Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

Page 76

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Is it over?! Is this insane?!

It was 10:17 PM.

After delivering his last order, Lao Zhou parked his car at the station entrance and habitually opened the rider group on his phone.

The group chat exploded.

The messages were scrolling by incredibly fast, and it took him a while to find the source—a screenshot of an announcement that Huangleme had just posted.

"What the heck?" He squinted as he looked down.

Full coverage of accident insurance. Extreme weather allowance. Free medical check-up. Free safety equipment.

Old Zhou held his phone a little further away, then brought it closer, and looked at it three times.

Then he typed a line in the group:

"Is this fucking fake? Who photoshopped this picture?"

After it was sent, there was a half-second silence in the group, and then the chat started flooding in even more frantically:

"I also think it's fake, but it was pushed by the official app!"

"Even the official app's push notifications could be a bug!"

"I just called the station manager, and he said he just saw it too and is waiting for further instructions..."

"Why wait for a notification? Just ask!"

"I asked, and the station manager said he didn't know either; he's also waiting for instructions from above..."

Old Zhou stared at the screen and suddenly remembered when he first entered the industry three years ago.

At that time, some people told him that if he worked there long enough, the platform would give him a raise.

He waited three years. The price increased once, from 4.5 yuan per order to 4.7 yuan, and then the commission algorithm changed, so it went back to 4.2 yuan.

And then... I never thought about that stupid thing about getting a raise again...

But what does this mean now?

He read the announcement again. He recognized the individual characters, but the meaning was a bit unclear when they were put together.

He was supposed to pay the full amount for the accident insurance—his insurance premiums were always deducted from his account, three cents per trip, the more trips he made, the more he was deducted. Now they're saying they don't need to deduct anymore?

Extreme weather subsidies—he recalled the heavy snow last winter when he slipped and fell twice, and his delivery still only earned him four and a half yuan. Now they're saying 1.5 times?

Free medical check-up—he hadn't had a check-up in three years, not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't bear to spend the money.

Free safety gear—his helmet was one he bought himself when he first entered the industry, and it was worn down to the last crumb.

He put his phone down, picked it up again, and put it down again.

A young rider nearby came over and asked, "Brother Zhou, did you see that announcement? Is it real?"

Old Zhou didn't say anything.

The young rider was scrolling down the list when he suddenly exclaimed, "Holy crap! Someone in the group said that some stations have already started collecting insurance information!"

Old Zhou paused for a moment, then took out his phone.

Sure enough, someone in the group said that the station manager in their area had just sent a notice in the group asking all riders to verify their ID numbers and bank card information, saying that insurance would be processed uniformly.

"Then... then it's true?"

No one answered him.

But the group was silent for a few seconds.

Then someone posted:

"Is this freaking over? Has someone gone mad?"

Below that is a row of "+1".

Old Zhou stared at that message for a long time.

He remembered he had delivered thirty-seven orders today, and his knees were aching terribly. He had to deliver again tomorrow.

But if I really don't have to pay for insurance myself, I'll save about a hundred dollars a month. If there's an extreme weather subsidy, I won't have to worry about whether to drive during heavy rain. If there's a free medical checkup, I can finally get that persistent, throbbing pain checked out.

He put his phone in his pocket, stood up, and pushed the cart.

The young rider next to me was still scrolling on his phone, and without looking up, asked, "Brother Zhou, why are they suddenly being so nice to me?"

Old Zhou didn't turn around.

“Who cares,” he said, “I’ll believe it first.”

---

Is it over?! Is this insane?!

late at night.

12:07.

A message suddenly popped up in a group chat for executives of a certain platform.

It was a link forwarded by the operations director: "This is the announcement Huangleme just released, take a look."

Thirty seconds later, people started replying in the group.

"What is this thing?"

"Full insurance coverage? Free medical check-ups? Are they crazy?"

"@Everyone. Emergency meeting, now online."

12:15.

The PR director had just finished showering, his hair was still wet, when his phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID; it was the CEO's secretary.

"Mr. Wang wants you to join the online meeting room immediately."

She paused for a moment, then turned on her computer and clicked on the meeting link.

The screen lit up, and squares popped up one after another.

Operations Director, Product Director, Legal Director, Strategy Director... they're all online.

Everyone's face was illuminated by the screen's light; some had wet hair, some were wearing pajamas, and in some of the backgrounds, you could see the television that hadn't been turned off yet.

The sound of a child crying came from the operations director's end. He turned to the side and said, "Dad has something to do," and then closed the door.

The product director's glasses were askew, as if they had been hastily put on, and there were still water stains on the lenses.

On the table in front of the general counsel was a half-empty glass of red wine, with a lipstick mark on the rim of the glass.

"You saw everything?" the CEO asked.

"We saw it," several people answered at the same time.

"Tell me about it."

The operations director spoke first: "I just did the math. If the whole country follows suit, the insurance alone will cost at least 200 million yuan more each year. Add subsidies, medical checkups, and equipment, and it will come to 300 to 500 million yuan."

"Can they hold out?"

"If it's just implemented in East China first, then it can definitely withstand the pressure. But if it's rolled out nationwide, the financial statements will look terrible. As for the shareholding institutions..."

The CEO waved his hand, interrupting him.

"Let's ignore the institutional shareholders for now. The question is, should we follow suit?"

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds—the kind of silence you'd find in an online meeting room, where you could only hear your own breathing and the occasional static.

The operations director said, "If we don't follow suit, the riders will go over there. The turnover rate is already high, and if this happens, we're afraid we won't be able to retain our staff."

What if we go along with it?

"If we follow suit, the costs will also increase. Moreover, once we follow suit, as a latecomer, we must expand our scale... It's impossible to just do one district. Following suit would cost billions."

The product director chimed in, "Could we only work on a portion of it? For example, insurance and equipment; let's postpone the medical check-up for now?"

The legal director shook his head: "Every single thing in the announcement is quantifiable. If we only follow a part of it, the riders will be able to spot it at a glance. That would make things even more complicated."

The CEO remained silent for a few seconds.

"Is it over? Is this insane?" he said.

No one answered.

Because that's what they wanted to ask too.

The operations director suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, I received a message that they held an emergency meeting yesterday afternoon, attended by everyone at P8 level and above, and it went on until very late."

"What content?"

"I don't know. The level of secrecy is very high. But I heard that Zhou Zhengyi was personally in charge, and several vice presidents were helped in."

"Support?"

"Yes. Some people saw that Vice President Zhang, Vice President Li, and Vice President Wang were in very poor condition. Zhou Zhengyi went in by himself, but when he came out, his face also looked..."

He didn't go on.

The CEO looked at him: "What's wrong with your face?"

“My people said that face… it’s indescribable. It’s like it’s been through decades.”

The meeting room fell silent again.

After a long pause, the CEO spoke:

"Keep an eye on them. Report any movements immediately."

He paused.

"Also, have the legal and public relations departments prepare several contingency plans. Just in case we have to..."

He didn't finish speaking, but everyone understood.

One o'clock in the morning.

In an online meeting room on another platform, the same question is being asked repeatedly:

"Heavy capital entering the market?"