Chapter 104: 101 The First Sword

Dizzy, bloated, and utterly helpless!

What kind of mess is this?

When Xu Xin sat in her office, she still felt her temples throbbing.

There was no need to eat dinner.

She sipped tea in silence, slowly calming herself, and after a while, Liu Jiankai, the vice president in charge of researching Baixiaosheng’s specifics these past few days, arrived.

“Hey, Kathy,” Liu Jiankai walked in, smiling as he knocked, using Xu Xin’s English name. “Have you eaten?”

Xu Xin shook her head and pointed to the seat across the desk.

Liu Jiankai quickly noticed his boss’s grim expression and shifted to a serious tone: “Xu Zong, shall I give a formal report on Baixiaosheng’s situation now?”

Xu Xin had called Liu Jiankai herself, but now hearing his words, she couldn’t help but get a headache.

She instinctively propped her forehead in her hand and lightly tapped the desk twice with her left hand: “Just summarize.”

Liu Jiankai read her body language—this kind of helplessness was something he’d never seen since joining the company.

He didn’t need to speculate further; he simply reported his findings: “Baixiaosheng has been online and operational for only two months, and even counting its initial registration and preparation, it’s been just three months—yet its user base has already surpassed 100,000.”

“And a large portion of the website’s users come from word-of-mouth referrals.”

“In such a short time, with no advertising campaigns, its performance is outstanding!”

“Our preliminary research on Baixiaosheng’s user base confirms what they claim—it’s highly targeted, meaning they still have tremendous growth potential.”

“Workplace social networking isn’t a new concept, but reviewing the past decade of internet development, no company has succeeded in this space.”

“We discussed this internally and identified hardware issues, insufficient user foundations, and software problems—our domestic market hasn’t developed a strong workplace social culture, making pure workplace social networking inherently difficult.”

“But Baixiaosheng has introduced the ‘topic’ angle—that’s interesting.”

“Most of its growth over the past two months came from workplace topics, so we have a question: Can this growth be sustained?”

“The timeframe is short, but based on current observation, usage, and feedback…”

Liu Jiankai snapped his fingers: “It’s a promising new experiment.”

He licked his lips, moistening his throat with air: “What’s most remarkable is that this small company’s management seems to have a clear plan, and their execution over two months has been solid—that’s truly rare.”

Many startups grab at everything at once, but Baixiaosheng has executed a sound strategy with precision, yielding clear results—this reveals real depth.

Liu Jiankai noticed his boss had moved her hand away from her forehead and was clearly pondering his words, so he continued: “We studied the company’s founding team—they invested their own money from the start, especially the core figure, Yu Xing, who put in over a million yuan, money that came from…”

Xu Xin said calmly: “It’s all from my husband’s company.”

Liu Jiankai: “...”

In a sense, yes.

A thought flashed through his mind: Zhen’ai Network’s value is marital property; Li Song’s money is also Xu Zong’s money… Xu Zong pays, Yu Xing starts the company, Yu Xing asks for money, Xu Zong pays again…

Fate!

“Just look at Yu Xing’s determination to invest—he clearly believes in his own judgment,” Liu Jiankai stuck to facts, not embellishing. “He brought along his old team from his previous company—though saying ‘old’ sounds odd, since his last company lasted only four months from founding to sale—but there’s no denying he has real ability.”

“The market for workplace social networking exists; the entry point of workplace topics is novel; future revenue streams—including advertising and integrating mature recruitment methods—are easily imaginable.”

“Their team has undergone preliminary refinement, and the core figure has received some recognition.”

“There’s still one issue I’ve been pondering on my way here: How will Baixiaosheng respond to big companies following suit? This is a well-known startup pain point.”

After summarizing, Liu Jiankai paused thoughtfully.

Xu Xin said calmly: “Tencent has a stance.”

Liu Jiankai blinked, pondering his boss’s five concise words, and realized how sharp they were—he clapped sincerely: “Xu Zong, your insight is absolutely spot-on!”

He exclaimed excitedly: “Ah, right! Baixiaosheng’s business nature is clear—wow, this is exactly how internet ventures differ when entering vertical markets!”

Liu Jiankai suddenly saw the light—when you truly go vertical, you really do carve out a new niche for startups!

