Chapter 232

February 27, Monday.

Youku and Tudou jointly announced that they signed a final agreement on February 24, merging entirely through a 100% stock swap, with Tudou delisting and Youku rising as the leader among video websites.

Sohu Video holds the second position in the industry with a 13. % market share.

iQiyi, LeTV, and Tencent Video occupy the third through fifth places respectively.

This stands in stark contrast to the market landscape over a decade later; at its peak then, Youku had become the industry's bottom player by 2026, even lagging behind Mango TV in monthly active users.

Chen Yansen glanced at the news, a faint smile on his lips—he had no interest in long-form video websites.

At that moment, the phone on the table suddenly rang.

Chen Yansen picked it up and saw it was Zhang Zhaoyang; without hesitation, he pressed answer: "Hello, Charles, let's get this straight—drinking's fine, but acting in a drama is out."

After growing close to Zhang Zhaoyang, he originally called him "Old Zhang," but Zhang said, "The security guard at Sohu is called Old Zhang," so Chen Yansen had no choice but to use his English name.

Last week, Zhang Zhaoyang called to say Sohu Video was planning to produce a sitcom called "Diao Si Man Shi," and the director specifically wanted Chen Yansen to play a doctor.

With any other director or short drama, Chen Yansen might have agreed.

It would repay Zhang Zhaoyang's favor and simultaneously promote the Orange Phone—a win-win.

But he knew clearly that if this short drama was made, it would become an indelible black mark on his record.

So he came up with a compromise: he pushed Wang Teng forward.

After all, Wang Teng had hosted the Orange Phone's product launch, held the title of General Manager of Orange Tech, and had 1. million Weibo followers—he could still deliver strong promotional value.

"But you're not even in Yancheng for the drinking! No need to beat around the bush—when is Kuai De Taxi launching its Series A funding round? Macquarie Capital is extremely bullish on the ride-hailing sector."

Zhang Zhaoyang explained with a smile.

Macquarie Capital is Sohu's third-largest shareholder; they had previously communicated with Gao Wei, but Chen Yansen rejected their funding request.

Of the six venture capital firms preliminarily screened by Senlian Capital, five were domestic firms—this was an intentional control measure.

Yet he still owed Zhang Zhaoyang a favor, so he couldn't flatly refuse when the man brought it up.

He thought for a moment and laid it out plainly: "I don't plan to bring in too much foreign capital, so even if Macquarie Capital makes it into the Series A round, I'll strictly limit its future participation."

Zhang Zhaoyang was sharp—he immediately understood Chen Yansen's funding strategy and replied: "I'm just delivering the message. Whether this deal happens or not, I don't care."

Chen Yansen smiled and agreed readily: "Since you brought it up, giving them a spot won't hurt."

"By the way, are you coming to the Yancheng Internet Conference in September? I'll introduce you to a few new friends."

Zhang Zhaoyang nodded in satisfaction and asked.

"Then you'd better bring plenty of good wine," Chen Yansen teased.

"No problem. Let's leave it at that—next time you're in Yancheng on business, just come find me," Zhang Zhaoyang replied directly and decisively.

After exchanging pleasantries, both hung up.

"Old Zhang's got it easy—under fifty and already living the retired life of drinking, bar-hopping, and doing yoga."

Chen Yansen put down his phone, opened the windows and doors, letting the crisp air rush in.

He took a deep breath, recalling the second news item he'd just seen: the U. . Securities and Exchange Commission approved Vipshop's IPO application.

Too bad this listing was doomed to fail—the offering price was slashed by 23. % before opening, reducing the fundraising amount to $70 million, with total market cap barely exceeding $200 million.

Vipshop's bloodied IPO cast a shadow over domestic e-commerce companies and sent a clear signal: investors across the ocean had no confidence in China's e-commerce sector.

But this incident had little impact on Pinbei; instead, Ali got caught in the crossfire—Ma Liyun had planned to immediately pursue an IPO after completing his equity buyback.

But Vipshop's lukewarm debut made Ma Liyun more cautious; after weighing options, he signaled Cai Xin to delay the IPO timeline and wait for a better opportunity.

Near noon, Chen Yansen went downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch.

On the way, he met Zhou Chuangxi and Daniel, walking together, chatting and laughing.

"Daniel, are you getting used to life in Xucheng?"

Chen Yansen asked casually.

"The water's a bit hard," Daniel adjusted his glasses, then pulled a handful of hair from his scalp—over a dozen brown strands lay in his palm.

"I suggest you stick to bottled mineral water," Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"Thank you, Boss, for your concern—I ordered a water dispenser from Pinbei Mall yesterday and hope to receive it soon," Daniel replied.

With Zhou Chuangxi's help, Daniel quickly adapted to life in Xucheng and learned to shop on Pinbei.

"When will Yuxi go live?" Chen Yansen asked seriously.

"Around mid-March. Kedacom's voice data standards should be finished tomorrow; then Daniel will integrate Gaussian mixture and neural network models to further improve acoustic model training efficiency," Zhou Chuangxi replied.

"Yuxi is just the first step Orange Tech takes toward artificial intelligence. Only when we develop an advanced AI interaction engine using Yuxi do we reach the second step."

Chen Yansen spoke calmly.

Daniel nodded slightly—he had seen Yuxi's recognition framework and underlying code, and in his view, Chen Yansen's technical ability far surpassed his own.

This was why he willingly stayed at Orange Tech; on the other hand, Orange Tech's research environment also deeply satisfied him.

As they walked and talked, Zhou Chuangxi suddenly added: "Daniel and I are still visiting professors at Xucheng College."

