Chapter 363: The Internet's New Top Trend! Wang Xin, Ready to Admit Defeat: Jia Yaoting Says

What Chen Yansen did not expect was that as soon as he arrived at the hotel, Zhou Hongyi's phone call came through.

"Mr. Chen, it's Old Zhou. I heard you've arrived in Yanjing? Let's have dinner at Jingzhaoyin tonight to welcome you."

Zhou Hongyi spoke in a familiar tone, arranging things with great enthusiasm.

It seemed he had long forgotten his own arrogant demeanor when they first met.

"How about tomorrow night? Mr. Zhang from Sohu has invited me to a bar." Chen Yansen sat on the sofa; a pair of small hands came up from behind, gently massaging his shoulders and neck.

"Old Zhang? I'm very familiar with him. Why don't we all go together?" Zhou Hongyi said with a chuckle.

"And Lei Yijun as well," Chen Yansen added.

"Then forget it. Seven o'clock tomorrow night at Jingzhaoyin." Zhou Hongyi's laughter cut off abruptly, and he immediately ended the call.

"I still remember, two years ago when I accompanied you on a business trip to Yanjing, Mr. Zhou was calling Mr. Lei 'Big Brother' again and again."

Song Yuncheng smiled faintly and couldn't help but sigh.

"Just get used to it. Where are friends in the business circle? Once Zhou Hongyi stops making phones, or once Lei Yijun stops making phones, and the two no longer have conflicting interests, they will return to being good friends again."

Chen Yansen leaned back, signaling Song Yuncheng to continue without stopping.

The Miss's soft hands lacked strength, yet they made Mr. Chen feel very comfortable.

While massaging, Song Yuncheng asked, "So, is Zhang Chaoyang considered your friend?"

"Temporarily, yes. Who can say what happens in the future?" Chen Yansen shrugged, dismissing the matter.

Through the glass curtain wall over three meters high, one could overlook the entire Chaoyang District; outside the window was a vast expanse of white, with residual snow from a few days ago still on the rooftops.

"The appointment with the 'Dialogue' program team is set for 9:30 tomorrow morning. The drive from the hotel to the TV station takes fifteen minutes, so we plan to depart at nine o'clock."

Song Yuncheng reminded her in a soft voice.

"Having you serve as the Director of Major Clients for Pinba seems like a waste of your talent. How about coming to be my secretary?"

Chen Yansen closed his eyes, released the restraint on his spiritual sense, scanned the surrounding environment, and only after confirming there were no anomalies did he transform it into a black hole form.

"Being a secretary won't help you make money," Song Yuncheng said with a smile.

"It's you who wants to make money, isn't it?" Chen Yansen countered.

He knew Song Yuncheng was a little money-lover; in the past two years she had saved over five million, yet apart from buying medicine for her brother's treatment, her largest expenditure was buying Mr. Chen a Patek Philippe watch worth over three hundred thousand, while she herself couldn't bear to spend a single extra cent.

"Hehe." Song Yuncheng squinted her eyes into crescent shapes; the smile on her face was as warm as spring, even overflowing the arc of her raised lips.

"Xiaohongshu is missing a General Manager of Commercialization. If you're interested, I can reserve this position for you."

Chen Yansen said it casually.

"Do I have to go to Hucheng?" Song Yuncheng asked.

"Mm." Chen Yansen replied with a single sound.

"Then I'm not going." Song Yuncheng shook her head and said.

"Why? Don't you want to make money?" Chen Yansen asked in return.

"Money must be earned, but I also want you." Song Yuncheng leaned down and whispered into Mr. Chen's ear.

"Those words should be said by me." Chen Yansen furrowed his brow slightly, showing displeasure.

Song Yuncheng was becoming more and more like him: acting with swift and decisive force, making decisions resolutely, managing over forty people under her, including salespeople from 3A advertising agencies, channel operators from Mama Ali, Jingdong, or SA-level brand owners, yet all these people were trained by her to be completely obedient.

In terms of ability and methods, she was no worse than a Business Director at a top-tier internet giant.

After all, she was personally trained by Mr. Chen; her upper limit was hard to say, but her lower limit was guaranteed.

"Then what should we do? I've already said everything." Song Yuncheng asked with a smile.

"Stand in front." Chen Yansen commanded.

Song Yuncheng knew what he wanted to do; her pretty face flushed with a pink tint, and she obediently stuck out her bottom.

"Smack!"

This slap from Chen Yansen landed with a crisp, loud sound.

Gazing at Song Yuncheng, he thought silently: Meng Jie is too young, Master Ye is too flirtatious, while Miss Sister Chengzi is just right—diligent and willing to work.

"What shall we eat tonight?" Song Yuncheng, having been slapped, turned her head and asked.

"Let's go to that snack street from last time; I saw you liked it quite a bit." Chen Yansen pulled Song Yuncheng's hand and yanked her backward, causing her to fall into his arms.

