Chapter 366

In a refined, luxurious private room at Jingzhao Yin.

Zhou Hongyi lifted his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, adopting an extremely humble posture.

Although he was twenty-two years older than Chen Yansen and had entered the industry twelve years earlier, he dared not consider himself a senior figure in business.

He knew full well that Chen Yansen was even more petty than himself, and moreover, 360 phones could not function without Sister Chengzi Tech's patent licenses, supply chain, and contract manufacturing services.

The reason he invited Chen Yansen to dinner was twofold: first, to express gratitude; second, to deepen their cooperative relationship.

Therefore, as soon as Chen Yansen mentioned aurorafutureos, Zhou Hongyi immediately patted his chest and assured him: the 360 Security Guard, browser, and antivirus software would all develop afos versions, and when the 360n2 launched, they would be rolled out together to the market.

"Thanks." Chen Yansen smiled faintly.

Jia Yaoting, sitting beside him, also understood and quickly chimed in: "President Chen, LeTV Web is also willing to support Sister Chengzi Tech's system promotion efforts."

Unprovoked kindness always hides an agenda!

Chen Yansen smiled but did not refuse, raising his wine cup and saying: "I heard LeTV plans to enter the smart TV market?"

"Yes, President Chen. I intend to integrate our cloud video platform with smart TVs, connecting platforms, content, hardware, software, and application ecosystems—all while not profiting from hardware, but from software services."

Jia Yaoting spoke honestly.

He had grand ambitions, but the capital market lacked confidence in LeTV.

After announcing his plans, LeTV Web's stock price plummeted from 27 yuan to 13.5 yuan, halving outright.

In other words, the LeTV Super TV project could only succeed—it must not fail—or the stock price would keep falling; conversely, it would surge.

Chen Yansen nodded slightly but offered no opinion.

The prospects for smart TVs were limited; the nation's annual absorption capacity topped out at only 40 million units, and over a decade later, it would dip below 30 million.

Phone screens kept growing larger, becoming more functional and entertaining, and with the rise of long-form and short-form video, who still watches TV?

"President Chen, I'd like to join Shangcheng." Jia Yaoting, seeing Chen Yansen's silence, spoke bluntly.

Perhaps fearing his project might fail, Jia Yaoting had already begun building sales channels before LeTV Super TV's R&D was even complete.

"No problem, Yuncheng, give President Jia your business card."

Chen Yansen waved his hand and instructed Song Yuncheng, adding casually: "President Jia, this is the Senior Client Acquisition Manager at Shangcheng. Have your company's staff contact her directly afterward."

"Understood, thank you," Jia Yaoting replied immediately.

He glanced at Zhou Hongyi, then at Chen Yansen, and swallowed the words he had been about to say.

Chen Yansen noticed Jia Yaoting's subtle gesture, paused for a few seconds, and guessed his hidden motive.

It was nothing but greed—after seeing the success of 360 phones, he now wanted to enter the smartphone market too.

But he didn't mind; whether LeTV phones or 360 phones, both could become part of aurorafutureos' ecosystem—he had no reason to shut the door on them.

The banquet lasted over two hours.

Chen Yansen stepped out of Jingzhao Yin, got into the back seat of the car, but didn't tell Xiao Li to drive straight back to the hotel—he leaned back against the seat and waited calmly.

Sure enough, shortly after, Jia Yaoting, having confirmed Zhou Hongyi had left in his car, tapped on Chen Yansen's window.

"President Chen, shall we go somewhere else?" Jia Yaoting suggested with a beaming smile.

"No need to go anywhere. Let's stay at Jingzhao Yin." Chen Yansen didn't want to waste time and returned with Jia Yaoting to the private room.

"Sorry, President Chen, earlier with President Zhou around, I couldn't say this outright—but I'm also very interested in the mobile phone industry."

Jia Yaoting said with a sly grin.

"For internet-special phones, Sister Chengzi Tech already has a mature cooperation model—you can pay for services covering everything from the system to the supply chain and contract manufacturing."

Chen Yansen spoke slowly.

He thought: you're not just interested in phones and TVs—you're interested in cars too.

"What about LeTV?" Jia Yaoting probed.

"Of course, that's fine too," Chen Yansen replied readily.

For partners like 360, NetEase, and LeTV, Sister Chengzi Tech made profits not only from hardware margins but also from patent licensing fees—the more, the better.

Jia Yaoting's lips curled slightly, his joy impossible to suppress—he hadn't expected Chen Yansen to be so agreeable.

Sister Chengzi Tech really was different from other phone manufacturers!

Immediately after clarifying the specific cooperation details, Jia Yaoting personally saw Chen Yansen off to his car and watched him drive away.

He had already decided: he would quickly assemble a LeTV phone R&D team—after all, they only needed to develop LeTV apps and handle industrial and hardware design; everything else could be handed over to Sister Chengzi Tech.

"Boss, what are they after?" the assistant asked, puzzled.

"He wants to be China's Google!" Jia Yaoting summed it up simply.

