Chapter 531: Immune to Beautiful Women

Around the interview site, crew members and directors watched as the Principal spoke freely, saying exactly what he thought, completely unafraid of offending anyone.

He tore apart Jack Ma's words and behavior patterns without mercy, dissecting them for everyone to hear.

Some things were unknown and unheard of, and even after hearing them, people were still surprised.

Since the interview was recorded, not live, online netizens didn't know yet—CCTV interviews are usually recorded.

If you say something inappropriate or untimely, it can be edited out.

Here, no one interferes or steers the rhythm, so Fang Hong can speak openly.

He isn't afraid of Jack Ma—even if he didn't seek out Jack Ma, Jack Ma would come to him; it's simple: Alibaba needs to expand, and any expansion inevitably brings conflict.

If Alibaba didn't expand, Fang Hong would say a few kind words about him.

Seeing the Principal say anything without restraint, Sa Beinan asked again: "So how do you view Jack Ma? Is he a con artist? A fraud?"

"You can't say it like that—he's still very capable."

Fang Hong changed his tone again: "Alibaba spent over a decade struggling, growing from a tiny company through relentless effort. When international giant Amazon stormed into China to swallow up local e-commerce firms, Alibaba held firm, defeating all foreign competitors and markets—that's worth acknowledging."

Amazon entered China as early as 2004, when it had money, talent, and everything else.

It burned cash lavishly after entering, with fierce competition—every website that collapsed meant tens of billions of yuan wasted.

Yet Alibaba stubbornly held on.

So Jack Ma is still talented and capable—he just loves showing off his mouth everywhere.

These big bosses really are like they have two mouths—they can say anything, everything is their opinion; just moments ago they called him a fraud, now they're flattering him.

Sa Beinan silently thought to himself, then asked again: "So do you think you'll ever surpass him? Jack Ma?"

"Yes, I believe I will—in three to five years. Chang'e Technology is still in suppression mode, hasn't unleashed its true power yet; once it does, it will explode quickly," Fang Hong answered firmly.

The main reason is the short-video app hasn't launched yet—all the content, traffic, and technology have been accumulating; once the short-video app launches, Chang'e will ride the wave.

Sa Beinan smiled, unsure what he meant by "suppression"—maybe it's the calm before the storm!

He didn't dwell on that question; constantly evaluating others invites trouble. He said: "If I recall correctly, you're from a directing background—how did you end up in the internet industry?"

"Because film and television also need the internet as a distribution tool to reach more people; traditional cinemas and TV have reach, but not the internet's ubiquity."

In the future, mobile internet will make phones just like computers—everyone can view whatever content they want anytime, anywhere; it's incredibly convenient."

"Film and television content is precisely a form of data, perfectly suited to the internet."

"What your background is doesn't matter—the most important thing is your mindset. Like Jack Ma was a teacher who switched to the internet; Lei Bus was once a programmer who made phones; their mindsets are different from others."

This view was conventional, nothing outstanding—background doesn't matter; what matters is daring to think and act.

Huayi is also into real estate and the internet.

"I noticed that throughout your growth, Liu Tianxian has always been by your side—is that right?" Sa Beinan began gossiping.

"Yes, she gave me a lot of help—I owe my present to her initial support; otherwise, I wouldn't be chatting casually with these big bosses today. I'm deeply grateful to her," Fang Hong didn't hide it—he spoke frankly.

Without Liu Tianxian, his start would've been much slower; the hardest part is going from zero to one—going from one to a hundred is far easier.

"This family, don't speak like strangers—thankfulness sounds too formal, right?" Sa Beinan joked, probing his tone.

He wanted to see if they were truly together, close enough to consider marriage.

"Hahaha, you're right," Fang Hong admitted outright.

That gave Sa Beinan clarity—they really were about to get together, and showed no hesitation.

"I'm truly envious—you have such a beautiful companion beside you through growth and struggle; it's wonderful, something many people envy but can never have." Sa Beinan sighed.

Many people want such a partner—they can't even dream of it.

"Actually, I don't know if she's beautiful—I'm immune to beautiful women, can't tell who's pretty or not. There are so many beautiful women in this world, all kinds— if I thought every one I saw was beautiful, wouldn't my eyes be filled with peaches?"

"The most important thing is controlling your desires—I can achieve immunity to any beautiful woman; to me, any beautiful woman is just a skeleton in rouge."

He said this without blushing; Sa Beinan pressed his lips tightly, trying hard not to laugh—he feared losing control.

He spoke so seriously—no one knew if it was true or not.

Anyway, these big bosses all talk big—they always find some theory to justify themselves.

"So I like Liu Tianxian not because she's beautiful or looks good, but because she's special—kind-hearted and full of compassion. I remember once in winter, we went together to visit a film base, and there was an old gatekeeper nearby, very elderly."

