Chapter 645: It Seems Fine to Get Married by the Year’s End

Late summer, a light rain dampened the bustling long street, bringing a hint of coolness. Puddles formed in the dips along the roadside, spilling over into trickles.

It was early September, the first day for freshmen. Hungry Yet? had held several meetings beforehand to make a comeback in the college market that day.

For this, they devised a series of promotions targeted at college students.

For example, new users could exchange a completed first order for a back-to-school gift pack, and referee new users for discount coupons.

They hoped to grow their volume of business through dissemination and fission.

Near Linchuan University City, promoters recruited by Hungry Yet?, carrying life-sized roll-up banners, were blocking the essential path for new students, vigorously promoting.

Meanwhile, Group-Buy’s handheld fans, along with various back-to-school packs, had already landed in the students’ hands.

“The rain’s getting heavier, should we call it a day?”

“We haven’t reached our quota yet, we’ll get a pay cut.”

“But the weather is bad today, staying here longer is pointless. Let’s come early and leave late tomorrow, just pull in a few more.”

Responsible for the promotional activities at Linchuan University were two salesmen from Jia Mei Marketing, one named A Xiang and the other A Wei. They were subcontracted to Hungry Yet? to help with ground promotion.

Both had been squatting by the door since morning, handing out flyers under umbrellas, but to little effect.

It wasn’t a lack of ability, really, it was just the bad weather.

The incoming freshmen, mostly dragging luggage and using umbrellas, rushed straight into the campus without pausing.

However, based on their experience, this was just temporary. Once the weather cleared, the promotional activities would pick up.

A Xiang and A Wei stood up, folded their umbrellas, then headed towards the alley where their electric bikes were parked, using the awnings of street shops for shelter.

The terrain ahead was low-lying, it was just a small puddle when they arrived, but now it was hard to tread on. Fortunately, the waterlogged road had bricks laid by nearby merchants making it passable.

The two maneuvered skillfully across with side-steps and quick turns, reached the other side, and unlocked the chain lock on their bike’s rear wheel.

“Got paper? My seat got wet.”

“No, but… there’s a flyer.”

A Xiang found a flyer in his bike basket and pulled it out to hand over.

A Wei took it, glanced briefly seeing only the words “Group-Buy·Cloud Flash,” then used it to furiously wipe his seat.

“The quality’s pretty good, didn’t even tear…”

“What quality is good?”

“Never mind, let’s hurry back. I think a heavy rain’s coming soon.”

A Wei looked up at the sky, seeing more dark clouds gathering and hurried A Xiang along.

By then, A Xiang, clothed in his raincoat and all promotional materials packed, stepped on the box below his feet and sped towards the pedestrian street exit.

As they exited, across the street, a man and three women with umbrellas were stepping over the wet ground into the Fenghua Li community, then entered building 1, unit 1, room 101.

It was a standard three-bedroom apartment with the main bedroom at the end of the hallway, opposite were two secondary bedrooms, and to the right were the living room and kitchen.

The room had been cleaned and was equipped with a TV, fridge, and air conditioner. As it was on the first floor, there was a small 15-square-meter courtyard in front of the patio, accessible by opening the glass door.

“Wow, this is awesome.”

“Roommate situation, roommate situation. I always wanted to live with friends like in ‘Love Apartment’.”

Wang Haini and Gao Wenhui rushed into the room, pushing open the three bedroom doors. The beds and bedding were new, prepared in advance by Wei Lanlan.

Feng Nanshu looked around curiously.

She wore a cinched dungaree dress with a white chiffon blouse with lantern sleeves today, her black hair draped over her shoulders, her eyes lively.

The community opposite Linchuan University was always bustling for rentals because many couples wanting to cohabit and scholarly students with postgraduate or civil service study needs sought a quiet place to live.

During the summer break, a batch of apartments had just been vacated, and new rental notices had been posted recently.

Currently, the headquarters building of Group-Buy wasn’t finished yet. The core operations couldn’t be moved there, and with Feng Nanshu’s Year One packed with coursework, renting a place was a suitable choice.

The three girls quickly picked their rooms, still excited, they ventured out with umbrellas, touring the complex and bought some groceries.

There was a supermarket in Fenghua Li, less than 200 meters from building no. 1, well-stocked.

“I wonder if Jiang will live with us,” Wang Haini suddenly said.

Gao Wenhui was picking apples, she looked up: “He didn’t seem to say he would stay in the dorms.”

Feng Nanshu blinked, “But there are only three rooms.”

“You’re smart when you’re smart and silly when you’re not. Jiang clearly wants to share a blanket with you. Otherwise, why wouldn’t he rent a four-bedroom? It’s not like he’s short on money. Ha, bad man.”

“But Jiang Qin doesn’t even share a blanket with me at home.”

Wang Haini picked up a radish, looked it over and casually said, “It’s inconvenient at home, but outside, anything goes!”

Gao Wenhui nodded, “He doesn’t kiss you at home either. At school, he always takes you to the woods.”

Feng Nanshu tilted her head in thought, then left Gao Wenhui and Wang Haini, heading to the checkout. She grabbed a small box from the shelf and slipped it into her pocket, looking quite serious.

