79: Chapter 79 Pinduoduo Makes its Debut

Time flew by quickly. Since Chen Mo and Nalan Ruoshui returned from Sanya, the Chinese New Year had arrived in the blink of an eye.

The 2014 Spring Festival Gala was the same as always; the programming lacked any novelty, causing the national audience to watch in a sleepy haze.

Ever since Chen Mo gave away 36 billion in red packets during the Spring Festival Gala two years ago, the audience's expectation for the event had shifted directly from watching the performances to grabbing red packets.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo didn't participate last year. Alibaba's ZFB, in order to promote Yu'e Bao, reluctantly distributed 1.5 billion. As a result, by the end of the year, Alibaba Bank had directly lost 2 billion.

Yu'e Bao was suffocated by Chen Mo's Fetion's Yu Li Bao and was now barely clinging to life.

Want to give out more red packets?

No money!

Just when everyone thought this year's Spring Festival Gala would end quietly, an unfamiliar name suddenly popped up: Pinduoduo.

It appeared a full year earlier than in Chen Mo's previous life.

The bullet comments instantly flooded the screen:

"Pinduoduo? What platform is that?"

"No need to pay for things? Really or fake?"

"Forget whether it's real or fake, if it's free, I'm in!"

"Are there any brothers who can help me cut a price?"

"Add me too, let's cut the price together!"

Overnight, Pinduoduo became instantly famous.

Who wouldn't want free things?

And the items on it were ridiculously cheap.

As for counterfeit goods?

Many people couldn't afford the genuine articles in the first place. Some who bought genuine items found the received goods were fakes.

As long as it was usable, even if it was a fake, people would still buy it.

But they didn't know this was just the beginning; Pinduoduo's bottom line was far lower than they imagined.

Chen Mo saw all of this.

But he wasn't in a hurry to act.

Not in a hurry to crush them, nor in a hurry to ban them.

Let them jump around for a while first; dealing with them now would be too bullying.

To be honest, Pinduoduo in the previous life did bring tangible benefits to quite a few common people. It followed the path of crazy domestic subsidies and then listing overseas to rake in cash, which was somewhat in line with Chen Mo's philosophy.

But there were too many counterfeit goods, and it primarily scammed ordinary people, especially the elderly and the poor.

In his previous life, Chen Mo himself and his parents had fallen for the traps on that platform.

Add one more factor:

The capital backed by Tencent.

With this factor alone, Chen Mo could not let it go.

Over the past year or so, under Chen Mo's continuous suppression:

Alibaba Group suffered huge losses exceeding 2 billion, its stock price plummeted by over 20%, and the capital investors cried out in agony. Coupled with the cash burn in the food delivery market, the overall loss was surging toward 10 billion.

Alibaba now had long lost its former arrogance and was barely hanging on by a thread.

Tencent wasn't doing much better.

Its profit in 2012 was still 4 billion, but in 2013, it was halved twice over, leaving just over 1.5 billion.

Tencent Live and Tencent Novels were both beaten half to death by Chen Mo, and even Tencent Video couldn't lift its head under the pressure from Tianxing Video.

It was only relying on its gaming division, the cash cow, to barely hold on.

Now, seeing that Alibaba was about to collapse, Tencent was starting to stir again, wanting to restart its e-commerce business.

Chen Mo yawned and ignored them!

No rush.

Let them fight like dogs for a while longer. When they are both severely wounded, he will scoop up the entire pot.

Chen Mo didn't stay home for more than a few days during the Spring Festival before escaping back to Modu.

He truly couldn't withstand his mother's nagging about marriage!

Before, she only mentioned it occasionally, but now that the New Year was over, Chen Mo was one year older, and his mother pressured him even harder, nagging from morning till night, even threatening to arrange blind dates for him.

Chen Mo had no way to express his suffering.

He couldn't just say:

"Mom, I have a special constitution. Living to 120 is easy, and the longevity medicine is almost ready. I might even live another two or three hundred years."

He certainly couldn't say that he could make his parents equally free from illness and live to a hundred years old.

If such a secret were exposed, what awaited him wouldn't be glory, but the frantic snatching by the powerful figures of the entire world.

They would either demand cooperation on the medicine or make him an enemy of the whole world.

Chen Mo would choose neither path.

So, he could only become stronger as quickly as possible—strong enough that no one dared to touch him, strong enough to crush all covetous rivals.

Upon returning to Modu, Chen Mo's first task was to appease his women one by one.

