January 21, 2012. The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month.
When many people woke up in the morning, they noticed something unusual about WeChat.
A mandatory update pop-up appeared; unless users updated the app, it was impossible to dismiss.
Once updated, some users discovered a new "Red Envelope" feature, while others learned how to use it through the release notes.
Because of the Spring Festival, the maximum red envelope limit was temporarily raised to 2,000 RMB, and the gameplay had become far more diverse.
Beyond standard cash transfers, the feature introduced "Lucky Money" with randomized amounts, humorous custom-expression red envelopes, and selfie red envelopes.
It was a dazzling variety.
Faced with such a novel feature on such a special holiday, WeChat users were instantly hooked.
Bosses sent "Lucky Draw" red envelopes in company group chats.
Boyfriends sent 520 RMB red envelopes to their girlfriends.
Classmates, friends, and colleagues passed random red envelopes back and forth.
In just a single afternoon, WeChat Red Envelopes went wildly viral, surging directly to the top of the trending topics list.
"I'm so happy today! I collected a total of 500 RMB in red envelopes. I spent the whole day jumping between work groups, friends, and relatives—I couldn't even put my phone down during dinner!"
"Don't even talk about it—I missed several big red envelopes, and now I'm too depressed to eat dinner. I feel like I lost a fortune."
"Our boss said he lost a ton today! Usually he just gives out a year-end bonus, but today everyone was chanting for him to send red envelopes in the group chat. To save face, he ended up sending out a total of 50,000 RMB!"
"Renren.com really is the best to us—giving us a way to earn extra cash during New Year's."
"Happy New Year, everyone!"
The sheer popularity of WeChat Red Envelopes completely blew past the expectations of Renren.com's operations team—and far exceeded anything the crowd at Alibaba had anticipated.
Particularly for Peng Lei and her group: they had expected WeChat Red Envelopes to find a market, but they never imagined it would become an absolute sensation.
Media outlets worked overtime to publish commentary articles:
"This is an exceptional product with an extraordinarily precise grasp of user psychology and needs."
"Spring Festival holds a sacred place in the hearts of Chinese people, representing reunion and celebration. Giving red envelopes is an ingrained custom—elders give to the younger generation, leaders to subordinates, and friends when meeting up. For a long time, due to traditional Chinese modesty, both giving and receiving cash in person could be somewhat awkward. WeChat Red Envelopes solves this problem brilliantly.
The sender gets instant feedback and blessings from the group, satisfying them emotionally; the recipient fights tooth and nail to grab the money, then eagerly shares their joy in group chats and Moments, which in turn motivates the sender to give more."
"This is a true innovation and breakthrough over traditional red envelopes. Previously, people were too shy to ask for cash, and givers couldn't meet everyone face-to-face. Give too much, and your wallet hurts; give too little, and you lose face."
"WeChat Red Envelopes goes beyond the concept of simply 'giving cash'—it transforms it into a fun, interactive game. Features like group snatching, randomized lucky draws, and real-time chat discussions overturn the traditional process. It brings fun to the giving, excitement and mystery to the opening, and lighthearted discussion afterward, creating a seamless user experience."
"Alongside simple operations and strong usability, it incorporates game mechanics that boost entertainment and social interaction."
"Of course, this author believes WeChat Red Envelopes still has the following shortcomings..."
Reading a blog review of WeChat Red Envelopes, Chen Pingjiang shook his head with a smile and went back to dropping red envelopes across his various group chats.
As a boss himself, giving out red envelopes was mandatory—and from a product promotion standpoint, he was obligated to lead by example.
Receiving a red envelope brings joy because who doesn't like free money?
Sending a red envelope gets addicting because watching dozens of people chant "Thank you, Boss!" inevitably gives your ego a little boost.
Wang Cong even posted a screenshot on Weibo showing that he had handed out several hundred red envelopes in a single afternoon. By his own account, he would send out at least a thousand by the end of the Spring Festival.
