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“Sharing?” Xu Shuying frowned.
“Yes! It’s said to promote sharing and communal use, placing bikes on the streets for others to use, requiring only a partial deposit!” Jiang Pingting smiled. “And there’s talk of being environmentally friendly, safe, low-carbon commuting, reducing urban traffic congestion and pollution! High school students nowadays have such advanced ideas!”
Xu Shuying remained silent, her thoughts drifting to the bikes Xu Mo had placed around the area, her expression growing solemn.
“Are you talking about that top scorer? He’s been busy on several streets around here lately!” another senior female doctor remarked.
“Aunt Song, you know about it too?” Jiang Pingting was surprised.
“I do! There are piles of yellow bikes appearing on the streets. I saw them being placed on my way to work, and they’re on several streets around here! The slogans are quite catchy, saying it’s ‘pick up and go, anytime, anywhere!'” the woman addressed as Song Auntie chuckled.
“Exactly! That’s why it’s called sharing! It’s about sharing what you have with others for their use! These high school students are really something!” Jiang Pingting exclaimed.
Xu Shuying sneered, “Isn’t this just wasteful spending? He puts bikes on the streets, won’t people just take them away?”
“Speaking of that, I asked about it too! Maybe that’s the impressive part! He said if a few or even a dozen bikes get stolen, it doesn’t matter. They’re prepared for it! Just go outside and take a look at how many bikes he’s placed! It’s on several streets around here!” Jiang Pingting explained.
“Moreover, it’s said that he lost his parents and family at a young age and grew up in an orphanage in the East City! Despite being offered houses and money after becoming the top scholar, he refused them all! Today’s high school students really have much more advanced ideas than we do!” Jiang Pingting added.
Aunt Song chuckled, “His vision is definitely grand. Those bikes are so well-designed that I’ve seen people secretly riding them home!”
“That’s why people say he’s remarkable! He doesn’t mind if they’re stolen and taken home! Despite being so young, his vision is so vast. It’s truly astonishing!” Jiang Pingting exclaimed.
Xu Shuying hadn’t expected Jiang Pingting to have such an opinion of Xu Mo, which was somewhat beyond her expectations.
After some thought, she said coldly, “If a few bikes are stolen from him, he might run out of money! Charging a deposit, isn’t that illegal fundraising?”
Jiang Pingting was taken aback and chuckled, “I don’t think it counts as illegal fundraising. After all, the price of the bikes is quite high, at 300 yuan each, which is normal! Besides, they say you can get your deposit back with your phone anytime!”
“Back on the phone?”
“Yeah! You can do it right on the phone! If you want to ride, just scan the code! I’ve downloaded their app, and it’s pretty handy!” Jiang Pingting smiled.
“Hmph! What’s so advanced about this concept? Isn’t it just wasteful? If all his bikes are stolen, he’ll probably be in big trouble!” Xu Shuying glanced at them and snorted.
“I don’t know about that! Maybe he’s got some skills! When we were in high school, who would have thought of such advanced ideas? This high school student, even if he fails, he’ll probably be extraordinary in the future!”
Jiang Pingting looked impressed, while Xu Shuying remained unwilling to speak, wearing a discontented expression.
Xu Mo actually engaged in such wasteful behavior!
And who knows where his money came from? Probably stolen from the Xu family!
And he said he had no money?
He even dared to ignore her just now. If she caught him, she would have to teach him a lesson.
…
Xu Mo was quite busy. The second and third batches of bikes were distributed, totaling sixteen thousand bikes in total.
The effect was astonishing, spreading over a much larger area, almost covering the entire Xujiang District of Xiahai City.
As the area expanded, the number of users began to increase rapidly, with several hundred new users added each day. Currently, his user base has reached over 3,500 people.
In addition to Xu Mo and Tang Lei, the few of them were busy organizing users and managing funds.
It felt great.
“We’re gaining five hundred new users a day. In ten days, that’s five thousand, and in twenty days, it’s ten thousand!”
“Although we’ve lost some bikes, the loss rate is less than one percent! We’ve probably lost around thirty bikes so far!”
“Of these thirty, we can recover about half, and considering the damaged ones, we can estimate a loss of about a hundred and fifty bikes!”
“Even so, the quantity we possess is still enormous!” Gu Huanxi exclaimed, pleasantly surprised after calculating the loss rate.
“What’s the refund rate for deposits now?” Tang Lei asked, holding his breath.
“I did the math, it’s around five percent! Out of a hundred people, roughly five choose to get a refund! But refunds are only temporary; they’ll continue to deposit later on!” Gu Huanxi calculated.
“This project… is quite impressive!” Li Banzhuang exclaimed happily.
“Indeed, very impressive!” Tang Lei turned to look at Xu Mo. “Xu Mo, how many bikes for the next batch?”
Xu Mo smiled. “Thirty thousand for the next batch, and then fifty thousand for the next one!”
“Wow!” The three of them exclaimed in amazement.
