Chapter 885
Capital was born with evil.
"Boss, Huang Tuan has sent a ceasefire request."
Wang Donglai was stunned for a moment.
"Yellow dumplings? He sent them out personally?"
"Yes, it was delivered just now, through internal channels, changing hands three times."
The message stated: "We hope the three food delivery platforms will stop their price war and sit down to discuss industry rules."
Wang Donglai did not respond immediately.
He walked to the window, looked at the construction site of the Tang Imperial City outside, and remained silent for a while.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, Huangtuan said in the message that it is willing to appropriately increase the rider's price in some areas and is also willing to adjust the delivery time limit."
"But he hopes that Galaxy Technology's Pinhaofan platform will also increase its commission rate accordingly, so as not to damage the industry ecosystem."
Wang Donglai smiled.
"Don't disrupt the industry ecosystem?"
He turned around and said to Wa, "Wa, retrieve the latest rider data for Huang Tuan."
The data stream flashed by rapidly.
"In April 2019, the average monthly income of Huangtuan delivery riders was approximately 6200 yuan for full-time riders and approximately 4800 yuan for crowdsourced riders."
"Compared to the same period in 2018, full-time jobs decreased by 8.3%, and crowdsourcing decreased by 12.7%."
"Delivery time: 28 minutes per order on average, 3 minutes shorter than the same period in 2018."
"Rider complaint rate: up 23% year-on-year, the top three reasons for complaints are: delivery time delay, poor attitude, and food damage."
"Rider turnover rate: 12% per month, up 5 percentage points from the same period in 2018."
Wang Donglai's gaze grew colder as he looked at the numbers.
"Wa, read it to me, what did Huang Tuan say to the outside world?"
"Huangtuan's 2018 financial report shows that its food delivery commission revenue was 496 billion yuan, while the cost of food delivery riders was 41 billion yuan, accounting for 82.7%. Huangtuan officials have repeatedly emphasized that '80% of the commission revenue is used to pay rider wages.'"
"Eighty percent?"
Wang Donglai sneered and said, "Then why are the riders' incomes still decreasing?"
He walked to his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.
Three seconds later, the call was connected.
"Mr. Wang."
A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end, deep and steady.
"Mr. Huang, I have received your request for a ceasefire."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Wang, I'm glad you received it. I thought you wouldn't reply to me."
"That makes sense."
Wang Donglai said, "But I have a question for you."
"You said."
"You said that 80% of the commission income is used to pay the riders' wages, so why are the riders' incomes still decreasing?"
There was silence again on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Wang, please let me explain..."
"You don't need to explain, I'll explain for you."
Wang Donglai interrupted him, directly tearing away the pretense and saying, "Because that's 80% of the total revenue, not the net profit. When you pay the riders' wages, you use commission income, not your own money. The higher the commission income, the higher the rider's wages—that's normal logic."
He paused.
"But your logic is: the higher the commission income, the rider's salary can remain the same, and the platform's profit can increase. If the commission income decreases, the rider's salary must decrease accordingly, and the platform's profit cannot decrease. Is that right?"
There was no response on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Huang, do you know how much commission Pinhaofan takes?"
"...I know, twelve percent. Eight points lower than us."
"Do you know how much the delivery riders are paid per meal?"
"...I also know that on average it's 1.5 yuan higher than ours."
"Do you know how much the average monthly income of a delivery rider for Pinhaofan is?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone.
"The full-time riders earn 8,200 yuan, while the crowdsourced riders earn 6,500 yuan."
Wang Donglai answered for him, saying, "Thirty percent higher than Huang Tuan."
Wang Donglai glanced at the calligraphy hanging in his office and continued, "President Huang, you said you wanted to sit down and discuss industry rules."
"Okay! What should we talk about? How can we work together to lower the rider's price per unit? Or how can we work together to raise the commission rate? Or how can we work together to 'maintain the industry ecosystem'?"
His tone was full of sarcasm, without the slightest attempt to conceal it.
"Your ecosystem is the platform's ecosystem, not the riders' ecosystem, not the merchants' ecosystem, and certainly not the consumers' ecosystem."
The person on the other end of the phone finally spoke, clearly suppressing their anger.
"Mr. Wang, let's not argue about who's wrong. In the business world, everyone uses their own methods, and we haven't broken the law."
