shows. Occasionally, he would drop by the company, where Zhang Kai and his team managed everything perfectly, allowing him to enjoy being a hands-off boss with great comfort.

The next month or so passed peacefully with no major news.

The system's monthly lottery didn't yield any practical skills either, so Chen Mo didn't pay it any mind.

Time flew by, and the New Year arrived.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the internet was filled with complaints flooding all major social platforms.

"Isn't Alipay too stingy! I spent days scanning for the Five Blessings, and in the end, I only got five yuan!"

"Be grateful, I only got two!"

"I got one yuan, I was too embarrassed to even mention it!"

"I got eighty cents, crying..."

"CEO Chen is so generous. Last year's 36 billion yuan in red envelopes, that's what you call the New Year!"

"Right, right. Why isn't CEO Chen sending out red envelopes this year? I miss him!"

Netizens complained while comparing, and the more they compared, the more they felt Alibaba's move was petty.

Their Five Blessings event had a total pool of only one billion, which was insignificant compared to Chen Mo's grand gesture last year. It was mocked and trended on hot searches several times.

But despite the scolding, Alibaba achieved its goal.

Under the guise of the event, they quietly launched a new product: Yu'e Bao.

"Not bad, this Yu'e Bao is actually quite good, yielding over four percent annualized!"

"That's much higher than the bank's demand deposit rate, and you can withdraw anytime. It's so convenient!"

Chen Mo scrolled through his phone, a cold sneer curling on his lips.

In his previous life, Yu'e Bao peaked at over a trillion yuan in scale. The high interest paid by banks was terrifyingly high, yet Alibaba only offered users around 0.04%. The spread allowed them to effortlessly earn tens of billions annually—pure profit from nothing.

Coupled with relaxed initial regulations that allowed arbitrary fund diversion, it directly fostered a terrifying cash flow.

Now, Alibaba was suffocating under the burden of two cash-burning pits, Fast Ride and Meituan. Tencent, lacking the pillars of gaming and WeChat, saw its profitability plummet, with profits dropping below four billion. Its stock price fell continuously, and both giants' cash flows were nearly exhausted.

Especially Alibaba, lacking a cash cow like gaming, could only rely on methods like Yu'e Bao to recoup funds.

How could Chen Mo allow them to recover smoothly?

On the second day of the New Year, Fetion officially made an announcement.

They were launching a similar wealth management product: Yu Li Bao.

It was a bombshell from the start:

The annualized return was directly set at 5%, and all funds would be fully supervised by state-owned banks, earmarked for specific use, never to be diverted!

The news exploded, and the entire internet went wild.

"Holy crap! CEO Chen’s moves are different!"

"5%! That's one point higher than Yu'e Bao, and it’s fully supervised by the bank. Maximum security!"

"Nonsense. What kind of wealth does CEO Chen have that he’d care about your petty change?"

"Transferring funds immediately! Everyone rush to Yu Li Bao!"

Alibaba headquarters instantly panicked.

At the same time, Chen Mo was at home being nagged by his mother.

"Xiao Mo, you're twenty-three already. When are you bringing a girlfriend home? Your Uncle Wang next door already has a grandson!"

Chen Mo leaned on the sofa playing on his phone, not even looking up: "Mom, I'm only twenty-three, what's the rush?"

"What’s wrong with twenty-three? People your age already have kids who can run errands!"

Chen Mo chuckled: "How about I give you a grandson to play with first, so you don't have to worry every day?"

His mother raised her hand and smacked his arm: "Get lost! Be serious! I’m telling you to date, not mess around!"

Chen Mo gave a wry smile.

Marriage? Impossible in this lifetime.

Having children? No interest for now.

Several women around him had subtly tried to have his child to tie him down, but with his Grandmaster-level physical control, as long as he didn't want it, no one would accidentally get pregnant.

After staying home for half a month and being nagged unbearably, Chen Mo packed his things and zipped back to Modu.

Meanwhile, on the other side, as soon as Fetion's Yu Li Bao launched, Alibaba's Yu'e Bao was severely damaged. Its scale fell far short of expectations, and the cash flow gap widened.

The internet in 2013 wasn't that lucrative to begin with. After being constantly intercepted by Chen Mo, Alibaba nearly posted a loss last year, and Tencent was barely alive, on the verge of becoming Alibaba's follower.

But even so, swallowing these two giants wouldn't happen overnight.

Alibaba Headquarters, top-floor conference room.

Jack Ma sat at the head, his face ashen. The representatives from the capital side surrounding him were all sighing.

"What exactly does this Chen Mo want!"

Someone slammed the table and roared.

"Does he have to push us to total destruction?"

"Can't we just run our own businesses and leave each other alone?"

"It's not about whether we want peace now; it's that he won't leave us a way to live!"

"We can't beat him in food delivery, we can't beat him in payments, and now wealth management has been intercepted. How are we supposed to play?"

What they hated most was Chen Mo's move that hurt them without benefiting himself.

The highest interest rate offered by banks for large deposits was only around 5%, and it came with a lock-in period.

Alibaba offering 4% was already thin profit.

Chen Mo directly set it at the maximum of 5%, clearly intending to lose money to seize the market.

What was even harsher was that he placed all the money under bank supervision.

Should Alibaba follow suit?

If they did, Yu'e Bao would instantly lose most of its value.

If they didn't, users would all flee.