Just as Peng Lei and Ni Xingjun had pointed out...
Chen Pingjiang wouldn't deny that WeChat Pay still had its share of issues.
But so what?
WeChat Pay was the challenger to begin with; moving a bit slower wasn't a problem.
As long as they controlled the traffic, they would catch up sooner or later.
Backed by the ultimate weapon of social networking, victory was inevitable—it was only a matter of time.
January 22, Lunar New Year's Eve.
Early in the morning, Chen Pingjiang woke up and headed directly to Renren.com's headquarters as usual.
Today, the Gemini Towers were exceptionally quiet; far from seeing regular employees, even the security guards and cleaners were nowhere in sight.
Normally, security personnel would be on duty in the ground floor lobby. They were missing today, but Chen Pingjiang didn't mind—it was New Year's Eve, after all; people were allowed a little slack.
He brewed a cup of tea in his office and reviewed the plans for the upcoming Spring Festival Gala Red Envelope "Shake" campaign. By 10:00 AM, he walked over to the 12th floor to check on the WeChat backend operations team.
When he arrived, Li Xi, Miao Bingwei, and other key team leaders were holding a briefing, deploying their emergency operation code-named "Escort."
Although development was complete, none of these engineers were leaving today. They had to keep their eyes glued to the live Spring Festival Gala broadcast and monitor server loads every second.
"Chairman Chen!"
"Happy New Year, Chairman Chen!"
Walking into the open workspace, Chen Pingjiang scanned the room of overtime workers with a warm smile.
"Thank you all for your hard work today. I know it's tough keeping you locked in here working on New Year's Eve instead of celebrating with your families. On behalf of the company, I've decided that today's overtime pay won't be calculated at the standard three times rate—we are paying you 15 days of base salary, plus three days of paid leave to take whenever you want after the holiday!"
The moment the words left his mouth, cheer broke out across the room.
These tech workers were already well-paid; half a month's salary plus three extra days off was an irresistible bonus that instantly dissolved any lingering grievances.
Li Xi and Miao Bingwei stepped forward and ushered Chen Pingjiang into the break room.
Once inside, Miao Bingwei teased,
"You really are a model worker, coming in as a supervisor on New Year's Eve! Do you really trust us that little?"
Chen Pingjiang rolled his eyes.
"Nonsense! I came to cheer you guys on. You're working hard today, sacrificing your holiday."
"Look at you being all polite."
"A little politeness goes a long way," Chen Pingjiang chuckled, turning to Li Xi. "What time is your flight?"
"1:00 PM."
"Alright. I'll be watching you on TV tonight."
As the first internet company to secure the title sponsorship slot for the Gala—and to ensure the red envelope campaign went off without a hitch—Li Xi had personally volunteered to go to the live Gala broadcast venue.
Miao Bingwei patted his chest.
"I'll be holding down the fort at headquarters tonight. If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility. You can rest easy—Renren's databases and servers are top-tier."
Chen Pingjiang nodded with a smile.
"Admin already spoke with the cafeteria chefs. They'll have a proper New Year's Eve dinner prepared by 3:00 PM so everyone can eat well before getting to work. Then at 10:00 PM, local chefs will come back after eating dinner with their families to boil a fresh batch of dumplings for the team."
"That's why everyone loves the boss—you think of everything. A lot of them actually brought their own lunch today,"
Li Xi laughed.
"Alright, get back to work. I won't disturb you guys any longer."
Bidding farewell to Li Xi and Miao Bingwei, Chen Pingjiang went downstairs and caught a ride home.
When he arrived at the Zhongshan Villa, the entire household was buzzing with festive energy.
At Ge Mengshi's suggestion, Chen Pingjiang changed into a wine-red, modern Tang-style jacket.
Ding, ding!
Just as he finished changing, his phone chimed with an incoming WeChat call. He picked it up and saw it was a video call.
It was Yan Yan!
Chen Pingjiang frowned slightly. He couldn't accept a video call right now—the interior decor of this villa was completely different from his other house, and he'd instantly blow his cover.
