How A Ride-Hailing Driver Comes To Dominate The World? [EN]: Chapter 134

Striving to Win Over Yang Chen (Subscription Requested)

Starting at 7:30 in the morning, drivers from the Bilibili platform began arriving at the headquarters plaza to claim their spots.

Yang Chen arrived at 7:50 AM, by which time the Bilibili platform area was packed with cars, the road lined with vehicles belonging to the platform drivers.

Television reporters, police officers, and Aegis Security personnel were all present.

Bilibili platform CEO Li Changqi, upon hearing the report that drivers were gathering at the headquarters to voice their grievances, rushed over without even having breakfast.

The police were maintaining order, reminding drivers to remain calm and that they could peacefully present their reasonable requests, but not to deliberately gather and cause trouble.

Zhang Xiaoli said to the camera, “We are now in front of the Bilibili headquarters office building, where you can see many Bilibili platform drivers gathered. We don’t yet know the reason for this gathering, so let’s interview a few at random to find out.”

Zhang Xiaoli, with her cameraman, approached Yang Chen and asked, “Sir, can we interview you?”

Yang Chen nodded.

Zhang Xiaoli: “Can you tell us why you’ve gathered at Bilibili headquarters? What’s happened?”

Yang Chen and the others showed their car wash receipts to the camera.

Then, they explained their experiences.

Zhang Xiaoli: “Oh, so you’re saying the passengers are unwilling to pay the cleaning fee when they make a mess, and the platform doesn’t provide contact information or allow drivers to add extra charges for cleaning, leaving you to bear the cost yourselves. Is that correct?”

Yang Chen: “That’s right. But we only make a few hundred yuan [Chinese currency] in revenue a day. If we encounter a customer like that, it’s like working for free and having to pay for gas out of our own pockets. I’m single, so it’s okay for me, but others have families. To put it bluntly, if they don’t earn any income for a day, they won’t have money for their families to eat, their children to go to school, or to pay their bank loans. And we’re just trying to add an extra fee, not necessarily forcing the passengers to pay. Our intention is that when passengers see the extra fee, they will contact us to negotiate. But what happened? The platform completely ignores these circumstances and fines us 400 yuan directly. Take me, for example. Yesterday, I made 465 yuan in revenue, spent 480 yuan to wash the car late at night, and was fined 400 yuan by the platform. Miss Reporter, do you think I can continue driving? If this happened to drivers with families to support, they would need several days to recover. How many days are there in a month? If they can’t recover, life and the bank won’t give them a chance. Don’t you think so?”

Zhang Xiaoli: “Listening to you, it does sound unreasonable. There’s no way to communicate, and you’re forced to add extra fees and wait for passengers to contact you to negotiate, only to be fined. The Bilibili platform is indeed in the wrong. So, what are your demands?”

Yang Chen: “We only have one demand: the platform should bear these incidental expenses. The platform takes a cut from our fares every day, so it can’t avoid all risks and expenses. To put it bluntly, this kind of thing is insignificant to the platform, but for drivers, it’s a ‘catastrophe’ that takes many days to recover from.”

Zhang Xiaoli: “Then why not let the passengers bear the cost?”

Yang Chen: “I would like the passengers to bear it, but honestly, if you charge the passenger even 10 cents more, they will give you a bad review. Isn’t that how it is?

Many passengers are not so understanding. Sometimes, to save money, they force drivers to overload [carry more passengers than legally allowed], deliberately set the location nearby, and then ask the driver to take them further. Is it possible for them to bear hundreds of yuan in cleaning fees? If I were a passenger, I wouldn’t do it either. I would worry that the driver and the cleaning shop are colluding to scam me. Right?”

Zhang Xiaoli: “That’s true. After your analysis, it is more reasonable and practical for the platform to bear these incidental expenses. We see that Bilibili platform CEO Mr. Li Changqi has arrived. Thank you for accepting the interview. We will go interview him and convey your demands.”

Zhang Xiaoli took the cameraman to interview Li Changqi.