Chen Yansen froze, then burst out laughing—Tang Qingshan was good at leveraging connections.

Although Johns Hopkins University isn't a traditional Ivy League member, its academic strength and global influence are no less than Tsinghua or Peking University.

He doubted how many students could understand Daniel's lectures, given he didn't speak Chinese—but seeing Daniel's bright expression, Chen Yansen didn't ask; perhaps this job gave him the same feeling as lecturing at Johns Hopkins, outside his regular work.

Some people are naturally driven to express and output.

The three entered the cafeteria; Chen Yansen looked around and realized he didn't recognize half the employees.

Pinbei, Orange Pay, and Orange Tech each welcomed forty to fifty new hires daily—not because he couldn't remember names, but because the business was so hectic he had no time to meet them all.

Chen Yansen finished queuing for his meal, took his tray, and had taken only two steps when he saw Wang Teng waving at him, sitting beside Wang Zihao.

He then walked over with Zhou Chuangxi and Daniel.

Meanwhile,

hundreds of kilometers away in Chunshen, in a warehouse of Shaopi Grain and Oil Company, over three hundred staff were working feverishly.

Five-kilogram and ten-kilogram bags of rice were first packed into foam bags with shock-absorbing features, then sealed tightly with tape, and sent to the next stage.

Two young men were affixing courier labels one by one.

Outside the gate, a Yunsu Express truck was parked; the factory's forklift operators continuously loaded the packed parcels into the truck.

The factory owner stood on the second floor, watching the bustling scene—his grin stretched ear to ear, he felt euphoric.

"Boss Zhu, how many orders did you sell yesterday?" asked Zhao Siyuan, Chief Secretary of the Central Office.

"Forty-three thousand five-kilogram units, twenty-five thousand ten-kilogram units—down significantly compared to early February," Zhu Debao said, though his face beamed with joy.

After deducting labor costs, he made over a hundred thousand yuan in pure profit that day.

A single bag of rice yielded only a little over one yuan in pure profit—seems small, but the volume makes up for it!

Thinking of this, Zhu Debao turned to Zhao Siyuan: "Secretary Zhao, everything I have today is thanks entirely to you and Boss Tang."

"Maintain strict quality control. Boss Chen gave you the chance to make money—if you mess up, no one can save you," Zhao Siyuan replied with a light laugh, reminding him again.

He knew many merchants on Pinbei had been penalized for selling counterfeit or substandard goods; some had not only had all their payments withheld but also received legal notices from Pinbei's Legal Force.

Zhao Siyuan didn't want Zhu Debao to be foolish!

Shaopi Grain and Oil Factory alone provided over 300 jobs—though low-end, they genuinely increased income for nearby residents.

"Secretary Zhao, rest assured—I know the difference between one full meal and daily meals," Zhu Debao patted his chest in assurance.

In the past, to open sales channels, he begged everyone—dining, drinking, smiling, catering to every wholesale dealer, supermarket and convenience store owner, market vendor, restaurant, hotel, school cafeteria, and corporate canteen procurement manager just to survive.

Now it was much easier—he no longer had to beg anyone!

With over a hundred thousand yuan in daily net profit, if this momentum lasted two or three years, his influence in the county would rise several levels.

To be honest, he had considered mixing new and old rice to earn an extra 0. –1 yuan per bag—but after careful thought, he dared not do it.

Mainly because Pinbei's penalties were brutal!

They automatically imposed tenfold fines for fakes!

"Don't forget to come to town later—Boss Tang is personally hosting the Rural Product Exchange Meeting," Zhao Siyuan said.

Pinbei had supported thirty-seven such merchants like Shaopi Grain and Oil Factory; in sales volume, Shaopi ranked only mid-tier.

In Shanjiao Town, a large-scale livestock farmer sold two million yuan daily on Pinbei's Billion-Subsidy Channel, primarily promoting duck and goose meat—both fresh chilled products and preserved cured goods.

Extremely popular in the eastern market!

Tang Lixin and Zhao Siyuan originally thought this rural product support program was just Chen Yansen's excuse to brush them off—but seeing these thirty-plus companies generate over ten million yuan in extra sales daily, they realized the true scale of Pinbei's influence in e-commerce.

Annual revenue of three to four billion yuan might actually be achievable!

During this period, Chen Guobin, while guarding his bookstore, often had wealthy bosses driving BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes arrive with bags of gifts to pay their respects.

Some looked ten years older than Chen Guobin, yet constantly called him "Uncle Chen"—so enthusiastic it was absurd.

It left Chen Guobin utterly baffled; after asking around, he learned it was all Chen Yansen's doing.

These influential figures in Chunshen all regarded Chen Yansen as the God of Wealth.

And thus, Chen Guobin was naturally the God of Wealth's father!

At some point, a police inspector station was inexplicably erected right outside Guobin Bookstore, supposedly to protect students of Chunshen Middle School.

But the station was three or four hundred meters away from the school!

Who were they trying to fool?

Soon, Chen Guobin's name grew loud within Chunshen's local power circles.

No matter if you operated in the shadows or the light—don't mess with the owner of Guobin Bookstore!

When Chen Guobin heard this, he laughed and groaned, thinking: So I'm riding on my son's coattails?

For a time, Chen Guobin's name grew steadily prominent within Chunshen's underworld circles.

Whether you operate in the black or the white, don't provoke the owner of Guobin Bookshop!

Upon hearing this, Chen Guobin was both amused and exasperated, thinking: So I'm riding on my son's coattails now?

(End of chapter)