Chapter 283: Cheng Wei: Li Yanhong, this waste of space! Why isn

Yanjing, No. 6, Jiuxianqiao Road, 360 Headquarters.

"Let him sue! The longer we drag it out, the better it is for us!"

Zhou Hongyi spoke with indifference, eyes half-lidded, a mocking smile on his lips.

"Boss, 360 Search's market share is currently 10. 4%, far exceeding Sogou Search's 7. 9%. Our growth mainly comes from Baidu and Google."

Chen Daofang, head of R&D for 360 Search, replied with a smile.

"How much did Google Search drop?" Zhou Hongyi pressed.

"Before August 3rd, it was 5. 1%; now it's 3. 3%, a total decline of 1. 8%," Chen Daofang answered immediately.

"So 360 Search stole 8. 6% of the market share from Baidu? No wonder Li Yanhong is losing his cool."

Zhou Hongyi grinned, his expression brimming with triumph.

"Lingxi Search holds about 3% market share, so Baidu's user attrition rate exceeds 11%."

Chen Daofang added with meticulous precision.

He had previously been an algorithm expert at Baidu and understood its search engine technology intimately—this was precisely why 360 Search could easily scrape data from Baidu Knows, Baidu Baike, and Baidu Tieba.

Facing his former employer, Chen Daofang showed no mercy.

"Why doesn't Baidu send a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance? That's unfair!" Zhou Hongyi frowned, furious.

"Perhaps Lingxi Search's tactics are more subtle and don't hijack Baidu's traffic," Chen Daofang mused.

360, in retaliation for Baidu's blocking measures, simply hijacked Baidu's search results within the 360 Browser, showing users only "web snapshots."

In short, users couldn't even redirect to Baidu's original pages.

As a result, Baidu lost part of its external traffic—traffic equaled ad revenue—and Li Yanhong naturally panicked.

"Chen Yansen is indeed clever!" Zhou Hongyi shook his head, sighing helplessly.

It was like he and Chen Yansen went together to steal Li Yanhong's watermelons; when caught, Li Yanhong beat him senseless, while Chen Yansen stood by calmly eating his share.

It was as if he and Chen Yansen had gone together to steal Li Yanhong's watermelons; when caught, Li Yanhong beat him senseless, while Chen Yansen stood by calmly eating one as if nothing had happened.

In reality, Li Yanhong had considered taking ByteDance to court too, but Lingxi Search's offensive in the PC search sector wasn't aggressive enough to cross Baidu's tolerance threshold.

It was 360 Search that struck directly at Baidu's vital points.

Cutting off someone's income is like killing their parents.

Once 360 Search's market share surpasses 20%, Li Yanhong will absolutely force users into a "binary choice," pushing the 3B war into a decisive showdown: "Use Baidu or use 360?"

Once Baidu's market share exceeds 20%, Li Yanhong will absolutely force users into a "binary choice," pushing the 3B war into a decisive showdown between "Baidu or 360."

At 9: 0 p. ., U. . markets opened.

Due to Baidu Search's market share dropping from 75. 4% to 64. 7%, Baidu's stock price plummeted steadily; at the close at 4 a. ., it recorded its largest single-day drop in nearly ten months, falling 7. %.

360's stock price, meanwhile, surged straight up, rising 17. % in a single day.

Early the next morning, Li Yanhong arrived at the office and, upon hearing the news, felt his vision go black. He, rarely prone to cursing, couldn't help but insult Zhou Hongyi's entire family.

After brief thought, Li Yanhong pulled out his phone and called Leiyi Army, Ma Wenteng, Zhang Zhaoyang, and others, linking together Zhou Hongyi's enemies.

Zhang Zhaoyang declined the alliance proposal, replying only: "Robin, Sogou remains neutral. Come over for a drink sometime."

Zhang Chaoyang rejected the alliance proposal, replying only: "Robin, Sogou remains neutral. Come by for a drink when you have time."

Li Yanhong chuckled bitterly, but he didn't truly see Zhang Zhaoyang as a drunkard—he understood the man's calculations; he likely wanted to sit back and watch the tigers fight, reaping the benefits of both sides' losses.

Though Sogou refused to join, Kingsoft, Tencent, and others agreed readily.

At 10 a. ., Baidu Security Alliance was formed, declaring its intent to combat phishing websites.

Users using Baidu Antivirus, Tencent Manager, Kingsoft Security, and other products were shocked to find that every time they cleaned ad plugins and system junk, 360's entire suite of products was uninstalled outright.

Including the 360 wallpaper software that normally wouldn't fully uninstall!

Even the browser's default 360 homepage was flagged as a dangerous site, prompting users to switch their homepage to hao123.

Users finally realized: the Security Alliance's real target was 360.