He waited until the call timed out on Yan Yan's end. Ten minutes later, he dialed her back via a standard voice call.
"Hey babe! Sorry, the connection was terrible just now—the 3G signal in this place is awful. I tapped accept a dozen times and it wouldn't connect. What's up?"
Yan Yan's cheerful voice came through the speaker.
"Oh, nothing much, just wanted to check if you arrived."
"Yeah, got here a little while ago. My mom is cleaning up the place—since we haven't been back in a while, it's covered in dust. Do you want me to put her on the line?"
"No, no need! If Auntie is busy, don't disturb her. Did you reserve a table at a restaurant?"
"Yep, all booked."
They chatted for about ten minutes before hanging up, leaving Chen Pingjiang with his heart racing.
Yan Yan was unusually talkative today, actually enjoying a long phone call with him. That was a rare sight—she was notoriously averse to phone calls, and talking for even a minute was usually a luxury.
Looks like Yan Yan is gradually stepping into her role as a wife, Chen Pingjiang thought.
Still, random check-ins could not become a habit. Otherwise, his secret identity as a master time-manager would inevitably be exposed.
"Was that Yan Yan?"
Ge Mengshi's voice came from behind.
Chen Pingjiang nodded.
"You haven't spent New Year's with her two years in a row. She's probably disappointed, right?"
Chen Pingjiang found himself unable to answer. Any response felt wrong, so he chose silence.
From Ge Mengshi's perspective, she didn't need to bring it up; playing dumb might have been easier. But she was naturally considerate and hated seeing Chen Pingjiang in a tough spot.
"Honestly, I'm fine. When I chose to be with you, I already mentally prepared myself. The two of you are officially engaged now—you really should spend more time with her during holidays."
Though her tone was light, her expression betrayed her feelings.
Chen Pingjiang walked over, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and comforted her,
"I already laid the groundwork with her in advance. Don't you trust me to handle things? And you know I do my best to keep the scales balanced. If I grow powerful enough, maybe one day we'll all sit around the same table for New Year's Eve dinner."
"Dream on,"
Ge Mengshi laughed, gently tapping his forehead with her slender finger.
Chen Pingjiang didn't know if such a scenario was truly possible.
But from a father's perspective, he had to strive for it. Otherwise, if he spent time with one child while neglecting another, leaving them without a father figure during their childhood, it would be a lifelong regret.
Starting at 2:00 PM, firecrackers began echoing intermittently across the Zhongshan Villa area.
Over the past two years, the Dongjiang municipal government had implemented a policy allowing fireworks within restricted times, locations, and types from New Year's Eve through the Lantern Festival.
However, regardless of restrictions, public enforcement couldn't touch the exclusive Zhongshan Villa estate anyway.
Residents were setting off fireworks inside their own private yards, making it nearly impossible for property management to intervene. And even if they could, who would dare ruin a wealthy owner's holiday?
They simply turned a blind eye.
As the pops and bangs grew louder outside, little Doubao initially looked around in excitement. But as the noise intensified, panic set in, and her face crumpled into tears.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ge Bingyi quickly set off his family's firecrackers outside.
Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, while warm breezes welcome the spring.
"Alright, everyone lift your glasses! Let's drink together—Happy New Year!"
As the effective head of the household, Chen Pingjiang stood up first, raising his glass to toast the family.
Both families shared bright smiles and warm laughter, exchanging holiday blessings.
Over a dozen lavish dishes were spread across the high-end rosewood dining table. Drinks flowed, and the mood was wonderfully festive.
The meal lasted until nearly 6:00 PM.
The women had long since left the table, gathering around the living room television.
Ge Bingyi and Chen Guangming, having drunk to their hearts' content, were busy playing rock-paper-scissors drinking games.
"Five heads!"
"Sixes aligned!"
"Seven tricks!"
"Brothers win—you lost, drink up!"