"She saw him and felt pity—she brought him a heater, hot water, and a blanket; that gesture was heartwarming."

Hearing this, Sa Beinan nodded silently, listening quietly.

The story was quite touching—because outsiders didn't know these things; they were celebrity privacy.

People are always fascinated by celebrity privacy gossip.

Actually, Fang Hong made it half-true, half-fictional: there really was an old gatekeeper, and Liu Tianxian did feel pity.

But the heater, hot water, and blanket were brought by Fang Hong's people. Of course, without Liu Tianxian's kindness, the old man wouldn't have received that treatment—that part was true.

"Another time, there were many black rumors about her online—many people spread false lies about her; she was furious, which any person would be."

"She used technology and legal means to find the source—and when she found them, it turned out to be a minor child."

"She was kind-hearted, so she withdrew the lawsuit and stopped pursuing legal responsibility against the person spreading false rumors about her; since then, whenever anyone spreads rumors about her, she chooses to ignore them."

"Because she knows the real masterminds never show up themselves—they pay people who are naive and ignorant of the law to do it; these people are usually exploited, and quite pitiful."

When telling this story, Fang Hong spoke slowly, trying to explain clearly.

It's hard to convince people when you talk about your own affairs—when someone else tells it, the credibility is stronger.

"Hearing you say this, Liu Tianxian really is a kind person—people like that usually don't want to hurt others, silently bearing it themselves," Sa Beinan knew some of this—he'd once hosted "Today's Discussion" when that girl was cyberbullied.

All you can say is: it's fate, these two!

"Yes, most people can't do what she does—at least I can't. Whoever insults me, I'll insult them back," Fang Hong said with a smile.

Sa Beinan smiled too, showing understanding.

This interview was like this—discussing things said on forums; if permitted, private matters could be mentioned too.

If the interviewee didn't want to talk, CCTV wouldn't force them.

In fact, such interviews always have pre-set topics—what can be asked and what cannot.

The fact that CCTV asked such questions proves Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian don't mind publicly revealing their past relationship or its progress.

These interviews won't be released anytime soon; CCTV is meticulous and requires review and editing.

This is different from forums, where many reporters are already present, participants know what can and cannot be said, and hosts will steer things back.

On November 30, the final day of the World Internet Conference, only half a day was scheduled, with three forums; Fang Hong would attend two.

Both forums had leaders present; Fang Hong and his team merely listened, as the topics were simple: one was building a global internet governance ecosystem.

The other was rule of law online.

The first topic, in plain terms, meant integrating into the global internet; the second meant raising the firewall even higher.

These two topics are contradictory—you want your internet companies to go global and integrate, yet you raise your own firewall higher.

Fang Hong said nothing and offered no commentary; whatever the superiors said, they simply listened.

There was one more session—a high-level roundtable—that Fang Hong could not attend; it was only for foreign dignitaries and leaders.

By noon, the World Internet Conference officially ended; after lunch, everyone could disperse.

Meanwhile, the big players made dinner invitations: Ding Lei invited Tony Ma, Zhang Chaoyang, Li Yanhong, Shen Xiangyang, Shen Nanpeng, Yang Yuanqing, and Zhang Lei to a dinner.

This dinner was called: the East Hemisphere's Most Powerful Internet Conference Dinner!

It was indeed powerful, encompassing today's strongest internet figures and investors.

These people loved organizing such dinners; later came the Dongxing Dinner Party, likely an extension of the East Hemisphere Dinner.

But Jack Ma was not there—he told reporters: "No one invited me. Of course, even if invited, I might not have time; I never even considered whether to attend or not."

His words were still very polished.

This place is close to Hangzhou; he went to Alibaba's home banquet instead.

It seemed Jack Ma still didn't fit in with these traditional internet figures—and that was normal; he wasn't from that background.

The World Internet Conference had little video footage, since many leaders were present, but the big players' dinners and videos were plentiful.

Today's internet entrepreneurs are this conspicuous, this glamorous, and aren't afraid of being seen.

No one invited Fang Hong to any dinner, so he didn't attend; he and Zhang Yiming returned to Beijing together.

On the plane, the two sat in first class; Zhang Yiming said: "The short-video app has been developed and is in testing; if there are no issues, it can be launched into the market."

"Then find a time to launch it and see the market's feedback," Fang Hong said.

Developing this isn't hard; the hard part is user experience—iterating constantly based on feedback, plus the underlying algorithm logic and content aesthetics.

"This software doesn't have a name yet; you give it one," Zhang Yiming said.

"Call it Douyin," Fang Hong said.

Douyin's strength emerged from market competition—it crushed countless competitors and grew strong through feedback from hundreds of millions of users.

Many short-video apps can be copied on the market, but none match Douyin in algorithm logic and improvement.

That's why Fang Hong wanted this short-video app launched into the market quickly, not left stuck in the lab.

(End of Chapter)