“Haha… Little Yang, you spoke so well—clearly, confidently, reasonably, and with evidence. You have the potential to be a leader.”

“I said we should choose you as our leader. Just based on your eloquence and courage, you are definitely qualified.”

“To be honest, I didn’t sleep well last night. I was especially worried about angering the platform. But after hearing what Little Yang said, I suddenly wasn’t afraid anymore. I feel like we’re not wrong. If we really can’t reach an agreement, we can all switch to another platform. Wherever Little Yang goes, we’ll go. With so many of us, we can negotiate terms with the platform.”

“Yes, yes, that’s what I mean! Little Yang, this time, whether we succeed or not, you will be the leader of our group of over a thousand drivers.”

…

If he hadn’t acquired Aegis Security Group, Yang Chen might have cared more about this leadership position.

Because having people is really important in today’s society. It’s really useful at critical moments. With more people, you can scare your opponents away.

But since Yang Chen already has Aegis Security Company, he has no interest in being a leader.

However, since everyone is so supportive, he can’t refuse.

After all, he must unite everyone’s hearts now to have a chance to force the platform to change its rules.

“Everyone, trust me, I will not let you down. Remember, don’t let the platform divide and conquer us. We must stick to our current views and demands. Do you understand?” Yang Chen said loudly.

The drivers quickly responded positively.

“Understood!”

After a while, Li Changqi arrived with Bilibili executives.

“Yang Chen, can’t you discuss things properly? Why do you have to make such a big scene?” Li Changqi said helplessly.

“Discuss what? The customer service won’t give me a chance to communicate, always citing platform rules! Yesterday, I made over 400 yuan in revenue, spent 480 yuan on car washing, and was fined 400 yuan by the platform. Do you think I still need to continue driving?” Yang Chen asked.

Li Changqi sighed and said, “Come, let’s talk inside.”

Yang Chen, with a few drivers, accompanied by reporters and police, entered the headquarters conference room to negotiate with the platform executives.

Yang Chen’s attitude was very firm: the platform must bear the cleaning fee.

Li Changqi suggested trying to have the passengers bear it, but Yang Chen explicitly refused.

Because once this fee is passed on to the passengers, the drivers will definitely get bad reviews. There is no doubt about that.

Only by letting the platform bear the cost can the drivers’ rights be protected.

However, the Bilibili platform’s commission rate is as high as 20%.

Each driver may only encounter a passenger vomiting in the car a few times a year, which the platform can fully afford.

Moreover, only by letting the platform bear this cost will they find ways to use big data to give different charging standards to different customers. In the end, the passengers will still bear it themselves, but it will be spread across every ride.

After listening to Yang Chen’s explanation, Li Changqi and others felt that it made sense.

But then another problem arose: Yang Chen’s actions with the drivers have brought a very bad influence to the Bilibili platform. How should this be calculated?

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Whether this matter is bad or positive depends on your performance. You can focus on promoting that the platform bears incidental expenses such as cleaning fees, solving the drivers’ and passengers’ worries. Isn’t this a good selling point? Don’t you like to promote things the most? Isn’t this another opportunity for you to shine?”

Li Changqi was about to speak when a commotion came from the plaza.

Everyone quickly went to the windows to look down. A fight had broken out in the plaza.

Aegis Security Company personnel had intervened and were dealing with Bilibili platform’s security personnel.

Everyone quickly went downstairs to stop the fighting.

Li Changqi roared, “What’s going on? What do you mean, Aegis Security? Why are you hitting our security personnel?”

Yang Chen explained, “I invited them to protect us. I guessed you would definitely take action! Come on, keep fighting. We’ll talk after you’re done.”

Li Changqi looked embarrassed and quickly asked, “What’s going on?”

The Bilibili security guards explained that the drivers had been acting aggressively, and they were just maintaining order.

The drivers said that the Bilibili security guards had said nasty things, calling them a bunch of unemployed bums who drive cars and dared to cause trouble.

Some security guards are just like that, acting like they’re a big deal.

They beat up homeowners, besieged delivery drivers, and even dared to lock up ambulances. There’s nothing they wouldn’t dare to do.