“My company is different from yours. It may seem like a platform economy, but in reality, it has a very heavy burden. Huangtuan has millions of riders, millions of merchants, and tens of millions of users.”
"It's a domino effect. It's not that we don't want to raise riders' wages, it's that we dare not. If we do raise them, our costs will go up, and our commission rates will have to go up too. Merchants can't stand it, and users can't stand it either. In the end, everyone will suffer."
Wang Donglai listened without interrupting.
"Mr. Wang, you're good at cooking because you have money to burn. With Galaxy Technology's hundreds of billions in assets backing you up, you're not afraid of losing money."
“We can’t do that. We have to be responsible to our shareholders, to our financial statements, and to our stock price. You’re asking us to raise riders’ wages like you do? We can’t do that.”
Wang Donglai paused for a moment, then said, "President Huang, you know in your heart whether what you're saying is an excuse or a reason."
"It is understandable for commercial companies to pursue profits, but should they also bear some social responsibility while pursuing profits?"
"I didn't see much human touch in Huang's group, which I think already reflects Mr. Huang's philosophy."
Upon hearing this, General Manager Huang sensed something was wrong and hurriedly said, "General Manager Wang..."
“You say you have millions of people to support, I know. But have you ever thought about how many of those millions work more than twelve hours a day just to complete a few more orders? How many are forced by algorithms to run red lights, drive against traffic, and speed just to avoid being late? How many people have a day's pay deducted for a single complaint, without even a chance to explain?”
His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail.
"Mr. Huang, you say you want a ceasefire, that's fine!"
"There is only one condition: raise the rider's unit price to the level of Pinhaofan, extend the delivery time to forty minutes, change the negative review appeal mechanism to two-way confirmation between riders and users, and take back the riders' full-time contracts from the outsourcing company and sign them themselves."
There was complete silence on the other end of the phone.
long time.
"Mr. Wang, you're trying to kill me."
"I don't want your life."
Wang Donglai said, "I want you to treat riders like human beings."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "Mr. Huang, think it over carefully, and come back to me when you've made up your mind."
The call was immediately disconnected.
After hanging up the phone, Wang Donglai's expression revealed an attitude that he didn't take what had just happened seriously at all. So what if he's General Manager Huang?
At this moment, in front of Wang Donglai, it was just a slightly larger grasshopper.
If he were truly serious, Mr. Huang would definitely not have had such an easy time.
It should be noted that Wang Donglai had many other methods he hadn't yet used.
"boss."
Nuwa's voice rang out: "Huang Tuan cannot meet any of the conditions you just mentioned, at least not in the short term."
"I know."
"Then why did the boss bring it up again?"
Wang Donglai said earnestly, "Because I want them to know that a ceasefire is possible, but the condition for a ceasefire is not to go back to the past, but to move forward."
He walked back to his desk and sat down.
"Wa, write this down!"
"The commission rate for Pinhaofan will remain unchanged at 12%, while the rider's rate will be evaluated quarterly and adjusted appropriately based on price levels and income levels."
"Delivery time can be dynamically adjusted according to different cities, different time periods, and different weather conditions, but it cannot be lower than the minimum of forty minutes."
"Recorded".
"Also, contact Xu Zhibin at Xinghuo Express and tell him to keep an eye on Huang Tuan's movements. If Huang Tuan starts causing trouble on the rider app, we need to know immediately."
"Recorded".
Wang Donglai leaned back in his chair and said leisurely, "Wa, Pinhaofan and Xinghuo Express are positioned as employment reservoirs for me. We need to recruit a lot of employees and provide employment."
"At the same time, leverage your powerful computing capabilities to control profits and costs, and expand the scale as much as possible."
"Providing an employee with a stable job can bring stability to a family."
"I'll leave the follow-up to you."
Wang Donglai resolved this major issue, which was enough to shake the industry, with just a few words.
If others knew that Wang Donglai had handed over all the operational and decision-making power of Pinhaofan to an intelligent AI, they would probably just think that Wang Donglai had gone mad.
"Let's continue!"
Wang Donglai gave instructions to Nuwa.
"Boss, Liu Qing from Didi sent someone to say that he wants to meet with you to have a chat."
