Liang Zhixiang nodded, somewhat confused. He knew the DiDi Dache project wasn’t going smoothly, but as the head of the investment department, he had no authority to interfere in the operational affairs of other departments.
"Xiang Hailong’s performance has been a great disappointment to me," Li Yanhong said grimly, looking at Liang Zhixiang.
’The boss wants to replace him?’
’And the candidate is Cheng Wei?’
Liang Zhixiang was stunned, his scalp tingling. Kicking someone out one moment only to invite them back the next—wasn’t that just playing games with them?
Besides, Xiang Hailong was a long-time employee of Qian Du Network. He’d been with Li Yanhong for seven or eight years. Surely, they couldn’t just replace a commander on the front lines because of one setback?
Liang Zhixiang remained silent. He didn’t quite understand Li Yanhong’s reasoning, but he knew that since the big boss had brought it up himself, his mind was already made up.
Trying to talk him out of it would be useless and would only get him labeled as an outsider. He figured all this out in a few short seconds. So, he smiled and asked, "Boss, are you planning to bring Cheng Wei back as CEO?"
"No! I want him to take the position of COO for DiDi Dache."
Li Yanhong waved his hand, flatly denying it.
’COO? That’s basically just the head of operations!’
’Would Cheng Wei even agree to that?’
Liang Zhixiang’s vision momentarily darkened, his heart filled with apprehension. But his boss had spoken. Whether it was possible or not, he had to give it his best shot.
"I’ll go arrange a meeting with Cheng Wei right away," Liang Zhixiang immediately declared.
"Victor, I’m counting on you." Li Yanhong stood up, patted Liang Zhixiang on the shoulder, and offered some warm encouragement, addressing him by his English name.
He knew this wouldn’t be easy, but the enormous daily losses from DiDi were exhausting him mentally and emotionally.
The financial pain was one thing, but what truly pushed him to the edge was that DiDi Dache was burning through cash with nothing to show for it.
After accepting the mission, Liang Zhixiang left the office and immediately called Cheng Wei.
Dozens of kilometers away at the Digital Valley Software Park, Cheng Wei was in a meeting with the R&D department, working to confirm the development plan for the second half of October.
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
"You all carry on."
Cheng Wei took out his phone. After seeing the caller’s name, he paused to think for a moment but decided to answer it anyway.
Although he and Qian Du had parted on extremely unpleasant terms two months ago, after mulling it over repeatedly during this time, he had let go of his resentment.
Qian Du was, after all, a leader among the BAT giants. There was no benefit in antagonizing them; it was always better to have one more friend than one more enemy.
DiDi Bike used a dual-class share structure, so this time he wasn’t afraid of losing control of the company through equity dilution from fundraising.
Therefore, if Liang Zhixiang wanted to invest in DiDi Bike, he would welcome it with open arms.
Cheng Wei took his phone, walked out of the conference room, and pressed the answer button while standing on the balcony.
"President Cheng, are you free? Care to grab a coffee?"
Liang Zhixiang chuckled warmly, his tone familiar as if they were old friends.
"I’m sorry, President Liang, but things are hectic at the company. I really can’t get away," Cheng Wei replied with a smile, politely declining.
’A company?’
Liang Zhixiang was taken aback and asked subconsciously, "President Cheng, you have a new project?"
"Yes, it’s similar to DiDi Dache. The business is still in the public transportation sector," Cheng Wei answered ambiguously.
"Ride-hailing?" Liang Zhixiang’s heart skipped a beat, and he asked in a flurry.
"Bike-sharing!" Cheng Wei didn’t beat around the bush and decided to be upfront about it.
DiDi Bike had already deployed over 600 bikes in the Yanjing market. The business processes and commercial model were already proven, and he was preparing to expand the fleet to 3,000 bikes in the second half of October.
By then, even if he didn’t say anything, the market scale of DiDi Bike would have caught Liang Zhixiang’s attention anyway.
Cheng Wei paused for a moment before continuing, "In Yanjing, and even in all the first and second-tier cities across the country, there’s the ’last mile’ commuting problem—between bus stops and subways, subways and residential areas, bus stops and residential areas. Walking is too tiring, and taking a taxi is too expensive. That is the value proposition of DiDi Bike."
’DiDi Bike?’
Liang Zhixiang’s expression turned grim. The name was clearly meant to piggyback on DiDi Dache’s popularity, making it easy for users to mistake it for a related product.
"President Cheng, is the product name DiDi Bike?" Liang Zhixiang asked tentatively.
"You heard me right. DiDi Bike," Cheng Wei said with a grin, his eyes narrowed.
