novelraw Chapter 116 is released in a new version.
Chapter 116 is released in a new version.
Watching Chen Yizhou storm into the elevator, Bai Yuhang's eyes turned cold, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.
Although Chen Yizhou lost face today, he still has the 20 million US dollars that Sohu is about to receive.
Once this money arrives, ChinaRen will definitely launch a major counterattack.
"Mr. Bai, that line you just said about buying junk for three million was brilliant!" Zhang Jian burst in, slapping his thigh with delight.
Jiang Shuo followed behind, looking utterly unsatisfied: "Fifteen million US dollars, just like that, gone. But seeing that Chen guy's purplish-red face, it was worth it!"
"No time for laughter." Bai Yuhang turned and walked towards his office. "Boss, Second Boss, let's go. Third Boss, Eighth Boss, go and call Allen, President Su, Fourth Boss, and Liu Zhi to my office. We'll have a closed-door meeting."
A few minutes later, the core team of Qihang Technology sat in a circle in the CEO's office.
Before everyone had even arrived, Zhang Jian couldn't hold back any longer. He plopped down on the armrest of the sofa and began to reenact the scene with exaggerated gestures.
"You didn't see the face of that guy surnamed Chen!" Zhang Jian imitated Chen Yizhou, crossing his legs and raising his chin in the air, speaking in a affected tone, "He just opened his mouth and offered fifteen million US dollars in cash, telling us to take the money and get out, to live a life of debauchery for the rest of our lives. I was peeking through the crack in the door, and I was practically drooling over what he was saying."
Jiang Shuo chimed in, still shaken, "That's right! Fifteen million US dollars, which is more than 120 million RMB! I've never even dared to dream of so many zeros in my life! My legs went weak at the time, but what happened? Our CEO Bai didn't even lift an eyelid."
"And then what? Did you really just let him go like that?" Wan Lianghao asked, his eyes wide, in a thick Northeastern accent.
"And then?" Zhang Jian slapped his thigh, laughing so hard he almost fell over. "Our Boss Bai just held up three fingers and offered him three million RMB to buy their remaining servers as scrap metal, and incidentally, to acquire the shell! You didn't see it, that guy surnamed Chen's face turned as green as a bitter gourd, like he'd eaten a dead rat, and he slunk away into the elevator with his four bodyguards!"
The office erupted in boisterous laughter that seemed to lift the roof off.
Liu Zhi shook his head. The initial offer of fifteen million US dollars had been slashed to a scrap metal price of three million RMB. "Mr. Bai's slashing skills are so sharp, even capitalists would weep."
Su Muqing leaned against the desk, arms crossed, and looked at Bai Yuhang sitting in the boss's chair with a smile. "President Bai's mouth is notoriously sharp. He exposed the true colors of the world's largest Chinese community with just one sentence. He really doesn't give his seniors any face at all."
Zhang Xiaolong, who had been silent all along, pushed open the door and said expressionlessly, "Their community's underlying architecture is indeed rubbish. We spent three million to buy their servers, and we even lost money on electricity."
That was truly a statement that would shock anyone, and the crowd burst into laughter again.
The executives looked at Bai Yuhang, who sat calmly behind his desk, and couldn't help but admire the young boss's composure.
Faced with the temptation of 120 million yuan in cash, he didn't even blink, and could even turn the tables and beat the other party to a pulp. This is not the kind of mental fortitude that an 18-year-old college student should have.
Bai Yuhang looked at his excited, flushed-faced team members and tapped his fingers twice on the table.
"Alright, the show's over. Let's get back to business." Bai Yuhang's gaze swept over everyone.
"Chen Yizhou will definitely accelerate the merger with Sohu when he gets back. Once Zhang Chaoyang's money arrives, their first step will definitely be to spend money on traffic, trying to win back the lost users." Bai Yuhang's gaze swept over everyone. "We can't wait until they catch their breath. I want to completely drain the lifeblood of the ChinaRen community before they get the money."
"Mr. Bai, how do we draw it?" Liu Zhi asked.
Bai Yuhang didn't rush to reply; instead, he turned around and picked up a whiteboard marker.
He turned and wrote a few words on the whiteboard: parking space grabbing, video chat, QQ group, QQ Show, diamond membership.