Sitting to the side, Chen Pingjiang didn't find it boring at all, though he had to constantly check WeChat to reply to New Year's greetings.
Almost everyone Chen Pingjiang knew took the initiative to send him blessings.
The list of people Chen Pingjiang actually sent messages to first was tiny—mostly major business tycoons and government leaders, handled with a single mass broadcast message.
However, messages from his female confidantes deserved thoughtful, individual responses.
Zhang Xinyue: Happy New Year! Haven't seen you in forever. Are you definitely back in Dongjiang for the holiday?
Cong Nini: Hubby! During dinner just now, my dad actually asked about my love life out of nowhere and told me to bring a boyfriend home next year. What if I just bring him a grandson instead?
Ni Na: It's been a while, and I miss you dearly. Wishing the man in my heart smooth sailing in everything.
Yin Zhen: Happy New Year to my financial benefactor!
Yin Hui: Happy New Year, President Chen.
To Chen Pingjiang's surprise, even Nazha sent over a greeting.
After replying to each message and chatting briefly, Chen Pingjiang checked his phone screen: it was already 7:50 PM.
He hurried to the bathroom, returning just in time for the start of the Spring Festival Gala.
Tonight, we're definitely going to show Old Ma what we're made of!
Chen Pingjiang was supremely confident in the Gala's "Shake" red envelope strategy.
On the TV screen, as the opening sequence wrapped up, the CCTV hosts lined up in a row.
Zhu Jun: "China Central Television!"
Zhou Tao: "China Central Television!"
Li Yong: "Dear audience members, to everyone—"
All Hosts: "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
...
Zhou Tao: "Let me tell you, this year's Spring Festival Gala features a brand-new segment! As you watch the live broadcast, you can scan the QR code on screen to participate in Weibo interactions and post real-time comments. Watch out, someone might roast you!"
Ge Mengshi turned around with a smile.
"The integration between your Weibo platform and the Gala is really impressive."
Chen Pingjiang nodded.
"Just wait—the best part is coming up."
"Oh my, isn't that Li Xi? I've met that young man!"
Xu Fangjuan exclaimed from the side.
On TV, Li Xi looked slightly stiff and nervous.
However, before the "best part" Chen Pingjiang promised could arrive, WeChat Red Envelopes delivered an unexpected surprise.
At 8:30 PM—before the top-of-the-hour red envelope drop—the system malfunctioned. Users reported that sending and claiming red envelopes was intermittent, often displaying a error message:
"Dear user, everyone is sending red envelopes with overwhelming enthusiasm right now! We are a bit busy—please try again in a moment!"
Following the outage, WeChat's official Weibo account immediately announced that emergency repairs were underway, explaining that uncollected red envelopes from the outage period could be re-sent by the host to be claimed again.
Chen Pingjiang refrained from calling Miao Bingwei to avoid adding to his stress. Instead, Miao Bingwei called him directly to report that they had just provisioned 1,000 additional server clusters and coordinated with network operators.
Fortunately, by 8:50 PM, WeChat Red Envelope services were fully restored.
Amusingly, major news portals and media outlets were covering the outage live on Weibo, pushing various stories about the "WeChat Traffic Jam" directly onto the trending charts:
— Xi'an Citizen Fails to Claim Red Envelope, Smashes iPhone S2 in Frustration
— WeChat Red Envelope Traffic Jam on New Year's Eve: Can't Handle the Crowd? (NetEase News)
— Crazy Red Envelopes "Break" WeChat? Renren.com Responds, Working with Telecom Operators. (21CN)
— As of 7:00 PM, Total WeChat Red Envelopes Sent and Received on New Year's Eve Reaches 100 Million. (Renren Tech)
9:00 PM sharp.
Holding his microphone, Zhu Jun announced:
"This year's Spring Festival Gala features something truly unique. For the first time, we have partnered with WeChat for an all-out, deep collaboration to distribute red envelopes to the entire nation at the top of every hour!