Clearly, they are also grassroots people, but they often persecute the grassroots the most.

Fortunately, Yang Chen had the foresight to call Aegis Security over in advance.

Otherwise, with the fierce looks of these Bilibili platform security guards, many drivers would have been beaten up.

Li Changqi made a decisive decision and said loudly, “All security personnel, retreat! We are all brothers, we don’t need you to guard against each other!”

As expected of someone who can be a CEO, his mind works quickly.

The Bilibili security guards’ retreat now can reduce conflicts, show Bilibili’s sincerity, and prevent Bilibili’s reputation from continuing to decline.

But you can’t just walk away after hitting someone, right?

Yang Chen immediately said, “Officer Chen, you all saw it. They hit us. If we let them go like this, will the law still have any authority?”

Chen Qingxia and others quickly came forward and controlled the security guards who had hit people.

Yang Chen gave Zhang Xiang, who had been waiting for a long time, a look. Then Zhang Xiang also came forward and identified himself to the beaten drivers, offering to be their lawyer for free.

When Li Changqi saw Zhang Xiang coming, he panicked.

Rumor has it that he is a godlike figure who can send the other party and their lawyer to prison if he is unhappy.

Why did he come to join in the fun?

Reporters, lawyers, police, security guards—everyone who needed to be there was there. It seemed that Yang Chen was well prepared this time and determined to achieve his goal.

Li Changqi quickly said with a smile, “Lawyer Zhang, it’s just a small misunderstanding. We don’t need you to get involved. We will talk to them internally and compensate them as needed.”

Zhang Xiang replied with a smile, “I am their lawyer, but I can still mediate civilly. It doesn’t affect anything.”

The beaten drivers immediately stated that they would entrust Zhang Xiang as their lawyer to handle the matter of their beating.

Li Changqi pursed his lips helplessly and didn’t dare to speak.

The current situation can be said to have put the Bilibili platform on the barbecue rack [in a very difficult situation]. Whether it is directly roasted or not depends entirely on Bilibili platform’s choice.

Li Changqi made a decisive decision and ordered the finance department and the data department to calculate the approximate situation of the cleaning fees reported by drivers in the past three years.

The two departments immediately took action and roughly calculated a result in half an hour.

The total cleaning fees reported the year before last were 3.1 million yuan, the total cleaning fees reported last year were 3.4 million yuan, and the total cleaning fees reported so far this year were 1.8 million yuan.

Basically, it can be determined that the annual cleaning fee is between 3 million and 3.5 million yuan, about 10,000 orders a year.

Of course, this is just the reported data. In fact, many drivers know that the platform will not handle it, so they choose to suffer the loss themselves.

However, in general, there are not many orders where people vomit in the car.

Last year, the Bilibili platform had a total of 5 billion orders, and this year, there were 3.5 billion orders in the first half of the year. The number of orders where guests vomited in the car is almost negligible.

If they lose drivers and reputation to save such a small amount of money, it would be too uneconomical.

Later, the data department can slightly modify the fees and commissions for drivers and passengers. According to the scale of billions of orders per year, these incidental expenses can be easily spread out.

Li Changqi made a decisive decision and immediately announced loudly, “Everyone, please be quiet and listen to me. After our strict review, full demonstration, and active discussion, we believe that the demands of our driver friends are very reasonable. Therefore, starting at 24:00 tonight, the Bilibili platform will bear the cleaning fees incurred by drivers. We will release the specific rules later. I apologize to the driver friends who were injured due to the misunderstanding just now on behalf of the platform, and we will fully bear everyone’s medical expenses, lost work expenses, etc. Please remember that the Bilibili platform is always with drivers and passengers. Thank you all for taking the time to help the platform improve today. Everyone, go back to work, life must go on. Thank you all!”

The drivers immediately cheered.

They also lifted Yang Chen up and carried him on their shoulders to accept everyone’s cheers and worship.

At this moment, Yang Chen really became a hero in their hearts, the leader who could lead them to fight against the platform.

