wavenovel Chapter 3: Keeping the Leader in Mind
Chapter 3: Keeping the Leader in Mind
The reporter, holding a microphone, asked, "Mr. Li, what made you decide to jump into the lake?"
Li Zhi looked embarrassed and scratched his head, saying, "I was momentarily confused and acted impulsively..." He then recounted the whole story of his business failure, debts, and suicide attempt.
The story behind the jump into the lake was already quite sensational, so the reporter immediately shifted the focus of the interview to Lin Mu, asking, "Mr. Lin, when you saw Mr. Li fall into the water, what was your first reaction? Why did you jump in without hesitation to save him? To get a job at Alibaba, you must be a very outstanding young man. Weren't you afraid of the danger?"
Lin Mu put on a silly look, scratched his head and laughed, "I didn't think much at the time. When I saw someone fall into the water, my body just moved on its own. Besides, my hometown is a small fishing village. I've been in the water since I was a child, so I'm a pretty good swimmer. I'm also quite familiar with the water conditions of that lake. I didn't think there was any great danger, so I jumped in."
The reporter raised an eyebrow—a young man from a small fishing village who worked hard to get into Ali and possessed the virtue of selflessness and saving others was a good subject.
Next, he delved into Lin Mu's family background and struggles, to which Lin Mu responded truthfully. Finally, he added, "I used all my might to save people, so please don't try to imitate me. After all, not everyone is familiar with the water or a good swimmer."
"If you were in a similar situation again, would you still choose to jump into the lake to save someone?" the reporter asked.
Lin Mu nodded without hesitation: "Yes! But the premise is that I must first confirm that I have the ability to save people, such as understanding the water conditions and being a good swimmer. I cannot act rashly."
"You just said that in a crisis your body 'moved on its own.' Now that it's over, do you feel any lingering fear? How do you feel?" the reporter continued to press.
Lin Mu pondered for a moment, then answered earnestly, "I'm so glad I jumped in to save him. The moment someone chooses to jump into a lake, they are essentially negating their own life. If I had the ability to save him but chose to stand by and do nothing, that would be another negation of his life, which would be too cruel. Fortunately, I grabbed him and pulled him back to shore."
The reporter's eyes lit up, and he quickly bent down to jot down notes—this passage, with a little polishing, could serve as a perfect, concluding summary of the interview.
After the interview, Li Zhi presented Lin Mu with a bright red banner that read, "A true hero who sacrificed himself to save others, a benefactor who offered his full assistance." "Brother Lin," Li Zhi said, "this was specially made for me. Thank you for saving my life!"
He added, "After I got back yesterday, I looked up the process for opening a store on Taobao. Should I open the store first and figure it out myself? I'll ask you if there's anything I really don't understand?"
"Don't rush." Lin Mu quickly waved his hand. "Wait for me for a few days. After I finish what I'm doing, I'll go to your factory to check on the goods. Then we'll discuss how to operate it properly and try to make it a success on the first try."
"Okay! I'll listen to Brother Lin!" Li Zhi nodded repeatedly.
……
The next day, the Hangzhou Daily was published as scheduled, and Lin Mu's rescue story occupied a small but significant page. 2008 was still the last golden age of print media, and the Hangzhou Daily could sell over a million copies a day, making Lin Mu a minor celebrity.
He thought his casual remark about "prehistoric power" would go viral through the news, but the context was wrong, and it didn't cause any stir at all. Instead, his reflection on "the negation of life" sparked a lot of discussion, and later a middle school even included this quote in an essay question, asking students to write an argumentative essay of no less than 800 words.
Meanwhile, in the Taobao president's office.
In 2007, Taobao experienced a sudden personnel change: Sun Tongyu (nickname Caishen), the former president of Taobao, was dismissed and sent abroad for further studies. In short, he was "dismissed from his post by Jack Ma"; at the same time, Lu Zhaoxi (nickname Temujin), the president of Alipay, took over as the president of Taobao.
The core reason Sun Tongyu was effectively "dismissed from his post" was a major disagreement with Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) over strategic direction. Sun advocated a down-to-earth approach, insisting that Taobao should primarily function as a C2C marketplace, focusing on serving small and medium-sized sellers, and believing that the platform should focus on its core functions while brand acquisition should be the responsibility of the brands. Ma, on the other hand, championed a "Greater Taobao Strategy," aiming to push the platform towards the mid-to-high-end market and strongly supporting Taobao Mall, the predecessor to Tmall. The two clashed and argued incessantly on multiple occasions, ultimately leading to Sun Tongyu's elimination.
Lu Zhaoxi made a significant move upon taking office by reforming the review system and cracking down on fraudulent transactions. This measure directly triggered a backlash from sellers, leading to the infamous "Review Gate" incident.
Under the old rules before the reform, if a seller received a malicious review, they could submit evidence to appeal. Taobao staff would investigate and verify the review within 7 business days. If the evidence was valid, the staff would delete the negative review to prevent malicious defamation from competitors or unreasonable demands from buyers. After the reform, unless the review contains profanity, pornography, insults, or other prohibited content, or there is clear evidence that it is a malicious review from a competitor, Taobao will not handle other situations—including unreasonable demands, extortion, or threats from buyers—and the review will be permanently retained.