Xu Mo continued with a smile, “We’re short on manpower. We need to allocate people and vehicles, have someone specifically manage and collect them! Tomorrow, Huanxi, you’ll come with me to recruit, while Tang Lei and Ban Zhuang continue to collect bikes. We need to recover the lost ones as soon as possible!”
“Alright!”
The operation was expanding rapidly, gradually forming a significant scale.
His Yellow Bike website also went live.
After the next batch of bikes was distributed, Xu Mo would need to do some promotion and advertising to further popularize the sharing concept.
Recently, with Bitcoin surging, Xu Mo still had quite a bit of funds. After this wave of growth, his capital had reached the ten million mark.
With the money invested in shared bikes, Xu Mo still had over six million in hand, so money was not an issue at all.
Therefore, it was time to start promoting.
Xu Mo and Tang Lei, along with others, resumed their busy activities—placing bikes, recruiting staff. Once the staff was hired, they began contacting advertisers to start small-scale advertising.
Ads started appearing at the entrances of some shops and on billboards.
“Eco-friendly, sharing!”
“Safe, sharing!”
“low-carbon and emission-free transport, sharing!”
“Making biking easier!”
“Pick up and use anytime, anywhere! Reducing city congestion, making cities better!”
“Shared bikes, a gift to the Earth!”
Perhaps because this concept was quite novel, when Xu Mo deployed the thirty thousand bikes and began small-scale advertising, the impact became even more apparent.
Now, the daily increase in users had surpassed one thousand, with the highest reaching up to one thousand five hundred per day!
Undoubtedly, this number was beyond what Tang Lei and Gu Hanxi had anticipated. Now, upon hearing this figure, they were filled with astonishment.
“1500 users per day? Have we reached that scale already?”
“Yes! The rate at which our users are increasing is incredibly fast. Currently, we have a total of thirteen thousand users!”
“Wow!”
Everyone marveled.
“Incredible! Truly amazing! We already have thirteen thousand users? How many bikes have we deployed?”
“Forty-six thousand bikes so far. And there are another fifty thousand on the way. We’ve already placed orders for the next batch! The next batch will be even larger, totaling two hundred thousand bikes at once!”
“Incredible! Absolutely incredible!”
Standing at the forefront, even a pig could fly. Moreover, with Xu Mo’s significant investment, a small-scale sensation had already been generated.
Now, most of the areas in Xujing District have Xu Mo’s bikes. They will soon be spread to other areas as well. Once the next batch of two hundred thousand bikes is deployed, Xu Mo can start looking for angel investors. I believe that by then, many angel investors will take notice of this project, so obtaining angel investment should not be a big problem.
…
With Xu Mo’s investment, there are more and more shared bikes appearing near the Fu Yi Hospital in Xiahai City. Xu Mo occasionally goes there to deploy bikes and encounters Jiang Pingting again.
This female doctor probably lives nearby and is very interested in seeing his bikes being spread out and advertised.
“I saw someone stealing your bike and secretly riding it home!”
She smirked mischievously and said, “The lock on top was pried open!”
Xu Mo glanced at her calmly and replied, “We have a positioning system, so we can retrieve them later.”
“Oh? You can still retrieve them?” Jiang Pingting exclaimed in surprise.
“Of course! I believe there won’t be many bike thieves. Losing one or two out of a hundred bikes isn’t a significant loss for us,” Xu Mo said calmly.
Jiang Pingting chuckled, “You’re really calm about it! I was worried sick for you!”
“Worried about what? We’re doing well. We’ve expanded significantly, and with tens of thousands of bikes deployed, losing a few doesn’t matter,” Xu Mo replied.
“You’ve deployed tens of thousands of bikes already?” Jiang Pingting exclaimed.
“Of course! And there will be more to come. We might reach hundreds of thousands. I believe we can solve everyone’s transportation problems!” Xu Mo declared.
Impressed, Jiang Pingting gave him a thumbs-up. “You’re amazing for a high school student! Are you making money with this?”
“We’re still in the red,” Xu Mo admitted.
“You’re still doing it even while losing money?” Jiang Pingting was puzzled.
“We’ll make more money the more we lose! That’s why we’re seeking investments and advertising now,” Xu Mo explained with a smile.
Jiang Pingting became even more puzzled. “You guys have some nerve. You’re already losing money, yet you still dare to invest like this!”
Xu Mo smiled but didn’t respond to her question.
Seeing his reaction, Jiang Pingting didn’t press further and returned to the hospital office with a complex feeling.
Inside the office, Xu Shuying was staring down, her face serious.
“Shuying, this young man is truly remarkable! No wonder he could top the exams. He’s amazing!” someone commented.
Xu Shuying suddenly turned around. “Remarkable? How so?”
“His idea of bike sharing is incredible! You don’t know, I just talked to him. He said he’s already invested tens of thousands of bikes. That kind of vision and courage is truly remarkable!” Jiang Pingting exclaimed in amazement.