He praised again: “Xu Zong, your vision is incredibly sharp!!”

Xu Xin could understand his excitement, but she didn’t feel happy—she said honestly: “That’s Yu Xing’s reply to me.”

This wasn’t written into Baixiaosheng’s investment intent letter.

Liu Jiankai was surprised; his praise slightly dimmed, but he still said: “I see… well, Yu Xing is impressive—he couldn’t have said that without deep industry insight and project judgment.”

He suddenly remembered browsing Baixiaosheng yesterday: “Xu Zong, Yu Xing gave a speech at the Internet Conference—it was quite good too. So despite his medical background, he’s clearly thought deeply about the internet.”

Xu Xin, though in low spirits, stated objectively: “Not just good—I went to meet Liu Qiangdong last year, and he strongly recommended I read that speech. Later, he even wanted to recruit Yu Xing to JD. Our evaluation was half-joking, half-serious—we thought his perspective on industry development stages was remarkably high-level.”

Liu Jiankai was taken aback—he heard it: half-joking, and the other half, serious.

Though JD’s scale is still modest, today’s capital holds great confidence in JD’s future and fully recognizes Liu Qiangdong’s ability.

If one person says it’s good, two say it’s good, and three or four share the same view, then it’s truly good.

Especially when those people include Ma Yun, Xu Xin, and Liu Qiangdong.

“His speech’s logic is internally consistent,” Xu Xin said. “Some people have theories; some can only experiment. But if someone has both theory and practice—that’s truly impressive.”

Liu Jiankai couldn’t help nodding. Setting aside Yu Xing’s previous venture, his preliminary research concluded—after weighing all factors—that Baixiaosheng has strong growth potential and deserves investment.

Of course, it’s not risk-free—at least, the “workplace topic” angle carries risk if it leans toward corporate negativity.

But an investment target with zero risk is another price entirely.

What is an investment firm for?

It’s to pursue profit while bearing risk.

Liu Jiankai’s remarks were essentially complete; today’s meeting was just an impromptu overtime session, with formal discussions to follow.

Well, the reason for this impromptu overtime…

Liu Jiankai didn’t dare ask—he knew his opinion was clear, and the final decision to invest or not rested with his boss.

Xu Xin sensed the vice president’s restraint and first mentioned the next meeting: “We’ll meet with Yu Xing again on the 10th morning—confirm the schedule.”

Then she stated her position, speaking more slowly: “Baixiaosheng’s workplace topics do touch Zhen’ai Network, but our decision must answer only to today’s capital’s funds—everything else is irrelevant.”

Liu Jiankai wasn’t surprised by this answer and immediately replied: “Understood!”

Today’s Capital was founded by his boss—she cherished the brand more than anyone.

Whether or not to invest in Baixiaosheng was, in a sense, unimportant—what mattered was that she needed to uphold her work principles and professional ethics, otherwise, how could she earn the trust of her partners?

Moreover, Liu Jiankai genuinely believed in Baixiaosheng’s future and looked forward to the changes brought by their investment.

If Baixiaosheng ever went public one day, and today’s boss, influenced by other factors, chose not to invest, it would become a joke.

As Liu Jiankai thought of this, he suddenly realized… uh, if a marital dispute arose over this, the consequences might not be good.

“Alright, keep engaging with Baixiaosheng,” Xu Xin dismissed him. “Yu Xing’s asking for five million U.S. dollars—that’s clearly overvalued. Before the 10th, determine a reasonable range.”

Liu Jiankai nodded and agreed, suppressing all thoughts swirling in his mind.

The office was left with only one person.

Xu Xin’s mood didn’t lighten after stating her decision—instead, it grew more complicated.

If Baixiaosheng were mediocre, fine—but if everyone truly believed it was worth investing in…

The Lunar New Year is on the 25th…

Will they even be able to celebrate this year’s New Year…

Xu Xin sighed. This case, though small, was more headache-inducing than “where to go.”

She knew her husband’s attitude toward Zhen’ai Network—he truly aimed for an IPO.

If they invested now…

Xu Xin opened the investment intent letter on her desk, but her focus wasn’t on it.

