Chapter 34: Blasting Open a Taobao Website

Due to the intense summer heat, following the Beijing concert, no other dates were scheduled for the subsequent twenty days.

After the celebratory banquet that night, Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, and the others naturally had to return to Taiwan. The former had arrangements made by his own management company, while the latter was set to attend promotional events such as fan signing sessions in Taiwan.

Kwon Bo-ah was originally supposed to return to Seoul as well, as S.M. Entertainment was preparing to have her participate in several outdoor reality shows. People from the Eastern regions had a particular penchant for highlighting their hardships and selling misery; their management agencies loved to emphasize how hard and difficult their idols had it in order to elicit sympathy from fans.

Upon learning of this situation during casual conversation, Gu Cheng naturally would not tolerate such activities that deliberately sought suffering in the scorching heat.

By now, Kwon Bo-ah was already his distant cousin, and it made no sense for an older brother not to care.

Therefore, he made a call to Lee Soo-man, stating that there were two local television stations in China offering interview opportunities she could take, thus brushing Lee Soo-man aside.

At worst, upon returning to Qiantang, he could arrange an interview segment with a provincial television station for Kwon Bo-ah and make a short documentary or something similar.

Through the copyright transactions for Meteor Garden, The Story of a Noble Family, and Autumn in My Heart, Gu Cheng's people and the upper and lower management of Yuezhou TV had become quite familiar with each other. With just a modest red envelope as a gesture, any variety show they wanted to appear on would be immensely welcomed.

After resting for a night at a hotel in Beijing, Kwon Bo-ah and Lin Chiling boarded the same flight back to Qiantang with Gu Cheng the next day.

...

The aftershocks triggered by regional chauvinists who enthusiastically orgasmed and rushed to register accounts to jump into the "Alipay Crowdfunding" trap were far from over.

Two months prior, peer event planning companies, including "China Performing Arts," had scoffed at Gu Cheng's internet ticketing strategy.

Even Zhang Xiao, the director of "China Performing Arts," had used the opportunity of fan Q&A sessions at Gu Cheng's concert to subtly smear him while taking the chance to advertise her own company.

Today, the attitude of these people had completely reversed.

On the second day after Gu Cheng's return to Qiantang, a guest arrived bearing heavy gifts to plead guilty and seek forgiveness—it was none other than Zhang Xiao, who had smeared him last time.

"Director Gu, as a magnanimous man, what we said that day was purely a slip of the tongue. We are willing to offer a twenty percent channel fee and ask Dangdang Network to help consign tickets for all our company's future performing arts and events. If we can also secure crowdfunding opportunities for our events, we will provide an additional 5% commission."

Merely putting tickets online in exchange for a 20% commission was something unimaginable previously—

For instance, if this had been over a year ago, had Dangdang Network asked physical book publishers for a 20% gross profit margin, the publishers would have simply rolled their eyes at Li Guoqing and gone directly to the newly established Jingdong. Because there were many e-commerce platforms and fierce competition, no single competitor could suppress all rivals in terms of traffic.

Now, the situation had reversed so drastically clearly because everyone had witnessed the power of the tool called "Alipay." Without Alipay, it was still possible to do content e-commerce or online paid services, but it was absolutely impossible to pull off the viral marketing trick of crowdfunding.

Considering that Zhang Xiao hadn't really deeply offended him, and that Gu Cheng had easily brushed off the question that day, he couldn't be bothered to harbor petty grudges against such minor characters. Magnanimously, he accepted the surrender and cooperation of "China Performing Arts."

Liu Bang enfeoffing Yong Chi in exchange for peace of mind prompted countless former detractors to surrender without fear.

Gu Cheng's pardon of Zhang Xiao also relaxed the vigilance of domestic performing arts companies that had been hesitating whether to "embrace the internet."

Within just a few days, several of China's largest performing arts companies and ticketing firms successively expressed their intention to cooperate with "Damai Net," the newly spun-off subsidiary of Dangdang Network. From then on, tickets for all tier-two and above artists could be purchased on "Damai Net."