"How about... we also raise the interest rate and invest the money in high-yield projects?"

Someone tentatively suggested.

"No!"

It was immediately vetoed.

"This is demand wealth management; it can be withdrawn anytime. If the investment loses money, who among us takes responsibility?"

"Financing is getting harder now. Even banks refuse to accept our equity pledges; they only recognize physical assets. What physical assets do we have?"

The group looked distressed.

The harshest blow Chen Mo dealt them wasn't about losing money, but the skyrocketing cost of financing.

The entire market knew they were locked in a fierce battle with Tianxing Technology. Which bank or capital firm would dare to invest easily?

They were forced to mortgage their shares at ridiculously low valuations. Internet companies rarely have heavy assets; they couldn't exactly mortgage their headquarters building.

After a long silence, a representative from the capital side suddenly spoke up: "How about... we sell funds?"

Everyone was startled.

"Funds are not guaranteed to preserve principal. If they lose money, it has nothing to do with us; we still collect the management fees. The returns are much higher than deposits—people won't stop buying."

"Initially, we can offer high yields to attract capital. At worst, we subsidize a bit first."

"We invest the money into affiliated companies, artificially inflate each other's stock prices, and cash out at the peak. It's a guaranteed win."

"As for the regulations? If we're not allowed to buy our own stock, we can buy the competitor's! Just a slight detour."

Someone pretended to frown: "This... might not be very appropriate, right?"

"What's inappropriate! If we don't sell now, do we wait until regulations tighten? Or do we let Fast Ride and Meituan go public now and lose everything?"

All eyes turned to Jack Ma.

Jack Ma tapped his fingers on the table, hesitating for a full three minutes before finally nodding fiercely: "Do it!"

A few days later, netizens suddenly discovered:

Shortly after launching Yu'e Bao, Alipay directly opened a fund section.

"Wow! Alipay Funds are rising so fast!"

"Is it really that profitable?"

"Could it lose money?"

"High risk means high return. How can you make money without taking risks!"

"Forget it, I'll stick with Yu Li Bao. It's safer."

Chen Mo burst out laughing when he saw the news.

Alibaba was truly desperate to resort to such methods.

But he wasn't worried at all.

Everyone who buys funds knows there's a risk; they are just harboring a fluke desire to gamble.

Even with his Grandmaster-level investment skills, he couldn't directly snipe it:

A-shares only allow long positions; if he actually moved, it would only benefit those capital players.

Their tactic was simple:

First, build positions at a low price themselves $\rightarrow$ Use fund capital to drive up the stock price $\rightarrow$ Cash out at the peak and exit $\rightarrow$ Whether the fund loses money is irrelevant to them; the management fee is collected in full.

A typical guaranteed win, where retail investors become leeks.

However, Chen Mo couldn't be bothered to intervene.

The ones who lost money were those with spare cash looking to speculate. Truly poor people who couldn't afford food didn't even have the qualification to be harvested.

As for Bitcoin?

Chen Mo didn't even consider it.

It had only been born three or four years ago and held no value.

Buying a small amount wouldn't earn him much, which he looked down upon.

Buying a large amount would inevitably alert the market makers, the price could be easily manipulated, and cashing out would be extremely difficult.

Besides, with his abilities, if he truly wanted it in the future, why bother buying?

He could just 'take' it directly.

—————

Just two days after returning to Modu, Chen Mo's phone suddenly rang. It was his father, Chen Changlin.

"Stinky brat, I've built your stuff. Send someone to pick it up!"

His father's tone was harsh, and he hung up with a 'snap' after speaking.

Chen Mo was left speechless and amused.

What was the level of the Tianxing Industrial Base now?

They had mobile phones, computers, high-end carbon fiber, and even car production lines.

Chen Changlin was happily anticipating becoming the head of a car factory, but Chen Mo issued an order: Build bicycles!

One million units at once, with subsequent orders totaling ten million!

The head of a grand industrial base suddenly turned into the manager of a bicycle factory; anyone would explode with frustration.

How could Chen Changlin know that Chen Mo didn't care about fuel cars at all? What he wanted to build were electric vehicles.

It was just that the market wasn't mature yet, policies hadn't kicked in, and capital hadn't entered the field. Chen Mo planned to wait until those people had sunk hundreds of billions before suddenly striking, wiping them out and causing total losses.

As for building bicycles now:

It was naturally for shared bicycles.

Wasn't Alibaba busy trying to harvest leeks through funds?

He couldn't directly target the funds, but he could create new trouble for them and further complicate the battlefield.

A few days later, a novel sight suddenly appeared on the streets of several major cities across the country.

Overnight, the streets were covered in sky-blue bicycles.

No card needed, no lock to find, just scan with Fetion to unlock.

A three-hundred-yuan deposit, refundable upon return.

One yuan for an hour of riding—cheap and convenient.

Citizens were instantly amazed.

"What are these bikes? They're too convenient!"

"They're from Tianxing Technology! CEO Chen is doing something new again!"

"Three hundred yuan deposit is a bit steep..."

"Steep for what! It gets refunded after you ride, they aren't keeping it from you!"

"It's mainly to prevent people from vandalizing them. Does CEO Chen need your three hundred yuan?"

"I've ridden it several times, I'm too lazy to even get the deposit back, I'll just keep it for next time!"

Sky-blue bikes spread across city streets and alleys like a tide.