At this moment, netizens' saying rang true: "Always preaching user experience, saying users are your father and mother—but when it matters, you treat your own parents like fools!"

Rogues fighting thugs—neither side is clean.

Clearly, Baidu and 360's manipulation of users for commercial gain had sparked widespread discontent.

At this time, Zhang Yiming, as CEO of ByteDance, gave an interview to IT Times Weekly, first clearly stating his "non-participation" stance, then promoting Lingxi Search.

In Zhang Yiming's words, Baidu was a monopoly and 360 a bully, while Lingxi was different—it was a safe, clean, ad-free search engine product.

Zhang Yiming gave the impression of a tech CEO who didn't fight or compete, focused solely on product—and instantly won a wave of user goodwill.

Yet behind the scenes, Lingxi Browser's ads were rampant: homepage banners flooded 91 Assistant, Wandoujia, App Store, Xiaomi App Store, and Orange App Store.

In just two days, Lingxi Browser's downloads hit a new record, lifting Lingxi Search's market share another point with nearly ten million new users.

"Pfft! This guy is truly shameless!"

After seeing Zhang Yiming's report, Zhou Hongyi nearly laughed in rage—360 wasn't the only one ignoring robots. xt protocols.

Lingxi Search had done just as dirty behind the scenes as 360.

So 360 was the bully and ByteDance the white lotus?

Zhou Hongyi immediately wanted to lash out, but then he remembered that 360's mobile development still relied on Orange Tech—he could only force himself to swallow his anger.

Li Yanhong, seeing this, hesitated for a long time, unable to make up his mind to confront Senlian Capital.

In short, Baidu competed with Senlian Capital in electronic map navigation and ride-hailing, but cooperated with them in information distribution and pre-installed mobile apps.

If Baidu attacked Senlian Capital, it would instantly push them into 360's camp.

Moreover, Orange phones accounted for about 25% of China's smartphone shipment volume; if Baidu broke ties with Chen Yansen, its mobile traffic would drop by over 20%.

This would severely hinder Baidu's strategic push to seize the mobile internet gateway.

Furthermore, Chen Yansen maintained close personal and business ties with Leiyi Army, Ma Wenteng, and others.

If Baidu turned its guns on Senlian Capital, the Security Alliance might collapse.

After weighing everything, Li Yanhong made his decision: crush 360 first.

Meanwhile, in Xucheng, Zhuxianzhu Technology Park, eighth floor conference room.

Chen Yansen sat beside a low table, boiling water, steeping tea, pouring tea—each motion fluid and seamless.

"Thank you, Boss Chen," Zhou Shouzhi accepted the teacup and nodded in gratitude.

"You came at the perfect time. Gao Wei is always swamped—take over as CFO of Orange Tech for now."

Chen Yansen lifted his hot tea and took a sip.

Outside, it was over thirty degrees Celsius in the sweltering summer, but inside, central air conditioning kept the room at twenty degrees; cool breezes circulated gently.

"No problem," Zhou Shouzhi agreed readily.

He understood Chen Yansen's implication: start as CFO, use the role to learn how each department operates, and when the time is right, step into the CEO position.

"Five days from now is Orange Tech's new product launch. This time, unlike before, we must highlight the Mos Voice Interaction Engine and the core members of the AI Lab. You'll oversee the coordination; Wang Teng will handle execution."

"Five days from now is Orange Tech's new product launch. This time is different: besides the Orange C3 and Orange D1S, we must prominently introduce the Moss Voice Interaction Engine and the core members of the Artificial Intelligence Lab. You will oversee coordination; Wang Teng will handle execution."

"Understood, Boss," Zhou Shouzhi nodded.

From co-founder of DST Capital's Greater China region to CFO of Orange Tech—the massive shift had made him think for two full days before finally deciding.

"What's your view on Orange Tech's current development?" Chen Yansen asked casually.

Zhou Shouzhi sat up straight immediately. For his new boss's first question, he answered boldly: "Orange Tech clearly lacks capability in product diversification, brand building, and market expansion, which is why its revenue has yet to reach the level of a top-tier international smartphone manufacturer."

This statement, effectively negating the collective efforts of over two thousand employees at Orange Tech's headquarters.

But Zhou Shouzhi knew well: Chen Yansen wasn't paying him a massive salary so he could coast—he needed to deliver results, at minimum raising Orange Tech's revenue to the threshold of a Fortune 500 company.

Being timid and blending in would only kill his ambition.

"Elaborate," Chen Yansen smiled, unconcerned.

"First, expand product categories. Though Orange Tech covers smartphones, power banks, Bluetooth headphones, smart speakers, and accessories, its achievements in wearable devices are virtually nonexistent. Add smartwatches and fitness bands to enrich the product line."

"Second, brand positioning is unclear. Orange D1 is priced at 799 yuan; Orange C2 at 2, 99 yuan. I recommend using different series or launching a separate sub-brand to separate high-end and low-end models."

