Chapter 516 - 379: Car Sharing? Even Dogs Won’t Do It! Shared E-Mopeds Are Alright! A 1 Billion Interest-Free Loan?

Far away in Yanjing, Cheng Wei learned of OFO Bike’s expansion. Without a moment’s hesitation, he immediately deployed another fifty thousand shared bikes in the North China Region and dispatched a team from headquarters to East China to establish a new branch office.

A battle with OFO Bike was now inevitable!

If they continued expanding northward, into either the Northeast or the Northwest, most areas outside of a few key cities were unsuitable for the shared bike business.

If DiDi Bike wanted to increase its market share and profitability, heading south was its only option.

Meanwhile, Chang Wei of Little Yellow Bike, after months of fruitless competition with Cheng Wei, also had his sights set on the south.

With a tacit understanding, both sides chose Hu City as their beachhead.

On February 20th, TOGO, a shared car service, went live. One hundred Mercedes-Benz Smart Fortwos appeared on the streets of Yanjing.

First, there were shared bikes; now, there were shared cars.

It was a real eye-opener for the locals in Yanjing. Things were getting wild!

New users received a "999 Hua Yuan discount package" upon registration. The deposit was 1,500 Hua Yuan, with support for Orange Pay, Wealth Treasure, or online banking.

The base fare was 15 Hua Yuan (which included 30 minutes of usage time). The mileage fee was 1.88 Hua Yuan per kilometer. The time-based fee was calculated per minute: 0.28 Hua Yuan per minute during the day (7:00 AM - 9:00 PM) and 0.02 Hua Yuan per minute at night (9:00 PM - 7:00 AM).

The pricing model was "Base Fare + Mileage + Time"!

Simply put, if someone rented a Mercedes-Benz Smart during the day and drove for 40 minutes over 30 kilometers, the cost would be 15 + (1.88 * 30) + (0.28 * (40 - 30)) = 74.2 Hua Yuan.

That came out to less than 2.5 Hua Yuan per kilometer. With the new user discount, it was practically half price. You could drive a Mercedes for just thirty-some Hua Yuan.

Although the deposit wasn’t low, there was still an endless stream of users willing to give it a try.

Internet media outlets scrambled to report on it!

"Shared Cars Are Here! Drive a Mercedes Without Buying One!"

"Capital’s New Darling: Timeshare Rental Service Provider TOGO Secures 30 Million in Series A Funding!"

"100 Mercedes-Benz Smarts Hit the Streets of Yanjing. Are You Willing to Try It?"

When Chen Yansen saw the news, he couldn’t help but laugh. ’Trying to pull off a shared car business in 2013? That’s a real suicide mission. They’re just asking to fail.’

The challenges of deposits, parking, and vehicle maintenance were enough to crush a shared car company.

Being half a step ahead makes you a genius; being a full step ahead makes you a madman.

In his view, there was nothing wrong with the shared car business model itself, but the right time for it was perhaps thirty or fifty years in the future.

He wasn’t interested in shared cars, but he was particularly bullish on the market for shared electric scooters.

Compared to the high costs and complex parking problems of cars, electric scooters were a better fit for short-distance travel needs and held immense potential.

Once shared bikes became widespread and cultivated user habits, shared electric scooters could be introduced to the market. All it would take was optimizing their range and safety standards to seize the first-mover advantage in this blue ocean market.

This was especially true for cities like Mountain City, where the terrain and steep roads made it impossible to operate a shared bike business. Shared electric scooters could fill that market gap.

Before the new year, Pei Yi had discussed with him the idea of acquiring an Electric Vehicle manufacturing plant in Xicheng.

For one, it would supply the vehicles needed by Kuai Pao Riders.

For another, they could become a supplier for OFO’s electric scooters, adding another revenue stream.

For this reason, Chen Yansen had given a heads-up to Ma Liyun, Ma Wenteng, Zhu Xiaohu, and Zhang Lei. After all, it was a major investment decision for the project. If he just went ahead and did it without saying a word, wouldn’t that make him just like Ma Liyun?

Chen Yansen considered himself, at best, a semi-decent person.

He could make small moves behind the scenes, but he couldn’t go too far.

Little Ma and Zhang Lei readily agreed after hearing the proposal. Zhu Xiaohu was displeased but ultimately didn’t object. Only Ma Liyun had the biggest objections, but since the other investors had all agreed, Lao Ma was helpless to do anything.

