Chapter 502: Twin Titans Surround the Hunt

March 15, 2007, Shenzhen.

The three days before the sixth anniversary of the Fenghuang Phone launch.

At 2 a. m., Chen Mo was startled awake by a rapid telephone ring. He reached for the Fenghuang Fourth Generation phone on the nightstand, squinted at the incoming call display— it was Xiao Wang.

His heart gave a thump.

Xiao Wang is the operations manager of Fenghuang Chat; calling at 2 a. m. there can be only one reason: the servers are down.

"Hello?"

"Chief Chen," Xiao Wang's voice was eight semitones higher than usual, with a clear tremor, "something big happened."

Chen Mo sat up abruptly.

"Speak."

"Tencent and Alipay..." Xiao Wang swallowed, "they issued a joint announcement."

Chen Mo's hand gripping the phone turned bone‑white at the knuckles.

"What announcement?"

"They..." Xiao Wang paused, "they announced that starting tomorrow, QQ and Alipay will be fully integrated. QQ users can transfer money directly via Alipay, Alipay users can chat via QQ. And..."

He paused.

"And they said they will launch a 'Secure Payment Alliance', labeling any software that doesn't support their payment standards as 'high‑risk applications'."

Chen Mo's mind buzzed.

Tencent. Alipay.

Two giants.

Teamed up.

3 a. m., 38th floor of Wanxiang Dasha.

All the lights in the conference room were on. Li Yaozong sat at the head seat, with a glass of ice‑cold Longjing Tea Tea tea before him. Chen Mo, Zhao Ming, Lin Jiawen, Zhou Yuanhang... every core member was present.

The projection screen displayed the full text of that joint announcement.

"... To ensure user fund safety, Tencent and Alipay jointly launch the 'Secure Payment Alliance'. Effective immediately, any software that hasn't passed the Alliance's security certification will be unable to use QQ login, Alipay transfers, and other functions. The certification standards will be officially announced on March 20..."

March 20.

Five days later.

Li Yaozong read the announcement and remained silent for a long time.

Then he spoke, his voice three tones lower than usual.

"They're trying to strangle us."

Chen Mo nodded.

"QQ login—we have 60 million users on it. Alipay transfers— our daily transaction volume has already surpassed 200 million. If both routes are blocked..."

He didn't finish.

But everyone understood.

The lifeblood of Fenghuang Chat is social networking and payment.

In social, QQ is the ancestor.

In payment, Alipay is the boss.

Their partnership is like two hands simultaneously choking Fenghuang Chat's neck.

Lin Jiawen was the first to speak.

"Chief Li, regarding the banks, can we think of a solution? Anything Alipay can do, the banks can also do."

Li Yaozong shook his head.

"Too late," he said, "the bank system's interface requires at least three months to develop. As for Alipay, they'll shut us down in five days."

Lin Jiawen fell silent.

Zhao Ming pushed up his glasses.

"On the login side, can we build our own? Not using QQ, but using a Fenghuang account."

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"60 million users— you expect them to switch accounts within five days?"

Zhao Ming opened his mouth but said nothing.

Chen Mo remained silent.

He stared at the announcement, at the date— March 20.

Five days.

Only five days.

He suddenly spoke.

"Chief Li, I want to try."

Everyone looked at him.

"Try what?"

Chen Mo stood up and walked to the whiteboard.

He drew a square.

QR code.

"This thing," he said, "is ours."

"Alipay is blocking us because we used their payment interface. QQ is blocking us because we used their login interface."

Chen Mo drew a circle beside the square.

But what if we don't use their interface?

Zhao Ming was stunned.

No? Then how will users log in? How will they pay?

Chen Mo pointed at the box.

Use this.

He looked at the people present.

Phoenix Chat now has 70 million users. These people use Phoenix Chat every day, scan QR codes to pay every day. Where is their money? Not in Alipay, but in Wanshang Bank.

He turned to Lin Jiawen.

Director Lin, can we use Wanshang Bank's payment interface?

Lin Jiawen nodded.

We can. But the bank's interface is different from Alipay, users aren't used to it…

"If they're not used to it, we'll make them used," Chen Mo interrupted him. "We'll create a new payment page that looks exactly like Alipay. Users click it, think it's still Alipay, but it's actually Wanshang Bank."

Li Yaozong's eyes lit up.

Continue.

"Login is the same," Chen Mo said. "If QQ doesn't let us use their login, we'll build our own. Let users log in with a phone number, with a verification code, with a Phoenix account."

He paused.

On the first day, there will definitely be complaints, definitely people who aren't used to it. But as long as we persist for three days, users will get used to it.

He looked at Li Yaozong.

"Director Li, this isn't a technical battle. It's a psychological battle."

The conference room fell silent for a few seconds.

Zhao Ming spoke first.