The self-expanding, snowballing speed of Alipay grew faster and faster.

Today marked a week since Gu Cheng's return to Qiantang.

Earlier in the day, Gu Cheng and Pan Jieying had successfully co-opted the final batch of performing arts companies' distribution channels, putting them in quite a good mood.

Kwon Bo-ah had also just returned from recording a short interview segment at Yuezhou TV and had gotten off work on time. Recently, she was staying at Gu Cheng's home; besides, Gu Cheng's mansion at White Horse Apartments was spacious, and housing a few relatives wouldn't feel crowded at all.

This year, the Gu family had hired two cooks recruited from five-star hotels. Their culinary skills were excellent, and they were very capable at preparing home-banquets, saving everyone from frequently dining out. At noon, Gu Cheng had called home in advance to instruct the cooks to prepare more fine dishes, as they would be drinking to celebrate that evening.

Around 6 PM, the brother and sister arrived home on time. While Pan Jieying was parking the car, Gu Cheng received a phone call from Jack Ma on his mobile phone.

Gu Cheng and Jack Ma were already well-acquainted by now, with numerous business collaborations between them, so he naturally didn't stand on ceremony with Jack. Picking up the phone, he half-jokingly asked, "Director Ma, what good news have you thought of for your buddy this time?"

"Can't really call it good news, just a random thought I had that I wanted to chat with you about. I went to your office to look for you, but why was no one there? The receptionist didn't even tell me where you went."

As it turned out, Jack Ma hadn't made an appointment and had simply barged straight into Gu Cheng's company, leaving Gu Cheng feeling rather apologetic. "I got off work early today. If you don't mind, come over to my place for a drink and we can chat slowly."

Jack Ma laughed and cursed over the phone, "Damn, does a big businessman like you get off work at 6 PM? See you in a bit."

Half an hour later, Jack Ma's driver and bodyguard dropped him off at Gu Cheng's residence. Though the two were quite familiar in business, this was the first time Jack was visiting Gu Cheng's home.

Jack Ma fussed around for a long time before finally making it upstairs, complaining the moment he saw Gu Cheng, "Your elevator is something else; you can't figure out where it opens from anywhere."

"It's dedicated to the top floor, accessible by swiping a card or fingerprint," Gu Cheng joked with a smile while pouring Jack Ma a glass of gin. "Tell me, what are you looking to chat about today?"

Pan Jieying and Kwon Bo-ah were also very polite, holding fruit platters as they greeted the guest.

Jack Ma took a sip of the alcohol, bit his lip, smacked his mouth, and said, "With the massive waves you and little Li made, I reckon the internet winter is probably coming to an end."

"Indeed. Did you think I was just setting off smoke bombs? I always speak the absolute truth." Gu Cheng drank a little with him; the ice cubes in the drink took up well over half the volume, making the alcohol percentage very mild, crisp, and refreshing.

"I genuinely feel that way too." Jack Ma slammed his glass heavily onto the coffee table, pondered deeply, and said, "That's why I'm preparing to take a gamble along with you. I'm betting that internet commerce will soon usher in its spring, and we should pump money in advance to set up a C2C e-commerce website and wait for it."

"Huh?" Gu Cheng was stunned for a moment, instantly recalling a very familiar term he had been missing since the first day he time-traveled...

Could Jack Ma possibly want to...

"What? You think the timing isn't right? I actually think it's quite appropriate. Let's call it 'Taobao.' I've already deployed the plans, and stress testing can be completed by the Chinese New Year." Jack Ma muttered to himself, completely unaware of Gu Cheng's expression.

Historically, Taobao was launched for trial runs in late May 2003, with preparations beginning in early 2003. Yet right now, it was only August 2002; it was evidently Jack Ma's "vision of the times" that had been stimulated in advance by the cooperation between Gu Cheng and Boss Li.

Taobao had originally been conceived less than a year before the end of the internet winter, completing its research, development, and launch three to four months before the winter officially ended. In that other history, its launch timing was less than two months earlier than Google's AdSense platform.

