Return to 88: Starting from Marrying My Sister-in-law

The bright and clean new office still carries the faint scent of paint and brand-new office furniture.

Alibaba moved here from a cramped residential building in the west of the city just a few days ago. The sudden expansion of the space and the upgrade of the hardware have filled the entire team with a vibrant and energetic spirit.

The brand-new computer screens flickered, and the figures moving between workstations carried an obvious sense of excitement and urgency; the air seemed to be filled with the drumbeat of "change."

"President Lu, look, this is our new battlefield!"

Ma Yun opened her arms as if embracing the entire space, her voice booming, her eyes shining with a light more intense than the July sun in Hangzhou.

He led Lu Yang, Yin Mingyue, and the two children through the brand-new office area.

In stark contrast to its previous shabby state, this place now boasts a separate reception area, spacious meeting rooms, and clearly defined functional zones.

In the most central area, a huge whiteboard wall is densely covered with English keywords and website addresses, and several servers are emitting a low hum.

The "engine" of Alibaba.com has been started.

"Thanks to the hard work of our team members, the platform has been initially set up in less than a week, and information on more than 2000 domestic companies has been uploaded in the first batch!"

Jack Ma pointed to the employees busily operating the back-end systems, his tone filled with pride and the joy of an initial victory.

"Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without your strong support, Mr. Lu!"

"Little Prodigy, Little Genius, and BBK, these heavyweight companies under your umbrella and our important partners, have all opened official stores and overseas channels on the international platform as soon as possible, and uploaded detailed product catalogs."

"We also believe that with these 'star companies' taking the lead, the attraction to other small and medium-sized enterprises is enormous. This endorsement of trust is more effective than any amount of talk we can give!"

Lu Yang smiled and nodded, his gaze sweeping over the young faces working diligently before finally settling on the display screen in the core area.

The screen is scrolling through the international website's homepage in real time; its simple and clear style reflects its ambition to reach the global market.

He saw display pages for familiar products such as the Little Prodigy Learning Machine, VCD player, Little Genius Learning Machine, computer, BBK Learning Machine, and tape recorder, with specifications, parameters, and English descriptions clearly listed.

This silent support is his most direct recognition of Jack Ma and Alibaba.

"Very good, Mr. Ma, very efficient."

Lu Yang praised, "A very solid start."

At this moment, they are standing next to the office area of ​​the international team.

Jack Ma took a deep breath, turned to Lu Yang, and said with an unusually solemn expression, "Mr. Lu, on the occasion of the official launch of the international site today, I would like to give you a detailed report on why we chose to launch the international site first, instead of immediately launching the domestic site (B2B)."

Lu Yang made a "please" gesture, indicating that he should continue.

Alibaba is a very famous company in later generations. Its Taobao and Tmall are familiar to almost every ordinary person. However, not every ordinary person knows about Alibaba's development history. In fact, Lu Yang, as an ordinary person in his previous life, was very curious about this aspect.

Yin Mingyue also stood quietly to the side with her child. The two children looked around curiously, but they were both sensible and did not make a fuss.

There are three reasons, all of which are based on the current reality.

Ma Yun spoke clearly and logically, and although she spoke quickly, every word was forceful and clear.

"First, internet penetration rate. Mr. Lu, as you know, only a small percentage of people in China can access the internet. Very few ordinary people have computers at home. Although the proportion of businesses that go online is higher, they mainly use it for information retrieval and email. The awareness and infrastructure for using it for complex business transactions are far from mature. Forcing us to do domestic B2B now is like planting crops on saline-alkali land—it will be twice the effort for half the result!"

"Second, the domestic trade environment."

He raised his second finger.

"China's logistics, payment, and commercial credit systems are still in their very early stages. Traditional channels between factories and wholesalers/retailers are deeply entrenched, with opaque information and extremely high trust costs. Online matchmaking for large B2B transactions cannot solve the geographical barriers and trust issues of 'meeting in person to see the goods' and 'cash on delivery,' and it can easily become just an information directory with little value."

"Third, the pain points and opportunities in foreign trade!"

Jack Ma's voice suddenly rose, filled with a strong sense of mission.

