"Boss, all the servers have been installed and debugged. We've verified them, and there are basically no issues. Our website can run stably!" Wu Yongming reported to Old Ma.
"I know!" Old Ma's expression was somewhat wistful. No one had expected the Jiangnan Group to show off their strength in such a manner. They had completed the installation and debugging of 400 servers in less than 20 hours.
Old Ma clearly remembered that 20 hours ago, following the arrival of these servers, a bus had also arrived. More than twenty people had disembarked from the bus. These were all installation engineers from Jiangnan Servers, responsible for the installation and debugging of this batch of servers.
What followed was the performance of these more than twenty engineers. They skillfully connected the 400 servers. For more convenient power supply, two electrical engineers even modified the power circuits of the server room.
In short, thanks to the efforts of these engineers, all 400 servers were installed and debugged within just 20 hours and were ready for normal use.
Then, these engineers left very efficiently, leaving behind a business card, stating that there was a stationed engineer from Jiangnan Servers in every major city, who could be called upon at any time for server repair, maintenance, and debugging.
This efficient work and service greatly shocked all the employees of the Forty Thieves. A sense of admiration for their enemy, the Jiangnan Group, involuntarily arose in their hearts. It also made Old Ma greatly impressed, stating that this was the Jiangnan Group flexing its muscles in his core department.
This indicated how bitter Old Ma felt at this moment.
"Wensheng, do you think Huang He is so generous because he has some conspiracy planned for us?" Old Ma asked worriedly. He truly felt that this was problematic.
After all, they were clearly going to steal business from his Jiangnan Mall, yet Huang He not only did not obstruct them but even helped them advertise first and then got their servers set up within a day. Although the price was very expensive, their attitude was undeniable. Old Ma even wanted to sincerely thank Huang He for being such a benefactor.
But this situation was definitely not right!
"Boss, I don't think Huang He has a conspiracy, but rather he's just too arrogant, so arrogant that he's flown into outer space!" Lou Wensheng said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Actually, the server issue this time was quite serious. Our people asked all server manufacturers nationwide, and the fastest ones would take at least half a month to complete installation and debugging. This completely overlapped with the time of our event.
"Moreover, the servers from these manufacturers are generally more than twice as expensive as Jiangnan's servers. Foreign brands are even more expensive, up to three times more. For the same servers, we would have to spend 900 million yuan to acquire them. This is the truly fatal part. Even if they could help us install them within a day, we might not even be able to afford that amount.
"Everyone, think about it. If, during our planned event period, the entire website's security is fundamentally inaccessible, or it crashes frequently, how will users across China view us?
"They will have no idea about the difficulties we're facing with the servers. They will only think we are scammers who used promotional offers to get them to join us, but then didn't want to provide the large subsidies. Our image in the minds of all users would be completely destroyed.
"It's the same for merchants. All merchants are currently doing business with us at the risk of being blacklisted by the Jiangnan Group, all for the high subsidies within half a month. Now, if we suddenly tell them that due to server issues, they can't do business for this half month, how do you think they will view us?
"They will probably all flee back to Jiangnan Mall in an instant and never dare to cooperate with us again!"
"So, Huang He doesn't need to play any tricks. He just needs to not sell us servers, or sell them but, like all normal server manufacturers, deliver and install them within half a month. We wouldn't be able to find any fault, as this is industry practice. But by then, we would have already killed ourselves!"
"But Huang He helped us solve all the problems within a day. If he were to use a conspiracy to deal with us afterward, wouldn't that be like him tormenting himself?
"It's like we were already prepared to jump off a cliff, and even had one foot out. But Huang He desperately saved us and brought us back to flat ground. Then, he takes out a dagger intending to stab us. Isn't that too ridiculous?
"So, there's only one answer: Huang He has become unbelievably arrogant. He simply believes that even if he saves us, we still can't defeat him. He looks down on us from the bottom of his heart, believing we are destined to fail. It's better to make more money while the opportunity is here, which is why he chose to help us!" Lou Wensheng concluded.
"That's right, it should be the case!" Although Old Ma found this answer to be absurd, he couldn't find a more reliable one.