DRING DRING DRING—!

Chen Yansen picked up his phone. It was a call from Zhou Shouzhi.

"Boss, Mr. Xu is downstairs," Zhou Shouzhi said.

’What’s he doing here?’ Chen Yansen wondered.

But Xu Zhenhui was, after all, the head of the Central Bureau. Over the past few years, thanks to his support, Pinbei Mall and Orange Technology had enjoyed smooth sailing in their development in Xucheng.

Since the man had come all this way, he couldn’t neglect him.

With this in mind, he pushed open his door, went out, and took the elevator to the first floor. Zhou Shouzhi was accompanying Xu Zhenhui in the lounge area, chatting idly over tea.

Beside them sat two attendants dressed as secretaries.

An older, black Audi was parked outside the door.

Xu Zhenhui looked up and saw Chen Yansen. Just as he started to rise, Chen Yansen strode forward and gently pressed him back into his seat.

Chen Yansen smiled and said, "Mr. Xu, my apologies for keeping you waiting."

"President Chen, please have a seat!" Xu Zhenhui gestured with his hand.

Chen Yansen didn’t stand on ceremony. He pulled over a chair and sat down to Xu Zhenhui’s left.

"Mr. Xu, are you here for the Xuyuan anniversary celebration?" Chen Yansen asked, taking the initiative.

"That’s right. And I heard from Tang Qingshan that you’re planning to build a large data center in Luzhou?" Xu Zhenhui asked, getting straight to the point.

"We do have plans for that, yes. We’re currently still in the site selection phase," Chen Yansen admitted honestly, not trying to hide anything.

"Mr. Chen, is there any chance you could keep this project in Xucheng?" Xu Zhenhui asked directly.

He knew that Orange Technology had bought a 460,000-square-meter plot of industrial land in Luzhou to build its group headquarters. Pinbei, Today Technology, and Orange Pay would all be relocating to Luzhou, which would set Xucheng’s internet development back to its pre-2010 level.

But he was powerless. Compared to Meng Yuanzhi, the resources and policies he had at his disposal were far inferior.

And Senlian Capital would also move away eventually.

"The most critical requirements for a data center are a stable power supply and abundant bandwidth resources. Xucheng isn’t the optimal choice," Chen Yansen said, shaking his head.

’Friendship is one thing, but business is business.’

He wasn’t about to change his company’s strategic plan just because Xu Zhenhui had helped him out in the past.

This data center was too important to Orange Technology to allow for even the slightest mistake.

"I’ll take care of the power supply and bandwidth resources for you. Besides, Luzhou is on an earthquake belt. You can’t be too careful. It’s not safe to put a data center there." Xu Zhenhui already had his counterargument prepared, and he went straight for the jugular.

In fact, he wasn’t wrong.

The main reason Chen Yansen hadn’t finalized the matter was that he was waiting for a survey report from the Huian Province Geological Association. He, too, was worried about natural disasters like earthquakes and floods.

"I can also help you with the renovations, fire safety permits, and low-interest loans. You’re a young entrepreneur nurtured by Xuyuan, which makes you half a local. You can’t just leave us with nothing, can you?" Xu Zhenhui said, sounding pitiful.

’That old fox Tang Qingshan... He and his big mouth are just making trouble for me.’

’The crucial thing is, I already promised Meng Yuanzhi. It wouldn’t be right to go back on my word now.’

But on second thought, Chen Yansen understood. Tang Qingshan had most likely done this on purpose.

He frowned slightly, thinking for a few seconds. Then, with a faint smile, he made an outrageous demand. "Mr. Xu, to be perfectly honest, I have already given my word to Mr. Meng."

Xu Zhenhui’s face fell when he heard this. Now that Chen Yansen had brought up Meng Yuanzhi, it would be difficult for him to press the issue.

"So," Chen Yansen continued, "on the financial side, if Xucheng can provide an interest-free loan of one billion Hua Yuan, I can consider building a data center of the same scale in Xucheng."

A sudden twist!

Xu Zhenhui didn’t even have a chance to feel happy before he heard the words "one billion" and "interest-free loan," and he instantly felt troubled again.

’That’s against the regulations!’

But he understood that if he didn’t agree, Chen Yansen would have the perfect reason to refuse him.