A continuous 'Red Envelope Rain' will accompany the entire CCTV broadcast. Simply open WeChat, tap 'Shake', and participate to unlock all sorts of surprises. Tonight, WeChat has partnered with numerous brand sponsors to distribute over 500 million RMB in cash red envelopes!"
"At around 10:00 PM, the most anticipated segment—'Nationwide Red Envelope Grab'—will officially kick off. A massive 'Red Envelope Downpour' will feature grand prizes of up to 4,999 RMB per envelope! Every winner will also receive extra bonus envelopes to share with WeChat friends for free."
Zhou Tao: "Besides claiming red envelopes, WeChat's 'Shake' feature will transform into a magical portal throughout the live broadcast, allowing users to shake out various surprises tied directly to the Gala's program!"
— Surprise 1: Shake out the Gala Program Guide! Users can shake their phones to receive a digital program guide displaying the current live performance.
— Surprise 2: Shake out New Year Greeting Cards! Send personalized holiday cards and creative blessings directly to your friends.
— Surprise 3: Shake out blessings from your favorite stars! Synchronized with the live broadcast, if Li Yuchun is performing on screen, users can shake out her personalized holiday greeting at that exact moment!
— Surprise 4: Shake out Family Portraits! Upload family reunion photos to generate custom social cards—with a chance to have your photo featured on the live Gala broadcast!
— Surprise 5: Shake out 'Friends' Spring Festival'! A gentle shake pulls up a continuous stream of short videos posted by your friends in Moments, letting you see how everyone is celebrating.
— Surprise 6: Shake out a Random Friend! Match with a random friend to send them a red envelope and personal blessings.
Li Yong: "Tonight, Mr. Li Xi, Chairman of Renren.com Group, has also joined us live at the Spring Festival Gala studio!"
...
Ge Mengshi turned her head in shock.
"This was the surprise you meant? How much did that massive spoken promo cost? Something like that was unheard of in past Galas!"
Chen Pingjiang smiled and nodded.
"Honestly, a shoutout like that isn't just a matter of money. That verbal promo plus Li Xi's interview took up several minutes of airtime. That means an entire rehearsed segment had to be cut from the final lineup to make room for us."
Ge Mengshi wasn't the only one stunned; watching the Gala from their homes, Jack Ma, Jia Yueting, Lei Jun, and Pony Ma were equally flabbergasted.
When had the Spring Festival Gala ever granted a sponsor brand such an extensive live spoken endorsement?
The Gala was broadcast globally to Chinese audiences worldwide, carrying the weight of a national institution. Endorsing a commercial product so explicitly on such a formal stage proved just how powerful Renren.com and WeChat had become.
This wasn't like a host rattling off a 1-minute monologue listing sponsors at the start of The Voice of China.
When other companies bid for sponsorship, they paid their money and shut up—they didn't get to dictate terms.
In truth, securing this promo required Renren.com to negotiate repeatedly with CCTV, the Gala production team, and the directors.
CCTV wanted to attract other internet giants to future sponsorship auctions, desired Weibo's massive social engagement during the broadcast, and—above all—couldn't resist Renren's staggering 600 million RMB cash injection.
Any other company, regardless of wealth, wouldn't have been granted that spoken promo.
In fact, after being heavily criticized for excessive product placement during the previous year's Gala, CCTV had originally planned to eliminate all soft ads and spoken promos entirely this year.
Unfortunately, the show itself remained mediocre.
Hu Haiquan performing on stage alongside Chen Yufan and Bai Baihe looked absurd through Chen Pingjiang's future perspective.
Li Yundi took the stage for a piano solo.
Sa Dingding's performance of Alive was incomprehensible to the average viewer.
Cai Ming's comedy sketch fell flat.
Faye Wong and Eason Chan's duet of Because of Love was decent enough.
Lu Chen returned to perform magic tricks, paired once again with Dong Qing as his obvious planted assistant—a classic duo.
It was a parade of old songs.
Jay Chou didn't show up, and Zhao Benshan was absent once again.