He knew what Liang Zhixiang was thinking. But the trademark for ’DiDi Bike’ was already registered. So what if he was piggybacking on DiDi Dache’s popularity?
If Li Yanhong wasn’t happy about it, he could go ahead and sue!
’So what if it’s a different character? It sounds exactly the same!’
Liang Zhixiang suppressed his anger and said patiently, "How much money can you even make from bike-sharing? President Cheng, why not come back to DiDi Dache and continue your unfinished work? President Li is willing to offer you the COO position."
At these words, Cheng Wei sneered. ’Does Li Yanhong really see me as a dog he can just summon and dismiss at will?’
’What the hell is a COO? I couldn’t care less!’
He’d finally seen Li Yanhong for what he was: fickle and utterly impatient. Xiang Hailong hadn’t even been in charge of DiDi Dache for three months, and he already wanted to replace him.
’If I were to go crawling back, I probably wouldn’t even last a few months before getting kicked out again.’
’He, Cheng Wei, was a man, not Li Yanhong’s dog!’
"Sorry, but I have no interest in being the COO of DiDi Dache," Cheng Wei refused again, without a hint of hesitation.
The DiDi Bike project might be small, but he was building it step by step. Right from the start, he had secured a 50 million angel investment from Innovation Workshop. Its market potential might not match the ride-hailing track, but he had 100% control.
"Fine. Have it your way."
Liang Zhixiang’s smile vanished, his expression slowly turning dark as he hung up the phone.
Half an hour later, he walked straight into Li Yanhong’s office with a project file for ’DiDi Bike’.
"What did Cheng Wei say?" Li Yanhong asked impatiently.
"This is his new startup project."
Liang Zhixiang pulled up a chair, sat down opposite Li Yanhong, and handed over the file.
Li Yanhong understood instantly. If Cheng Wei had a new project, he naturally wouldn’t accept the COO position at DiDi Dache.
"DiDi Bike?"
As his eyes swept over the words on the file cover, Li Yanhong’s pupils contracted. He immediately understood what Liang Zhixiang meant.
’That son of a bitch Cheng Wei. The product name for his new project is secretly piggybacking on DiDi Dache’s popularity.’
Even though Cheng Wei was the founder of DiDi Dache, Li Yanhong had long since considered it his own prize, planning to slowly push Cheng Wei out through fundraising rounds.
"Notify the legal department. Send him a cease and desist letter first. He’s not allowed to use the name DiDi."
Li Yanhong ordered Liang Zhixiang.
The trademark for DiDi Dache was originally registered by Cheng Wei. After Qian Du took over, they immediately filed for a series of defensive trademarks like ’DiDi Private Car,’ ’DiDi Car Rental,’ and ’Dida Dache,’ using multiple variations of the ’Di’ character. This was to prevent other companies from piggybacking on their brand recognition.
In fact, every company did this, mainly because there were too many trademark trolls in the country. For example, when Penguin and Groupon formed the Gaopeng Group Buying Network joint venture, the ideal domain name would have been Groupon.com. But Tuanbao Network had already snatched it up, forcing the Gaopeng Team to settle for gaopeng.com.
Orange Technology, for instance, had also registered a slew of defensive trademarks like ’Red Orange,’ ’Qingcheng,’ and ’Lemon.’
But Li Yanhong never would have imagined that Cheng Wei would pivot to bike-sharing and come up with ’DiDi Bike’. It was an impossible move to defend against.
"Understood, Boss," Liang Zhixiang replied.
That afternoon, Cheng Wei received the cease and desist letter from Qian Du Network. He scoffed and casually tossed it aside.
He had dared to use the name, so he wasn’t afraid of Li Yanhong suing him!
A fall in the pit, a gain in your wit. Cheng Wei’s thinking on business operations had become increasingly mature, and he had grown much bolder.
「Meanwhile.」
Chen Yansen received a call from Cheng Weixing.
"Boss, I have a senior from school, the CEO of *Geek Auto* magazine. She’s recently put together a project and is looking for some angel funding," Cheng Weixing said, getting straight to the point.
"Why don’t you just send her Old Gao’s contact information?" Chen Yansen retorted.
"She wants to talk to you in person," Cheng Weixing said shamelessly.
He couldn’t help it. Back in school, this senior had been a prominent figure and had helped him out a lot. One had to know how to repay their debts.
"Fine. A favor for President Cheng. Have her add me on WeChat," Chen Yansen agreed with a laugh.
"Thanks, Boss. This senior is very capable. She was in the same major as you," Cheng Weixing added.
’A journalism major?’
’Who in their right mind majors in journalism?’
Chen Yansen instantly lost all interest. After hanging up, he didn’t give the matter a second thought.