"Great." Song Yuncheng felt a warmth in her heart; she hadn't expected Chen Yansen to remember so clearly.

Meanwhile.

Local internet company bosses in Yanjing successively received news of Chen Yansen's arrival in the capital.

Compared to last year, Chen Yansen's momentum this year was even stronger.

Pinba surpassed Jingdong's annual sales volume, achieving a record of 317.4 billion yuan, and leaped to second place in the e-commerce industry.

Sister Chengzi phones achieved a global shipment volume of 50.1 million units, ranking sixth, crushing Huawei, TCL, and BlackBerry in sales, while simultaneously taking first place on the domestic smartphone shipment chart.

Sister Chengzi Pay had over 30 million daily active users and owned the nation's largest money market fund, exceeding 100 billion yuan in scale.

Products such as Kuaidi Dache, Kuai Pao, Gao De Maps, and Jinri Toutiao were all leaders in their respective fields.

Since the conclusion of the Yanjing Internet Conference, some media outlets had changed 'BAT' to 'BATS', demonstrating that in the eyes of most people, Chen Yansen's wealth and industry influence were in no way inferior to those of Li Yanhong, Ma Wenteng, and Ma Liyun.

Many people called Zhang Chaoyang, hoping he would act as an intermediary to organize a drinking gathering, establish contact with Chen Yansen, and seek deep cooperation.

Even Wang Xin was moved; in his view, merging with Dianping was not as good as merging with Kuai Pao.

There has always been the principle of strong alliances joining forces; where is the principle of allying with the weak to fight the strong?

"Brother Xin, do you want to sell the company?" Wang Huiwen asked.

"Sell? Not exactly. Actually, I would rather use Meituan as a bargaining chip to join Senlian Capital."

Wang Xin smiled bitterly and said lightly.

During the six months of direct competition with Kuai Pao, Meituan suffered repeated setbacks, and even he was beaten by Pei Yi without any chance to fight back.

Afterwards, he pondered repeatedly, believing his own ability was not the problem; he had simply lost due to resources and funding.

KuaiPao doesn't lack money, doesn't lack traffic, doesn't lack talent.

Just focus on development!

The exposure and traffic he craves, Pei Yi has at his fingertips—Chengzi App Store, Pinbei, Gao De—all constantly funneling traffic to KuaiPao.

What can Meituan use to fight? What can it compete with?

Fuck, the opponents are all cheating!

"I don't oppose it, but I'm worried Chen Yansen might not be interested in Meituan," Wang Huiwen reminded.

KuaiPao's core business is takeout and group buying; the former already holds eighty percent market share, while the latter, leveraging Nuomi. com's foundation, has firmly established itself as market leader within half a year.

On what grounds can Senlian Capital acquire Meituan?

Just to eliminate one competitor?

The difficulty is extremely high!

"Give it a try—maybe Chen Yansen thinks differently from ordinary people," Wang Xin joked with a smile, a flicker of concern in his eyes.

Wang Huiwen could understand this; how could he not?

But KuaiPao and Lashou. com have exerted immense pressure on Meituan; two and a half years of continuous losses have exhausted investor patience. Sequoia Capital's Shen Nanpeng clearly told him: if he wants funding, he must merge with Dazhong Dianping—otherwise, no deal.

Mama Ali's stance is ambiguous, clearly leaning toward KuaiPao.

Although Ali Baba holds only four percent of KuaiPao's equity, its value far exceeds its Meituan holdings.

Ask Ma Liyun to fund his own competition?

Impossible!

Unless Ali Baba immediately goes public, and with ample resources, Old Ma might, in his "cultivating monsters" mindset, invest more in Meituan—but right now, Ma Liyun just launched Cainiao Logistics and spent over two billion Huayuan; where would he find spare cash to waste on Wang Xin?

"I'll call General Zhang," Wang Huiwen said, hoping for a chance, pulling out his phone and scrolling through contacts to dial Zhang Chaoyang.

"Duuu… duuu… duuu…"

Wang Huiwen turned on speakerphone.

"Hello, who is this?" Zhang Chaoyang frowned, suppressing the urge to curse—this afternoon alone, he'd fielded dozens of calls, all circling around to ask about Chen Yansen, driving him mad.

"General Zhang, this is Wang Huiwen from Meituan. I'd like to ask a favor…" Wang Huiwen introduced himself.

But before he finished speaking, Zhang Chaoyang said: "Sorry, Director Wang, if you want to meet Chen Yansen, contact him directly—I won't act as an intermediary."

Wang Huiwen opened his mouth, frozen in place.

"General Zhang, this is Wang Xin from Meituan. I want to sell the company to Chen Yansen—I hope you can pass along a message."

Wang Xin interjected.

With his connections, he could get Pei Yi's contact—but not Chen Yansen's personal number.

Meituan may sound prestigious, but its annual GMV is only 10.3 billion Huayuan—nowhere near KuaiPao, let alone Senlian Capital.

Sell the company to Chen Yansen?