“Look at the small and medium-sized enterprises in China, especially those small factories and workshops with products and quality, as well as a large number of small foreign trade companies struggling to survive! Is it difficult for them to export? It’s extremely difficult! The Canton Fair has high barriers to entry and high costs, so they can’t get in! Where are their overseas customers? How do they contact them? How do they open letters of credit? How do they handle transportation? They’re completely clueless! And what about overseas buyers? They want to find high-quality Chinese suppliers, but their channels are equally narrow and inefficient!”

He waved his hand forcefully, pointing out the window as if to the vast world:
"Therefore, Alibaba.com is targeting this huge gap! We want to use the internet to directly push small and medium-sized enterprises and foreign trade companies that are unable to participate in the Canton Fair to global buyers!"

We must break down information barriers and lower the threshold for international trade! Let Yiwu's small commodities, Wenzhou's lighters, Dongguan's toys... let the good products produced by millions of ordinary Chinese people be sold directly to Europe, America, and the whole world!
This is our first step in "Making it easy to do business anywhere!" The core is solving the trust issue! Through platform verification, company showcases, and communication tools, we enable buyers and sellers to build an initial bridge of trust even without meeting in person!

Jack Ma's words were incredibly inspiring. The surrounding employees, including Cai Congxin and other members of the "Eighteen Arhats" who had just walked over, unconsciously gathered around, their faces filled with agreement and excitement.

Lu Yang listened quietly, a smile of encouragement on his face the whole time.

After Ma Yun paused briefly, he slowly spoke: "President Ma's analysis is very insightful, realistic, and with clear goals. I fully agree with this strategic direction of prioritizing the international market before focusing on the domestic market."

Lu Yang then changed the subject, adding a hint of forward-thinking: "However, Mr. Ma, although the domestic market is not yet mature, its potential is probably unimaginably huge in the future. The fertile ground for B2B may be formed much faster than we expect."

Jack Ma's eyes lit up, and he immediately chimed in, "Mr. Lu, you're absolutely right! Great minds think alike! One must eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. The international site is a crucial step for us to lay the foundation, hone our skills, accumulate experience, and acquire users. Once the international site is running smoothly, it will prove the model is viable, and we'll have accumulated experience, technology, talent, and sufficient funding."

He glanced at the brand-new office environment and smiled, "Our next step will definitely be to fully enter the domestic B2B market!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see a blueprint for the future:

"Alibaba's ultimate dream is to serve the millions of small and medium-sized enterprises and trading companies in China! Opening up export channels and enabling our products to go global is just the first step."

We also need to focus on serving small and medium-sized retailers in China! We want to enable them to directly connect with manufacturers through our platform, bypassing layers of intermediaries and obtaining the lowest factory prices!
Lower procurement costs mean they can sell their goods more cheaply! Who ultimately benefits? Hundreds of millions of ordinary people!
They can buy higher quality and more reliable products for less money!
This is the complete closed loop of our goal to "make it easy to do business anywhere in the world"!

We not only want to help businesses sell their products globally, but also ensure that ordinary people in China enjoy the benefits of increased business efficiency!

Lu Yang nodded slightly, not correcting Ma Yun's slightly disjointed logic between "serving retailers" and "serving ordinary people," because it essentially touched on the B2C/C2C category.

He didn't even mention "Taobao," a name that would become famous in later generations.

He knew that the course of history and the iteration of technology had their own rhythm.

It was only 1998, and the number of internet users in China was still too small. Payment methods were extremely limited, with cash on delivery and bank transfers being the mainstream methods. These methods were inefficient, risky, and the logistics and distribution network was far from perfect. Overall trust in online shopping in society was almost zero.

Forcing the creation of a comprehensive C2C/B2C retail platform is tantamount to pulling up seedlings to help them grow, and it is very likely to die prematurely due to the lack of the necessary environment for survival.

However, he still seemingly casually added a crucial piece to the grand blueprint drawn up by Ma Yun:

"Mr. Ma's idea is very visionary. Online trade certainly doesn't just take the form of B2B. Perhaps in the near future, when the foundation is more solid, we can also try a more direct model, allowing factories or merchants to directly reach millions of ordinary consumers through a platform. This way, more intermediaries will be eliminated, and ordinary people will benefit more directly."

He only touched on the topic briefly, without going into further detail.