It was clear that Jack Ma, this "old fox," possessed an extremely sensitive sense of smell. He could keenly perceive the subtle signs of winter turning to spring from the slightest hints of environmental warmth and peers' areas of focus.

Right now, Gu Cheng had clearly triggered that olfactory sense ahead of schedule.

Having figured out these twists and turns, Gu Cheng was caught off guard for a moment. He gave a dry laugh and chuckled, "Appropriate, how could it not be appropriate? I also feel that once the internet winter passes, a peer should step forward to shoulder the C-end e-commerce platform that no one previously dared to imagine. Only then can more people join this entrepreneurial gaming field and truly benefit the common people."

Jack Ma pulled out a pack of cigarettes, intending to smoke a couple before speaking, but seeing the slight look of disdain from the young women in the room, he smiled awkwardly as someone asking a favor and gave up on lighting it:

"In doing this, there's naturally a part where I need cooperation from young Gu—lend me your Alipay for two years. Otherwise, my Taobao can only rely on direct buyer payments after online banking bans are lifted next year, and the promotional difficulty will be much greater."

As expected, he had come begging to use Gu Cheng's Alipay for free!

Gu Cheng understood crystal clear, thinking that otherwise, given Jack Ma's astuteness, he wouldn't have spilled the beans on a business opportunity he had only half-completed.

Gu Cheng playfully topped off Jack Ma's glass and said, "Using Alipay is fine. Those performing arts companies like 'China Performing Arts' have already agreed to give me some channel fees over the past few days. Since your Taobao is planning to use Alipay to make payments and sell goods, shouldn't you show some sincerity as well?"

Jack Ma reacted as though he had been stung by a hornet, wearing an expression that said "don't try to swindle me, kid" as he disdainfully said, "I sell the real economy, not content. Every single item has its cost; where on earth am I supposed to get a commission to give you?"

Gu Cheng shrugged, preparing to extract a bit more out of him: "Then why should I let you use Alipay?"

A cunning glint flashed in Jack Ma's eyes: "Come on, there are only a few million affluent people in the country who will actually buy tickets to watch concerts. Even with the bandwagon-jumpers, it won't exceed 20 million at most. Don't look at how fast your Alipay is expanding now; if you only use it for virtual goods and content, you will definitely hit a bottleneck in stamina once you reach 20 to 30 million users, believe it or not? My Taobao is willing to use you because I'm helping you promote Alipay until fifty million or even a hundred million people install it!"

Gu Cheng certainly wasn't going to show weakness directly: "Brother Ma, you can't say for sure. Before I came up with crowdfunding, nobody thought this market was so large or could leverage such a multiplied population. Who knows, as internet technology advances, payment scenarios might diversify immediately as well."

Jack Ma was just as sly as Gu Cheng: "Fine, I suppose I can't out-talk you, kid, but I really don't have the money to spare, nor is it possible for me to pull it out. I'll stick to my current conditions: use your Alipay for free, but I guarantee that my Taobao will consistently prioritize your Alipay."

"Consistently? Prioritize? That phrasing sounds a bit problematic. Are you just going to use me temporarily and then toss me aside once you've grown big?"

"As long as you don't squeeze me, I naturally won't toss you aside. This is all two-way. Besides, even if I don't make Alipay-like products, there's no guarantee that someone else in the country won't challenge you next year. When other peers develop electronic payment systems and make them even bigger than yours, you can't expect me to hang myself on a single tree and refuse to be compatible with their payment methods."

Gu Cheng felt it was better for everyone to be pragmatic: "Alright, let's stop probing each other's bottom lines. Who doesn't know who? Just name a time limit. If I let you use Alipay as the payment method for the 'Taobao' you're about to open, how long can you guarantee that you will exclusively use my Alipay?"

Jack Ma scratched his head, stood up, paced back and forth twice, and held up three fingers: "Three years! I can guarantee that from January 2003 to the end of 2005, for those three years, no matter how big Taobao gets, I will only support your Alipay as a payment method. I won't ask you for promotional fees, and you won't charge me transfer commission fees either."