Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Little Red Car Launches

After resting up, the two went shopping for a bit, buying some clothes and shoes before driving straight back to Shida Modern Garden.

Back home, Wen Meng collapsed onto the sofa, half-lying there as if her soul had been sucked out, unwilling to move a muscle.

"Wen Meng, come on, let’s take a shower together!"

.......

Early on the morning of August 21st, Wu Yun arrived at Nirvana Technology. He sat in his boss’s chair, waiting for news from the on-the-ground promotion teams.

Today, with the exception of the staff maintaining the software, every employee of Nirvana Technology had taken to the streets, alleys, and crowded areas to promote the service. This was a far cry from the previous promotional rides; this time, it was a large-scale on-the-ground push.

Overnight, 300,000 Little Red Cars had been deployed across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Rongcheng. Rongcheng received the lion’s share, accounting for 260,000 of them.

"Little Red Car, solving your urban congestion problems! Convenient for the last few kilometers of your trip, and only 0.5 yuan per half hour!"

A flood of promotional flyers swept through Rongcheng’s most bustling districts. The sight of so many bright red bicycles parked on the streets, in particular, drew everyone’s attention.

At every Little Red Car parking spot, promoters were on hand to explain how to use them. A new thing like this could either be completely ignored or go viral, and the previous publicity campaign had already introduced many people to the novel concept of Little Red Car’s bike-sharing.

Now that Little Red Car was widely available, people who had been eagerly awaiting the launch rushed forward to try it out. Their enthusiasm drew in many onlookers, mostly because it was just so convenient and cheap!

Only 0.5 yuan for half an hour? Could it get any cheaper? And after your ride, you could park it wherever you wanted, as long as you weren’t blocking traffic!

If you were in a hurry waiting for the bus, you could just hop on a Little Red Car and save both time and money!

Best of all, it was fast and convenient. All you had to do was download the Little Red Car app, link your information, pay a deposit, and you could scan a code to start riding!

Everyone understood the 299 yuan deposit. After all, the Little Red Cars themselves didn’t look cheap. What if someone just took one without a deposit? Besides, the money was only temporarily held in the company’s account, and according to the promoters, you could withdraw it at any time.

However, you’d have to deposit it again for your next ride, which most people would find too troublesome.

All morning, Wu Yun stayed at the company, monitoring the Little Red Car app’s download numbers and the balance of the company’s dedicated deposit account.

From the 7:00 AM morning rush hour until 11:00 AM, app registrations had already hit 750,000, an average of 2.5 users per bike.

The total amount of deposits had reached 225 million yuan.

At a certain bank branch in Rongcheng, in the manager’s office, Luo Guangrong listened to his subordinate’s report. "Branch Manager, the balance in Nirvana Technology’s dedicated account has surpassed 200 million and is still growing."

As the bank that handled the welfare lottery, its deposits usually just met the basic targets. But everyone wants a promotion and a raise, so Luo Guangrong was always looking for ways to boost performance.

When he had first heard that Wu Yun was sending someone to discuss business—and demand a high interest rate from the bank—he had scoffed. ’Such a high interest rate before a single cent has been deposited? You must be dreaming.’

Of course, Luo Guangrong still gave Li Qiuliang and his team a warm reception. After understanding Wu Yun’s business model, he agreed without hesitation to offer the highest possible interest rate for the deposit. Furthermore, he guaranteed that as a dedicated account, it could process withdrawals for over half of the total deposit amount at any time.

In return, Wu Yun decided to keep all of Little Red Car’s deposits in Luo Guangrong’s branch and allow one-third of the deposits to be used to purchase the bank’s short-term funds.

Luo Guangrong also filed a report to upgrade Wu Yun’s black card to the highest credit limit.

Luo Guangrong nodded at his subordinate. "I understand. Have someone keep a close eye on it. Also, issue a public statement that our bank—ICBC—will oversee Little Red Car’s dedicated deposit account to guarantee user deposits will not be misappropriated."

According to Nirvana Technology’s general manager, Li Qiuliang, "We project that Little Red Car will have a user coverage of 8 to 10 people per bike."

If Nirvana Technology’s estimates were correct, the deposits from this first batch of bikes would likely fall between 720 million and 900 million yuan. The number could climb even higher in the future, as Little Red Car was currently the only bike-sharing brand on the market.

At this thought, a wide grin spread across Luo Guangrong’s face. He had never expected such a huge deal to land in his lap. He was already planning to find an opportunity to invite Wu Yun out for a meal and strengthen their relationship.

Despite Wu Yun’s youth, once Little Red Car was fully established, another billionaire would rise. An 18-year-old billionaire! ’The thought alone is terrifying,’ he mused.

Nirvana Technology.

Even though he knew bike-sharing could succeed easily, Wu Yun couldn’t help but pump his fist in excitement.

Li Qiuliang was also beaming. Little Red Car’s success meant he had leveled up from a top-tier employee to a partner, bringing him one step closer to becoming a billionaire.

After a brief discussion with Li Qiuliang, Wu Yun sent a message to the company’s group chat: "Everyone has worked hard! Once Little Red Car has made its name and things stabilize at the end of the month, I’ll be giving out bonuses!"

"Thank you, President Wu!"

........

Seeing this message, the employees out in the field worked even harder on their promotions. After all, they would get an additional bonus for every user who downloaded the app by scanning their personal invitation code.

Little Red Car’s initial success boosted the company’s morale and unity to a new level.

Wu Yun was discussing the next phase of the promotional plan with Li Qiuliang.

Wu Yun instructed, "President Li, we need to ramp up our promotional efforts. We need more on-the-ground promoters and more advertisements. Before the next batch of bikes is deployed, I want everyone in the deployment cities to know about Little Red Car."

Li Qiuliang replied, "President Wu, here’s my thinking. We can take ten million yuan from the deposit pool to fund promotions across the five cities. This would cover on-the-ground efforts, posters at bus and subway stations, and media advertising. I believe that with these methods, we can quickly reach our projected user registration numbers, or even exceed them. Then, when the second batch of bikes is ready, we can deploy them immediately."

More users meant more deposits. More deposits meant more Little Red Cars. More Little Red Cars meant more interest earned on Nirvana Technology’s deposits, and a higher valuation for the company. It was a virtuous cycle.

After discussing with Li Qiuliang for a while, it was lunchtime. Li Qiuliang said, "President Wu, shall we go out for a meal together?"

"I can’t, I have plans," Wu Yun said. Just then, there was a knock on his office door.

"President Wu, your girlfriend is here!" the receptionist announced, leading Wen Meng into the room.

Li Qiuliang gave a knowing look, then stood up and said, "Well, President Wu, I won’t disturb you two then!"

Seeing Wen Meng curiously sizing up the office, Wu Yun smiled. "Wen Meng, what do you think of my place?"

"Not bad. It fits my image of a domineering CEO perfectly." Her words were aimed at both the office and the man.

........