“We agreed that as long as our demands are met, we will choose Yang Chen as our leader. This promise must be valid!”

“Yes! We must fulfill our promise now. From now on, Yang Chen will be the leader of our Bilibili drivers, and he will represent us in communicating with the platform!”

…

Yang Chen said with a smile, “Thank you for your kindness. I will not let you down. It’s already delayed the morning peak, everyone, hurry up and go to work!”

The drivers were quite obedient and immediately dispersed.

The noisy Bilibili headquarters quickly returned to normal.

“Yang Chen, congratulations! If there are any problems in the future, be sure to meet with me in advance. Don’t do it like today again. Okay?” Li Changqi said with a smile.

Yang Chen nodded and said, “As long as the problem can be solved, who would want to waste time? You go ahead, I’m going to take these friends home for a visit.”

Zhang Xiang and the others helped a lot today, and Yang Chen didn’t have anything to thank them with, so he invited them to his home for a cup of tea.

Soon, Yang Chen took them back to the Lakeside Island villa.

Everyone was shocked. This is Yang Chen’s home?

A ride-hailing driver lives in a place like this?

Soon, Qiu Yuhong and Zhang Xiang understood.

The ride-hailing driver is just a profession that Yang Chen uses to conceal his true identity. He must be a young master from a big family.

Otherwise, he would not be able to acquire the equity of their two companies and live in this villa worth hundreds of millions.

Zhang Xiaoli was stunned and quickly asked, “Mr. Yang, is this your home?”

Yang Chen nodded and said, “Yes! It’s my home.”

Chen Qingxia quickly asked, “But how can a ride-hailing driver have so much money?”

“As a ride-hailing driver, what’s wrong with having some money? I drive for more than ten hours a day. It’s reasonable to earn some money, right?” Yang Chen said with a smile.

Zhang Xiaoli said with a smile, “I understand. Mr. Yang is a young master from a big family, right?”

Yang Chen smiled without denying or admitting it.

Only by letting them think so can Yang Chen explain these things.

At this time, Yu Shishi came out.

When Chen Qingxia saw such a beautiful girl in Yang Chen’s house, she felt a pang of jealousy.

Oh no, the male god has a girlfriend.

“Sir, you’re back. Hello everyone, welcome. I’ve already made tea. Please come in and have a taste,” Yu Shishi said with a smile.

Yang Chen introduced, “This is my housekeeper. She usually takes care of my home and helps me with some work matters.”

Chen Qingxia was overjoyed. So she’s just a housekeeper. Then she still has a chance.

At this time, everyone saw the Bugatti Veyron in the garage.

Qiu Yuhong: “Wow, Mr. Yang also has a Bugatti Veyron.”

Zhang Xiang: “Mr. Yang is really amazing. He lives in a villa worth hundreds of millions, drives a car worth tens of millions, and can still patiently drive a ride-hailing car. To be honest, if it were me, I definitely wouldn’t have such patience.”

Zhang Xiaoli: “Then what conditions does Mr. Yang have to meet to return to his family?”

Alas…

They are all harmed by the son-in-law and the wry-mouthed dragon king [referencing common tropes in Chinese web novels]. Whenever they encounter this kind of situation, they automatically think it is a family experience, and they will return home to inherit the family business when the term expires.

Yang Chen said with a smile, “I don’t know. Driving a ride-hailing car is pretty good. I can see all kinds of people every day. I think it’s quite interesting. Everyone, come in.”

Everyone was already shocked by this villa worth hundreds of millions, but when they entered the house, they realized that they were shallow [lacking in experience or knowledge].

What is a villa worth hundreds of millions?

Isn’t the Van Gogh painting hanging on the wall valuable?

Isn’t the blue and white porcelain on the table valuable?

Isn’t the furniture made of golden nanmu [a precious type of wood] valuable?

Even the faucets are made of gold, aren’t they valuable?

They have seen rich people, but they have never seen such rich people.

The always strong Zhang Xiaoli was now as restrained as a little girl.

The always domineering Zhang Xiang, who dared to send the other party’s lawyer to prison, was now sitting like a greenhorn who had just left school, afraid to move.

