Chapter 52: The New Company

Cheng Chen's joining China Blog at this point was actually because he wanted to get a foot in the door of the future internet economy.

Mark Gor's Penguin in Deep City was definitely out of the question for him to get involved with—after all, their users were about to break through the one-hundred-million mark.

Although the internet winter had affected Penguin too, they were sitting on a massive user base and angel-investor funds, and they simply didn't care about a small fry like him.

Not to mention Hang Cheng's Teacher Ma with his Ali—he had already raised twenty million US dollars from SoftBank and several other investment institutions back in January 2000.

That September, they had also held the first West Lake Sword Summit, gathering business and opinion leaders from the internet world to discuss important industry topics.

Besides, given Teacher Ma's personality, Cheng Chen might not necessarily be able to take advantage of him.

So, China Blog became the primary target Cheng Chen had to take down.

In his previous life, Xinliang Net's launch of Xinliang Weibo had, for a time, become a battleground of public opinion—daily active users reached 229 million, daily Weibo posts exceeded 25 million, 785 Weibos were generated every second, and annual total revenue reached 2.26 billion US dollars.

And Weibo's predecessor was blogs—to be precise, an iterated upgraded product. As for blogs themselves, by 2019 they had almost vanished without a trace, with only a handful still struggling to survive.

Therefore, Cheng Chen not only had to join China Blog, he also had to seize absolute control and make China Blog the Weibo of today's world!

But, this was obviously not so easy to do.

Li Zhenyu, the head of the struggling China Blog, was clearly resistant when Cheng Chen proposed three years of free endorsement in exchange for shares.

"This matter… isn't something I can decide alone. I want to go back and discuss it with the others at the company."

Li Zhenyu said with a furrowed brow.

This meant he was planning to refuse.

Cheng Chen wasn't surprised—after all, China Blog was one of the first pioneers of blogging in the country.

If it were this easy to take over, they wouldn't have ended up in their current state.

"No worries, President Li, you have my contact info. Whenever you figure it out, just get in touch…"

Cheng Chen said with a smile.

No rush—once you've burned through the last straw to survive the winter, you'll know how serious things are.

"Um… Teacher Cheng, I have a personal request."

After finishing the business discussion, Li Zhenyu suddenly became bashful.

"What request?"

Cheng Chen asked curiously.

"Um, could you give me an autograph? My daughter and I both really love your songs."

Li Zhenyu said awkwardly.

It was hard to believe that just a second ago he had been discussing the future development trends of the internet with Cheng Chen, looking every bit the unrestrained demeanor of a supreme master at a Mount Hua sword discussion.

And now, in the blink of an eye, he had become Cheng Chen's die-hard fan, asking for an autograph!

"Uh, President Li, this switch of yours caught me a little off guard."

Cheng Chen said playfully.

"The little girl at home knew I was meeting you today and kept insisting on coming along. I promised her I'd get one of your signed photos—I can't go back empty-handed, haha."

Li Zhenyu said with a chuckle.

"Impressive." Cheng Chen gave him a thumbs-up, then wrote his name in a flamboyant flourish on the "Wolf Falls in Love with Sheep" album Li Zhenyu had taken out.

"There's one more—this one isn't signed on the album…"

Li Zhenyu said somewhat embarrassed as he pulled a photo from his briefcase.

It was clearly the meme Cheng Chen had posted on the forum: "Heard someone wants to boycott me???"

In it, Cheng Chen's stubborn and tsundere expression had been enlarged several times over, with pixel blocks still faintly visible.

"This is a photo the little girl printed out. Please sign on this…"

Cheng Chen:???

With a solemn expression, Cheng Chen signed his first-ever meme autograph in this world for the doting father Li Zhenyu, and even added the words: Study hard,

Make progress every day—eight big characters.

After the two finished lunch, Cheng Chen took his leave.

……

On the way back, Cheng Chen was summoned by Wang Tianxiao to Tianhai Records again.

Just as he entered the office, Wang Tianxiao reached out a hand toward him:

"Hand it over!"

"What?"

Cheng Chen was completely baffled.

"The lyrics and music for 'The You of Once' and 'Life Like Summer Flowers.'"

Wang Tianxiao said matter-of-factly.

"You rushed me over in a panic just for this?"

Cheng Chen said in disbelief—he really suspected Wang Tianxiao treated him like the company's cash cow, grabbing him and pulling out wool nonstop.

"Obviously! Did you think I called you to put out a fire? You did say you wanted to release a single, right? But I don't recommend releasing a single—given your current popularity, releasing a full album directly makes more money. Nobody buys singles."

An album usually has about ten songs, and many people are willing to pay for it just because of all those songs.

Cheng Chen wasn't exactly a newcomer anymore now. Although he had a certain fan base, catering to those who buy more rather than buy selectively was still more important.

"You're currently affected by the public opinion storm. Although you turned the tables on Beijing Entertainment News online, netizens are still the minority.

You still need offline support to solidify your position in the music scene. Don't forget, there's still a China Yinyuehui eyeing you hungrily!"

Wang Tianxiao was indeed worthy of being the company's BOSS—he saw the situation clearly and methodically helped Cheng Chen analyze the current circumstances.

Cheng Chen nodded and said:

"Then let's release the album on the 1st of next month."

"Next month the 1st…" Wang Tianxiao glanced at Cheng Chen in confusion.

Then, under Cheng Chen's peculiar smile, she realized it and exclaimed:

"Next month is when the China Yinyuehui Singer Competition takes place—you're thinking of…"

Cheng Chen sat in his chair, sipped coffee, and grinned mischievously:

"Can China Yinyuehui ride my coattails, but I can't ride theirs back? It's mutual exploitation, after all."

"I just realized—you're the real master of cunning!"

Wang Tianxiao gave Cheng Chen a thumbs-up, unsure whether it was praise or sarcasm.

"Same to you."

Cheng Chen smiled.

"Hmph, enough joking. The main tracks for your new album are 'The Lone Brave,' 'The You of Yesterday,' and 'Life Like Summer Flowers.' The company will find you seven additional songs to complement them."

"For the next few days, focus entirely on preparing your new songs. The album drops on the 1st of next month."

"Also, I'll arrange a live stream for 'Hip-Hop After Work'—you'll appear in their studio to promote your new album properly."

"They've invited you on their show many times, but I turned them all down. This time, you're not getting out of it."

Wang Tianxiao said seriously.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen nodded and said:

"I should go on their show—they were the first media outlet to help promote our album."

"Alright, I'll handle the timing. Just come straight to the company when it's set."

"By the way."

Cheng Chen suddenly remembered something and looked at Wang Tianxiao:

"I'm planning to start a company—have you ever…"

"Snap!"

Wang Tianxiao had just picked up her phone to call a radio station; upon hearing Cheng Chen's words, she dropped it.

"Third time."

Cheng Chen silently thought, watching the phone's battery pop out.

"You want to leave Tianhai? I won't allow it!"

Wang Tianxiao stared straight at Cheng Chen, her expression agitated.

Cheng Chen rubbed his forehead, helpless:

"Sis, when did I say I was leaving Tianhai? I meant starting my own entertainment company…"

Then he briefly recounted how Li Zhenyu had approached him for a sponsorship deal today.

"Look, now even endorsements require me to negotiate personally—what if someone wants to collaborate with me when I'm filming? And for future concerts, endorsements, acting roles—all can be handled through the new company, so I don't have to run back and forth…"

……