"Whoever benefits is the puppet master behind the scenes."
After bidding farewell to Zhu Hu, Lu Liang walked out of the hotel and suddenly thought of this phrase, muttering to himself, "Could it be Ali?"
Ali had entered the scene personally, holding at least 30% of the share, making every competitor sweat profusely.
Not many people knew that Lu Liang had transferred his shares, but Ali definitely did, as Zhu Hu had been connecting Ofo with Ali for some time, so it was not surprising that Ali knew.
"What's the agenda? Political capital?"
Lu Liang couldn't figure it out, but he knew that Mobike and other friendly competitors were in for trouble, at least Meituan wouldn't stand by idly.
Army against army, general against general, since the big capital had entered the scene personally, it suggested that the final battle was nearly upon them.
The next day, Lu Liang was waiting for a call from someone. After waiting for a long time without a call, he instead received Qin's sales figures.
In the first day, 24 hours, the total bookings were 25,200 units, almost 28% of the entire market's sales volume for the first quarter.
As a result, the company's stock soared, achieving a "three-day winning streak", bringing its market value to 2.74 trillion Yuan, thereby boosting the sector by 2.43%.
"New energy credits, 2400 Yuan each, invaluable, Dizi is going to dominate the market."
"The shabby car companies, their good days are over."
"Dizi, charge for me~~"
"Looking forward to 500 billion!"
A group of retail investors predicted that starting this month, the entire new energy industry would enter a rapid development phase.
Just as the mobile phone circle wouldn't allow OnePlus to excel alone, the car circle wouldn't allow BYD to excel alone either.
Moreover, there was also the new policy of carbon credits.
The calculation method for the new energy credits was 0.012xR+0.8, where R represented the driving range.
Using the pure electric version of Qin as a standard, with a top configuration of 300 kilometers range, it could generate about 4.4 credits.
The country had set a cap of 5000 Yuan per credit, but since it was not yet time to settle accounts, no one needed them yet and no one was selling, with the market price hovering around 2400 Yuan.
So when Old Wang said that a car only earns 5000 Yuan, it wasn't just boasting. After all, selling cars only made a bit of money, but selling credits and subsidies later on would be the bulk of earnings.
According to the current situation, surplus new energy credits could be sold at the end of the year.
Except for BYD, there was also Tesla.
It was now like a classroom with a new transfer student with excellent grades, and a classmate was also silently trying hard, obviously waiting to hit them hard next year.
A group of car companies cried wolf: "The wolf is here."
That afternoon, Lu Liang finally received the call he had been waiting for, a call from Hu Weiwei, "Mr. Lu, Meituan has parachuted in."
After Ali entered the scene, Meituan couldn't sit still either, Li Bing reached an agreement with Shen Peng, who in turn reached an agreement with Wang Xing.
So, Meituan sent people to parachute in, completely sidelining her authority, and Wang Xing even planned to merge Mobike into Meituan.
"What are you thinking?" Lu Liang asked.
Hu Weiwei was silent for a long time, full of melancholy, and sighed, "I really don't know now."
Although there had been confusion before, there was always something to look forward to, a direction to know where to go, thinking that everything was for Mobike.
But now that Mobike was essentially Wang's, she was completely lost, even if she wanted to keep busy, she didn't know what the point was.
Lu Liang pondered for a long time, then suddenly said, "I mentioned before that I saved a position for you, do you remember?"
"If you'd like, then head to Beijing, Tianxing Technology still lacks a deputy general manager in charge."
Hu Weiwei had been a car journalist for ten years and had even founded the tech media 'Geek Auto'.
When Lu Liang invited her, he had already thought of the position for her, a deputy general manager in charge, with a status equal to Tang Caide.
"Beijing, the car circle..."
Hu Weiwei was bewildered for a moment, after going around in circles for over a year, it seemed she was about to return to the starting point from more than a decade ago.
She had always thought Lu Liang was joking and was surprised when he actually reserved a very suitable position for her.
Hu Weiwei thought for a long time.
Lu Liang knew she was weighing her options and wasn't in a hurry.
He leisurely lit a cigarette, basked in the smoke, and patiently waited for her final answer.
After a while, Hu Weiwei took a deep breath and suddenly made up her mind, "Mr. Lu, give me three months to sort things out at Mobike, then I will head to Beijing."
She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if she refused, there wouldn't be a next time.
Even considering it for a few days wouldn't work due to the dynamics of playing hard to get, which only existed when the parties were of equal standing.
The gap between Lu Liang and her was even bigger than between her and Li Bing, and there were too many people to choose from.
"Three months, four months, all fine; just give me a call when you're ready," Lu Liang said with a satisfied smile on his face.
He was relieved that Hu Weiwei was aware of her situation and didn't bring up welfare benefits or even stock options.
Because discussing those matters now was too premature.
Soon, news started spreading online.
It was rumored that Meituan was investing $465 million to take over Mobike, making Mobike a part of the Meituan conglomerate.
The news was quickly confirmed by Li Bing, Hu Weiwei, and Wang Xing from Meituan.
Once it broke out, public opinion was in an uproar.
Netizens complained, "That was way too fast."
The entrance of major capital not only signified that the ultimate battle was about to begin but also meant that, regardless of who won or lost, low-cost rides were a thing of the past.
The Thousand Group War, the Ride-Hailing War, countless incidents were proving this point: the fiercer the competition, the greater the benefits to the public.
Conversely, once the market was down to the last two or three companies, they would reconcile and stop burning cash to seek profits.
First market, then money; this has been the pattern for internet companies for over a decade.
At the same time, Li Bing also approached Lu Liang, full of regrets, "Hu Weiwei is resigning."
"Rain falls and women marry; who can stop that?" Lu Liang said with a smile.
Li Bing sighed, "This, I have wronged her."
Initially, he had urged Hu Weiwei to establish Mobike, planning blueprints for her, pulling in investments, introducing suppliers, and ultimately bursting her bubble himself.
Lu Liang joked with a laugh, "In business, there's no real concept of wronging someone unless there's more than business between you two."
"Stop spreading rumors," Li Bing glared, he and Hu Weiwei were purely old acquaintances.
Decades ago, when the automotive market wasn't as large and auto journalists were few, he founded Yiche and frequently dealt with auto journalists; gradually, they grew familiar.
The year before last, Li Bing saw the potential in the sharing market but was busy building compact cars, so he thought of Hu Weiwei.
"I was just joking," Lu Liang was taken aback.
"I know you were joking, but I truly have wronged her," Li Bing sighed, detailing this only in hopes that Lu Liang would treat Hu Weiwei better in the future and personally vouch for her.
Lu Liang's main business was in finance, and investing in new energy was merely out of interest, but his core business was NIO, which left no room for Hu Weiwei.
He always felt quite sorry for Hu Weiwei because he didn't provide her with a fallback plan, and these past few days, he had barely dared to meet with her.
Fortunately, Lu Liang offered her a refuge.
"It still depends on her capability."
Lu Liang smiled and didn't make any definite promises.
While Hu Weiwei was experienced, if she lacked capability, in the end, no one's words would help.
Li Bing hesitated to speak and finally sighed, swallowing his words and pulling out a contract to change the subject, "Take a look, if there's no issue, sign to authorize."
Meituan was to use $465 million for a full takeover, which he managed, and Lu Liang held 2.168%, currently valued at $10.0812 million.