Reborn in 2012, raising a pure-hearted female college student

Chapter 126 Unexpected Changes

With the establishment of the Auditing School branch, the number of people working in the Engineering Incubation Park increased significantly, and the daily goods scheduling work on both sides was handed over to Xu Zhen for overall coordination.

Chen Che and Lu Xiuyang were not idle either. After finishing their daily work, they also had to start analyzing the feedback they had accumulated recently.

There were all sorts of opinions. Some of them were mixed together, such as "There are too many dots on the apple, I want one without dots", "I'm on a sugar diet lately, can you not send such sweet sugarcane?" and "The instant noodles are almost crumbled into powder, bad review". Some of them really need to be improved, while others are really beyond our control.

Even just picking out valuable and meaningful suggestions from among them, let alone how to improve, is an energy-consuming task.

"Mr. Chen, I think this point is very valuable, and we may need to consider it from a longer-term perspective," Lu Xiuyang said, pointing to one of the points.

Chen Che looked closely and saw that it was a suggestion about payment methods.

With the rise of online shopping platforms like Taobao, online payment has also become popular, and Alipay is appearing more and more frequently in people's lives.

People are using paper money less and less offline, not to mention college students who are exposed to new things more frequently, so it's understandable that they want to support online payments.

Think back to those who once confidently asserted that online shopping could never replace offline shopping, and that only by seeing the actual product in person could one feel at ease. But as time has passed, old experiences and perceptions have proven utterly insignificant.

"Mr. Chen, do you see any way or opportunity for us to integrate into Alipay's system for online payments? I just checked and Alipay opened up its third-party merchant service platform a few years ago."

"I think that if online payment can be supported as soon as possible, it will definitely greatly improve efficiency and the overall experience," Lu Xiuyang asked earnestly.

"Do you think it's because I don't want to?" Chen Che smiled helplessly. As someone who had been used to online payments for decades, returning to the current transitional phase between paper money and mobile payments was the thing he needed to adapt to the most.

For example, when you go to the cafeteria to eat, you have to top up your meal card first. Unless there are too many people or the network is really bad, it's not as convenient as using WeChat or Alipay.

"You're quite thoughtful. Although Alipay has launched a merchant service platform and supports online signing, the qualification and technical requirements are not low at all, not to mention the hefty annual fee. These requirements are still beyond our current capabilities," Chen Che explained.

"Is that so..." Lu Xiuyang sighed with some disappointment.

"But the direction you're thinking of is correct, and I will try my best to work in that direction as well." Chen Che didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of a newcomer in the team, so he comforted him, especially since what Lu Xiuyang said was actually not wrong.

After discussing this part, Lu Xiuyang talked about the results of the online promotion of collecting small tickets to redeem big prizes. It has to be said that it seems to have accurately hit the target audience's preferences.

If it were a guy, he probably wouldn't care much and would find it troublesome, and would just throw it away. But the girls' participation and enthusiasm are quite good, and the effect is very good. The daily active users have increased rapidly and are steadily growing.

Chen Che nodded in agreement. Although the event had ended, this format could be modified and preserved to become a regular part of the platform.

"Xiuyang, I'm thinking of making something similar to what you're talking about. It's about creating a points redemption module. The actual amount spent on our platform can be converted into platform points, which can then be redeemed for things with practical value, such as phone credit or data."

This isn't anything new; it's an old trick. But even though it's an old trick, it works.

"Hmm, that's good, Mr. Chen." Lu Xiuyang nodded and said, "Compared to short-term stimulus which is suitable for the promotion when the platform is first launched, this steady and long-term approach is more suitable for the long-term operation and development of the platform."

"However," Lu Xiuyang paused, clearly having thought it over quickly, before continuing, "things like phone bills and data traffic should be handled in cooperation with the three major telecom operators. Our platform isn't very large to begin with, so we can't provide too much volume, and we certainly can't meet all their needs."

"Hmm...that makes sense." Chen Che nodded.

Before Chen Che could ask further, Lu Xiuyang already had a vague idea and continued:

"I think this is definitely a necessary gimmick to attract attention, but it should be limited, first come, first served, and then some other rewards should be added."

"There's no need to come up with anything too creative. We just need to take out some of the slower-selling products from our platform, which will also help clear out our inventory. Then we can update and replace them regularly based on the actual situation."

"Not bad," Chen Che nodded in satisfaction, feeling more and more that he had struck gold. "You can design the specific details. Give me a plan later. Don't rush it. You can decide the priorities yourself. Just focus on doing your own thing well first."

Lu Xiuyang nodded and said "Okay".

With the matter mostly settled, Lu Xiuyang returned to the School of Auditing.

Chen Che took a sip of water, rubbed his eyes, and then took out his phone to call Cai Chong.

"Hey, senior, are you busy?" Chen Che tried his best to use enthusiasm in his tone to cover up his physical and mental exhaustion.

"I'm fine, what's wrong?" Cai Chong replied.

"It's still about the platform. I need to trouble you with something," Chen Che said.

"Hmm..." Instead of an immediate agreement as expected, Cai Chong hesitated for a moment before declining, "Sorry, junior, I don't have much free time."

Upon hearing this, Chen Che assumed that the other party was trying to fob him off because they were short of money, and became a little anxious. He quickly explained, "Don't worry, senior. This time, I definitely won't be short of money. Didn't I pay you right away for the last feature development? You have to have faith in me."

When Chen Che said these words, his tone was perfectly composed and brimming with confidence. He didn't seem to realize that he had owed the person a considerable amount of hard-earned money on their first meeting, and it was understandable that the person might have some psychological trauma.

"It has nothing to do with that," Cai Chong thought for a moment and then told the truth: "I'm about to graduate and I'm putting all my energy into my thesis, so I might not have time to take care of your project, and I might not be able to handle the subsequent maintenance either."

Oh no, this is much bigger than any other problem. Cai Chong is about to run away with the buckets. He's in charge of this mobile app now. What will happen if something goes wrong later?

Cai Chong continued, "But don't worry, I probably won't just abandon my responsibilities. I'll make sure the transition is handled properly first."

Chen Che was both amused and exasperated: "Senior, that's not the issue. I simply don't have a suitable candidate right now, nor do I have the money to hire a full-time programmer."

Logically, this shouldn't be Cai Chong's concern, but considering their shared alma mater and his own sense of responsibility, Cai Chong still said, "Actually, your project is hosted on our lab's server, and our current supervisor knows about it, but hasn't said anything. Why don't you try talking to him directly?"

There was no other way now, and it was a case of every cloud has a silver lining. So Chen Che asked, "Who is your mentor?"

"I'll take you to him in a bit, but be careful, his personality is... well, a bit strange. He likes us to call him Master," Cai Chong said.

Upon hearing this, Chen Che felt a sense of déjà vu, so he immediately asked, "Senior, what's your advisor's name?"

"Shangwen," Cai Chong replied.