On the day the new regulations were released, sellers took to the Taobao forum to protest: some announced a strike and removed their products from the market; some threatened to bombard buyers with text messages for leaving negative reviews; and some desperately said that since both selling genuine and counterfeit goods could result in arbitrary negative reviews, they might as well just sell counterfeit goods.
Lu Zhaoxi's reputation as "Temujin" is well-deserved. Faced with the overwhelming public opinion, he did not back down but instead stepped forward, severely punishing several of the most vocal sellers. Then he offered a sweet treat, making a slight concession: if it could be proven that the buyer was a professional negative reviewer, the corresponding negative review could be deleted.
It was March, and the "review scandal" had already ended. Lu Zhaoxi was working on reorganizing Taobao Mall. At that time, Taobao Mall was not as successful as Tmall would become in the future. Due to its unclear positioning and lack of unique traffic sources, it was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Just then, Lu Zhaoxi received an invitation from the Hangzhou Daily. He flipped through the Hangzhou Daily in his hand—which reprinted Lin Mu's interview report—and nodded with satisfaction: "The media in Hangzhou really do what they pay for, giving Taobao plenty of exposure."
He tapped the table lightly and muttered to himself, "This kid is interesting. He's brave, resourceful, and knows his limits. He's worth training."
He then retrieved Lin Mu's file from the internal system: three months into the job, P1 intern customer service. According to Alibaba's promotion rules, with this length of service, being promoted to P2 would be no problem at all, but directly being promoted to P3 would be too much of a stretch, as his merits and seniority were still far from sufficient.
Lu Zhaoxi pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone and instructed: "Approve a 5 yuan award for Lin Mu's act of bravery; also, notify the HR department to process his P2 formal employment. Have him come to headquarters tomorrow to collect the award, and take some photos as promotional material for corporate social responsibility."
……
A few days later, Lu Hai approached Lin Mu and said with a smile, "Dayan, congratulations! You've officially been promoted to P2! There's also good news: President Lu has specially approved a 5 yuan reward for your act of bravery. Go to headquarters tomorrow to collect the reward, and remember to cooperate by taking some promotional photos."
"President Lu is so generous!" Lin Mu's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Once I get my bonus, I'll treat the whole team to a meal. Zang Feng, you absolutely have to come!"
Lu Hai smiled and shook his head: "It's your young people's gathering. As the leader, I won't get involved, so as not to spoil everyone's fun."
Lin Mu nodded and said seriously, "Indeed."
Lu Hai was both amused and exasperated.
Lin Mu continued, "Then I'll have to treat the team leader to a meal separately, otherwise it'll be troublesome if you make things difficult for me later."
Lu Hai chuckled in exasperation: "Hey, you little rascal, how come I never noticed you were this mischievous before?"
Lin Mu cleared his throat and switched back to a serious tone: "Brother Cangfeng, let's get down to business. I'd like to ask you for a favor."
"you say."
Lin Mu explained in detail Li Zhi's idea of having unsold goods and helping him open a Taobao store and turn it into a classic marketing case, and finally added: "I want to apply for some special traffic resources to help him build up his store."
"Wow, if you can pull this off, you'll be way ahead of everyone else in this batch of interns."
Lin Mu chuckled: "Just a little bit of cleverness."
Lu Hai thought for a moment and nodded: "This can be done! If it really works out, not only will you be ahead of the rest of the interns, but I'll also be proud. I'll help you apply for the resources, and you can give me your guidance on the operations. If you really can't handle it, you can come to me."
"Thank you, team leader!" Lin Mu quickly expressed his gratitude. "I'm a newbie, and there are bound to be many things I don't understand. I'll be asking for your help a lot in the future, so please don't find me annoying."
Lu Hai was secretly amazed: This kid is interesting. One moment he's like a mischievous young man, and the next he's like a worldly-wise old hand. His emotional intelligence is quite high.
After Lu Hai left, the beautiful HR woman who recruited him came over with a cup of hot milk, placed it on Lin Mu's desk, and said with a smile, "Da Yanzi, you're amazing! You've even been in the newspaper! If you become a senior executive in the future, don't forget to give your older sister a boost."
Lin Mu joked, "You think you can get my help with just a glass of milk? You're lucky if I don't make things difficult for you!"
The beautiful HR lady rolled her eyes at him, knowing he was just joking, and turned away with a smile.
For the next half day, interns from the same group and senior colleagues from the next group came to Lin Mu's workstation under the guise of "passing by": some chatted with him for a few minutes and exchanged contact information; others brought him snacks and drinks.
It's not that everyone is overly ambitious or trying to curry favor with future executives—after all, that's still a long way off. It's more about admiring Lin Mu's selfless act of saving others and finding him an interesting person worth befriending.
Lin Mu welcomed all who came, responding warmly to each one. Among these people, there might be capable assistants who could start a business with him in the future.
Only Wang Zaixing, who considered him a formidable rival, didn't join in the fun. He sat at his workstation, looking at Lin Mu surrounded by people with a complicated expression, secretly wondering: How exactly is Lin Mu going to run the store? If it were me, what would I do?