Just as Wang Haini finished choosing her radish, she looked up, “Eh, where’s Nanshu?”

“Dunno, maybe buying candy.”

“…”

While the trio was browsing in the supermarket, Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing drove up, bringing along Po Tian Fu Gui as well.

Fu Gui, now much bigger but still robust, living up to his name.

Jiang Qin had just finished setting up Feng Nanshu’s bed. Hearing them enter, he took them to the living room.

“The prep work for Cloud Flash Pay is complete. We used this time to run a trial promotion in Linchuan, and the results were good. The national rollout is tentatively set for Wednesday, a month ahead of Alipay’s planned date.”

“Did you digest the wild promotional plan I picked up?”

Tan Qing coughed, “Digested it. The plan is very detailed, and we’ve adjusted it based on Group-Buy’s existing channels.”

Jiang Qin sat silently on the couch for a while: “Promoting a payment tool is a big project because it involves money, and users are very cautious. So, the next steps will be tough, but it’s worth it. If Cloud Flash Pay takes off, Group-Buy will truly be a closed loop.”

“Understood.”

Wei Lanlan brought a tea set and brewed tea for Jiang: “After Cloud Flash Pay integrates into Group-Buy, should we cancel the Alipay gateway?”

Jiang Qin shook his head, “Canceling would mean burning bridges. Let’s lower the payment priority once Cloud Flash Pay takes off.”

“Okay.”

“How’s Hungry Yet? doing recently?”

Tan Qing pulled out a flyer from her bag: “Recently, flyers from Hungry Yet? appeared near the University City. Looks like they don’t want to continue losing in the sinking market and are trying to snatch the University City market.”

Jiang nodded, “Any other interesting industry movements?”

“At the начало года, Alipay used Koubi’s food delivery to revive the Koubi website project. They seem to have pumped more money into it recently and are also doing group buying. Besides, they’ve launched a travel ticketing site called Alipay Travel.”

During this takeaway war, Group-Buy’s group buying has been busy too.

Led by Sun Zhi of the Business Department, they’ve been negotiating various ticketing channels. Group-Buy’s ticketing and performances have already launched, with Ali following closely. Though their moves aren’t big, they always seem potentially threatening.

But people in the industry are somewhat perplexed. They’ve already lost once. What’s the point of testing the waters again?

Because Group-Buy has now gotten on its feet, linking various loops quite tightly. It’s tough for Ali to compete in this area, and the cost is much greater than the return.

But as someone who has been reborn, Jiang Qin understands their business logic well.

“Alipay dominates now. Almost all online shoppers are their users, whether it’s Taobao or Group-Buy, online payments pass through Alipay. That’s a lot of traffic.”

“Ali keeps probing the lifestyle sector, running projects similar to Group-Buy, actually aiming to use Alipay’s traffic in the end to integrate them all into one entity.”

“Integration…”

“Yes, open Alipay, and you can group buy, order food, and buy tickets without needing another app. They’re probably thinking along those lines.”

Tan Qing slightly opened her mouth: “Develop separately first, then merge? No wonder recently, Ali has launched so many new projects targeting the lifestyle service sector!”

Listening to their discussion, Wei Lanlan imagined the scenario: “Then… wouldn’t Alipay become a Group-Buy dominated by its payment feature?”

“I think that’s their plan.”

“Boss, this is just like your idea of building a traffic pool and then incubating other industries.”

Jiang Qin nodded, “Pretty much, but Alipay forgets one thing. Being too greedy means nothing gets done well. In the end, everyone might find it too cluttered and flashy, which could backfire.”

Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing nodded thoughtfully after listening but still admired the female executive at Alipay.

During the early days of the group buying war, even though Lashou.com was funded by Ali, they resolutely decided to cooperate with Group-Buy. Together with joint marketing and linked card red packets, they took over the market in just half a year.

Then, Ali seemingly invested in many unrelated industries, continuously probing behind Group-Buy, unwilling to accept the failures of Lashou and Koubi’s food delivery. But if viewed as components of Alipay, they could become a combined entity in the future…

This layout might seem different in another context.

Regardless of the eventual outcomes, the thought process alone is quite ingenious.

Up to now in internet commerce development, they’ve only seen Jiang Qin dare to play this way.

However, Jiang starts by incubating then fragmenting, while Ali does it the other way around, starting by building then combining.

Both these growth models are brilliant, but who would win or lose in the end is unknown, left to time to decide.

Right then, the door to room 101 opened, and Feng Nanshu, Gao Wenhui, and Wang Haini returned from their walk in the complex, umbrellas still dripping wet.

Seeing this, Wei Lanlan and Tan Qing immediately stood up, shouting “Boss Lady” and hugged her.

Gao Wenhui and Wang Haini greeted them too, then placed the toiletries on the coffee table before taking the groceries to the kitchen.

“?”

Jiang Qin watched as they set down the plastic bags, his brow furrowing as he reached inside. He ended up pulling out a box of the largest size contraception, called the Sperm Elves.

Oops, someone’s about to get lucky.