On the other side.

The Maybach sped along the elevated highway under the night sky, racing toward the hotel.

Chen Yansen tilted his head, lying in Song Yuncheng's arms, feeling soft and wonderfully comfortable.

Xiao Li stared straight ahead, focused entirely on driving.

Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed slightly; she feigned a little struggle, but seeing she couldn't resist Chen Yansen, she simply held him close, like soothing a child, massaging his temples.

Soon after, the car entered the parking lot of the Bulgari Hotel.

By now, Beijing's night was deep, and snowflakes like willow catkins drifted down from the sky.

Song Yuncheng pulled her head in, unconsciously leaning into President Chen's arms—she always felt that no matter how many layers Chen Yansen wore, his body was always like a furnace, warm all day long.

Passing through the lobby, they took the elevator straight to the top floor. Song Yuncheng walked while licking her lips.

The northern climate was too dry, especially in winter—after the wind blew, one first felt dry mouth and throat, and within days, the lips would peel off a layer of skin.

"We're returning to Xucheng tomorrow," Chen Yansen noticed this detail and said softly.

"Don't we need to visit ByteDance and Gao De Maps headquarters?" Song Yuncheng asked.

"No," Chen Yansen pulled out his room card, swiped it to unlock, and stepped inside.

Zhang Yiming and Xiao Jun's management abilities far exceeded his expectations.

He only looks at performance and results.

As long as there are no underhanded tricks behind his back, he can tolerate many of his subordinates' minor flaws.

After all, no one is perfect, and no gold is pure enough.

As long as they can help him make money and keep the company's business running smoothly, that is enough.

Song Yuncheng hummed in acknowledgment and followed behind Chen Yansen.

As soon as they entered the room, heat rushed to their faces; the heating system in the north was extremely powerful.

Song Yuncheng took off her coat, revealing a beige inner shirt, her body curves fully exposed.

Chen Yansen undressed much faster than her; in the blink of an eye, he was left wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.

A simian back, a wasp waist, muscle textures clearly defined.

Although she had seen it countless times, Song Yuncheng still couldn't help but glance at it a couple more times.

"Want to drink beer?" Chen Yansen opened the refrigerator and turned to ask.

"Just one bottle," Song Yuncheng said, holding up one finger.

Chen Yansen took out two cans, handed one to Song Yuncheng, and the two sat by the sofa, drinking in small sips.

"Won't you go home for the Spring Festival?" Song Yuncheng asked cautiously.

"Mm." Chen Yansen gazed out the window, his gaze drifting somewhat far away.

"You had a conflict with Uncle Chen?" Song Yuncheng asked again.

"No," Chen Yansen replied.

"Then why aren't you going home for the New Year?" Song Yuncheng asked curiously.

"Old Chen only has his wife in his eyes; it makes no difference whether I go back or not," Chen Yansen said indifferently.

In his past life, ever since he started working, the number of times he went home was countable on one hand, and the two of them always found they had nothing to say to each other beyond half a sentence.

"Then I'll stay here to keep you company," Song Yuncheng said softly, her eyes directed at Chen Yansen also mixed with a bit of pity.

Others didn't know, but she knew that Chen Yansen also had troubling matters he couldn't handle.

"You? No way! Your cooking skills are too poor; I can't get used to it," Chen Yansen decisively refused.

"..." Song Yuncheng was stunned by his words; that bit of pity instantly vanished, and she thought: Damn Chen Yansen, he deserves to eat takeout.

The next morning, Chen Yansen returned to Xu City.

At the same time.

Today's Headlines, Penguin, Sohu, NetEase, and other portal websites all displayed negative reports about Meituan Takeout on their homepages.

"Shocking! The takeout preparation room is dirty and messy; vegetables are placed on the floor, and the public toilet is right next door; riders expose the truth with real photos!"

"How dirty is the takeout we eat?"

"No physical store, the environment is dirty and messy! Meituan Takeout is full of ghost restaurants!"

As soon as you click open, you can enjoy a large number of 'appetizing' high-definition photos, making people not want to eat for three days.

To bring down Meituan, Pei Yi had been preparing for three months; the public opinion offensive was only the first wave.

In just half an hour, Meituan Takeout shot to the top of the trending searches; this was also the first time Meituan Takeout had appeared on the trending list.

"The rider who exposed this is finished! His account will definitely be banned the next day!"

"It looks pretty clean; I've seen places less hygienic than this."

"The netizen from Tianzhu upstairs, are you here in Huaguo for tourism?"

"My brother started delivering takeout last month; he told us never to order takeout again. He said he saw a merchant washing trays in the toilet and placing the washed trays on the toilet trash can."

"Gag! Takeout is actually this dirty!"

"Could Kuai Pao Takeout be like this too?"

The comment section was filled with netizens' discussions, and the complaint hotline of the Market Supervision Association was overwhelmed.

On the other side.

Wang Huiwen rushed into the office, her face grim, and said, "Brother Xin, things are in trouble!"

(End of this chapter)