Upon hearing this, Jack Ma seemed to understand something, then nodded emphatically: "Mr. Lu, you have a brilliant vision! This model... is indeed fascinating! We will definitely explore and prepare in this direction!"

As expected of Ma Yun, she keenly grasped the great possibility in Lu Yang's words.

The two then engaged in a lengthy and in-depth discussion on topics such as platform models, future trends, trust mechanisms, and strategies for the initial operation of the international platform.

Ma Yun spoke with great passion, while Cai Chongxin provided timely supplementary operational data and risk control points, demonstrating meticulous thinking.

The core team members around them listened intently, their eyes filled with fervor and admiration as they looked at Lu Yang and Jack Ma.

Yin Mingyue stood quietly to the side, watching her husband talk eloquently with this ambitious entrepreneur, strategizing and planning with great confidence. Her eyes gleamed with admiration, and her heart was filled with pride.

Unbeknownst to her, her brother Lu Yang's business acumen and insight had reached an awe-inspiring level.

Ma Yun and Cai Chongxin also exchanged a subtle glance during a break in their conversation.

Although Lu Yang, the young and wealthy investor, may not have the most prestigious academic background, his forward-thinking ideas, accurate strategic vision, and profound understanding of the essence of internet business have surprised and impressed them.

Lu Yang's philosophy aligns perfectly with Alibaba's mission of "making it easy to do business anywhere." He is not just a financial backer, but also a strategic partner who can point the way forward.

Finally, Ma Yun clapped her hands forcefully to summarize the discussion:

"So, Mr. Lu, Alibaba.com is the first flagship product we have carefully crafted!"
First and foremost, it is a professional B2B foreign trade information platform and a global online wholesale market!

Our prefix is ​​'international', and our mission is to connect China's powerful supply chain with the world's robust demand!
Accumulating this first batch of valuable, active, and trusting enterprise users is the first and most solid foundation for building a vast business ecosystem empire encompassing e-commerce transactions, online payments, and smart logistics in the future!
We firmly believe that this future belongs to Alibaba, and it belongs to us!

"Whoosh—!" A burst of enthusiastic applause suddenly rang out in the brand-new Alibaba office area. The eighteen founders and all the employees present clapped vigorously, their faces beaming with the passion of entrepreneurs and boundless aspirations for the future.

The glass curtain wall of the new office reflects their young and hopeful figures.

After visiting the newly renovated Alibaba.com and witnessing the historic moment of the official launch of Alibaba.com, it was almost dusk.

Lu Yang declined Ma Yun's invitation to have a working dinner and left with his family first.

That afternoon, at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport.

A flight from Tokyo landed smoothly. Lu Yang and Jack Ma appeared together at the arrival gate.

Soon, the negotiation team for the acquisition of the "Xiaolingtong" patent, led by Chen Fan, emerged, looking travel-worn but in high spirits.

Chen Hongliang and other UTStarcom representatives followed closely behind, each with a look of exhaustion and excitement on their faces after a great victory.

"Thank you for your hard work, heroes!" Lu Yang strode forward, shook Chen Fan's hand firmly, and then shook hands with each of the other team members to express his gratitude.

"A brilliant victory in Tokyo! $2300 million to buy out the 20-year mainland market—that's a priceless deal!"

That evening, the banquet hall of Hangzhou's most luxurious hotel was brightly lit and filled with the clinking of glasses. A grand celebration banquet was being held, both to mark the launch of Alibaba.com and to celebrate the triumphant return of Chen Fan's team from Tokyo.

As the host and the absolute core of the team, Lu Yang was in high spirits and frequently raised his glass.

The main characters, including Ma Yun, Chen Fan, Chen Hongliang, and Cai Chongxin, sat around the main table, chatting and laughing, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere.

Yin Mingyue sat next to Lu Yang, gentle and dignified, taking care of the two children as they ate.

Just as the banquet was reaching its climax, Lu Yang stood up to give a toast to the audience, but his gaze inadvertently swept over the entrance of the banquet hall.

A familiar figure stood there quietly, seemingly searching for something.

Lu Yang paused slightly as he raised his glass, a clear look of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Yin Mingzhu.

How did she end up here? (End of Chapter)