Recalling Huang He's previous arrogant behavior, Old Ma felt that Huang He was indeed extremely arrogant, and his anger and dissatisfaction towards Huang He intensified.
"Everyone, since Chairman Huang He is helping us so much, we cannot fail to live up to his good intentions. For the next half month, I ask for everyone's hard work, let our business ride the wind and waves!" Old Ma said excitedly to all the high-level personnel in the conference room.
"Understood!" everyone shouted. The only one silent was Sun Tongyu, whose face even carried a hint of a cold smile.
When Old Ma saw this hint of a smile, his recently revealed smile instantly vanished. However, Old Ma couldn't make a scene as he still needed Sun Tongyu's support. So, he could only wave his hand helplessly, dismissing everyone to return to their respective posts and prepare for the crazy traffic in the next half month.
"Old Sun, why did you have that expression just now? Don't you know the boss hates you to death now?" Lou Wensheng grabbed Sun Tongyu as they came out of the office and said unhappily.
"Let him hate me, it doesn't matter!" Sun Tongyu waved his hand with a nonchalant expression.
"Don't you think what I said just now was wrong?" Lou Wensheng asked curiously. He knew that Sun Tongyu's cold smile was directed at his words.
"It's not wrong, it's terribly wrong!" Sun Tongyu glanced at Lou Wensheng and then said, "You say Huang He is arrogantly arrogant to the universe, but I think Huang He is currently sitting on the universe, looking at you from God's perspective!"
"What do you mean by that?" Lou Wensheng stopped and looked at Sun Tongyu with some annoyance.
"What I mean is that your perspective is within that tiny computer," Sun Tongyu pointed to a computer not far away. "Huang He's perspective is the entire Earth!"
"Hopeless!" Lou Wensheng angrily flicked his sleeve and walked away huffily. Sun Tongyu didn't seem to care, humming a tune, and continued to return to work.
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On the 21st, after the website was forced to close for a day, the Gouhuasuan platform announced its reopening. Perhaps fearing that the network would crash again, causing them to be unable to spend their coupons,
More traffic than anticipated flooded into the Gouhuasuan platform. In just 8 hours, Gouhuasuan had completed over 400,000 orders, with total sales exceeding 140 million yuan. This figure was equivalent to the total performance of the Haigou platform for a month.
Seeing this result, the entire Forty Thieves was filled with a joyous atmosphere. Old Ma went to every position in the company to encourage them, urging them to persevere and create greater miracles. He also announced that the company canteen would provide abundant late-night snacks in the evening, and everyone could get extra food for free after work.
The users were also very satisfied with this promotion. This was because most of the users who came to consume on the Gouhuasuan platform were old users from Jiangnan Mall.
After all, in 2003, the entry cost for online shopping was very high. It required not only a computer but also internet access, an online banking system, and learning to operate it for several hours or even days.
Therefore, it was unrealistic to attract a large number of users from society in a short period. They could only attract users from the existing large platform, Jiangnan Mall, as its users were already accustomed to online shopping.
As a result, the user data for Jiangnan Mall began to decline drastically. Leng Zhiruo, who was directly in charge of the Jiangnan Mall business, was stunned. She couldn't help but feel worried and ran to discuss countermeasures with Huang He. At the same time, she was faintly complaining, blaming Huang He for providing so many conveniences to the Forty Thieves, effectively nurturing this competitor.
"If I don't provide them with conveniences, will they not develop?" Huang He smiled slightly after hearing his wife's complaint. "Take advertising for example. Users won't just stay on our website; they will eventually see various advertisements on other channels. So, it's impossible for us to block them through advertising. It's better to earn some money in return. At least the 140 million yuan in advertising fees is real. We borrowed 60 billion yuan, and we have to pay 1 billion yuan in interest annually. This 140 million yuan can help alleviate a lot of our pressure!"
"As for the server issue you mentioned, yes, if I don't help them, they would indeed face certain difficulties. However, this difficulty is not significant and not as troublesome as imagined. They just need to shamelessly tell users that the event is postponed by half a month, and then expand the discounts a bit, and users will happily forget the previous hassle."
"Users are very practical people. As long as you are willing to spend money, you can buy users. If we stop them, we are just wasting our own money!" Huang He said.