Wan Lianghao's eyes lit up when he saw the "Parking Wars" sign: "President Bai, the closed beta of 'Happy Parking' is complete! We can launch it anytime!"
"Let's get it up and running tonight at midnight." Bai Yuhang set the tone, then turned to Zhang Jian and Zhang Xiaolong. "Allen, Zhang Jian, Liu Zhi. You've already set up the underlying protocols for QQ groups and video chat, so speed things up. I want netizens to not only be able to chat one-on-one, but also to chat in groups, and even chat while looking at each other's faces."
Wan Lianghao muttered the words "video chat" and "QQ group," his brows furrowing. "President Bai, can our current domestic internet speed and bandwidth handle video chat? And as for QQ groups, our current architecture is peer-to-peer. To do group chat, the server's data concurrency would have to increase several times over."
Zhang Jian chimed in, his tone flat: "The underlying logic has been rewritten. Group chat transforms the relationship chain from a single line into a network. Once it's launched, outdated BBS forums like ChinaRen can go straight to the museum."
Liu Zhi gasped in shock; this was practically digging up Chen Yizhou's ancestral graves! Forums required posting and waiting for replies, while QQ groups were like real-time chat rooms—the experience was utterly crushing.
Zhang Xiaolong adjusted his glasses: "President Bai has perfectly solved the video chat compression and transmission algorithm. Give Zhang Jian and me two days to optimize it and avoid conflicts with the operating system driver. The QQ group can be released tonight along with the parking space contest."
"Okay." Bai Yuhang tapped the pen tip on "QQ Show" and "Diamond Membership." "These are the main money-makers going forward. Wan Lianghao and Liu Zhi, get the graphic designers to design virtual clothes, hairstyles, and backgrounds for QQ users. Let them spend money to buy virtual clothes to wear."
Jiang Shuo was still immersed in the regret of losing 15 million US dollars when he saw the words "QQ Show" and his hand, which was pushing up his glasses, froze in mid-air.
Jiang Shuo lowered his voice and tentatively asked, "Pay money to buy virtual clothes? Does anyone actually buy that?"
"If you can't afford designer brands in real life, you can spend a few dollars online to pretend to be rich. Do you think anyone would buy that?" Bai Yuhang retorted. "Give each QQ account a virtual avatar. Want to wear Adidas? Want to get a 'punk' hairstyle? Want to wear sunglasses to look cool? Sure, just buy it with QQ coins. A shirt is one dollar, a pair of pants is two dollars, and a limited edition set is ten dollars."
The office was silent for a full five seconds.
Jiang Shuo covered his face with his hands, his shoulders trembling.
"Old Eight, are you alright? Does your head hurt?" Jiao Liwei was startled.
Jiang Shuo suddenly looked up, his face flushed, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism: "Boss, I'm just so excited! Selling virtual clothes? Zero cost! No need to buy inventory, no need for stock, just draw a few pictures and you can make money! This is faster than a money printing machine! Chen Yizhou's fifteen million US dollars is nothing!"
"There's also a Diamond membership," Bai Yuhang added. "Liu Zhi, it's a monthly subscription. Basic functions on HaiNei.com and QQ are permanently free. But if you pay, your name will turn red, your avatar will have a diamond, and you'll be ranked higher. If you don't buy a membership, the chat function will work as usual, but you'll be ranked a little lower in the list, and you won't be charged a penny."
Su Muqing listened, a smile playing on her lips: "This is a ruthless tactic. It doesn't affect the basic user experience, but it perfectly exploits the user's vanity. As long as one person spends money and shows off in the group, the others will definitely get restless."
"That's the logic." Bai Yuhang put down his marker. "With this combination of moves, I want domestic netizens to spend all their time, except for eating and sleeping, on our domestic internet and QQ. Chen Yizhou wants to use money to flood the internet with traffic? I'll make sure he doesn't even make a ripple."
Jiang Shuo stared at Bai Yuhang with a mischievous grin: "Mr. Bai, if all of this goes online, we might not have enough digits for our corporate bank account!"
Zhang Jian grabbed Jiang Shuo's neck and said, "Eighth Brother, hurry up and buy a few bigger safes!"
A burst of laughter erupted in the office.
Bai Yuhang looked at his group of energetic brothers and threw the marker in his hand on the table.
The net has been cast across the ocean; it's time to reap the rewards domestically.