Qiu Yuhong, who had already been conquered by Yang Chen, was now even more in awe of him.

The little fan girl Chen Qingxia could no longer hide the love in her eyes.

“Come, everyone, have some tea,” Yang Chen said with a smile.

Everyone quickly picked up their water glasses, only to realize that even a small water glass was a Doucai chicken cup [a rare and valuable type of Chinese porcelain].

Bro, you’re using antiques as tea sets. Isn’t that too extravagant?

Some people will definitely say that you should use a Zisha teapot [a type of Chinese teapot] to make tea, etc. Please, in front of the Doucai chicken cup, those are all younger brothers. Ancient emperors used this.

Zhang Xiang only took a sip and quickly put down the cup, then reminded, “This thing is worth millions. Everyone, please be careful.”

Zhang Xiaoli: “Ah! So expensive!”

Chen Qingxia: “Oh my god, I just took a sip. Does the wear and tear cost tens of thousands?”

…

Several people quickly put down their cups.

Yang Chen laughed and said, “It’s not that expensive. It’s not an antique, just a replica of the Chenghua Doucai chicken cup. It’s tens of thousands of yuan, not as expensive as millions. That’s the price of antiques.”

Chen Qingxia: “Tens of thousands is also very expensive! I can’t bear to use this kind of thing to drink tea.”

Qiu Yuhong: “Haha… If I’m not mistaken, these tables and chairs are all made of golden nanmu. You can’t buy them even if you have money. If Officer Chen says that, the wear and tear of us sitting down for a while may cost tens of thousands.”

Chen Qingxia was shocked and quickly stood up, saying, “I know golden nanmu. That thing is very expensive. We confiscated a golden nanmu from a farmer a few years ago, worth hundreds of millions. Oh my god, this is too expensive. I don’t dare to sit anymore.”

Yang Chen: “Haha… Don’t be like this. I brought you back to express my gratitude to everyone, not to show off in front of you. If you do this, I’ll be so embarrassed. I won’t dare to bring friends back in the future.”

Everyone laughed, and then relaxed a little.

After some pleasant conversation, everyone was very happy.

Yang Chen didn’t want to waste everyone’s time. It was enough to express his feelings.

Yang Chen and Yu Shishi sent the guests away, watching them walk down the bridge before returning.

…

At this time, Longmei International Pharmaceutical Group’s US headquarters in New York sent a notice to its shareholder, the US Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association, stating that Mr. Yang Chen from China had acquired the equity of several shareholders and some equity from retail investors, and currently holds 20% of the group’s equity, making him the third-largest shareholder.

At the same time, Longmei International Pharmaceutical Group’s China headquarters in Haicheng sent a notice to its shareholder, the China Pharmaceutical Association, stating that Mr. Yang Chen from China had acquired 20% of the group’s equity, becoming the group’s third-largest shareholder.

Although the news was the same, the impact on the two shareholders was very different. It can even be said that their moods were completely opposite.

Thomas Robinson, the head of the US headquarters, frowned and fell into deep thought as he looked at the report sent by his secretary.

What is the purpose of a Chinese person suddenly acquiring so much equity?

“Someone, contact Yang Chen for me. I want to talk to him,” Thomas Robinson said.

…

Zhang Senmiao, the head of the China headquarters, laughed happily. A Chinese person has acquired 20% of the equity, which means that China will have more say in future shareholders’ meetings, right?

As a Chinese person, Yang Chen will definitely support the China Pharmaceutical Association, right?

“Someone, contact Yang Chen for me. I want to visit him,” Zhang Senmiao ordered.

…

The two of them have a common goal, which is to win Yang Chen over to their side.

The current situation is very clear. Whoever Yang Chen supports in the future, their proposal will be passed.

If Yang Chen opposes someone, their proposal will be rejected.

They know what to do.

This is what was said before, that the 20% equity that Yang Chen owns is not only worth billions of US dollars but also has more unseen benefits.

After all, if you want to win him over, it wouldn’t make sense not to give him benefits, right?