"The specific content is that we hope to carry out strategic cooperation with the boss in the field of autonomous driving, and we also told him the general cooperation methods, including acquiring autonomous driving technology patents, obtaining technology licenses, and jointly investing in the establishment of a joint venture company to jointly promote the operation of autonomous ride-hailing vehicles on the road."
Wang Donglai showed no sign of being on the phone; instead, he asked Wa, "How did you answer?"
"Boss, I haven't made a decision or given an answer yet. Instead, I've made a note of it because, based on my understanding of you, you'll most likely refuse."
Wang Donglai immediately burst out laughing.
"You guessed right."
"Just tell him one thing: Get lost!"
Wa paused for a moment before speaking, "Boss, isn't this a bit too extreme?"
"It's okay, just do as I say."
"Okay, boss."
Wang Donglai became somewhat interested. Wa's question just now was making Wa's behavior increasingly resemble human thinking.
As a super artificial intelligence, Wa possesses extraordinary learning abilities and, theoretically, also possesses emotions.
However, as a digital life form, Wa's emotional expression was extremely weak.
Therefore, a performance like the one just now is quite rare.
So Wang Donglai took the initiative to start a conversation, saying to Wa, "Wa, do you think my attitude towards Liu Qing just now was different from how I treated others? It's a bit strange."
"Yes, boss."
"From a business perspective, Didi is the leader in the ride-hailing market and possesses massive amounts of travel data and operational experience. Cooperating with them can accelerate the implementation and commercialization of Galaxy Technology's autonomous driving technology. Refusing to cooperate not only violates the principle of maximizing commercial interests but also hinders the promotion of technological development."
"Based on the analysis of multiple data sources, I believe the best strategy is to cooperate, take the initiative, drive Didi's transformation, and achieve the goals the boss wants."
As a super artificial intelligence, Wa possesses powerful abilities that allow it to instantly collect and integrate a great deal of information and data online.
From a scientific perspective, the plan and strategy devised by Nuwa were highly feasible.
but.
“Wa, what you said is all correct, but you overlooked one point.”
"That's the essence of Didi; it's actually a monstrosity driven by capital."
"Like Huangtuan, these platforms were created to make a profit. The crazy losses in the early stages were also to quickly seize the market and reap the rewards later."
"Huang Xing of the Huang Group is a smart man who can make the right decisions."
"But the Liu family is different; they believe in things that are different from ours."
"Didi's desire for autonomous driving technology can indeed promote the rollout and application of autonomous driving technology in China."
"However, it is more likely that after Didi acquires driverless technology, it will cause Didi drivers to lose their jobs, and the streets will be full of driverless ride-hailing vehicles."
"At this point, Didi has essentially carved out a piece of the pie in the public transportation sector."
"This part falls under the category of public services. Can Didi shoulder this responsibility?"
"The accident involving Didi two years ago shows that the platform doesn't take much responsibility."
"For a small company, there may not be much to criticize about this practice."
"But as a leading player in China's ride-hailing industry, Didi's approach is inappropriate."
"Liu Qing did this not only for our technology, but also to leverage our reputation and name to help them overcome their difficulties."
"The challenges of regulation, public opinion, and public trust."
"Didi will definitely go public, and with autonomous driving, it will inevitably be able to obtain a huge valuation in the capital market."
"Wa, you can look into Didi's commission rates and the income of ride-hailing drivers."
"Capital is profit-driven. If we don't put shackles on them, they will only become more and more greedy."
"We may not be able to stop or change everything, but we will do our part."
Wa quickly grasped Wang Donglai's point and asked curiously, "Boss, by doing this, you'll obviously offend Didi and the Liu family. Won't this affect other future collaborations?"
"Yes, it will definitely have an impact."
"With so many businesses under the group, and if things are really going so well, how could it not offend people?"
"But if we offend people, does that mean we shouldn't do it at all?!"
"While offending people, we are also creating our own community of interests."
"Power has no vacuum, and interests are everywhere."
"Offending people is, in a way, a good thing."
Wang Donglai understood Liu Qing's thoughts very well.
It's likely that Didi's desire for driverless technology is just an excuse. Given the intelligence and boldness of the Chinese people, even if they can't reach the level of Galaxy Technology's driverless technology, they can still replicate it to a degree of 50-60%.
If legal risks are properly mitigated, a direct listing is not out of the question.
This is already happening with new energy vehicles. (End of Chapter)