If they invested, this would be the first sword of the New Year—cutting down the person beside her.

…

Yu Xing’s conflict with Li Song was giving the potential investor a headache, but Baixiaosheng’s employees were thrilled.

The conflict itself was already dramatic.

The company’s founder, previously only an online figure, had actually shown up in person—his stature dwarfed the previous two groups!

And on top of that, the renowned investor Xu Xin was his wife!

And the boss’s claim about the Series A funding progress was true!

Oh right, one of them was sitting beside them—a defector from Zhen’ai Network—who kept his mouth shut tight!

With drama, gossip, profit, and firsthand involvement in heated arguments and shoving matches—this B-class session was absolutely worth it!

But the next morning, Yu Xing issued a gag order to his staff.

“Don’t spread anything about yesterday’s incident, and don’t post it on our website.”

“Our two current goals are: growing users and securing funding.”

“If we actively turn this conflict into a public spectacle, it could damage investors’ perceptions—we might lose funding, and everyone’s stock options won’t be finalized anytime soon.”

Yu Xing gave his reasoning, and everyone gave their assurance.

He was cautious—though he considered seeking other investors, Today’s Capital’s progress was clearly better.

Riding one horse while looking for another is fine, but don’t let the whole thing collapse.

At ten a.m., the topic from Xicheng was still spreading—besides the November client’s insurance fraud, more policies were confirmed to have issues, triggering broader media coverage.

Xicheng is a listed company—this kind of fake policy issue was particularly egregious.

Compared to that, the internal layoff turmoil seemed less significant.

At 10:30 a.m., an anonymous verified Xicheng employee posted a new thread, saying HR had approached them with a more sincere severance package, meaning this batch of employees’ issues were preliminarily resolved.

Naturally, this news was welcome—and other users following the incident noticed it too.

Brothers, whistleblowing actually works!

Baixiaosheng absolutely cannot fail…

Yu Xing noticed these posts and couldn’t help but smile wryly—it was, in a way, early word-of-mouth.

At noon, the steel company’s chairman, who had spent a night in the hospital, was discharged again—this was his third discharge.

“Xingge, I’ve bled for the company too,” Song Yufeng said with no little pride.

Yu Xing raised his thumb: “Fengge, when we have the money to buy the building next door, I’ll give you your own office.”

“Whether I get an office isn’t important—it’s just…,” Song Yufeng said with a hint of grievance, “Xingge, next time you run off, warn me first—you ran too fast yesterday!”

Yu Xing felt a little embarrassed: “I was scared too, and just wanted to get everyone moving quickly.”

Song Yufeng accepted his boss’s explanation; after all, yesterday had only been a scare, with no real new injury.

“Are you coming with me to Today Capital on the morning of the 10th?” Yu Xing asked.

Song Yufeng perked up: “Yes!”

After three trips to the hospital, it was finally time for something to brag about!

Just as Yu Xing was about to speak, his phone received a text message.

Liu Wan: Boarded the plane, headed for Xiangjiang.

His heart jolted—Xiao Ying was flying to Xiangjiang; the first strike of the short attack was finally about to land.

If the short attack succeeded, Baixiaosheng’s need for financing would drop significantly.

If it failed… they’d have to accumulate capital and search for another target; financing still needed protection.

Money, money, money—it’s almost the New Year.

Yu Xing dearly hoped this New Year he could return home to find his relatives and friends in harmony, but that required economic stability.

He didn’t need gifts—just seeing signs of prosperity would do.

“Xingge, what’s wrong?” Song Yufeng noticed his boss’s expression suddenly turn cold and assumed bad news had arrived.

Yu Xing put down his phone and smiled: “Nothing—it’s good news.”

Song Yufeng’s heart sank a little—what good news? Why was his boss smiling without warmth?

Yu Xing raised his voice: “Come on, come on—let’s see how we’re going to celebrate this New Year!”

Song Yufeng murmured agreement twice, certain something fishy was going on—otherwise, his boss wouldn’t sound like he was sharpening his knife ready to slaughter pigs and sheep!

But he also felt anticipation: after three hospital visits and a sling on his arm, if they could land a fat year to make up for it, he’d have the strength to shoulder even bigger things next year.