"Technically it's difficult. Within five days we have to replace every login interface and still ensure user experience doesn't drop…"

He looked at Chen Mo.

"Director Chen, have we done this kind of work before?"

Chen Mo shook his head.

"Never done it."

"Can we pull it off?"

Chen Mo was silent for three seconds.

"I don't know."

He looked at Zhao Ming.

"But I know, if we don't do it, we just wait to die."

Zhao Ming stared at him for a few seconds, then stood up.

"Alright," he said, "I'll work with you."

4 a. m., Building 7 of Nanshan R&D Center.

Chen Mo stood in the lobby, facing more than three hundred engineers who had rushed back overnight. Some hadn't fully opened their eyes yet, some had their clothes buttoned wrong, but not a single one was absent.

"Everyone," Chen Mo began, his voice hoarse, "you all know the situation."

No one spoke.

"Tencent and Alipay have teamed up. In five days, they'll block our login, block our payments."

He looked at the familiar faces below.

"What do we do?"

The audience was silent for a second.

Then someone shouted, "Do it!"

Another shouted, "Not scared of them at all!"

Someone else shouted, "Phoenix Chat, never die!"

Chen Mo looked at those people, and his eyes suddenly felt a bit warm.

More than three hundred people, 4 a. m., not a single deserter.

"Alright," he said, "then let's do it."

He walked to the whiteboard and drew a timeline.

"Five days, 120 hours."

He marked three nodes on the timeline.

"First, the login system. Switch from QQ login to phone-number login and verification-code login. Zhao Ming, you lead the team."

Zhao Ming nodded.

"Second, the payment system. Switch from Alipay to direct Wanshang Bank connection. Director Lin, your team cooperate."

Lin Jiawen nodded.

"Third, user guidance. Notifications, pop-ups, official accounts, moments—launch on all channels together. Tell users how to change login, how to bind a new card."

He looked at the audience.

"After five days, we need all users to know—Phoenix Chat is still Phoenix Chat. The login method changes, the payment method changes, but it's still the same Phoenix Chat."

For the next five days, the lights at Nanshan R&D Center never went out.

Chen Mo slept eight hours total, in five bouts, each less than two hours.

Zhao Ming moved a cot right next to his workstation, and while lying down kept muttering code.

Lin Jiawen led the bank's technical team, working together with the engineers from Fenghuang Chat. For three days and nights, they remade Wanshang Bank's payment interface to be identical to Alipay's.

Xiao Wang guarded the server, his eyes fixed on the monitor, not daring to blink. At peak traffic, his hand shook so much he could barely hold the mouse.

March 19, 11 p. m., the final internal test.

Login, successful.

Payment, successful.

Guidance page, successful.

Chen Mo looked at the three "success" notices, suddenly feeling his legs go weak. He leaned on the desk to sit down, only then discovering his back was soaked with sweat.

Xiao Wang handed him a bottle of water.

"President Chen, have a sip of water."

Chen Mo took it and drank half the bottle in one gulp.

He looked at Xiao Wang.

"Tomorrow..."

He said two words, then trailed off.

Xiao Wang nodded.

"I know."

March 20, 8 a. m.

Fenghuang Chat's login page switched over on schedule.

The first wave of users clicked in and were stunned.

"Huh? How did the login method change?"

"Phone number login? Verification code?"

"What the hell is this?"

Curses flooded the screen instantly.

"What the hell? I can't log in with QQ!"

"Why change the login? Are you sick?"

"Who the hell wants to log in with a phone number? It's a hassle!"

Chen Mo sat in the monitoring room, watching those curses, motionless.

Xiao Wang stood beside him, palms sweating.

"President Chen..."

Chen Mo said nothing.

He was just waiting.

At nine, the curses continued.

At ten, the curses lessened a bit.

At eleven, someone posted a message on their Moments:

"Actually, logging in with a phone number is quite convenient—just get a verification code."

Someone replied below: "Agree. Faster than typing a QQ number."

At noon, Chen Mo stood up.

He looked at Xiao Wang.

"The first stage is over."

At 2 p. m., the payment system switched.

This time, there were even more curses.

"What? Alipay can't be used?"

"What about the money in my card?"

"What kind of junk payment is this? Is it usable?"

But as they cursed, someone noticed—the new payment page looked exactly like Alipay's.

Enter password, confirm, payment succeeded.

No different from before.

The only difference is that the money goes not to Alipay but to Wanshang Bank.

Someone in the group asked: "Is this new payment safe?"

Someone replied: "Safe. Wanshang Bank is a state-approved bank, more legitimate than Alipay."

Someone else asked: "Then what about my money? How do I transfer it?"

Someone replied: "Just bind your card. Same as with Alipay."

At 4 p. m., the curses gradually died down.