More women meant more trouble, but what could he do? His charm was great, and his physique was excellent.

When he went to comfort Yang Mi, the hottest A-list actress in the entertainment industry now, she looked hesitant and seemed to have something on her mind.

Chen Mo saw immediately that something was wrong.

"What's wrong? Why are you stuttering?"

Yang Mi bit her lip and said:

"Chen Mo, General Manager Jia from LeEco contacted me through an intermediary."

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow:

"Jia Yueting?"

"Mm."

Yang Mi nodded.

"He wants to invite me to attend LeEco's large-scale celebration, and he also mentioned establishing LeEco Entertainment."

Chen Mo instantly understood.

General Manager Jia, who is due back next week, wants to borrow his influence!

For the past two years, besides the Tianxing Group, the most high-profile entity in the country was LeEco. Jia Yueting's ability to paint a grand vision was unparalleled, and his skill at playing the shell game was already perfected.

But it had to be admitted that LeEco TVs truly drove down prices across the entire industry, allowing ordinary families to use large-screen smart TVs several years earlier.

For this achievement alone, Chen Mo held a degree of admiration.

As for later scamming a bunch of capital investors...

It had nothing to do with him.

It wasn't his money he lost.

Seeing Chen Mo wasn't angry, Yang Mi gained a bit of courage and continued:

"General Manager Jia said he is willing to give me 5% of LeEco Entertainment's shares for free."

Her eyes sparkled, seemingly filled with symbols of money; she was clearly tempted.

"Dilraba Dilmurat and Guli Nazha can each get 5% as well. The three of us combined can own 15%!"

In Yang Mi's eyes, LeEco was a giant on par with Alibaba and Tencent, backed by powerful figures and having strong connections. If they could latch onto this powerful thigh, they could practically walk sideways in the entertainment industry.

More importantly:

She knew very well that what Jia Yueting valued wasn't her, but Chen Mo behind her.

It was an unspoken secret in the industry that Yang Mi, Dilraba Dilmurat, and Guli Nazha were all Chen Mo's women.

Jia Yueting wanted to use them to stand on the platform, indirectly boosting LeEco's value.

Chen Mo chuckled lightly, looking at Yang Mi:

"Isn't the studio I gave you enough for you? Do you really have to go be a shareholder for someone else?"

Yang Mi said aggrievedly:

"That's not the same! What you give me is yours to receive from you. What I earn myself is mine."

She paused, then whispered:

"Besides, you treated Im Yoon-ah so well, directly giving her SM shares. I also want to have my own career."

Chen Mo was stunned, then burst out laughing.

So she was jealous.

Im Yoon-ah was far away in Korea. He gave her shares and money to ensure she had backing there and wouldn't be bullied.

Yang Mi and the others were in China, under his protection; who would dare touch them?

It was just that he couldn't say these things openly.

Seeing Yang Mi's cautious look, afraid of falling out of favor, Chen Mo's heart softened slightly.

He had indeed neglected them recently.

Chen Mo sighed, reached out, and gently stroked her hair:

"If you want to go, then go. I'll go with you."

Yang Mi looked up sharply:

"Really? You're willing to go with me?"

"Mm."

Chen Mo nodded faintly.

"It's a good time for me to meet this General Manager Jia as well."

Yang Mi excitedly grabbed Chen Mo's arm and kissed him on the cheek.

She actually didn't care about the shares or the celebration at all.

What she cared about most was whether Chen Mo was still willing to stand up for her.

She was three years older than Chen Mo, older than Dilraba Dilmurat and Guli Nazha, and she always lacked a sense of security, constantly fearing she would fall out of favor one day.

At this moment, all that insecurity vanished completely.

"Chen Mo, you are the best!"

Chen Mo looked at her happy expression and shook his head.

PS: Thanks to Moyang from Danyang Town for sending electricity powered by love, thanks to Suanlvbai for sending bubble milk tea and electricity powered by love, thanks to all the readers who support me, Happy New Year's Eve.

Wishing everyone in the new year:

Take the lead to start a new chapter, two dragons play with pearls accompanying the horse's journey, three auspicious signs bring prosperity and vigor, four seasons gallop for ten thousand miles, five blessings gather and success arrives instantly, six-six smoothness as we tread the song, seven stars hold the moon with a fine steed, good news from all directions is reported, longevity and vigor for the dragon horse, and perfection in the Year of the Horse.