"Third, accelerate overseas market expansion. Southeast Asia, India, and Europe and America have enormous consumption potential; focusing only on East Africa risks missing growth opportunities. Prioritize offline markets—establish physical stores and experience centers early. These serve as sales channels and enhance brand reach and user loyalty."

"Third, accelerate overseas market expansion: Southeast Asia, India, and the European and American markets have enormous consumer potential; focusing solely on East Africa risks missing critical growth opportunities. Prioritize offline channels by proactively establishing physical stores and experience centers—these serve as sales outlets while enhancing brand reach and user retention."

"Draft a plan. You'll lead its implementation. Use any company resources you need," Chen Yansen arranged without hesitation.

Everyone understands big ideas—but the real skill lies in execution and results.

Zhou Shouzhi nodded firmly, realizing: though his title was CFO, he'd be doing the CEO's work.

Do well, and his position rises; fail, and he's out.

Both men were smart—some things didn't need to be spelled out.

"Come with me to visit the AI Lab," Chen Yansen stood up.

Zhou Shouzhi quickly set down his teacup and followed Chen Yansen out.

As they passed the office area, curious glances followed them.

"Huh? Isn't that Zhou Zong from DST Capital? Why is he here? Is the company raising another round? I didn't hear anything."

"I heard Zhou Shouzhi was poached with a huge salary. HR already drafted his appointment email—just waiting for Boss Chen's go-ahead."

"I heard Zhou Shouzhi was poached by the boss with a high salary; HR has even drafted his employment email, waiting only for Chen Zong's approval."

A few employees from the marketing department whispered among themselves.

Chen Yansen and Zhou Shouzhi arrived at the floor housing the AI Lab.

Zhou Shouzhi looked around, surprise flickering in his eyes—he hadn't expected Orange Tech's headquarters to harbor over a hundred foreign R&D engineers.

"Most of the speech recognition, natural language processing, and speech synthesis technologies for Mos and Alexa were developed by them," Chen Yansen explained with a smile.

Due to major differences between Chinese and English in semantic richness, linguistic structure, character sets, word segmentation, and data abundance, algorithm training models were divided into two teams.

Due to significant differences between Chinese and English in semantic richness, language structure, character sets, word segmentation, and data richness, the algorithm training model development was divided into two teams.

"Boss!"

"Boss!"

Zhou Chuangxi and Daniel walked over voluntarily.

"Let me introduce you two—this is Zhou Shouzhi, formerly a co-founder of DST Capital's Greater China division, now serving as CFO of Orange Tech."

Chen Yan said calmly.

Zhou Shouzhi extended his right hand and greeted both Zhou Chuangxi and Daniel.

When he learned Zhou Chuangxi was a Ph. . in Electrical Engineering from UIUC, a student of the father of computer vision in Lighthouse Country, he was merely slightly surprised—but after hearing Daniel's resume, he was utterly stunned, his face filled with shock.

He instinctively turned to look out the window at the wheat field—could this place really harbor a professor from Johns Hopkins University, a legendary researcher in speech recognition?

The surreal dislocation gave Zhou Shouzhi a sense of unreality.

Soon after, Zhou Chuangxi showed him around, and only then did Zhou Shouzhi realize that among them were engineers who had competed in ImageNet (Visual Recognition Challenge), senior researchers from Stanford's AI Lab, algorithm designers from Carnegie Mellon University, and tech giants from Google and Microsoft labs.

Zhou Shouzhi looked utterly bewildered; if not for Chen Yan being there, he would have seriously asked: "How much money is Orange Tech paying you all to cross oceans and come work in Huaguo?"

He didn't understand, but he was deeply shaken.

That afternoon at four p. ., an all-staff email was sent to everyone's inbox: effective immediately (August 13), Zhou Shouzhi would assume the role of CFO at Orange Tech.

Orange Tech entered its rapid-growth phase!

On the other side.

Kuai's Taxi, with the support of Gaode Maps, steadily advanced its "Thousand People, Hundred Cities" plan, expanding its service area from initial cities in Huadong to include Yancheng, Beihe, and Jinmen.

Daily order volume surpassed two million!

Meanwhile, Didi Taxi's daily completed rides remained stuck between four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand.

It wasn't that Cheng Wei wasn't working hard—it was that Kuai's Taxi had the traffic backing of Gaode, KuaiPao, Orange App Store, Lingxi Browser, and Toutiao—appearing as a 1v1 battle, but in reality it was 1v6.

Because Yunsu couriers, while delivering packages, would also slip customers a promotional poster for Kuai's Taxi.

"Li Yanhong, you useless waste! When is Baidu Maps' new version finally coming out!" Cheng Wei muttered in frustration.

(End of Chapter)