The 10:00 PM "Red Envelope Storm" was ferociously intense, nearly crashing the servers once more.
It had the WeChat operations team back at Renren headquarters sweating bullets.
Shortly after, WeChat's official Weibo account bragged:
"During the 10:00 PM CCTV Gala red envelope drop, WeChat logged 3.2 billion total 'Shakes', peaking at 410 million shakes per minute (to clarify: per minute, not per second as rumored online!). Over 120 million WeChat red envelopes were distributed. Most importantly: OUR SERVERS HELD UP!"
Chen Pingjiang opened his WeChat Moments and scrolled through his feed.
Business leaders were either discussing New Year greetings or analyzing the WeChat Moments ecosystem—the volume of discussion between the two topics was nearly equal.
Compared to regular users, these industry elites clearly cared far more about WeChat Pay's masterstroke attack.
"Renren.com just kicked Alibaba back into the last century! Mobile Internet is turning the PC into a fossil! Tonight, a generation of kids will remember New Year's Eve as the night the whole family sat around vigorously shaking their smartphones! Tonight, WeChat secures its place in history."
"A massive RMB transaction market emerged in China today—extreme transaction volume, tiny individual amounts, ultra-high liquidity, near-zero risk, and fantastic user sentiment. Buyers and sellers are wildly sending money to each other in the most harmonious financial event in human history!"
"This is true capital operation. With over 100 million WeChat users, if 30% send a 100 RMB red envelope, that creates 6 billion RMB in capital flow. Delayed by just one day, given private lending monthly interest rates of 2% (around 0.07% daily), the conservative daily return on floating capital is 4.2 million RMB. If 30% of users don't immediately withdraw their cash, that leaves 1.8 billion RMB sitting in interest-free float balances. This is how you play high finance. Chen Pingjiang is a genius."
WeChat Red Envelopes were trending just as hot on Weibo as they were on Moments:
"Moments is packed with red envelope grabs, holiday blessings, and emotional posts. Weibo is still better suited for real discussion."
"The search term 'WeChat Red Envelope' on Weibo just surpassed 100 million queries, generating 158,121,883 result pages—over 10 times higher than Baidu, setting a historic record."
"Prediction: Jack Ma is probably staring in disbelief right now. He never expected WeChat to play dirty like this."
"He's 80% likely holding an emergency video conference right now. Is it an exaggeration to say WeChat gained 20 million new card-linked users tonight alone? One minute of WeChat Pay on stage equals ten years of Alipay's hard work off stage."
"Before this, WeChat Pay's biggest flaw was its small user base and lack of consumer habits, keeping card-linkage rates low. But this red envelope play completely broke the stalemate. It feels like card-linked users will break 100 million over Spring Festival. They skipped the cold-start phase entirely and achieved initial capital accumulation overnight."
Inside the private WeChat group for business leaders that Chen Pingjiang had set up earlier, the chat was exploding.
Lei Jun: "President Chen, everyone calls me a marketing genius, but compared to you, I'm nothing. This move was absolute perfection."
Pony Ma: "Nothing more needs to be said—those 200 million RMB were worth every penny. I checked my transaction history, and our product name is actually listed on the statements!"
Liu Qiangdong: "President Chen, I'm really curious about that massive spoken promo during the middle of the Gala. Mind if I ask how much it cost?"
Zhou Hongyi: [Grinning Emoji] "Old Ma is probably losing his mind right now."
Chen Pingjiang: "Thank you all for the praise! If it weren't for the incredible support from all of you, the Gala's 'Shake' campaign wouldn't have been such a resounding success."
Pony Ma: "Come on, don't be so modest. Without the CCTV Gala partnership, this campaign would be a 60/100 at best—a solid promotional tool that boosts WeChat users and card bindings. But putting it on the Gala bumps the score to 100/100, plus extra credit. The impact is amplified three times over. Even overseas Chinese are downloading and installing the app now."
(End of Chapter)