Zhang Chaoyang paused slightly. He knew Meituan and KuaiPao were rivals, but he hadn't expected Wang Xin to be so crushed by Chen Yansen's pressure that he'd openly propose selling the company.

"Alright, I understand." Since it was just passing a message, Zhang Chaoyang didn't flatly refuse.

"Thank you, General Zhang—I'll treat you to drinks later," Wang Xin said politely.

"We'll see," Zhang Chaoyang replied vaguely, then hung up.

He liked drinking, yes—but only with certain people; not everyone deserved to sit at his table.

On the other side.

Ding Lei, Liu Qiangdong, and Lei Yi stared at each other.

"What are you all staring for?" Zhang Chaoyang put down his phone and instinctively urged the three, who were lost in thought.

"So many people want to meet Chen Yansen," Ding Lei muttered, realizing for the first time Chen Yansen's stature in the industry.

"I heard Apple's Asia Regional General Manager, Ge Yue, visited Xucheng a few days ago," Lei Yi said softly, voice tinged with envy, his admiration nearly spilling over.

"I know about this—Apple plans to join Pinbei and has licensed the architecture of Chengzi Z1."

Ding Lei volunteered.

Join Pinbei?

JD. com is the exclusive platform for digital appliances!

What does Ge Yue bypassing JD. com mean?

Liu Qiangdong's face flushed red and pale, his resentment clearly visible.

"How do you know this?" Lei Yi asked curiously.

"Chengzi Tech developed a brand-new mobile OS called aurorafutureos. Chen Yansen asked me to help develop a NetEase AFOS version—he sent me the open-source code and dev tools, so we talked a bit these past few days. Hey, MiTalk has a lot of users too—didn't he contact you?"

As Ding Lei spoke, he eyed Lei Yi suspiciously.

"Oh, you mean that? Xiaomi is developing a MiTalk AFOS version—just supporting domestic mobile OS."

Lei Yi feigned sudden realization, smiling lightly.

"Same as my thinking," Ding Lei nodded in agreement.

Zhang Chaoyang silently sneered, thinking: if Chengzi Tech weren't providing OEM and supply chain services for NetEase and Xiaomi phones, would you two be so cooperative?

Precisely because he saw through it all, Old Zhang was deeply annoyed.

The four ate dinner slowly, until.

After getting in the car, Zhang Chaoyang thought for a moment and called his subordinate: "Xiaochuan, Yunku Bar at 7:30—I'll introduce you to a new friend."

"Brother, I've got two product meetings tonight," Wang Xiaochuan declined politely.

Since joining Sohu in 2003, he had served Zhang Chaoyang for ten years.

At first, they disliked each other, but after he raised Sogou Search's market share to five percent, Zhang Chaoyang granted him full autonomy, spun off Sogou as an independent entity, and gave Wang Xiaochuan ten percent equity.

Though subsequent funding rounds reduced his stake to 6.8 percent, it still showed Zhang Chaoyang's generosity.

Generally speaking, as a boss, being willing to give a subordinate 1% equity is already rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, yet Zhang Chaoyang gave Wang Xiaochuan 10%.

During this period, Zhou Hongyi had privately poached Wang Xiaochuan, and Ma Wenteng had also taken action, but both were turned down by Wang Xiaochuan one after another.

"I also have an appointment with Chen Yansen," Zhang Chaoyang continued.

"Bro, I'm on my way," Wang Xiaochuan replied immediately.

"So I can't boss you around, huh?" Zhang Chaoyang said with a laugh and a scold.

"Bro, don't get the wrong idea, am I that kind of person?" Wang Xiaochuan said with a serious expression.

"Fine, fine, fine, I won't banter with you anymore, hanging up first," Zhang Chaoyang said, none too pleased.

Chen Yansen had actually become the most sought-after person; everyone wanted to get to know him.

Zhang Chaoyang couldn't help but recall more than a decade ago, the year Sohu had just gone public, when his standing in Beijing's internet circle was exactly the same as Chen Yansen's at this moment.

Wherever he went, there was a huge crowd of admirers; the people wanting to treat him to meals and drinks could line up from Beijing all the way to Hong Kong Island.

"To be young again — how hard, youth is truly damn beautiful."

A shade of reminiscence surfaced in Zhang Chaoyang's eyes.

At the same time.

Having just sold fifty thousand LeTV boxes, Jia Yaoting was eager to try, preparing to march into the smart TV industry. Upon learning that Chen Yansen had come to Beijing to attend an event, he was instantly moved to make his acquaintance.

Setting everything else aside for the moment, the Given Pinbei Shangcheng alone was worth his attention.

If he built good relations in advance, once LeTV televisions hit the market, he'd have one more important online sales channel.

After thinking for a long time, he still didn't know who to use as an introducer, so in the end he called Zhou Hongyi — after all, Old Zhou had bragged on Weibo: "President Chen is my close friend."

Since Chen Yansen hadn't refuted it, the exaggeration couldn't be too far off.

(End of this chapter)