At 6 p. m., someone posted a long message on their Moments:

"Today Fenghuang Chat switched login and payment, and I cursed all morning. But just now I thought it over—why the change? Because Alipay and QQ teamed up to bully them. They didn't want to die, so they had to find a way out. If it were me, I'd do the same. Curse aside, you still have to use what you have to. After all, I've used it for two years—I can't bear to let go."

That message was forwarded over ten thousand times.

When Chen Mo saw that message, his eyes suddenly grew hot.

He stood up and walked to the window.

Outside, the night over Shenzhen was deepening.

In the distance, the lights of the Nanshan R&D Center shone like a field of stars.

At 11 p. m., the final data came out.

Daily active users: 53 million.

Compared to yesterday, it dropped by twelve percent.

But it's much better than expected.

Chen Mo looked at that number and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Wang asked from the side.

"Manager Chen, … did we win?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Not a win." He said, "but also not a loss."

He looked at Xiao Wang.

"Next, there are still tough battles."

March 21, Tencent issued a notice.

The notice said: "Phoenix Chat unilaterally changed the login method, causing many users to be unable to log in to QQ normally. In this regard, we express our deep regret and remind users to pay attention to account security."

Chen Mo looked at that notice and laughed.

"They're panicking." He said.

Xiao Wang didn't understand.

"How are they panicking?"

Chen Mo pointed to the sentence in the notice: "deep regret".

"If they really wanted to help users, they should teach users how to change the login. But they didn't. They just issued a notice, saying a few nice words."

He paused.

"This shows they didn't expect us to hold on."

March 22, 38th floor of Wanxiang Dasha.

Li Yaozong sat in his office, with three days' worth of data in front of him.

Day one, daily active users dropped by twelve percent.

Day two, it rose by three percent.

Day three, it rose by seven percent.

After looking, he put the report down.

Chen Mo sat opposite him, his eyes sunken.

"Chen Mo," Li Yaozong said, "you've worked hard."

Chen Mo shook his head.

"Manager Li, this is just the beginning."

Li Yaozong looked at him.

"What's the plan next?"

Chen Mo thought for a moment.

"Do our own." He said, "not relying on QQ, not relying on Alipay. Use our own for login, use our own for payment. Let users get used to our own things."

He paused.

"This road might take three years, five years. But once it's cleared, it will be our own path."

Li Yaozong fell silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

"My dad once said a saying."

Chen Mo looked at him.

"He said, 'Only the hard road that gets through is truly yours.'"

Li Yaozong stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, Shenzhen's sky was very blue.

In the distance, the outline of Fenghuang Mountain was clearly visible.

"Chen Mo," he said with his back to Chen Mo, "let's walk this road together."

At ten p. m., Chen Mo returned to the Nanshan R&D Center.

In the lobby, the lights were still on. Over three hundred people, none had left.

He stood at the doorway, looking at those people.

Some were debugging code, some were writing documents, some were in meetings, some were eating instant noodles.

He suddenly recalled that at four a. m. three days ago, it was these same people, standing here, listening to him say those few words.

"Phoenix Chat, not dead."

He walked in.

Everyone raised their heads, looking at him.

He didn't speak.

He simply walked to the whiteboard, picked up a pen, and drew a square.

A QR code.

"This thing," he said, "is ours."

He turned around.

"Our next step is to make this thing ubiquitous."

He looked at those eyes below the stage.

Supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, buses, subways, universities, malls… wherever there are people, there are QR codes. Wherever there are QR codes, there is Fenghuang Chat.

He paused.

"Let users be able to scan wherever they go. Let merchants be able to receive payments wherever they open."

"Three years from now, I want everyone to know—Fenghuang Chat is not just a messaging app."

The audience fell silent for a second.

Then someone shouted, "Do it!"

Another person shouted, "Do it!"

More than three hundred people shouted in unison, "Do it!"

Chen Mo stood on the stage, looking at those people.

His eyes finally became wet.

At one o'clock in the morning, Chen Mo stood alone on the rooftop.

In the distance, Fenghuang Mountain looked like a sleeping giant in the night. At its foot, the lights of the South Mountain R&D Center shone like a field of never‑extinguishing stars.

He took out the Fenghuang Fourth Generation phone, opened Fenghuang Chat, and entered Moments.

He scrolled to a post.

It was posted by a user, the attached image a QR code.

The caption was only one sentence:

"Today Fenghuang Chat was besieged, I cursed it. Tomorrow Fenghuang Chat is still alive, I'll keep using it."

He looked at that post and smiled faintly.

Then he lifted his head and stared at the night sky.

In Shenzhen's night sky, no stars could be seen.

But he knew the stars were there.

Just like the tiny icon of Fenghuang Chat, it resides in the phones of tens of millions of people.

He put away the phone, turned, and walked down from the rooftop.

Behind him, a new day was dawning.